Ethan and I walked hand in hand back towards the dining room where voices could be heard echoing off the walls. He leaned over and kissed my cheek again before he released my hand to put his arm around my waist.

"Levi, Jaxon, and I will take the Alphas. You and Andrea hit up the Lunas. Evan, Lyanna, and Lander will be working the others."

"Alright," I breathed out. "Let's do it double-oh-seven."

Ethan chuckled and kissed the skin below my ear. "So I'm James Bond now?"

I rolled my eyes. "Not quite Everette."

I looked up and saw the doors open as an alpha, his luna, and a beta walked in. Ethan stopped us and turned with a friendly nod to the male with a beard that looked like it wanted to eat you and friendly crows feet around his warm brown eyes.

"Deryl, glad you came," Ethan said.

Deryl dipped his head and shook Ethan's hand. "Glad to see you're ass here. It was about damn time."

Ethan rolled his eyes and looked back at me. "This is my mate Charlotte"

Deryl nodded as he pulled a pixie blonde with big hazel eyes to him; she had a short haircut almost like hers, but on her dainty face it looked nothing but exquisite. "Nice to finally meet you little Thorne girl, this is Angeline, my–"

"Goddess divine?" she answered for him with a cheeky smile before she winked at me. She offered me her cheek which I happily took; my wolf seemed to like her, she was like a ball of energy and warmth–so much youth yet calm.

Deryl sighed and shook his head at Ethan. "I can't really argue with that."

Ethan and I laughed lightly with the visiting alphas before I looked at Angeline. "Want something to drink? We have wine, wine, wine, beer?"

She laughed and nodded. "You speak my language, come one, let's let them chit-chat amongst themselves."

Ethan kissed me before I walked with Angeline towards the kitchen as he and Deryl stayed and chatted in the living room. She leaned over to me a little was we walked. "I didn't get to say it before, but, I am much happier to see you up here than that bitch. God, she was so rude."

I scoffed out a laugh and nodded. "She certainly got what she deserved."

Angeline chuckled darkly and nodded. "Sad I missed that. I heard the vampires are here?"

I nodded as we turned into the kitchen. "Yes, they're here to help. It's an issue that concerns all of us."

"I know," she breathed out. "We've had sightings on our land. It's made Deryl and I both more than nervous as well as our pack. It's nothing quite like what you all have had, but I mean, you are closer to the mountains."

I raised a brow as we stopped at the counter where bottles were already opened. "Red or white?"

"Red of course."

I nodded with a coy smile and pulled out a glass then pulled out a cork from a bottle of Cabernet that was already open. Pouring it until it was full, I looked back at her as I stuck the cork back in the bottle. "What did you mean before? Closer to the mountains?"

She took her glass and sighed, looking around before she leaned closer to me. "Deryl has a feeling they are in the mountains. We have no proof of course, and it's completely crazy, but he has a hunch."

My eyes widened slightly as I nodded to her. "Do you think anyone else thinks that?"

She looked over her shoulder then stepped closer to me. "I think Ajax does, I talked with his mate Talia. They've had incidents too. He isn't so sure about the mountains but he thinks that it could be likely. Does Ethan?"

I shrugged as I took a sip of my wine. "It's like you said, we have no real proof. I think we both lean that way, but it's hard to say without proof."

She nodded. "I know. So, how's mated life?" she asked with a sly smile. I felt my cheeks flush which made her laugh lightly. "Don't worry I remember how Deryl and I were, well, still are. Just wait until you get your heat–"

"Have you?"

"Yes," she breathed out. "We have two kids, both under the age of eight. They keep us busy."

I shook my head. "I can imagine, I can't imagine being a mother right now with everything."

"There's never a 'right' time, it just happens. I got mine when Deryl and I were on our way to Sam's on a supply run. He had to pull over at this sketchy motel, it was horrible! Well," she chuckled as her cheeks flared up with red. "It was horrible until it wasn't, if you know what I mean..."

"Oh my god," I breathed out into my glass. I caught Andrea's eye from across the room and waved her over. "Do you know Andrea? She's Jaxon's mate, the new Luna at Lusa."

Angeline shook her head. "I heard about that. Deryl got a kick out of it. It was time Jaxon settled down with someone."

I nodded as Andrea walked into the kitchen with us as the dining room began to fill up with other Alphas, Lunas, and some Betas. She rubbed my cheek then looked at Angeline.

"Andrea, this is Angeline. She's the Luna at Lilaq, Deryl's mate."

"Oh, we've spoke over the phone but it's good to have a face to the voice now," Andrea said, offering her cheek to the pixie blonde.

Angeline rubbed her cheek against Andrea's then looked back at me. "We have transfers going to Lusa. I was working with her to get some over, but then one of them went into her heat and God it was such a mess," she groaned.

Andrea laughed and looked back at the room then back to us. "How's it going?"

I shrugged. "So far so good."

Angeline nudged me then waved to Andrea to come closer. "Who the hell has your fur all ruffled? Deryl was linking me, he said Ethan and Levi think that there could be someone helping the damn rogues? Are you sure?"

I flickered my eyes to Andrea's. This female did not let much past her, and in a way, my wolf and I respected her for that; but we also knew that we had to be a little more on our game because of it.

I let my beast come closer, sensing the female next to her. She didn't sense danger or a wolf that threatened her. Andrea gave me a slight nod before I looked back at Angeline.

"We don't know. With everything that has happened, it seems likely that Emmett had help."

She looked over her shoulder then back to us. "Deryl agrees and I do too. I don't know how or why, but I can feel it."

"Do you have any idea who?" Andrea asked; to the point and blunt, a trait I would forever love about her.

Angeline shrugged. "It's hard to think of any wolf that would willingly put their pack at risk like that. I don't know. I know Deryl has always hated some of the southern packs and Amrauq, but that's more because he thinks Greg is a spineless wolf, which is true."

"What about the southern packs?" I asked.

She took a sip of wine and shrugged. "Closer to humans so they are at more risk of being exposed. They are, well some are careless. Ajax has gotten into it with many of them; he almost tore an alpha apart last year over an incident."

"Incident?" Andrea asked.

Angeline nodded grimly. "Down there, well, some wolves from this pack were attending the local college. I guess they went to a party and drank too much, then got in a heated argument with a human over a girl. A fight broke out. They pulled them apart but apparently, the male wasn't done, he waited until the human was walking home then let his beast have a piece of him."

"What?" I asked, my mouth wide open. "What did he do? Ajax that is?"

"He wasn't Ajax's pack so not much, but police were all over the area between both their packs, it was a mess. The other alpha, well, Ajax wanted the wolf banished but the other alpha didn't see a reason to. He told Ajax that 'we were wolves it's what we do.' Ajax was furious as was Marnie. I mean, the last thing any of us need are human law enforcement creeping around our packs."

"Why were they at Ajax's pack?" Andrea asked.

"His border touched this alpha and they happened to find an arm not but a few miles away from both their borders."

"Shit," I breathed out.

"Shit indeed," Angeline added.

I looked over at Levi who was talking with a few alphas before he nodded to me. I smiled at Angeline and Andrea then nodded my chin towards Levi. "I'll be back."

I walked over to Levi who was speaking with a tall man, almost as tall as Alex. He had tattoos covering his arms and it looked like his entire torso, as the skin around his neck was covered up to his collar line.

He flickered his hazel eyes to me, hazel eyes that framed a face covered with a rugged beard, auburn hair that was longer and combed over on top, and a lip ring on his bottom lip that was smiling at me.

"This her?" he asked.

Levi dipped his head. "Yap, this one's mine."

I raised a brow as I approached the men. Levi pulled me to his side then nodded to the male. "This is Ajax Charlie girl, he's over kind of by Deryl in the south."

He smiled and dipped his head. "Nice to meet you. Levi doesn't shut the hell up about you."

I bit back a laugh and shook his head while Levi grumbled. "It's nice to meet you as well, did you bring anyone with you?"

He nodded. "Left my girl at home, we're expecting a kid soon and she's not good to travel–"

"Congratulations," I said with a smile.

"Thank you," he breathed out before he nodded to another man with dirty blonde hair that was tied up in a man bun. The man was equally as tattooed and almost as tall as Ajax with a lion tattooed on his upper arm. "Brought my Beta, Aiden."

Aiden looked over from his conversation then nodded to the men he was speaking to before he made his way over to us. He stopped and let his brown eyes look me over, his beast reaching out to feel mine. She rolled her eyes at him and snapped lazily, causing him to raise his brows as he took a sip of his beer.

Ajax chuckled into his drink while Levi shook his head at Aiden. "Wouldn't poke this one too much Aiden."

"Tiny thing like that?" he asked with a cheeky smile.

I laughed darkly then took a sip of my wine. "Some could say that about parts of you, but we don't discuss those openly, now do we?" I asked dryly.

Ajax almost spit his drink out while Levi leaned his head back and started to laugh. His chest was rippling with laughter while Aiden stared at me with his mouth slightly open.

Levi shook his head. "Charlie girl, you're something else."

"I like her Levi, she's just as much as an asshole as you are," Ajax added.

"It's a damn good thing, you ought to learn something," Levi replied a little deviously.

Aiden shook his head then looked over at Levi. "Lander here?"

"Course, I think he's over trying to keep Greg from pissing his pants," Levi said into his beer.

Ajax chuckled darkly. "Why stop it? It would be funny for us."

Levi chuckled and shrugged while I looked over at the older man with salt and pepper hair, that was more pepper, who was speaking to Lander. "Is he really that? I don't know, much of a–"

"Pussy?" Aiden finished while Ajax gave him a dark scowl. He sighed and looked back at me apologetically. "Sorry, but I mean, he is."

Levi nodded to Lander. "Go see for yourself Charlie girl, maybe piss him off enough and see if he'll let you have a go at him. That would be something I would more than enjoy seeing."

I rolled my eyes and broke away from Levi who was looking over at the Alpha in the corner with Lander. I took a sip of my wine as my wolf perked up.

"Miss me, sunshine?" Ethan asked as he walked to me. I shrugged indifferently. He shook his head, a teasing warning on his face before he bent down and kissed me. "How's it in here?" he asked.

I nodded. "Good, I like Angeline."

He looked over to where Andrea and Angeline were now chatting with Evie and Derek. "Deryl is a good man, my father always liked him."

"I met Ajax too," I added. "And his mouthy ass beta."

Ethan chuckled as he pulled me closer to him. "Aiden has always been more bark than bite."

"Overcompensating," I mused, causing Ethan to breathe out a sharp laugh. He looked back to me and tucked some hair behind my ear while I looked over to Barrett who was standing with Elliot and Evan, his eyes scanning the room while the other two talked. "Where were you off to?"

"Levi told me to go meet this spineless alpha you all grumble about."

Ethan pulled me to his side as he took a sip of his beer. "Come on then. I haven't said hello yet either."

As we approached I let my beast come a little closer. She shook out her fur as her mate shook his out as well, eying the alpha and his beta that were lightly chatting with Lander. Lander winked at me then waved us over. "Come on you two, join us."

Ethan dipped his head and shook Greg's hand, his beast coming a little closer to sniff out the other alpha with hazel eyes–hazel eyes that were more green than anything else.

"Greg glad you came, did you meet Charlotte at the council meeting?"

He smiled at me. "No, but's it's nice to meet you. I would have brought my mate, but I needed her at home base while I'm away."

"Understandable," Ethan replied before he nodded to the older male to Greg's right. His light brown hair was cut short to his head and his brown eyes were looking Ethan up and down as his beast seemed to skirt the line of stepping back or shaking his fur out. "Michael, glad you came."

He nodded. "Likewise, we needed to do this."

"So you're Thorne's girl?" Greg asked.

I nodded. "That's right."

Lander smiled then walked over to my other side, kissing my hair before he looked back at Greg with a cheeky smile. "Good thing too, keeping Levi's cranky ass in line was taking a toll on me."

I laughed lightly and looked back at Greg. I could see his beast trying to watch me from the corner of his eye but maintaining a casual facade. Mine stepped closer; he didn't shiver but he certainly didn't step up to meet her.

"How's your pack, Greg?" Ethan asked.

He nodded. "Good, everyone is good. My son is getting big, he'll be twelve this year."

"Almost time to shift," Lander added.

Greg nodded with grim eyes. "As excited as I am for that, seeing him shift is not something I will enjoy watching."

Lander sighed. "You won't, but it's exciting. Liam's wasn't bad, only I think about three and a half hours? Lyanna was around the same and Lyle is only eleven, but he'll be twelve soon. Creeping up there as well. I will be happy when that happens though, that damn boy is getting too big to ride on my damn back."

Greg laughed lightly and nodded. "Gabe is just as bad."

"Did you have any rogues this last year?" Ethan casually prodded.

Greg took a sip of his beer, his beast pacing behind his eyes, before he looked up at Ethan. "One, somewhat like yours. Haven't seen any other's though."

"You're lucky," I added.

He nodded. "We're in a good spot, surrounded by other packs so it's hard really for anyone that's not a wolf to get to us."

"So how do you think that one got onto your land?" I asked, my beast eyeing him as he cocked his head.

He shrugged then flickered his eyes to me. "Isn't that what we're all here to figure out?"

Ethan pulled me a little closer to him. "Yes, but do you have any ideas? I know some are saying the mountains while others are saying out east where the ice caverns lay."

"I don't know Ethan, all of that sounds outrageous. Rogues in ice caverns?" Greg asked incredulously.

"It's hard for us to really say, we've only had one," Michael added.

"Hmmm," I hummed. "What did your trackers think?"

Michael shrugged. "No scent, it was hard to say."

Greg looked down at his cup and let out a haggard breath as Ethan's beast stepped closer. Lander's stepped out too, eying the Alpha and Beta before they looked back at us. "Excuse us, but I need another beer."

I nodded as Ethan pulled me to the side so they could step past us as some of our gammas started to set the food out. Ethan watched them walk away then looked over at Lander. Lander shook his head and took a sip of his beer before looking back to Ethan. "Spineless bastard."

Ethan nodded. "Char could take him in her sleep with an arm tied around her back."

I smiled and nodded. "His beast didn't even push back, he just sat there and took it."

"Pretty standard for Greg," Lander sighed out.

"And no one's challenged him?" I asked.

Lander shook his head. "Nope."

"It's just odd," I thought out loud.

"Why's that sunshine?"

"Well," I sighed out. "A stronger wolf would naturally want to challenge him. I mean look at our pack, eventually, you would have challenged Thomas. It was a fight that had been brewing."

"True," he said into his beer.

"Is there no stronger wolf? Why hasn't one stepped up?"

"I agree with Char. The natural thing for any pack is for the strongest to be on top; it's a curious situation."

I looked around then caught Evie's eyes. She nodded to Helen then walked over to me with Helen in tow behind her, gracefully gliding across the floor like she was practically floating. The woman could truly have been mistaken for a Goddess in that moment.

"What's up?" Evie asked as she zipped to my side.

"Can you and B hit up Greg and his beta?" I asked quietly.

Evie flickered her eyes to Ethan then back to me. "You suspect?"

"I don't know, but I'd rather be safe than sorry," I replied.

She nodded to me then looked at her glass. "Time for me to get a drink then. Helen do you need anything?"

Helen shook her head. "No thank you, have fun."

Evie saluted Helen with two fingers before she walked over to the kitchen where Greg and Michael were opening new beers. Barrett caught Evie's eyes before he turned his attention to the kitchen as well, sipping his beer while his eyes slightly dilated.

Lander shook his head. "Those two are something else."

Helen nodded with a warm smile. "They're good people, incredibly talented. They all are."

"You have another right?"

"I don't have any progenies but Alex has the three, Dominic is our other. Well, I say our because I guess after all these years I feel like a mother I guess."

"Is Dominic like them?" Ethan asked.

Helen nodded into her white wine. "He is. Alex and Leo both have a cocktail of party tricks. They rarely use them unless they have to though."

"Why's that?" I asked.

Helen smiled at me with knowing eyes. "Just because you have great power, it doesn't mean you have to use it."

My beast perked her ears up while I nodded. "True," I breathed out. "So what can Dominic do?"

"Compulsion," she breathed out. "All vampires can in some form, but only on humans. Really we can use it to make them forget that we were there, but Dominic can do it to anyone."

"Shit," Lander breathed out as Ethan's eyes slightly widened. "That's some trippy shit."

Ethan looked at me, almost perturbed at the concept, then took a long sip of his beer while Helen watched Evie chat with the wolves in the kitchen. I smiled as I watched her lightly laugh with them, it was really hard for anyone to not like her, Evie was not only friendly but her warm personality made her almost contagious.

"We can't thank you enough you know?" I said quietly to Helen. "We may very well not be here at all if it weren't for Evie and Barrett."

Helen pushed some hair behind my shoulder and smiled at me. "It was the right thing to do." She sighed and looked at me a little more, almost with a sadness about her smile. "I loved Eve and Margaret. They were so fun. Sometimes when Alex was the council rep, I would go with him and we would drink tequila until Margaret was dancing on a chair while Eve and I laughed until it hurt.

"They were such good people, I never met their children. I only saw them at council meetings, but you could tell that they were such good mothers–so devoted to their families. It's good to see that justice was done by them. They more than deserved it."

Ethan sighed while I hugged Helen to me, a devious smile tugging at my lips. "So tell me, Helen of Troy, how the hell did you get all the way here?"

Helen laughed and shook her head, her laughter almost like a song itself. "Leo can't keep his mouth shut, poor guy," she chuckled out. She sighed then shrugged. "Well, you know how mates work. I saw Alex one day and that was it. I mean I was married and that was well–an issue, but Alex didn't care. Long story short, he um, well he got me out of that situation then took me away where that man would never find me, which didn't really matter because Alex eventually tore him apart, but ever since that day in the vineyard we've been pretty inseparable."

"They have some damn walls," Barrett grumbled to Ethan and I.

I snapped my eyes to Ethan then looked to Barrett across the room. His lip was twitching and his fingers were tapping out of slight annoyance on his bottle.

"What is it?" Helen asked quietly.

I shook my head. "I don't know, let me pull you in."

Finding her link wasn't hard, she was like a golden thread floating in the wind. I gently grabbed it then pulled it into a line where Evie, Barret, and Ethan were waiting.

"What is it Evie?" Helen asked.

"Walls, good one's too," Evie answered.

I sighed and reached for another bond, Levi's. I pulled him in quickly then looked up at him as some gammas started to set out the food and nodded.

"What's wrong girly?"

"There's thick walls Levi, both Evie and Barrett feel it," Helen answered.

"Who?"

"Greg," Barrett answered.

Levi growled across the link then snapped his eyes to Greg, who was chatting in the kitchen with another older alpha. He looked back at me with silver eyes that wanted to go and beat the truth out of Greg.

"That damn piece of shit," he grumbled.

"Well in all fairness, it could be a natural thing," Barrett thought out loud. "There are plenty of people here with walls, not as thick as his, but they are there. Strong Alphas or stronger wolves have them and I don't blame them. Your mind is a precious place that should be guarded. We can't necessarily make assumptions off the fact that he has a good wall and well, we already don't like him."

"Queen B you suck the fun out of everything," Evie grumbled as she picked up her glass and walked over towards where Levi was standing.

"Evie," Barrett sighed out.

"What B? Just let me have a little fun," Evie playfully whined next to Levi who seemed to be biting back a laugh.

"See if you can break through," Ethan said.

"Alright, Evie watch my back," Barrett said.

Barrett left his current group and walked over to where wolves were lining up to get plates and go through the buffet. Casually he grabbed a plate for himself, then lingered enjoy so he would land right in line with Greg and Michael.

From here we could see Barrett smile and introduce himself to the two wolves that seemed faintly guarded around him; although in all fairness, a lot of wolves here had been. Barrett and Evie weren't just vampires, they were capable of crawling through your memories to see the ones you want to keep in the darkest places of your mind.

Ethan flickered his eyes to me. "Anything?"

I shook my head. "Looks like polite small talk."

Helen chuckled lightly. "It's definitely not, Barrett always uses introductions as a way to prod."

"Why's that?" Ethan asked before he took a sip of his drink.

"Well," she breathed out. "When you first meet someone you're always a little on guard, even extroverts. It's a natural thing to guard yourself from the unknown, everyone does it. When you feel threatened parts of you react to protect what's precious to you. Introductions are great because Barrett can get a feel for the person when he talks to them, but he can also see instinctually what it is that they go to guard first. Sometimes it's nothing that stands out, but sometimes it is."

"Holy shit," Ethan breathed out. "Remind me to watch my mind around those two."

"Hiding secrets?" I asked with a raised brow.

Ethan smiled crookedly at me, making my skin faintly shiver. "All kinds of secrets sunshine."

"Care to share?"

He shook his head. "It's a surprise sunshine."

I was busy trying to hide my flush when Helen perked up. I looked over at her then back at Barrett who was making his way to us with a plate of loaded mashed potatoes.

"Just potatoes?"

He chuckled. "I am a sucker for these."

"It's true," Helen said while chuckling with him. "When I make them at home I have to make a whole pan for him. He will destroy one of those in ten minutes flat."

"They're good potatoes, Helen," Barrett tried to justify. "Besides, Evie likes a little weight on my bones."

"You haven't gained weight in what? Like almost nine hundred years?" Evie asked with a raised brow right as she zipped to us.

Barrett waved his free hand. "Details love, all details." He sighed and looked back at us then tapped his temple.

"Walls, I would need more time."

"Shit," Ethan hissed. "How much?"

"Maybe a few hours?" Barrett replied.

Levi growled lowly over the line with Alex. I looked over to see both he and Alex eyeing Greg like he was one of the pieces of meat that we were serving.

"What do you think Levi?" Ethan asked.

"Keep at him tonight and tomorrow if we have nothing then we can hit him a little harder."

"Figuratively or legitimately?" I asked.

Levi rolled his eyes. "Little of both probably Charlie girl."

"Alright, let's grab some food and keep at it. You all have enough blood right?"

They nodded. "Yes, Jake and Ryder came back with a cooler this morning to our cabin," Barrett replied with a smile. "If we need more we can just go hunting."

"We need to go soon anyways," Ethan thought out loud. "You could come with us? Charlotte went with our hunters along with Derek and Elliot; they sucked most of the blood out and we got the meat. Nice little arrangement, makes things less messy for us."

"I've never been hunting with a pack," Evie said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Sounds thrilling."

"We'll go soon then," I said with a smile, causing her to jump a little with excitement while Barrett just shook his head as he piled potatoes in his mouth.

Evie lightly hissed at him. "Please Queen B, don't tell me you're not excited."

"Darling right now I am more excited about these potatoes than anything else," he replied before he took another bite. "Dammit these are good," he groaned out to us.

Ethan laughed then looked at his beer bottle then back to him. "Another?"

"Please," Barrett replied as he handed Ethan the bottle.

Ethan walked off leaving me with the vampires. Evie came around and stood next to me, her eyes focused on Greg while Helen and I sipped our wine.

I found that I really liked Helen of Troy. We ended up chatting some more while Barrett and Ethan bullshitted with each other as we waited in line for food. Eventually, Evan came over and did not believe that Helen was actually Helen of Troy, he more or less told her, 'I mean no offense but, like, wasn't she like a Goddess?' Ethan and I were mortified but Helen just laughed with Alex and Leo who found it more than amusing.

Evie and Barrett continued to work the room for the rest of the night, still hitting walls that pushed Ethan and I closer and closer and closer to the edge.

We didn't know what to do. Greg had technically not given us a reason besides the walls to be suspicious. Hell, even I had walls up in my mind, as did Ethan. We had too. Our minds were precious places that had to guard things that could make or break us. I understood why he would have them, but still, it was unsettling.

We had all finished dinner and gotten everyone their schedules for the next day before Ethan and I helped our gammas clean up the pack house. Eventually, I sent Ethan away, he needed to relieve Evan and Jake managing our patrols that night; both of those wolves were more than exhausted, poor Jake came over and ended up crashing on our couch downstairs.

I was laying in bed trying to sleep, but I couldn't. All I could do was stare at the empty space next to me and sigh; I didn't realize how used to sleeping next to him I had become.

My wolf stirred and caressed the insides of my mind tenderly. She tried to calm me and assure me that our mate was fine, we would know if he wasn't. It was hard to argue with her because usually, she was entirely right. I gave in and tried to find sleep, but all I found was a sleep where I would keep waking up in the middle of the night when I thought I could feel Ethan coming.

But he did come. I was in that place between sleep and away when I could feel the hum of his veins whisper to me like a lullaby as he walked in our door. I rubbed my eyes as he walked in our room, trying to wake them up but I found that it was near impossible.

He brushed my hair back and kissed my forehead, his lips lingering for a few seconds on my skin. "Go back to sleep sunshine. I'm just going to hop in the shower," he murmured to me.

I nodded groggily then curled back into bed; my wolf walked in a few circles in the back of my mind before she settled down right as the shower turned on. The sound of the water falling in it was like rain, pulling me into a sleep that left a smile on my lips.

The shower clicked off and footsteps made their way over to the bed. Ethan climbed in then pulled me closer to him, his hair dripping on my shoulder.

"Did you dry your hair off?" I asked, my voice groggy and almost husky.

Ethan lightly chuckled. "Nope," he replied, shaking his head so he could drip more water on me.

I squealed a little as the cool water hit my skin, disrupting the peaceful drift to sleep I was previously in. "Ethan!"

"What sunshine? You like getting wet," he replied innocently as he wrapped an arm around my belly.

I groaned and let out a yawn. "How were the borders?"

"Quiet," he replied softly. "Jaxon went with me, he said he needed to get some air."

I groaned and rolled so I was facing him. "I feel bad, maybe we should move them out of Evan and Lyanna's? Your brother's already worn out enough as it is."

Ethan sighed and pushed some of my hair back. "I know, but that would be hella awkward baby. It's only for two more nights. I would say let's let them stay at Billy's, but David and Penelope are coming down tomorrow."

"Really?" I replied, my mind perking up at the mention of Penelope.

Ethan nodded. "Levi thought it would be good to have them here when we talk about security and I do too."

"I'm worried about her Ethan, she said that she thinks he was with someone before."

"Who?"

"Jaxon."

"A bondmate?"

I shrugged while his fingers drew little lines against my hip, making me shiver slightly. "I don't know, she didn't say."

Ethan let out a tired sigh and shook his head. "It shouldn't be a problem, it's going to burn like hell if he tries to touch anyone that's not her."

"I know but her bondmate left her for another, I think she's just–well I think it did more to her than she would like to let on."

"I can imagine. We have quite a few couples here with a bondmate and they are just as happy as the true mated couples. It's really crappy, because after knowing them it's like you almost don't want them to find their mates because it would just devastate them."

"I just don't like seeing her upset like that," I sighed out.

"There's only so long they will be able to go like that, they'll work it out. The bond will force them to see each other, whether they want to or not." Ethan paused and kissed me, his arms pulling me closer to him. "Go to sleep baby, we have a long day tomorrow."

With that, I finally fell to sleep. A deep sleep that was abruptly awoken when Evan rushed into our house. I groaned as I sat up then shook Ethan's shoulder.

He growled lowly as I shook him a little harder. Damn cranky male.

"Ethan," I said, my voice still raspy, while I shook him a little more. "Wake up your brother is here."

Ethan groaned as he sat up and rubbed his face as Evan made his way up the stairs, sounding like he was taking two steps at a time. I leaned against the headboard and let my mind wake up; my beast stood and stretched then shook her fur out. She sighed, she wanted to sleep a little longer and I agreed.

But as we woke up we could feel it, we could feel the anxiety coming off Evan. "Something's wrong," I breathed out, my eyes fully waking up.

Ethan jumped out of bed and jogged to the closet, pulling on some shorts right as Evan walked in. His eyes were wide and some hairs were hanging out of the ponytail that was getting a teeny bit longer.

"Evan?" I breathed out.

"What is it Ev?" Ethan asked as he walked out of the bathroom.

"Greg's gone," he replied. "He left."

"What?!" I hissed out, my beast snapping as my eyes flickered to Ethan.

Ethan shook a little then looked back at Evan. "Did he say why?"

Evan threw his hands up and collapsed in a big cushy leather chair we had in the corner of the room. "Said his mate went into heat and he had to go."

"Shit," Ethan hissed out. "Did you talk to him?"

"No I talked to Michael, they were on their way back in the car."

"Dammit," Ethan grumbled.

"We need to go after him brother, it's too coincidental. She gets her heat the night after Barrett and Evie both took turns trying to pry into his mind? Unlikely bro."

Ethan nodded. "I agree, it's too coincidental."

"Don't go after him," I thought out loud.

They both snapped their eyes to me; Evan looked at me with tired eyes under a curiously raised brow. "Why little sister? Should we just let him run?"

My wolf grinned deviously in the back of my mind. "Yes, that's exactly what you do."

"Sunshine?" Ethan asked.

I shook my head. "Get the trackers out and send them out, let him run and let them follow him."

"Why?" Evan asked, his voice tired and almost irritated.

"To see where he runs to of course."

"He's just going back to his pack sunshine, back where his ass is safe."

"Perhaps," I thought out loud. "But we have to consider that he isn't. What if he isn't? We go after him and we lose the opportunity to find that out. Even if he is just going back to his pack, we can't just take him. If Greg is really important to all this, then he is more valuable for us to watch rather than to capture right now."

Ethan sighed then nodded at me. "Let him run then."

I dipped my head. "Let him run."