PROLOGUE - Part 2

COLE

I smile as a low growl sounds next to her from Alexander when she mentions Christopher. She moves a little closer, allowing him to wrap his arm around her waist, calming him as she then continues,

"What did you have in mind?"

"We always have surprise inspections but occasionally have a full attendance surprise inspection, and depending on what we are looking for and what we find, we can have nearly every member of the patrols standing in the training field all day if necessary..."

"Isn't that dangerous? Wouldn't the pack be exposed to attack during that time?"

"Yes, that is why it is only done on rare occasions and it is always done by surprise so that no one has the opportunity to let it out that there will be no one patrolling the borders. For example, it is still early and there have been no threats lately, have there Alexander?"

"No, Alpha..."

"Therefore, Greta, would you be up to doing it today? Now?"

"Right now?"

"Yep, I can have every patrol officer high-ranked and all in the training field in 15 minutes... Is that enough time to get into a position where you can scan everyone?"

"That's plenty of time... Alpha."

"Good..." I feel him open the entire pack link and command.

"ATTENTION ALL RANKED OFFICERS AND GUARDS MANDATORY INSPECTION OF ROOMS AND PERSONNEL, TRAINING FIELD FIFTEEN MINUTES. NO EXCEPTIONS! NO EXCUSES! ANYONE LATE WILL BE PUNISHED!"

"Done. Cole and Alexander will check the rooms in the barracks while Elijah and I inspect the personnel. Gives you a chance to be in one of your nests and scan the entire guards as they stand in one spot. We will keep them there until you give the all clear, and then we will discuss what is found."

We all stand, and it is still extraordinary to watch as Greta kisses Alexander and then just disappears. Alexander drops his arms to his sides and growls.

"I really hate it when she does that..."

I move over to him and drape my arm over his shoulder and say,

"Come Alex, let's get to work. Maybe we can find a little evidence to point out this spy in the barrack rooms."

Alexander nods to Elijah and Nathan. We then leave the office. Once at the barracks, we start at one room and slowly make our way through all of them. Unfortunately, other than a few small things that shouldn't be in the rooms, mainly a few different types of drugs, all of which will be reprimanded for. The only one that was a real worry was the vial of Vampire blood we found.

Vampire blood can have a few different effects on a werewolf, it gives one hell of a high, increases aggression, and sexual appetite as well as increases our already fast healing but it can be extremely addictive Which is why it is a banned substance within the pack and comes with such a harsh penalty. So, unfortunately, the owner of this small vial will now demoted and will be relocated to another pack as a very low-ranked officer immediately.

Alexander and I then head to the training field. We stop at the edge and watch as Elijah and Nathan walk the lines inspecting each guard; I jump a little as Greta appears in between us. Elijah and Nathan then make their way to the front of the field once they have passed the last guard in line. We meet them there and stand with our hands behind our backs. I open the link between just us 5, and Nathan then says,

"The verdict?"

"Sorry Alphas, no one here is the spy... Other than Lex, who was a little worried that he would be late to his next meeting with his rogue informant, but we know about him. The others, according to their thoughts, most of them were just wanting to know why they had to be there, wanting to either get back to work, back to their mates or back to their lazy day off. A couple were a little nervous about their rooms being searched, but that was all..."

"The ones nervous about their rooms being checked seemed to have reason to. We found three rooms that had drugs in them, but nothing real serious..."

"Names?"

"Recruits Joseph, Josiah and Aaron... The one that is in the most trouble is Recruit Colton. We found a small vial of Vampire blood hidden in his room."

Nathan nods his head and then allows Xaiden to the front.

"RECRUITS JOSEPH, JOSIAH, AARON AND COLTON STEP FORWARD AND REMAIN AT ATTENTION, EVERYONE ELSE IS DISMISSED."

Recruits Joseph, Josiah and Aaron all get a warning and are demoted from patrol to packhouse duties until they can prove themselves once more. Alexander and Greta escorted recruit Colton back to the barracks, stripped of his rank and transferred back to his original pack as a low-level member. We make our way back to the office. As we enter, I say,

"Well, it wasn't exactly a total waste of time. Vampire blood is dangerous, but we are no closer to finding the other spy..."

"They will eventually make a mistake and show themselves, allowing you will find them..."

I am startled a little as I hear Skyler's voice. I look up at her as she stands from behind Elijah's desk. Once Nathan is inside the room, he closes the door and I ask,

"Is there something wrong? Did you need anything?"

"I always need you three, but there is nothing wrong... Well, nothing serious..."

We all look at her, confused, until she holds up a small picture. We all move at once to surround her as I say,

"Really? When? How? Who?"

She laughs, as she points to me, "Yes, really. A week in your room at the packhouse..."

She then points to Elijah, "Three-night camping trip..."

Then Nathan, "Three nights in the house by ourselves... Doc Isaac reckons it could be the same as the twins I was pregnant with last time. There are three, so one each!"

I don't miss the slight fall of her face and the sadness in her eyes as she mentions the twins she lost. I feel a little guilty for not being able to get to her and stop her uncle from taking them from her, but at least I did stop him from taking her from us. I open my private link with her and whisper, 

"Skyler, I am sorry that I wasn't able to get to you in time to stop him from killing your unborn pups..." 

"Cole, I have never blamed you for that day. I am just glad that he didn't kill you." 

She covers the memories of that day with a sad smile and all three of us wrap her in our arms, thanking the Moon Goddess for her blessing of our family once more.

We all keep a close eye on Skyler but for a change, her pregnancy goes without incident and so does the birth. We now have 2 additional sons, Diego and Tyler and another little princess Penelope. Three days later, we are celebrating Samuel and Emma's 7th birthday with the normal pack party. Security is tight because of what happened last year, but everyone is still having fun.

I am sitting on the back porch holding Skyler in my lap. The mate bond has settled and I don't have the intense craving to touch her anymore, but I still do whenever I get a chance. We watch over the triplets as they sleep in the port-a-cot next to us. Elijah and Nathan are playing chase with all the pups from the pack when all of a sudden everyone stops dead as the pack alarms all go off.

I stand, placing Skyler on her feet as hundreds of wolves come running out of the treeline. Skyler grabs the triplets and rushes inside with Greta, Elijah and Nathan, gather up all the pups playing chase with them and lead them into the packhouse. As they come back out, they shift and fight off the wolves that come too close.

I hear a slight scream. I turn my head and freeze as I see Emma still standing across the yard on her own as a large rogue wolf slides to a skidded stop in front of her, preventing her from making it to the packhouse.

I relax a little when I see the female behind her, but then Xander forces me to shift as she grabs Emma, climbs onto another even larger dirty brown rogue wolf behind her, and they take off into the trees. I chase them across the border to a small river, where I lose the scent of not only the rogue wolf but the female and my daughter...

Xander let out a very loud, very long, very angry,

"HOWL!!!"

As I scream "EMMA!!" at the top of my lungs inside my head...