Kade's POV

"There has to be another option for us to choose from!" Melissa yells at her mate as she stands up from the couch that we were sitting on to stare at the people who had just made the official rogue decision. We had been sitting in the living room for hours with the elders and Joey's parents to try and figure out what the right next step was.

After a while, Joey and Cody just gave up and said that the only way to permanently fix the problem, we needed to raid their camp and fight. I agreed that that would definitely fix the problem, but I wish that there was something else we could do. Melissa had been keeping quiet since she was so angry at the whole situation that she didn't have anything to say until Joey said that we had made a final decision.

"There is no other option and you know that, I'm so sorry," Cody says, holding his hands out to hold her, but she turns away from him. I watch as she closes her eyes as her lip quivers as she tries her best not to cry. All of a sudden, she lifts up her head before whipping around to stare at her mate.

"We shouldn't even be in this situation," she whispers, fiercely, stabbing at Cody since he basically caused all this when he pulled the trigger on Reece's brother. I watch as Cody drops his head to stare at his hands as they rub together as he lets the guilt start to consume him.

"I know, okay? I know it's my fault, you don't need to remind me," he whispers, looking up at his mate with tears in his eyes. Melissa turns away, pacing up-and-down the floor as she keeps her arms crossed to show her frustration and anger.

"Yeah, you're right. It is your fault," Melissa says and I almost shoot up to tell her to stop pushing him further away from her because that's what she's doing. She's hurting him by blaming him about this whole thing when it's not just his fault. It's everyone that was in that situation and didn't do anything faster than Cody did because he was just protecting his alpha.

"This isn't helping anything," Elder Collins says, standing up to usher Melissa back to her seat. I look over at Cody to see how emotional he really was and when I saw the wetness traveling down his face, I immediately feel terrible for him because his own mate did that to him and that was 100% not okay. He knows he fucked up, but being reminded about it isn't something he needs.

"I'm sorry," Cody whispers, mainly talking to his girlfriend, but also saying it to the whole room because we all had to deal with it. I looked over at Melissa who was still sitting on the couch next to me and she still looked super pissed.

"You should be," she whispers and I'm completely shocked because I have never seen Melissa act this way, especially towards Cody. She's always calm or quiet, but maybe the stress just got the better of her that's making her act out, which still isn't right. We're all stressed right now, but it doesn't mean we're going to turn around and hurt our partner.

Lila stands up, coming over to the couch to grab Melissa's hand and pull her up. She looks at all of us as she starts to walk her out the back door. "We're gonna take a walk."

I think about going with them, but I know that if I leave Joey right now, I'll break down and that's not something anyone can handle at the moment. I look up at Cody to see him wiping his eyes with his shirt before clearing his throat and looking up at everyone. "Alright, so how many people do you think we need?"

Joey looks at his best friend with a sympathetic face as we all try to see if there's anything we could do to help him, but there's nothing except distract him. "I would say we need all of our guards and anyone else willing to fight with us. Luna's pack is willing to fight, she told me when I asked two night ago. The Spirit Mountain pack also are willing since some of their members were killed when the rogues invaded them."

"So we have enough people?" Conner asks as he writes something down on his notepad.

"I definitely think we have enough. I think we need to be worried about weapons and what our plan is to raid them because that'll make the biggest difference in the world," Joey says.

"We have been tracking their movement ever since we found where they're hiding and they haven't seemed to be doing anything. Barely anyone has moved from where they are, for good reason, so it should be easy to plan ahead," Elder Gee says.

Cody stands up, wiping his hands against his jeans. "I'll be back."

We all watch as he leaves the room to go upstairs. I notice everyone looks guilty and sad about everything's that just happened. Conner starts talking to the elders, but I don't listen as I just think about Melissa and Cody. I don't know if something happened between them to spark this fight or if all the stress just really got to her. It's none of my business, but I still want to make sure that my friends are alright or will be alright.

"...hope that nothing too bad happens to anyone in the pack. I know how tough the rogues are and how willing they are to hurt anyone they come in contact with. I'm just worried that they'll be prepared to see us coming, which they most likely will be, and be able to push us out," Conner says to the elders.

I stand up, needing to know that, at least for right now, my fiance's okay and he's here with me. I walk over to his couch as he watches me, holding his arms out for me to lay in. I sit on his lap, placing my head against his chest. Joey places a kiss to my head, letting out a soft sigh as he holds me close to his body. "I'm okay, I'll make sure everything will be okay in the end. Once all this is over, we'll get dressed and get married for everyone to see."

I smile, looking up at his beautiful face. "Okay."

After about an hour of just sitting in my man's lap while they all talk about what's going to happen, the elders decide that we've discussed enough for the day. Once they leave, everyone else comes back, including Melissa who looks a lot calmer now that not so many people were in the room. Cody keeps looking up at his mate, hoping that she's okay from the concern etched on his face.

"How about tonight, we take a break? We've had a long day of talking about stressful things and we all deserve some relaxation. Let's go out, do something and get some dinner," Joey says and I've realized that these past few days that he's been a real big supporter of taking a break and relaxing during this hard time.

I know he's just trying to keep everyone calm, but I can tell that he's also trying to get the best out of the time we have in case something bad happens during the rogue raid. I look around to see everyone nodding, agreeing with what he was saying. Lila stands up, pulling her shirt down. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Let's leave in two hours, so everyone go get ready, maybe talk through some things if you need, and then we'll get going."

We all get up to go to our own rooms and I just hope that Cody and Melissa work through their problems because I can tell how much stress all of this is putting on their relationship. When Joey and I's bedroom door closes, he turns to me, grabbing the collar of my shirt to pull me into a passionate kiss. I take a step backward as he pushes me against the wall and I can feel the need in his actions as he grips my waist. I place my hands on his chest, lightly pushing him away.

As soon as I look at his face, I see the tears falling down his face and my heart drops to my stomach. When he was in front of everyone, he was strong. He was the strong alpha that he's expected to be, but behind closed doors, he needed to break and the only thing I knew was that I would be there for him. I set my hands on his neck, placing our foreheads against one another's. "It's okay, we'll make it okay."

He shook his head, letting out a small sob before he fell onto his knees. He gripped my shirt in his hands, pulling me to the ground with him. I straddle his lap before putting his head on my chest as he started to cry even harder. I hold myself together because I need to be strong for him just like he always is for me. I run my fingertips over his scalp as he shakes with sobs against my body.

"I'm here, I'm always here. I'm right next to your side, okay? We'll get through this and get to live the life we've been waiting for," I whisper to him. He nods against my chest, balling my shirt up in his hands as he desperately tries to calm down. I know it's hard for him to feel vulnerable to other people and the fact that he's even letting me see it like this shows how bad all of this has gotten.

"I-I-I know," he lets out. I cup his face with my hands, picking his head up to see it. I use the pads of my thumbs to wipe away the salty tears as his lip continues to quiver. I run my thumb over his bottom lip, making him look up at me to nod my head, letting him know that everything was okay.

I slid my hands down to wrap around his neck before pulling him into a hug. I run my hands up-and-down his spine, giving him goosebumps along his whole body. I really wish I could just dive into his head and make him actually think that we will make everything right because even if it'll get hard for a minute, he's strong and he would never let anything happen to himself without putting up a fight.

"You're making the best decision that you can make in this situation and you know that. You've been thinking about this for weeks and you knew in the back of your head that you would have to decide to do this to protect your pack now and in the future," I explain, hoping that he will understand that this is the best and only option that will protect the most people in the years to come even if it means hurting some now.

He nods his head against my shoulder before sitting up to wipe his eyes with his sleeves. He lets out a long breath before giving me a small smile and standing up, grabbing my hands to help me up. "You're right, you're totally right."

I nod my head, kissing his cheek before pulling him to the bathroom where I start to shower to warm up for us. I grab the hem of his shirt, pulling it off of his body to reveal his toned body. I reach up, wiping the stray tears away before giving him a quick kiss. I grab towels for us while he undresses before stepping into the steaming shower.

When I get in, I immediately snatch the shampoo from his hands to do it for him. I put some in my hands before rubbing it into his scalp as he closes his eyes and tilts his head down so I could see what I was doing. He lets me do all of it for him while he stands under one of the shower heads while I stand under the other. Once we both get clean, we step out to wrap up in towels before going to the closet. I pick out some skinny jeans, a long sleeve orange t-shirt, and a black hoodie.

Once Joey gets dressed in black joggers, a white t-shirt, and a gray sweatshirt, we walk out to the living room to wait for everyone else. He sits on the couch, staring at the fireplace as it crackles while I run my hands through his hair to bring some calm to his body. I lean down, placing a single kiss on his temple before continuing to move my fingers through his wet head. He looks up at me, staring at me as I dive into our bond, which basically just means I'm feeling through his emotions in the current moment. Joey and I don't use our bond that much because we're both pretty private when it comes to stuff like that, so we only do it when we know something's wrong or just feel the need to.

He closes his eyes as I run through his emotions, figuring out each and every one. I can sense frustration and anger along with sadness and fear, telling me that he's still thinking about everything that's happened today and what's to come in the next few weeks. I run my finger over his brow to get his attention. "Don't think about it, okay? Let's just have fun for the night."

He nods his head, turning to lay his head on my chest again to feel my heartbeat against his cheek. We stay on the couch until everyone gets ready, including my family since Lila invited them to make the night even more fun. I also think Tyler, Isaac, and Oliver were also invited so it's gonna be a pretty full table at dinner.

When everyone gets downstairs, we pile into Lila's car since it's the only one that can fit all of us. Joey and I sit in the back as he stares out the window, keeping a tight grip on my hand as we make our way to the restaurant. I notice the way Cody and Melissa seem a lot better, which means they talked through some stuff and that made me feel a lot better about them.

"You okay, Joey?" Melissa asked, turning to look at us.

Joey turns his head, looking at her with a small smile. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine."

I tighten my grip on his hand, holding it close to my body. I look up at him, giving him the biggest smile I can to earn a chuckle from him so I could see his beautiful smile. We keep quiet until we get to the restaurant that we had decided to go to with my family. As soon as I get out of the car, I'm attacked with a hug from my little sister.

"I missed you!" She exclaims, holding me tight as I kiss the top of her head.

I chuckle, knowing that I just saw her a few days ago. "I missed you too."

When she pulls away, she goes over to hug Joey, who had a genuine smile placed on his lips as he said something to my sister. I go over to my parents who were now talking to Joey's parents about the wedding and how they were feeling about it. I wrap my arm around my mom's shoulder, kissing her cheek before moving towards the entrance of the restaurant with everyone.

"Have you decided yet?" Emilie asks, coming over to link arms with me. Ever since she found out I was engaged, she's been asking who would be my best man – also known as best woman, in my case. I had been trying to figure who I wanted to do it and after talking about it with Joey, I had decided.

I nod my head, making her stop in her tracks along with Melissa who was listening to our conversation. Emilie reaches out, placing one hand on my shoulder as she waits to hear who I was about to say. "I thought to make everything better, you and Melissa would team up to do it because that way I could have two of my favorite girls help me."

Emilie turns to look at Melissa who looks shocked that she was also picked because she was so sure that I would just choose my sister. "Wait, seriously?"

I nod my head. "Yeah, I like that way better than choosing and this way, you both can be just as involved in the entire process."

My sister nods her head with excitement, looking at Melissa to see that she has the same reaction. "I can't wait. This is going to be so exciting."

"Well, I would hope so," I say with a chuckle.

We all pile into the restaurant, making our way to the private room that we had reserved earlier in the night. I make sure to sit next to my fiance along with my sister, who was already having a conversation with my man about something random. Once we order food, we all start talking about the pack since my family still had questions even though they've known about it for months.

"But, I mean, it just doesn't make sense that you can just transform into a creature," my dad says, speaking to Conner that was telling him about the shifting process.

"Dad, it's not something you'll ever really understand, trust me," I tell him with an exasperated sigh.

"If it doesn't make sense, then how can it be real?" He asks.

"Because it's not something that needs to make sense to you," I tell him, making everyone at the table laugh lightly as my dad sits back in his chair while my mom pats his shoulder in sympathy.

"Well, what should we do after this?" Lila asks, changing the subject.

"We could just go walk around the shopping center or something," Mom says.

"Nope, last time I did that, Emilie and Kade spent a lot of money and my card is still trying to recover from that night," Joey says with a small chuckle as he gives the two of us a playful glare. I smile, loving that he was starting to calm down more and focus more on right now than what's to come in the future.

Mom laughs. "Yeah, that makes total sense."

I look over at my sister to see her small blush that she had on as she held onto her hoodie that she had gotten on that shopping trip. I look up at Cody when he starts to talk. "We could go bowling or something like that."

I chuckle, running a hand through my hair as the memory hits me. "Yeah, my parents banned Emilie and I from going bowling anymore because we somehow broke a ball one time. Apparently, it was pretty old, but they got so embarrassed that they vowed to never let us do it again."

My mom shakes her head. "Never again."

"Oh, wait, you know what's right next to the bowling place?" My dad asks and we all try to remember and as soon as I figure it out, I get super excited at the idea.

I nod my head in excitement, confusing Joey next to me since he couldn't remember what building was there. "Yeah, that's what we're doing. We're going to have lots of fun."

As I see the neon sign come into view, I practically shake in my seat with excitement at the idea of showing Joey my skills since I've been good at this ever since my parents took Emilie and me when we were young. Putting on the shoes and hitting the ground to glide against the cold substance feels so freeing, especially if you figure out how to get off the wall and balance on your own.

"Ice skating?" Joey asks when he sees the sign.

I nod my head. "Yeah, my parents used to take us a lot. I'm actually pretty good at it, I can teach you."

"So can I, I used to go a lot with my friends at my old school," Melissa says, turning in her seat to look at us while Lila finds a place to park since it was surprisingly busy tonight. We all pile out of the car to go inside to get our skates and prepare to hit the ice.

"What if I fall?" Joey asks as he sits on the bench next to me.

"You fall and you get back up, that's all you can do. Just stick by me because if you get on the wall, you won't find the courage to get off, so let me help you, alright?" I explain and he nods, standing up with me. I reach out to grab his hands when he almost loses his balance and starts to fall backward.

He chuckles. "I don't think I'll be too good at this."

"Don't say that until you've tried it," I tell him.

I look at my parents who were sitting with Lila and Conner to help them get their shoes on and I'm immediately hit with a wave of gratitude that they were good friends now. I don't know what I would've done if my parents didn't like them because these memories we're all creating together really were the best for me. Emilie comes to stand next to me, taking me out of my trance to pull me towards the ice.

"You ready?" I ask Joey, who looks pretty nervous to take his first step.

"Yeah," he says and I make sure Cody's okay with Melissa since he hasn't ever been skating before either and would need to learn a few things before he got too confident.

I grab hold of the side before taking a step, gliding with ease against the ice. Joey's next and when his foot hits the ground, his knee buckles and he almost trips, caught by my sister and I. We laugh, helping him up to stand on the ice so he could get used to the feeling. I intertwine my fingers with his in a tight grip as Emilie does the same so he has support on both sides.

"Alright, just push yourself off with the side of your blade when you feel yourself slowing down," Emilie instructs him.

When I look down at his feet, I chuckle when I see them spread apart awkwardly. I reach down, grabbing his knee to slide it closer to his other leg to make it easier on him. He gives me a grateful look as we help get him going by holding onto him as we skate as slow as possible to ease him into the experience. I look behind me to see Cody doing surprisingly well next to his girlfriend who was talking to him. My parents still hadn't made it onto the ice with Lila and Conner for some reason, but I focus more on my fiance that was still struggling a bit next to me.

"You're not doing too bad. You haven't fallen yet, which is surprising. When I did this for the first time, I immediately fell and everyone in the rink laughed at me," Emilie told him.

I watched him turn his head to lightly glare at her. "Well, that makes me feel great."

"We got you, we won't let you fall," she tells him.

"Unless we want to laugh because that would be hilarious," I tell him, letting out a small chuckle when he turns his glare to focus on me. I let go of his hand to see how well he would do without much support and he stumbles, surprised that I let go. I immediately grab his shoulders to steady him as I skate backwards in front of him.

After a few minutes, he was doing better without having my support, so I rush over to my parents who were having trouble getting onto the ice with Joey's parents. I step out of the rink to see two nervous people along with my mom urging them to come out. I reach out to grab Lila's hands and pull her up. "Come on, we got you, alright?"

Lila looks up at me in shock before looking out at the rink to see her son skating away with my sister that was urging him to go a bit faster. When she sees him, I can tell she gains the courage and follows me onto the ice. I help her step on without stumbling and holds her hands as I stand in front of her while my parents help Conner.

I can tell that Lila wasn't having too much trouble and was getting it down really quickly, making me chuckle that she had so much hesitation at the idea of doing this. "You're a natural."

"Really?" She asks, staring down at her feet.

"Yeah, just don't stare at your feet the entire time. People can get pretty fast around here and could easily knock you over if you're not paying attention, so make sure to always be looking up, alright?" I tell her.

She nods her head as I lightly let go of her hands to see how she would do on her own. I turn around for a second to see that Joey had stumbled to the ground while Emilie was helping him up. I got my mom's attention to watch over Lila while I skated towards my man, who had a small blush on his face.

"You okay?" I ask, grabbing his hand and helping him up.

"Yeah, perfectly fine. She just let go," he said, motioning to my sister.

"I just wanted to test how you were doing," she says with a giggle as she wipes some ice off of the back of his head before speeding up to loop around to my mom and Lila. I tapped Joey's shoulder and motioned to his mom that was skating beautifully all by herself.

He groans, running a hand over his freezing face. "How come she's so good?"

"She's a natural," I tell him, gripping his hand before pushing both of us forward at a faster speed than last time. He looks down at me with a smile and I can tell that even though he fell, he's having a good time.

We stay on the ice for about an hour and a half and the only person that still had some problems was Conner, but that's probably because he was more focused on talking to my dad than skating. I could tell they were seriously bonding and that made my heart happy at the idea of them being friends.

Joey was doing a lot better and he even figured out how to do it by himself. He wasn't able to speed up that well, but he still did it without any support and that was pretty good in just an hour and a half. Cody was pretty good as well even though he never let go of Melissa's hand the entire time, but he never fell, unlike his friend.

Once we step off the ice, Joey and Conner look grateful to be done with the task as they start to take off their skates. We return our shoes before grabbing a cup of hot chocolate that they were handing out for the day. Before we go home, we all play some arcade games and I can tell that that was definitely Joey's strong suit by how many tickets he wins before getting some candy for the both of us.

Once we're done, we say bye to my family before making out way home. Joey and I were both tired and as soon as we got home, we went to our bed and passed out, happy that after everything that happened this morning, we were still able to have a good time with the people we loved.