Noah stifled a growl for what seemed like the hundredth time this evening.

The meeting dragged longer than any individual in the room cared to entertain. He knew they were discussing a crucial matter, but some people were just repeating what had already been said and decided upon. It was getting tiresome. Putting a dozen dominant wolves in an enclosed space wasn't the most brilliant idea. The round table held more than a dozen Alphas. The room was large, but no room was large enough for that many dominant wolves.

"Remind me why we didn't hold this damn meeting outside?" Benjamin asked in an annoyed hushed whisper meant only for Noah and Jensen's ears. The heavy rain outside almost swallowed his words.

"It's raining," Jensen replied in the same tone. His voice half a growl. He, too, was shifting restlessly in his seat.

"I swear Robbins loves talking more than humans do," Benjamin whispered when the alpha in question stood up again.

"So no one else's had similar disappearances? I know you all want to take care of your own problems, but if these cases are related, then there's some serious shit going on."

"Yeah," echoed another young alpha. He'd just taken over the position a few months earlier, and was overly eager to prove his dominance. He stood up, puffing his chest like a juvenile who'd just gotten his first kill. "If anyone is withholding information that could help us resolve the issue, there'll be consequences."

A cacophony of harsh growls resonated around the room. Some Alphas shot up, reacting to the direct threat.

Benjamin chuckled. "I knew it was only a matter of time before that idiot put his foot in his mouth."

Benjamin, Noah and Jensen also stood. They were far too dominant to consider anyone else in the room a threat, except each other. But having other wolves tower over them while they sat put them at a slight disadvantage.

"Alright, gentlemen," Jensen said, his voice booming around the room. Jensen was one of the most level-headed wolves Noah knew. With his laughing forest green eyes and reddish brown hair, he looked like the peacemaker many thought him to be.

They were deadly wrong. Noah knew Jensen was lethal, despite his seemingly "human" bearing. He, Jensen and Benjamin had known each other since they were pups.

"I think we've achieved what we came here for. Let's call it a night", Jensen continued, looking around the room, and meeting the young wolf's eyes. The latter dropped his gaze from Jensen's, frustrated. They were all alphas, but inevitably, some were more dominant than others. That's just how nature works.

Between the three friends, it was a close tie. Some days Noah was sure he could take them both down, other times he doubted that fact. He wasn't interested to test it out. They were close allies, putting that bond at risk because of a silly dominance fight was plain idiotic.

The alphas hesitated. No one wanted to get out of the room first and give their back to other wolves. Most weren't stupid, but there were always the greedy ones who'd want to take an alpha down in order to get hold of more land.

The beast in Noah was too agitated to stay enclosed any longer. He considered such political games beneath him, was too self-assured to worry about other wolves he saw as weaker.

Walking out first, he strode through the pack house of the alpha that hosted the meeting and into the night air. The crisp air refreshed his nose and lungs, the rain a cool balm on his hot skin.

Noah took off his shorts when he reached the edge of the forest. Tucking the borrowed clothing into a tree burrow, he let his wolf take over, aware of Benjamin and Jensen doing the same.

Sitting on a chair for more than two hours abused his muscles. Noah stretched, hiving his fur a good shake.

The three alphas were neighbors. So they ran in the same direction, stretching their legs in a good fast run. The thick woods blurred around them, expanses of forested land they would never concede to humans no matter how much the two legged prey complained about lack of space and rapidly growing populations.

"So what do you think, Noah? you've been awfully quiet in the meeting." Benjamin's voice filled Noah's head. His blond wolf ran on one side of Noah's while Jensen's reddish took the other.

Usually, only wolves of the same pack could mind-link each other. But when wolves from different packs foster strong bonds over a long period of time, mind-linking becomes natural for them.

"When is Noah ever not quiet?" Jensen asked with a hint of mischief. Noah snapped playfully at his foreleg, causing the auburn wolf to falter in his run. He growled playfully at Noah's wolfish grin. An expression that was rarely if ever seen on Noah's human face.

"I didn't have anything to say," Noah finally answered. "Fortunately, our region has been safe. But that doesn't mean it would stay that way."

Noah could feel Jensen and Benjamin's solemn agreement. Several disappearances of female wolves had the packs all over the west coast in a frenzy.

At first, the packs didn't know it was a serial kidnapping. Since alphas rarely discussed internal matters with each other, except if they were really good and old allies, the matter had been left to fester until seven female wolves from different packs had vanished. Only then did word get out and packs stepped forward with their issue. All in all, so far, ten females were unaccounted for.

All of them were unmated females, taken when they were on a run alone in the woods with no witnesses around.

As soon as news reached Noah, he had issued orders that no pack member, Noah had increased security around his borders.

"You think it's a good idea to work with the witches?" Jensen asked. They crossed into Jensen's territory, in southern Oregon.

Benjamin growled deeply. "I don't trust them."

His opinion of witches was biased at best, but Noah didn't mention that. It was a deep wound for the blond, cheerful alpha.

"Most of them aren't so bad," Jensen said instead. "And we do need their opinion at the very least. They're better at detecting magic so they might have some answers as to how ten wolves disappeared without a trace. Or maybe they heard something that could give us a lead."

Benjamin huffed, but conceded to Jensen's usual impeccable logic. Jensen escorted them to the edge of his territory before going back to his pack. They had just crossed into Noah's land when an urgent call filled his head.

"Alpha, we have an issue on the western border."

*** *** ***

"What the hell..." Benjamin's voice trailed off as they stopped at the foot of a cliff. The slope wasn't too steep. The small blue car was miraculously right side up with no major damage, except for the smashed front bumper and broken windshield. Smoke rose out of what was left of the hood.

Noah could hear little growling noises and snapping. Six of his warriors surrounded something near the car. It smelled like pups and something else. As he closed the distance, even the pouring rain couldn't hide the human scent from Noah's keen noise.

Jake, one of Noah's wolves, turned around when the two alphas approached, revealing two werewolf pups crouched between them and the driver seat of the car. The pups were mostly unharmed, safe for a few scratches. They must have wiggled out of the car's broken windshield.

"Noah," Benjamin said. "These pups don't smell like any pack around here."

Noah agreed. If anything, the pups smelled of the human in the car.

"There's someone in the driver seat," Jake said as the pups snapped at one of his patrol wolves when she tried reaching for them. They had spirit, he would give them that. "The pups won't let us check Andrew can't access the other door because it's flat against the cliff."

"They're protecting whoever it is in there," Benjamin said.

Noah knew the exact moment the pups glimpsed him and Benjamin. They froze for a second before shaking their heads and growling louder. Good boys, Noah thought, they knew when there was a bigger predator around.

Noah ordered his men to stand back. They were crowding injured animals, and it made them snappish and likely to attack in an attempt to protect themselves.

The pups stopped growling when everyone gave them their space, only to pick up again when Noah slowly trotted up to them. He growled louder, shutting them up, though they were still in a defensive crouch. Their tiny golden hackles would've been raised had it not been for the rain.

Noah huffed, the wolf more than amused by the pups' spirit to consider their actions disrespectful. Most boys their age would've taken a submissive stance by now. It wouldn't always serve them to be this confrontational, but he figured they could learn that later, when there wasn't a potential life at stake.

They might not realize it, but the presence of a more dominant wolf put the pups at ease. They sensed the protective instinct of Noah.

Noah shifted to his skin and sat on his haunches, he met the little wolves' amber eyes. "We just want to help. There's someone else in the car, right? We have to get them out to see if they're injured."

The wolves gave a confused whimper, digging their claws into the soaked earth. They wanted to protect the woman in the car, but their instincts yelled at them to submit.

"Can you shift?" Noah asked. He kept his voice low but firm. The pups shared a look, then one of them shifted. His men sucked in a sharp breath behind him. The shift was flawless, way too flawless for a pup in his age group.

The boy was around five years old, his brown hair matted to his head because of the rain and his eyes a sharp blue.

"Mommy is in there," the boy said, his voice trembling. "She's stuck. And she doesn't want to wake up."

"Alright," Noah nodded, surprised he couldn't smell a female werewolf. "We're going to take her out. Will you let us through?"

He hesitated for a moment before nodding. After the boys moved aside, Noah pulled open the door, conscious of his men flanking him.

As expected, there was a human woman in the driver seat. She was unconscious, her head lolled to the side. A deep gash bled on her temple and scrapes marred on her face. Her black sweater was torn in places, as soaking wet as her blue jeans. Jake tore off the seat belt with his claws since it was stuck, then carried the woman in his arms.

Noah's wolf cocked his head. The human woman smelled of the wolf pups, like how a mother would smell of her offspring. But that was impossible.

Noah checked the car and found it empty. He turned. Jake had laid the woman on the ground. The pups crowded beside her, licking her wounds.

"You said your mom's in there ?"Benjamin asked, he had shifted back.

The boy looked at Benjamin then glanced at the human female. "This is our mom."

Noah and Benjamin shared a startled look. Because it was impossible for a human female to mother wolf pups.

*** *** ***

Benjamin left Noah's territory soon afterwards. He was more than happy the car wasn't found on his land, he'd told Noah. Anything to do with humans spelled trouble.

But Noah didn't have a choice. As much as he didn't want the headache of dealing with this, he had to. He couldn't leave the pups alone, and they seemed very attached to the human woman they called their mother.

Noah didn't care what the boys said. He didn't believe she was their biological mother. A human female couldn't mother immortal babies. It was a known fact in their world.

Which only left one possibility: the human woman had taken the wolf pups, or had found them somewhere.

"She's lucky the gash is only superficial. But we can't know with humans. They're too fragile."

Noah listened to the doctor's words, never taking his eyes off the female lying on the bed. Jake had carried her into the pack infirmary, followed closely by the boys- one wolf and one human. Eva, his pack doctor, bent her red head over the human's head. Her hair was wet, darkening the white pillow beneath it, and her skin looked pale and delicate.

"Was it a good idea to bring her into the pack?" Sean asked, Noah's brother and second in command.

"It's fine, pack magic will protect the land."

It didn't matter if the woman was a plot to discover the location of their central pack village. It didn't matter if she had any tracking device on her. It wouldn't work. Magic and technology don't mesh well together. Magic always wins.

"Right," Sean nodded. His eyes, too, were on the pups. The two children refused to move away from the woman. Even Eva couldn't get them to at least clean up. They stuck to her side like hot glue.

"You think she's really their mother?" Sean sniffed the air. "Now that they're not as drenched, I can clearly tell their smells are well entwined. Even if she's not their mom, they've been living together for a very long time."

The boy who was still in his fur growled, baring his teeth at Sean. Sean growled back, narrowing his eyes. The pup didn't even lower his gaze. Noah could see fur sprouting on the back of his brother's neck in reaction to the disrespect.

"Elijah! Stop!" The other boy hissed, sneaking nervous glances at Sean. His eyes kept changing from amber to blue, his wolf too close to the surface. This one was sharp, Noah could tell. The other kid, Elijah, was more hot-headed.

"Alright, boys. Settle down." Eva moved around the bed to check the IV, discreetly breaking the eye contact between boy and man. At that age, the pups should have learned all about pack hierarchy. Fostering a deep sense of structure was important to werewolves. It kept the beasts from taking over and allowed the individual to exercise more control over their feral urges.

From what Noah saw, the pups didn't know how to act around other pack wolves. And if the human female was indeed the person who brought them up, then it was no wonder they lacked werewolf socializing skills.

He still couldn't believe that she was their mother, or that she'd been able to raise them up to this point. Noah blew out a breath, already wondering how he would have to deal with the female. There was only one solution to the issue. Wolf packs were very strict when it came to humans infiltrating their territory. And Noah's pack was more sensitive to the issue because of their history.

Fortunately, the infirmary was empty. Noah didn't have to deal with any pack member freaking out about the human. Not yet, at least.

The infirmary was on the far edge of the pack village. It was a one story cabin, with three rooms. Eva's office, a storage room, and a long room lined with hospital bed.

"What are you planning to do, Noah?" Eva mind-linked him.

"Let's wait for her to wake up first, then we'll see," Noah replied, then because Eva was an important pack member whose opinion he valued, he asked, "What do you think?"

Eva sighed, giving her palm to Elijah to sniff. "I don't know. I mean, it looks really bad. If she wasn't their mother, then how the heck did a human woman find two wolf pups? but if she really was their mom..."

"It's impossible."

Elijah seemed to like Eva, not many people didn't. She radiated comfort and affection. The pup licked her palm and let her pet him, scratch behind his ear.

"Damn pup," Sean growled underneath his breath. Eva looked over her shoulder and winked at her mate. Noah was eight years older than his twenty-seven-year-old brother, but Sean was already mated with a pup on the way.

Noah didn't even realize he was attuned to the woman's breathing until it changed.

"She's waking up," Eva confirmed. In an instant, Sean was behind his mate, pulling her two steps back to his chest.

"Mommy?" The boy's eyes finally stayed a bright blue. Noah quietly moved towards the crowded bed.

"Ezra?" A raspy voice. Eva moved, Sean reluctantly letting her go. He was too curious about the human. Wolves didn't usually associate with humans, some could spend an entire lifespan without interacting with one.

The woman's eyes fluttered open. Noah's breath caught in his throat. Under the thin film of confusion was a blue so rich and vivid it seemed as though her irises were two perfectly polished gemstones.

The woman blinked a couple of times, a frown marring her features. Then shock and panic cleared the confusion. She sat up so fast the pup who was lying on her chest tumbled down to her lap with a whine.

Her wild eyes went from the wolf to his brother, her breath coming out in a loud distressed exhale. Then she shut her eyes tightly, clutching her head, "oh God... my head..."

"Why don't you lean back?" Eva said coming back with a glass of water. The human female opened her eyes, startled to realize there were other people around. Her eyes went from Eva to Sean, then settled on Noah. Her wide gaze was an explosion of sapphires and blue skies.

She wrapped her arms around Elijah and Ezra, gathering them to her. The little wolf licked her face furiously, his tail wagging.

"I'm Eva, and this is Sean and Noah," Eva held out the cup of water. The human looked at it for a long time until Elijah yipped, she looked at him, her eyes widening slightly. She gave the pup a nod before accepting the water.

"Thank you," she said after downing the whole glass. She looked around the room again. "Where are we?"

Eva looked at Noah, the female followed her gaze and settled her ... weird eyes on him. He didn't like it, so he looked at Sean.

"You don't know?" Sean asked, narrowing his eyes. "You drove right into our land."

Her lips slowly parted. "Right." A pause then a whisper. "Wolves."

Eva sat down on the bed. "What's your name?"

"Lillian Miller," she said after a long pause, and another nervous glance at Noah.

Noah gritted his teeth as he crossed his arms on his bare chest. He knew what she was staring at. He usually didn't care when people stared, but he found it annoying that this little human who dropped out of the sky did.

"What happened-" Lillian swallowed. "What happened to the people who were chasing us?"

Eva looked back at Sean and Noah.

"They're gone," Noah replied, his voice unintentionally coming out in a growl. Jake had told him that there were some humans lurking around on the top of the cliff, but as soon as they spotted the wolves on patrol, who were in their fur, they scurried back to their vehicle and left.

Elijah shifted back to his skin. Noah realized they were identical twins. If not for the slight difference in their scents - that very few people would be able to pick up- he wouldn't have managed to tell them apart.

"Mommy, they're wolves, too," Elijah said in a whisper that everyone in the room could hear. "I can smell it."

"I'm sure you can, baby."

"They call you mom?" Eva asked.

Lillian's arms tightened further on the boys, then met Eva's gaze head on and replied firmly. "Of course. They're mine."

Eva was about to say something, then thought better of it. Instead, she looked back at Sean and Noah.

"We need to talk to her alone. I don't want to bring us the subject in front of the pups."

Sean nodded then said out loud, "why don't the pups come with me for a second? I'll take them to get some food. They must be hungry."

"No," Lillian said. Her eyes lighting with an internal fire. "You're not taking them anywhere. They stay with me."

Eva stood up, and held her hands out in a pacifying gesture. "Look, we just want to talk about-"

"I know what you're thinking." Lillian's voice was furious. "But they're mine, they're my kids. I gave birth to them. They're mine."

Silence. Noah couldn't, wouldn't, believe his ears. But it was Sean who said, "It's impossible. You're human."

"Where's the father?" Noah asked. Lillian held his gaze, swallowing heavily, she replied, "he's not alive."

"Our dad was a wolf," Ezra said, his blue eyes focused on Noah. He knew who was in charge. "Mommy is human, but our dad was a wolf."

Lillian stiffened considerably, before pressing a kiss to her son's head. "They know, honey."

"You're not serious," Sean asked incredulously. "You're human, you can't carry immortal pups."

Lillian's affectionate expression turned sour when it shifted to Sean. "Well, I did. And I don't care if you believe me or not."

They stared at each other until Sean's gaze turned into the amber of his wolf. Eva tried putting her hand on his arm but it didn't take his attention off the human.

Noah had met humans before, and he'd never met anyone who could meet a wolf's gaze and hold it like Lillian was doing. Humans subconsciously realize they are in the presence of a bigger predator. They want to submit. The need is so primal most humans don't realize they're doing it.

Sean growled. Lillian's glare sharpened. "Don't growl at me."

"Sean." Noah's tone indicated he'd had enough. After the long meeting he'd had, he wanted to call it a night.

Sean strode out of the room. Eva hesitated before rushing behind him to calm him down. Lillian's gaze then shifted to Noah. He held it, raising a brow when she just looked at him. Her eyes lingered on the right side of his face.

"Should we leave?"

Noah shook his head, then looked at the pups who clung to their mother. The physical similarities couldn't be denied. But that didn't mean she was their mother.

Though Noah could admit one thing. It didn't matter if she really didn't give birth to them, it seemed she was their mom in all other ways that mattered.

"You'll stay here for the night." He nodded towards the attached bathroom. "There's a shower in there, you may use it. I'll send in some clothes and food. Tonight you rest, we'll talk tomorrow. The door will be locked so don't try to leave".

Her lips tightened. "Are we prisoners?"

Noah admired the woman's spirit. But he wouldn't lie to her. The more she was afraid of them, the better. They couldn't afford to let humans think that the werewolves were harmless puppies. They were deadly beasts and they should be recognized as such. For the immortals' sake, as well as for the humans'.

He let his wolf closer, His eyes turning bright amber. "Your pups are wolves, they're safe here. But you're human, and humans aren't welcome in my territory. Remember that."

He left, ordering guards posted outside the infirmary. He would contact Harvey as soon as he got home. The suave vampire knew people who could get their hands on all sorts of information. Including information about a certain Lillian Miller, mother of two boys.

As Noah headed to the pack village, he realized that not once did he smell the stench of fear on the human woman.

--- ---- ---

Hey guys! 

Another chapter, this time from Noah's perspective. Did you miss the grumpy wolf?

Don't forget to vote and comment if you like this so far. 

Love <3

M.B.