Addie's POV:

We ran through the plans with Mateo's pack and Lynn's showed up shortly after. Marissa and Geoff didn't show up until the next day and by then it appeared to Lynn's scouts that there was definitely movement from Rego's pack and whatever the hell vampire clan it was, heading our direction. We ran through the plans with all the packs individually and as a group, just to make sure everyone understood what we would be doing.

I'd never been afraid of the dark. My mom taught me the dark could be used to your advantage because a lot of people had a natural fear of the dark. What people didn't understand was taking away your sight allowed your other senses to become heightened and as long as you remained calm, you were actually safer in the dark where yes, you couldn't see them, but they couldn't see you either. It was a matter of patience, of choosing your timing wisely, of listening for when they started to get freaked out; be it a stumble from unsure footing or an increase in breathing from adrenaline, there was always a give-away that could give you the advantage as long as you stayed calm and quiet.

Of course, she was referring to humans and humans was not what I was dealing with anymore and so as the sun started to set, for the first time ever, I was a little afraid of the dark.

These were predators, they saw better in the night than I could, their hearing was better, they were faster, stronger. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little afraid but being afraid wasn't terrible. The only time fear was really a problem was when you let it take over you, otherwise fear was good. It kept you cautious and alert, it kept you from being overconfident. I had a feeling Rego was a little too confident based on my single interaction with him.

Overconfident was easy to manipulate. Overconfident was a bigger weakness than being a little slower.

I was checking over the map one more time to make sure we didn't leave any holes open, to make sure the only apparent weaknesses were intentional weaknesses that would lead to traps. That's when Xander came up behind me and set his hands on my shoulders. It wasn't because I saw him I knew it was him, I just knew it was him from the touch, from the way I seemed to be able to feel him more than before.

"You all right, love?" He asked, brushing my hair aside and pressing a kiss just below my ear that sent chills through my body.

"I'm good," I nodded. "A little nervous."

"I'd be worried if you weren't," he chuckled, wrapping his arm around my waist and nuzzling into my neck. "Perhaps we should ease some tension before night takes over," he said, sliding his hand down to the top of my jeans.

I shouldn't. I knew I definitely shouldn't but damn... I wanted him.

I turned towards him and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss. Kissing him was so electrifying. I didn't think I'd ever get used to what that felt like. His hands slid into my back pockets and he broke away from the kiss, pressing his forehead against mine.

"I think we should take this inside," he said, lifting me up and starting into the house.

We barely made it to the stairs when he paused. It was the face. The linking face.

"What is it?" I asked, my heart picking up speed.

"It's Alpha Rykan again," he frowned. "He wants to talk to us. Leila said he's at the border."

"Oh," I said, a little surprised. "Well, I guess we should... Let him in?"

"Hold on," Xander sighed, setting me down and pulling me into a tight hug. "I want to know what he wants."

I rested my head in his chest and waited. It was weird how much communicating went on that I couldn't even know about but I'd gotten at least mostly used to it so I waited until he spoke again.

"He says he's reconsidering helping," Xander said, pulling back just enough to look at me with a curious expression. "He's fine coming in just himself. He just wants to talk, he says."

"I thought he didn't want to as long as the rogues were helping us," I said, raising an eyebrow. He seemed pretty damn adamant about that point.

"He said he had a change of heart," Xander shrugged.

"Should we be suspicious?" I asked, frowning.

"No," Xander said, shakig his head. "Rykan may be a giant pain in my ass but he'd never stoop to deceit. It's not who he is. If anything, he's too honest. If he meant us harm, he wouldn't sneak around like Rego does, we'd know he wanted a fight. Plus, if we did manage to get Rykan on our side he actually has a really good standing with the Elders, he could help us out with that problem too."

"All right," I shrugged. "If you trust him."

"Trust is a strong word. Let's just say I know him well enough," Xander said. "I'll allow him through."

We exchanged a look that said we were so over having other things to do that weren't each other. I just wanted to get in bed with him but there were other things that required our attention and so he took my hand and led me back outside. Shit, I guess this was something I had to get used to, it was part of being with Xander.

The thought gave me pause. I hadn't really thought it through until that moment.

I looked over at him and he smiled at the kids being led into the house. The kids would be staying in the safe-room with some adults until this was over. Mira ran over and he let my hand go to give her a hug and kiss on the head. My heart melted even more than it already had and the answer was pretty clear: there was no way I wanted to be away from him after this.

He was mine.

He sent Mira in the house and straightened out, giving me a small smile and taking my hand. The smile faded and concern took its place as he brought his other hand up and cupped my cheek. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," I said, shaking my head and lifting on my toes to kiss his lips. "I'm just looking forward to being with you after this when we can't be interrupted."

The smile on his face grew and he tugged me against him. "Me too, love," he murmured against my lips. "Me too."

Someone cleared their throat and it snapped us out of it. I glanced over to see Rykan standing at the bottom of the porch steps but was surprised to see his air of dominance was far less intimidating than it had been before. He almost looked... Nervous?

His eyes darted to me then to Xander. Xander seemed equally surprised and tilted his head to the side. "What's up?" Xander asked. "What did you want to talk to us about?"

"With all due respect, Alpha Xander," Rykan said, his eyes coming to me. "It's Luna Adira I was hoping to speak to, if you'll allow it."

My eyes widened in surprise and I looked over at Xander. He seemed equally surprised but also tensed, tightening his hold on me. "What is it you want from my Luna?"

"I just want to ask her some questions," Rykan said, holding his hand up in surrender. "That's all. Then you'll have our support."

Xander regarded him a moment then looked over at me. I was normally very suspicious but there was something almost adorable in the way Rykan looked at me nervously. Despite the fact he was actually taller than Xander and very much intimidated me the first time I saw him, he seemed anything but intimidating in that moment. He didn't seem capable of even being intimidating with how nervous he was.

"Uh, let's go up to the office?" I suggested.

Rykan nodded, relief crossing his face. "Thank you, Luna," he said, his eyes darting to Xander.

Xander's grip tightened momentarily and I wrapped my arm around his waist to reassure him. He looked over at me and at first I wasn't sure he would let me be alone with Rykan but he reluctantly nodded, placing a kiss against my lips and stepping back.

To say it felt strange to lead Rykan into the house and then into Xander's office by myself was an understatement. The truth was, since I planned to stick around, I'd probably have to get used to stuff like this. It wasn't my normal but it was theirs and if I wanted Xander, I had to learn his normal.

So I sat at the desk and watched Rykan sit across from me, stiff as a board, his leg bouncing repeatedly. He was definitely nervous. Several times he opened his mouth to speak then said nothing.

"All right, listen," I said, leaning forward and clasping my hands over the desk. "I'm new to this so forgive me if I'm missing some kind of etiquette here but for fuck's sake, just spit it out."

That almost earned me a smile. Almost. I wondered if this dude ever smiled.

"I uh," he paused, clearing his throat and darting his eyes away briefly before bringing them back to mine. "I wanted to know what you felt when you met Xander, when you saw him for the first time. Did you feel the bond?"

His question caught me off-guard. That was so not what I was expecting. I mean, I didn't know what to expect but that really wasn't even close to being on my radar.

"Um," I tilted my head, wondering why in the hell he would ask me that. "I did. I mean, I didn't understand it but I definitely felt something different. I felt drawn to him in ways I couldn't explain."

"Did you have dreams?" He asked.

Well, that was a little personal, especially considering yes, I had dreams and they were... Well, even thinking about them had me crossing my legs.

"Why are you asking me this?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"I'm trying to understand," he muttered, darting his eyes away. "It doesn't happen often that a wolf ends up with a human mate. Other supernatural beings aren't as rare to have as mates but humans are very rare."

"So, you just want an education or what?" I pressed.

"Something like that," he said, lifting his eyes to me. I saw hesitance there and wondered what his problem was. "Were you afraid of him? Of what you felt with him?"

"I mean, I guess," I said, tilting my head to the side. "You realize how weird this is, right? I mean, you have to or you wouldn't have wanted me alone."

He didn't answer and he avoided my gaze. That was strange. He had no problem maintaining eye contact yesterday, to the point it was annoyingly intimidating. Today, he lacked a lot of the confidence he had before.

Then I remembered what Xander said. He's very private. He made his stance on working with the rogues pretty clear so the shift had to mean something happened to change his mind. Something that meant more to him than his hate for the rogues.

My eyes widened and I couldn't help a small smile. "She's human, isn't she?" I guessed.

"Who?" Rykan asked, meeting my gaze.

I had a feeling he normally had a pretty good poker face but today, he did not.

"Your mate," I said simply, leaning back in my chair.

He sighed and looked away again, giving me a curt nod.

"And how's that working out for you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm trying to... Approach gently," he said with a strained voice, bringing his eyes back to me. "I wasn't expecting the dreams. To be able to interact with her in them. I just want to know what she's feeling so I can handle it the best I can, so I don't scare her away."

Oh shit. If he was interacting with her in the dreams... I tried to remember the email Xander and I looked at together that had answers to his questions about the dreams. Apparently there could be two kinds. One, like what we experienced, but the other was if there was a big distance between us, then we could interact in our dreams like we could in real life. We could communicate. It was a way to help mates find each other if for whatever reason they got separated, or so the email said.

"Where is she?" I asked, titling my head to the side.

"I don't know," he frowned. "I only saw her for a second and she was gone. Then in the dream... At first I thought I was just dreaming about her but I wasn't," he said, shaking his head. "I could talk to her and I swear she was talking back to me as if we were... As if it wasn't just a dream. Like I was really talking to her."

"Right, I get it and you're right, you are interacting with her in the dreams and she's interacting with you, though she probably doesn't realize it," I nodded. "Well, shit," I sighed. "I guess you're going to have to try to find a way to convince her you're not just a dream if you don't know where she is."

"I tried but... She was confused when I brought it up," he frowned. "I don't know how to convince her I'm real when she only sees me in her dreams."

"I wish I could help you," I admitted. I really didn't know what to say. If my dream tried to tell me it was real, I'd think I was going crazy. "I mean, do you know anything about her? Nick, our computer guy, he's really good at tracking people down. We might be able to help you find her if you have enough information."

"I don't have much," he admitted. "I just know what she looks like and her name... Kora," he said. "I appreciate the offer but I have my own trying to track her down. It's hard without a picture and a last name."

"Right," I nodded. "Sorry, I really don't know what to tell you. I mean, I can forward you all the information we got from the Elders about how it works when you're mated to a human if that would help."

"Please do," he nodded. "You did feel the bond with Xander?" He asked. "You felt something?"

"Oh, I definitely felt it," I said, biting down on my lip. "I just didn't understand it. Even after he told me, it took me a while to understand it fully."

"Did you learn about marking?" He asked, his eyes darting to my neck.

"Yeah," I nodded. "The Elders say the humans don't have to mark in order to complete the bond." I couldn't believe I was actually having a conversation like this, it was surreal. "They said as long as the marking is mutual and consensual, it'll complete the bond on both ends."

He nodded in understanding and although I was a little annoyed with him the first day I met him, I couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. He frowned in concentration and seemed very torn with how to proceed and I couldn't help but wonder if this was exactly how Xander looked when he found out I was human and didn't know what to do. I could just picture him repeatedly running his hand through his hair as he tried to figure it out.

I'd spent so much time wrapped up in how thrown off I was, I forgot to think about how much he was and I still felt bad about that. Thinking of Xander in a similar position to how I saw Rykan now made me more empathetic to Rykan.

"Listen, just try to be patient, okay?" I said. His eyes snapped to me and it was clear he was distraught. He, like Xander, was probably also expecting a wolf as a mate. Having a human mate made it complicated. "It's weird for us. It's not our world. Hearing it explained is surreal. Just try to... Not solely focus on physical intimacy. Try to be more than that for her because that's how humans do it most the time. Most the time we get to know each other and move on from there, we don't just..." I trailed off. He could fill in the blanks.

He nodded in understanding. "I'd like to keep an open line of communication with you after this. In case something else comes up that I need an answer for. I just want to be good for her."

I smiled and nodded in understanding. So the grump apparently had a real soft spot underneath the exterior. "That's fine," I said. "I prefer we keep communication open as well. We briefly talked about the issue with the Elders, Xander says you're in good standing with them. If you are then surely you can see there's some problems in the way things are being run."

Rykan hesitated for a moment but slowly nodded. "I agree. The problem is that the situation is delicate," he said. "If you really want to take on the Elders, you're going to have to be cautious. There's a reason the current Elders are in power and it's because they're strong. Very strong. Strong people with connections are dangerous. I'm on their good side because it's safer for my pack if I am."

"So you don't want to take them on?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I definitely want to, take them on," Rykan said, shaking his head. "They need to be challenged. The only reason I haven't is because if I'm going to start trouble I want a strong force behind me. I won't put my pack at risk without knowing we can survive it. My pack may be strong but the Elders have connections to all shifters, not just wolves. They have connections to all the supernatural beings. Even our two packs together would not be enough to challenge their authority. You have to understand that two of the members are original members from when the Elders came into existence, they've been around for centuries. They're powerful and they've made a lot of friends over the years."

"Friends, sure, but I seriously doubt they haven't made enemies too," I pointed out.

"They have," Rykan agreed. "The problem is that they operate on fear and a lot of people are easily controlled by fear. I would advise you to be cautious, Luna, in the way you proceed with getting help on this. Some people are so afraid of them that they would immediately run to the Elders if they heard you and Xander were even thinking about challenging their authority. Make sure you really trust whoever you bring it up to, not everyone will take your side. Some people are afraid and others prefer to turn a blind eye or they simply just don't mind being herded like sheep-dogs."

"I get it," I nodded. "Say we did manage to pull a strong enough group together. Would you be willing to take part in it?"

"I'd insist on being a part of it," he agreed. "But I don't take risks, Luna. It has to be almost certain we can win in the end. My pack is important to me," he said. "I won't let them get hurt over something that won't change anything, or worse, puts targets on their backs. I don't mind getting in the heat of things. If it was just my life I was concerned for, I would jump on board immediately because I don't appreciate the way the Elders have handled things recently," he admitted. "Just because I follow their rules doesn't mean I agree with them. I do it to keep my pack safe. The same way I won't take part in this without certainty because even if I'm the only one from my pack on the front-lines with you, my status still puts my pack at risk even if I don't ask them to be involved."

"That's fair," I shrugged. "I can understand that. I can tell you we already have four packs besides yours and ours that are willing to-" I stared but was interrupted by Gina opening the door, her posture tense.

Her eyes met mine and I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say but it didn't stop my nerves from going on high alert when the words came out.

"They're here," she said. "Rego's here."

A/N:

Heyy lovelies! Hope your week is going well ❤ Let me know what you thought of this chapter!

It's the calm before the storm, are you guys ready?

Who's ready for the fight to be over so Addie and Xander can spend some quality time together?

Rykan made another appearance, what'd you think of his conversation with Addie?

What about their discussion about the Elders?

All right it's pretty obvious now the next chapter is going to be a fight, if you're uncomfortable reading slightly gory stuff, I suggest you skip the chapter ❤

Are you guys nervous for what's coming?

People, this is not a drill, we only have two chapters and an epilogue left in this book!! Only one chapter after the big fight! But do not fret, most of your favorite characters from this book will be making appearances and playing roles in the next book ❤

Until Friday, have a great rest of your week! ❤