The sun was up and so was I. The floorboards under my mattress were squeakier than a guinea pig, because the adults had deliberately loosened them, so I had to inch my way out of my sleeping bag and tiptoe to the ladder to avoid waking Jess. Cluck Norris and Princess Lay-a were fast asleep, their heads tucked under their wings. They'd spent the night on Nia's old bed, and I sincerely hoped she would never find out.

I'd left my trainers by the front door. They were Sketchers, and I'd stolen them from some Riverside girl last year. The backs were wearing thin now, but there were another few months of use in them still. I sat on the kitchen floor to lace them, wincing as the cold seeped into my backside.

Next, I stuck my head under the tap, drank half of a carton of orange juice and grabbed a handful of raisins. I had the morning routine pretty well memorised to the point where it was automatic, and that was lucky, because I wasn't much better than a zombie until I started running.

I shut the door softly. It was strangely warm for this time of the morning — no dew on the grass, no soul-sucking wind. I began to run, slowly at first, and then faster as I got into the trees. The track had overgrown in the last two months, but that didn't stop me picking up the speed until the trees began to blur and my feet were hitting the ground in tune with the lub-dub of my heartbeat. It wasn't a dead sprint. Not yet.

Two miles on, I turned left and started my circle. Mam didn't set a dawn patrol when I was home. I did the perimeter in human form first, and then I shifted and did it all again with my nose to the ground.

I was sprinting now. The forest was open here — no brambles, no ferns. There was a very slight downwards slope, and the extra split second it took my feet to hit the ground made me feel like I was out of control, like I wouldn't be able to stop if I wanted to. I loved that feeling.

The slope ended quite abruptly, and I eased off the accelerator and let my momentum carry me another hundred metres before I came to a messy halt. I bent over to catch my breath, but I just ended up laughing. I'd still gone running these past two months, of course, but it wasn't the same. Every morning I passed these same trees and I could watch the seasons change leaf by leaf. I knew the path like the back of my hand, so I didn't have to think about where I was stepping. I could just enjoy myself.

Back to running. It was lonely out here — I didn't like being on my own much. Normally, I'd be linking Rhodri and Liam while they lay in bed, and sometimes one of them would even come with me. Those days were my favourite because they could never keep up, and it was hilarious watching them try.

When I was getting near Arlow, I slowed down to catch my breath. If the flockies came from any direction, it would be this one, so it was a good idea to keep my wits about me.

Not a minute later, I heard the birds singing a warning ahead of me, and I stopped altogether. It could just be a fox, but I doubted it, somehow. The back of my neck prickled. I crept forwards, eyes on the trees ahead, looking for any glimpse of movement.

Nothing. Not a twitch. I risked glancing down, and I saw a footprint in the mud. It was so fresh that I could still see the glimmer of moisture on its surface. I swallowed hard. There were more leading along the path, all of them big enough to belong to an Alpha.

Shit, shit, shit.

"Mam," I said through the link. It woke her — I could feel her thoughts sparking and then picking up speed. "There's someone at Arlow."

"Is there?" she asked.

"Yeah, I've got footprints here."

"Weird," Mam murmured. She didn't sound very worried, so she was probably still half asleep.

I chewed on my lip. "What should I do?"

"Oh, definitely investigate. I'll check back in a few minutes."

What the hell? Where was my back-up? Where was the panic? I thought about nagging her until she woke up properly and became a functioning human being, but I didn't like the idea of standing here in the open, so distracted.

I cut the link a second too late. Someone grabbed me from behind. There was a hand over my mouth and an arm crushing my waist. And they were really bloody strong — I was lifted clean off my feet.

I kicked and thrashed, and my left hand snapped towards my knife, only to find that there were fingers already digging it out of my jean pocket. My attacker tossed it away, and I could see it half-buried amongst the leaves, but I didn't stand a chance in hell of reaching it.

Brute force wasn't doing anything for me, so I tried twisting my body instead. If I could turn all the way, I could do an awful lot more damage, and that was the reason they'd grabbed me from behind in the first place

"Hello, Eva," my attacker drawled.

I was shocked into stillness. I knew that voice as well as I knew my own. Fear turned to confusion, and confusion turned into ungodly amounts of rage.

"Let me go, you shit-faced inbred," I spat.

Not a second later, I was dropped back onto my feet. He was laughing. He was laughing so hard that it was very easy for me to sock him just under his ribcage and knock all the laughter right out of him. The oomph noise was very satisfying, but it only took him a second to catch his breath.

Before I could punch him again, Rhodri stepped backwards and lifted his hands up. He had his hood up like a proper delinquent, hiding the light-brown hair and casting the hazel eyes into shadow. He also had his scent turned off because he was a shit-awful cheater.

"If I was a flockie, you'd be very dead right now, little sister," he told me.

"Not as dead as you're going to be, prick," I snarled, and then I lunged for him again. It took nothing short of a rugby tackle to knock him over, because he weighed a damn tonne. Once we were on the ground, I drove my knee into his stomach and got a hand around his throat. I only managed it because he wasn't fighting back.

"Well?" I demanded, squeezing his windpipe.

Rhodri grinned at me. "Sorry."

"No, you're not," I retorted, rolling my eyes.

"Not even a little," he agreed. "Let me up anyway?"

I should have choked him out there and then, because he'd nearly given me a heart attack, but I was too damn happy to see him. I climbed onto my feet and offered him a hand, only I'd forgotten how bloody heavy he was, so he nearly pulled me over.

I'd missed the roughhousing. I'd missed having someone to shove and pummel whenever I got the tiniest bit bored. But, most of all, I'd missed that shit-eating grin. I kinda wanted to hug him, but Rhodri didn't really do hugs. Best case scenario, he would stand still and tolerate me squeezing him. Worst case, I'd end up on the floor.

After a moment's hesitation, I decided to risk it. I felt his chest rumbling, but he managed to smother the growl before it reached his throat. One, two, three seconds, and then I released him and darted back before he could do anything to me.

"You done?" Rhodri sighed.

"Mm." I picked up my knife from where it had fallen and shoved it back in my pocket.

"Did you miss me that much?"

"Nah. Nia and I had so much fun I didn't even notice you weren't there, to be honest," I muttered.

He grimaced in sympathy. "That bad, huh?"

"That bad," I agreed. "You?"

"Could've been worse."

Yes, it could've been. We had all gotten the tattoos together, but, when the punishments had been meted out, I had drawn the short straw.

Mam hadn't been able to punish Liam at all, not technically, because we weren't sure how old he was. He could have turned eighteen years ago for all we knew, so he'd been allowed to stay at Haven. Rhodri had been sent to Emmett, who was a hard-ass, but we had plenty of friends amongst his raiders.

And I'd been handed to Nia. She'd only taken over her raiding team a year ago. When she had turned eighteen, she had been shipped out to a raider called Jaz, who had been about to retire without leaving any obvious successor. Nia had quickly proved that she had both brains in her head and the muscle to back it up, so she had proved the popular choice when Jaz did finally step down.

And that was all well and good, but that raiding team had always kept themselves to themselves. They didn't come to Haven, so I didn't know them, and, worse — they didn't get on with Emmett's guys, who were good friends of mine. It had always been a recipe for disaster. I'd had a miserable two months, and the other two had probably enjoyed themselves.

"Who do I need to kill?" Rhodri asked, prodding the bruise on my jaw.

"Ha," I muttered. "Wait until you see your brother."

His eyebrows shot up and the grin fell from his lips. "What happened, Eva?"

He was protective of me and Liam. He was downright territorial when it came to Bryn. I didn't blame him, really — that boy was still as innocent as the day he'd been born.

"Shadowless happened, but I'm sure you'll hear plenty about that later," I sighed. "No one for you to beat up, sorry. They're all in lock-up."

"I can wait."

I shook my head. "They were caught with a gun. You'll be waiting years."

"Then I'll wait years," he said matter-of-factly.

It wasn't an exaggeration. He would do it, and he was welcome to. I stuck my hands in my pockets, trying not to look too pleased. This — I'd missed this, too. Nia would beat someone up for me if I asked, but she wouldn't do it proactively, I didn't think.

I peered into the trees behind him. "You alone?"

"I'm scouting," he said. "Come on — they're not far behind."

He led me in the direction of Arlow, and we only had to go a few hundred metres before we could see a little column of people filing down the path. Thirty-one rogues in all — it was Emmett's entire raiding team. Rhodri whistled twice, which meant scout returning, and they ground to a messy halt.

The two of us stepped out into the path in front of them, because that was the polite way to introduce yourself as opposed to grabbing someone from behind and making them think they're about to die.

I could see one of my exes near the back, and he gave me a wary nod. Two of Rhodri's friends stood beside him. Next in line was the girl Lily had dated before Nia, and she was alright, as far as I knew. At the very back, there was a guy who had started a knife fight with Liam a few years back and lost the tip of his thumb. Then there were the older rogues, the ones over thirty whose names I was probably supposed to know but didn't.

That was how I knew most people, to be honest. It was safe to say that every rogue in Snowdonia had run into a member of my family at one point. Everyone was either someone's ex or friend or enemy or too old for me to give a shit about.

Rhodri dragged me in front of him. "Look who I found."

The leader brushed dark hair from his eyes and grinned at me. "Hello, little she-wolf. What are you doing out of bed at this ungodly hour of the morning?"

Ryker. He wasn't actually in charge of this raiding team, but his mate was, so it was wise to keep your eyes down and your bullshit to an absolute minimum around him. Unfortunately for me, 'wise' was not one of my stronger traits.

"Could ask you the same thing," I muttered.

"We were summoned."

I smothered a growl. There was only one person in all of Snowdonia who could summon raiders, and that was my mam. She had known exactly who was lurking at Arlow, damn her. I sent a complaint down the link and received smug amusement in reply.

"Sam and Bryn both said you did brilliantly yesterday. Call this a reward," Mam said by way of explanation.

She had summoned an entire raiding team to give me a pat on the back? No, no, I didn't believe it for one minute. Emmett's people were here for a reason, and I had a suspicion it might be connected to the search for the Ember Alpha.

"They've been talking about me behind my back?" I demanded. "Bloody snakes."

Her bewilderment was lazy at best. "They were saying nice things, Eva."

"That's worse."

I dropped the link to pay attention to a flicker of movement. Someone was pushing through the ranks to reach the front. It was Emmett himself, his white-blonde hair was in dire need of a trim and his t-shirt stained with something red-brown.

My cousin caught his eye. "Do you still need me scouting?"

I could feel Rhodri's wolf, and I saw Emmett narrow his eyes slightly. That easily, I knew they'd been fighting. Rhodri was at that age now — the age when our wolves started snapping at authority figures and pushing their luck. Nia had been snarling at everyone before she'd been sent away. Even my mam. It was times like these I was glad I had a sheep in wolf's clothing sharing my mind.

"No, you're alright," Emmett said. "Find us before lunch to help with the tents."

Rhodri probably should have ducked his head then, but he just nodded. And we didn't need any further encouragement. We shifted on the spot and crashed into each other, snapping and rolling and snarling at each other. It had been months since our wolves had fought, and they were out for blood.

"Kick his ass, Eva!" one of Rhodri's friends shouted. The other raiders took that as a cue to declare their support. They were all on my side, but that was not as flattering as it sounded. Rogues had a tendency to root for the underdogs.

And, yeah, I was losing. He was massive and he was the better fighter in both forms, and there was never any shame in getting thrashed by a Llewellyn.

As soon as I got the chance, I wriggled free and started running. Rhodri chased me, and I made him run nearly a mile before I doubled back and tackled him. Over and over we tumbled, crushing ferns and brambles and bluebells. He ended up on top, his jaws around my throat, and he could've wrung a submission out of me then, but he just let me squirm loose, and then we ran all over again.

Half an hour later, we ended up back at the cabin. The urge to hit each other seemed to have abated for the moment. Despite the time we'd wasted screwing around, Emmett and his guys hadn't arrived yet, and so neither had our clothes.

But we kept a bin of clothes outside the cabin at all times, because people shifted left, right and centre when they went on patrol. Luckily for us, someone had just topped it up. We pulled on cargo trousers and t-shirts which stank of the peroxide we used to soak out bloodstains.

Inside the cabin, Mam was up and nursing a packet of Oreos. Every so often, aunty Fion would sneak a hand into the packet and steal one, and mam was pretending not to notice. Both of them broke into sleepy grins when they saw Rhodri. But his attention went straight to his parents, of course. His dad clouted him affectionately, and his mam wrapped him into a rib-crushing hug which Rhodri tolerated because he was soft on the inside. They hadn't seen him for two months either.

"And how are you, pup?" Rhys asked him once he'd escaped Cassidy's arms.

"Good, I guess. Could've done without being shaken out of bed at three this morning, but apart from that..."

My mam raised her eyebrows. "Was that a complaint?"

"Nah," Rhodri muttered, and I was glad to see that he wasn't stupid enough to talk back to her. Not yet, anyway.

Before Mam could say anything else, Bryn came thundering down the ladder at breakneck speed. "Did I just hear—"

And then he saw his brother. They didn't say hello to each other. Instead, they started a shoving match which escalated rapidly until Rhodri had Bryn in a headlock. They crashed into the dining table as they wrestled — Bryn trying to punch his way to freedom and Rhodri trying to stop him.

"Not in the house, boys," Rhys said, opening the front door for them and adding a shove to help them on their way. "You know the rules."

And so the wrestling match moved outside, and I followed it because there was something immensely satisfying about watching Rhodri getting knocked onto his arse. Bryn was nearly as tall as his brother now, and what had once been a very one-sided contest was now a close fight. Rhodri still won, of course. Rhodri always won. But he was having to work for it, and that didn't happen often.

After Bryn was left flat on his back and breathless with laughter, Rhodri picked himself up and came over to stand beside me while he brushed the dried mud from his shirt.

"Hey, Rhodri..." I said.

He stared straight ahead, ignoring me, because he wasn't stupid.

"Oi," I growled. "I was actually going to say something really nice, I'll have you know, but if you don't want to hear it ... fine."

This time he cocked an eyebrow.

"Just kidding. You suck."

Rhodri sighed.

"And now I'm really home," he muttered under his breath.

***

A few hours later, Rhodri and I were sitting outside the cabin's front door and eavesdropping on our parents' conversation with Emmett and Ryker. Peering through a crack in the doorframe, I could not only hear every word perfectly, but I could also see everyone in the room.

We'd done the tents, and that had taken bloody ages, and then we had eaten lunch with the whole family. Eira had put in another appearance, albeit briefly, and she'd spent the whole time trading insults with Rhodri. I was sure Poppy had learned a dozen new words to throw at us. We had barely finished eating when we had been thrown out of the cabin so the 'adults' could 'talk.' And like hell I was just going to pick daisies. They were talking about us, and, well, we weren't exactly saints.

"Well? What's the verdict?" Mam asked.

Ryker stretched out in his chair. "Couldn't ask for a better fighter. Really couldn't. Last week he put the Pine Forest Beta on his rump without even breaking a sweat. But, and here's the thing, boss, he's a right piece of shit. No offence or anything. Em growls at him and he growls right back."

"You lions are more trouble than you're worth," Emmett finished. He was looking straight at Rhys, who seemed to be fighting to hide a grin.

"You think we need to give him a raiding team of his own?"

"Oh, Rhodri's not interested in giving orders. He's just not interested in taking them either," Ryker laughed.

"It runs in the family," Mam muttered, and then she sighed. "You're free to go, but I want you back here for seven. Fion's doing pizza tonight and we have a few extra seats at the table while the boys are away."

Emmett stood up, pushing his chair back. "Can't refuse pizza, boss. We'll be there."

That was quite obviously the end of the conversation, so Rhodri and I scrambled for the cover of the trees before the two raiders left. We managed to fit behind our usual oak tree. It was a little bit of a squeeze, but we'd been running to that same tree since we were five or six, and we weren't about to break tradition.

"Was that true?" I asked him under my breath. "About the Beta?"

He nodded without turning his head.

"Well, shit, Rhodri. That's impressive, that is. Fighting an imaginary person must be like trying to punch smoke."

The door opened and Ryker and Emmett trudged across the front lawn, heading back towards their tents. Rhodri only dared answer when they were out of sight altogether. "Very funny, Eva. We've been raiding them half the summer, so I've heard all the jokes a thousand times over."

"Jokes?" I spluttered. "I know some people like to pretend Pine Forest is real, but I didn't think you of all people would believe that bullshit."

Now, I should probably explain. There was a long-running joke among rogues that Pine Forest Pack didn't really exist. I wasn't quite sure how it had started, but I loved playing along. They made it easy for us — keeping their heads down, refusing to send out anti-rogue patrols like the other packs, and just generally playing at being Switzerland through every inter-pack drama and argument.

"If the pack is imaginary, then I guess your share of the money is imaginary, too," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, eat shit," I muttered, because he knew damn well I would break if there were a couple of twenties at stake.

Rhodri sniggered, but he did tuck a roll of notes into my pocket. We had always split our earnings three ways. I wasn't sure why — it was rare we ever spent any individually because the vast majority went to the Maggie tax or towards buying snacks and booze for all three of us.

"Mine's in the attic," I told him, and so we went into the cabin, skirted around our parents and climbed the ladder. Rhodri didn't notice anything amiss until he threw his bag onto his bed, which made Cluck Norris squawk and flap across the length of the attic.

"There's... Okay, it's a chicken. Two chickens. Right."

"Bryn," I said by way of explanation.

Rhodri looked at the ceiling and muttered something unrepeatable.

I went to my bed and went rummaging in my own rucksack. I kept my money in an empty crisp packet because I didn't reckon anyone would go poking around in there. I'd earned nearly five hundred working for Nia, and now I counted out a third of it and handed it to Rhodri. He flicked through the notes and gave me a wonky grin.

"Nia ain't stingy, is she?"

I shook my head. "I just didn't spend any on alcohol. No one wanted to drink with me."

"Poor Eva," Rhodri laughed. "But, drinks or not, I was making bloody pennies compared to this."

"Probably because you were being a right piece of shit."

"Probably," he agreed.

He went back to staring at the chicken, which was now pecking at Liam's sleeping bag. Someone had left a tray of pellets out on the floor, so I assumed Bryn had gone back to the farm to nick some proper chicken food at some point this morning.

"Where is the flockie, anyway?" Rhodri asked.

I turned away to hide my smile. "Don't tell me you missed him."

"Course not," he scoffed. "Just wondering."

"Right," I said, stretching out the word just to annoy him. "He's out looking for some kid who used to be Alpha of Ember. Mam's up to something."

"Don't I know it," he muttered. "Emmett wasn't the only one to get a summons, you know.

"What?" I demanded. There were two raiding teams here now, and another one would be pushing it. "Who else?"

"Nia, Syd, the Morris girls ... everyone, as far as I can tell."

I dropped my crisp packet, and money went flying in every single bloody direction, but I just stood there and stared at him.

Once upon a time there had been more a dozen raiding teams. Now we were down to six, and they were getting smaller by the day, but still — everyone at Haven at once? That didn't happen. That never happened. The last time every raiding team had been together had been at Lle o Dristwch, to the best of my knowledge, and we all knew how that had ended.

So, yes, Mam was up to something, and I reckoned there was like a ninety-nine percent chance it was going to get us all killed.