Vice on a mission.

I stood in front of Joyce, waiting for her to strike. She moved clumsily, breathed too sharp when she was about to throw a punch, and made too much noise that it was too easy to block her attack.

"Try not to make too much noise." I commented after I caught her fist with my hand and pulled her to me.

"I didn't make any noise." She argued even though I knew she knew I was right.

"If I can hear your movements, then it means you're making too much noise." I replied, letting go of her and taking a step back.

"Now try again." I said and waited, listening to her take a deep breath and then stopped breathing all together.

A smile formed on my lips when I heard the loud thud of her heart against her ribcage. She might be able to control her breath, but her heart gave her away.

It somehow managed to melt my own heart.

The morning training was something I looked forward to since the very first day we trained together. I liked being close to her and being able to show her how to defend herself, or at least get out of a dangerous situation.

Spending time with her came as natural as it could possibly be. But training felt different, like something we could only do with each other.

I always made sure to be gentle. I didn't want to hurt her on enforcing the training habits my father had burned in my mind.

I wanted her to enjoy being in training with me as much as I was enjoying it.

She threw a punch again, and once again, I blocked it.

"You're too good." She mumbled, making me chuckle.

I wished I could see her, study the way her features change when she's serious, or know how her smile looked at her heart.

I have never cursed my father more than I have since I met her.

"You'll be better than me once you get the hang of it. I promise." I replied.

"Alpha?" Laura's voice came from the door, pulling our attention to her.

"Hey, Laura." Joyce greeted her.

"Hi." Laura replied before she called my name again.

"Can I talk to you please, in private?" She asked.

"I can move over for you guys." Joyce commented, not offended at all by being asked to leave.

"I'll come get you for breakfast." I said.

I felt her hand on my forearm, and she gently gave me a squeeze. It went straight to my heart, sending my pulse raging in an unnatural ruthum.

I listened to her soft footsteps as she walked out of the home gym and waited until she was out of ear shot.

"I talked to Vice last night." Laura immediately started. She didn't sound pleased at the situation. It had only been a single say since I asked to send her husband away. I didn't expect her to be back with an answer so soon.

From the sound of her tense voice, I could already guess what she was going to say.

"I explained to him about Markus' visit and about what he claimed to know. I told him that you wanted him to go to her previous pack and check things out..." She stopped to take a deep breath. "While this is not something I want him to do, I also understand how valuable he is the pack. So... We've agreed."

I felt a sense of relief enveloping me. I wasn't going to force them to do anything dangerous, and if they had said no, then we would have found another way. But this was a shortcut we needed, and I was glad to hear that they agreed with me.

"He said he can leave tonight." She added.

"Okay." I nodded my head. "I'll come to the basement before he leaves. Again, no one knows about this but the three of us."

"Yes, Alpha." She whispered.

"Laura?" I called out before she could turn away and leave.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for this." I commented.

"Don't mention it, Ollen." She replied, her tone a bit friendly.

I let her leave, thinking by tomorrow, we would get the answers we needed to set us on the right corse.

The house after the conversation I had with Laura seemed to go slowly.

I did everything as usual. I went to Joyce to get her for breakfast like I promised I would, and we shared breakfast with a f*e of our people living in the main pack house.

We went out to overseen the cutting of three trees, in case they could be used to produce smaller gadgets we could sell even if it's for a low price.

Lunch passed by, and we had a meeting with the managers of each boarder patrol, they reported while they were certain nothing, or no one entered our land, they have noticed a few people constantly passing by, and assumed they were the people of the Sea and Moons pack.

After the usual "stay vigilant and don't travel on your own" advice, put, they went from my office.

Joyce was out for a few hours, spending time with the packs kids, playing with them once I'm a while, or braiding their hairs. Our mind links were open the entire time, and everything she saw, I could imagine it from behind my desk in the office.

It was like seeing the world in her eyes. It was a beautiful and optimistic world. She was not allowing any of the negativity to affect her, and I admired her for it even more.

What the heck was I going to do when she left?

I wasn't sure if I could possibly convince her to stay for the long run. Heck even ask her to be my mate. Not just my Luna, but also my mate.

I thought about how marking her would feel like. She would wear my mark on her neck, and I would wear her mark on mine.

I had to stop myself from thinking deeply about it, too afraid she would listen to every single one of my thoughts.

We'll cross that bridge when we get there, so for now, I was going to enjoy her company as much as I could. And it seems the people of the pack were doing the same.

I tried to keep myself busy with Arthur to keep my mind off of her, to stop obsessing over a woman I met two months ago, and a woman who was afraid of my presence.

When the sun finally went down, I walked Joyce to her room. She was so exhausted from running around with the kids that she was yawning all the way to her room.

"Havea good night." I called out.

I wanted to reach out for her like I always do, but I stopped myself. It felt like I was crowding her, and I needed to give her space to breathe.

But Joyce didn't seem to agree.

I felt her hands slowly slide around my waist. She pressed her face against my chest and hugged me close.

"Have a good night, Ollen." She whispered, and my heart nearly exploded.

I wasn't used to the feeling, but damn it, I wanted to get used to it.

I returned her hug, deciding that holding back when she wanted to be in my arms was useless

I planted a lingering kiss on her head and felt her melt against me.

I almost thought she had fallen asleep. But she pulled away a few seconds later

"I'll see you tomorrow, right?" She asked.

I heard the door of her room open.

"Of course." I replied. "I'll come to wake you up myself."

I waited until I heard her door close before I turned back the way we came from and walked to the stairs.

I cut the mind link connecting me to Joyce, knowing she would be asleep soon and wouldn't be able to notice.

I went down to the basement, and from the voices coming from within, I could tell that Vice was awake and ready to go.

"Remember, Vice..." I heard Laura warn. "You have to stick to the dark. Werewolves a really good vision, so you have to be careful. Do not reveal yourself to anyone under any circumstances, and if something goes wrong, you run as fast as your vampy legs could carry you."

"Got it." He replied.

"Please be careful."

"I will, my Love. You do not have to worry. Remember. I was the Vampire kings favorite spy. They won't see me no matter how hard they try." He reassured her.

I knocked on the door.

"Come in." Laura called out.

I pushed open the door and stepped into their room.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"I am." Vice replied.

"How long do you think it will take you to get there?" I asked.

"About thirty minutes to an hour. It won't take long." He replied.

"Well... Be careful. And make sure no one sees..." I stopped myself from saying more.

Laura had already warned him several times. I didn't need to add more to that.

"Right." Vice cleared his throat. "I'll leave now."

I stepped aside and felt him move past me. Laura followed after him, and then I followed after her.

Vice had already disappeared before either Laura or I could step out of the main pack house through the back door.

"He's gone." She whispered.

"Hello, be fine." I commented, wanting to put her mind at ease. "It's just like he said. He was a good spy. He won't get hurt."

I sences Mavus before I heard her coming around the side of the main pack house.

"What are you two doing out here?" She asked, her voice kind and calm.

"Nothing much. I'm just talking." Laura replied.

"Did you let thay husband of yours out of the house?" Mavus asked and managed to make Laura sigh again.

"Yeah. He's running low on his blood bags." She commented.

While it might sound like she was suggesting Vice went out for a hunt, she was just stating that he was running out of blood, so she would take get caught lying to Mavus.

"Well, he'll be fine. He's a vampire, after all. They have quiet feet."

Mavus' comment managed to make Laura chuckle.

"Yeah." He whispered.

"You two should go to bed now..." Mavus said as she walked away from us, probably to retire to her bed.

"You should go in, Ollen. I'll wait for him here." She commented.

"You're crazy if you think I would leave you out here on your own." I replied as I carefully stepped forward until I touched the railing of the stairs and used them for guidance to sit down.

"Ollen?" He called out, ready to argue. But I was not going to hear her out.

When she realized that I was not leaving, she sat down next to me.

We waited for hours. The wind picked up, the cold sipping into our bones. But we refused to yield and leave. We waited for Vice to return.

I could feel Laura getting more and more worried with each passing second, tapping her feet against the steps, doing soft breathing exercises, mumbling to herself that she was okay.

I felt a jolt of reliance when I heard his footsteps thundering against the ground in the woods.

"He's back." I commented, and by then, it had been hours since he left.

"He is?" Laura gasped, pushing herself to her feet.

"Where? Where is he?" She asked.

I didn't get to answer when I felt her push past me and jump down the steps, dropping to the ground with a loud thud that I thought she had fallen down.

"Vice?" I heard her call out.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." He replied.

I was certain they were embracing each other.

"What took you so long?" She whispered, her voice muffled.

"I was only gone for six hours." He replied with a chuckle.

"Alpha?" He called out a few seconds later in greeting.

"I'm glad you're back safely." I commented.

"Thank you." He said. "We should move to somewhere more private. I have something very interesting to share with you."

The tone he used oddly struck fear within me. I couldn't explain the reaction. It confused me more than the emotions I have been feeling this past month.

"Let's move to my office." I commented, then turned around to walk up the steps.

The walk to the office was miserable. I, for some odd reason, didn't want to hear what Vice had to say to me. I couldn't explain it, but my guts were telling me to let it go.

We arrived at my office far too soon, and I had to sit on my chair twice as uncomfortable as if it usually would make me.

The door was closed, and Laura cast a spell that would prevent our voices from leaving the room.

"You can speak now." She said to her husband once she was sure the spell worked.

"When I first arrived, I looked around the pack to see if there were any familiar faces from the Sea and Moon. A man named Seth was there. I believe he is the gamma of the Sea and Moons?"

"He is." I answered.

"He had some people with him too, all of which were given room to stay in the main pack house. So yes, they have definitely made some sort of agreement."

So Madkus was right.

"But..." Vice stopped himself, hesitating to tell us what else he had found.

"What is it?" Laura softly asked.

"I saw pictures around the main pack house of the Alpha's family. One in particular caught my eyes. There was the Alpha and Luna of the pack, along with Joyce and a woman who looked slightly older than Joyce. I found out from the whispers around the house amongst the workers that Joyce and Jenny are sisters and two daughters of Alpha Feathers. But..."

He once again stopped, and maybe it was for the best. Maybe I shouldn't have asked him to continue. Maybe I should have listened to my guts and be done with it.

But I had to know, and what he said next broke me out of the little delusional world I was allowing myself to live in.

I understood why I never heard my wolf whispering the word "Mate" into my head.