My head shot up an hour later when I smelled a strong and odd scent from the west. I mindlinked Ruby, "West… Watch the forest to the West! Something is approaching, and it isn't ours!"I know that Ruby was aware of it too but I couldn’t help but communicate everything that I sense. Now that they were close enough, I could detect the attackers. At least a hundred people were approaching, and none of them belonged to our Starblood pack.Over the last hour, all of the fighters had gone silent, leaving the safe house fighters nervous and on edge. Those who went to scout also went silent as soon as they encountered the enemy. The strangest thing was that they were all still alive. We didn’t sense any deaths among our pack members.This was the closest safe house to the approaching group, and they were clearly on their way here. As the attackers appeared along with the town in both wolf and human forms, I sensed our fighters becoming agitated and uneasy.They advanced slowly until the fight

I was high up in a tree, well hidden in the canopy's leaves and branches, watching the massive Alpha below. His eyes were frequently out of focus, indicating that he was mindlinking his people almost constantly. I carefully selected an arrow and took the tiny vial of liquid from a pouch.It was a particularly deadly poison, a concoction of extracts from several lethal plants and snake venom from several different species. Raphal had given it to me, and I had no doubts about its effectiveness. This was the most lethal poison he possessed.It should be able to kill an Alpha in under five minutes. I dripped the thick liquid onto the arrow, coating the arrowhead as well as a portion of the shaft. I carefully nocked the arrow and drew my bow as I focused on the Alpha below. I had previously observed his pacing; he had beaten down a circle in the grass and circled it continuously.I waited for a longer period of awareness while he deliberated on a difficult decision. When he went to relay p

"Etheral… Please tell me that you were unaware that you were pregnant when we did all of those risky things. And did you know that you are using a poison which you could inhale?" he said slowly as if he was pretty sure he knew the answer.Of all people to notice, Raphal was the first one to break the surprise. I was filled with chagrin... In Raphal's mind, allowing someone expecting a child to get in the way of any potential harm was right up there with possible death. There was no point in lying because he would pick it up right away. In defeat, I sighed."I realized a few days ago."Raphal's rage grew, and I braced myself for an explosion. When it didn't arrive, I was surprised. His rage had subsided and he was now irritated."I can't believe you didn't tell me before I let you go off on your own. If I had realized that, I would have tied you up and hid you deep in the woods while I took them all out by myself."I grinned, thanking the heavens for my good fortune in today’s fight an

I smiled as I saw Raphal give Ruby a rose. He had carefully removed the thorns from the stem. Ruby wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. Raphal could hardly be pried away from Ruby's side, and she was equally smitten with him. In her curiosity, she had agreed to the strange conditions revolving around their first meeting four days ago. Raphal had been really strict with showing how sacred the mate bond and Ruby felt the same way. It’s been a week and they had barely left each other's side. Raphal got accepted in the pack and performed the acceptance ritual yesternight."I simply cannot think of mates better suited for one another, except for us," Nix said as he winked at me.I shook my head with a chuckle. "They are so similar in terms of being ferocious that it could almost scare the whole town. You and I seem to be almost opposites in most things though," I replied thoughtfully.Raphal and Ruby approached us and sat on the padded garden bench across from us.

Mua and Ren stayed beside Alpha Arva’s side while Kyi, Pau, Koe, and Lea dine with us. Koe and Kyi are basically twins and Lea and Pau are mated with each other. Everyone in the dining hall seems surprised to see the tribe staying in our pack territory for a while. My Omega senses are open and have been receiving positive emotions from the pack, some are in doubt and fear but most were fascinated by their human form. This is the first time I have seen them in their human form too. When in human form, they seem approachable and innocuous. Painted wolves rarely shift forms on land, only when sailing that their human forms took over. That is to keep the enemies at bay.I had a dream of joining their expedition once when I was young and fond of reading history books but history says that only their tribe member could accompany them in voyaging the vast ocean. I even believed that they own the ocean.“I assume that Ren is the Alpha’s mate?” Nix asked, still irritated by the presence of pai