3

Everly whispered, “Who are you? How did you get here? How do you know us?”

The woman still didn’t answer her. She pulled a syringe out of her pocket. Julianna admitted, “I can’t pop.”

The woman bobbed her head back and forth. She assured her, “You will be able to shortly.”

She had two syringes out now. She quickly injected Julianna with the first one. Julianna choked in pain. We growled but the snake like iron bracelets fell off her. Julianna cursed, “Shit.”

A timer on the woman’s watch went off.

She groaned, “Oh come on! I asked for ONE measly break!”

She glared at the sky, “I think we know you owe me a break….bitch.”

I linked my dad, “Was that directed at her goddess?” He answered, “It appears so, yes.” Odd stance to take.

She dosed Julianna with the second syringe. Julianna winced slightly and stared at the woman in surprise. The doors burst open again and based on their reactions it wasn’t anyone friendly this time. The woman pushed Julianna and Everly down. She kicked over a desk for cover and began shooting rapid fire shots at the entrance of the room.

My jaw dropped when I realized they were all head shots and her six rounds after went into someone else. I locked eyes with my dad. I linked, “Our sniper has returned.”

He nodded, “Yes, she has. At least her timing doesn’t suck.”

Everly asked, “What the hell is going on? Was this the plan? Where’s your backup?”

The woman snorted, “Well… my plan is better than yours now, isn’t it? I didn’t have a lot of time to come up with a plan. I had to come save both of you… with their last minute…I think we talked about their timing already. You know what? Save people in your phone with codes name… that’s annoying but you should do it for me… I feel like that’s something you owe me. They texted people from your phone because you put their first AND LAST NAME in it. Don’t do that….please…No. Actually no please just don’t do it.”

Her watched beeped again.

She quickly handed Everly something. She told Julianna, “Pop her out now!”

She shoved Julianna and Everly away from her, hard, as she fired covering them. Julianna popped and appeared before us. My mom and Alexander were instantly at their sides healing them.

I linked Wesley, “Go get T. It’s a fucking emergency.”

Wesley snorted, “That doesn’t count. He’s just not in his house. I’ll pop to Dalton since he’s next to him.”

Fine then. He popped to Red Run. Fuck their emergency policy. Brutus agreed, “Truly and utterly fuck their emergency policy.”

Wesley popped them both back. Tristan rushed over to Everly. Julianna whispered, “What about her? She saved us from them and their seriously disgusting plans. We can’t get back to her, can we?”

Everly answered, “You know we can’t. They told us no one could get to us.”

Julianna grumbled, “If she wouldn’t have shoved me away, I’d have had her too! Why did she do that? She’s going to die!”

Fegle gripped her tightly. I linked Jayden, “You good?”

He answered, “Not even slightly. I’m still utterly pissed off.” I mused that the sniper did shove Julianna so she couldn’t be popped with them. Why?

Alexander growled. We all looked at him, but he wasn’t looking at us. He was watching the woman. We all turned to watch her. She was hell of a shot which, given she was the best sniper the circle group had, wasn’t surprising. They’d all switched to knives, but she hadn’t been hit once.

Brutus said, “Maybe if we offer a training session with Oden, she’d meet us.”

That was a definitely a thought. When they started fighting with their fists, I was astonished. She was really good.

Eventually, the man who’d called Jayden ran back into the room. He snarked, “You are outmanned and outgunned. Surrender or die.”

The woman laughed, “Not a chance… to both. No to the dying… and definitely not on surrendering... that’s a lot of no…”

Her rambling felt familiar.

My head began to pound. Karina quietly put down a platter of cookies on the table in front of us, and several of us took a cookie while we watched in rapt fascination. The headache went away quickly. I must not have eaten enough today. Thank god for Karina’s cookies. Brutus agreed, “Seriously, let’s give her a raise.”

I made a mental note to let Nana Blanch know. She was the Werewolf grandma we claimed even if it wasn’t by blood, and she ran our kitchen.

The man taunted her, “You came alone. That was foolish and arrogant. Now we finally have one circle group member in our grasp. I kept telling people you’d fuck up. Your little blue circles and your line drawing days are over.”

She laughed again, “Who said I came alone?”

That was evasive but he didn’t notice.

Relief flooded me when she tilted her head towards the door. When they all turned around ready to defend themselves, she threw her empty gun at the window. It shattered and she took off. I gasped. She had gone alone then bluffed to escape. Why would she go alone?

Brutus commented, “I was going to say she was a Fairy but she’s too fast.”

I agreed, “And too fast to be human. She could be a hybrid with Fairy blood though.”

The men all yelled at her to stop, but she didn't. She jumped through the breaking glass and went into a free fall, landing in the giant lake. Someone grabbed the camera, and we were brought to the window.

The man who’d called was cursing. He yelled, “Get men down there! I want her back here. Do not let her escape! We finally have one of those fuckers!”

We all watched silently hoping they wouldn’t cut us off.

Julianna was in tears while Alexander was gripping the table hard. The woman hadn’t surfaced. It had been over three minutes underwater, so she was definitely a supernatural if she was alive. Suddenly, on the opposite side of the lake, we heard a gasp for air. She’d surfaced!

Brutus howled in victory in my mind. We watched as she swam to the bank of the lake. Damn! I locked eyes with my dad. That was all very impressive. Brutus commented, “And yet again she’s very protective of our allies. The others in her group didn’t come, she did. Maybe she’s getting in trouble for going against the leaders to help us.”

That thought hurt me, but I could see it.

I watched as she quickly got out and took off running. She was limping, but still running pretty fast. The Hunters were trying their best to capture her. She dodged several darts before she took one in the thigh but laughed it off.

I linked my dad, “Who don’t those darts work on?”

He answered, “We’d have to know what was in it to answer that.”

I hated that he was right. We all heard a motorcycle roaring to life. It cleared the hill heading straight for her. That person had on a helmet obstructing their face.

Alexander snarled, “FUCK! We have to get to her and help!”

The woman shocked us by starting to run towards the bike. She reached it quickly and jumped on the back. The bike did a one eighty degree turn once she was on. I wanted to be relieved but shots were being fired at them.

Everly whimpered, “I have her bullet proof vest.”

The woman flipped around so she was straddling the driver. She took the guns from the drivers holsters and began firing back with deadly accuracy. She didn’t miss once. All head shots and six shots in succession afterward. I locked eyes with Elise this time. Brutus said, “We made contact with the sniper.”

I replied, “More like she made contact with us.” He grunted.

Alexander was growling softly. I linked him, “Brother?”

He replied, “I’m just mad and I can’t really explain why.”

We would have to get into that later. They made it out of frame before the feed cut out.

We sat in silence until Jason spoke, “So, two things. One, I think Every and Julianna just met our sniper. It’s a chick, that’s cool. Did you see how accurate she was? Head shots first. It’s her. Two, sister in law of mine, you gots some splainin’ to do.”

Tristan finally noticed Everly now had a bump. He gasped, “What? OH MY GOD!”

Everly smiled, “Surprise?”

My mom laughed, “My healing speeds things along.” Tristan hugged Everly and spun her around. He asked, “You’re pregnant?!” She nodded, “I found out this morning. I wanted to tell you when I got back.”

Tristan wiped his eyes, “Well, I’m surprised that’s for sure.”

She smiled, “Happy surprised, right?”

Tristan nodded, “Yes.” Beta Bond asked, “Sweetheart, are you ok?” Everly nodded, “I’m fine now, daddy.”

My dad asked “What kind of supernatural is she, girls? She’s too fast to be human. Not to mention being able to be underwater for more than three minutes.”

Julianna frowned, “I don’t know. I thought….”

She trailed off. Fegle put his arms around her.

She continued, “My instincts said she was a wolf, but my wolf couldn't reach hers.”

I looked at the Daniels screen. I asked them, “Is she Hood?”

Everly threw out, “I’d swear she was a wolf, guys.” Julianna admitted, “I would too. She should’ve had a wolf though, right?” Everyone conceded that point. Julianna added, “She doesn’t want us to know who she is either. She even had those colored contacts in to hide her eye color.”

Brutus mused, “She could be a partial and not have received a wolf.”

He was right. I said, “She could be a partial wolf or have just enough wolf blood in her to be that quick. What do you mean colored contacts?”

Everly nodded, “Yeah, we knew they were contacts. One time she looked to the side they slipped just barely when she blinked. It was too fast to see her real eye color, but I’d say positively that her eyes are not blue. Why else would she wear blue contacts?”

It was silent until Everly added, “She was hurt, but she still came for us.”

Julianna hung her head, “She knows us too.”

I frowned. Alexander asked, “What do you mean she was hurt?” Everly answered, “It was weird. She didn’t have a scent, but there was an ointment scent that smelled like a salve.”

I jumped on that, “That must be why she hasn’t been around. She’s been healing from something.”

My mom asked, “Where was the salve scent coming from?”

I sensed her trepidation in the bond. She had her walls going up that made me want to scream in frustration.

Julianna answered, “Her back.”

My mom flinched, “She was probably whipped then.”

Now, the bond with her was dull. Alexander growled and popped out. I was going to have to deal with that before he tore our gym apart.

I asked them, “Who was that guy?”

Everly snorted, “He said he was our damnation.”

Julianna supplied, “The guys called him Dante.” My dad sighed, “Girls go get some rest, and spend time with your mates. We can debrief you later.”

He looked at my Uncle Aiden, “I want people on her.”

Lucas snarled, “So do I.”

Julianna huffed, “Daddy, that’s overkill. Fegle won’t leave my side. We can even stay in Blue Moon tonight. It’s not necessary to put guards on me, Cousin Aiden.”

Uncle Aiden smiled and kissed her cheek, “All the same I’ll have four Fairy guards around you tonight.”

He hugged her and asked, “How did they get you?”

Julianna answered, “Everly sent me a text. She said she had an emergency and to pop to her.”

Everly gasped, “I didn’t text you, I swear!”

Julianna smiled, “I know. You were unconscious before I got hit with iron. That’s why the sniper told you to change contacts in your phone. She must have known they used your phone to get me. Maybe you’re hacked.”

Micah held his hand out for Everly’s phone. She admitted, “I don’t have it. They took it off me.” He made an annoyed face.

Everly shouted, “Wait!”

She grabbed the card out from her back pocket. There were coordinates on the front. On the back there was a blue circle with a line through it. I grinned, “Maybe we finally have a meeting.”

Julianna smiled and teased, “Not to brag but Everly and I got the first meeting without trying.”

Fegle said, “I would’ve preferred this not happen at all.”

Julianna whispered, “I know.” My dad said, “I want to know what the hell she injected you with. It gave you your powers back.” My dad linked me, “And I want to mass produce it.” So would Uncle Aiden.

Julianna said, “Not just that. She gave me Fern back after they’d given me wolfsbane.”

Her wolf?! I linked Jayden, “What the fuck? This sniper has something to give our powers back and bring our wolves back from wolfsbane?”

He said, “I’ve never been more intrigued.”

Julianna continued, “I could feel myself being allowed through the barrier too and that the magic didn’t want to let me pass. I had to hold onto Everly really tight. It’s like I could feel it begrudgingly letting me through. Whatever she gave me, it was like a jolt of adrenaline when I felt my powers return with Fern. Those bracelets were pumping iron into me. That first jolt, it was like fire in my veins. Like my blood was being cleansed.”

I rubbed my face, “What the fuck?! Who would do that? Who would work on something to cleanse iron from their system. I’m open to suggestions, Uncle Aiden.”

He frowned, “I do not know, but I would very much like to meet this girl. That would be more than useful.”

Didn’t we all want to meet her?

My dad said, “Not just the Fairies though. She did one for wolves too.”

He rubbed his temples. I grabbed Elise and popped to Alexander. He was hitting a heavy bag repeatedly. My Uncle Bjourn was in the corner watching. Was he just everywhere all the time? He smirked and answered my unspoken question. “Micah updated me and fed me the feed. I like this girl. She’s quite slippery though, isn’t she?”

It hit me. Six shots. On your six. I asked, “Could she be a Hackura? A partial? She was wearing colored contacts. Her fighting style is good. Maybe the six shots means on your six.”

Uncle Bjourn considered it. He finally said, “There could be someone who had fathered a child but passed away. She is clearly smart enough to mute any connections she has.”

Elise argued, “Julianna and Everly thought she was a partial Werewolf though.”

That’s what was odd. They’d met other partial Werewolves but called her a wolf. They should know by meeting her what she was. Julianna was unique but still a partial Werewolf. I trusted their instincts though.

I nodded, “I’m not sold on her not being a partial Werewolf. Julianna’s instinct was to reach for this girl's wolf. Something weird is up with that.”

Uncle Bjourn nodded. Alexander didn’t turn around and kept hitting the bag. His fury was bouncing all over the bond.

I rolled my eyes asking, “Will you stop that?”

Alexander stopped and turned around. His eyes were blazing. I frowned, “What’s wrong?”

He growled, “I don’t know. I just didn’t like seeing that girl fight alone. Or ride off the back of that damn motorcycle wrapped around some fucking asshole!” I was not alone in my eyebrow raise.

Elise offered, “Could it be because she’s good at fighting? Just like someone else we know who rambles like that. Well, she’s grown out of it, but she used to.”

Melanie’s texts and emails had changed. She didn’t ramble anymore and I found that a little sad. It was endearing.

She told her family and Elise the school had supplied her with a finishing school teacher to help her communicate more effectively. Elise didn’t care for it and neither did I. I missed her rambling.

Alexander looked relieved, “Yeah, that could be it.”

I held out the card Everly had given me. Alexander asked, “What’s supposed to be there?”

I snorted, “That seems like a Micah question.” I linked Max, “We need Micah.”

A second later they popped to us with my parents. My mom smiled but said nothing. I asked, “Are you ok, mom? Those were some pretty big healings.”

My mom snorted, “Exfuckingcuse me but I am the parent here.”

I smiled kissing her cheek. I told her, “I’m the Alpha here though.”

My mom rolled her eyes, “It’s my own fault. I sneezed all these damn Alpha’s out of my vajayjay. I have no one to blame but myself.”

Alexander said, “Ew, Mom. Just ew.” She shrugged, “That’s how it works Alexander.” I laughed.

Micah frowned, “So, according to this there’s nothing there, but it’s in Alpha Cameron’s territory… ish.”

I corrected, “He just handed his territory over to his son, Colton Daniels.”

His second oldest pup. His oldest wanted to be the Lead Warrior instead of the Lead Alpha.

Alexander corrected, “Well, they are doing what we did at first. So, they are both the Alpha in the hybrid style leadership EJ started.”

I took out my phone calling Emmett and Colton. They both answered at the same time, “EJ?”

I said, “The girl who rescued my cousin and Everly gave the latter a card. It has coordinates in it that fall in your territory Colton.”

Max said, “It is more like adjacent to their territory. It’s just outside the Daniels territory.”

Emmett said, “Let’s go then. Pop to us and we’ll come with you.”

Colton laughed, “I’m in.” I asked my mom, “Can you pop them there?” My mom snorted and popped away with my dad.

My Uncle Bjourn smiled announcing, “I’m coming too.”

Alexander grabbed him. I linked Toby, “Get here with Phil and ten Warriors five minutes ago.”

Toby snorted, “If anyone could go back in time it would be your family not mine. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Genevieve walked in with them. She linked, “I know you weren’t going without me.”

I replied, “I knew Toby would have you be the ones going, so no.”

She winked at me. I noted it only took Toby and the Warriors thirty seconds to get to me.

Once we had everyone we popped to my mom. Aunt Lexi, Chase, Cameron, Reagan, Emmett, Alexandria, and Colton Daniels had popped with them. I felt magic around us. Brutus linked, “I smell it. If this had been near our borders we’d have known.”

So, of course it wasn’t. That would be too handy.

I looked at Alexander. He nodded as did my mom. She couldn’t smell it, but she could sense it. I stepped forward and took my mom and Alexander’s hands. My mom started chanting, “Canbe point actin. Dat so point megroup (Something is hidden that cannot be. Remove it so that we may see.)”

Alexander and I started chanting with her. After the sixth time the magic was removed.

My mom sighed, “Witches.”

My dad teased, “Not Witch bitches, Angel?”

I answered, “That was not dark magic. It’s like the sniper knows a Witch that protected this area so she could send us here.”

I grabbed Elise's hand and linked her, “You stay with me. Ok?”

She nodded. We slowly made our way through the building that came into view. The stench gave away that someone was dead. Brutus corrected, “Several someone’s.”

Even better. There were men throughout the building all shot execution style. My mom was snapping bodies away as we encountered them.

My dad broke the silence, “This was a very efficient team.”

Both Alpha Chase and Alpha Cameron nodded. Uncle Bjourn agreed, “It definitely was.”

Once we got to the main office we paused. The man behind the chair had been tortured. Extensively. This was clearly their target.

On the desk there was an envelope addressed to Alpha’s of Black Mountain. There was a cardboard box taped up under it. I walked forward and opened it the envelope.

Alpha’s of the Black Mountain Pack,

It came to our attention that you are curious about us and who we are. I suppose that’s something we can answer. We are the Resistance. Specifically, we are the Ring Resistance… since you probably want specifics…cause that could be a thing…that I heard about…you wanting….or not…that’s an option too….

You guys do a pretty good job, but you need to be more careful. You are well known. These people have been planning against you since before you were born. We are in a unique place to do something about this that you cannot… since we are in the shadows… .and you are… well, you’re not. At all.

The man in the chair… was bad… obviously. He provided names and was a “placeholder”

for young girls and boys put into the Ring. Expect an influx of people to your areas soon. We are working to get them out. You have sheltered the people we have sent, and we are grateful… I mean we knew you would…because you’re good people.

That’s why they were sent to you. You never disappoint when they come. My belief that you will take them in and give them shelter has been proven time and time again. Many of them never see us, so please do not question them harshly. They do not know anything. Plus, ya know… masks are things… we wear a lot…so…you could try that out….occasionally. It could be nice. I’m just saying.

As for your attempts to work alongside us, you do not want that. Should there come a day when we need your help and not the other way around… I’ll contact you. As it stands, there is nothing we have come across that we cannot handle ourselves.

What do we do? We keep people safe. That includes all of you. In this box you will find something that will help you. It’s not easy to come by…. well… it’s complicated… in formula… you don’t care… but it appears you need it.

Do try to stay out of trouble. Don’t worry though, because when you find it... we will be there. Do not look for us because we do not want to be found. It works best this way for us all.

Why do we do this? There are SO many reasons. No one should suffer this way. It is wrong and we won't stand for it. Too many have stood by in fear, wanting to keep their heads down and stay out of the fray. I am not afraid. I will stand. I will not turn a blind eye.

We know where our place is. It’s standing between the innocent and those vile, corrupt, evil masochists leading the Ring. They hide, but we can get to them. They are not safe anymore… and they get my messages about it. I will not stop until they are all dead. I personally want revenge… for the things they’ve done to me… and those I love. I have to stop them. I won’t stop until I have vengeance.

As for your request to be “friends.”

I have already told you, you don’t want that. Let’s just stick to our current relationship. It’s symbiotic in nature… so it works. Don’t break it. Finding out more about us, about me, will break that. We have a good thing going. Work within that and let me help the way I can.

How do you find us? Short answer: You don’t. Longer answer: We will not be found if we don’t want to be. If you find us it will be because we’ve crawled into your lap, tapped your shoulder, and said hi. That won’t happen though.

As I said, our relationship works because of the anonymity we have right now. Let us continue to help each other. Stop looking for me. I will contact you if we need help. I will know if you need our help, as I have up until now. Stay safe Alpha’s.

We will fight until this is over. The Ring will go down.

P.S. So I guess you asked for our name and I forgot to put that so…We are the Ring Resistance Or just the Resistance for short.

I looked over at Alexander who had been reading it with me. I asked, “Who did you reach out to? I’ve never asked what they do. I just asked for a name.”

Alexander frowned, “I did ask that. I asked who they are, what they do, why they do it, how we could find them. I also included wanting to know how we could make acquaintances with them.”

I raised an eyebrow, “So I’ve been asking for a name for two years and got nothing. You reach out to your contacts, and we get a letter in a few weeks? You're officially in charge of getting answers about the Ring Resistance, brother.”

Alexander snorted, “I don’t know which source got to them. I put inquiries out with over three hundred people.”

I shrugged, “Get the list to Micah.”

Micah rubbed his hands together, “I do love a challenge.”

My dad said, “This person knows us. She called Julianna and Everly by name. She knows you two as well and thinks you would not welcome a friendship.”

We all frowned because that was true. The cadence of the letter reminded me of Melanie.

My head pounded and I shoved that thought away. Melanie was living her dream and her finishing school teacher taught her to talk without rambling. Plus, Melanie would know we’d be her friend. She was mine already and she was family to Elise.

I sighed, “Toby, we need to pull our enemies. Someone who would still care about us but thinks we wouldn’t be accepting of them.”

Elise asked, “What about Alpha Raven? My family doesn't like him.”

I mused, “The note T got with the code word was found on their border at the start of this. It could be the Raven family.”

My dad snorted, “Alpha Daniel Raven has no reason not to contact you though, son. Or Emmett. They were never our enemies. We stood against their dad, but we have had a prosperous relationship with them ever since his death. We are even friends with them.”

I sighed, “It’s all we have. They do have a sister.”

Emmett snorted, “A sister who lives in Washington. She met her mate at the last Summit.”

I told my Beta, “Toby, I want that confirmed. I want to make sure she’s where she thinks she is.” Toby nodded, “Alright.” He took out his phone.

Alexander was upset. We scoured the place for anything else but found nothing. Eventually my mom warned, “If you all don’t open that fucking package I will lose my goddamn shit. The curiosity is literally going to kill me! You all know I love presents! Stop doing this to me.”

I snorted but she sent me her urgency in the bond.

I pulled a knife out of my shoe. My Uncle Bjourn smiled because I’d it learned from him. I never went anywhere without a weapon. Something all my Fairy cousins were going to have to adopt after today. I cut the tape off the box and put my knife back into my shoe.

I opened the box and stepped back in shock. There were syringes just like I’d seen the sniper give Julianna. She’d given it to us. Alexander asked, “Brother what…?”

He trailed off then yelled, “Holy motherfucking shit!”

My dad asked, “What is it?” I picked up the note and read it.

This is Laxenread. It will bring your Fairy powers back in a minute if you’ve been hit with iron. I only have so many doses, but this is what I can offer you. Please…. let us keep our symbiotic relationship… I just want to help… and I mean… I am helping…so… I feel like you should do me this favor.

I snorted, “It’s Laxenread.”

My mom shrieked, “What?”

She stepped forward and read the note. She looked at my dad frowning. My mom’s emotions were strange in the bond. I asked her, “Mom?” She frowned, “Well, it’s...” She trailed off, “I mean….” She made a strange face.

Aunt Lexi spoke, “Hales, what do you think about the note?”

My mom answered, “Alexander.”

He answered her, “What did I do?” My mom shook her head, “Not you but well,” She winced, “yes you.” My dad laughed, “Angel, just explain it from the beginning.”

My mom said, “Fairies love anagrams. Laxenread unscrambled is Alexander. He asked the questions that got answered. This is a counteragent for iron poisoning, and it’s named Alexander. They didn’t give us the Wolf one, just this one. What if that’s the one that wasn’t perfected? What if our sniper doesn’t go out when Alexander does because she likes him? She’s scared she’ll miss if his life is on the line.”

Holy shit.

I looked at my brother, “Did you get a Fairy obsessed with you, little brother? Because ‘like’ is not an intense enough word for all this.”

Alexander looked and felt extremely confused. Elise surmised, “So we have a she wolf of some kind, a Fairy, and a Witch or Warlock? How did they meet each other? Were they in the Ring? Did they escape?”

Alexander asked, “Why do they care about me?”

I snorted, “Apparently, they care about you a great deal, little brother. We need to see if we can find someone who can replicate these.”

Elise snorted, “If Mel wasn’t so damn busy, I bet she could.” I wished we could do that.

I sighed, “That’s true. We haven’t told her what’s going on though. If we want to break that bubble, I’ll ask her.”

Elise frowned. Alexander said, “No, she deserves to live her dream.”

I sighed, “Alright.” My dad said, “I don’t think the sniper was in the Ring. I think the Ring killed someone she loves. Maybe her family.”

My mom offered, “I agree.”

I asked, “Why?”

He tapped the note, “She said she needs vengeance. She’s not going to stop until she gets it. Whatever the Ring did to this girl, she plans to make them live to regret it.”

Uncle Bjourn said, “If they knew her name, they probably would’ve gotten her already.”

That was also true. After one last check over the premises and nothing more found, we popped home.

For weeks we had people analyzing what the hell this Laxenread was. We had figured out most of it, but there was a component that was apparently unidentifiable. Our Lead Scientist was losing sleep over it even though we told him it wasn’t his fault.

Uncle Aiden and Uncle Bjourn also had people working on it. We were just running out of ideas. At this point I doubted even Ladybug would be able to figure it out even if we asked. The scientist we had said there was a new element they had never heard of in the serum. I had a constant headache.

Alexander was going to Faerie trying to sues out if there was a Fairy that liked him. Naturally, he’d found plenty. None that appeared to be able to pull this off, though. Micah came up with nothing from the contacts Alexander had reached out to. If they had reached out to someone, they’d done it by word of mouth. We couldn’t put our people on over three hundred people. It was maddening.

I threw a file in frustration. Alexander said, “The sniper did say we wouldn’t find them if they didn’t want us to.”

I snorted, “We should be able to find them.”

My dad sighed, “We are working against a very smart group of people, son. This type of smart is next level. I mean we have a new element.”

I growled, “So, they are right? We won’t find them unless they let us? I refuse to believe that.”

Toby groaned, “Goodie.”

I stood, “Everyone break for the night.” I went and found Elise. I sat back and watched her reviewing files.

She eventually turned around smiling, “Hi.”

I walked over and kissed her. I grabbed her, “Let’s go on a date.”

I took her hand and walked outside. I took her to my dad’s club. I grabbed her hips, and we danced the night away. We had a few drinks, and just let loose for the night.

I took her hand and ran out of the back door. Once we got to the forest we shifted and took off back for the house. I led her to our special place we went to for alone time in our territory. We let Brutus and Rhea play with each other for a while.

Eventually I took back over and shifted back. I growled, “Shift back.”

Rhea purred at me. I smirked, “Come on, mate.”

Elise took over and shifted back. I grabbed her hand and pulled her naked body into mine. She kissed down my chest while I groaned and threw my head back.

She teased me by biting the inside of my thigh. She gripped my butt and pulled me closer. She slowly slid her tongue around the tip of my dick. My hand automatically went to her hair. She could get most of me inside her mouth now. She started playing with my balls, while her other fingers were stroking right behind them.

I choked when she circled my anus with her finger. She hummed and the vibrations sent me into an orgasm. She pulled her mouth off me, letting go with a loud pop. She licked her lips, “Mmmm.”

I growled and tackled her to the ground. She laughed and we rolled back and forth fighting for dominance. I was already hard again. God, what this woman did to me.

I grabbed both her hands, pinned them above her head, then kissed her hard. I trailed a finger down her body and slowly inserted it inside her. I fingered her through her first orgasm. I replaced my fingers with my dick, thrusting in and out of her slowly. Her moans and the way she breathlessly said my name were my undoing. When we finished, I popped us back to our room and we slept.

The next day we made some progress with the Hunting Ring and this ‘Dante.’ Jason was going to check it out. Toby walked in frowning. I asked, “Why are you frowning?”

Toby sighed, “We got a request for you and Elise to take a meeting. It’s barely outside our territory. The person who called said it’s about the Ring. They are insisting that it’s urgent.”

I stood asking, “Is it from the Resistance?”

Toby shook his head, “It doesn’t seem like it.”

I sighed. Elise said, “We should go.” I told her, “I won’t walk you into a trap.” Elise shrugged, “I go where you go.” Brutus said, “So, we don’t go. Right?!” I reasoned, “You know we should.” He replied, “WE. As in you and me. NOT mate.” I agreed but she wasn’t going to.

Alexander told me, “I don’t like it.”

I sighed, “We will take Warriors and Toby with us. Genevieve and you need to make sure everyone is ready to move.”

Alexander argued, “I’m your Enforcer. I’m coming with you.” I shook my head, “No, I need you here.”

Max offered, “I’ll go with them, Alexander. Micah is doing computer stuff. I’m antsy.”

I accepted, “Alright.”

I linked Max, “If things go sideways you get Elise out of there.” Max shot back, “I wouldn’t leave without you, big brother.” I rolled my eyes.

I told Elise, “We will drive just in case they have eyes watching us.”

She nodded and got into the car. Brutus told me, “Not a fan of this plan.”

I admitted, “Neither am I.” My mate grabbed my hand when I got in. I kissed hers promising, “I’ll keep you safe.” Elise held one of the pressure syringes from our sniper. She kissed my cheek, “I’ll protect you too.” The closer we got the more this felt like a trap.

Once we’d arrived at the abandoned building I looked around. I linked my men, “I sense there are a lot of people here. Be prepared to fight.”

I linked Max, “Where are you? I feel you William, Wesley, and Theo here.”

Max replied, “Yeah, Wes came with me. The other two sneaky fuckers, just showed up.”

I told him, “Look alive, it’s a trap.”

I walked in with Elise by my side. I was ready to put my shield up at the slightest movement.

I linked my dad, “You and mom might want to pop in.”

My dad snorted, “We are here already. Check your bond.”

I checked my connection with them. I had been too focused on my brothers and missed them. Alexander was pissed. Well, he could stay pissed. If this was to draw us away to attack our pack, he was where he should be. He was the strongest fighter we had.

There was a rogue in the middle of the room. I pushed Elise behind me and put up my shield as four shots rang out around us. I could hear the bullets hitting targets, but they weren’t close by. The rogue turned to run. Brutus scoffed, “Is he serious?”

I replied, “I guess.”

I used my pushing power. I saw the scene this time, “It’s one hundred thousand dollars. All you have to do is request Alpha EJ and Luna Elise get to this abandoned building.”

The rogue retorted, “You’re going to kill Alpha EJ Conners?”

The man in the shadows laughed, “No, I’m going to kidnap his Luna to prove a point. While seriously injuring him.”

I was so angry, so I pushed harder, exploding the rogue's head. I linked my dad, “What’s going on?”

I heard growling outside. My dad answered, “Just a second.”

I grabbed Elise, “You’re the target. Get out of here!”

She frowned, “I’m going out there with you. Our people and our family are fighting.”

Brutus told me, “Rhea is with her digging her heels in. They won’t leave.” I growled telling her, “You stay on my goddamn six. Do you hear me?” She nodded.

My dad linked, “Their side’s snipers were taken out. Your mom can’t pop to the sniper protecting us. Neither can your brothers. Wesley popped to Emmett and brought him back to see if he could run to the sniper before she pulled her disappearing act. It’s more than safe to say, the Resistance is here.”

Elise and I ran outside side by side. I shifted into Brutus while Elise shifted into Rhea. Brutus grunted, “Finally! I get in on the action.”

He was in on the action all the time. I called the wind and threw attackers away from Elise. Shots rang out in quick succession near me.

I turned in surprise, watching as everyone who came within ten feet with Elise was shot six times. Elise looked annoyed. She quickly jumped on a rogue and took him down easily. That’s my girl. Brutus linked, “The sniper is protecting her. She’s firing at others, but the targets are those around Elise.”

I reasoned, “That makes sense because Elise is the target. I bet they know that.”

Brutus hummed as if he wasn’t sure.

I joined Elise, growling and using my pushing power. Wolves that were in my thrall were thrown into the air and the ones that hit the trees were pulled into them and then exploded. So, Julian was mad. My mother was taking people’s air left and right. The shooting had stopped.

We took down everyone left, then shifted back. I snapped Elise and myself clothes. My mom snapped the rest. I grabbed Elise’s hand and popped to Emmett. He was frowning. I sighed, “You didn’t get here in time?”

Emmett answered, “Evidently not and there’s no scent to follow. These things were these in the trees.”

He handed me a wired speaker. He explained, “They were playing shots over it, so we’d go to the wrong place thinking there was more than one sniper here. This is weird.”

I pointed out, “It’s been weird for a few years now.”

The symbol was on the sniper's rock. My dad and mom popped back in. My dad said, “So the A team sniper group is back.”

I nodded, “It’s got to the girl who saved Everly and Julianna. The shooting style is the same compared to the others.”

I held Elise tightly to me knowing they were going to use a sniper to get me down to take her. Which was crazy because that wouldn’t work. I’d have had one of my brothers get her and I out of there. If I’d been shot Alexander would’ve come. So would my mom.

If Alexander was here, they’d have wished they were dead long before they were. We cleaned up the area, and I drove us home. When we got home, I parked but didn’t get out. Elise unbuckled her seatbelt and crawled over to me. I buried my face in her neck.

She whispered, “I’m ok, EJ.”

I whispered, “They are coming for you to prove a point to me.”

Elise pulled back, “Hey, I’m not going down without a fight. WE are not going down without a fight. Even if they manage to take me, I’ll fight my way out and back to you. I’ll probably even meet you halfway. I know you’ll be coming for me too.” I put my forehead on hers.

I whispered, “This world does not want to see what I am capable of if you are taken from me. Their point will not get proven. Mine will. I won’t be without you. You are my whole world. Without you the realms will stop moving until you’re back because I’ll make it so.”

She whispered, “You’re mine too. They are trying to hurt you. I will always fight back against anything in this world that wants to hurt you.”

We got out of the car and walked inside. My dad was waiting in the office with a very pissed off Alexander.

He growled, “What was their plan?”

I explained, “They want to kidnap Elise and injure me to prove a point.”

Alexander snarled, “What fucking point? That they are morons? That wouldn’t work.” I winced “I might have exploded his head into tiny little pieces before I got that information.” My dad snorted, “I can’t say I blame you for that son.”

I asked Alexander, “Any news from Jase?”

Alexander shook his head, “He’s dark until next week. All I know is before he left he was confused about a present Melanie sent him. The note was insanely brief. It said ‘congratulations’ with a fancy watch. He asked her what it was for, and she told him it was a just because present.”

I nodded, “Alright. Is someone making sure he didn’t walk into a damn trap?”

Alexander smiled, “I might have had William doing a little look out. His initial meet went just fine. William didn’t sense anything off. He’s back in Faerie.”

That was good.

I questioned, “Why would Ladybug write congratulations on a card if the present was just because?”

Alexander shrugged, “None of them know. She even addressed the card to Jason. He said she only calls him that when she’s mad at him.”

I frowned because that was odd.

Angela popped into my office with her arms crossed. She glared at me, stomped her foot and yelled, “You didn’t even ASK me what I saw before you left to walk into a trap!”

I told her, “I didn’t want to upset you.”

She cried, “You don’t think I can help you!”

I disagreed, “That’s not it. I know the sniper is something that’s fuzzy to you. I knew if this was a trap then you wouldn't be able to see it.”

She stuck her tongue out at me and left. Alexander sighed, “She’s worried.”

I felt through our bond.

I replied, “I know.”

More and more paths were blurry to her, but some things were so clear. Brutus told me, “I think she is stressing out too much about it.”

I hoped that was case. Regardless, we would figure out what was messing with her visions, and this would stop. There had to be a link between how stressed a path made her and the vision itself. Elise took my hand and squeezed it. She linked me, “We will figure it out.” She was right, we do.

The week flew by. We were waiting for news to come from Jason. His check in time came and went, but we hadn’t heard anything yet. We were all anxious. Finally, Elise asked, “Can we pop to Red Run?”

I grabbed her hand, and we popped to her parents’ house. Everyone was there waiting.

Everly was rubbing Tristan’s back. He was tapping his foot. Dalton sighed, “We need to send someone after him. He’s two hours late.”

Elise’s fear slammed into me. TWO HOURS? Brutus asked me, “Should we refresh this pack on what an EMEREGENCY is? I don’t think they know anymore.”

I’d argue but he might have a point.

A Warrior came thundering into the house yelling, “WE NEED HELP OUT HERE!”

We were all running outside and off the porch. Two Warriors were dragging a beaten and bloodied Jason toward the house. I linked Alexander, “We need you and mom now! Pop to me.”

Alexander and my parents were there in a second. Alexander broke into a dead run towards his friend. My mom popped beside him. Alexander wiped some tears away, “Hang on man, you’re gonna be fine.”

They started to heal him.

Sam ran out of the house, dropped to her knees, and cried. She screamed, “Is that my son? Oh my god! Jason!”

She stood and rushed to them and just sat outside the bubble. Tristan grabbed one of the Warriors by the collar. He growled, “WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!”

The Warrior stammered, “I don’t know. He wasn’t there when we ran our last patrol. He just showed up on our border with Alpha Raven. Their men had just caught his scent too. It’s like he had no scent then suddenly it came back.”

Brutus linked, “Well, that sounds like some other group we know got involved.”

It really did. I looked at Elise, but she was crying. All her attention was focused on Jason. I turned to my dad. I linked him, “The sniper got to him back for us too.”

My dad nodded, “That would be my guess.” Drake was wiping tears from his eyes while we waited for Jason to be healed.

It took my mom and Alexander an hour and half to heal him completely. Brutus growled, “They tortured him then.”

That was very likely since it didn’t take my brother and mom long to heal people together unless it was bad.

He was still unconscious when they stepped back. I snapped them food. Alexander was trying to wipe his tears away. I asked, “How bad?”

Alexander snorted, “You know it was bad.”

My mom looked off in the distance at the McAlister house.

Eventually she said, “Something kept him alive before we got here. I think the Werewolf version of Laxenread is ready.”

She tapped Alexander’s arm and pointed at Jason’s pocket. Alexander pulled out a syringe with a blue circle with a line through it.

Mom was right, they’d worked out a Werewolf one now. Along with a Fairy one. Jesus fucking Christ. Who the hell were these people? Alexander checked Jason’s other pockets. He pulled out a note and snorted. He handed it to me.

And this makes three. Watch your Beta better Alpha Kyle’s. Or you will not like the consequences. People don’t like me mad… or at all… but especially mad. Leave the Hunting Ring to us. Next time I expect a cookie… a good one…

Brutus linked, “That’s a lot of resentment.”

He was right. It was a rebuke to Dalton and Dakota. I loudly said, “I’d buy her a damn bakery if she’d tell me her fucking name. What does she mean their Beta? T is the Beta.”

I hoped maybe she was nearby, and the bakery comment would draw her out, but I didn’t hear anything.

Brutus linked, “It was a good try.”

That’s all we had at this point. Tristan shrugged, “Jase is still a Beta blood and he also the duties of one. He’s Chrisopher’s Beta, but he focuses on training.”

He’d planned to challenge for the Male Lead Warrior next week. We knew he was going to win too.

Dalton frowned, “He doesn't want the title of Beta though. If he wins, he’ll be known to everyone as the Male Lead Warrior while doing Beta duties on the side. She can’t think we just let him walk into danger. He’s our friend. Hell, he’s our FAMILY.”

Tristan shrugged, “Maybe she called him that because he’s got Beta blood.”

He had to be right.

The problem was this person seemed to know us quite well. Did they confuse Tristan with Jason? Jason groaned then sat up. Sam threw her arms around him, “Jase, are you ok?”

He frowned, “I had the weirdest dream. Ladybug was there. Man, she was pissed.”

My head started to pound.

Drake snorted, “She would be pissed you got caught if she knew about this. We watched her dance at her recital a half hour ago.”

Jason shook his head, “I’d swear to you she was there. It was so real. She told me she couldn’t believe I’d come to try and trick Hunters when they were supernatural’s too. Which meant they knew who I was. She kept calling me Jason instead of Jase.”

He rubbed his temples, “She argued with someone. They didn’t want her to help me, but she told them to go to hell. They told her I was shit brother. That I’d turned my back on her, and she should do the same. That her life had more value…”

He trailed off.

Tristan consoled him, “It was a weird dream. You’re not a shitty brother. No one would say that. We’ve never turned our back on Ladybug.”

Drake took out his phone. He greeted, “Hi Ladybug, you did so good at your concert. Yes, we all thought so. No, Jase liked your dance. He didn’t text you yet? Well he’s right here. You can talk to him now.”

Jason took the phone frowning, “Hey, Ladybug. Yeah, no it was a great dance I just misplaced my phone again. Darn thing. I seem to repel it from myself. No, you were a beautiful dancer as always.”

Alexander had a wistful look on his face. Jason passed the phone back to Drake who hugged Jason tightly. He walked off to talk to Melanie some more.

Jason sighed, “I could’ve sworn she was there. It was so real.”

Tristan snorted, “If she knew, she’d kick your ass. How the HELL did you get caught?”

My dad said, “The conversation he heard implies it would be because they are supernatural’s.” I frowned, “But they are humans that know about supernatural’s and hunt us.” My dad said, “Someone doesn’t think so.”

Tristan argued, “But that conversation didn’t happen.”

My mom said, “Just because the people he thought were there, that I just wish you’d admit was fucking prank, weren’t doesn’t mean he didn’t hear that right.”

She was texting on her phone. She’d get Uncle Bjourn on that.

Several people shot her odds looks over her prank comment. Surely, they knew she though Melanie was a prank. Everyone did. Jason sighed, “Anyway, it was going so well but Dante knew who I was. He had me transferred somewhere. I mean they were Hunters, it's not like my bracelet turning brown was a shock. I don’t know what Mel did to this damn watch, but I swear it shorted and shocked me. They worked me over pretty good. They were talking about sending me somewhere else.”

I growled, “Dante was there?”

He nodded, “Yeah, I got a decent punch in on him when he declared my name before they had me down with wolfsbane. I looked him dead in the eye and said he’d die for what he did to Everly one day.”

He continued, “There were four of them, but two never touched me. They were arguing with each other. They said that they had to tell her about me. That she’d never forgive them. Then they argued about releasing me. It’s all blurry guys. I’m sorry. Someone was angry though. Like fiercely angry. I heard punches landing on people and arguing, then I was being released from my restraints. There was more arguing. I felt a pressure on my thumb, and I was out.”

He looked up pleading, “Guys, I swear I heard Ladybug. I think I even saw her.”

My mom raised an eyebrow. Alexander said, “You couldn't have though. She was at her recital. She can’t be in two places at once.”

I glanced at my brother sharply because he sounded and felt incredibly confident.

My mom’s curiosity went back to being pissed that they weren’t letting the prank go in such a serious situation. Drake walked back up, “I asked leading questions, but she didn’t pick anything up. Melanie has no idea about any of this. She completely bought you’d misplaced your phone.”

Jason frowned, “Ok.”

I knew he didn’t believe it though.

We stayed for a bit longer, easing Elise’s anxiety. Drake hugged Alexander and held his hand out for my mom. She surprised us all by giving him a brief hug. We popped back to our area. I waited until Elise was asleep and walked to Alexander’s room.

I opened the door slowly and I walked in. He was so entranced by his computer that he didn’t notice me. When I looked over his shoulder I saw why. I cleared my throat. Alexander whirled around and slammed his computer shut. He was blushing.

I raised an eyebrow, “How do you have a video of Melanie’s dance recital?”

Alexander rubbed the back of his neck, “I…”

He faltered, “Well, you see. What happened was I…” I coughed, “You were so sure she danced tonight because you watched it. How?”

Alexander huffed, “I had Micah run a background software doodad thing on Jason’s computer. They all have login details to see Melanie’s performances. With the doodad thing Micah set up so do I.”

I snorted, “Of course you do.”

He shrugged, “I needed to see her. She’s so beautiful.”

I nodded, “She’s always been pretty.”

He smiled, “She always has on red lipstick. When she dances it’s incredible.”

I agreed, “It is.” He smiled, “I can’t take my eyes off her.” I questioned, “So have you been doing this for two years?”

Alexander shuffled, “Well, yes. I just needed to see her. I’m not showing everyone what she looks like. I just needed this for myself.”

I nodded, “Alright. I’ll keep your secret.”

He smiled and hugged me, “Thanks, EJ.” I nodded, “Uh huh.”

I changed the subject, “Do you think if I buy the sniper a bakery, she’ll reconsider us being friends?”

Alexander snorted, “I don’t know. Then again, I don’t know why she thinks we wouldn't want to be her friend in the first place.”

He had a point. I left his room.

I had no clue who thought we hated them so much their name would turn us all away. I knew there was something right there something I was missing. Sadly, no matter how hard I tried, like Angela with her visions, I just couldn’t grasp it