It didn't take long to bring Carter up to date once they got back to the house. They adjourn in his office to debrief. "Do you think that means whoever this Alpha is, isn't actually interested in infiltrating our territory?" Carter's question is valid but there's no way for Maddox to know the answer to that just yet. "If part of trespassing was looking for this so-called princess, It's possible he wants to know how easy it would be to walk in and take her."

"Do you have any idea who the hell they're talking about?"

"Fuck if I know. This ribbon was the only thing he seemed to be using to track her. Unfortunately, whatever the owner's scent is was masked by the rogue's smell."

"Things just get more complicated every day." The exhaustion is evident in Carter's voice. Maddox can't blame him. Apart from running the pack, they had also been working to aid another pack facing rebellion.

"Let us hope Lyam can give us some insight considering he was the first to encounter him."

"What was he doing so far out anyway? With Jonah of all people. It is a little late for a kid to be out that deep in the woods." Rubbing his temples Maddox shrugs. Nothing about this goddamn situation is straightforward.

A knock halts their conversation and he beckons whoever it is in. It's Lyam which he had been expecting, seeing him drenched is a little odd though. "Figured I should come to talk to you before changing." His brother comes off irritated but he ignores it for now. "Should I ask why you're soaking wet or let you start from the beginning?" he has no doubt they somehow tie into each other.

With a sigh, Lyam plops down into a chair "It's Amara’s fault we all ended up drenched." Maddox’s eyebrow raises and he leans back. What could Amara have to do with any of this?

"Amara? She was with you?" Carter is the one to ask exactly what Maddox was thinking. Lyam on his end looks between them like they're crazy. "Yeah, considering she's the one who told Jonah to send the message. By the way, for some reason, I couldn’t get through to the link no matter how many times I tried. The fuck is up with that?" He asks confusedly.

"The message only mentioned you coming across an intruder that smells of ash, blood, and sage. No mention of anyone else. There’s also no reason you would have been blocked from the mind link so I can’t answer that. We’ll look into it though, don’t worry. Something like that shouldn’t happen."

Lyam still looks put out but adds "I’m pretty sure I don't exactly remember what sage smells like. I honestly didn’t recognize the scent for what it was, or who it could be. Actually, I wasn't even the one that first noticed it."

Carter interjects "Why don't you just tell us what happened from the beginning? It will be infinitely more helpful than going in circles like this."

"Alright. I was out in the woods looking for Amara. We were just...hanging out. Talking and stuff, when she stopped me. The scent was faint but once she mentioned it I was able to pick it up. I tried reaching out to Madd but got no response so we were going to sprint to the pack house as quickly as possible.

That's when we heard rustling and came across Jonah and his sister. That kinda just complicated shit. Besides that, the direction of the wind was changing and it risked blowing our scent towards the intruder and giving away our position. The reason I'm soaked is that Amara made us all submerge ourselves in the river. Something about masking our scent. After that, she whispered the message into Jonah's ear and asked him to get it to you.

That is pretty much it. After that, Amara suggested we focus on getting the cubs home safely instead of continuing on to the pack house where we might put them in the middle of whatever shit was going down."

Maddox felt his wolf's ego swell at the notion that their mate recognized the danger and thought to turn to them first. The fact that it was the most logical course of action is beside the point. He had gotten glimpses of Amara’s wit during their brief conversations and is proud she was able to use it under pressure while also keeping in mind the protection of the pack and cubs.

Their little mate has natural Luna instincts and probably doesn’t even recognize it. Although, the way Lyam skirted around what they were doing out there together paired with seeing them look pretty close on occasion makes him question if there's some kind of relationship between the two.

Regardless, now is not the time for that and he knows it. They have multiple issues on their hands and his jealousy over something his heightened instincts are most likely constructing in his own mind does not take priority over any of them.

"That was smart, It's a trick all good trackers know. Water washes away scent which is why tracking in the rain is so difficult even for the best of them. Putting that aside, Were you ever close enough to pick up on anything? Anyone else nearby? By the time our Enforcers did a sweep, there were no signs to indicate other intruders. But, there was a significant gap between when we were alerted and when the sweep was done." Always the efficient right-hand man, Carter gets them back on topic.

"Not really. As I said, it wasn't until Amara pointed it out that I was able to focus my senses and detect anything. I doubt she noticed anything either but you can ask her yourselves when she gets back. Never mind that, did you get anything from the rogue? he must've said something."

Lyam may be his brother but this is a sensitive situation that they are trying to keep as contained as possible until they know things for certain. Through the mind link, Maddox and Carter agree to mention the ulfhednar’s reason for being there and the ribbon but leave out where he is being held. He does not want Lyam going off and getting near a potentially dangerous rogue.

"A princess? Since when are we housing a fuckin princess?" Maddox shrugs but agrees. It sounds ridiculous any way you look at it. "We don't know what the guy is on but for now this is all hush-hush, understand?" Ly doesn't seem happy at the lack of information but nods his understanding anyhow.

"Does this mean I can go change and sleep? There's not much else I can contribute here now."

"Sure. Just tell me where you last saw Amara"

"She told me to come to speak with you while she got the cubs back home and explained things to their parents." His features momentarily pinch but quickly smooth out as he tries to hide whatever the emotion had been.

After dismissing his brother, he looks over at Carter only to find a smirk behind his normally stoic eyes. "What's that look about?" Maddox practically grunts out knowing his amusement is most likely at his expense somehow. "Nothing, Just interesting to hear our future Luna handling the situation so well. Especially when she could have just deferred to Lyam considering his place in the pack."

The smirk is on Maddox’s face before he can stop it but it's time to get serious. "Min will work with the trackers to see if we can pinpoint where he came from. If we're lucky, the tracking squad along with whatever information Kane can get will lead us to whoever pulls his strings. In the meantime, I want you to look into who this 'princess' might be. If some damn rogue Alpha has become fixated on a member of our pack, she'll be easier to protect once we know who she is and hopefully why they want her."

With that, Carter takes his leave and Maddox sits there trying to decipher exactly what the hell is going on.