"Ha!" Daring shouts, tackling me.

We both go down, him on top of me, landing in a heap on the snow. He places a quick kiss to my cheek with a boyish grin. I smile back, partly so he doesn't notice as I grab a handful of snow. He notices when I rub it into his face.

"Gotcha, fuckface," I say, pushing him off me and standing back up while he splutters and wipes at the cold flakes of snow I pressed into his face.

"Thatcher!" Daring whines, lifting a hand in a gesture telling me he wants me to help him up.

I roll my eyes but pull him to his feet. I hear a nearly silent footstep on the snow behind me and spin to the side just as AJ tries to tackle me, instead crashing into Daring. Even though Daring wasn't his intended target, he and AJ start sparring/play fighting, kicking up snow and sending it flying everywhere.

I look around and see Darcy has Max in a triangle choke hold, while Four stands on the sidelines, watching his mate spar with AJ, an obvious tent in his pants.

"Daring!" Four whines. "I'm hard!"

"And how is that my problem?" Daring replies, not pausing in his fight with AJ.

"Because it's your fault!"

"And how is it my fault?" Daring says.

Four huffs, "Because you're always so damn sexy!"

I roll my eyes at that, abandoning the training session and heading inside our house in the woods. Just as I step inside, the phone rings. Glancing at the clock, I see it's right on time for my spy's report.

Picking up my phone from the table where I left it, I answer the call and collapse on the couch, lying down and taking up all the space.

"Yo," I say, my voice bored.

"K-king," comes the nervous voice of my spy.

Omegas; always skittish but at least he's useful.

"Anything new, important, or that I'll find interesting?" I ask.

"Well, she said she came back because neither she or Asher wanted a long distance relationship and because she realized things were more dangerous where they were... She probably meant she felt threatened by you but she thinks I don't know about the rogues."

I nod, even though he can't see me. "Probably. She's highly protective over family and I did threaten to kill one of the little brats."

"You what?" the omega breathes.

I roll my eyes. Of course he would get worked up for no reason but he can't change the past.

"Anything else?" I ask.

"... Asher marked her," he says after a moment of hesitation, "I'm not sure exactly when but it was sometime before your attack yesterday."

I grit my teeth, growling softly. Of course he fucking marked her. That puts a slight setback in my plans. Oh well, it's nothing that can't be fixed...

"Are they fully mated?" I ask.

"N-no, it didn't smell like it," the omega replies nervously.

Good. So it won't be as hard for her to get over his death. She'll survive, just like she did when he rejected her. I never thought someone as weak as Rei was would choose to take the path of 'I'll-make-you-regret-everything-you-did-to-me.' I thought for sure she would end up in pathetic depression or committing suicide like so many other rejected wolves.

But she's still here, she kept fighting, which makes her someone I want on my side, with me.

"They're all out training," he says quietly.

"Then they'll be tired," I muse, already thinking of a plan of attack. "And probably not prepared for another attack so soon."

"King..." he drifts off, his whimpering voice unsure and scared. "King, I... I want out. I don't want to betray my pack. I never wanted to make the deal in the first place."

"Yet you still did," I say softly, faking sympathy before letting my voice grow hard, "And you're not getting out of it. I believe you know what will happen if you try to get help, don't you dear?"

He doesn't respond for a long moment but I can hear his quiet whimpers, telling me he's close to-or is already in-tears.

I smirk. "I'll see you soon... Riley."

➵

"Rei, wake up," Asher's voice says urgently.

"What time is it?" I mumble sleepily as he stops nudging me, opening my eyes and propping myself up on my elbows.

My mate is up and now quickly pulling on a pair of sweatpants. "2:30 in the morning. We need to go, King's attacking again with even more rogues than last time."

Hearing those words, I bolt up, quickly getting my gear.

"Are the others awake?" I ask, rushing to change.

Asher nods, helping me after quickly putting on a shirt. "I mind-linked them and the Healers."

Once I'm ready, we rush over to the door and run downstairs.

Serena? I say.

We'll be there in a few, she replies, knowing someone needs to watch the twins. We'll take them to the pack house and be ready to treat any injuries.

Thank you, I say, ever so grateful to her and the other Healers for their everlasting willingness to help.

Raiden, Scott, Dean are in the living room, all of them hurriedly dressed, with the twins, who are rubbing at their eyes sleepily. I hurry down to the basement where Clove, Killian and Zaine are quickly grabbing the weapons they need.

"How dare they," Clove mumbles, strapping her knife scabbard to her waist. "Disturbing my sleep."

"Yeah, we all know no one disturbs your rest," Zaine says, grabbing a small dagger and gun, along with a scabbard and holster for them, before picking up one of his bats.

I grab a small revolver, strapping the holster around my waist. "Let's go, Royals. This is war."

We head upstairs, where the others are waiting.

"Here," Killian says, handing Asher, Raiden, Scott and Dean all daggers sheathed in their scabbards, "Just in case. I assume you know how to use 'em?"

"Stabby stab stab," Asher says, making stabbing motions with the sheathed blade before strapping the scabbard around his waist.

Killian nods once.

"You'll be safe, won't you?" Chase asks nervously.

"As safe as we can be," Zaine says softly, crouching down to hug him tightly.

Rhea tugs my sleeve, her big eyes worried and scared. "You'll come back, right?"

"Of course we will," I say, kneeling down in front of her.

Her small arms wrap around my neck tightly and I hug her back, her body shaking as she cries. I force myself to pull away, holding her hands gently and kissing her forehead.

"You'll be alright," I whisper. "We'll all be alright."

Rhea nods and moves to quickly hug her older siblings, as well as all the others.

"Let's go," Asher says when the Healers arrive.

We all run outside, the werewolves shifting and sprinting towards where the attack must be taking place. In wolf form, the gun holster is still around my waist, tight enough that the gun doesn't bounce around but not restricting-my-breathing tight.

I hear loud growls and snarls and can see the dark shapes of fighting wolves. I shift back to my human form at the edge of the fight, climbing up one of the trees and crouching on a branch above the fight. Asher, Raiden, Scott and Dean have all dove into the fighting. Clove, Killian and Zaine are resting on branches nearby, looking down and studying the battle.

With the faint moonlight shining through the bare branches of the trees and my night vision, it's not too hard to make out which wolves are on which side. I grit my teeth, wondering why they had to attack in the middle of the night.

Then I catch his scent. King.

My eyes narrow, searching. I spot him watching me from the sidelines in wolf form on the other side of the fighting wolves. I growl softly and start making my way through the branches to crouch over him.

As I glare down at him, I manage to catch an amused glint in his eyes as he looks up at me. I pull out my gun, not hesitating to shoot at his head. He dodges, running into the throng of fighting wolves where there's too much movement for me to get a clear shot at him.

We have to go after him, Raven growls. He needs to pay.

Are we strong enough to beat him though? I say softly.

We have to be, she replies. And if we need help, the pack can help.

Reassured, I put the gun back in the holster and let myself drop down, shifting as I fall. I try to catch King's scent again, try to spot him amidst the many bodies fighting. I hear a bark, one that seems to taunt 'over here.' My head whips around and I manage to spot Thatcher standing close to the middle of the throng of wolves, not fighting anyone, just standing there watching me.

I growl, running towards him and lunging. He doesn't dodge, instead facing me head on. He snaps his jaws at me, a snarl escaping his lips, eyes still holding that goddamn amused look. I swipe my claws at his snout, meeting nothing but air as he ducks his head.

Snow is flying everywhere, tinted red with blood. The night air is full of the sounds of fighting. But all I focus on is Thatcher. I can fight him and I can win.

We bite and snarl at each other. Clawing and growling in a deadly dance under the light of the moon.

Suddenly, Thatcher pauses. It's only a split second distraction but it's an opening for me to lunge and pin him to the bloodied snow. He hardly struggles, just lies on the ground under me. My eyes narrow, my guard up.

What is he planning?

Everyone alright? I ask, eyes studying Thatcher.

Still fighting, Killian and Zaine reply.

I'm alright, Clove adds.

Me too, Raiden says.

And us, Scott says, speaking for him and Dean.

Fine, Asher finishes.

My mind spins and it takes a second for the pain of my body hitting the ground to register. Thatcher stands over me, a wolf smirk on his snout. He shifts back to his human form, one hand tight around my throat. Other rogues stand around us, guarding us so Thatcher can focus on me and not worry about being attacked by someone else.

"Shift back," he orders.

I growl at him but shift back, knowing he'll get me to sooner or later. As soon as I do, his hands are wrapped around my neck. I choke as my air supply is cut off. Thatcher straddles my waist, ignoring my attempts to claw his hands away.

I growl as much as I can as Darcy appears to grab my hands, pinning them above my head. A cruel, smug smirk rests on her lips as she looks down at me. King gives her a droll look but otherwise ignores her much to her disappointment.

"Nothing to say, your majesty?" Darcy mocks.

I growl again, struggling with everything I have as I cough out, "You will never win, King."

Thatcher only smiles, "Oh Queenie... I already have."

My lungs are screaming for air at this point. The world blurs around me as a wave of black passes my vision. Thatcher watches me with an almost serene expression while Darcy sneers. Another curtain of black covers my vision but this time it doesn't go away.

It stays to turn everything to darkness.

➵

"How?" Killian's voice says angrily.

"We don't know," Dean whimpers, voice sounding like he's crying.

"The bitch is hard to pin down," Zaine says. "What could've they done to take him down?"

I groan softly to let them know I'm awake.

"Rei," my twin's voice says, relief clear in his tone. "You're alright."

I keep my eyes closed, willing my headache to go away. "Fine, besides the headache and sore throat. What happened?"

"After King knocked you out, they all ran," Clove says, her voice cold.

"Ran?" I repeat, deciding to sit up and open my eyes slowly. "Why?"

Everyone scowls, expressions angry, ashamed and determined. My eyes narrow, seeing everyone in the room. Clove, Killian, Zaine, Raiden, Dean, Scott, and even Chase and Rhea. How didn't I notice his absence before?

"Where's Asher?" I ask, my voice hard and scared.

Raiden looks at me, eyes ashamed. "We didn't notice until they were all gone. I mean, he said he was fine and everything was over less than two minutes later. I didn't think anything could've happened, he never mind-linked us for help either."

"Raiden, where's Asher?" I repeat, feeling fear growing within me.

"Gone," Raiden says softly. "Rei, the rogues took him."