Noah received news of Benjamin's call soon after he left the infirmary.

Lisette, a young female wolf working in the pack house, and who was basically Noah's secretary, relayed the other alpha's message to Noah via mind-link, conveying how furious and annoyed Benjamin sounded.

With no more delay, Noah ran northward to Benjamin's pack. As soon as he was close enough, he linked Benjamin and found out what had him so miffed.

"All the alphas of the west coast thought it was okay to just hold a meeting in my damn pack."

Noah stopped at the border of Benjamin's land. Friend or not, wolves are very sensitive about their territories.

"Maybe they just want to take back their pack members," Noah replied, referring to the kidnapped females they had saved.

"If it was just those alphas, I would understand. But I'm telling you, man, the whole west coast is here." Benjamin sighed. "Are you close yet?"

"I'm at the border."

"I'll send an escort."

Noah didn't have to wait long. A warrior accompanied him to the location of the alphas. Noah shifted and accepted the sweatpants the warrior handed him.

The smell, feel and voices of so many alphas close by made Noah's wolf push forward.

He emerged from the cover of trees to a wide clearing, to find himself the sole focus of more than two dozen wolves.

Arthur and Harvey were also in attendance, arguing in hushed voices with Benjamin, Jensen and Mark on the edge of the clearing. Far away from everyone else. It had to do with Arthur's presence. The vampire lord spooked even a group of alpha wolves.

Noah headed their way, aware of the sudden silence and the wave of whispers his arrival induced. He arched a brow at Benjamin. The other alpha made a face.

"They got wind of your human, Lillian," Benjamin linked him. "Some aren't very pleased you kept it a secret."

"I didn't keep it a secret," Noah said. "I just don't see why I have to tell them whatever goes in my pack."

"Glad you finally joined the party," Mark said, yawning.

"Still didn't get your nap, Mark?" Benjamin teased Mark, and grinned when the other alpha snarled at him, his dark eyes flashing amber.

"How are the wolves doing?" Harvey asked. In a different suit and spotless shoes, the vampire stood out like a sore thumb in the wilderness around them.

"So far so good," Noah said, then shared all the information the lone wolves had given him.

"Harvey, why don't you make a list of all vampires you think could have been involved?" Arthur said when Noah finished speaking. "Start with the names we got from our prisoners, then make sure to check anyone who associated with them in any way or form."

Harvey gave a firm nod in response. "I'll get it done and send the list to Noah and Benjamin, photos included."

"Good, the girls had even less to tell us," Benjamin said. "They were always kept alone, but what they did remember was interesting."

"What?" Noah asked.

"They were kept unconscious the majority of the time," Benjamin said. "They all remember someone visiting them, but nothing beyond that. The girls all had fang and needle marks all over their bodies."

"Vampire fangs?" Noah asked, because vampire fangs were different from wolves', and from any other shapeshifter's.

"Maybe, maybe not." Benjamin sighed. "My pack doctor said he couldn't say. The marks have started healing when we brought them in, despite the silver in their bloodstream."

"Which means whoever this person was, he hadn't visited them in a while," Jensen said. "This is going to make it difficult to pin him down."

It was safe to assume that it was the same man who requested the females from Galvin and provided the dust. They needed to find this bastard.

Arthur and Harvey exchanged a look.

"I have an idea, but I don't know if the wolves will like it," Arthur said.

"And you care about the wolves liking it?" Noah asked. Benjamin and Mark gave him wide-eyed looks. Jensen almost choked on air.

Arthur's smile was chilling. "I don't. Unfortunately, the females will have to be willing to cooperate."

"Mariano?" Noah guessed.

Mariano was one of Arthur's close vampires. The man had a scary gift that allowed him to see in other people's thoughts and memories. His gift had been a closely kept secret, but after the gate scheme six months ago, he'd become notorious.

"Yes. I have no issue forcing the matter for the sake of the greater good. However, my mate has been working with me to review my moral compass. She had this pesky thing called conscience. Very inconvenient."

Harvey chuckled. No one knew if Arthur was joking or not. Probably not.

"You would force our wolves?" Mark's question birthed tension in the air.

Harvey cleared his throat. Arthur raised his brow and fixed Mark with his bottomless gaze. Mark kept his gaze on the vampire lord for all of two seconds before he broke contact, sweat beading his forehead. What an idiot.

"Has Elle had any success?" Noah asked, breaking tension. Mark sighed and cracked his neck.

"Very little," Arthur said, dragging his eyes from Mark, finally. "But she is stubborn. Why doesn't one of you alphas broach the subject of Mariano? It will sound better coming from you."

Noah agreed.

"I'll have to ask the female who was kidnapped in my pack. I don't know how she'll feel about having her head rifled through by a vampire after what she'd been through. But we'll see."

"What about the witches?" Jensen asked. "Any word from them?"

"I sent out a word this morning," Arthur said. "They still haven't responded yet."

Benjamin muttered a curse. "Damn witches. I bet they're trying to hide any tracks left behind to cover their asses."

Noah crossed his arms. "Let's get this over with. I need to get back."

"We all do," Mark said, already back to his annoying self. "So, did Lillian rip you off a new one yet?"

Jensen looked amused yet curious. Noah was grateful the others hadn't advertised his moments of idiocy.

"None of your business," Noah growled out, ignoring the sly smiles of the other men. Mark held up his hands in surrender.

"My money is on Amanda." Benjamin grinned. "I expected Harvey to have an eye missing or something."

"You guys gossip like old human women." Harvey rolled his eyes.

Benjamin snickered, then broke apart from their circle and headed for the center of the clearing. He clapped his hands twice, "Alright, ladies and gentlemen!"

But everyone was too deeply involved in conversations. Benjamin took a deep breath and let out a thundering growl, one that shook the ground and made birds fly off.

"Thank you for your attention," Benjamin said cheerfully when everyone looked at him. "Now let's get to business."

Benjamin then told the attentive alphas everything they had discovered so far. He was, of course, frequently interrupted by growls and questions, but Benjamin handled the situation well. By the end of his briefing, everyone in the clearing was silently thoughtful. They had a lot of work to do.

"Is the High Council informed?" One of the alphas asked. Benjamin nodded.

"Arthur and I got in contact with them this morning," Benjamin said. "A trial will be held as soon as possible. An extraordinary session of the High Council will also be held. You'll all be informed of the details. Arthur also offered to have his vampire, Mariano, see through the unmated females' heads, to see if we can get an idea about the individual Galvin has been dealing with. I assume you all know what Mariano can do?"

Solemn nods.

"We'll ask the females first," one of the few female alphas said.

Murmurs of agreement filled the space. Then one alpha, who had been casting furtive glances Noah's way the whole time, spoke up.

"We all heard the rumor that a human is living in one of the packs here."

Noah almost curled his lips in disgust. The man didn't even have the courage to face Noah off directly.

Most wolves looked Noah's way, but some looked genuinely confused.

"Well, Patrick, we all know who you're talking about," Benjamin said. "And if he wants to say something, he'll say it."

Noah kept looking at the alpha, Patrick. The spineless bastard wouldn't even meet his eyes. Noah knew that even among alphas, there were very few who matched him in dominance, and Patrick was a far cry.

"So it's true? How in the world did a human end up there?" another alpha asked, then murmured with a frown, "I thought I smelled something when you walked by..."

Damn nosy wolves. Noah sighed and stepped forward. "It's true. A human female is now a member of my pack."

Though Lillian would argue the fact that she was under his rule. She was still part of his pack, still his to protect.

"That's treason!" One of the alphas snarled, eyes growing amber. Everyone in the clearing stiffened when the angry alpha took a step toward Noah. "How can you take in one of those trash?"

"Watch your tongue," Noah said mildly, his posture still relaxed though the other man was almost shaking with the urge to draw blood.

"Humans have slaughtered hundreds of us, and if given the chance, they would do it again," the alpha continued, "how do you know she's not some bitch sent to spy-"

Noah moved when the second insult left the alpha's mouth. He was in front of the man in a blur, his hand around his throat. Noah lifted him and slapped him to the ground. Laying there on his back with his throat in Noah's claws, the other alpha froze, his shock slowly morphed into embarrassment-colored rage.

Noah was aware of growls around him, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few people make a move. Jensen, Benjamin and Mark stood around Noah, making clear where their loyalties lay.

"Don't," Noah let his claws dig in the skin of the alpha's neck when the man's muscles flexed.

"I told you to watch your mouth," Noah told the man, his voice one with his wolf. "I have no obligation to explain myself to you or to anyone else. You not only implied that I couldn't protect my pack by taking her in, but you also insulted a member of my pack, and my mate."

Noah felt immeasurable pleasure at admitting the fact out loud. The alpha under his mercy paled. Mates were sacred in their world. If Noah chose to wipe the floor with this wolf, no one would question him. It didn't matter that he didn't know the human he was insulting was Noah's mate.

Silence stretched around them. Only when the alpha in Noah's claws gave a nod did he let him go. They both stood up.

The man was still relatively young for an alpha's position. That might explain the reckless behavior, but it did not excuse it. Noah had been much younger when he'd taken over as alpha.

The situation was diffused faster than it took to escalate, fortunately. The alphas whose members were still in Benjamin's infirmary were escorted there by warriors. Noah was approached by three old wolves before he could join his company.

"We don't mean to interfere," one of them said, his blue eyes withered with age despite his unlined face, "but you understand our concern, despite the way it has been expressed. We must know if the human is clear."

"She is," Noah said. "I wouldn't have her in my pack otherwise."

"We also heard rumors," another one said, his eyes narrowing. "Rumors that she has pups. Wolf pups. Everyone else dismissed it as baseless rumors. We all know humans and immortals cannot produce immortal children. But I've lived long enough to know that miracles do happen."

Noah didn't want to advertise that fact. But news was bound to travel even without his confirmation.

"It's true. She has wolf pups."

"Dear moon..." one of the men murmured, eyes wide.

Noah left them to their shock and joined the others. The two vampires left shortly after Harvey informed Noah of Amanda's wish to visit with Lillian.

Noah looked at Mark when the vampires disappeared. "You need to watch your back."

"And your mouth," Benjamin added.

Mark bristled. "What the hell are you two on about?"

"Don't get your hackles up," Jensen said with his calm voice. "He's looking out for you."

"Is this about Arthur?" Mark asked.

"Yes."

"So what? No one can question him?"

"Not really, no," Benjamin said. "If you can't put your fight where your mouth is, then no, you don't have the right to question him. This isn't a democracy. We're not equal. We're not humans."

"Yeah, well, he pissed me off." Mark crossed his arms. "And I know I can't take him, but I can hit hard enough to hurt."

"The good that will do you," Benjamin drawled, rolling his eyes.

"That would be worse," Noah said. "If you hurt Arthur, you would have to deal with Elle. Believe me, you don't want to do that."

Mark frowned. "I heard about that little mate of his. Is she really all that?"

"In a way, she's worse than Arthur," Noah said, remembering Elle's rage. "Arthur can be reasoned with in a way. He cares more about the bigger picture. If removing you from existence would mean a conflict between vampires and wolves, he might forgive you. But Elle is... she's ruthless when it comes to people she cares about. If you hurt a hair on Arthur's head, you would face hell, quite literally."

Benjamin and Jensen shared a look.

"I didn't know you liked her that much," Benjamin said, his grin insolent.

It was Noah's turn to roll his eyes. "Be careful, Mark. I'd hate to see you go. Benjamin will have no one to play princess with."

Mark and Benjamin's growls drowned out Jensen's amused chuckle.

Noah left them and ran home, stopping by the neutral territory to pick up Amanda.

He linked the warriors about Amanda's presence so the vampire scent wouldn't spook them. It was late in the afternoon when they reached the pack. He found Lillian in her office in the pack house.

"Come in," her voice sang when he knocked. She smiled when she saw him, and it made his heart flutter. Her smile turned into a full blown grin when she spotted Amanda.

"Hey!" Amanda waltzed inside, hugging Lillian like the two women had known each other for ages and not a mere day earlier.

Noah walked around Lillian's desk and looked at what she was working on while she was busy chatting with Amanda.

"You can go home," he said when there was a lull in their conversation. Lillian frowned at him.

"I still have to fill in some paperwork for Sean, and I need to get-"

"Lillian," Noah said, noting the darkened skin underneath her eyes. "You've had a rough night. I know you just want to curl inside with the twins. I'm your boss, and I'm saying it's okay to go."

"You're not my boss-" Lillian closed her mouth with a snap, blinking, as if only now realizing she was practically working for him. Amanda shared his amusement. Smiling behind her, she cleared her throat.

"I'd love to meet the twins, actually." Amanda said, winking at Noah over Lillian's shoulder.

"Oh," Lillian looked around her desk, reluctantly nodding. "Okay. I guess I'll just leave it until tomorrow."

"Go. I'll talk to Sean."

A deep sigh, then another smile for his poor heart. "Alright, boss."

After the two women left in a flurry of giggles and soft whispers, Noah joined Sean in his office.

"Lillian left for the day," Noah said, closing the office door behind him.

Sean barely looked up from his work. "It's fine."

Noah was lucky to have Sean as his second. His brother might occasionally complain, but he was one of the few wolves who actually enjoyed paperwork. That was why Noah rarely had to deal with anything of the sort.

"Is she doing okay?" Sean asked.

"It looks like it," Noah said, standing in front of the window. The familiar twinkle of the lake under the afternoon sun soothed his wolf and loosened his muscles. "But she was almost strangled to death, she killed a vampire, and she was locked up in a dark room with two dozen wolves, so..."

Sean huffed out a laugh. "Yes, so I heard. But my money is on her, she's tougher than she looks."

Noah hummed an agreement, then told his brother of the brief meeting at Benjamin's pack. He also included the confrontation about Lillian.

Sean winced, running his hand through short, dark hair. "You know it was bound to happen, and it will probably happen again."

They were silent for a few minutes before Sean spoke. "I have an idea, but I don't know if you'll be up for it."

"About what?" Noah faced his brother, who swiveled in his chair until he faced him.

"About Lillian. You know most of the wolves- actually, scratch that, most immortals who hear about Lillian will undoubtedly be curious. They don't know her, most of them have never dealt with a human on a personal level. And people fear what they don't know. So, I think an opportunity for immortals- outsiders- to meet her would diffuse the situation. It would make good things about her start circulating."

"How do you even know she'll make a good impression?" Noah asked with a raised brow, he had no doubt of Lillian's charm, but his brother wasn't her biggest fan.

Sean rolled his eyes. "I might've had a problem with her at first, but that's just because I didn't know her. Again, I judged her based on the fact she's human, which is what everyone outside the pack is doing right now. I have no doubt she'll charm anyone she wants to. That's just in her nature, she's good at making people fond of her."

Which was an understatement. Half the pack had smiles on their faces when Lillian and the twins walked by, the other half would trip over themselves to come to her help if she was ever in trouble.

Noah knew it mostly stemmed from respect. Wolves valued females, mothers even more. And a fragile human mother who defied all odds to keep her two wolf pups safe was definitely worthy of respect. It helped that she was good with pups in general, she was friendly to the young and old, and she was very hard working.

Thinking on it now, Noah amusedly discovered he was the only one she'd ever shown a hint of animosity to. Although it wasn't really animosity, it was just hardheadedness coupled with a proud streak that made her chafe at his authority in the pack.

Noah was more than amused the day before when she met the other alphas. She'd taken his advice in not meeting their eyes for too long, but it was entertaining to watch because she had to struggle in order to avert her gaze.

She was a mystery, his little mate. A sweet mystery.

"The High Council will convene," Noah told Sean, approving of his idea no matter how much his instincts wanted to keep Lillian safe and sound in the heart of the pack.

"That would be a good place," Sean nodded. "She's basically working as my second, so she can go there with us in that capacity."

Noah wanted her to tag along as his mate, but it was still too early. He was still courting her, and though he had his doubts she knew the game was on between them, he didn't want to pressure her into anything.

"Eva won't go?"

Sean shook his head. "Her wolf won't want to leave the pack in their current condition. Thank God for that."

He murmured the last part. His wolf must be driving him crazy. Knowing Eva, Sean kept his over-protective tendencies under check as much as he could.

Noah dropped by his own office in the pack house, which was basically Lisette's office. The young wolf managed his emails, sorted out any important paperwork he had to deal with personally, and managed his phone calls since he barely carried his phone around the pack.

"You have an email from Harvey," Lisette said, sitting behind his desk while he paced. "It has a list of people with photos and names. Vampires, I think."

"Right, I want you to forward it to Eva," Noah said, opening the window. "I'll tell her what to do with it."

"Got it," Lisette said, her eyes never meeting his.

Lisette was a submissive, but that didn't mean she was a pushover, as proved by the fact that she had worked with him in a closed space over a number of years at such a young age. Even when Noah was feeling angry, snarly or grumpy, she never lost her smile, and he never smelled fear on her. She was a strong female.

Submissive wolves were often mistaken as weak by outsiders, which was by no measure true. Submissive wolves have a gentle disposition, they're more peaceful than dominant wolves.

Too few dominant wolves in a pack might mean the protection of the pack would not be enough when trouble arises. Too few submissive wolves messes with the balance of the pack magic and makes the dominants in the pack lose control of their wolves.

The submissives' gentle spirit anchors the pack and softens up the wild instincts of dominant wolves. Submissives are the foundation of every pack.

On his way out of the pack house, Noah linked Eva and instructed her on what to do with the list Harvey had sent. They needed to know if the injured wolves recognized any faces.

Then he paid a visit to Kate.

The blonde warrior was in the training ground. This time of the day, it was occupied with wolves from different ranks.

Kate was busy teaching a few juveniles a complicated move. Noah waited until she finished to call for her. "Kate."

She glanced over her shoulder at him. Leaving the teenagers with a short order, she jogged to where he stood leaning against a tree on the edge of the training ground.

"Alpha?"

"Do you have a minute?" Noah asked, straightening up.

"Sure," Kate replied with a frown, pushing back sweaty strands of hair. They walked side by side into the trees until they were out of sight and earshot of others.

"It's about Lillian," Noah said. "She'll start exercising in the training grounds."

Kate's brows shot up. "Oh?"

"Yes, I want you to help her out," Noah said. " I thought you'd be a good fit since you're more familiar with her limits and how fast she learns. Just keep doing what you've been doing in her backyard."

Kate's eyes almost bugged out of their sockets, skittering around for an explanation. "Uh..."

Of course Noah knew about their daily lessons, and he was grateful for them. This was his pack, it was his duty to know anything that happened within. Why Kate was surprised was beyond him.

Noah shook his head. "It's alright, Kate, you didn't disobey the order. I didn't want her in the training ground because I know wolves could get carried away when sparring. I have nothing against her combat training, cautiously, in her own backyard."

Kate slowly nodded. "So what changed? That she's now allowed, I mean."

Noah knew Lillian had played him the moment he agreed to her request. She'd already forgiven him, his mate with her generous heart. He was more than grateful she overlooked his asinine behavior the night before.

"Let's just say she can be ... convincing," Noah said. "So, can you do it? If you have too much on your plate already, I can ask someone else."

Kate looked like she was biting back laughter. She cleared her throat. "No, I'll do it. Like you said, I'm more familiar with how far she can be pushed."

Noah nodded, hesitating. "And keep an eye on her. I know most pack members have had no problem with her since the integration ceremony of the twins, but..."

There were always people who hid their animosity well. Kate's blue eyes sharpened. "I know. I'll keep an eye out."

"Thank you, Kate. I appreciate it."

"No problem." Kate gave him a two-fingered salute and smiled, walking backwards. "Good luck, Alpha."

Noah's lips kicked upward as Kate went back to her students. Luck. He was surely going to need it with a mate like Lillian. Noah walked away, his mood unusually cheerful.

--- ---- ---

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I hope you enjoyed the chapter! 

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M.B.