---Marcus' POV---

The Beta still wouldn't speak.

We had all taken turns in beating the crap out of him, knowing that he wouldn't make it out alive anyhow. He knew that as well and it seemed that he was determined to take all his knowledge to the grave.

We had tried to follow his scent trail, because it would've lead us straight to his pack without fault, but there was a small issue...

There was no scent trail to be found, that typical scent of any werewolf belonging to a pack, wasn't there. Even the pups didn't leave a trail and that made us awfully curious. How could a pack of werewolves produce no scent at all that bound them and identified them as one union?

My eyes burned holes in the side of his bloody face as I glared at him, furious that he still had the guts to give me a lopsided, evil smirk. Letting my eyes wander, I couldn't help but growl lowly while I had to control my wolf.

It was clear that the man in front of me was strong and could defend his pack against rogues and other threats. The knowledge that he had used his power, his toxins and his wolf against a helpless Omega like Zayne was enough to have my own wolf roaring in anger, foaming at the mouth to tear the man apart.

But I couldn't, not until this filth had revealed where his pack was. I kicked against his seat, making him drop to the floor with a groan before he chuckled, spitting a loose tooth out with some blood.

"That's all you people got? My brother's discipline is harsher, and you call this torture?" He snorted and chuckled tiredly, resting his cheek on the floor. My knuckles cracked as I clenched my fists, shaking slightly before I motioned for the war wolves to take over.

"Any longer and I'm gonna kill the bastard, information or not."

My wolf snarled in agreement as I stalked back to the house, a tiny smile already slipping on my lips at the thought of having Zayne back in my arms. Pushing the doors open, my eyes instantly strayed through the room until they settled on Zayne's unruly mop of hair and I shook my head slightly.

It seemed that everyone now knew he could talk, at least a bit and were trying to get him to speak up. While I enjoyed hearing his soft voice that was slightly scratchy from the lack of use, I could also detect that Zayne was getting flustered and annoyed.

Walking closer, I smiled warmly as Zayne's nostrils flared before his head snapped up, a spark of happiness and relief in his eyes before he let out a small whine as I sat down beside him.

I didn't even need to open my arms; the poor pup scrambled over the seat, nearly teetering over the edge before he crawled in my lap and hid his face against my throat with a whimper.

Everyone stared at us while I gently petted over Zayne's back while giving a pointed look to the sheepish looking Wyatt, Dylan and Brandon. "Let me guess, you guys wanted to hear my mate speak so you were pushing him to talk?"

They shared guilty looks between each other, Wyatt suddenly finding the wooden floor very interesting while Dylan scratched at the back of his neck. "Uh well..." He started before glancing at Brandon, who tried his best to help his brother out. "We really didn't think it would be a problem?" Brandon finished, nodding to his own question.

I scoffed, glancing down as Zayne huffed against my throat, nuzzling against the surface before he muttered a content "Marcus." A grin spread over my lips and I couldn't help but cuddle closer against him, the rest of the pack slowly dispersing as they chuckled and called Zayne cute.

"My cute Omega." My wolf snarled possessively, hackles rising to defend our mate. Rolling my eyes, I reminded him of the fact that we were talking about our pack and that nobody here would take Zayne away from us.

He wasn't really satisfied but when Zayne blushed cutely and nuzzled my cheek like he would in wolf form, my wolf was placated, groaning in happiness. As I soothingly rubbed over Zayne's back and heard him hum with happiness, I caught sight of two little heads that were peaking around the corner.

My grin slowly faded as I watched the kids sniff the air, the girl holding her brother's hand with a frightening hold, almost as if she was terrified that he would disappear if she let go.

A low growl wanted to slip free as I observed the children; the girl couldn't be older than three years old and when I looked at her brother, I let out a deep sigh. Those eyes spoke of visions that no child should ever witness.

The boy caught my gaze and remarkably, flashed his teeth with a low growl as he stepped in front of his sister, eyes flashing between blue and gold. Huh, seems his wolf is very much alive and his instincts are on point.

His eyes slowly swept to the side, head tilting curiously as he observed Zayne before licking his lips thoughtfully as those golden eyes flitted back to the others.

"No doubt he's wondering why Zayne trusts us, after all the abuse he went through..." I thought and shot a look at Alpha Lee. I could see him nod once as he too kept an eye on the pups before Wyatt walked out of the kitchen with Sebastian, both chuckling as their newly adopted pup was dancing between their feet.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were running on a sugar high Koda." Wyatt laughed, slapping a hand over his mouth as the white little pup dashed after Sebastian, only to trip on the slick floor and skitter all the way through the room with his paws scrambling in an attempt to get some grip.

There was a soft thud as he bumped against the wall before the fluff ball shook himself and managed to sit still for a minute, panting happily as he looked through the room. His eye landed on the kids hesitating in the doorway and I already shook my head with a grin as the pup instantly jumped on its paws and headed their way.

"He's not an omega, but he is something else." I muttered, grinning as Sebastian sat beside me and yanked his mate on his lap, both staring warmly at the little pup. Koda had ran till he was in front of the two children, skidding to a halt in a play arch, tail wagging like crazy.

The boy didn't quite know what to make of the bouncy pup in front of him, but his sibling clearly had other ideas. The girl shifted, wagging her tail hesitantly as she stayed behind her brother while Koda yipped and danced around, constantly reverting back to a play arch when neither of them reacted.

I loosened my arms when Zayne turned around, watching curiously before his eyes turned hard. A frown worked its way in my face as I wanted to question why he looked angry yet sad but then I heard him whisper in my mind. "They don't know what Koda is asking. They don't know how to play..."

His eyes found mine, those hazel depths glittering with a deep fury yet sadness before they turned thoughtful. Tilting his head back, Zayne glanced at the pups before asking softly, "Would changing back hurt me?"

"Uh...Good question, hold on love." I muttered before turning my head to the side. "Alice?" I shouted as softly as I could, flinching apologetically when I heard dual whines as the two kids squeezed themselves against the wall.

"Yeah?" She shouted back from somewhere in the house.

"Would it hurt Zayne to shift back?"

It was silent for a moment before I heard a scoff, "No, he's fine. And why are we shouting? Did you forget to use the mind link?" My cheeks heated slightly, Zayne curiously nuzzling the pink skin before his mouth curled in that cute smile of his.

"I totally forgot about that." I huffed, gaining a few chuckles from the rest of the pack as they hunkered down, probably curious to see what we're up to. I didn't know what Zayne was planning but I had a faint idea and as he squirmed around in my lap, I realized just what he was planning to do and grinned.

"You need to focus on your wolf, let him back in control and the change should be flawless." I spoke in his ear before placing a tender kiss on his temple, making my pup squirm in happiness as he leaned into the touch with a hummed "Marcus."

I grinned as I heard Wyatt mutter, "That's the only name he's willing to speak. We tried to teach him our names but he stubbornly sticks to yours." He added a small glare, which only helped me gloat as I basked in my mate's soul attention.

That attention was quickly diverted to the pups, as Zayne closed his eyes and swiftly changed into his wolf. I leaned forwards, mouth slightly ajar because Zayne's tiny puppy form wasn't that tiny anymore.

What used to be the same size of a pup that just mastered walking, was now edging towards a 5-month-old wolf pup. Zayne still had his puppy features, the extra fluff in his fur and even a hint of a mane in the back of his neck, but his body had grown a few inches and stretched quite a bit.

Zayne fumbled a bit over his longer paws, wobbling like a newborn dear before he tripped and flopped down, managing to frighten Koda a bit as the pup scattered to the edge of the sofa.

I chuckled, gaining a huff from my mate as Koda charged happily into the fray, going in a play arch and yipping happily when Zayne complied. Soon he was busy fending off the hyper pup as it jumped around him, nipped at his paws and ears before crawling all over his chest.

"Look..."

Lee smirked slightly as the two other pups hesitantly joined in until we had four pups growling and grunting, scrambling after one another as the adults had to lift their legs up to avoid collision with the pups.

"Oh, that's nothing yet." Wyatt smirked before his hand disappeared into his pocket and came back with a familiar round, yellow ball, As he pushed into the squeaky tennis ball, four heads instantly snapped up, and I grinned as I saw several adults shifting into their wolves, all very eager to join in and play.

So when Wyatt threw the ball, I was more than surprised when only Zayne stayed back and everyone else rushed after the squeaky toy, Koda already attached to one side of the ball, even if Dorian held the cord on the other end.

It changed into a game of tug, where naturally only the pups won. I smiled and opened my arms widely, huffing when Zayne bounded towards me and chose to leap on my chest instead, managing to tackle me to the floor.

He winched and flattened his ears with a whine, looking guiltily at the flower pot that crashed to the floor with us. I chuckled slightly and rubbed over his fluffy head before grapping his fuzzy cheeks and gave him a gentle shake.

"That's what happens when you jump on people and knock tables over."

Zayne huffed at that, nibbling on one of the leaves with a disgruntled expression before I saw the memory of me falling through the air, grabbing for anything to stay upright and clutching the flowerpot in a death grip.

"Not my fault..." My little mate said before bopping me gently against my nose when Wyatt asked out loud who was going to clean up the created mess. I scoffed and quickly shifted as well, inviting my mate to play with me.

If he was going to point a blaming paw my way, at least we needed to have some fun before we cleaned everything up!