Gripping onto Zea as tightly as I can, I race towards the pack house. When I finally see it in sight, I can see Sawyer in the front yard, directing people where to go.

That's when I feel it. The stinging pain of being cut into. I look down at my chest, but there is no blood, no wound.

Axton! He's hurt. Focusing on the feeling and the extremity of it, I try to feel for how bad he is hurt. But the pain starts to fade, so I assume that it healed, meaning he is fine.

"Ellie!" she calls as I run up to her.

"Are all the children in the bunker?" I ask her.

"Good, let's get inside the house. I feel like a sitting target out here," I tell her as she nods her head in understanding.

"Yeah, I never liked the idea of us being cooped up here."

"Neither do I, but we guard the kids as a last resort. It's our responsibility," I tell her as I remember what Axton's mother used to say to me when I told her I wanted to fight. Sawyer gives me a smile before we enter the house, but something feels off, "Sawyer, go check on the kids," I tell her as I set Zea down near the basement door.

That's when I hear it. A snarl echoes across the room before a massive thump hits the floorboards. Looking into the kitchen, I see the second guard get thrown against the wall, nearly missing my head as the rogue stares down at me.

I stand in front of Zea as the rogue growl lowly. His crimson eyes watch my every movement as we both wait for the other to make a move.

I'm not going to let him hurt my daughter. Giving me another growl, the rogue jumps from the ground. His claws ready to dig into my flesh as he rips into my arm, tearing a cut into it.

Using his momentum, I swing him over me and throw him into the hallway wall. I shift my feet, preparing for another impact as I shield my daughter, but it never comes.

A brown wolf slams into the rogue as it tries to get up. He twists and latches onto the rogue's throat, sinking his teeth deep into it's skin before swiftly shaking his head, snapping the rogue's neck.

He gives me a nod of respect as I finally realize who it is, "Thank you, Rolfe. What's happening at the border?"

Quickly leaving the room and shifting back, Rolfe comes back to talk to me, "Are you alright?"

Zea grabs my hand from behind me as I brush off his question, "What happened in the attack? Why aren't you at the border?"

"Rogues rushed the northern border. Axton led many of the warriors there, but he sent me back to make sure the pack house was secure. When I got close, a patrol near the south linked me that rogues got through," he tells me as Zea squeezes my hand again.

I turn to her, giving her a reassuring smile that I'm alright now before I focus on what Rolfe said.

"The attack was a diversion," I say, knowing full well what they are after, but I can't say it out loud.

"I got two of them in the forest, but I wasn't quick enough to stop the rogue from reaching the house. I'm sorry Ellie."

I stare at the two men who had been here. The rogue had gotten them pretty good, but they should be able to recover just fine, "No one died, it isn't your fault," I tell him.

Because it's ours, Raelynn adds, speaking my exact thoughts, We need to tell mate the truth.

We will. When it's time, I tell her.

"Luna!" a guard yells as he rushes into the house, "Luna, the attack is over, and the warriors are on their way back."

"Alright," I tell him, before instructing him on what to do, "Run to the pack hospital and tell Jade to be prepared for our injured."

"Yes Luna," he says before racing out the door he just came in from.

I turn to Rolfe, "Can you go to the pack cells and help Walker?"

He nods before giving me a quizzical look, "How do you know he will be there?"

"Trust me, he'll be there."

With that, Rolfe leaves the house as I turn to Sawyer who had exited the safe room to help.

"We need to help get people to Jade," she nods her head as she bends down and tells the little girl attached to her leg to go tell everyone that it is safe before we head out the door, only to be greeted by hundreds of warriors exiting the woods. Kids run to their parents as mates reconnect. Scanning my eyes over the crowd, I can't see Axton anywhere.

"Luna," someone calls and I go to the wounded soldier on the ground. Creating a tourniquet quickly on the gash on his leg, I tell one of the men to get him to Jade.

I go to each one of the warriors who are at the field, checking to make sure everyone is alright. I scan the field again when I finally see him helping one of the warriors and directing a patrol to watch the border. He turns as if sensing me and our eyes connect.

The second Axton's eyes meet mine, he is in front of me. His eyes roam every part of my body, checking for any sign of harm, "Are you alright? Are you hurt at all?"

He grabs my arm, but there isn't even a sign that a wound had been there. All that's left is a little scratch.

"Axton, I'm right here," I reassure him as I place my hand against his cheek. He pulls me into his chest as he breathes in my scent.

"Rolfe linked me that a rogue got into the house," he says as he pulls away to examine me again.

"I told you, I'm fine," I say again. I notice his wounds as his chest moves up and down. I can see deep cuts across it, "You're hurt."

"I'm fine," he shakes it off as he just keeps looking at me.

"Axton," my voice is cut off when I look into his eyes. He is still looking over every inch of me, trying to make sure that I am here, that I am safe. That's when I see it, that emotion that wants to tear me in two.

It's fear. Fear of losing me as I had felt his pain when he was hurt as he had felt mine.

There is another fear there. The fear he must have feel when I left. The heart wrenching fear of losing a mate, of having them taken from you. I recognize it because I held a similar fear when I thought he had rejected me. I was wrong.

But there isn't just fear in his eyes either. There is love and need and desire all swirling around in them.

"Axton," I say again, this time drawing his eyes to mine before I grab his collar as I pull his lips down to mine.