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We emerged from the tent a bit like disaster survivors, though this time with grins on our faces.

“You did it,” Jack said, his hand straying to his mate mark.

“Yeah.” Hawk wrapped his arm around his mate’s shoulders.

“We always said…”

“You were dragging your fucking feet, Jack. You were never going to get around to it.”

“I was.” Jack shook his head, eyes trained sightlessly on the ground. “I had this whole big gesture thing planned for when we got home.”

Hawk tipped Jack’s chin up and then kissed him, slow and sweet.

“I’m sick of waiting, Jack. I told you that. You’re mine, I’m yours. There’s no going back, no need for grand gestures. You’re my mate, so deal with it.”

“Stop it. All this dominant shit is turning me on.” Jack was smirking, but we could all see the evidence that what he said was true. He forced his eyes away from his mate and then said, “Don’t think this means you’re the top now. I’m all for equal opportunity arse fucking.”

“Fucking Jack,” Slade said with a shake of his head, then steered me towards the fire.

“Fucking Jack, indeed,” Hawk said, with quite a different inflection.

“Congratulations,” Aaron said, getting up from the log he’d been sitting on by the fire.

For a moment, he just sat with that, a warmth radiating from his eyes as he regarded the two men.

He seemed to bring himself back to being the commanding officer with some effort.

“I’ve gotta be honest, I’d hoped this would happen.

If we’re going to get through this, I need to know what we’re dealing with, and a cohesive team makes it that much easier.

” His eyes flicked to me. “Not saying people should be forcing bonds or anything, just if it’s on the table, here’s probably the safest place to resolve them. ”

“Those that should be bonded, should do so before we reach Leifgart.” I felt everyone but Aaron stiffen at the appearance of Sylvan. “There is a power to your bonds that others don’t have. Strengthening them consolidates your position.”

“Something you and I need to have a conversation about later,” Aaron said with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“From what I’ve been able to glean, seers don’t share a lot of intel for fear of changing the outcome.

That shit needs to stop. I…we need as much information as we can to get through this.

We’re in a whole other dimension. Initial reports from the scouts say there’s plenty of wildlife here that poses a potential threat, and at least some of the sentients appear to be allied with the hostiles. ”

“I’ll do my best,” Sylvan said, though I’m not sure if any of us were convinced. Sylvan always looked like the cat that got the cream, so I didn’t think I’d know his sincere expression, even if he was.

Aaron nodded but didn’t look pleased. “Jack and Hawk, both of you can use guns competently, so you’ll be in the back of one of the tactical vehicles.

Don’t go taking potshots, I have no idea how much ammunition has been stored in the caches.

Take your directions from the guys I put with you.

” He turned to Slade and me. “Slade, you’ll be on bodyguard duty.

You can shoot, fight, and you’re the one I’m the most confident can look after Jules. ”

“What about Finn?” he replied.

“Yes, what about Finn?” the man himself said, arriving at the fire site and standing there, looking pissed off. “You’re resisting pushing forward with the mission, and now you’re taking me away from Jules?”

Finn had maintained his optimistic facade until it looked like we’d be staying at the mining camp for a few days.

The soldiers needed to secure the gate as best they could.

It wasn’t just the Volken who liked to try to get through.

Aaron was also cautious, not wanting to rush in, something I think Finn had been banking on.

With every day we delayed, his mood got worse.

“No one’s taking you anywhere,” Aaron said with a shake of his head.

“Then why? Answer me that.”

“Which part?” Aaron said with a shrug. “The moving forward part, or the Jules part? Or the part where you’re torn up with anger and guilt and wanting to rush in where angels fear to tread to try and absolve that?

” I blinked, staring at Aaron for a moment.

There were whole other sides to the guys, that I knew.

It’d taken me ages to see into Jack, and I’d never suspected Brandon even had a secret, let alone what it was, so I guess seeing another side to Aaron wasn’t unexpected.

“It occurs to me that observing your command is pretty much a courtesy,” Finn said, that alpha whip creeping into his voice. We all sat up straighter, and the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up. “I could take control of this mission and damn the bloody detours and delays.”

“But you won’t.” Aaron didn’t move in or face-off against Finn, just stayed exactly how he was.

“Not if you want to get those men out. Not if you want Jules to return to Sanctuary. You think I haven’t seen a man on a suicide mission before?

Willing to throw themselves into the fray, sacrifice everything to make amends?

This is not some fucking heroic mission that a bit of pluck and clear heart will get you through.

This is a whole society of warriors, intent on wiping our people out.

Even with modern weapons, if we’re not careful, we’re fucked.

You wanna pull the alpha shit and take over?

Well, I can’t stop you, but if you want to actually achieve your objectives, you’ll listen to me and my guys. ”

Finn’s eyes had taken on a green cast throughout the whole conversation, but Aaron did not look away until finally, the other man’s shoulders relaxed. He let out a long sigh, then rubbed at his face.

“You’re hurting, and you want to do something about it. I get it. Go and burn some of that self-flagellating energy by practising digging us some latrines. Without a safe place to shit, things will devolve pretty quickly.”

Finn just nodded and turned on his heel and left.

Something needed to be done about that. While I’d managed to give him a reprieve from the waves of self-loathing, Finn wasn’t out of the woods yet. Going through the gate and setting up camp in the mine site had just re-started the spiral. I went to get to my feet, but Slade tugged me back down.

“Give him some space,” he said. “Aaron’s advice is a good one. We don’t even need latrines here, with the staff toilets, but there’s something to be said for just letting it all out in manual labour. He’s just gonna have to process this, and you being a spectator to his shame isn’t going to help.”

“But—”

“Slade’s right, Jules,” Aaron said. “He did send those blokes through here. They are getting treated like shit. He knows you love him and want him to be happy, but he’s trying to live with the unliveable.

You try and get in close right now, you’re likely to be collateral damage, and then he’ll be even more ashamed.

Anyway, we’ve got bigger problems to sort out here. ”

“I assume that means me.”

Brandon walked in and hesitated for a moment, scanning the group before sitting down on an empty log. He didn’t look happy, his fingers going white.

I felt it, that same tugging sensation that made me want to chase after Finn urged me to get up and take my mate’s hand and smooth away the empty look on his face. Slade’s fingers tightened around mine, as if he felt the same but was resisting.

“Not you, but you’ve got to admit, dropping that bomb has to have some consequences,” Aaron said.

“I dunno about everyone else here, but I feel like there’s been a breach of trust.” He held up a hand when Brandon started to speak, the other man falling silent, eyes on the ground.

“You’ve explained, and I get it. You had your reasons, but both you and Sylvan have operated on a whole lot of covert information and chose not to share it with us.

I think I speak for everyone when I say—what else are you hiding?

What dangers do you know are coming that we don’t?

How are you manoeuvring us into place to better meet your desired outcomes?

You let Jules finally bond you, and then you chose to drop this bombshell? ”

“I…I…”

I heard the pain in Brandon’s voice, something I’d never thought I’d see in a million years.

I pulled free of Slade’s grip and ignored his grumbles as I got to my feet and went to Brandon’s side.

Pulling him into a hug was not a pleasant experience.

I felt his pain as if it was my own, but I was already full of a swirling mass of mistrust, betrayal, and frustration.

For a moment, I just held him while he was stiff as a board within my grip, and felt like an overfilled cup, ready to spill messy emotions everywhere. Then he drew back.

Brandon stared at me for a moment, eyes wide, just looking at me before pulling my hand away and putting it down on the log. When he was freed from our mate bond, he turned to Aaron.

“You want some certainty about what’s about to happen. I understand that, I just can’t give it to you. My visions end here, just as Sylvan’s did when he came through the gate.” We all turned to look at the black wolf, who shrugged.

“I saw that Jules and her pack were significant, and that you would come through the gate, and that was it,” he said with a shrug. “The rest was just waiting for that to happen.”

“You also want us to be working as a cohesive unit. That makes sense, but I don’t think we’re there yet.

You’ll have to plan around a grieving process, I think, and allow people time to adjust.” Aaron paused and then went to continue, but Brandon just reached into the interior pocket of his jacket and pulled out a familiar book.

It was the token he’d offered me during the petitioning process.

He held it out to me, careful to make sure our fingers didn’t touch.

That stung, that he would avoid contact, but I guess even I wouldn’t want to be swamped by the morass of emotion I was feeling right now.

“Read this. It might help,” he said, and then got to his feet. “You need intel? I had some visions of Leifgart. I’ll go and talk to your men now, see if I can help augment the map.”

And with that, he was gone.

Aaron shook his head. “Look, I get there’s stuff going on. I’m not immune, but for this to work, we’re all going to need to work as a team, and not so much in the fun way you were just enjoying. Find a way to get past all this…stuff.”

“The burly one is right,” Sylvan said. “A queen needs her courtiers. The strength of your pack is what saves the day. I’ve seen that over and over. Time to get your house in order.”

“I guess this means no Mate Torte for us,” Jack said drily as he watched Sylvan go.

“Jack, I’ll—” Hawk said.

“Let’s plan a celebration,” I said. “There’s a mess hall and a big kitchen full of supplies. Let’s make our last night at the mining site a memorable one.”