raiden

As the car drives, my eyes remain glued out the window. It was finally time for our rescue. It was time to get the beta back and while I wasn't worried about us managing to get him, I was worried about how he'd be after everything. Would he be the same or had they done something to him? Now knowing what Alpha Demos was trying to create, I was worried that he may have used Beta Reo in the process.

"Why are you frowning like that? You look constipated. Calm down, alright?" I turn my head to face the man whose name I learned was Alpha Archer. He was Luna Quinn's younger brother and the resemblance was uncanny. The difference between them is bad to be their eyes though and I didn't mean the color.

Alpha Archer looked more strict on the outside, but if you stared into his eyes there was this hint of mischief within.

"How are you so calm?" I can't help but ask him.

Alpha Archer shrugs. "Worrying doesn't do anyone any good. If anything, it makes you more likely to fuck up. If you spend time thinking about what could go wrong, you'll ultimately end up making some kind of mistake. We're going to go in and pull this rescue off flawlessly. There's no need to worry."

He flashes me a smile and I just stare at him. It was clear that he was very different from Quinn even if they did share similar features.

"You're very different from your sister," I voice my thoughts.

Alpha Archer just snorts at that. "So I've been told. Q definitely took after our father more in terms of personality. She's more of a thinker, but she has a big heart. Our mom's much more of a free spirit. She's the type to spontaneously decide to do something without thinking very much about it. I guess it's something I've picked up from her. You can't fear life or you'll never truly enjoy it."

His words make me smile and I nod in agreement. After being so worried about separating from the pack and my parents' ideals all these years, here I was with Cloud and happier than I'd ever been before. For once, I was truly happy with my life.

Sitting beside Alpha Archer was Inez. Boston had decided to join a group of wolves who'd be running on foot to the building. They'd be scouting out the area as we traveled and making sure everything was safe.

I'd seen Inez talking with Maia earlier and though I wanted to ask her about it, I refrained from doing so. I was curious to know if they were mates and If they were, I was also curious to see how Maia would take it. Though I didn't know much about her, I had a hunch that Inez had a more fiery personality. I wanted to know how Maia would deal with it.

Still, anyone was better than Hopper. He and Maia hardly even had a real relationship, if you could call it that. They only ever talked about business and their conversations otherwise were only surface-level at most. Even if Inez was her mate, I knew that she'd be better for Maia. At least she'd have someone who'd actually talk to and communicate with her about more than just our pack. Not to mention, she'd have someone who she didn't have to feel as if she was hiding part of herself from.

"I have a question," I say to Inez. "You're clearly not a wolf, but you're in a wolf pack. How did that happen?"

It was something that had been on the back of my mind since we went to the Red Eclipse. A lot of the members weren't even wolves and yet, they still functioned as a normal pack would. In some ways, they even seemed closer.

Inez shrugged her shoulders. "I left my coven at a young age. I planned to just live alone, but then I found Aaila whose pack was practically a fetus at that point. She invited me to join, and I told her to fuck off, but she didn't let that stop her. Every day she would come back with some new reason I should join. By the time she got to reason ten, I was hooked."

"What about Boston?" I ask curiously.

Inez grins and shakes her head. "That's something you'll have to ask him. Not my story to tell."

I nod in understanding, but something told me that I'd never truly know then. Boston seemed a lot more closed off. He didn't seem to like being in groups with people and preferred to be alone. In all honesty, I was curious to know more about the man, but I doubted that he'd let me get close enough to ask more.

"Who's Boston?" Alpha Archer asks us.

"You haven't met him yet, but he's Alpha Aaila's brother," Inez says and my eyebrows raise.

"Wait, they're siblings?"

Inez looks at me and nods but doesn't go into more detail. Alpha Aaila and Boston looked nothing alike. It made me wonder even more what their story was.

The three of us continued to talk about everything from our packs and families to mates and more. Alpha Archer had yet to meet his mate yet, but he was planning to go on a trip once we finished finding his mate. With his pack, the Lunar Lake, growing, he wanted to try and find his mate while he had the chance before it started getting too busy.

Inez didn't really speak much about mates seeing as she was a siphoner. Even if she was mated to Maia, she wouldn't be able to directly feel the bond like a wolf would so there was a chance she didn't know.

The longer we drove, the more I learned about the two. Their conversations kept me occupied, but a glance out the window revealed that we were no longer near the Howling Night which meant that we were getting closer. Soon we'd be rescuing Beta Reo and I was ready.

Taking Archer's—he practically ordered us to drop the 'alpha' title—advice, I pushed away the worrying feeling that I'd once felt. This was going to go well, just like I told Cloud. I was sure of it.