*Bram*“Walk with me, Commander Bram.” Alpha Kaelen gives me an order, and I obey it, even though I’m immensely busy at the moment. We are in the process of preparing for our newest attack against Moon Falls Pack. Normally, our preparation doesn’t involve any sort of weapons because it’s considered dishonorable for wolf shifters to fight with weapons. But… Alpha Kaelen has decided he doesn’t care about honor at this point. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to destroy the enemy. So we aren’t just loading up the supplies we will need–food, water, shelter, supplies for the healers–but weapons as well. Metal claws that fit over our regular ones, body armor, even bows and arrows and knives that some of our warriors will shift into their human form to use. Alpha Kaelen pointed out that the enemy used arrows against us last time, so it’s justified.Of course, he has no idea that the enemy he thinks attacked us last time knows nothing about what happened.Pulled away from my work, I fall
*Lyra*“Jorin?” I rush over to his bed. It’s still warm, and there’s a trace of blood on the sheets. “Jorin!” I shout both with my mouth and through the mind-link. “Where the fuck are you?”A moment later, the back door squeaks open. I wheel, ready to fight, and am relieved to see it’s him, stumbling in, his arm bleeding through the bandage.I hurry over to Jorin. “What the fuck were you doing?”“Had to hit the head.” He sounds exhausted, and possibly disoriented.Supporting him on the side away from his injured arm, I steer him back over to his bed and help him lie down. “Next time, use a jar or something. For fuck’s sake, you scared the shit out of me. And it doesn’t make much sense for you to go outside when you’re bleeding all over the place.”I go lock the back door and drop a bolt in place for good measure. Then, I return to the front door and make sure it’s locked and deadbolted as well. I can’t hear any howls at the moment, but every night, they get fairly close to the cabin
*Lyra*I have to figure out a way to drag Jorin back to our house without leaving a trail that rogues and anyone else could follow. I’m too far away from home to leave him to get something to drag him on, and when I look around, I see absolutely nothing helpful.He needs to wake up. If he could regain consciousness even long enough to hold on to my wolf’s fur as I sprint through the forest, that would work. But I have no idea how to get him to wake up.“Jorin?” I shake him lightly, but it does nothing. “Jorin! Wake up!” His head wobbles back and forth, but he doesn’t open his eyes. He has a pulse. I can hear his heart beating, though it’s softer and slower than usual. There’s nothing in the medical kit to help with this, so I dig through my bag and find nothing. Then, I look through Jorin’s back. All that’s in there is a change of clothes, a few pieces of dried meat, a canteen–and the skunk scent.“Skunk scent!” Maybe that will do it.It’s the only thing I can think of to try. Carefu
*Lyra*Pain radiates up my left side from a fierce collision, and my right side slams into the ground. I slide into a bush, prickles stabbing my back. Dazed, I leap to my feet, and get into a defensive position just as two scrawny gray wolves with tufts of fur lunge at me.Fucking rogues! I glance over my shoulder and see Jorin is engaged with two more. We can both handle two attackers at once, maybe more, so I’m not afraid.But I am pissed. My shoulder hurts from being slammed into at full speed and knocked to the ground.They don’t take turns coming at me. Instead, one launches at my head, the other at my side. I duck and try to take out the first wolf’s legs and manage to sweep them out from under him, and he slams into his buddy hard enough to send them both toppling into one another. The one who had his legs knocked from under him face plants into the dirt, the back half of him smacking the other one in the head.Neither of them gets up right away, which gives me a chance to poun
*Lyra*The forest floor flies by beneath my paws. It’s been a few weeks since our ambush of Running River Pack, and Bram’s scent is thick in the woods. Once again, Jorin has warned me not to let him see me so that neither of us gets in trouble if there’s a patrol, but my wolf is thinking for me now, and she desperately wants to see him.Jorin’s far behind me now. I can still hear his paws propelling him through the woods, but he’s not in a rush like I am, and he’s probably shaking his head thinking I’m being very foolish.But I would be able to pick up on the scent of a patrol if any of the guards from the village were nearby. Not only do I only smell Bram’s distinct scent, I don’t sense anyone else nearby. Nor do I smell anything that could be used to cover their tracks. The skunk spray we used to cover our odor fades and collects our scent in a few hours. It makes no sense that guards would use skunk spray ahead of Bram coming–so there’s little chance anyone is out here that I can’t
*Bram*After the cleanup, Alpha Kaelen has become even more reliant on me. I’ve become one of his key commanders. It’s a role I never asked for, but it does allow me access to the inner circle. I’m there for every discussion, every plan. A few days after I left the third note for Lyra in the woods, I’m summoned to the war room. Beta Penn and the other commanders gather around the table. Tessa is there, too. Why, I’m not sure. She’s certainly no warrior. While Lyra was training to be so fierce, her best friend had been home looking at pretty clothes and doing her makeup. Now, she sits next to the Alpha, and every few seconds, she glances down at the large diamond ring on her finger.The two of them are planning their wedding. One day soon, Tessa will be the Luna Queen. Apparently, betraying one’s best friend’s trust and lying about her being a murderer is enough to make the Alpha fall madly in love.“We need a solution to our problem,” Alpha Kaelen begins without even thanking us for