I was looking into the eyes of the most beautiful thing on earth. She was gorgeous, from her perfect ringlet curls, to her cute little dimple, to her stunning mind. But those beautiful big brown eyes were what capture my soul. They were able to look past my rough and harsh exterior to be willing to see me for who I am.

The fact that she once saw me as a monster had driven me crazy but if it meant that we would be where we are now I wouldn't change a thing. I was relieved to have her back on pack territory and away from the congested city that so many supernaturals call home.

It unnerved me that she lived downtown around so many predatory eyes. I knew she was target now, especially with myself lingering around her, but I couldn't exactly leave her unprotected. I would do anything to make sure she was safe and sound. Just like I was now jogging to the pack house clutching her petite hand in mine.

Druscilla made an uninvited appearance at the boarder and from the many voices cramming in my head by the patrols, she came with numbers. Everyone was on edge.

Trying to answer everyone I was distracted when Eve stumbled over her own feet. Catching her and dropping the tray I faced her seeing only now how paranoid she was.

"What is going on?" Eve asked her eyes wider than a deer in the head lights. I wanted nothing more than to tell her it was nothing just me playing around. But I couldn't, Druscilla was here, and I had to move fast if I wanted to deescalate the tension I could feel from everyone in the pack.

"Eve please I need you inside the pack house now." I scanned the trees nearby for any movement. There was only the last few Weres running into the brush to shift. "It's not safe."

Pulling her back up to her feet she kept up with me pretty well for a human. I thought I'd have to throw her over my shoulder but surprisingly she was fast enough to stay at my pace.

The front door swung open as we approached the pack house. My mother was trying to conceal the tension of everyone running past us with her motherly smile.

She reached out for Eve pulling her inside.

'Druscilla is growing impatient and the pack is ready to attack any moment Caleb. You need to get here now.' I heard Alex's voice in my head, momentary distracting me from Eve.

Giving her a kiss on the forehead I quickly ran off into the tree line stripping out of my clothes and shifting. I should have said more to her but I didn't have the time.

The edge of my territory was a good five minute run from the pack house, but if I focused I could push myself to get there sooner. I didn't need my pack pouncing on the clan the moment one Vamp decided to itch a scratch.

'Caleb where are-' I cut him off, with a snarl irritated by his impatience, as I came to a clearing where everyone stood guard. Alex had been pressing into my head for the last couple minutes driving my wolf closer to the edge of bestiality.

'Can you not handle this on your own for ten minutes?' I snapped my teeth at his neck making him bare his neck in submission. 'Or should I reconsider your position as a gamma?' I growled at him making him drop to the ground averting his eyes away from my towering form.

'No, Alpha.' He answered quickly.

I couldn't help me dwindling patience and building temper. My wolf wanted blood not, he did want to talk to Druscilla. He wanted to handle the rat by making everyone cower to his feet until they came clean about their delusional plans to harm Evelyn to get to me. Thinking about someone laying a harmful hand on her drove me mad enough but the fact someone wanted to use her to get to me drove me even more enraged.

Out the corner of my eye I watched as a gray fur coat came up to me. I narrowed my eyes nearly foaming at the mouth, why was he the last one to arrive. He should have known better, he should have been the first one on the scene.

'I apologize alpha,' Loz pulled his ears back and tail between his legs. 'I didn't mean to run late.'

I was growling at his apology. He new better being the beta. Loz is lucky Druscilla is here and I don't have time to reprimand him as I should. Sniffing him I noticed his scent changed. It was still him but I smelt her now. They were mixed sending off concoction of aromas that made it difficult to pinpoint which was which.

'I'll deal with you later.' I warned him to which he nodded his head and backed away.

"Are you done? I don't have all day." Her wretched voice cut through the air like a hot knife through butter.

Druscilla stood just feet from our boarder, on open territory. Her blonde hair swayed in the late spring breeze. Her long black trench coat was tied tight to her waist giving the illusion of a more dramatic hour glass shape. Violet eyes stared sharply at me with contentious intent.

I shifted to stand before everyone. The other clansmen and women came out of the forest to show their monarch wasn't alone.

Looking at Druscilla I realized her gaze was salacious eyeing every part of me. I could have cared less keeping my eyes trained on your violet orbs.

"Did you have your fill?" I asked her, my mundane tone pulling her gaze from my body to my face. A sly smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. She had no shame in eyeballing me.

She rolled her lip in her mouth seductively to get a reaction out of me, it only made me growl with impatience.

"Oh, relax Caleb. Let me have my fun." She rolled her eyes with a little pout for good measures. "You're much more easy on the eyes than your father was. Not that he was a terrible sight to look at."

Narrowing my eyes I snapped at her. "You didn't come all this way just to look at me so I suggest you tell me what I want to know and leave."

"Fine," Druscilla pulled out an envelope and extended her hand for me to take it, being careful never to cross the boarder. "-this is all that I've found out. Take it as you will." Grabbing it from her I began to open it. "And Caleb I owe you nothing after this."

I stopped and raised an condescending eyebrow at her boldness. "That's for me to decided not you."

Druscilla scoffed crossing her arms, her eyes glowing brighter. Loz growled warning her not to move an inch.

"You don't own us. We are an alliance not your associates. We have our own problems to deal with I don't need your packs issues piled on top." She seethed.

I ignored her as I opened the envelope pulling out four papers, each had a picture on it. There were several people in all of them but I didn't recognize anyone on them. I looked up from the pictures to Druscilla for elaboration.

"All of those people in the picture are bounty hunters. I had some of my clan members keep a close eye on anyone that mentioned you, your mate, or your pack. Each one of these people you see have had direct contact with the person who put the target on your mate." I looked down at the photos again copying their faces to memory. Each one of them was going to die, I was going to make sure of it. "What is your mate's name anyways?"

The random question briefly threw me off as I slide the papers back into the envelope.

"Why do you want to know?"

"If she's going to be your pack's Luna and we have a treaty with you I think I should be allowed to know the leaders of those we have a treaty between." I said nothing. She threw her hands up in the air exasperated at me unmoved attitude. "Plus, I'm tired of calling her your mate."

Pausing for a moment to contemplate the magnitude of her question I finally gave in. She was part of an alliance... an alliance so far that's kept their word. "Evelyn. Now, did any of these bounty hunters say the person's name?"

"Unfortunately not. They only go by Fantom. None of my clan members have seen Fantom they only know these hunters were in contact with them because they overheard that they've had a meeting with them."

I nodded already planning out our next steps to ending this problem once and for all.

"There's on last thing..." Her face grew remorseful as she looked at me. "The person who put the target on your mate some how got close enough to her to capture her scent perfectly. Every bounty hunter has it now it's just become that much more easier to pick her out of a crowd." My hard stare shifted from curious to pure rage. The rat was someone close to me and that just created a blazing storm inside me. I was being betrayed by someone I considered a trusting person. "I suggest you do something about it... to change it." Her lips pursed insinuating what had to be done.

She and I both knew what needed to happen to change her scent. I just felt guilty about doing it. I didn't want to force Eve into anything. I wanted to move at her own pace, not throw her around like a pawn in my world but this... this was different. Even Druscilla was subliminally telling me what I already knew had to be done.

"And Caleb," I hadn't realized I was looking down at the ground shaking with an uncontrollable temper. I snapped my eyes to her one last time. "I don't owe you anything after this." She wasn't asking for approval from me she was blatantly stating it as a fact.

Without time to object or register her declaration she turned around.

"Let's go, we're done here!" She shouted as all of her clan followed behind her as she took off running. Just a blur of motion was left visible.

Staring at the spot she once stood, both a gray coat and a sand brown coat came up to either side of me.

'You don't have to do it.' Alex told me sounding sympathetic.

'What do you mean he doesn't have to do it. Of course he does.' Loz interjected sending a glare in Alex's direction.

'No he doesn't Loz! We can keep a tighter security unit for her at the pack house.' Alex moved to stand directly in front of me as he continued. 'Alpha knows that he can trust Naní and I to keep her safe. We can rotate looking over her while the alpha can't.'

'That's not good enough!' Loz growled. 'And wouldn't the alpha be able to trust me too?'

'Stop it you two!' I groaned turning around and shifting, picking up the envelope in my mouth. They followed close behind as I dismissed everyone else.

'We have to figure this out before you get back to the house.' Alex reminded me.

I had been thinking of nothing else. There had to be a million different way to go about it.... the more I thought the less ways there were until I came to the conclusion there was no other option.

My heart tightened in my chest with the growing sick pain of what I needed to do.

'Permission to speak freely?' Loz asked.

'Permission granted.' I needed to hear them talk like the close friends they were. We were all practically brothers. Being an alpha they have to speak to me with my title stated. This was another reason why I didn't want the title. I didn't want anyone looking up to me.

'Caleb all due respect but you have to do what you have to do. She'll understand if it means your saving her... protecting her.' He tried to sound supportive but it just further confirmed what I didn't want to do.

'Stop it Loz! Caleb doesn't have a she-wolf as a mate. He can't just do it like you.' The disgust in Alex's tone set off Loz, making him stop and growl in disagreement. Alex stopped too, snapping his teeth not willing to back down. It was obvious that Alex wasn't fond of Taylor but now that Loz discovered her to be his mate he'd have to adapt to the change.

Not again. I mentally groaned dropping the envelope on the ground. They couldn't help but bump heads, I swear if someone didn't know these two they'd think they hated each other.

'Will you two knock it off!' I lunged between them breaking up any fighting that may perpetuate from their disagreement.

'He's not listening to me Caleb! He wants you to force a mark on her, you know Eve wouldn't want that.' Alex was keen on nailing that fact in my brain like I didn't already know this. Eve would be beyond furious at me, honestly I think it might very well be the breaking point for her. Mentally I cringed.

'You act like you know her so well.' Loz spat snapping his teeth in his direction. I snapped mine back at him keeping him in line. They both needed to calm down. 'She's not a child Alex. She's a grown ass woman and Caleb should decided what to do. And he already knows he has to claim her. It's the only thing that'll change her scent.'

Alex stopped snarling shaking his head in irritation. He rolled his eyes looking out into the forest. He was silently agreeing with his beta knowing he was correct.

When both of them began to relax I finally spoke up. 'I'll handle it how I have to. No one is going to change my mind on what I'm doing nor will anyone known what I'm doing. I don't know who to trust at this point.'

'What do you mean you can't trust us? You don't honestly think Alex or I are really the rat?!' He was offended at my underlying accusation. I had to be honest with them. I truly had no idea who was the rat and who wasn't. For all I knew it was more than one person.

I looked at them both. They looked equally hurt and stunned causing guilt to build up inside me. Fuck this shit! I couldn't honestly believe my two best friends were the culprit.

I shook my head at them both unable to uphold the thought of them crossing me. Picking up the envelop again I started back towards the pack house.

'You scared me for a second.' Loz nervously laughed. Following me as I began jogging back.

'Scared me too. I thought I was going to have to get mom to smack some sense into you.' I heard Alex tease attempting to slap my snot as he jogged along side me. He missed.

Growling in protest it did nothing but cause Alex to slap again at my snot this time a muddy paw hit the side of my face.

'Are you serious?! Watch it don't hit the paper!.' I hissed dodging another hit from him as I picked up my pace. They could easily catch up they both weren't that much slower than I was, in fact I was pretty sure Alex could out run both Loz and I.

I felt a nip on my hind legs that I knew could only be Alex as I tripped up on my steps. Falling flat on my stomach I dropped the envelope to the ground swiftly turning around to pounce on whoever was closest.

Alex was anticipating it all as he easily maneuvered away from me. He was quicker but he was stronger. Noticing I was struggling to grab a hold of him Loz came out of the bushes running into Alex's side sending him tumbling to the ground.

'The fuck! That's not fai-' I gave Alex no chance to finish his complaint as I pounced on him. He gave a goofy half smile with his tongue hanging out.

We were playing around like our teenage years. It felt nostalgic.

Momentarily lost in my reminiscing thoughts I wasn't ready to be tackled by a gray wolf. A gray wolf that was none other than Loz. He nipped at my ear as I tried to throw him off. He jumped off just as quickly trying to get a head start from me.

I could here them both laughing as Loz started running in the direction of the house. Alex was quick to catch up to him nipping his hind legs to slow him down. I already knew Loz was going to be fed up with Alex but I couldn't help myself from grinning at their childish play.

Grabbing the envelope I hurried to catch up but left distance between us as I thought over what I was going to do when I saw her.

When I saw my mate.

I just hoped she would still be able to love me.

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