“WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?! GO BACK! GO BACK AND FIX IT!” Ace screams as he claws away furiously in my mind. He wants to shift and go and comfort Amelia and Zara and it’s taking everything I have to keep him contained. I make my way out to the back of the packhouse and slump down on a nearby bench with my head in my hands. The tears break past the waterline, and I don’t bother to hold them back. Sobs wrack my body as my heart feels like someone just punched their fist directly through it and are pumping it with lupine. I knew that conversation would go about as well as trying to ice skate uphill, but it ended up being so much worse. “Because of you! I told you repeatedly I am fine with being a Luna, I want to be a Luna. I want to join this pack, I want to be with Zara and Amelia, but you’re too busy thinking like a neanderthal. Amelia is right, your mother’s stupid points of view are in your head and you’re holding onto them like the universe will crumble if you let them go. You’d

The next two days were torturesome. Consoling Izac and Kylie’s parents and watching them grieve the loss of their children was unbearable and it shattered my heart into pieces. I didn’t tell them about the baby, that was at least one pain I could save them from. No good would come from telling them in a single breath they were to be grandparents and lost their grandpup before they ever had a chance to meet them. I couldn’t do that to them. The pack was devastated but it galvanised the warriors and more people volunteered to help fight for the pack. They want justice and to stop innocent blood from being shed. I know the chances of casualties are high, but I’m trying to do as much as I can to limit the death count for what’s to come. We held a joint funeral for Izac and Kylie in the Temple of Morrtemis, with majority of the pack attending. It was a beautiful service and so many people shared happy memories of the sweet couple, myself included. For a mutolupus funeral, we wear yellow

After eating a nice, large breakfast I call Evalyn and Eric to my office. Eric had asked permission to set up a support group for the pack after Izac and Kylie’s deaths and I thought it was a brilliant idea. It has been going fantastically. It gives the pack a chance to have a space they can share their grief and fear over everything that is happening. I’m disappointed I never thought about it myself, but I’m so grateful to Eric for establishing it. Eric arranges the meetings and checks in on everyone; they’ve really gotten close to him and him to them. Turns out Eric has training as a councillor so he’s putting it to use. Who knew? With Tyson focused on training and Chris handling weapon and medical supplies while Vitali reports to me and we both battle plan and organise pack procedures, Evalyn has stepped in and helped take over the day to day financial needs of the pack, which I also appreciate. Fighting and training, have never been her strong suit, so she’s found other areas she

"Do you deliberately keep waiting until I’m gone to end up under attack? Is this your way of punishing me, by giving me a fucking heart attack?” Marcus huffs, his voice full of panic, frustration and concern. Ace whines as he looks over Zara, who I’m sure looks pretty battered right now. He quickly trots over and licks her wounds, and she nudges his side affectionately. “Actually, yeah. I have an arrangement with Mykel to only attack when you leave due to being a jerk,” I say sarcastically. “Your sarcasm is noted,” Marcus snorts. “You sure? Because I can take it up a notch,” I offer. “We have missed you so much!” Ace whines. “We missed you too, but if you don’t mind, we have an ‘Alpha’ to kill, so if you could scoot to the side, my fury lover, we’d appreciate it,” says Zara being bossy. “You’re sexy when you’re bossy,” Ace growls lowly. Zara quickly leaps on an approaching wolf coming up behind Ace, tossing them aside like a ragdoll. I catch a quick glance of Mykel who is looki

During the battle, we lost four good warriors. It’s never good or easy to lose anyone, but the fact this pack took on such a large scale attack and only suffered four casualties is a fucking miracle. But I won’t say that out loud. It’s pretty obvious we owe our victory on two main factors. Amelia’s smart planning, including the snipper team who were taking down enemy targets swiftly and effectively, and of course Mei. Without our resident nagata, we would have all been spectacularly fucked up the ass with a branding iron. Just have it rammed up there good. She single-handedly was able to keep most of the enemy wolves back and healed so many warriors, preventing further casualties. She’s being humble about it of course, but we know we owe a great deal to that woman. I wasn’t here when the pack said their goodbyes to Izac and Kylie, but at least I was able to be here for these fallen warriors. Jacob Ford. Carlie Platt. Shane Black. Robert McCarty. I never knew them, but I will forever