"Ethan," Lander said quietly as Ethan and I tugged on our clothes while we walked to a tiny cabin through the blanket of darkness that the cloudy night provided.

We were lucky.

We hadn't been seen and the clouds were thick; providing a safe darkness like they knew that it was our saving grace. The cabin was on the border between Tikanni and Mangata, well it was on our side but not by much. Apparently, it was a small cabin that patrols used to use to rest between shifts.

Lander gave Ethan a short hug before moving to me. He hugged me tightly before stepping back and looking at us both warily. "He's inside. He's on edge, we all are."

I let out a sigh and nodded. "Just keep him in the cabin, ok?"

Lander looked at Ethan then to me and gave me a slight nod. "Alright girly, let's do this."

I could feel him in the house. I could feel the him and a few familiar others as Ethan and I walked up, pulling clothes over our naked bodies in the process. Ethan gave the cabin, tucked away almost so it was invisible in the woods, a wary look.

"Sunshine, I want you to lock the door behind me after we walk in," Ethan breathed out.

I looked up at him as he linked out hands together and nodded. "Are you alright?"

He shook his head. "No, not really."

"It will be ok Ethan," I said as I leaned closer to him.

"It will be ok when I have his head in my hands," Ethan practically growled out.

I met his eyes full of serious desire for blood and vengeance and nodded. I doubted either of us would get any sleep until Thomas and Miranda were dead.

Ethan knocked on the door a few times until a friendly face opened it. David. He smiled at me before flickering his eyes up and down Ethan, assessing the male before me for size.

"Hey girly," he said. I smiled and walked into a warm hug.

"I've missed you," I breathed out.

He chuckled. "And I've missed beating you around, now this here your boy?" I rolled my eyes and nodded. David flickered his eyes to my neck then looked back at Ethan who had pulled me back to him at this point. He held out his hand and firmly shook Ethan's before nodding to him. "Your dad was a good man, one of the best I knew."

Ethan nodded. "Thank you."

David nudged his chin inside. "Come on, they're all here. We locked all the doors."

"Lock this one behind you," Ethan replied quietly as we walked inside the door to enter the kitchen.

"Char!" Evangeline rushed over to me and jumped in my arms. I laughed a little and nuzzled her cheek while Liam walked over to Ethan and shook his hand. She smiled at me and looked at my neck before giving me a knowing smile.

I rolled my eyes. "Now is not the time Evangeline."

"Mhmmm," she coyly replied.

"Char," Liam said as he hugged me.

"How is he?" I breathed up to him.

"Tense," he whispered back while Ethan hugged Evangeline and murmured something into her ear.

I nodded and pulled away before walking over to Levi who sitting in a recliner that sat in the living room on the other side of the kitchen, mindlessly staring at the floor in front of him. "Levi?"

He snapped his eyes to me and got up. "Charlie girl," he breathed out before wrapping me up in a long hug. I sighed as he nuzzled my hair softly and let my beast reach out to his, I had missed my father. "I'm ok," I whispered up to him.

"I know you are," he replied. He flickered his eyes to my neck which made his lips start to twitch into a smile. "See you got a pretty new mark there?"

I blushed and nodded. "Yup."

He sighed and shook his head before his kissed my forehead. "I'm proud of you girly, but I'm still probably going to beat Ethan's ass again."

I nodded then walked over to Claire and Lander. Claire nuzzled my cheek while she gave me a tight hug before Lander pulled me into one as well. His eyes were full of a familiar fear that I had seen before; it was a familiar wariness that I had seen in his eyes when I watched him in the tree.

He flickered his eyes to Levi then back to me. "What did you see?"

I leaned up closer to his ear. "Everything."

His eyes widened before I stepped back to Ethan. I nodded sadly at him before Ethan pulled me over to a couch close to Levi. Liam and Evangeline sat next to Levi while David leaned against a counter. The door wasn't far from him and from his angle, he could easily block someone from trying to run out of it. My skin started to shiver a bit with nerves. Ethan wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him before kissing my temple.

"Tell us Ethan, tell us what you and Charlie girl wanted to talk about," Levi asked.

"We went to the tree uncle," Ethan said calmly. He looked up at Levi who was leaning his elbows on his knees. "It showed us that day, it showed us everything."

"All of it Ethan," Levi ordered more firmly.

Ethan nodded. "We first saw the land. Everything was one fire, there were rogues pouring in. I didn't even think that there were that many rogues on the planet–"

"There's not," David interjected with a raised brow. "There's not supposed to be anyways."

Ethan nodded slightly then looked back to Levi. "We saw pop and gran take Evan, Evangeline, and I to the shelter before it flickered to Miranda. She was putting Arron and Amber in a shelter, I think in their house.

"Then we saw you. You were with Lander, you were telling him to get your warriors. You also kept telling someone to try and call us, I guess you couldn't link anyone–"

"I couldn't that day," Levi stated solemnly.

"Then–" Ethan paused a short moment before looking to Evangeline who was tucked under Liam's arm. Her eyes were wide as demons of their past started to claw their way forward. "Then we saw it, we saw them. We saw it happen."

"What!?" Evangeline gasped out.

Ethan looked at Evangeline and nodded sadly before flickering his eyes to Levi. Levi seemed calm but I could see his beast scratching to get out from here. I moved away from Ethan a little. If Levi tried to run, there was no way in hell I wouldn't be running after him.

"It looked like Thomas was dead, but he wasn't. He got up. He got up and walked to a rogue, I don't know who it was. I've never seen him before.

"They killed the women first, Miranda did. Then Thomas killed the men, they used the same knife made of silver."

"Levi no!" Claire yelled.

He was already somehow past David and yanking the damn door open. Ethan had sprung up in front of me and was running after him with Lander and Liam while I followed behind them.

Unfortunately, Levi somehow yanked the locked door open. The door hit the wall hard as he bolted out of the cabin, leaving a trail of anger and mad fury behind him. "Shit," I hissed. My feet hit the grass as we all chased after Levi, but he was running furiously back towards Mangata with the intention to kill them all, and he would kill them all.

Lander cut left and Ethan cut right while David, Liam, and I ran hard after him as Evangeline's wails could be heard echoing through the forest. I pushed harder, we couldn't afford for this to happen. Not now anyways. If Levi attacked Thomas then it would be seen as an act of war, that and it wouldn't be good for Ethan or for our pack.

"Levi!" I yelled out. "Please, Levi!"

Levi slowed only slightly at the sound of my voice, but only enough for Lander to catch up to him. He turned and snarled at his brother then leaped in the air and shifted. His black fur almost matched the darkness of the night as his paws tore at the ground.

"Get in front of him!" Ethan called out before I heard the sounds of his bones cracking.

Soon, there was barking, snarling, growling, and snapping. Ethan and Lander both were snapping their jaws at Levi as they tried to keep him in a small area surrounded by thick trees. David and Liam shifted next to me and started to slowly walk up from behind him, circling him so he would have nowhere else to go.

I let out a shaky breath. I could feel his pain, his anger, his need for blood as he roared out. My beast whined. I stepped forward and started to walk slowly to him. Lander looked up at me and shook his head wildly.

"Char no, he's not thinking right, just stay there," he rushed into my mind.

I didn't care, though. He was my father and he was in pain, my beast and I weren't just going to let him suffer. He was on the edge of the madness that was now familiar to me, the madness that I saw in the tree. It was then that my heart dropped as fear sunk in, fear of what could happen if we didn't fix this.

He tried to charge at Ethan, but Ethan rammed him while Liam bolted around and came up to Ethan's right; snapping at Levi as a warning.

"Levi," I said softly as he growled furiously at Ethan. I walked a little more as Levi started to pace back and force with his eyes on my male; my beast was on edge, she wanted out. She didn't want our father or our mate getting hurt. "Levi," I said again.

Ethan tried to approach Levi as calmly as he could, but Levi snapped at him wildly. Ethan snarled at him, a warning, while Liam moved closer to Ethan, to his right.

Levi flickered his furious eyes around, assessing the situation for a potential gap in the circle. He was practically shaking with fury and his eyes, damn his eyes were starting to remind of the look had in the tree, the look from that night.

"Levi?" I tried again, my voice softer this time with a tone that pleaded to him to come back to us.

I heard a low growl as I got closer, I shivered. I shivered as David snapped at the edge of my shirt to keep me from walking anymore, which caused me to squeal in surprise. Levi whipped around at the sound of my voice and eyed David furiously.

Before I knew it, Levi had tackled David to the ground and was ripping into his shoulder. "Levi no!" I yelled out frantically.

David kicked Levi off of him and back to the middle of the circle where my beast nudged me forward with impatience."Levi, please listen to me," I pleaded as I slowly crept forward.

"Sunshine no! Get back!"

I didn't care. I held out my hand and walked closer as Levi turned around to me. His silver eyes had a glint that looked similar to the crazed one he had in the tree, after he had snapped.

I sucked in a sharp breath as tears started to tug their way forward. "Dad?" I said softly, hoping to reach him through our bond, reach my father.

"Baby, please don't!" Ethan rushed out. He tried to run to me but Liam stopped him. Liam stopped him as I knelt down in front of Levi with my hand held out.

Levi cocked his head as his chest rumbled. I blinked my eyes hard then opened them to stare back into the silver storm that were his eyes.

He stepped towards me cautiously. Ethan growled and whined out as Liam and David pushed him back again before snapping as a warning to him, but Levi didn't care. He stepped again and eyed me some more. My beast reached out to him, frantically. I reached for the bond, our bond, and tugged at it; hugged it, held it, caressed it, while my beast pressed slightly closer.

"Levi, please, please don't do this. I can't lose another father, I can't lose you," I softly murmured out in a rush of desperation. It was then that he started to whine. He whined low to me as his eyes turned sad, the heartbreak was setting in again as the realization of the situation hit him. I sucked in a breath and nodded a little. "It's ok."

He whined again sadly as he walked closer to me. I let out another breath as his nose touched my hand. He licked it a bit then rubbed his cheek against my palm, spreading the crippling sadness in his heart throughout me.

I let out a shaky breath as the tears beat hard at the back of my eyes to be let loose. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I whispered to him.

He dropped his head in my lap before he whined some more. I slowly wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned my head against his fur while the tears came. I sniffled into his fur as he sunk down onto the ground; the burden was too much for him, it was too much for anyone to carry.

His fur started to ripple and bones started to crack. Soon the familiar scent of his skin surrounded me along with the sounds of his heavy breathing. I unwrapped my arms from around his neck and look into his eyes. He was fighting with himself; with the sadness and the anger, a war with no real winner.

"Levi?"

He pulled me closer to him, into his chest. He was shaking, cracking, breaking. I sighed and looked over at Ethan who was still pacing and smiled reassuringly. "Go get some clothes and bring him some," I said gently.

David nodded then trotted off with Liam while Lander laid down close to us and started to whine. "I'm fine Lander," Levi breathed out.

He was rocking with me, still pushing back the demons. I sighed as he nuzzled my hair a little. Ethan sighed and walked cautiously over to us, over to his uncle who he had seen break before.

He nudged Levi's shoulder with his nose carefully, a gentle olive branch. Levi sighed and gave Ethan a small nod. Ethan walked forward a hair more so Levi could rub his head gently then his neck. Ethan sighed and laid down near my feet while Levi calmed down some more. I looked up at him and it seemed like his eyes had settled, the madness was gone, for now.

"That was pretty stupid Charlie girl," Levi breathed out.

I smiled and nodded. "I know."

He kissed my forehead before tugging at his own hair. "Thank you." He looked over at Lander and gave him a limp smile before looking back at Ethan. "Go to Ethan before he loses it too. Pretty sure you just gave him four heart attacks."

I smiled softly and kissed his cheek before crawling out of his lap. Ethan immediately jumped up and nuzzled my neck then licked my cheek repetitively. I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine, I'm fine–"

He let out an annoyed growl before he nudged me gently to follow him. We walked over to Liam who held out some sweatpants to me as he shook his head in disbelief. "Char that was both really awesome and really stupid."

"I know," I sighed out as I took the pants.

Ethan and I walked behind a set of trees and bushes where I unfolded the sweatpants as his bones started to crack again. Fur melted to skin and soon I was bring crushed into his chest. He let out a shaky breath and held me close to him, placing kisses all over my face before pushing me back to his chest.

"Do not ever scare me like that again."

"He wasn't going to hurt me, Ethan."

"You don't know that sunshine, he was close to losing it." I sighed and looked up at him. "I was close to losing it. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if something happened to you."

"I'm fine, I'm right here," I said as I rubbed his arms. Ethan dipped down and kissed me tenderly before he rested his forehead on mine. "Come on, let's get back so we can get to work."

Ethan sighed and started to pull the sweatpants on. "I'm going to be doing a lot of work on you later," he muttered under his breath.

"Is that a threat babe?" I raised my brow a little.

"No sunshine," he breathed out before he stepped closer to me. "That is a promise," he added as he linked his hand in mine and tugged me forward. My cheeks felt warm as the bond started to twirl in delight.

We walked over towards the group who was slowly making their way back to the house with Levi in the middle of them. "I'm going to sit with him when we get inside," I stated softly as we walked through the door.

"Probably a good idea," Ethan replied. His face dropped at the sight of his sister. She had her head buried in Levi's chest, soaking it with hot tears while Levi whispered soothing things to her. "Evangeline," Ethan gently called.

She sniffled then turned and ran back to Ethan. She let out a sharp sob while Ethan rubbed her back. "It's ok red, it's going to be ok," he whispered to her.

Levi slumped back in the couch while David went to the kitchen. I walked over as Levi patted the spot next to him with a sad smile. "Come here girly."

I nodded and sat down next to him and let him pull me close to him. He sighed then let out a long hot breath. "I'm sorry you had to see all of that girl."

I sucked in a breath and nodded. "I'm sorry too." I looked over at him firmly and let my beast pushed a bit closer. "I want blood for them too Levi, I want blood for them all."

"I know you do girl," he replied before kissing my temple.

David walked over with two neat whiskeys in his hand and a towel pressed to his bloody shoulder. He handed one to Levi with a nod then gave me a half smile. "Sorry bout your shirt girly. Just trying to look out for you."

"It's ok David."

"Sorry bout your shoulder David," Levi said tiredly.

David nodded then looked over at the towel that he had pressed with his free hand against the wound. "Don't be, it's fine."

How's Penelope?" I asked, changing the subject to something lighter.

"Pissed that I didn't bring her," he laughed out. Levi chuckled too and shook his head. "She's over at Lander's playing with Lyle. Poor kid got another black eye this week."

"What?" I raised a brow as David nodded proudly.

"Yup, apparently some kid was picking on my girl. Lyle got pissed and apparently laid that kid's ass out right there on the pack playground. Got a black eye, but apparently, Penelope kissed him. She told me I had to keep it a secret though because she didn't want Lander to get upset with Lyle."

"Oh my God," I chuckled out while Levi shook his head into his drink. "That's so adorable."

"What's that?" Lander asked before taking a long sip of his whiskey. He sat next to me and kissed my cheek while David took the recliner. "Thank you girly," he whispered into my ear.

I turned and looked back at him, at his eyes that held legitimate fear of the past repeating itself. I sighed and nodded before answering his question. "David was telling us about Lyle's black eye."

"That damn boy," Lander chuckled while he rolled his eyes. "If they don't end up as mates then I will be shocked."

"I'll be scared for the damn kid that is if he isn't," David added.

Lander nodded. "Agreed, here's to being in-laws then David."

David chuckled and clinked his glass with Lander's while the other's walked in the living room. Evangeline sat down with Claire and Liam while Ethan, who also had a glass of neat whiskey, took a chair across from us. He looked slightly irritated to be so far from me, but I just shrugged innocently.

"Is that all you saw?" Levi asked.

Ethan shook his head. "No." He leaned back and sighed again. "Thomas said a lot of things to dad before he killed him. He kept saying things that made it sound like he was pissed that dad was friendly with vampires and pushed for the treaty. He kept calling dad weak and said that dad let the pack become weak. He also said something along the lines of 'wolves will be strong again' and something about 'like in the old days.

"He talked to one of the rogues after, I think he was their leader but I can't be sure. The guy said something about Thomas 'holding up his end of the deal.' After that, he knocked Thomas out. We didn't see anymore, we just saw where I found them–when you came, Levi, and that was it."

"Shit," Levi hissed. He blinked hard and looked back at Ethan. "Do you remember exactly what he said about the vampires and the treaty?"

"He said something that sounded like a rant, like he was disgusted that Chris made a treaty with them and let them in his borders. After that, he said 'we'll be strong again, wolves will be strong again.'" I answered calmly.

I rubbed Levi's back and let my wolf reach out to him, his beast that wanted to bathe in blood. I understood, as did my wolf. If Levi somehow did make it out of here and to Thomas tonight, I would be lying if I said that I wouldn't help him kill them. I would bathe in blood with him.

"Charlotte and I told Evan. We talked about it and we both have a feeling that it has something to do with the treaty but we don't know how. There are so many pieces not adding up," Ethan sighed out before taking a sip of his drink. Evangeline wiped away a tear as Liam pulled her into his lap and whispered something soothing into her ear. She sighed and nodded them looked up at me with a tiny smile of courage. "He obviously wanted dad's seat and didn't care how. I mean, otherwise, he wouldn't have used a dangerous army of rogues to tear apart half the pack.

"I just don't get it, though; the rogues, the vampires, the treaty? Who gained from that? Why? Why our packs? It has been ten years and nothing has happened."

Lander chewed on his lip and nodded. "The relations are good with them, Derek can tell you that. I know they are wary about the rogue issue, but there's really no threat to our relationship with them. Brother?"

Levi sighed out an angry breath shook his body a little. He shook his head and looked up at Ethan with eyes that were beyond ass-beating furious. "I don't know son, but I do know that I am going to be fantasizing about killing that fucker until the day it happens."

Ethan nodded solemnly and looked over at me. "Charlotte and I have only told you all, Evan, and Lyanna but we think it's best we get everyone else on board. We need to get a plan together and move fast. It was a struggle before to not rip his throat out and now the only reason I haven't is because of Char."

"I don't get it," Lander said as he tugged at his hair. "We have so many missing pieces."

"We don't need them all, we just need one," I said. Levi looked at me curiously. I sighed and chewed on my lip a little. "Thomas is working with them, we know that. He has to know that they are coming across the border, and he had to have had a hand at the attack at my cabin and the one in the forest. Shit, he's probably been organizing it all. This means he's dangerous and dangerous for our pack, we need to eliminate him first, but we have to be careful.

"He obviously knows about something else that's bigger. If he finds out that we're onto him then he could trash everything he has and leave us without a trail. Whatever this rogue thing is, it feels bigger than our pack and we can't risk losing that information. Not when there's still so much we don't know. I think we should focus more of our efforts on getting Ethan what he needs to challenge Thomas, then once we have him gone we can focus everything on the rogues."

"She's right brother," Lander said from next to me. "Believe me when I say that I would love nothing more than to run with you to Mangata tonight, but we need to do this the right way. It's what's best for both our packs. They both deserve justice in this. We need hard evidence, something that will be irrefutable in a challenge. The pack needs to know and they can't just go off spewing about this tree. Saying a magic tree showed you these things will only make them look crazy, but something like a smoking gun won't.

"And they're right. There's something else. Who's to say it's not just our packs that could be at risk? We can't afford to lose this lead, not yet anyways."

Levi let out a tense breath and nodded. "I hate that you're right. That goddamn tree." Levi looked up at Ethan and nodded. "Alright, but I want blood too, Ethan. You don't get to challenge him without me there." He sighed a little and leaned back against the couch, pinching the bridge of his nose as stress poured off his body. "Link everyone now."

I felt Ethan stir in my mind, pushing for an entrance that felt like a little spark. He opened up a new link them pulled the other wolves in; they hoped like popcorn full of electric energy as they entered the link.

"Brother, we're all here," Evan said.

"Good, Levi and Tikanni know now. Let's do an update real quick, I want to know where we are on everything," Ethan stated with a firm edge. His beast was close. Talking of his family, our family, being slain that day only made both of us lust for blood.

Levi eyed him a bit while Ethan's eyes began to glow lowly like a night light. "Ethan get over here," Levi gruffly said as he leaned his elbows against his knees. "I can feel your fur practically popping out. Don't tempt me, because I am two seconds away from doing what we both want."

Ethan nodded to Levi then walked over to where I was sitting. I stood up as Lander scooted over and made some more room for Ethan who tiredly sat on the couch then patted a spot on his lap. I smiled and let him pull me close to him, close to the scent of his skin that seemed to calm both of us down.

"Better?" I asked over our bond link. The one that we and only we could share.

Ethan sighed before kissing more forehead. "Better."

"Brother," Lander calmly said. "What about the vamps? The history is fragile but it seems like that's all been put behind us."

"Ya, what about those rebels you were telling me about? When Derek was kidnapped?" I added.

Levi sighed a little and looked at me with a mildly annoyed raised brow. "Guess it's story time."

Liam let out a huff right as Evangeline smacked his chest. "I want to hear this now behave!" she whisper-yelled to him.

Levi actually chuckled then winked at Evangeline who smiled smugly to him. "Well, back then before the treaty, you all know, well maybe not Charlie, but basically we were always at odds with them. The feud goes back to the first among us but eventually as time went on two groups kind of formed in each species. One group was peaceful and just wanted to live their lives, they were tired of war and as the human population grew it became more important that we focus our efforts on preservation rather than killing each other.

"But there was another group that was anti-peace. They were always stirring the trouble, power hungry, and a damn pain in my ass. They caused more harm than the good they thought their purist asses were doing."

"What was their goal?" I asked.

Levi sighed. "Keep the species pure and separate. Kill off each other so one had dominance, that kind of bullshit. Got so bad that humans started to get involved, they were collateral in some cases. That's when we pushed hard for the treaty and moved to conceal them. Both sides for the treaty realized how dangerous the other group was, I guess you could say it brought us more together.

"We ended up working hard together to get rid of those little annoying shits. Wipe out their supplies, destroy camps, and kill most of them. We gave some that were willing to try peace a second chance, but not many wanted that."

"What about Derek?" I asked again.

"Right before it was signed things were bad. I wasn't sure if we would get it to work, there was so much going wrong and not much right. The other side in the wolf camp kidnapped Derek and Elliot and held them hostage. They tried to pin it on the rest of us and make it look like we were undermining the vamps to destroy peace.

"The best part was that some of the damn vampires in the rebel camp helped them. They just wanted to get rid of us, the ones pushing the treaty, so they could go back to killing each other.

"Chris helped me find them. Ended up going to some swamp ass dump in the middle of Florida with Leo and a small army of men from both sides to get them."

"Florida?"

Levi nodded. "Pain in my ass to go, hot as hell down there and the mosquitos were horrible."

I rolled my eyes a little. Ethan's thumb was slowly rubbing against my arm as he chewed on his bottom lip a little. "You think it could be them?" he asked.

Levi shrugged. "I don't know. We wiped most of them out and the rest we let wander and die out as rogues. It would be a miracle for them to come back this strong, but I don't know. Anything involving that treaty is not good." He scratched at his head a little before looking to Ethan a little tiredly. "I'm going to send Derek to Leo. We can bring Leo in and probably Alex. They are good vamps, good men. They knew Chris, hell, Leo sent men to help look for evidence after the attack."

Ethan nodded. "I remember."

"They are just as protective of the treaty as we are. They won't say anything, no need to spook everyone just yet," Levi said.

"Give him some rocks to take too, maybe Leo knows someone or something? I mean he's older than dirt right?" I asked.

Ethan chuckled a little with David as Lander rolled his eyes. "Yap, but don't tell him that."

"We should see if he knows anything about that word, 'transibo,' I heard the rogues mumble it before. It could be nothing but it could also be everything."

Levi nodded. "Talk to Derek when you two get home, he needs to go tomorrow. I'll call Leo myself and talk to him as well. You should move Elliot somewhere safe. If Thomas is a vamp hater, he's not going to be happy about Elliot staying there by himself."

"He can stay with us," Ethan said. "I was going to ask them anyways, I don't trust Thomas either and I'll feel better with someone else in the house to be with Char when I'm not there."

I snapped my eyes to him and gave him a raised brow. He sighed a little and brushed my hair out of my face. "You're a target babe and I'm not taking any chances with you."

"He's right Char," David added. "It's for your own safety girly."

"Fine," I breathed out. I wasn't a fan of having a 'babysitter' all the time, but I didn't disagree with them. None of us could take chances.

"There has to be more," Claire thought out loud.

"How would you all have done it?" I mused.

"What do you mean Ghostrider?" Ryder asked.

"The attack, if it was you in Thomas' place, then how?"

Growls and snarls encompassed the room while mouth's dropped. Claire looked at me like I ate a can of damn worms while Liam cocked his head and raised his brow.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not asking you to do it, I'm asking you to take think outside the box here, how? How would you pull something like that off?"

Ethan kissed my shoulder before pulling me a little closer to him. "Outside help, there's no way Thomas did it alone. He could not have gotten those rogues over the border without outside help. Other Alphas had to know, unless they were like us and had a case of rogues without a trail.

"But either way, they either know and were involved or they had similar cases."

"Jaxon," Lander said over the link. "Jaxon had issues like ours, he wanted to discuss it and he supports both of you. He hasn't been an alpha long, he took over for his dad like eight years ago I think?

"However his dad may have left something behind that could help, or maybe Jaxon remembers something from back then. Who knows, but I can set up a meeting."

"What happened to his father?" I asked.

"He killed him in the challenge," Levi said with wary eyes. "He was a sour man, selfish.

"It wasn't anything Jaxon wanted to do, but from what Caden told me, it needed to be done. They're much better off with Jaxon as the alpha now. Good riddance too, that piece of shit was one poor excuse for a wolf and a thorn in my paw."

Ethan nodded a little as his fingers began to play with my hair. "I would also need men. A lot of them. I remember that day, the bodies. They had plenty of rogues to spare."

"But brother, rogues are broken wolves. How the hell did they get so many? I mean, they would have to break hundreds of people," Evan said which made me shudder.

"Where would you even store that many?" Andrea asked. "Let's say they are able to create that many for a second, where do you keep them?"

"The mountains?" Ryder adds. "High up there's caves and places that are not pack land, no man's land."

"Ya but then how do you get them down from the mountains? They are sick man, like about the die. Those wolves can't make it down them let alone live up there. Even the healthier ones, it's too harsh up there," Jake added.

"Andrea's mother had a cousin in the north. She still has some family there. It's a long shot, but I can reach out to them. They are sketchy as hell, but maybe we'll get lucky," Billy said.

"I would need inside help," Lyanna said. "If it were me, I would need help on the inside to pull something like that off. There's no way that there were not some patrols or warriors not in on it. That many rogues across the borders? No, not buying that no one knew. Someone knew something."

Lander beamed and looked over at Claire then mouthed, 'that's our daughter' proudly. Claire rolled her eyes while Levi shot his brother an annoyed glare.

"Lyanna is right," Billy said. "I'll comb through my records. Start crosschecking. Lyanna, you mind a little paperwork? Probably need your help too Ethan and Char."

Ethan sighed then nodded. "Bring it over and we'll start going through it. Pull everything you think could relevant; patrol logs, family records, lists of warriors and their duties, etc. Go back at least three or four months, we need to be thorough here."

"I can definitely help Billy," Lyanna added.

Levi nodded. "That's a good idea Lyanna, we need to comb through all our warriors in both packs."

"David, think you could go see your best friend Billy soon?" Lander asked.

David nodded. "I think my best friend Billy may need to see me real soon," he said with a coy smile. "Bou ok with that?"

"God, what are you going to make me a friendship bracelet and braid my damn hair?" Billy grumbled.

Everyone laughed while Billy listed off a string of curses before Lander gave David a sympathetic shrug.

"See if you can't help him question some of the pack members. I want more on ours, maybe you and Billy can tag team," Lander said.

"Actually," Levi mused. "You two are thinking about training together again right?"

"Ya, we were going to start in a few weeks. Just waiting on Ethan to get the damn paperwork done," David teased.

Ethan grumbled a little and shook his head. "Asshole."

David chuckled before tipping his glass to Ethan. Levi took a sip of his whiskey and nodded. "Ethan get it done. David, you and Billy grill those damn warriors, especially the old ones. Crack them, I want to know everything they know."

"You got it, Levi," Billy replied.

"What about the witches?" Levi asked.

"Still waiting," Lander replied as he sipped on his whiskey.

Ethan swirled his glass around and held the glass up to his lips, sipping on the caramel-colored liquid. I took the glass from him with a coy smile after he rested it on his knee and took a sip for myself. It was warm and seemed to calm my beast some more as it warmed my skin.

"Witnesses? Evidence? Where are we?" Ethan asked as he took his glass back with a mock scowl, sipping on it while the link stirred. "I need more than the rocks and the rogues if we want him for ten years ago."

"If he really did have it out for Chris, he probably put things in places that were obvious if there was anything to hide," Lander thought out loud.

Levi nodded into his glass while I playfully snatched Ethan's drink away from him again. "You could be onto something Lander, if I were him and wanted to really give a guy I hated one last middle finger, I would put it in a place that was close to him, special to him. Like his house or something, actually, that's not a bad idea..." his voice trailed off darkly.

Liam smiled a little deviously. "I like the sound of that uncle."

"Me too boy," Levi chuckled deviously. "Ethan, you and Evan make a list. Go check your old house, you never know, maybe we'll get lucky. Get Ryder to help you."

I finished sipping the whiskey and had just pulled it away from my lips when Ethan smoothly retrieved it and took another sip. "We can do that uncle, Ev, we can work on that when I get back."

"I'll start making a list now then," Evan said.

Ethan took a sip of whiskey and then nipped at my ear playfully. Levi shot us both a scowl, which distracted Ethan enough for me to snatch the glass back.

Evangeline eyed our game and nodded approvingly. I smiled slightly and lifted the glass to her before taking a longer sip.

"What about witnesses? What's the status?" Ethan said as he leaned close to my ear and let his lips tease my skin. I pushed back a shiver as he took the glass back for himself before kissing the unmarked side of my neck.

"We are still waiting on that couple's family to come back from vacation, but they will be in Levi's office first thing when they do. Should be back in a week-ish," Lander said before he looked at Ethan and I and rolled his eyes.

"David, comb through our files too. I want to know everything to what damn cricket was out that night, that week, hell–pull a couple of months back," Levi grumbled. "Check for kids too. If they wolves aren't here, they may have kids that know something."

"You got it," David replied into his glass.

Ethan was resting the glass on top of his leg with one hand while the other was around my waist. I slid my hands carefully down his arm and started to intertwine our fingers, or at least that's what he thought. "Speaking of kids, what about Thomas' kids and their sidekicks?" I asked while smoothly stealing the glass away.

My wolf chuckled in the back of my mind as Ethan let out a long huff. Evangeline held up her fingers as a scoreboard. Apparently, I was up by two points, which only annoyed Ethan.

"They could know something," Claire thought out loud.

"I think Arron could," I said as I sipped on the smooth brown liquid. "He seems like he's conflicted and even a little guilty. I think maybe we could prod him."

"After the beating, I put on him, I doubt he will be team Everette," Ethan replied before stealing the glass back.

"It's a bit of a stretch Charlie girl," Levi breathed out.

I let out a hot breath. "I think there's something there. I don't know how, but I think it's worth exploring. We have to try, if it's a dead end then we can drop it and move on."

Levi nodded slightly. "Alright, but be careful. I don't have to tell you how much we need to watch our asses."

"I know," I sighed.

"On another note, I think I can get Amber to talk at the party. It may not turn out to be anything, but we'll see where it goes and if it's worth exploring," Jake said with mild confidence.

"Thanks for taking one for the team bro," Ryder chuckled.

I smiled a little as Levi chuckled next to me. He looked at Ethan's glass then at me and winked; he got up and walked to the kitchen, making the whole room go stiff for a minute.

Levi turned and threw his hands up. "I'm getting another drink don't get your panties twisted," he said with an annoyed growl before he ran off with a string of curses.

My wolf didn't care though, we watched him like a hawk as he poured more whiskey into his glass. "Speaking of the party–" I started to say.

"Thomas is going to hold Larissa accountable there, in front of the pack from what the word on the street is. It's standard for any crimes that serious, so he should anyways," Andrea finished as Levi walked back over. He had two glasses in his hand and a sly smile on his lips. He sat down and handed me a glass with a firm nod.

I chuckled as my wolf smugly grinned in the back of my mind. That had to be at least fifty points for me.

"It will be up to Char," Evan said. "Packs pretty furious about it and Thomas can't afford to lose support. He'll let Char decide."

"What do you want to do girl?" Levi asked before he sipped at his glass.

My fingers were trailing the rim of mine as I shrugged. "It's not what I want anymore. She knows something, she knows, and helped set it up. Right now, she is a source and we need to know what she knows. As much as I want to bash her damn braided brains in, we can't do that we need her to talk. She'll just recover and go back to scheming if I beat the shit out of her, we can't have that again."

"What are the options? What is the likely thing that Thomas would go for?"

"Well, imprisonment is one," Evan replied.

I mused for a bit. We couldn't gain anything from that and all she would have to do is bide her time in a cell before she was out ruining our lives again.

I sipped on my whiskey before shooting Ethan a tiny coy smile. He looked at my glass, then at his, that only had a few sips left, and playfully narrowed his eyes. "Not going to share?"

"I don't share well, you should know this by now," I replied very matter-of-factly. He chuckled and then kissed my shoulder.

"Well, what she did is deplorable," Billy said. "She lied about rogues, put the pack in danger, and got the beta collard. He could have her whipped maybe even banished."

"What's the likelihood of that? Of banishment? I asked quickly.

"Well, right now with the pack's temperature I would say that it's likely," Evan replied curiously.

"What are you thinking?" Ethan asked. 

"Banish her. We banish her then capture her, that way we can question her and no one will look for her or wonder where she went."

Ethan rumbled a little and looked at Levi who looked impressed. "They may wonder where she went and we need a place to hold her," Ethan thought out loud over the link.

"There's some old cells, abandoned, real close to Jaxon's borders on your land. Been there for a long ass time, I guess they used to have them back there–who knows. Anyways, we could use those. If Jaxon is as willing to work with you two as he says, then we can get him to cover for us, say that she's there if anyone asks," Lander replied.

I felt a smug smile pull at my lips while Ethan's beast stirred in satisfaction. "Set it up. Once we have her then we'll let Char have a go at her."

"Not bad girly," Levi added. He took a sip then looked over at Ethan and I. "How's the pack?"

"Warmer in favor of us, many are pissed at Thomas over the collar thing–"

"And spooked," Evan interjected. "Now that we have confirmation of rogues, people are getting antsy. Although Thomas is apparently leading the 'thorough investigation into it.'"

Ethan snarled while Levi blinked his eyes hard as his hand around his glass shook in rage. I pushed my beast back, her anger. Damn lying bastard.

Levi let out a hot breath and looked over at us. "You two need to start working your damn pack. Be visible, and start earning the trust of the ones you don't have it from. Charlie you need to mix with the females and Ethan you need to get your damn warriors together."

"Agreed," Ethan added. "I was going to talk with our captains in the next few days. I think Sam offered to let Charlotte help her with the new pups."

Levi nodded. "Good, it's going to be your pack soon, you two need to know it as well as you know yourselves. I know you don't want to, but you need to go into your damn office Ethan and keep doing your job as the beta. It's going to look real bad if you don't and we need to keep things level.

"Kiss ass and do what you need to do to keep a hold on things until we can get you what you need. Go to that damn party, smile, and be merry as hell. Let people see you two together, it's a good thing for them."

Ethan grumbled then nodded. "Hopefully we won't have to hold on much longer."

"Hopefully," Levi echoed. "You need to be ready Ethan. You're a strong wolf, there's no doubt, but Thomas hasn't sat in that seat for so long because he's necessarily weak."

"Levi's right," Lander added. "He's smart Ethan. He couldn't have done so much if he was a dumb ass. You need to be ready to challenge him, you both do."

Ethan sighed and nodded to Levi. "Alright. I'll let you know if we can come out here, let me get back to work and feel things out first."

Levi nodded in agreement. "Anything else?" We shook our heads as the link hummed quietly. Levi sighed and looked over at Ethan as his eyes swirled dangerously. "You do not challenge him without me there, do you understand?"

Ethan nodded. "I do."