Bardulf was happy and so was Steel. He carried her naked form back to the pack house, laying her gently on the bed and covered her with a duvet. Now that her wolf was awake, she wouldn’t feel cold anymore but he still covered her anyway and laid beside her, falling into a deep sweet sleep.The next day, breakfast was served and Rieka wasn’t there. Steel explained that she was resting so no one disturbed her. Rock knew that Steel had heeded his advice seeing that he was in a good mood. He decided to leave for the office early to return before the meeting with Alpha Blaze but before he reached the car, Steel caught up to him.“I think you should train with them in human form a little. They are beginning to form vain suspicions.”Rock’s heart tightened slightly. Without his wolf, he spoke like a normal person but he still missed his wolf. Either than that, he was just human and didn’t have the right to be the Alpha. How was he going to get his wolf back? He had no idea but the interesti

“What is the third option?” Steel’s hope returned and he felt guilty for how he judged Rock earlier. Rock went on to explain.“If you mate and mark her tonight, the bond between her and Blaze will automatically be broken.”If that happened, then Blaze would no longer be able to claim her. Steel’s eyes lit with gratitude but,“That will be cheating and he can attack our pack or join our enemies to get revenge.” He was torn between his mate and his responsibility of protecting their pack. Rock had already thought it through. His physical strength wasn’t all he had but also courage. At that, he was fearless.“And we shall be prepared. You can be selfless with anything or anyone but for your mate, you have to be selfish,” Rock patted him on the shoulder and walked up the stairs. He had understood from everything Godiva had narrated that selfishness was inevitable if one had to choose between their mate and pack.Steel’s heart warmed greatly. He could feel Rocks’ love for him, so strong. I

At the pack house, Steel saw Rock and Godiva off before he went to make breakfast while Rieka rested with Xena by her side. When Steel returned, Rieka ate like a hungry lion and didn’t seem like a sick person. Xena was amazed but held it in, afraid to be chastised by Steel for criticizing Rieka.When they were done, Rieka fell into a deep sleep so Xena went to watch TV in the living room. Steel stared keenly at Rieka and asked, “do you want to see a doctor?”“No, I will be fine,” she responded lazily, in a sleep-muffled tone.“I will check a few things in the pack and come back,” Steel said. During the weekend, they rested but he still had to make his rounds to see if everything was okay. As soon as he took a step, a mindlink invaded him,‘Attack, we are under attack. Alpha Jax, Alpha Blaze, rogues and some others.’His eyes turned pitch black with fury. He turned to Rieka and it softened a little but she had seen how furious it was a second ago, “stay here and don't come out.”Rieka

Rock halted at Steel's words and faced the chief warrior? Rieka wasn’t a warrior so how did she end up on the battlefield? How could Steel allow it? Godiva’s weight was like paper in his arms, as fury emanated from his eyes. "What did you say?" The chief warrior was afraid of Rock’s sudden coldness. A little earlier, Rock was nothing like his old self and spoke normally. Now, he was the old Alpha again and the chief warrior lacked understanding of the cause of the changes. He said carefully, "we lost fifty-nine warriors including Rieka." After confirming what the chief warrior has said, Rock turned to Steel, his voice gnawing in annoyance and regret,"Why did you allow her…" He paused and Steel realized that Rock's speech impediment had returned just as his wolf but since he wasn't in his right mind, he waited for Rock to complete the question himself. Steel couldn't do so at the moment. "to fight without training?" Steel understood why Rock was angry with him. At the Blue Rock

"She keeps her wolf," Rock countered but Godiva thought differently and pulled him to the side, after Rocks' judgement sparked murmurs among the pack members. "Rock, it's the right thing to do." "You'll be completely human,” Rock explained the best he could. It wasn’t easy for him to live without his wolf so how could he let Godiva to reject hers?"It doesn't matter. You have your wolf back and will always protect me,” Godiva’s words moved Rock, assuring him of her trust in his abilities but there was just something else she didn’t know and Rock knew it might just break her if he told her."No," he disagreed. Godiva understood the importance of her wolf but was certain that since she had her mate, she could survive without her wolf. "I love you Rock, and I love my pack too. I can't allow you to be a tyrant to your members because of me. All this wouldn't have happened if I hadn't run out of the pack and been kidnapped by Jax." "It wasn't your fault,” Rock assured her, his deep dark