"We've got the pizza!" I hear yelled through the clearing, as I finish up a conversation with one of the lower ranked wolves about starting training again. I look around, my nose picking out the direction the smell of pizza emanates from. Emerging from the tree line are the William brothers, three blond young men from Dylan’s pack, carrying about ten boxes of pizza each. I don’t think thirty pizza will feed all these wolves. But before I can open my mouth to ask if there’s more coming, I notice another eight wolves also carrying the same. I relax slightly, hoping that a hundred and ten pizzas will be enough to feed a hundred and twenty or so wolves that turned up early for the pack meeting. Thank-god for catering orders. The wolves whoop and cheer as the pizza reaches us, the boxes being passed around and shared throughout the crowd, music is turned up and everyone digs in. The brothers move closer to me, Dylan, and Marco, still holding a few precious boxes of dough-ey goodness.

"Hey guys, we saved you some pizza!" The brother with the blue eyes says. Blue eyes... hmm which one was the blu... Oh! Matthew! Brad was the green, Nathan was the brown. He places the box on my lap and I dig right in.

"Frank roo, Matt! Thwis ish amrazwing!" I say between chewing, the cheesy goodness of the pizza taking me to a happy place.

"You’re welcome, Ava. Do you need us for anything else?" Brad replies, scratching his chin subtly while nodding towards me. I give my face a furious scrub. Shit. Cheese stain. The resounding laughs only make the inner child in me come out, forcing the tongue from my mouth and poking it out at them before breaking into my own smile.

I turn back to the open area that all the wolves now sit around, watching everyone trying to find a new normalcy. The eyes of the older wolves still lift on occasion, searching through the darkness for any unseen enemies, regardless of the new wards.

“They’re wary, but strong. They just want justice, and they don’t want it to happen again,” Sophie’s voice whispers in my ear, the surprise causing me to inhale the pizza I was in the process of swallowing. My lungs seize up in response to the intrusion, the air trying to get in my lungs and cough up the pizza all the same time. Soft, small hands tighten around my waist, squeezing me, trying to help remove the pizza lodged in my throat. I give two big coughs, and finally dislodge it, sucking in ragged breaths.

“Holy fuck, I just saw my life flash before my eyes. Fucking Pizza! Soph, don’t you know you aren’t supposed to walk up and scare the beejezuz out of someone when they’re eating?!” I rant, ignoring the laughs from the people around us.

“I’m Sorry I di-“ she starts.

“And isn’t your CPR up to date? The Heimlich is not what you do anymore! Oxford says coughing is the most effective way to stop someone choking, you have to get me to cough!” I continue to fuss, not liking the feeling of suffocation one little bit. Sophie continues to stand there, her fingers run a light trail over my hair, calming me almost as quick as one of my mates.

“Do you feel better yet?” She prods, the soothing strokes easing the tension through my body.

“Yes,” I grumble, but slip my arm into hers and drag her down to me making us both laugh at her ungraceful drop to the floor.

“How are you?” I ask, the memories of her emotional barriers cracking flashing across my mind.

“I’m ok. It was hard to sort through everything at first. Especially because I was still dealing with people one on one, helping them through it. It’s getting better, everyone is still really raw, but it’s more contained,” she replies, the heavy sigh an indication of just how tired she truly is.

“It will continue to get better, we will make it better,” I whisper, leaning my head against her shoulder, trying to give her the comfort I know only Pack can.

“I know, we will make it better,” she sighs before closing her eyes for a few seconds. I wave over Annabelle and she begins to walk towards us.

“Hello, my gorgeous little fluff butts,” Annabelle says before she drops to the ground next to me.

“Good evening, sunshine.”

“So, why did our illustrious Alpha’s call everyone in for a meeting? I saw like sixty cars inbound as I walked between the properties,” Annabelle asks as she helps herself to some of my pizza, while I try to resist the urge to knock my pizza out of her hands and take it back.

“Trust them, I’m sure they will explain when everyone arrives,” I offer a vague reply when I realise my mates no longer surround me, not wanting to have any of the other wolves overhear us.

“You’re acting strange…but ok. I can wait a few more minutes,” She shrugs, her hand subtly going back to my pizza box to steal another piece while Sophie does the same from my other side, both giggling as a growl works its way up my throat.

We spend the next half an hour chatting, planning our next girls day out at the spa and wellness centre that’s in town. When the smell of foreign wolves fills my senses my head flies up. My eyes lock on shapes moving in the shadows of the woods, and my muscles tense in preparation of a fight. The wolves around us sense my change and follow my gaze, a symphony of snarls filling the night air as they too notice the shapes. I slowly stand, getting into a better defensive position, ready to shift or fight at any moment.

The shapes walking towards us start to become clearer, their forms gaining clarity, and I make out my four Mates at the front of the procession.

Behind them, a crowd of a few hundred wolves start to spread out, their quiet procession marching slowly as the sounds of Limp Bitzkit’s Rollin’ making the scene seem more menacing than it should, considering the Alphas of this Pack led them.

“What the fuck is going on, guys?” I ask down our bond, unable to hide the anger in my tone.

“My father’s pack and my siblings with their packs arrived. We went down to let them through the new ward, but we thought it best for at least one Alpha to remain with the Pack,” Wade answers, knowing I am pissed that I wasn’t included.

“That’s fine, but a fucking heads up would have been nice. Now explain to the pack before we have an all-out brawl,” I reply, the tension still not leaving my body as our Pack’s emotions ride me hard, their anxiety at the situation floating down out bonds. My four Mates stand there, all of them in jeans and a shirt, but all looking so deliciously strong. Dylan and Wade take centre stage with Zane and Marco off to the sides, their arms crossed, their faces locked in neutrality and giving off a very bodyguard like vibe.

My mates come to a stop twenty meters away from us, the newcomers halting behind them, their own faces a mixture of wariness and tentative smiles.

“I know all of you must have so many questions, not only about the wolves behind us, but what we plan to do about The Councils sanction’s on our justice, our movement, our choices,” Dylan begins, his large chest rising with a deep breath before he continues. “I give the same warning I gave at the funerals. If you agree with the council’s decisions, please leave. I…we do not want to be the wolves responsible for forcing you to do anything against your own morals. Going forward, we do not want to put you in a position where you have to battle your own conscious every day,” When no one moves, pride ignites in his gaze before Wade takes over for him.

“Behind me stand wolves loyal to my family and to the correction of justice. Our packs are not the first to be wronged by our own governing body. The men and women behind us know exactly how that feels and want justice for not only wolves as a whole, but for themselves. They came to help, in any way they can. They will stay here on the property and train with us. The other Alphas and I intend to welcome them into the place we call home, and we hope you will do the same,” Wade explains, his eyes pinning some of the more aggressive wolves with a quick stare while Dylan continues on from where Wade left off.

“As you all know, rogues have attacked small Packs of wolves all over the country, but with a heavier focus on the northwest segment. We’ve got wolves dying, rogues attacking humans, and no sign of justice? We’ve spoken to the Vampire Lord Darius. He, too, has experienced attacks on his properties by rogues and lone wolves, slaughtering his people in their homes both night and day. He is not responsible for this! Now the question remains, who the fuck is attacking wolves and vampires? Well, that’s something we sure as shit intend to find out. We’ve come to an agreement with Vampire Lord Darius. Starting tonight, vampires of his clan will assist in guarding our property from outside of our borders. In return, some of our wolves will guard some of their larger properties to help protect them from lones during the day,” Dylan finishes, his swearing clueing me into to how frustrated he’s become. I look around as some of our Pack’s mounting anger begins to fill the air, their breathing increasing and their feelings feeding off each other’s. I can feel the passion rising from Wade, the only hint he is about to speak.

“We will run a few different operations, all of which will help find the fuckers responsible for this and reducing the risk to wolves as race, not just ourselves. We will get in contact with Alphas from across the country that have been affected, and we aim to make our home a safe haven for wolves during this time, seeing as our Council seems indifferent. We will investigate why this is happening, we will train all wolves to be able to defend themselves, and we will respond to any threat, whether that be rogue, lone or the fucking Council itself, with deadly force,” Wade’s fervour ends in a shout. The Pack’s emotions start to change, their hesitance shifting from my Mates to our unidentified attackers. Their heads begin to nod in agreement with Wade’s words.

“We don’t care that it may look like we are amassing an army, we don’t care that it will probably incite trouble with not only other packs, but with the Council themselves. For the good of all wolves, we need to make our home safe for all, and we need people to know they come here for a place to go that will not stand for the brushing off of unjustified death. WE WILL NOT BEND. WE WILL NOT BOW. WE WILL DEMAND JUSTICE FIND OUR RETRIBUTION!” Dylan roars in a voice more wolf than human, the words rippling through the wolves and making even the hairs on the back of my neck raise. I lock eyes with him as his eyes glow with his wolf, the animal in him dying to escape. All the wolves bend down to the floor as one, their knees hitting the grass as they bow their heads to my mates, the action stealing my breath. The compulsion to stand with my mates so strong that I don’t even realise I’m walking towards them until I’m half way there, their eyes tracking my movement.

“Now, for tonight, we’ve ordered a fuck load more pizza. So, someone turn up the music, have fun, and get to know everyone. Tomorrow we start training, men in the morning, women in the afternoon,” Wade yells joyously, his words spurring people to get up off their knees and move back into their previous positions as the large group of new wolves hesitantly start to spread out in the crowd.

Wade grabs hold of my hand, leading me over to a small group of people, half of which all share Wade’s blonde hair and blue eyes combo. It doesn’t appear that all eight siblings are here, maybe only six of the wolves in front of me look related, the other three people likely their significant others.

“Ava, I’d like to introduce you to some of my siblings and their Mates. This is Josh, and his Mate Rebecca, Alpha pair of the Imperial Forest Pack” He says whilst guiding me toward to a man with slicked back blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard and a petite chocolate haired woman. Rebecca watches me with careful hazel eyes before she graces me with a soft smile and moves forward, embracing me in a brief hug. She steps back, introducing herself, then turns to Wade.

“Hi, I’m Rebecca or Becca if you prefer. You made a good choice little Bil!” She exclaims before pulling Wade into a hug.

“Thanks, Becca. Now stop hogging my wife, I need her back to meet the rest of the family,” he jokes.

“Fine, but I’m going to steal her later!” She laughs before letting me move back to my Mate’s side.

“Alrighty, so we have Michael and his Mate Jason, Alpha pair of the Dusk Hill Pack,” he points to two men who look like they spend a lot of the time at the gym, one with a shaved head and the other with long blonde hair down to his shoulders, both of whom wave at me with reserved smiles, an action I return.

“Then here are Sarah and her Mate Cole, Alpha pair of the Wild Canis Pack,” Wade continues, pointing to another pair that share the blonde hair and blue eyes combo, except both appear so perfectly symmetrical they could be models…or mannequins.

“Next to them are my other, unmated siblings Ben, Aiden, and the baby of the group, Viv,” Wade points to the remaining three people who look so similar they could pass for triplets, all with matching strong bone structures, piercing blue eyes, and blonde hair that hangs to just above their shoulders. Although Viv’s hair gives her an edgier look with the purple streaks running through it.

“Now, before we end up standing here all night, let’s go get some food, sit down, and you can get to know her then,” Wade laughs, starting to walk backwards, away from his siblings and towards the pizza that persists in calling my name.