"Gracie, are you okay?" I rushed out the second she answered the phone, worried that I was taking too long at the pack house.

"I'm fine, honestly. Not much has happened with me." She answered calmly, acting as a voice of reason despite being in labour.

"I'm just finishing up here and then I'll be right over." I promised, "The drills are all finished, so I'm just checking on everyone to make sure they're okay."

"Make sure you come back with a guard, Cam. Xavier will kill me if anything happens to you." Gracie warned, "My car keys should be in Noah and I's room if you want to take the car."

"It's okay, I don't want to drum up too much attention so close to the hospital. We were walking as a group from a neighbourhood near there and it still seemed pretty untouched, so I'd rather not draw the rogues away from the border."

"That's considerate of you Cameron, but don't sideline your own safety too much."

"Sure thing, Gracie. Speak soon."

"Stay safe, Cam." Gracie hung up quickly, not wanting to waste any time.

I tucked my phone into my pocket and slipped back into the kitchen of the pack house, everyone looking over at me instantly as if they could sense my presence. According to Gracie, I had an aura similar to Xavier's since I was Luna, so people could always tell when I was nearby around here. At first, the idea had freaked me out, but I was used to it by this point.

I scooped up a tea pot and started making my rounds, offering people a warm drink as I checked on them and reassured them that everything was running smoothly. I didn't know that it was going smoothly, exactly, but Grace had a pretty good idea of what was going on (because she had marked Noah) and she seemed pretty calm, which was a good sign as far as I'm concerned.

"Luna Cameron?" A familiar small voice called from my side, tugging on Xavier's hoodie sleeve.

"Lilah, are you okay?" I smiled, crouching down to his height so that I could see him properly.

"I'm fine, Cam." Lilah nodded enthusiastically, "A few of the others didn't believe me when I said you told me Alpha Xavier was already sorting the baddies."

I smiled softly at that, finding it sweet that he believed my words so strongly that he was telling all of his friends, too. It made me feel a little better that I had brought comfort to at least one person during these difficult times.

"Why don't you lead me to them and we'll have a little chat, then?" I smiled sweetly, taking his little outstretched hand.

I had to take tiny steps in order to not walk tot fast for him as I followed behind, being lead to a table right in the corner that was surrounded by fabric. It looked as if they had built a little fort with the pillows and blankets that had been brought down here to make people comfortable- it was lit up by the yellow glow of a torch and honestly looked pretty cosy.

"In there?" I double checked once Lilah came to a stop outside of it.

"The password is 'I'm not a rogue'." He whispered, making me chuckle under my breath.

"Thanks for the intel." I laughed, crouching down at the entrance to the tent.

I knocked on the floor outside of the entrance, hearing a chorus of hushed whispers from inside the tent bicker over who should answer the door- they decided to just play a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who the unfortunate soul would be, the rest of them scrambling away from the entrance. They thought I couldn't hear because I was human, but they weren't exactly being quiet. Not to mention, I could see each of their shadowy outlines through the sheet because of the torch glow. Watching them interact was like watching a terrible shadow-puppet theatre. 

"W-Who's there?" A voice called from outside, trying to be subtle with their peeking out of the gap in the entrance, but failing miserably.

"Not a rogue." I replied, amusement dancing in my voice.

"Guys, he knew the password." The kid gasped, crying for help from his friends.

"May I come in?" I requested, knocking on the floor once again.

After more hushed debate over whether I was allowed inside or not, they finally all agreed and scooted aside so that I could crawl inside their fabric fortress, despite being way too large for the low ceiling. Once I was inside, all of the kids were sat with gaping mouths, gawking at me with incredulity. They probably couldn't believe that the Luna of their pack had actually just crawled inside a fabric fort during a battle against rogues and I couldn't really believe it either, but here I was.

"I hear that some of you are a little worried about what's going on right now." I began gently, keeping my voice low and calm.

None of them were quite brave enough to speak up, but I received a few nervous nods in response. I couldn't imagine being so young and having to deal with this, knowing your parents were out fighting dangerous rogues in the middle of the night. Understandably, they were terrified.

"With a fort this strong? You've got nothing to worry about." I played along with their make believe, "You're cosy and safe in here and your parents will be absolutely fine. You want to know why?"

I obviously peaked their interest with that, because they momentarily forget about my status and chorused a 'why?' eagerly in response.

"Because they're all brave and strong- stronger than some stupid rogues. You know what our secret weapon is?" I urged.

"What is it?" Lilah gasped, leaning closer.

"Each other." I beamed, "Our pack community is so tight that we're all helping each other right now, but the rogues don't have that. They don't know how to be nice to others and help each other, so they're not very good at fighting. If you can't work together, then you're destined to fail. Our pack are the best at working together, so we'll defeat them in no time."

"So we'll win?" Another kid asked curiously, wide eyed.

"Of course." I nodded, feeling confident in my words.

They all visibly relaxed at that, letting go of some of that pent up anxiety they had about their parents being out fighting right now. They all began to chatter amongst themselves now that they weren't uncomfortable and I silently slipped out, not wanting to disturb their play. Lilah noticed and gave me an enthusiastic wave goodbye, making a smile stretch on my face once again. What a sweet kid.

"Right, I've got to go check on Gracie at the hospital now. Is everything under control here?" I checked with some of the guards, who all nodded.

"Let me escort you, Luna." One of them offered, stepping away from the group.

"That would be great- Gracie would kill me if I went alone. Let's get going." I rushed out of the door, being closely followed by the guy, "What's your name, by the way?"

"I believe you called me Greg?" He chuckled, taking me by surprise.

"That's you Greg?" I gasped, "I'm so sorry! With everything going on, I didn't even recognise you. How are you? Your name's actually Phil, right?"

"It is, but I don't mind you calling me Greg. I'm surprised you recognised me at all, after all you only ever saw me late at night in the shadows." He laughed, "I'm doing fine- sleeping better these days."

"I'm so sorry you had to stay up all night because of me." I groaned, "I sleep like a baby at night now, you'll be glad to hear."

"From what I can tell, you've changed a lot, Cameron." Greg hummed, "Let me know if I'm out of line, but you've really calmed down and stepped up to the Luna role. It's not a bad thing, since you still seem fun and bubbly, but it doesn't seem... What's the word."

"Self destructive?" I offered with a chuckle, "I know what you mean. I'm happier, I have a sense of belonging here with the pack."

"I'm glad to hear it." Greg nodded, "I could tell you would make a good Luna the second you left me snacks, despite thinking Alpha Xavier and I were part of some criminal gang."

I chuckled on that, thinking back to my evenings spent with Greg following me around the town. Without ever speaking much, I had grown accustomed to having Greg around, so it felt as if I was talking to an old friend right now.

We stepped up to the hospital and I invited Greg inside to check on Gracie with me. However, inside was chaos. I guess the battle was more intense than I had thought, because there were people everywhere inside. Pack members who were hurt in battle lining the waiting room and corridors, Doctors and nurses rushing from patient to patient frantically. I had never so much blood in all of my life.

"Have there been any pack deaths yet?" I asked a passing Doctor, who politely bowed his head in greeting.

"Not yet, but one patient is close." He responded gravely before rushing off again.

I bit my lip, dread setting in my stomach. I wonder if Xavier is okay... Shaking that thought from my head, I lead Greg through the waiting room and into the room where Gracie was. Closing behind the door behind us to block out some of the noise, I was relieved to see that gracie was still doing okay. Despite being significantly more sweaty, she was handling everything really well.

"There you are." I beamed, "How's bump?"

"Is it bad out there? I can hear so many people all at once." Gracie rushed out, revealing just how anxious she truly was.

"Don't worry about it, Gracie. It's not like you can be much help in your state." I tutted, pouring her a glass of water and sitting by her bedside.

"I suppose you're right, but I feel so useless." Gracie groaned, "Why did they choose tonight? I could have been out by Noah's side by tomorrow."

"After giving birth?" I spluttered, "You'd need to rest."

"Nonsense." She shook her head, "I would have been out there."

"If you don't mind me interjecting, I think you should know something." Greg piped up from the corner where he stood patiently.

"What is it?" I frowned, focusing my attention on him.

"We have reason to believe that they chose the day you gave birth on purpose. We're not sure why, or how they knew, but Xavier mentioned that you had reason to believe there was a traitor on the inside, Cameron. Perhaps they caught wind of the news from the doctors and relayed it to Jude?" Greg revealed, taking me by surprise.

They chose the day Gracie was giving birth on purpose? I mulled over this for a minute, trying to work out what the hell was going through Jude's head. He was cunning, so I should have realised that this was no coincidence sooner, but that's easier said than done.

"He's smart." I finally concluded, "Xavier and Noah were preoccupied with the birth, so they were delayed in stopping them from crossing the border. Not to mention, they're both preoccupied. Jude's taken them by surprise by using their weak points against them." I sighed, rubbing my face anxiously.

"That or he just wanted Noah to miss the birth as one extra 'fuck you'." Gracie grumbled, suddenly groaning as another contraction came and went.

"That sounds like it hurts." I grimaced, "Are you okay?"

"Of course it hurts, Cameron!" Gracie snapped, sipping the water to calm herself down.

"Sorry." I muttered, wracking my brain for an idea on what to do.

"You should go." Gracie sighed, "I'll be alright here by myself. There's more pressing things going on right now and I could use with you reporting back on how Noah's doing. My minds going crazy with scenarios, despite knowing he's not hurt."

"I don't think I should leave you." I shook my head, "I promised I'd stay with you while you give birth."

"Well I'm not giving birth just yet." Gracie shrugged, "I'm not fully dilated yet, so if you hurry you can still catch the birth."

"Are you sure?" I double checked.

"Positive. Tell him I love him." Gracie nodded, "He'll want updates on how I'm doing too, or he won't be able to focus on the fight."

Nodding in agreement, I stood silently and headed for the door. With one last glance at Gracie, I slipped out of the door and made my way back to the waiting room- Greg following behind me closely.

It scared me slightly that I was heading into the mix of things, but I had to offer my support there too or I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if things went wrong.