They had a solid plan and every day more allies pledged their help, so Rygan learned to relax, more or less.

He, Ace, and their Enforcers patrolled around the clock, barely taking the time to sleep. Ace still popped her head in at her bakery, which meant that she was more exhausted than all of them combined, although she did leave quite a few responsibilities up to her assistant.

The nice, always cheerful girl actually became an important part of the pride. The day after their claiming, Rygan was with her when Ace went to dismiss her, regretfully.

“You’re an awesome employee, but we’re in the middle of a fucking mess, and you can’t get involved. I’m not firing you; let’s just call it a paid leave.”

“No fucking way,” the girl had replied.

Ace reasoned with her, making her understand that just working for her, having their scent around her, was putting a target on her back because, for lack of a better word, she was weak.

“I’m not letting those fanatics fuck with my life,” she replied, stubbornly crossing her. “And, if you’re going to concentrate on the security around town, you need me here.”

She didn’t budge, so Rygan ordered that someone would guard the bakery at all times when Ace wasn’t there.

Clarissa learned some of Ace’s most popular recipes and took over the accounting; they hired a driver to do the rounds she used to do before. She also updated the website and he was infinitely grateful to her for taking some stuff off his mate’s shoulders.

The girl also was popular with the rest of his pride because, every day before going home, she stopped by their place with all the leftovers.

The only one who didn’t seem to have taken to her was, strangely, Daunte. The guy was normally easygoing, but he constantly glared at the poor kid.

“Hey, everyone!” she sang out, walking in their living room, a large tray in hand.

The kids were already halfway down the stairs, running to her.

“We had an awesome day at the shop, so there wasn’t much left. I just made a batch of pies for you guys, though.”

Everyone thanked her; Daunte grunted.

“You look nice today,” Ola complimented her.

She did; Clary was normally a jeans and t-shirt gal, but today she wore a sundress, and a little makeup, too.

“I had a lunch date.”

“Nice! How did it go?”

They went on talking about girly shit, so Rye turned back to Daunte; he’d just returned from his shift with Ace.

The two often patrolled together, and Rye tried not to be offended by it, but, honestly, it hurt. His mate never ran with him in her animal form; he hadn’t been sure, at first, but it had been three weeks now, and not once had they been rotated together. He was pretty sure she did it on purpose.

“Nothing to report. Ace just went to grab a few more boxes from her house.”

She was taking her time moving - another thing that annoyed him to no end.

Rye nodded, and headed outdoors for his turn, when his phone rang.

“Hey, pretty girl.”

“The wards have been triggered,” was Ace’s terse reply.

It wasn’t the first time that the wards Rain had set up around town had been activated; every time one of their allies stopped by to speak to them, the pride stressed out just as much, thinking that it could be it - their attack.

Rye had had enough of waiting for it. If anything, he was actually eager to get it over with now.

“We’re on our way.”

He called the fighters currently inside the house. Christine took the kids to the kitchen, and he saw Clary standing nearby, at a loss.

“Someone passed the wards. You know the drill. Everyone out - we need to separate and find out who came as soon as possible.”

They’d done it several times, so he didn’t think there was anything to discuss, but Daunte said, “Someone should stay back. In case there is an enemy, we don’t want the house to be undefended.”

Rygan frowned. They’d discussed it before and decided that, as the house was pretty hard to get into unnoticed, sending everyone out would be more efficient.

Suddenly, Rye understood what he’d missed. Daunte wasn’t exactly against the pretty assistant, after all.

“It’s a five-minute job, Daunte. We’ll be back in no time - and quicker if we all go out. Besides, it’s probably just another ally.”

After a while, Daunte nodded, and they went out.

The last twenty times the very same thing had occurred, they’d found the intruder easily, because they hadn’t wanted to sneak in. When five minutes passed without him getting any message from his Enforcers, his mate, or his Beta, Rye shifted and sent a message through the pride link.

Ace, you know what to do. The rest of us, back to the pride house now.

---

He was running towards their home when a strong vibe running through the pride link made him stop. This time, the disturbance through the pride link wasn’t minor.

Shit.

He was close by now, in the forest right behind the house, close enough to hear some commotion.

Shit.

Ace and Daunte were the first to join him, followed by their Enforcers.

“I can smell wolves,” Ace whispered softly.

Rye nodded stiffly.

Fuck, he couldn’t believe he’d been stupid enough to take his best men with him, leaving the pride defenseless just like it always was in Hsu’s vision.

“How did they get in without notice? As well as the wards, there’s the security codes, and everything.”

He’d like to know that, too, but it wasn’t his biggest concern.

“They’re making a racket. Chances are, they haven’t found Lola yet,” Daunte guessed. “Hsu might be hiding her.”

Probably. The little girl was smart, and, with Niamh’s help, she might have managed to cloak their hideout. Still, she was only buying them time. They needed to get inside the house.

Daunte turned to Ace, speaking directly to her. “There are a dozen wolves in there. If we barge in, they’ll slaughter our kids, your assistant, and Christine.”

They stared at each other, glaring defiantly, and, all of a sudden, Ace removed her jacket and threw it at his face.

“Fuck you, Daunte. Fuck you very much.”

The guy smirked as she removed layer after layer of clothing. If he hadn’t known better, Rye would have thought he was gay, because he didn’t even look at her fucking perfect ass and her sweet, firm tits once, content to carry on smiling like a doofus.

Then a familiar bone-breaking sound reverberated as the female shifted.

To their credit, none of them laughed, although it might have been because they were in shock.

The intimidating as fuck, strong, dominant, and all around badass woman they all knew and feared changed into his sweet little kitty cat - the one he’d run with, the one who let him pet her and purred to his touch. She was bigger than a domestic cat, but not by much.

They only had the time to gawk for a split second before the adorable little kitty climbed the closest tree and ran along its branches, jumping to the next, and then the next, until she’d reached the tree situated right in front of his bedroom. The jump was long - he hadn’t been sure he’d manage it himself, but she cleared it seemingly effortlessly.

Fierce and cute as fuck. That was his girl.

“I can’t believe she shifted in front of all of you so quickly.”

Daunte sounded elated, and shocked. Rye could understand why; she had probably come across way too many assholes who’d made fun of her over the years. That explained why she was so set against prides.

Rye turned to Ian, Coveney, Jas, Ola, and Tracy.

“If any of you make her feel bad…”

“Not happening,” was Ian’s response, coming as a growl. “She’s protecting our cubs right now. We’ll tease her, because that’s what pridemates do. But none of us are going to bully our Alpha female.”

Nods all around, although most of them were trying pretty hard to keep their amusement under control.

The noises in the house changed; instead of tearing the place upside down, the intruders had started fighting, which was their cue to get inside.

Rye shifted, along with the rest of his pride, and they ran towards their home.

Getting in took three minutes, and, by the time they’d made it, ten wolves were crawling on the floor, incapacitated, maimed, or with broken legs and arms, another one was dead, while the last was struggling under Ace’s heel. She’d shifted back; naked and covered in blood, the woman looked like a warrior goddess from ancient times. His dick twitched, finding the whole thing sexy as fuck, which should probably be a little disturbing.

He glanced around and found every member of his pride, barring Hsu, Niamh, and Lola. He didn’t worry, feeling them through the pride link; they were okay.

She didn’t take the time to finish them off because she wanted to get all of them, Daunte sent through the pride link. We need to do the clean-up.

They went to the wolves, snapping necks and biting arteries out, before shifting back to their original form.

Nakedness was pretty standard for most shifters, but Rye immediately went to grab his jacket and dropped it on Ace’s shoulders, his tiger and he in agreement: they didn’t want anyone else to look at what was his.

“Efficient as usual, sister,” Daunte said.

He went right to Clarissa, and wordlessly pushed her hair out of the way, then moved her arms and turned her around, checking everything was still in place. Once he was satisfied she was alright - if a little in shock - he turned his back on her and went to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Rye and the others were feeling like idiots.

Sister.

There was no doubt that he’d meant that literally; Ace was his sister.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it. You’re it. Him. The Butcher’s first child.”

“Dude, how dumb are we? They act like siblings. They even smell similar, for fuck’s sake.”

Ace shrugged while they picked their jaws up.

“The kids are hiding somewhere. Any idea where?”

Christine was shaken, but she pointed towards the game room tucked under the staircase.

Rye didn’t see anything when he got in there, but he knew they were there. Seconds later, they appeared right in front of their eyes.

He smiled at Niamh, and took Lola off her hands.

“Good job, little witch. Well done protecting your sisters.”

The poor girl looked like she might faint, but she’d done as well as any adult Enforcer might have in her place. Some day - soon - he could imagine her joining the pride authority.

“Here come my best girls,” Daunte chirped when they walked in the living room, a tray of hot chocolate and cookies in his arms.

The Beta distributed the goodies to all the kids first, then Clarissa, before offering the rest to the Enforcers.

Once the shock had passed, the fighters assembled, and Rye asked Ace, “Is everything ready?”

His mate nodded.

They knew it was coming any minute now. These wolves had just been scouts, and they’d indubitably contacted their pack.

By morning, they would have war.