Sapphire Nightborne

It had been five days since I last saw Xander and to be honest, I really missed him. He had been my rock for my entire stay here in Shadow Mountain, so it felt empty right now to not have him here beside me. With him out of action for the time being, I took on the responsibilities of my role as Alpha Female to run the pack.

It was extremely exhausting as I did my duty of listening to the pack members and handling their disputes. Brendon, Jared, Chloe, Angel, and Amelia tried their best to help me but they each had their own problems to deal with. Brendon had to oversee a greater number of patrols due to the obvious danger we were in with Damien's ominous warning and threat. Jared and Chloe both were out of the question to ask for help as they were dealing with their unborn baby which a full-time job itself. Amelia had to handle her own pack to help them integrate into the Shadow Mountain community as just like dogs and cats, our kind don't mix well and most of the disputes I had to handle were between her pack and mine. I had sent Angel to take my place to train the females of the pack and that was almost more than she could handle the growing number of women willing to take part.

Everyone in the pack was on edge, with their Alpha out of the picture for the past five days and the next two, we were in a vulnerable position to be attacked. Many who I spoke to acknowledge my capability to lead, but I was not Xander who was someone who had led them for years and who had their complete trust.

I sat at his desk reading the newest reports from our patrols as well as patrols from other packs as well. They were documents analysing Damien's attacks, his pattern of invasion. Blank white pieces of paper littered my desk with some spilling to the ground as I drew up every possible way Damien could possibly break into my pack. This was a daily routine for me before I handed them to Brendon and Amelia who would then direct their patrols to scan the following places for any breaches in security.

I was in the midst of drawing my thirty-second map when I heard to voices screaming and cursing with each other before a door slammed. I rolled my eyes as an annoyed Jared trudged down the stairs before walking into Xander's office, pouting as he plopped into the chair in front of my desk.

"I can't wait for these next few months to be over."

As wolves, our gestation period was much shorter than humans. Without even lifting my eyes from my work, I could already picture his tired eyes and mouth twisted into a scowl. I could picture this very clearly because this had become a daily occurrence that caused me to be concerned for the first two days but did not seem to draw out my sympathy as much anymore.

"Just remember that she loves you and that in the next two hours you will go back up there where she will throw her arms around you to apologise."

"Right and in twenty-four hours' time...  I will be right back here talking to someone who seems to be annoyed with me."

"Jared, you are twenty-five already so please stop pouting. It is an unattractive look for your old age."

He opened his mouth to retort before the door to my study flung open again to reveal a dirty and dishevelled Brendon and Amelia. They staggered in before slumping next to my desk, resting their bodies against each other.

Jared picked a twig out of Brendon's hair as Brendon yawned and shifted to lean on Jared's shin while Amelia moved to lean against mine with her legs thrown across Brendon's.

"So... find anything new?"

"If you count that huge hole in the ground that Brendon and I fell into then yes, we found something new."

My ears perked up, they might have uncovered a trap that Damien's pack had laid out for us before they left our pack grounds.

"Don't look so happy, Saph. That hole has been there for a...a...ages."

Jared and I exchanged looks before turning our attention to the large, powerful Third who was now resting his head on Jared's knee.

"What do you mean it was there for ages?"

Brendon gave a small smile before turning to Jared.

"Remember that large hole me you and Xander dug.... I found it"

A loud shriek was heard as Amelia had promptly launched herself at Jared and Brendon grabbing their hair in each fist.

"Ow! Amelia..."

"Are you telling me I just fell into a pile of dirt because you guys were stupid one day!"

"We were young... you are going to pull my hair out! Sapphire! Control your cat... that hurts!"

"It wasn't even our idea... Amelia your claws!"

I placed my hand in my hands as I watched an Alpha, Second and Third wrestling with each other like children. I was about to intervene to help my proud commanders when my door flew open... for the third time.

This time it was Angel who staggered in, her clothes drenched with sweat.

"You won't believe what I had to deal with today, those girls are... am I interrupting something?"

"No!"

"Yes! Angel, save your brothers!"

She gave me a questioning look before I sighed and rolled up a stack of unused paper. I walked over to the snarling ball of limbs to promptly hit each of the three causing them to break apart, still scowling at each other. Jared and Brendon checking to make sure they did not have a large bald spot on the top of their heads. I walked back to my seat and smiled.

"Angel, your report please?"

"Well, I am happy to say that..."

The door flew open again and I was about to scream at whoever was coming in. I had only seven hours of sleep these past few days, listening to people complain about the most trivial things possible and, had to deal with a couple of high-ranking toddlers so I was in a bit of a mood.  I opened my mouth to let out everything when I saw who it was.

"Has there been an attack? I heard screaming and threats of murder."