"Do you think you'll go there again soon?" asked Amara, and I nodded, smiling, passing the child on the table in front of me a blue colouring pencil, causing her to beam.

"It was incredible," I said, sighing with contentment. "I really wish you could come." It saddened me that the wolves felt they couldn't join us in the human city. Although the hums would never do anything, they could see it as some sort of silent threat and it could cause some commotion. We needed none of that, but perhaps one day they would be seen as normal and would be welcomed.

I was currently helping Amara run one of her arts and crafts sessions with around fifteen children- Amber being one of them. She was still technically on probation, but it seemed that Cole had all but forgotten about it. They hadn't been checking in too much because of everything going on, much to Rowan's demise. He didn't like Amber being here, but it wasn't his decision to make.

Amber had warmed up to me a lot now. She could see that I truly forgave her, and after her mom passed away, it was almost as if he relaxed a little. Anthony had explained that they had been waiting for it to happen so they could begin the grieving process. Although they were saddened by her death, they could now move on.

Anthony sat across from me, watching his sister. He was paranoid about what she was going to do, and he wanted to watch her whenever he could, even if we were too. I could see how guilty he felt, but I often had to remind him how it wasn't his fault. He had no idea.

I couldn't help but think of how mostly everything was sorted though. Key word: Mostly.

Experiments were going ahead with the human blood. It was being scattered around the pack to get everyone's wolves used to the smell, hoping that they would grow accustomed to it and wouldn't want to kill us when we weakened. Cole wasn't willing to risk it though, and he still wanted us to evacuate. I knew if it was going to work, it was going to take years.

"I do need to go," I said, getting up from my chair, Amber and her friend pouting at me, causing me to laugh. "I have lunch with Cole planned."

"See you soon?" Amara asked. "We can go for a run, or more of a waddle for you?"

I smacked her, laughing. "I'm not even that big."

I wasn't. I could still run normally, but I knew that I was going to get pretty big soon, to the point where even moving was going to be a struggle, and I wasn't looking forward to that.

Everyone in the pack knew of my pregnancy now. They had been made aware after we had destroyed the rich colony, and most people were absolutely delighted.

Of course, there were a few old ones that didn't believe in hybrid babies, but Cole explained to them that they weren't unheard of. I wanted to contact the packs that did have them, and he had told me that he was going to make that happen for me. I wanted to speak to another woman who had been in my position.

Rushing home as quickly as I could, Cole greeted me with a smile, whisking me off my feet and spinning me around in his arms. "There's my girl," he said with a grin, and I laughed, pushing away from his chest. I felt dizzy from spinning and my morning sickness hadn't been a great feeling lately.

"Something smells incredible," I said, sniffing the air.

"I just showered," Cole responded, and I rolled my eyes, making my way to the table to see my new favourite dish. Vegetable curry, rice and flatbread. It was a pregnancy craving of mine.

"How was work this morning?" I asked as I dug into my food, Cole doing the same opposite me, his hand grazing my thigh.

"Good. The human woman is more than happy to speak with you about her pregnancy and delivering a hybrid baby."

My ears perked up, and I beamed, the smile reaching both of my ears. I felt flustered. I was going to need to write down all of the questions I had. There were too many to remember. "Thank you! That's amazing. When does she want to meet?"

"She said as soon as you're ready. She has her hands full with the children, and she was wondering if we could go and visit them?"

Wow. My heart was slamming against my ribcage with excitement. "Yes!"

Cole chuckled, pushing his dark hair away from his face. "Alright. I'll get it organised for you."

"Have you thought anymore about what you're going to do about our evacuation?" I questioned. I was due near when the wolves weakened, and we were hoping that I was going to either deliver beforehand or after.

But, it still threw a spanner in the works. Because the baby was going to be half human, we didn't know if it meant the wolves would want to kill them. It was something I needed to ask the human lady from the other pack.

"I need to claim you in front of my pack," said Cole, chewing. "Well, that's what we believe, isn't it? We don't know if it'll work, but I did want to possibly try and do it before we weaken. There's a chance it won't do anything, but we could try."

I nodded, humming. "What would claiming me mean?"

"Biting you. Fending other wolves off you." Cole's voice was low and he looked frustrated. "I know that none of my pack will want to hurt you, especially not when they're not even craving to kill you, but I'm going to need to ask them to try and get to you. Like a chase."

I blanched, my mouth hanging open.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, sweetheart, but wolves love a chase. They'll know not to actually hurt you if they reach you, but I'll make sure they won't get that close. Hopefully it'll get it into the heads of their wolves that you can and won't be touched by them."

I hated the idea of it. Running away in the woods while wolves hunted for me, but I had a feeling that Cole wasn't going to allow it to be as sinister as I was making it in my head. The wolves weren't weak and they didn't thirst to rip me apart. If they reached me, they wouldn't do anything.

"Will that work though? If the wolves don't actually want to hurt me?"

Cole shrugged, cocking his head. "I don't know. If you don't want to try it, of course, I full understand and I won't make you. This is completely your decision."

I ran my hand through my hair, chuckling, but there was little humour in it. "And the biting?"

"Just like marking, but because you already have one, it won't stick. It will just signal to the wolves that you're mine. You can even bite me back in front of them if you'd like? To show that I'm yours." Cole smirked, winking at me.

"Fine," I said, turning my attention to my food.

The chase was on.

.....................................

"Are you ready?" Cole questioned as he ran his hands up and down my arms, pointing to the forest in front of me. The wolves yipped behind me- excited and frightened at the same time. Although, I was just the latter.

I nodded. "I think so. I won't go too far."

"I'll have my eyes on you the entire time," Cole whispered in my ear, making me shiver, his body close up against my back. Why was I aroused? "No one will even get close to you."

He released me, gesturing for me to begin, and I took off in a run, moving carefully over logs and leaping over river banks. I was told by Cole not to push myself too hard, but I wanted to give the wolves some kind of challenge. I didn't want it to be too easy for them.

I spotted Cole's wolf beside me, trotting along with my pace, his blazing eyes on me the entire time, and slowly, I began hearing other wolves behind me. Their heavy pads hit the muddy ground harshly, and Cole continued to disappear and duck behind me every few seconds to push the others back.

He would grab them by the necks, throwing them to the ground, not using enough force to hurt them, but enough to show them who was boss. The wolves who were down were told to stay down, and they remained on the ground, whining with annoyance that they had been taken down so easily.

I chuckled, continuing to move through the forest as one by one, more wolves were given the all clear to make their way through the forest to try and find me. It wasn't hard for them, but Cole ensured they only saw me for a split second before they were stopped. I was out of breath, and I stopped by a tree inhale deeply, Cole's concerned wolf glancing at me as he whined, his tail wagging.

"It's okay, I'm fine," I told him, holding my hand out and petting his head. This frustrated him and he moved away, huffing, making me laugh.

I continued to run, almost tripping up over a few logs, and Cole grabbed onto my pant leg, hiking me up mid fall. He narrowed his eyes at me- a silent warning to be more careful. I could see he was on the verge of calling this whole thing off, but I shook my head at him, letting him know that I was happy to go on.

The chase continued for around twenty minutes, and just like Cole had promised, nobody touched or even came near me. I had reached the top of the hill when Cole came up behind me, shifting and planting a kiss to my lips, passing me a bottle of water. He was stark naked and I couldn't stop staring.

"Are you okay?" he asked, cupping my cheeks, and I laughed.

"Weirdly, it was fun. It was like a huge game of doggy tag," I said, and Cole glared at me, stepping away and muttering something under his breath. "Come on, let's go."

Wolves joined us as we made it down the hill, all of them moving from their positions once we passed them, Cole giving them permission to get up. He also made me tell a few of them to do so, wanting to instil into them that I was the female Alpha and wasn't to be harmed.

"You'll leave last when you evacuate so your scent is the strongest," Cole told me, gathering everyone up in front of us. "Then we can see if doing that has changed anything for the wolves."

I nodded gulping, knowing what the next part was going to be. Biting. It had hurt like a bitch when Cole had done it to me, and because this one wasn't going to stick like a mark, I wondered if it was actually going to feel pleasurable at all too.

"This is my mate," Cole said loudly, his voice booming and controlling. "She is not to be harmed. Anyone that lays a finger on her will lose their life. She is your Alpha female, and will be respected."

The wolves all nodded, watching intently as Cole placed his lips to my neck, planting sweet kisses down towards where my collarbone joined. He then plunged his sharp canines into my flesh, and I cringed, wrapping my arms around myself and releasing a loud gasp. Pain shot through my body, my legs wobbling, causing Cole to have to hold me up.

However, to my surprise, pleasure then wracked through my body, and I shivered under Cole's touch, a moan bubbling from my mouth, making everyone watching nod and smile. I reddened. Everyone had just heard that.

Cole pulled away, wiping at my bleeding shoulder softly before crouching down and offering his neck to me. "Show them that I am yours just as much as you are mine, Reya."

I took a deep breath, stepping forwards and sinking my flat teeth into his neck, having to bite down harshly in order to break his thick skin. Cole hissed in pain from under me, but after a few seconds, he released an aroused grunt, and I felt his cock harden against my stomach. He pulled away from me, keeping me in front of him as he shook his head and kissed my forehead. "I love you."

"I love you," I breathed out. "I hope that worked."

"Me too, baby."

•••

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