“Pack meeting, Angel, time to get up,” Zane whispers in my ear, his lips trailing down my neck in an attempt to drag me back into the land of the living.

“No! It’s too early! And I need lots of coffee before dealing with all those personalities,” I mumble, snuggling deeper into our bed.

“Coffee is already on the table, now get up. We need you in there,” his tone hints that if I don’t get up now, he will force me out of bed in a manner I’m sure I won’t be too happy with. I gingerly lean up out of bed, pulling myself up the head board and reach over for my coffee, taking in that first glorious sip as Zane leaves the bedroom. The bathroom door opens and Wade exits, water dripping from his hair with every step into the room. I follow a drop of water as it slides down his rock-hard chest, over each delectable ab, towards the unbuttoned jeans hiding his cock. Is there anything hotter than a wet man wearing nothing but jeans?

“It’s not polite to stare, Ava,” He whispers as the sound of a zipper pulling down fills the air.

“Just like it’s not polite to distract your mate while she’s trying to get ready,” I retort, still unable to remove my stare from his body.

“I’m just minding my own business here, but if you don’t want to be distracted again, I’d turn away now,” he replies before slowly edging the jeans towards the floor and reaching for his boxer briefs. I was wrong. A naked, wet man is hotter than one in jeans.

“Why put on the jeans if you were only going to take them off and then put them right back on?” I ask, wondering why the hell he didn’t just walk out here naked.

“Because it wasn’t until I was half way through pulling them on that I realised I’d forgotten my underwear, so I finished pulling them up, then came out here to get the underwear,” he explains like it’s the most logical option. It’s way too early to try to figure out the way men think. I continue to drink down my coffee in big gulps, watching Wade change before jumping out of bed. Walking up to him as nonchalant as I can, I slap him hard on the ass and sprint into the bathroom, locking myself inside. Once safe behind the door, I burst out laughing.

“I can’t believe you just slapped my ass! I am not a piece of meat, Ava,” he jokes through the door, the handle rattling hard as I continue to giggle all the way into the shower. Ok, I’m ready to be an adult and get this Pack business done!

“Oh My God! Will all of you just shut the fuck up? What progress has been made, what have we achieved by all this yelling at each other?” I scream into the room of Alphas, fed up with the amount of back and forth shouting bullshit going on. The entire room stills and eyes spear me. It’s too late when it occurs to me perhaps a more diplomatic approach might achieve the same results; ninety percent of the gazes pinned on me blaze with anger. Shit. Not only do we have Wade’s family, but apparently ten other Alphas and their pairs were informed of this meeting, meaning we have at least sixteen Alphas from across the country all camping in our boardroom, all of which were sworn to an oath of silence as they entered the room. Since when do we even have a boardroom? Rebecca sat next to me earlier and filled me in on some of the intricacies of Alpha meetings, a kindness I appreciate as I don’t fully grasp this side of the Alpha pair thing. Now, she grabs my hands and squeezes hard. I guess I just committed another big Alpha no-no. Eyeing my mates, Zane and Wade try to smother smiles while Mac and Dylan just give me the ‘you should know better’ look. Yeah, well, you’ve been at this longer than I have, I think grumpily.

“Let me explain the situation now that we can hear each other speak. We have rogues and lones attacking wolves from across the country, but predominantly the north west. We have wolves being taken, wolves dead, properties destroyed. Our own Council continues to ignore these happenings, more concerned with their own agendas, whatever they may be. We also learned that vampires, too, have experienced much of the same attacks by rogues and lones. We did not ask you here as some pathetic version of a coup. We asked you here because we want you to help build a safer home for wolves,” Dylan explains, pausing a moment to wait for his words to sink in. We aren’t looking for a fight, we just want everyone safe.

“Our plan will remain unchanged with or without your help. We offer our land as a haven to all wolves, all packs. We intend to investigate who has organised these rogues and lones. Every single able-bodied member of our Packs will train to defend themselves. We offer you the chance to either join that movement here or create your own base like this in your own corner of the country. We don’t want packs separated, and at risk for attack, so we ask you to pool your resources. This morning I received new reports of rogues attacking people, witnesses that saw large wolves roaming the backstreets of the cities. This has gotten beyond out of hand,” Dylan explains with exasperation.

“Prior to our mating, we had two of the largest pack grounds in the country. Now that we combined our packs, we claim double the amount of space, double the resources and one of the biggest packs in country. We just want the unnecessary death to come to an end, and if the Council refuses to help us, then we will do it ourselves,” Dylan finishes calmly. His hard gaze sweeps over each Alpha, waiting for them to either agree or continue their bickering again.

“We propose creating a legally binding agreement with any pack willing to join, agreeing that their land will remain theirs, regardless of if the shitstorm forces them to vacate it until we get it sorted. It will state that you own the land by Pack laws, and that every Pack participating in this alliance will support you should someone attempt to challenge your ownership of the territory,” Wade chimes in, before standing up and dropping a large document in the middle of the stained oak table. The silence in the room makes the smack as it lands even more resounding.

“My entire Pack will move here untiI we get to the bottom this. Those still there boxed up our Pack house and are on their way here. I want my Pack safe, and I want all wolves able to trust their Council. Neither of those hold true right now, but I will do everything in my power to ensure that changes, even if it means moving across the country for a short amount of time,” Leo declares, his hands already reaching for the document in the middle of the table to sign his name on the dotted line before passing it to his Mate, Sarah, on his right.

“Sure, but this Pack belongs to your son and his friend. You’re asking us to give up our lands, our home, for something that may or may not achieve what we want. I’d love nothing more than to stick a huge, sharp sword up The Council’s ass, but this requires a lot from us. I know you, Leo, but I don’t your son or Dylan from a priest’s dick, and I know fuck all about his integrity,” An unknown brawny, curly haired Alpha says from across the table. His words enrage me. If he knew our history, he would never say that, or question our integrity. I try to bottle it up, I really do try not to respond, and yet, I hear it spilling from my mouth before I can stop it.

“You can shut the fuck up right now with that. We’ve lost more than anyone at this fucking table, and you don’t begin to understand what it will cost us if this goes wrong! Let’s see whom you come crawling to when those fucking monsters turn their eyes on you and yours, when they break your wards, kill your wolves and burn down your homes!” I growl. My wolf comes to the surface and rides me hard, which only seems to rile the other Alpha further, breathing heavy as his wolf rises in challenge to mine. Becca’s hand crushes mine under the table, grounding me as her nails dig into my hand to the point I feel blood start to trickle.

“Alpha Kelvin, you must understand that Ava serves as the Alpha female of two packs, both of which suffering multiple attacks. Her previous Alpha forced her from their Pack, after a ruthless beating while chained with silver for learning of his abhorrent actions against wolves. She arrived here and found herself placed in a position by those involved in this problem that required she choose between the lives of her new pack and the lives of pack members she grew up with. When you question their integrity in this matter, you question the significance of those lives lost, and you diminish the very purpose of this meeting. She is young and newly mated, don’t hold this passion against her,” Rebecca replies with diplomacy, and the Alpha bows his head in apology, the aggression immediately receding from the room. Holy shit. How did she do that? God, I am not cut out for this political stuff. How does it come to her so easily, and yet here I am, still volatile as ever?

“No offense was meant, to any of you or the wolves you lost. This whole situation is a lot to take in. I will need to discuss with my betas and my Pack. We will get back to you within the next couple of days,” Alpha Kelvin concedes, before standing and leaving. Two more Alphas and their mates do the same, saying they need to evaluate the risks and will inform us of their decision over the next few days.

“What is your actual plan? Before we sign what, could possibly end our pack status, what do you plan on doing? Or do you just plan on going in half-cocked without any preparation?” Josh, one of Wade’s older brothers and Rebecca’s husband, asks. Please, as if we would walk into this without a plan. Dylan would have a fit without one.

“We intend to call in every favour available to us, scouring for every bit of information from both the surface and the underground. We need to find out the identities of some of the key player. Once we obtain that information, we plan on getting hold of them and doling out a bit of our own justice while we determine out who the hell pulls their strings. These fuckers use cyanide pills, so we don’t think it’s some low-level gangster. Vincent, Ava’s old Alpha, indicated that it goes to the top, and we need to find out with whom that top ends. We’re joining forces with Vampire Lord Darius to decimate the rogues and lones responsible for this. We can’t just sit by anymore. We won’t sit by while the Council does nothing. We’re training all our wolves in the event they get attacked again, they can defend themselves from rogues and from the Council, should they feel it necessary to bring the fight to us. We will put an end to this, one way or another,” Dylan states with steel, pacing with purpose until he stands behind my chair, my other mates moving to flank him.

Every single wolf in the room repeats “I stand with you,” All standing as the words leave their lips with forearms crossing their chest before reaching for the document one by one to sign their name. The importance of this moment sends pride blossoming through me at the strength of united wolves.

“Which packs intend to stay on the property? Just so we know what resources we will need?” Marco asks politely, watching all the Alphas from his position off to my left.

“Imperial Forest will move to this property,” Josh answers first, his head nodding towards Rebecca for confirmation, a gesture she reciprocates. One by one Wade’s siblings follow suit, all pledging their packs to stay and address the problems brewing in wolf society.

“Dusk Hill will move to this property, and we have sixty wolves”

“Wild Canis will stay, forty wolves”

“Moonstone will move to Montana, fifty wolves”

“Pack Blood rose formally requests to move onto the Grey Timber and Crescent Moon Pack lands, we consist of sixty-two wolves,” A reserved female Alpha with a shaved head says from the other end of the table, her eyes on me the whole time. I nod my head, hoping that she understands I harbor no objections, which supports by my Mates’ uniform ‘accepted’ responses from behind me. I watch her sit back, tension leaving her body once we agree to her request. What happened with her Pack for her to reveal such visible relief?

“Lost Oak wishes to move to the property with fifty-five wolves.” A handsome silver fox Alpha pronounces from the other side of Rebecca.

“Blue Lunar accepts the proposal and requests to move here, in the interim, with forty-seven wolves,” asserts a giant Alpha with a shaved head from down the table. The repeated requests surprise me more with each new one, though I don’t know why. Shit, how are we going to house all these wolves?

“The Nightshade Pack lives on the west coast. It is too far for us to completely move, and we have a lot of children. But we own a large territory, I offer my property as an option for any of the Packs that wish to move,” a muscular ginger haired Alpha announces, his hands coming up to rub across tired eyes.

“Crimson Light Pack will move to the Nightshade territory, if that is acceptable?” Another female Alpha speaks next, her long brunette hair falling over her shoulder as she leans on the table to ask the red-haired alpha directly.

“Absolutely. We will welcome anyone in the same situation as us,” he replies somewhat cryptically.

“Lunar River also wishes to move to the Nightshade territory,” an Alpha from my left replies, the fatigue evident in his voice. There’re definitely things we don’t know yet. What have these packs experienced?

“Arctic Lupis wishes to join Nightshade’s territory for the time being,” an older Alpha voices, his hand coming across the table to shake the Alpha of Nightshade’s.

“Well now that is all sorted, we should co-ordinate resources. We can maybe fit a hundred or so more into the cabins onsite here. But that still leaves three hundred or so wolves without an enclosed house,” Marco proposes, his brain already crunching the numbers.

“What if we choose all the children, elderly, and any women with young children to use the houses? They will need it the most. The rest of the wolves, we can start to organise tents, and perhaps, if you all agree, the Alphas can pool some of their funds so that we can buy demountable cabins and turn them into shared houses?” I suggest, wondering how the wolves will feel about sleeping outside for god-knows how long.

“I can organise building teams to come in and help assemble them,” Zane pipes up from behind me, his gravelly voice warming me from the inside out.

“I believe it may work best if we maintain a rotating roster of who gets what type of accommodation. It will help with reducing tension, help with keeping everyone happy.” Rebecca recommends. Her suggestion makes a lot of sense, a sentiment it seems clear is supported, judging by all the nodding heads around the room.

“I ask that you all get your betas to help us arrange the rosters. After all, you know your packs and know who needs what type of accommodation. Tomorrow while we go over some things in here, they can organise that and help it run as smooth as possible,” Dylan requests, his hands coming to my shoulders and rubbing with light pressure, providing some relief to the tight muscles.

“In terms of food, each pack will just contribute their normal funds for food. We will order the food in, so no need to change what everyone does normally. The only thing I ask, is please tell your packs not to hunt our wildlife, we don’t want to upset nature’s balance,” Marco explains solemnly, the vet in him coming out just a little.

“That all sounds good to me, put it all in writing for tomorrow and we can sign off on it,” Leo, Wade’s dad declares, his response curt as he stands, Sarah rising with him.

“Tomorrow, we all reconvene. I get the feeling you all bear stories that you should share,” Dylan asserts, as he steps back from my chair, allowing me to rise before I’m enveloped in a hug.

“Ava, consider me your very own mentor in the world of an Alpha female. You need it and don’t bother denying it,” Rebecca whispers into my ear before she too walks away, the subtle chastisement making me feel a little guilty at my outburst.

I watch as the Alphas follow each other from the room, all of them pulling out phones, no doubt to call their betas and packs to begin preparations.

“We’re going to house close to one thousand wolves here very shortly, are we going to be able to pull this off? How do we explain to the Council? Because it kind of looks like we’re amassing an army,” I question, the worry for my mates and Pack working its way through my system, eating at my nerves.

“We are making a haven, providing protection for wolves. It is only an army if they bring the war to us. We need to do something fix this if no-one else will, angel,” Zane mutters, his large arm wrapping around my neck and pulling me into the comfort of his side, while his lips trail back and forth over my forehead.

“I know. I know what we’re doing and why, I just…I hate the idea of putting you guys and our packs in anymore danger. We’ve had so many losses already.” My mind wanders down our pack bonds to examine the grief that continues to fray the threads, even though it recedes just a little more each day.

“We will deal with whatever comes our way, sweetheart. For now, let Zane and I take you back to the cabin while Dylan and Wade sort out a few minor problems with the Pack, then they’ll come find us,” Mac’s soft voice tells me, his strong hands twining through mine.

“What Pack problems?” I question, the urge to help so strong that I even surprise myself a little by locking my hands onto Marco’s forearms.

“Nothing major, it’s just Dylan’s beta position needs to be filled. Steven, as you know, applied for it, but some other wolves don’t agree he should get it. Yet no one volunteered to fight him for it, so we’re obligated to go in and mediate that shit,” Wade replies, his confident smile putting me at ease. Dammit, I’m so easy to please when it comes to these guys!

“Ok, well come get me if you need me. I know Stephen better than anyone, so if anyone can diffuse him, it’s me. In the meantime, I guess we’re going home. I’ll see you both there soon, yeah?” I press, knowing the next two days will be the last two quiet days we see for a while, and I need some alone-time with them.

“Couldn’t keep me away, baby,” Wade whispers before giving me a quick peck on the lips, his fingers biting into my waist as he pulls me closer.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, beautiful. See you at home,” Dylan says before he gives me a kiss that leaves me breathless.