About an hour later Emily and Gabriel finally made their way to the training grounds. Emily figured that Gabriel must have told everyone to not say anything about how late they were coming to the training grounds. ‘Hey Gabe,” Axel said, jogging up to them. Emily barely contained a groan. She already could hear Axel’s blunt question or crude remark coming. “Glad you finished up your phone call in time to make training. I won’t lie. I thought that Emily might have been trying to find a way to avoid training since she knows that she will lose to me,” he said with a quick wink in Emily’s direction. “No,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. “Emily was not hiding out. It is my fault that we are late. I asked her to wait on me,” he said with a quick glance at Emily that told her to play along. “The last time I let her out of my sight we were attacked and I almost lost her. You can’t blame me for not wanting her too far from me now,” he said with a smile and shrug to Axel. “I understand,” A

Emily stretched once her transformation into Rica was complete. It was amazing how powerful she felt in this form. Rica really was incredible. I know, Rica said enjoying stretching as well. Emily rolled her eyes at Rica’s response. Are you ready?I was born ready, Rica said grinning. Let’s go then, Emily said as they exited the tent that Gabriel had put up so she could change privately. It had taken a little negotiation, but Emily had been able to talk Gabriel into waiting outside while she changed. She pulled open the flap and stepped out by her mate. Gabriel turned and looked at his beautiful mate with pride. Emily was amazing in either form, but Rica was really spectacular. Are you ready, Gabriel asked with a grin. I think the question is, is Axel ready, Emily replied back with a grin. Let’s go, Gabriel said, leading Emily and Rica to the challenge circle. Emily could hear a lot of people talking as they approached the circle. There was a buzz of excitement as she approached

In less than five minutes they had reached a small clearing in the woods where Agatha, her sister, and Breanna were standing with eight women that looked like they had just survived a very rough ordeal. All eight of the women looked very thin, tired, dirty, and several had visible marks and bruises. As soon as Emily saw the women and hopped out of the Jeep, she could feel the power in her rising. It felt like the power was surging forward to try to reunite with its owners. All of the women turned and looked at Emily as soon as she hopped out of the Jeep. In their looks Emily could see the longing and desperation that she had felt when Rica was gone. It was like they were looking to reclaim a piece of their soul. None of the women moved or said a word as they slowly approached. Gabriel kept Emily partially shielded behind him as they made their way to Agatha. “Agatha,” he said with a nod. “Does everything seem to be okay?” “Yes. We have already tested all of the women here. T

“So…let me get this straight,” Gabriel sighed. “We potentially have a great opportunity to be able to know the time, place, and everything with Rotterford’s attack, but we don’t actually know where this will take place. Did I get that right?” “Yes,” Alice admitted, lowering her eyes and fidgeting with the thin fabric of her dress. “I’m sorry.” Turning to Agatha, Gabriel asked, “Is there any way to get a message to Jenna or to contact her?” “I do not know,” Agatha admitted. “There are ways, but since I do not leave the valley, I would not be able to sense as well if Jenna is alone or if someone would be able to intercept a message.” “Can you think of anywhere that Jenna liked to go or ever mentioned that would look like a good place for us to prepare for an attack,” Breanna asked, trying to be helpful. She could see the frustration growing on Gabriel’s face. “No,” Gabriel practically growled. “We were never close. I spent most of my time trying to avoid her stalking.” Alice fl

The next two days were almost a blur with everyone getting ready for the possible war. They were lucky that they had a time and a place, but no one knew for sure if Lord Rotterford had any hidden surprises. Wanting to be prepared for all possibilities took up a great deal of their time. Gabriel, Hunter, Agatha, and many others spent hours in the conference room looking at all possibilities and setups. Samuel, Axel, Emily, and many others spent the majority of their time training and finding more places for additional packs and warriors to stay. Over the last two days five more packs came to the valley to help, and Abraham and several of the alphas already there had an additional five hundred warriors arrive from their packs. Emily was forced to split her time three ways. She spent two hours each day learning basics with her powers and practicing transferring powers to others with Agatha and Breanna. She then spent two hours learning how to fight and train without Rica just in case