Alex was sitting at the desk in her office, pouring over maps of the pack lands, checking and rechecking patrol areas, cross overs and timetables. The afternoon sun was beaming in the window, begging her to take a break and sit outside in it's glorious rays. She was adamant to finish what she was doing. There were marks pinpointed on the map where she had gotten some of the builders from the pack to develop sniper posts. There were plenty of humans in the pack who, although were eager to learn to fight, would despite their enthusiasm, be no match in combat against a werewolf. Alongside teaching them fighting techniques that aimed to keep them alive and escape from a werewolf, she had also introduced weapons training. There were a handful of men and women who had firearm training from their previous lives before meeting werewolves and they took to the sniper rifles with ease.

Alex was so absorbed in ensuring each post was within zip line distance to a fortress entrance to the tunnels, just in case of necessary escape, that she didn't even notice her office door opening at first. Nolan bounded in the door towards her before she even had time to stand.

Alex squealed with delight, ' I didn't think you were coming until tomorrow!' Nolan lifted Alex off the ground with the force of his hug.'

'We wanted to surprise you,' Hank was now entering the office, holding his arms wide for Alex.

'Dad', she shouted as she threw her arms around him.

Nolan and Hank were surveying her in awe, taking in her new Lycan body.

'You look incredible my dear,' Hank said, hugging his daughter tight again. She was taller than both of them now, Alex having grown about 7 inches since her transformation.

They all sat around her desk, Hank and Nolan filling her in on the latest from Black Mountain and the Dax task force. Ronan hadn't accompanied them as he was too busy annoying Alice by either following her around or having some of the warriors watch over her constantly. The threat on Luna's was not something he was taking lightly. But her pregnancy was progressing well. Nolan, like Alex, had been obsessing over warrior training and battle strategy for when the time would come to fight. Nolan had been coming to meet Alex and Aidan to update them on Dax and the informant information he had. Plus Alex had asked him to be an additional set of eyes in case she had forgotten to consider something in her own planning.

Alex took Nolan and her father on a tour of Lunar Ridge before bringing them to Aidan's office. She was proud to be showing off the warrior training with the addition of the new female squads. Although they weren't yet allowed to become warriors themselves, the number of women who were training everyday had increased dramatically every week since her return to the pack. Their dedication and talent was astonishing to watch and they took to the training with great enthusiasm.

Nolan and Hank were very interested in the underground tunnel system and the sniper posts. This was something that they didn't have at Black Mountain. They discussed the possibilities all the way up to Aidan's office. Alex knocked on the large oak door and pushed it in. Aidan was holding a phone in his hand and was in serious discussion with Marcus about something.

'Did you hear?' Aidan asked as they entered the office. Alex looked at him quizzically, shaking her head.

'East River is under attack again. Dax has sent huge numbers of wolves in this time. They're looking for help,' Aidan spoke in a hollow voice.

There was shock in the room. None of the intel they had suggested a large scale attack this quickly.

'But our informants have all said that Dax's plan was to amass more followers before taking any of us on. He can't succeed like this?' Nolan was confused and angry that the task force hadn't seen this coming.

'But we've never been able to establish how many are already in his pack. Dax has been popping up all over the country in the last couple of months. He could have been recruiting?' Hank suggested.

'It doesn't matter right now,' Aidan interjected. 'We need to get teams to East River to help.'

'Already linked the leads, Alpha,' Marcus nodded to Aidan, 'They're getting everything ready now.'

'Myself, Nathan and Kit will go to,' Aidan added. Marcus nodded.

'And we need to get back to Black Mountain immediately,' Nolan said to Hank. Everyone started moving.

'Hold on a second,' Alex spoke up now. 'What if there's more to the plan? What if this is just a way to draw warriors from the allied packs to give Dax easy access to Black Mountain or Lunar Ridge or Moon River or some other pack? I'm not saying we don't send help,' she added quickly, 'But doesn't it sound slightly suspect? Nolan's task force has gotten so much information about larger scale attacks planned across a number of packs. There are multiple people who are saying that Dax is looking for an all out war. We've upped the number of patrols and maximised the amount of warriors on a shift. If we half that now, aren't we exposing ourselves?'

'There's no way he could conduct simultaneous attacks on this scale,' Aidan argued. 'They're estimating over a thousand wolves are attacking East River now. He can't have built up another army that size. We would have heard about it or the Council would have. Even if he has more warriors, there's no way they could overwhelm any of our packs.'

Alex was uneasy. Dax was more cunning than any enemy she had ever known. Despite numerous task forces being set up across the country with the sole purpose of finding him, and with a huge bounty on his head from the council, he had evaded capture for months. And before that, he had been on the run for years for his regular criminal activity. Were they really sure what he was and wasn't capable of?

Everyone else in the room however, was agreed that this was the fight and they needed to go immediately to safeguard East River. If they shifted and ran, they could be there in three hours. As a Lycan, Aidan would be there even faster than that. Robbie and his team from Moon River plus Nolan and some of his warriors could arrive in a similar timeline. The allied packs would easily outnumber the force attacking East River. It was just a question of how much damage the attackers would do before aide arrived. They had already lost their Luna so they were in a weaker position from the get-go.

Alex followed the group out of the pack house. She hugged her father and Nolan tight before they shifted and departed rapidly. The teams who would be heading to East River were assembling, ready to fight. Alex moved among them, shaking their hands, patting their shoulders, wishing them well and reminding them of their training techniques and their power. Although she was herself, unsure that this was the correct course of action, she knew they had to send help to East River, and fast. She stood among them to listen as Aidan gave an impassioned speech about honour; how they must fight to help save their allies and to vanquish a terrible foe. Alex was impressed with his passion and the way he held the attention of the group. This was a big test of their skill and their nerve. On Aidan's last word, the group started shifting and heading out. Alex felt an arm around her waist as Aidan pulled her to him, his forehead touching hers.

'I don't like this Aidan,' Alex looked into his eyes imploringly as she spoke.

'Neither do I,' Aidan interrupted her. 'But I know the pack is in good hands while I'm gone. Their Luna will take care of them.'

Aidan pressed his lips to hers, perfecting the moment. She watched him shift before her into his huge black wolf. He nuzzled her hand momentarily before bounding away.