The mat in the cell is thrown in the air, hitting the wall powerfully. Nate swings his fist in the bed base breaking the hard wood to pieces. His entire body is shaking.

Damn, he's hot.

By now Jared has been brought to the nurse. Again. The fighters around stay out of the alpha's reach, ready to bounce at any moment's notice just to evade his fury.

"My own men." He growls.

Steven, loser number two enters the room. I haven't talked much with him since the race, compared to my relationship with Jared this one is mostly nonexistent.

"Alpha we found Calvin and Kim in another cell... he killed them." He whispers.

And here goes the wall. Nate is renovating the place really quickly, multiplying the surface area by two. One cell instead of two.

I knew they were dead because I didn't hear their heartbeat before. And a guard never leaves the premises unattended for no reason. Still it saddens me. Especially when I see the sorrow in Nate's eyes. He cares greatly for his men, for his pack.

"Where is Stuart ?" He asks in a dangerous voice.

He is ready to break something new and even though he wants to break the traitor's bones I already know that the guy is long gone. I lost my chance to go after him, trying to be civil.

"He escaped." Steven breathes out with difficulty. "We caught his trail south of the territory but by the time we got there he was gone."

"Send trackers after him." The alpha bites back his orders.

"Already on it Sir."

"How's Jared ?" He inquires next.

"The doc said his wounds were from yesterday. Stuart injected him with some drug."

See, not my fault.

'Yeah right !' My wolf laughs.

Nate turns to me.

"Did he tell you something before he left ?"

"No, I didn't have enough time." I glare at his fighters. "But I think he was ordered to clean things up."

"Why ?"

"Because the rogue was going to talk." I remind him.

"True. Whoever is behind this didn't want his secrets out."

"Are we sure Stuart betrayed us ?" The obnoxious fighter in my left asks, he keeps sending glares my way.

"Is he here with us right now ?" I demand frustrated.

"No." He grits his teeth.

"Didn't you hear Steven say the man left the territory ?"

"Yes. But I know him. I've spent the last eight years training with him. He always had my back."

Nobody likes to realize everything was a lie.

"And even if it's true, what about you ? How can we know you're not in on it too ?"

"You know what, I really want to put you in your place but there are more important matters at hand." I reply and he growls.

'Well, you sure aren't making friends.'

"It's the second attack in three days. And we still don't know what they are after." I continue.

"We have one new prisoner." Nate points at the rogue still unconscious in the corner of the room. "I'm not letting anyone near him, until I know if Stuart was working alone or if he had help."

I nod in agreement. Smart move. As the alpha he can make them spill the beans in seconds. If it doesn't work I'll see what I can do.

"Steven, I want you and three of your most trusted men outside of here at all times, everyone else out. No one comes near this cell without my consent."

"Move it rogue." The fighter pushes me in the back to make me advance.

That's it.

I grab his wrist and twist it in his back to the point where it hurts.

"I'm telling you, my patience is wearing thin. You disrespectfully interrupted me with the traitor earlier. If you keep pushing me you could lose an arm. You might want to think about it next time before trying to piss me off." I end my tirade in a growl and I sense him cower away from me still in my grasp.

I let go and he trots to the door, looking warily at me over his shoulder. I concentrate on Nate as everyone exit the room, bringing the two dead rogues with them.

"Do you want me to leave ?" I inquire.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"No." He answers in a murmur.

I know the situation is serious but I feel elated at the thought that he doesn't want to be around anyone except for me. I have a hard time restraining my lips from stretching into a grin.

"I think our friend here has faked sleeping long enough, how about you ?" I tell him happily bending over the body laying on the ground. I pinch his cheek hard and he flinches.

See ? What did I say.

He grumpily straightens into a sitting position, avoiding our glances and observing his surrounding. I see him notice the bloody walls.

Nate is in his face in seconds.

"Talk." He orders in his alpha voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was just passing by."

"You attacked us." Nate answers coldly.

"I was defending myself. What would you have done faced with fifteen wolves coming your way, teeth and claws out ?" He shrugs.

I don't understand why he isn't afraid. I know he isn't really strong, so what's his angle here ?

"You didn't think they would catch you so soon, did you ?" I smirk and the rogue glares at me, showing his elongated canines.

"And your team was wiped out in seconds." I laugh. "You should stop pretending to be strong."

"What do you want ?" Nate adds.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He smiles wickedly.

"Why us ?" Nate continues. "What did my pack do to you ?"

"Why do you think you're so special. You're just one of many packs."

I frown. Does that mean there are other packs being attacked ?

"Do you think you can win ?" I challenge

"Oh, don't worry for me sweetheart, I'm not alone. We're coming for you, all of you." He laughs diabolically.

"Alright. That's enough for today." I say as I punch him in his face to make him faint.

He's out cold.

I don't like creepy people.

I follow Nate outside.

"So, what do you think ?" He asks.

"I think it's weird. And way too well organized. I mean they had someone waiting, for years, just to make sure that when the time came, everything would go as planned. They are patient and smart. They don't show themselves. They only send pawns that know nothing in case they get caught and would want to babble." I finish my rant in a breath.

"But why now, why here ?"

"Beats me." I shrug. "Did you hear what he said ? You're not the only pack being attacked."

"Don't you think he was bluffing ? To make himself seem more important."

"I don't know. Maybe."

"I'll send people to investigate in the nearest packs."

We walk side by side and I can't stop thinking about touching him. It's driving me insane. I mean that's not the time to think about it. And yet I can't think of anything else. Now that the tension fell back down I want to slap myself for interrupting our kiss. He was going to kiss me ! For the second time but I screwed things up. Will he want to kiss me again ? Or will he pretend like nothing happened and say that it was a mistake like last time.

Now I'm getting angry because I still haven't digested his previous-out-of-proportion reaction. I start to frown and tense again.

I recognize the path to the infirmary. Nate enters first and a young woman walks to him.

"Alpha." She says calmly.

"How is he ?"

"He's fine. Nothing to worry about. I already treated his wounds yesterday. Now he just needs to sleep."

Nate glances at me.

"See what you did ?" He grumbles.

I roll my eyes. He's completely overreacting.

The woman follows his eyes and smiles warmly at me.

"Hello. I'm Sasha. Nice to finally meet you." She greets me.

"Likewise." I answer awkwardly, I'm not used to people smiling to me, usually they glare.

"Did you get hurt ?" She inquires.

"No." I shake my head. "I came to see Jared."

"Go ahead, he's in the room over there." She points at a door on the left.

I walk to it without waiting for Nate, he might need some time to ask questions I don't really need to know about. I hear Jared breathe calmly, his heart rate low. I enter the room and find him sprawled on a bed with baby blue sheets.

He opens his eyes as I get nearer, sitting in the chair beside him.

"Heard you caused a commotion. I'm not even surprised anymore." He jokes.

I roll my eyes.

"I forgive you for falling asleep at the most crucial moment." I inform him in all seriousness.

"Why thank you. I feel so much better knowing that." He laughs.

"Good. Because I want you to know it's all your fault. I mean, how did you miss the needle coming your way." I smirk.

His smile falls as he becomes serious once again.

"Was it really Stuart ?" He asks in a quiet voice.

"Yes." I admit. "He was there to make sure they wouldn't talk."

"I never would have thought he could be capable of something like that."

"There was an other attack." Nate adds as he joins us.

"What ?" Jared asks panicking.

"We took care of it while you slept." The alpha tries to jokes but his smile is strained.

"He needed his beauty sleep." I interject to lighten the mood.

"What happened ?" The beta inquires.

"We spotted them quickly and easily stopped them. Now we have a new prisoner. And he seems to want to talk. Once you feel better I'll ask you to keep a close watch on him."

"Of course." Jared replies already trying to get out of the bed.

I put my hand on his shoulder, pressing on it and he winces.

"He said, when you're better."

"I'm fine." He affirms.

"The doc said you could use some rest. Take the few next hours to do so." Nate confirms my thought. "For now Steven is guarding him."

"Okay." Jared agrees disgruntled.

"Come see me after dinner tonight. We'll talk some more." Nate instructs him and Jared nods.

Next thing I know Nate is showing me the door ushering me outside.

"I'll see you later." I tell Jared as I get up.

"I don't like you when you're so nice." He frowns.

"Thank god !" I exclaim. "I don't think I could have gone on for long." I start rolling my shoulders and shaking my hands as if to get rid of an unpleasant feeling.

"That's more like it." He laughs again.

I wave as I leave.

"Well, I'll see you later." I inform the man standing beside me.

"Actually, I need your help with something."

"Why me ?" I whine when in fact I'm screaming and jumping in happiness in the inside.

I follow him inside the house and to the third floor. I gradually recognize the way to the library and once he stops in front of the big wooden doors with intricate carvings I know where we're heading.

I thought we aren't supposed to go in there.

'Nate can go in.' My wolf sighs implying his rights as the alpha and I'm persuaded she even rolled her eyes at me.

He opens the doors without waiting further and once again I am bombarded by the scents of the books and the impressive sight before me of the three storeys high of shelves filled with books. I don't think I'll ever get used to it.

"This place is amazing !" I exclaim feigning surprise.

"I know you came here before." He rolls his eyes.

Well...

"What ? Im-po-ssi-ble. I've never seen this room in my life before." I lie.

"Sure." He smiles. "Impressive, isn't it ?

"Yeah." I whisper in a trance, walking to the nearest shelf and taking a book out.

"At first I thought maybe the attacks were about this library. You see, this pack is a little peculiar. Even the members of the pack don't know about it, except for the alpha and the beta but here is gathered all the knowledge of the world, all its history since its beginning. All that happened, where werewolves come from, what the Moon gave us, but also the tales of our wars and the humans wars, the myths and legends of the monsters that roamed the earth."

Then how can Jared still not believe in magic ?! And dragons !

"Our role is to carefully store these books and the ones coming next." Nate continues. "We are their protectors."

I kind of guessed it. Never knew where The Library was located but I knew of it.

It would have been a great help in all my searches over the years.

There were legends about it too, it was a myth like the Fountain of youth myth, which I found, might I add, even though I didn't need it. Black Beard was more than happy to drink it for me.

I hear the sound of ruffled paper behind me and find an old man sitting behind a small desk lightened by a unique tiny lamp. I didn't see him there. This man has no presence at all. Was he there the last time I came with Jordan ? He is old, around fifty, with gray hair and blue piercing eyes, which means he started aging again. I look at him intently.

"Hope, this is Marcus, the only other person aware of the existence of this library, he is the guardian of the library." Nate introduces us as the man stands up to come join us.

Marcus, Marcus... Marcus... Marc

My eyes open wide and I feel my body temperature dropping dangerously low.

Oh my god.

'Get out of here. Now.' My wolf orders.

Little Marcus. I met him, when he was ten... two hundred years ago, during one of my travels, he was with his mother at the time. I didn't spend a lot of time with them.

That explains a lot.

'I always thought the woman was nuts. She kept blurting crazy stories out of nowhere.

Awawawawa...

My brains aren't working anymore.

"His role is to help us find answers. Alphas from other packs can come and request access to the library." Nate goes on unaware of my internal panic.

"Every request is private. The guardian doesn't have an opinion. He simply gives, or at least tries to give the answers you are seeking." Marcus says, his eyes twinkling.

He knows who I am.

I want to jump down the window.

'Maybe he remembers you but that doesn't mean he knows who you really are.' My wolf tries to reassure me.

It's not working.

Five steps to the nearest window and then a sprint. I keep glancing at it.

"That's true. Even I can't ask what the seeker asked about." Nate adds.

I raise an eyebrow.

So he doesn't really have the right to spill the beans about me.

I take a book, remembering it's in an old language.

"Can you read it ?" I ask.

"Unfortunately no. With the years and all the new languages that appeared the guardians lost the knowledge of some of them. But we pass down the most important legends from one generation to the other."

I nod, trying not to seem as interested in the subject as I really am.

"Why am I here if the whole thing is so secretive ? Especially since I'm a rogue." I inquire.

"What languages do you speak ?" Nate demands.

"Let's just see what you need." I evade the question and Marcus smiles brighter.

Damn it.

"What about Latin and old languages like that ?"

I nod.

"Here's the deal." He starts in his alpha mode. "I'll grant you access to the books in here if you translate one or two books for me."

"What makes you think I'd be interested ?"

"You might need some inspiration for your stories." He shrugs.

"How dare you !" I scream outraged. "I'll have you know I never told any lie. Everything I said was the truth."

"Come on, be serious a second." He rolls his eyes and I frown.

What does he take me for ?

I let my eyes travel over the racks of books and carefully choose three of them. I open each one at the right page and show it to him. First a snake-like monster beside a wooden chest full of treasures, next a tribe of yetis in the mountains of Tibet and finally the drawing of a man transforming into a mammoth. I point at each of the pictures.

He takes the first book and turns the pages until he reaches the last page. He shows me the date of publication

Crap.

I put them all back on the shelves.

Nate grabs a piece of paper and starts scribbling on it before handing it to Marcus who disappears with it between the racks.

"I noticed something on the rogues' wrists." He explains. "They all had the same logo tattooed on their skin. It reminded me of the picture in a book we have."

I wait and Marcus comes back with a big dusty book. Nate looks through it before giving it to me, showing me a page with the mark of the Sun.

I'm doomed.

'Time to jump !' My wolf presses on.

I try to maintain some semblance of composure. The ink is faded on the pages but the text can still be read. It's a derivative of Hebrew, quite recent. The details aren't clear, the story told globally. I have a feeling they would find more accurate information in the old scrolls at the back of the library.

"It's about a colonel of war who gathered fighters under the Sun to attack the fighters of the Moon." I decipher.

I'm definitely not specifying who it is.

"Did he win against us ?" Nate asks and I let him assume it's about a man without a second thought.

Us... If only he knew.

"It's more complicated than that. Both sides followed their beliefs. And they fought each other again and again." I frown trying to justify myself without seeming guilty.

"I don't get it. What's different between them ?"

I shut my lips tight and look at the text, turning the pages scanning the lines. There is nothing in there about that.

"I don't know." I lie. "There's nothing written in this book about that."

"Alright, Marcus will help us search for other documents." He says.

"Yes Sir. I'll start with the books with the same logo."

"Thank you. Now I need to organize a meeting with the other packs." He finishes.