I wait and beat and come into the room where they are. I see them shaking hands and they both look up when I knock on the wall. But I’m honestly not sure what to say. “You can come in, Oly.” Quai says. We stand there in silence. None of us speaking, none of us touching, just the weight of the evening sitting between us. I didn’t want to know what they may have saw tonight. I saw enough. I didn’t want to ask how they were, because I knew damn well how they were. There wasn’t anything I could say to help. This wasn’t something that could be helped by words. After another few minutes Quai simply held out his hand to me. I looked at it for a second and then place mine in it. He squeezed it gently. Ryn put his hand out for my other one, and I happily placed mine in his as well. “If this becomes a war, I’m going to ask for the crown immediately.”

I felt Olina stiffen next to me. That word carried more weight now than ever before. We used to play war, pretend we were heros, running our imaginary kingdom. We used to use the word in school, reenact history, talk about war as if it was hypothetical only. But now we sit here as actual leaders, with the lives of thousands of wolves in our hands. “I understand how that word makes us all feel, the weight of it does not escape me. However, what’s done is done. The attack on Olina while Syn was in our pack and the fact he took over the Alpha position without the King’s approval were both instances that went against the Kingdom’s laws, and then he attacked Water Rock with no motive other than pursuit of power. Now, we were still discussing mediation, and trying to talk some sense into him when the attack first started, however as we approaches Water Rock’s territory last night, our wolves were met by the patrols of Syn’s pack. Th

“I don’t give a shit what he wants, I want to know if he will agree to meet with me.” I pace outside the door with Lana. We had been busying ourselves with work that was needed. That is, until we found out that after 5 long days Quai had finally gotten some sort of contact back from Syn. We didn’t want to barge in as we arrived after the phone call started. Unfortunately, it didn’t sound like he was actually talking to Syn. Another minute of frustration from Quai and his office door opened. “Come in already” Ryn tells us as he shakes his head and we feign innocence. “You don’t have to wait,, you can just come in. You are the two most powerful women in this kingdom, for crying out loud.” Quai says with a smirk on his face as he greets us. He extends a hand and Lana immediately goes to him and snuggles into his lap. &ldquo

I slipped out the door once I was dressed and nodded hello to the warrior stationed just a few feet from our cabin. Ever since things escalated, WAryn insisted, as did my father. The warrior nodded back and then followed at a distance as I made my way to the castle. Once I was at the entrance I turned and did a once over of the training fields. Some of them were still in fact training fields as training continues despite a war. But two of the fields were no covered in white medical tents for the wounded as they recover. There were two more tents just like this at the EAst and South holdings. They made my heart ache. On my way to the library entrance, I passed by Lana. She waved me over as she was discussing something with one of the kitchen staff. “Hi darling, how are things?” she asked, her words diving deeper than they seemed. “Restless at the East I guess, gone before sunrise.&rd

He passed by the door and went straight into my bedroom. Was he the one sleeping here?My mind flashed back to the memory of the day we got the call from Carlisle, the mediation call that turned out to be a distraction. Carlisle had claimed to be the Beta. But was that true? If Preston was sleeping here, then it was definitely true. The Beta would be in the packhouse. Especially with an Alpha like Syn. They demand to know where their Beta is, because they don’t trust anyone, even them.He throws himself down on the bed, my bed, and I see his chest heave a few times. He hasn’t scented that I’m here. I mean to be fair, I barely have a scent, but he definitely was living here considering how comfortable he was and trusting he was alone without searching the house. I watched him through the crack of the door, unsure what to do. I decided that I would at least need to wait till he went to sleep but that could have been hours away. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance.He stood back up an