The plane landed at the small human airport. Ezekiel, Allie, Hunter and Sam followed the humans out of the plane and into the terminal building.

"Remind me not to do that again," Sam grumbled and stretched his back with a loud snap.

Ezekiel grinned at his Delta and picked a bag off the conveyor belt in front of him.

"It's the fastest way to get here," the Alpha shrugged

"Metal flying machine," Hunter muttered with a disgusted wrinkle of his nose while picking his own bag off the belt.

"Sealed up with all those people..." Sam continued as they hurried through security checks with their bags in hand.

"I'll get a car," Ezekiel chuckled at his cousin and son's negative reaction to flying.

Soon they were speeding across a greying wintery landscape in a sturdy 4x4 on their way to the human town, famous for the university with a renowned course in engineering and robotics. Allie was quiet. Her mind was focused on that poor girl she had left at home. The few weeks with them had built her confidence, but she was still scared and skinny. 

The landscape outside was full of tufts of dry grass and skeletal trees, waiting for the dirty snow to give way to life. At home, the crocuses and snowdrops were already blooming.

Ezekiel turned to look at his mate. He felt her worry. Carefully he squeezed her hand. He had been in doubt about bringing her. The Goddes only knew what Alpha Preston would think about his human Luna. But his stubborn Allie insisted that the only way to get Kira to talk, was if she had a female equal.

Allie stroked her fingers across Ezekiel's knuckles, blending their minds as she often did. Ezekiel nodded. He would be strong if she needed him to be.

Sam pulled up at a hotel and the four of them checked into their accommodations.

"Not bad for a three-night stay," Allie smiled at the modern, human building.

"The university is just down the road, so if you decide to go there for real..." Ezekiel teased his son.

Hunter shuddered visibly.

"No way! I can feel Alpha Preston's dark power all the way over here!" the young man scoffed.

Sam gave an approving nod. They all felt the surrounding Lycan force like a thick blanket. Allie sensed it through her mate and her son, but it still felt ominous.

"Right... Alpha Preston tomorrow, the Open day at the university the day after. I suggest we get some food and some sleep," Ezekiel nodded.

The next day, their rented car made it's way to the top of the mountain where Preston had his stronghold. A steadily increasing amount of wolves joined their slow journey along poorly maintained roads as they got closer to the centre of power. 

Sam pulled up in front of the main entrance to what looked more like a medieval fortress than a modern dwelling and shut the engine off. Driving into an Alpha's home might be seen as rude. Especially if the Alpha stuck with traditional values and resisted human integration as much as Preston obviously did. The surrounding landscape bore very few signs of modern human activity.

Sam stepped out of the car, for the occasion dressed in a human-looking military uniform, complete with an officer's hat and several medals adorning his chest. If anybody had bothered looking too closely they would have seen that a few medals were Allie's swimming prizes from when she was a child and one was a ballet medal, borrowed from Blossom. Hunter chuckled when he noticed one was a plastic award he had won at a school sports day. Sam grinned back at him.

"It looked kinda cool," the delta shrugged, with a cheeky glint in his eyes.

Hunter nodded back. The tense nervousness of the situation made him feel all light headed and giggly. Sam obviously had the same feeling, but they both nodded at each other through the rearview mirror and swallowed their united gallows humour.

With studied professionalism, Sam opened the rear passenger door, giving Allie a hand out before Ezekiel and Hunter each stepped out, both wearing suits and ties. Allie wore a navy dress that made her look like a president's wife. If their modest number could not impress, they hoped their appearance could at least intimidate the feared Alpha North.

The main gates swung open and Alpha Preston himself stood there in an old-fashioned, expensive looking suit. He was flanked by fighter deltas. some in wolf form, others in human form, dressed in what to Hunter looked like shabby and dirty combat uniforms.

Just as Akela had said, there appeared to only be males in the pack. Ezekiel could not even sense a female presence until he heard Hunter stop a surprised gasp.

There, Behind Alpha Preston. Modestly dressed in a dress that had been designed to fit someone else, was a young woman with her face downturned towards a child in her arms. She was skinny and pale but identical to the girl Ezekiel had left in Ameer's care. 

"Welcome, Alpha Ezekiel Zeke Cizinec," Preston greeted with false friendliness radiating from his every muscle.

"Thank you for receiving us, Alpha Preston Amarog North, You reside in a beautiful area!" Ezekiel greeted back, bowing formally to acknowledge the other leader's superiority.

"Hrmf. It's the land I inherited," Preston dismissed.

"I wish to present my Luna, Allie, and my heir, Hunter Daniel Connor Cizinec," Ezekiel said, ignoring the older Alpha's discontent.

Preston sent a suspicious look at Sam.

"And my Delta Prime and valued cousin, Samwise Susi Cizinec," Ezekiel introduced.

Preston frowned.

"Cizinec delta? I was told you were all eradicated with Erberus," he asked.

"We are what remains of the old bloodline. Delta Sam and I are both descendants of the mightly Lupus Cizinec who created the rouge Cizinec pack, but we prefer having a territory," Ezekiel grinned with exaggerated confidence. There was no guarantee that the old nomadic warrior pack still held any respect.

Preston gave a brief nod before obviously making a decision that one Cizinec at the time was enough of a threat.

"Rhody. Take the visiting Delta to the Barracks!" he ordered and a young, freckle-faced delta nearly sprinted forward and bowed to his Alpha before nodding his head for Sam to follow him through a passageway. 

"With your permission, Alpha," Sam bowed with a slightly sarcastic smirk at Ezekiel.

"Don't embarrass me!" Ezekiel nodded back with the agreed superiority.

"And stay out of trouble!" he thought to his delta.

Sam hid a grin and nodded before following the youngster.

Preston viewed the exchange with suspicion, but turned and marched off towards the main residence. Young Hunter tried to look around without making it obvious. The whole place was built as a medieval fortress and didn't even look like it had electricity or running water. He spotted several barred windows at basement height and wondered if one of those led to Akela's dungeon. A nudge from his dad made him focus back on their host and the task at hand. With the sheer amount of deltas around, there was no hope of taking Kira out of there without bloodshed and serious risk to themselves. He looked at the pretty girl ahead of him and wished he could just talk with her like he used to talk with Akela.

They were led into an old, unfashionable, but clean and well-kept sitting room where they were told to sit down on a sofa while Kira lay the child into a nearby bassinet. She constantly shushed the boy as if any sound from him would be an inconvenience.

"What brings you to my territory, Alpha Ezekiel?" Preston asked as soon as his guests were comfortable.

"I assure you, we are here on a friendly visit," Ezekiel smiled.

Preston nodded. His smile still looked like a shark's. It was forced and rehearsed, while his eyes moved between them, constantly on guard.

"My heir is old enough to get an education. As our territory encompasses a human city, we have decided to raise our children to live as humans. Alpha Heir Hunter has expressed an interest in attending the human university near here. I, therefore, decided it would be polite to inform you of his intentions and ask your permission before allowing my heir to live so close to your territory," Ezekiel informed.

"Humans...." Preston scoffed with a distasteful look at Allie.

"Our town and most of our packs are mostly halfbreeds or a mixture anyway. And humans have made great technological advances. Why not take advantage of that?" Ezekiel shrugged.

Kira looked directly at the visiting Alpha with round eyes. Allie recognised the same taught fear of humans Akela had expressed when she first moved in with them.

"I will, of course, be at your service," Hunter smiled at the Alpha. He had a hard time trying not to look at Kira. Now that she was sitting down, next to Preston, she looked so small and wounded, but her similarity to Akela was unsettling.

"How do you feel about leaving your family and your pack?"  Alpha Preston asked with a squinty look towards Hunter.

"Well, I believe that I will be a better Alpha if I have seen other parts of the world," Hunter smiled.
Ezekiel sent his son a proud nod.

"And you might find your Luna. Unless you already have one in your sight," Alpha Preston nodded.

"That's true," Hunter nodded and drew a breath. 

"I might find myself a Nordic beauty to rival your Luna," he smiled, acknowledging Kira openly. Preston had still not introduced her or acknowledged her presence in the room.

Preston nearly growled at the youngster before giving Kira a toxic look that had her squirming. He looked back at Hunter with a challenging smirk.

"Are you familiar with the ways of females? They can be fickle and unruly you know," Alpha Preston said with a wolfish grin.

"Girls don't scare me. At home, I have Aimee and Akela, but they are practically my sisters," he smiled at Preston, deliberately not looking at Kira again or acknowledging the hostility of Preston's question.

"Akela?" Preston asked suspiciously.

"One of my Deltas. Quite a common name in more southern packs I believe," Ezekiel dismissed casually, but both his son and is mate felt his adrenaline rise.

Kira lifted her face carefully again. Her eyes scanned the visitors to see if they had any information that she longed to hear. Allie gave the other Luna a quick, subtle shake of the head to signal that she should act neutral. Preston's refusal to acknowledge the human Luna was working in her favour.

Just then the baby started whimpering over in a bassinet and Kira stood up to soothe him. Allie stood with her.

"What an adorable child!" She cooed over the small lycan.

"He is..." Kira replied, her thick voice revealing the storm of emotions raging at the mention of a sister called the same as hers.

"May I hold him?" Allie asked and held her hands out for the child.

Kira nodded and Allie allowed her hand to stroke Kira's skin, establishing a Luna link.

"Akela is safe with us. But she's worried about you," Allie thought.

"Tell her I'm safe... Or at least OK," Kira replied, her eyes flickering towards Preston to see if he had picked up on their exchange.

Allie looked at the deep dark circles around her eyes and the way her bones were practically poking through her skin.

"Kira!" Preston called in a falsely sweet voice with more than a small commanding undertone.

Kira immediately lowered her eyes and bowed.

"Yes my Alpha," she replied.

Allie shot Ezekiel a worried look and he nodded back.
Hunter smiled openly at his mother with the child in her arms. She walked over and sat with her own mate who immediately shifted his attention to the pup.

"Hey, there young North heir..." Ezekiel smiled at the little boy who giggled back.

Allie meanwhile looked at an obviously frightened Kira.

"He is a glorious child!" She said.

"Healthy and strong as an Alpha heir should be," Preston nodded, trying to understand this preoccupation with a pup.

Ezekiel smiled at his fellow Alpha.

"You are a fortunate man! Not everyone gets a second mate," he smiled, acknowledging the age gap between him and his luna.

"I never claimed my first mate," Preston replied with a smirk.
Something calculated in his eyes as he looked at Kira had Ezekiel's senses on alert.

"Really? Why is that?" Allie asked.

Preston looked at the visiting Luna, obviously considering if it was worth acknowledging the human female in his domain.

"Link James. One of my delta fighters. He claimed her, and took her away from me before I could give her the position she was intended for," Preston smirked with a sideways grin at Kira.

Her head whipped up to stare at him.
He grinned evilly back.

"My precious Lexi was forced to live a paupers life as a rogue. She bore him twins and when she was dying, he didn't even seek the help she needed," Preston shook his head with theatrical sadness.

"My mum? But her mark was white! They were true mates," Kira gasped, her hand touching her own bluish black mark.

Preston rested back in his seat and gave her a smirk.

"White marks? Kira! Honestly. A grown woman should not believe in fairytales!" Preston gave her a smile somewhere between devious and smug.

Carefully Kira's eyes filled with tears as she threw a look over at Allie, who's neckline proudly displayed a white bitemark. The young Luna's hand went up to touch her own black mark. The infected looking lightning bolt trails running out from it revealed the strength Preston had over her. It looked fresh. As if it was renewed regularly.

Preston's smug grin flashed across the silenced visitors.

"If your heir is willing to pledge loyalty to me while he lives in the North, he has my blessing. He will stay in the human town and not within my domain. But if he enters my territory, I expect him to pledge as a delta. There is always room for one more in my Barracks. I'm sure my boys will enjoy trying on a rookie halfie," Preston grinned and gave a dismissive wave. 

A door opened and a Delta stood there, ready to escort the visitors out.

Ezekiel handed the baby back to Kira. His attempts to catch her eye was unsuccessful.

"Thank you, Alpha. Your hospitality is appreciated," Ezekiel bowed to their host.

Hunter made one last attempt to shake hands with Kira. He felt an overwhelming need to reach out to her and reassure her, but she simply shook her head and held her son closer to her chest without looking up from the floor.

"My Luna touches no man but myself," Preston informed coolly.

Ezekiel simply gave a final, formal bow to both Preston and his Luna before guiding his son and mate out the door.

"Sam!" he thought.

"I'm by the car," the delta replied sounding upset and tired.

Quietly, but equally upset, they drove into the human town. Not a word was said between them.

***

I am so sorry for taking so long to write this. I had a terrible writer's block and the chapter ended up in a completely different direction to what I had planned.

Thank you for being patient.