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3

Marco

Standing in front of Kaylee’s cottage, I knock on the door and wait for her to answer. After confronting Lucas, I had planned to talk to her, but duty called, and I’d had to deal with wolves on our borders instead. They were spies from Oak Fur again, trying to sneak in and catch a glimpse of our alpha and beta.

News had spread that Ivory Fangs had helped Shadow Moon liberate themselves from the tyranny of their former alpha, Jordan, and people were becoming increasingly curious about our female leaders. It took longer than I’d thought to deal with them, the enemy wolves fighting my men with everything they had. One managed to escape capture, and the other two decided to take their own lives by slitting their throats before we could restrain them.

“Marco? What are you doing here?” Kaylee’s voice calls from behind me, and I turn to see her coming up the path. The faint smell of rubbing alcohol comes off her, and I frown. It seems she’s just coming back from the pack infirmary.

“I wanted to see how you’re doing. I heard Lucas took you from the training facility against your will,” I state with a shrug, watching Kaylee sigh and run her hands through her hair.

“Yeah, the mate bond called out to him, thinking I was in danger,” she admits. I scent the air, hoping she’s lying so I can return to where Lucas is and beat him to oblivion—but she’s telling the truth.

“Do you know what caused it to do that?” I ask, watching as Kaylee looks away and bites her lip.

“I do. But I’m not ready to talk about it,” she mumbles quietly.

I nod, deciding that if it is something she isn’t willing to share right now, all I can do is be there for her as a friend.

“If you need anything, you know I’m here for you,” I reassure her, watching Kaylee smile at me with relief.

“I know, Marco. It’s why I like being your friend,” Kaylee says, walking towards me and hugging me. “Do you want to come in for some coffee and cookies?”

“I would, but I have some patrols I need to plan. We had some spies try to sneak in from Oak Fur today.”

Kaylee frowns at my answer, telling me to wait for a moment before she disappears into the cottage and returns a moment later, no longer holding the envelope.

“Let’s take my truck to the packhouse. We need to tell Amelia about this and make a plan,” she states, closing the door and marching towards her truck. Helplessly, I follow her, climbing into the passenger seat of the truck as she pulls out of the small driveway and onto the small road.

I link Amelia, telling my alpha that we need an impromptu meeting, before linking Royce and telling him to meet us at the packhouse. Within a few minutes, Kaylee is parking beside the large building just as Royce makes his way up the stairs.

“You know, I was hoping for a break,” Royce sighs as we join him, and Kaylee rolls her eyes.

“Unfortunately for us, we get no breaks,” she retorts, getting another loud sigh from Royce.

The three of us make our way to Amelia’s office to find her door open. Walking into the room, we find our alpha sitting at her desk, a look of concern on her face.

“How bad is it?” she asks before we can sit down.

“Bad. It seems Oak Fur is determined to meet you,” I answer as Kaylee sits on the sofa while Royce and I sit across from Amelia. “Spies have been found around the borders before, but this is the first time we’ve seen any on our land since your initiation,” I continue, feeling anger radiate from my alpha.

“Have Ramos’ men injured anyone?” she asks, and I shake my head.

“Not yet. It seems the training you and Kaylee have been giving is helping our wolves. We were able to beat them. Unfortunately, one wolf did manage to escape when we tried to capture and question them,” I explain, and Amelia nods.

“I will have Alexander send a legal warning to Ramos. If he continues to have his men spy on us, then I must have the Council step in.” She sighs, turning to look at Kaylee. “How are war preparations going?”

Kaylee stands from her seat and walks to Amelia’s desk. After asking if she could use her computer, Kaylee pulls up a few files and turns the screen to face us.

“Alexander has told us that our first two shelters will be done within three weeks, food preparations with the omegas have steadily increased our stores, and our training schedule has only had a few hiccups due to the spies trying to get in,” she explains, her calm composure drawing me in.

She affects everyone that way because she was supposed to be a Luna and lead a pack. It’s what draws me in and makes me want to court her—even if her Goddess-given mate is now in our pack.

“Good. I have a feeling my brother will somehow sneak someone into the pack, and our identities will be exposed,” Amelia says, her voice low as she takes in the report Kaylee shared.

I can sense her unease and worry and watch as Kaylee reassures Amelia that Ivory Fangs is growing stronger daily and that Oak Fur is weaker than ever. If a war breaks out, we can deal with them.

“What did you do with the bodies of Ramos’ spies?” Kaylee asks, and I grin.

“I threw them over the pack borders into no man’s land and burned them. It’s why I took a while to come to talk to you after what Lucas did.”

Amelia stiffens, and Kaylee glares at me. I guess Amelia didn’t know about Lucas carrying Kaylee away mid-training.

[I am so going to kick your ass later,] Kaylee links me, her voice a low growl. I shudder, realizing that I might have gone a little far.

Amelia excuses me, asking for Royce and Kaylee to stay back. Already dreading the beating I will receive later, I quickly leave the office—with Kaylee’s glare following me out the door.