The first thing York did when he could stand up and move was buy a plane ticket.

He didn't say where he was going, but he said he was definitely going.

Avery is baffled.

Her parents were furious, the elders were horrified, the Council was outraged, and Avery was screwed.

The news was unexpected.

Shock waves had gone through the pack, and Mitchell and Hayden had been dealing with tonnes of calls from the other Alphas.

York signed off on the documents passing the title to Avery, unofficially - her hearing needed to be completed before she could be declared as the proper, permanent Alpha.

Scott arrives two hours after York's shock announcement.

He finds Avery sitting in her kitchen, zoned out and eating her way through a pint of cookie dough ice cream.

His eyebrows slowly raise as he hones in on the bundled up figure in the corner.

"Are you okay?" He asks, kneeling down beside her curiously.

"York renounced his title," she splutters out, turning and staring at her friend, her eyes wide and wild.

Scott is speechless, and he raises his eyebrows again, his mouth slowly opening in utter surprise.

"Wow," he mutters, "I didn't expect that."

"Yeah," she nods rapidly, running a hand through her hair.

Half of it has fallen out of its braid, fluttering around her face and sticking up everywhere.

"Okay," he whispers, grabbing her shoulders, "we can get this sorted out."

Avery is doubtful of his optimistic words.

Silence fills the kitchen, and then Scott releases Avery.

"You get your title back for good now," he shrugs after a minute, sitting back against the cupboards and staring at the wall.

"Yeah, I guess," she whispers.

"You're a good Alpha," he shrugs, taking the ice cream from her and eating some of it himself.

"Technically we just kissed," he says through a mouth full of cookie dough.

She shoots him a disgusted glare, and he shrugs, shovelling more into his mouth.

"In your dreams, pig," she grunts, standing up and pouring herself a glass of water.

"What are you going to do?" He asks, putting the ice cream down and pulling out his phone to check in with his Beta.

"I don't know. I might have a little cry first," she admits, shrugging her shoulders and sitting on the counter.

"Crying is always a good idea," he agrees, standing up slowly and cracking his back as he moves.

"I knew you'd agree with me, how are your tear ducts feeling?" She cheers, popping down off the counter

"Empty, but I have plenty to cry about," he snorts, dragging her into the living room.

"What sad movie are we watching today?" She asks, getting settled under her mountain of blankets.

"Not the Notebook, I watched that on the plane ride," he sighs, and she frowns.

"That's the best one though," she grumbles, slumping under her blankets.

"Titanic?" He suggests, and she shakes her head.

"Rookie choice. Not sad enough. I want my heart to be ripped out and stomped on," she announces, and then her eyes light up.

"Me Before You," they both exclaim, and Avery grins slowly.

"We're psychic, I swear," Scott mutters, shaking his head ruefully.

"Imagine if my pack saw me right now," he groans, rubbing his face roughly.

"You'd probably win the respect of all of the teenagers," she shrugs, crossing her legs and switching on the old movie.

"It's not the teenagers I'd be worried about," he grumbles, and Avery grins at him, taking a sip of her glass of water.

Mid-way through the movie, the two are sobbing dramatically.

Hayden opens the front door and hears crying, and he's immediately on alert.

His wolf surfaces immediately in defence of his Alpha.

Slowly prowling into the living room, he creeps up behind Scott and quickly grabs him in a chokehold, squeezing hard.

Avery stops crying for a second out of shock, her eyes wide and her mouth open, as she leaps up.

"Let him go!" She quickly shrieks, going to stand behind Hayden and trying to tug him away from her friend.

Hayden releases him immediately when Avery tells him to, and he steps away with his hands in the air.

"Who is that?" He asks, waiting for Scott to turn around.

Scott turns around and raises his eyebrows, aiming a punch at Hayden.

Hayden catches it and rolls his eyes, shaking his head.

"Sorry, I didn't realise it was him," he mutters, stepping back into the kitchen.

Avery rolls her eyes, looking between the two men.

"You're like children," she hisses, wiping the tears off her cheeks and stomping into the kitchen to get a snack.

The two men exchange looks, and slowly walk towards Avery.

"What's wrong, Ave?" Scott asks, and Hayden shoots him a slight glare.

"He scared me, I was having a good cry," she sniffles, tying her hair back into a ponytail again.

"You can continue it; I don't mind leaving," Hayden shrugs awkwardly, and Avery glares at him.

"There's no point, my cry has been ruined already," she grunts, and Scott sighs dramatically.

"Come on, wipe the tears away and we'll go back to your office. I can be helpful for once," he snorts, and Avery lets out a grunt.

"Let me change," she mutters, wandering upstairs.

She jumps into a pair of tracksuit bottoms, sliding her trainers back on afterwards.

She slips on a tank top and throws a sweatshirt over it, scowling at herself in the mirror.

She has a fancy blouse in her office; if she gets a video call, she can quickly slip that on to give some illusion of formality.

She slumps down the stairs, feeling a bit like a worm.

The two formally dressed men stare at her briefly, and she raises an eyebrow.

They quickly look away, and she grabs her keys.

She may as well do some work.

She didn't have a relaxation day on her schedule, especially since York dropped the bombshell on everyone that he was going to leave.

Now more than ever, how she was seen by her pack was essential; she needed to be a good crisis leader.

She had been told that some of her pack members, chosen at random, could be selected to speak at her trial, and while this irked her, it just encouraged her to increase her community outreach.

She had a pack dinner planned tonight in the form of a pack barbecue.

Everyone was to show up, though attendance wasn't mandatory - at least, that's how she phrased it, some of her guards might have gotten a little confused.

Either way, the majority of the pack would be there tonight.

She had plans to announce her plans for the sexual health and violence advocacy clinic, and Mitch was working on figuring out what she would say.

Avery had her own ideas, and she knew that she'd stick to them no matter what Mitch came up with - she wanted to reconnect with her pack, and she knew she didn't want to be some ice-queen Alpha.

Her trial had been moved forward, and it was now two days away.

Anything she did now could be scrutinised and questioned, and there was very little that she wasn't ready for.

Everyone who knew what she was in for prepared mock questions for her to compose herself for.

Kathleen had attacked her personal life.

Mitch had attacked her political affiliations.

Zephyr half-heartedly attacked her family history.

Hayden attacked her pack beliefs.

York had ripped her personal history to shreds, and Scott had done the same.

She was almost sure that there was very little else anyone could question.

She had a file of anything significant that she had been involved in, including the original removal of her title, any fights she had contributed to or involved herself in, her assault, and her relationships with other Alphas.

She had prepared herself for an attack on her Unfortunate status, and she was ready for anything else thrown at her.

Inhaling slowly as she gets into the car, Avery shuts her eyes for a moment, ruffling her hair up.

"Where's Toby?" She asks Hayden, glancing at him where he sits in the passenger seat.

Scott grudgingly slides into the back seat, a frown on his face as he gets comfortable.

"He's with your mom, the doctors wanted somebody to keep a close eye on him, and who better to do that than an actual doctor?" He snorts, shaking his head as he looks up from his phone briefly.

"What do you have left to do today?" Scott asks, leaning forward and planting himself between their seats.

"I have to make some calls, I have to organise transfers, and I have to prepare for tonight's barbecue," she lists, and Scott nods.

"Is it okay if I go with you guys to your hearing on Wednesday?" He asks, and Avery shrugs.

"If you're okay with the questions that will be asked," she mutters, pulling into the packhouse garage.

It looks like it might rain, which isn't great news - the barbecue is outside, so she's hoping it's only a quick shower.

"I'd never be ashamed of being accused of dating you again," Scott snorts, "you're my mistake I can't seem to learn."

Avery's jaw drops, and she shoots him a joking glare over her shoulder, holding her laughter in.

"Get out, you asshole," she chuckles, leaving the car and strolling inside.

"Alpha, Kathleen says that there's a call for you," one of the teenagers runs after her, waving a bright pink sticky-note in the air.

Avery takes the sticky note and sighs, shaking her head.

"Thank you, I appreciate you finding me," she smiles at the teen, continuing to her office.

She strolls in, and Kathleen raises an eyebrow.

Avery ignores her friend and turns to Mitch with an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry for being so rude earlier, it wasn't called for, and there's no excuse for my behaviour," she announces, and Mitchell shrugs.

"It's okay, you're under a lot of pressure, but I do appreciate the apology," he replies, slightly confused.

He didn't expect an apology, but he wasn't going to question why he got one.

Kathleen holds in her laugh, shaking her head.

"Is everything ready for the swearing-in and the barbecue?" Avery asks as she sits down, getting comfortable in her chair and taking her pink blanket out of her desk drawer.

She drapes it around her shoulders and stares at Mitchell expectantly.

"Uh, yeah, it is," he finally gets out, looking back down at his laptop.

"I have the names of everybody who wants to transfer out," Kathleen calls from the file storeroom where she wandered off to while Avery got situated.

Hayden places himself at his desk, gazing around the room.

Scott has dumped himself in an armchair and is scrolling on his phone, oblivious to the outside world.

Avery sighs, splitting the transfer forms between herself and Mitchell.

She instructs Hayden to try and get through some of the joining forms.

Kathleen helps Hayden, keeping an eye on Scott and making sure he doesn't wander off anywhere - Avery may trust him, but Kathleen only trusts him as far as she can throw him - which isn't far, she's tiny and not very strong.

The next few hours pass like this, the files being quickly finished and Avery altering some minor details for the evening's plans.

Soon, it's time for them all to go home and get ready for the event.

Avery locks herself in her room and begins her intensive preparation, curling her hair patiently and throwing on some natural but glowy makeup.

She dons a mid-calf flowy dress, the green and white pattern a nice contrast to her usual monochrome outfits.

Tightening the straps, she settles on a simple pair of black kitten heels, sliding them on and them moving onto jewellery.

After an hour and a half, Avery decides she's finished.

She looks as good as she'll get, and she grabs her phone and walks down the stairs, cursing when she discovers she lacks pockets.

She finds Scott, Hayden, and Toby all draped on couches in the living room, all looking a little bored.

Toby gives her a wide grin and hurries up to her, his steps a little shaky still.

"You look really pretty," he beams, hugging her as tight as he can.

She winks at him and ruffles his hair gently, pulling away from the hug and admiring his little ensemble.

"You look lovely too, Toby! Very handsome," she whispers conspiratorially, and he grins again.

"Better than my dad?" He asks deviously, and Avery glances at Hayden, who rolls his eyes.

"Of course," she says after a moment of gazing at Hayden.

Toby drags Hayden outside, and Scott gets up, nudging Avery with a smirk.

"If you looked at him for any longer, I think the whole pack would have seen it," he teases, and she rolls her eyes, tossing him the keys.

"You can drive, since you're such a wiseass," she grumbles, sliding into the backseat with Toby.

The little boy is only delighted to have a seat companion.

The drive to the sports field is quick and painless, and Avery can smell food being cooked as soon as she steps out of the vehicle.

She's greeted with smiles and waves from enthusiastic children, and happy nods from parents and older pack members as she makes her way to the stage.

"Is all of the audio equipment ready?" She murmurs to one of the technicians, and he furrows his brows nervously.

"No, but it will be in about ten minutes," he quickly responds, and she shrugs.

"Perfect," she grins, patting him on the shoulder and then walking back to her little group.

"I think we'll eat first and then I'll make the announcements," she sighs, and Kathleen shrugs.

"Yeah, then everybody might listen," she laughs, "I like your dress."

Avery grins at her friend, "it doesn't have pockets."

Kathleen feigns an angry face, rolling her eyes.

The food is ready quickly because Avery has had people working since the morning so that everything is prepared and so that everybody will have enough food.

Everyone seems to be happy.

There's music playing from beside the stage, a few of the teenagers had formed a band and Avery had hired them for the evening.

The kids were delighted, and Avery was only too happy to oblige and support her pack.

There are bouncing castles for the children and young teens, and there are plenty of picnic benches and sitting areas, as well as picnic blankets and mats to sit on.

Avery was happy with how the set up had turned out - everything was working, and she didn't mind that much about the audio not being fully prepared.

Everything else was working, and she couldn't complain about one thing not being perfect when everything else had worked out so well.

We're getting so good at this calm thing, Sonya beams, and Avery holds in a laugh.

I know, we've gone like eight hours without being angry, that's a record for such a busy day, she grins, and Sonya snorts.

"How's Sonya doing?" Scott grins, and Avery chuckles.

"She's as wild as ever, still wanting to run after everything that goes past her," she scoffs, playing with one of her curls.

"She was the only wolf faster than mine," Scott shrugs, and Avery releases a laugh.

They watch some children playing in a ball pit in silence, and he hesitates before opening his mouth.

"Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we had kids together?" He asks quietly, and Avery turns so quickly she swears she could have gotten whiplash.

"Where did that come from?" She questions curiously, raising her eyebrows.

"No, I was just wondering. I thought of this last week, and it really hit me. I was thinking about baby Emmett, and how his parents were mates, even if they're splitting up now," he ponders, and then looks at her again, "so, do you?"

Avery pauses, furrowing her brows and allowing herself to have a second to think.

"I mean, I suppose I used to. It would have been the natural thing to do if you hadn't found Kali," she shrugs, glancing at him and then back at the children.

"Not anymore?" He enquires, and she raises her eyebrows at him.

Her silence answers his questions, perhaps better than any words could.

"We both need heirs is all I'm saying," he mutters, clenching his jaw and staring ahead of him.