Aria's POV 

I feel like I am teleporting to somewhere unfamiliar. The forest looks lush with a huge grassland and trees in sight.

An extremely beautiful blonde woman with white eyes, comes to view. She has a wooden staff in hand, the tip placed upon the head of a little girl. She begins to chant in an unfamiliar tongue.

"La thorno mobuele tinos vierde demunno lonas, pylas curo mantinis frielde kinku mun. Lonas kunfre mundi julnis modas."

A bluish glow surrounds the beautiful woman then swiftly slides into the wooden staff. The staff then explodes and the same bluish light envelopes the little girl. She rises above the ground for a short while and everything goes back to normal like it all didn't happen. 

The woman of mystery picks the little disoriented girl off the ground and turns behind her. I finally noticed a short unclear figure behind her, I hadn't seen it earlier. It seems to be a male probably early teens.

"Please, take her. I can't keep her safe any longer, he'll be here soon." She pushes the little girl into the hands of the figure.

He hesitates for a moment, then takes up the little girl and flees towards the opposite direction.

She follows them with a long gaze until they get out of sight. A loud growl disrupts the peace, what surprises me is that no one seems to notice me.

A huge black wolf littered with wounds slowly approaches the woman, its paws pounding hard against the forest floor. The mystery woman's face goes completely expressionless.

"You will never win, maybe not today but you will reap the excruciating pain you have caused..."

The wolf pounces on her in a giffy, gruesomely tearing her head off before she could complete her words.

"Noooooo," a scream rips through my throat, how can someone kill another without batting an eyelid. 

The wolf lifts its snout and releases a loud howl. Several other wolves respond with similar howls in the distance. 

A force pulls me from wherever this is, and my eyes push open, I peer around. I'm in Kael's room it would seem. Drops of sweat trickled down my skin.

"You're awake," my mate says with glee.

"I......" my voice sounds patched. "Water," I say with my voice breaking. 

"Sure thing, Kitten." He rushes to the cupboard table beside me and gives me a hand pulling me in a sitting position. 

"Drink, love," he urges, placing the cup against my lips and tilting it a bit, soon it gets empty. 

"You want more?" He asks with concern.

"No, I'm good." My voice sounds a lot less croaky.

He heaves a loud sigh and sits by my bed, turning to face me.

"The doctor couldn't figure out why you were out cold, but he mentioned that you look a lot healthier than before," he stares at me lovingly. 

"He insisted that you're fine and it's probably something minor, you were out for six hours." He finishes with concern evident in his tone.

"I feel fine, I promise," I say soothingly to ease his worry. "Hope, I didn't make a bad first impression to your friend?"

"He is worried about you and is right outside the door. He's beating himself claiming that he probably overwhelmed you." My mate explains with a resounding chuckle. 

"Let him in, I feel bad he thinks so." I urge him, nodding towards the door.

"Fine, Kitten," my mate's eyes glaze over for a moment, not long after I hear a gentle knock on the door.

"Come in, O'Brien."

The door knob twists and the door pushes open. The familiar face from earlier comes into view, this time looking a little guilty but still friendly. 

He then clears his throat, "Hello, Luna I'm sorry if I overwhelmed you, it's nice to meet you again." He shifts uneasily on both feet.

I smile brightly at him which seems to ease him up a tad bit.

"Hello O'Brien, Kael has told me a lot about you, it's so nice to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Luna." He says finally at complete ease. He shoots my mate a brief look then stares back at me with a mischievous look.

"Would you like to know about Kael's embarrassing moments in middle and high school?" He asks with glee to the detriment of my poor mate, who releases a low growl paired with a dark glare.

I laugh at their childish antics and encourage him, "Sure, I'd love to hear every part of it."

"Well, well kids don't make me regret allowing you guys to meet." My mate says jabbing O'Brien a little hard. 

"Ouch, Kael," Obrien whines.

"I didn't even hit you that hard," My mate says blankly.

"Tell him sorry," I nudged him gently.

"Fine, sorry," he says, not sounding the least remorseful. 

"I'd better get out of here before your jealous mate eats me alive," O'Brien says playful, then heads out the door.

A comfortable silence fills the room.

"You know this is the third time you're getting unconscious within a rather short interval of time." My mate says unable to reach my eyes.

"It pains me to know that I'm unable to protect you as a mate should," he continues. 

"You are not at fault, Kael, you've protected me better than anyone ever did." I say with conviction. 

"Don't pull yourself down, you mean so much to me and my heart breaks seeing you beat yourself up like this."

"Calm mate down," Willow says soothingly in my head.

"Let me out, please Aria, I also want to talk to, mate." I allow her to take over.

"Hi mate," Willow says to our mate, taking off the blankets and sitting atop his laps facing him. Her voice sounds so powerful and soothing at the same time.

"What's your name, little one," Kael answers her with so much adoration. 

"I'm Willow," She bats her lashes at him, "Can I meet your wolf, please."

"Sure thing, Kitten, I can't tell you no." His eyes turn completely black.

"Hello mate, I finally get to meet you," Kael's wolf says with a deep authoritative voice.

"What's your name," Willow says in admiration, her usual sassy self now gone because of her mate. I'd make sure to use this against her soon.

"I'm Alec, and I've been waiting for you a while. We're worried for you my love, and feel you're carrying a lot of weight and past wounds but we can't do anything about them until you let us in."

Willow kisses her teeth, "Alec, you are the best mate ever, don't beat yourself over things that are out of your control and have happened before you even knew that I existed." 

"Aria has some past wounds she's yet to heal from. The members of the Blood Moon pack really hurt her. She was an orphan in the pack and was always looked down upon. It got worse when she couldn't shift, they deemed her wolfless and worthless. In fact, even when I made my presence known to her in the back of her mind she told no one."

"She never knew what it meant to be cared for until she came to this pack." Willow finishes.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, I wouldn't have even let them in the pack if I had known it was this bad " he says in regret. "I knew that your former pack treated lower ranking wolves badly but didn't know it was this bad."

"Even Omegas treated her badly, at least they had wolves." Willow says with venom. "They thought her to be nothing but trash and even the fact that they called her runt or worthless Omega was an elevation."

"They also abused her physically, the scars faded after I reappeared again. A painful occurrence had almost killed me since I took most of the pain."

A deep guttural sound escapes his lips, "Who laid their hands on you, tell me and they will be taken care of. Also what was the painful occurrence that occurred."

"Should I tell him about the rejection?" Willow asks me in my mind.

I whimper softly remembering the ache it caused me. "Go ahead, I don't have the strength to tell him yet."

"Well I was....."

A knock on the door interrupts me. A loud voice follows.

"Alpha, Luna there's an issue at the borders."

Alpha Kael's POV 

Alec gives her an inquisitive stare. She is opening herself to us and there is also an emergency with the pack. Alec slowly drifts back to my mind giving me back control.

She nods approvingly and I dash towards the door, twisting the doorknob open. I race down the hallway, shouting orders to my warriors to make sure women who aren't warriors and children are hidden well. 

Wait, I need to warn her not to leave the pack house for any reason.

I turn around, and return to our room, "Babe," She lifts her head, a curious gaze on her face. 

"Please, don't leave the pack house for anything, in fact don't leave my room at all."

I mindlink Martha to rush down here and stay with my Kitten, and also bring a guard along to protect them both in case there has been an infiltration.

Martha pushes the door open, I give her a nod and speed past her out of the door. Partially shifted, I let Alec have control of certain parts of my consciousness. Perks of being a Lycan, I still had reign over my consciousness. 

My warriors wait for me and follow me closely behind in a trained and orderly file. We are the most powerful pack for a reason, forming a wide V shape. An eerie feeling creeps into my mind like something bad is going to happen. I'm certain Martha sealed them in my room but I can't seem to shake off the feeling.

My head warrior, Gad, fills me in on what happened earlier. "Alpha, a group of eight rogues, carried out a surprise attack on the Eastern border patrol. They were overpowered but the last one left alive for questioning insisted on asking a message to you."

"Any casualties?" I ask, pride bubbling in my chest, at their defeat. Those rogues never give up, no matter how many times we win.

"Nothing serious, Alpha. Wade got bitten but he's been taken to the infirmary. It's a minor injury." 

"Well, you seem to have trained them all very well, I'm impressed." I say out of character.

Gad's eyes met mine and widened in shock then stammered out "Th.....thank you, Alpha."

Aria's presence has done something to me. My harsh and abusive childhood made me cold and unyielding until she came along.

A pungent stench fills my nostrils as I race into the trees heading towards the Eastern borders, where the issue stemmed from. We reach the borders in minutes, since we wolves can cover miles in minutes. 

I shift back to my human form, and collect a pair of pants given to me by a warrior. Several bodies littered the grassy ground and two men and a young lady stood over a bloody man. 

His eyes were blood shot and unfocused, the pungent stench from earlier is worse now showing their feral state.

"Alpha," the border patrol greeted me in unison, bowing their heads with respect. 

I give them a firm nod. Then I address the bloody rogue, "You said you have a message for me?"

"'Ahhhh Alpha Kael, I'm privileged to be in your presence," the bloodied rogue exclaims with a mocking bow.

"To what do I owe this cowardly attack?"

"Well, my Alpha has a message for you, he says that he that has great treasure should try by all means to keep it safe." He gives me a wry smile.

"Speak plainly rogue," I say, infuriated by his cryptic words. 

"Keep your darling Luna safe, because my Alpha is coming to collect." His voice resounds in the open forest.

A guttural growl escapes my lips, how dare he threaten my mate. Alec pushes forward in my mind and I let him, partially shifting. 

I draw my claws across his face slowly tearing into it. His screams are like songs to my ears. Alec growls in anger and says, "I'll give you a taste of why I'm feared across the packs in Crescent Moon, since you have the audacity to threaten my mate."

I pull him by his neck from the ground and rip his head off clean with my teeth. I raise my head and release a loud howl. Most members of my pack fall to their knees at the powerful aura I was emitting.

I catch a whiff of a strange scent immediately noting that we are under attack.

"Protect the borders, don't let anything or anyone pass the borders." I bark orders to my warriors through the mindlink. I am able to speak with particular persons at the same time through the mindlink if I please.

"For Cantara,"  I shout out. 

"For Cantara," they chorus.

I can see figures rush in our direction from outside the pack lands. As they approach us a horrible stench fills our nostrils. 

"It can be a trap, let them approach us," I caution. "I sense eighty heartbeats, we can take them out, let the remaining warriors stay at their stations."

"Archers, ready," Gad orders. Unknown to most, Omegas within my pack that do not have a wolf are trained in Archery, swords and other weapons. I do not believe that any one is weak even when they don't have a wolf.

The Archers are hidden within the trees and have mastered the art of hiding their scent. They are an elite team, very few people know of their existence. 

The rogues are finally close enough, "Fire, now," Gad shouts into the mindlink. A rain of silver arrows laced with a good amount of Wolf's bane pours out at the unsuspecting assailants. More than half of them drop convulsing on the ground, the rest show confusion and seem to want to retreat.

"Attack, now," I order authoritatively through the mindlink. We go after them, with me taking the lead, followed by high ranking wolves. I had left Aldin on pack grounds in case of emergencies. 

I tear into a sandy brown wolf in front of me, ripping his neck out in seconds. I then turn and fling off a large grey wolf, going for the neck of a young warrior, who had blood gushing out from a large slash on his leg.

The young warrior gives me a grateful stare and I utter, "Go on high ground, you're too wounded to keep up with the fight." He nods in appreciation and limps away. My eyes follow him to ensure his safety. 

A loud snarl makes me tear my gaze from him. An enormous brown wolf with white stripes has its eyes on me, giving me a silent challenge. I sense nine other wolves discreetly covering him.

I return his predatory gaze with a menacing growl and speed at him. I dash towards him in the twinkle of an eye, funny how he thinks he can challenge me and live. I rip his heart out before he can flinch.

I move swiftly and almost unseen, ripping through the remnants of the wolves left. After my last kill, I let out a loud howl of victory. Countless howls can be heard across the entire pack. 

"Good job, guys." I say rie seeing through each word.

"Kael, Kael someone is here I can sense it," my mate whispers through the mindlink.

I take a turn speeding, towards the pack house where I had left her. My warriors sensing my distress follow not far behind.

"Aldin check on your Luna and Martha," I say with worry to Aldin through the mindlink.

"She's not here, Alpha," he replies in seconds. "It seems they got out the window, the guard you left is still at the door."

"Where the hell are you, mate," I ask her through the mindlink.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was a trap, I heard a scream for help and I convinced Martha to come along." She replies timidly, guilt evident in her tone.

"Where are you now?"

"We headed west to an abandoned cabin, but when we noticed it being a trap, we hid by a tree close to the waterfall," She says.

"Hold on, Kitten, stay close to Martha. She is a seasoned warrior and will take good care of you." I say consoling her.

"We are outnumbered, three to two and the worst thing is I'm no warrior. Please hurry, Kael."

"I'm almost there, my love." The thing is I have a very vast land mass. Now they are in the west and I'm coming from the Eastern border. 

"Noel," I called out through the mindlink of the head of the West border patrol. He doesn't reply. "Carter," I called out again to his second still no reply.

"Something is definitely wrong," I tell Gad. "Go check out those patrolling the west," I finished.

A loud scream sounding like that of my mate pulls me from this and I speed up, if that even possible towards the sound. 

I reached the scene way before anyone else could. First, I see three mangled, lifeless bodies by the waterfall. Then, there was my mate crouched over crying over an almost lifeless Martha with blood gushing out her throat.

Thane's POV

I stare out my window, numerous tents surround my brick home. I've built quite an empire for myself from scratch. No one will believe that I'm right under their noses. I've always used the rogues for my dirty dealings, they are easily dispensable anyways.

It was so easy to take advantage of their various grievances against the numerous packs they initially belonged to. A little freedom speech laced with vengeance was all I needed to control them. I've made the impossible, possible having countless rogues answer to me.

The strong Alpha blood running through my veins has given me the brute force I need in keeping the rowdy rogues in order also inflicting fear.

A loud knock pulls me from my reverie, who dares to interrupt me after giving strict rules to not be disturbed. 

The knock persisted, "What?" my grouchy voice says.

"Alpha, you need to hear this," the deep voice of my Beta, Shaw answers back.

"It better be good," I say, the underlying threat obvious.

Shaw steps in with a bloodied rogue, wounds littering his entire body. My gaze darkens, I just hope it's not what I'm thinking.

"What the hell is this about, Shaw?" I growl out. "Can't you take care of irrelevant scuffles between pack members."

He heaves a heavy sigh, "Alpha, we have bad news." He then pushes the injured rogue to his knees.

"Tell him what you told me," he orders. 

"Alpha, I am a part of the rogues sent to the Cantara Pack for a surprise attack. The first eight you sent were surprisingly overpowered by the border patrol. They had silver arrows laced with poison, killing wolves shot almost immediately."

A loud snarl escapes my lips, I crash the table beside me hard, cracking it in two. That stupid Alpha keeps soiling my plans. I have overpowered other packs with even less effort.

"Continue," I say, schooling my features. 

He shivers in fear, "W...we did everything according to plan. B...but the Cantara warriors sliced through us like butter, especially their Alpha. We stood no chance. It was like they anticipated every move we made. I was tasked by the leader to come and deliver, in case there were no more survivors."

"So you all failed, a simple job. The task was to easily pounce on them with the element of surprise and leave."

"I...I'm sorry, Alpha, next time will surely....."

I slit his throat in a swift swipe, I hate failure. It would seem no one can do things right these days. Excuses are all I keep getting from these useless rogues.

"Well, hopefully the last three I sent as back up will be back with good news," I say to my Beta who gives me a weary look.

"Get rid of this trash I wouldn't want his filthy blood to soil my carpet and wooden floor."

"Yes, Alpha," Shaw said, his head hung low.

"Call our informants to come immediately, I want to know why the tips given were useless."

"Yes, Alpha."

I walk towards him, heading to the door, "I'll be waiting, for now let me, let off some steam with the female prisoners, you should join me sometime." 

"I'll call the informants, Sir," Shaw says subtly, refusing my offer. Looking everywhere but me.

I give him a sly smile then walk past him, bursting in a fit of laughter. Well this will be fun.

***

The stench from the prison burns my nostrils. I'm completely drenched in sweat, zipping my pants up. The female prisoner I just finished having my way with, is crying softly against the damp, dirty wall. A skinny younger she-wolf is rocking her gently and shoots me a dirty look. 

"Keep your dog tightly leashed, Cassia, you never know what might happen" I spat at the disrespect. 

She quickly wraps her arms around the younger wolf, hiding her face in her breast.

I chuckle at her protectiveness over the young pup, Cassia is the longest female slave I have kept. I don't feel like getting rid of her or selling her off yet.

"That's a smart choice, you wouldn't want her to leave just yet right?"

She keeps her head low and doesn't make a sound, probably to get rid of me. I feel disrespected and approach her to give her a beating when my Beta speaks to me through the mindlink.

"The informants are here, Alpha." He says plainly. He has never been comfortable with my wild tendencies but he has sworn loyalty to me with blood and there is no going back. It was a naive and irrational decision that I'm pretty sure he regrets.

"On my way, Shaw." I give Cassia a long look but I need to leave, there are more important things to deal with than a pesky little Wolf's disrespect. 

I step out of the faintly lit cell and lock the doors firmly with numerous locks. My firm footsteps hit the broken concrete floor, I step out  of the prison and head towards my house.

When I entered my house, there were three figures standing in my sitting room. 

"You're late," the first figure closest to me mutters furiously. 

"Don't forget who you're talking to, mutt." Very few people dare disrespect me to my face.

A heavy silence fills the room, save for the breaths released. 

"You called for us, you know it's very risky to meet." The second figure says with irritation.

"You're all lucky, you're still useful to me, if not your heads will be on heavy spikes by my borders."

"Anyways, it seems you have failed me yet again," I say, staring at them intently. 

"What's that supposed to mean, we gave you good Intel," Figure one screams at me.

These little fleas have no idea what I have in store for them. They should pray to their little moon that they remain useful or else, their fates may be worse than most.

"Watch your tone," Shaw snarls, stepping forward. I raise my hand signalling him to leave it be.

"No need to raise your voice now, the intel you gave me states that the Eastern border is the least guarded and that your Alpha's drink had been laced with Wolf's bane to weaken him."

I step closer to them, "So how come I've lost over ninety wolves in one day, if we continue at this rate I won't have any left, would I?"

"Look we have no idea what went wrong, we did everything you asked and still things got out of hand." Figure two, murmurs at least a bit remorseful. 

"I sent three seasoned wolves as back up but they seem not to answer at all," I say, each word venomous. "Do you have any idea where they might be?"

"Look about that," Figure one says nervously, "Before we left, it seems the Luna and the Alpha's cousin killed three wolves by the waterfall, the trap they set backfired."

I turn around and give the wall a powerful hit in rage. Bricks fall off forming a hole in the wall. The two "guests" looked surprised at the strength I had just shown.

"Oops, my bad, you shouldn't have seen that."

"You told me the Luna would be an easy target." I finish, distrust evident. 

"S..she is, she doesn't even have a wolf," Figure one stutters fear evident.

I smile like a maniac, "I hate excuses, hopefully this never occurs again."

"Well, Kael thinks he is smart right, I will get him soon enough. This is just the tip of the iceberg."

"He'll never see my next move coming, just you wait."