In the cold mountains. The undergroundyer was warm and the water had stopped dripping from the ceiling. The wet spot on Catherine’s mattress was concealed by her sleek ck hair. She turned to sit still. She raised her head to the ceiling and listened to the wind whistling and the top of the metal crater rustling.


    She had been missed with the chance of diving into her mind. Nothing was visible just dark and empty thoughts. She stared at Jackson’s prosthetic tilting slowly to the side about to fall off his face. He caught on to it in a blink of an eye.


    “How long have you been wearing that?”


    “Ever since… Ever since I was brought back.”


    “You don’t need to. Not that you need a concealer or anything, it’s just me.”


    “I just like to feel my face often, with this piece right here,” he knocks on the prosthetic on his face.


    “The sweat is making it slip away. This ce is boiling heat,” Catherine loosened the top buttons of the jacket she got on.


    “It looks like one of you,” he smiled.


    “What looks-Oh you mean the jacket?” she holds out the leathery end. You see very well in this wispy light I see.”


    As much as she didn’t want a glimpse of the silver caskets, she made eyes with it again. Her mood dampened.


    Jackson popped open a bottle of whiskey, “Do you care for some?”Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


    “No, I don’t think so,” Catherineid her head back on the wet spot. She withdrew immediately with difort in her eyes. “Actually… I think I do,” She walked over to him to grab a ss.


    “There’s a lot more from where it came from,” Jackson smirked pouring her a ss.


    “That’s about enough,” she rubbed the bottom of the ss half full. “I am not a heavy drinker.”


    “Oh is that right?” Jackson raised his other eye which still had a visible brow.


    A sh of the ident on the road shed in her mind. The impact she made with Xander and his former mate. She was in her mind now. She wasn’t imagining it.


    She looked out the blurry windshield. She could hear faint whispering from therger body on the ground. He bent over the female body lying on the ground and mped his palms over her face. The female body jerked her leg in struggle, her arms were not giving out a fight.


    Catherine was distraught. That moment in time, sitting in her car strapped in her seatbelt. The blood thick red, ran down the side of her face. She could no longer hear soundsing from the two bodies in front of her car.


    Her eyes felt dizzy. She could see the Xander all bare and smeared in blood. He walked to the side of her car and his face was now close to hers. Her eyes went nk on the spot.


    This was yet another discovery she had made of the Alpha. She tried so hard but was unable to feel resentment towards him.


    ***THE SAME MORNING AFTER THE FULL MOON***


    He woke up on the grass looking up at the tipping point of the pine trees. He huffed out the leaf in his mouth. He palmed the back of his head like he had felt a great deal of pain from it earlier. He lowered his palm and witnessed the dry blood from his hair in his palms.


    He looked down at the feet sticking out behind a tree.


    “This dude didn’t put up much of a fight than I expected,” Ruben itched his elbows through his cotton sleeves walking over to the tree bark. “Any chance his heart grew back…” he turned the body over with his foot. “Nah… still a hole in the chest and a ripped-out heart,” he squatted next to Polo’s corpse.


    He took the Delta’s right hand and touched the ck stars carved on his right forearm. He looked at his inparison.


    “It’s the exact mark alright,” he said unpleasantly surprised.


    The stars had the seven points as he did. He thought of Eve. Her forearm was always covered with tons of beads. That was how she covered her identity. For Polo, he was always shirtless or wearing sleeveless clothes. It was quite odd he never noticed his arm.


    “Last night was a drag,” he dropped Polo’s lifeless arm. He rolled down his sleeves cotton sleeves. He jerked away to stretch his back. “I can’t even start tracking her now,” he lowered and squinted at the scattered tracks of shoeprints.


    He raised his head high and watched the flock of birds flying above him. It was like they got scared away by the first sight of danger.


    He straightened to his feet alerted. He heard fast footsteps approaching him. He keened in his senses, ‘…where the heck is the pack?’ he heard the person approaching mutter his breath.


    A shirtless man ran forward into the open space of the pine trees gathered. Ruben came down on him from the top of a tree. The delta realized the scent was a bit too familiar and he had made a move out of hesitation.


    Xander kicked Ruben in the ribs in midair. The Delta folded on the ground in pain.


    “What was that?” Xander gave him a hand. Ruben stretched out his arm to be pulled up to his feet.


    “I’m sorry… I just thought you were one of them,” Ruben held his side.


    “One of who?” Xander turned around. “And what is this?” he held out a red scarf in his hand.


    Ruben was rambling for a perfect exnation to save his ass. If Xanderes to light of him being in the ratchet w, he’d be killed on the spot. His kind were worse than rogues. They sacrifice other werewolves every month to a witch. In return, they get to keep their human form in the setting of the full moon. Free from the unfathomable pain. They basically avoided the full-grown beastly transformation.


    The air was fresh on his brown skin. He clenched a fist at his back and turned to the Alpha to gulp out a part of the truth.


    “The vampires. They came and rained hell down on us,” he narrowed his dull green eyes into Xander’s bright green one. “It was out of the blue.”


    “How does that exin the whereabouts of the pack?” Xander inched forward opening his palms. ‘Or are they dead like Polo over there?” Xander pointed to the pale corpse by the tree.


    Ruben was shocked Xander noticed. He hoped his Alpha wouldn’t make him aware of the ck stars on the dead man’s arm, because they were conspicuous and without shade.


    “That’s the thing we didn’t see them when we got herest night,” Ruben realized he had not stuck with the story he nned to. I said too much. He continued anyway, it was toote to change the narrative. “They were all packed and cleared.”


    “You mean to tell me the entire Alpha pack just left the scene… ’cause that’s so fucking original,” Xander chuckled and rocked back. He wasn’t impressed by this but was concerned deeply and worried about the lives of his dear Alpha pack. Hisst guess was them being at the Manor.


    “No Alpha,” Ruben shook his head and rubbed his fist. “Just the betas. The Deltas were at the oak trees.”


    “Who gave the order to split up?” Xander furrowed. “And where were you and the others who came around here when the Deltas were at their spot at the oak tree like you said?” Xander leaned in with his brows raised for intense assertiveness.


    Ruben could feel his defense breaking. He wanted to run from his Alpha before Xander connected the dots and came at him. Ruben looked back at Polo’s corpse. From where he stood, the ck stars were still visible. His eyes wavered.


    “It was the Luna,” Ruben drew in a short breath and let out a sharp exhale. “Faye… Eric was given the order I think… we marched to the oak trees was all I knew and the deltas had suggested earlier we wait for you… but our words held no ground to the number of the betas.”


    “We have to move out. Let’s have Shawn set up a rescue mission for whoever owns this scarf… because it’s got the scent of one of ours,” he patted Ruben on the shoulder. “Maybe and maybe not… the betas should be at the Manor. And Faye owes me a reasonable exnation for her decision,” Xander marched the path to the oak trees.


    Ruben followed him from behind. Relieved Xander didn’t pressure him on the missing links.


    “They have invaded our territorial borders,” Xander grunted. “I don’t know what led them on but this means war. They killed one of our in cold blood, we kill all of theirs.”


    The Alpha and the Delta jaunted towards where the sun had risen.