03.

Train.

After comforting my mate and holding him till he slept I placed a kiss on his forehead and made my way to the window. "Goodnight starfish." I mumbled before jumping out the window and landing without a sound.

Andie and I didn't talk in detail about what happened to his parents, I already knew what happened since I opened the linked and probed into his mind to see and hear what he did, it's one of my packs abilities which is weird and cool at the same time.

So in knowing what happened, I went to him because I couldn't stand watching them treating my mate like that, I wanted to go over there and strangle them, but I realized I needed to be rational about it like Linden always told me.

So I let Andie be his own person and defend himself rather than I jump in and save him, Emric always reminds me that we can't always be there for our mates so they needed to fight for themselves at times and I believed he was right.

I loved Andie so much and I would do anything for him but I knew I had to let him face his parents and their abusive ways on his own without my help or he wouldn't come out of his shelf to be himself, today was a step in the right direction for that growth and I was proud.

I waved at the wolves in the distance who were on night patrol, ever since the rogues who followed us here showed up I suggested it was best to have constant alert and patrol on any people who came within pack territory and the town itself, with the help of my nerdy brother in law who is pregnant the system has helped greatly.

I sighed with a smile happy to have my life in balance and soon I would have my little nephew or nephews according to Linden, in my arms, I stupidly can't wait for them to come and spoil them rotten.

Thinking about it made me want my own family but I was going to take it slow, I only messed up once with Andie when I didn't wear a condom thankfully he didn't get pregnant and Linden gave him a shot in secret lying that it was a vitamin,  to prevent pregnancy for a year which I appreciated because my wolf and I are sex crazed and my mate has the same appetite for it, weirdly enough.

As I walked further nearing home I began to think about what life could've been if I had met the father who plugged my mother and left, or the woman who didn't want me without even seeing me, I had made peace with it but they were thoughts that constantly came to mind when I thought about how blessed I was to have my mom and dad, along with Emric and Linden.

The wolves howled signaling the patrol change but when I sniffed the air I could barely make out Davey's scent and it made me angry. I pulled down my shorts and tore my tee-shirt off, with the small stretcher cable I always walked with, I tied the shorts to my leg and in one swift spin I shifted.

In a burst of speed, I was following the scent and the closer I got the stronger it got, I tracked the scent to the edge of the pack territory near Linden's old house but the scent moved past it due west, as the scent got stronger I caught the scent of blood in the air as well, I pushed harder and called for backup from the nearest patrol squad.

I could hear their heavy paws drumming on the forest floor as they came in my direction. "Surround them." I ordered and they did as told because as we got close I noticed Davey on the ground with a bleeding leg and three wolves.

"You thought you could run away huh, did you really think you could escape and leave him, you stupid weak little man." The wolf punched him so hard a tooth fell out of his mouth, I snickered in amazement and enjoyment of what they were doing, Davey needed more than just a punch though.

My squad was in position as was I. "Whose there?!" The man who had punched Davey yelled and I stepped out growling at the wolves who had come on our territory. "Fuck, they're probably going to kill us." I scoffed mentally knowing I wasn't going to do that but they were going into pack custody.

I shifted back and Davey didn't look ecstatic to see me and I scoffed, I had always suspected him of something bad and now I had all the witnesses and proof I needed to find out what the hell he had come back for. "Don't bother to run, you're surrounded, you're under arrest as well, by Ryeland Pack protocol, you're to be taken in for questioning as to why you trespassed into our lands." I stated and the wolves nodded without hesitation.

I knew the wolves had motive for what they did but wolves rarely did to humans what they did to Davey, and on top of that the wolves we had encountered were not rogues therefore Davey had a lot of talking to do, and a mess to clean up for himself.

"I don't know what kind of trouble you're in but I promise you, after this, you're gonna wish that you stayed away from my home." I growled toward Davey and I could see faint smiles on the wolves we had arrested.

"Emric we have prisoners and Davey, coming to the holding cells, it seems Davey has an explanation to give." I sent through the link to Emric and I heard him growl, he did not like Davey at all, and I knew whatever Davey had done his punishment was going to be severe.

We moved through the forest till we got to the holding cells, they were a bit of a distance from the packhouse, we normally didn't take in prisoners, they were used as punishment cells for rebellious teens and situations like these when we had to interrogate someone.

We kept walking and the wolves who guarded the holding cells came to us with clothes for those who didn't have any as we shifted, I wore my shorts and waited for Emric as he walked toward us. "Go back to patrol, we've got this handled." I ordered the wolves and Davey was dropped like a bag of bones in one of the cells, the other wolves were put in single separate cells with bars, not even wolf strength could bring down.

"I should be making myself comfortable on the couch my fiance made me sleep on so that I can wake up at two thirty in the morning to eat pickles and peanut butter with him, but noo, you just had to cause trouble and here I am." I shouldn't have laughed but I did, Emric's outburst though terrifying to everyone, to me it was the best joke of the day. Linden was putting him through hell but I knew he loved every minute of it.

"Now you, tell why the hell you were beating this piece of shit up." I asked one of the wolves and he walked closer to the bars. "My name is Smith, I'm from the Sunspear Pack, I was sent with my men to get our Luna back by any means necessary." His response shocked me and I started to piece everything together.

"The Sunspear is a small pack near West Harring City, close to the Drephair, but also in a two day distance from North City where Davey was." Emric spoke up first also piecing together everything. "By Luna do you mean, the current alpha is his mate?" I questioned and Smith nodded.

"I could never love him, he loves someone else, his parents are forcing him to be with me because they believe that these so called mates are important, bullshit." Davey croaked and Emric went over to his cell, the guard opened it for him. "Shut up!" He yelled and punched him, probably giving the guy a concussion.

He walked out and stood by me again with a smile. "He ran didn't he?" Emric questioned. "Yes, he wouldn't cooperate so we had to beat him up, we had failed numerous times to get him without alerting you, so we told our alpha and he's personally coming to get him by days end." Smith adds and I remembered the meeting dad had told me about.

"I know about the meeting." I spoke facing Emric and he sighed. "As alpha, I need to put pack safety first, though I may believe your story, I can't let you walk free until your alpha comes, therefore you will stay in custody but not in these cells, don't attempt to escape, my wolves will shoot you down before the first bone in your body shifts." Emric's words were cold and domineering, with his now 6'9 height, it was terrifying.

"Yes Alpha." Smith responds and I nod to the guards as we leave. "Sir what of the human." One of the wolves asked. "Leave him, just don't let him die." I replied walking out. "Sorry about this whole mess, I will get it handled, go to your mate." I asserted and Emric chuckled.

"I know you can handle it, but I'm not putting the whole burden on you, see you in the morning, tell me when you get home and rest, you're gonna need it." I nodded to my brother as he pulled me into a hug. "Love you Train, don't forget it and take care of yourself." I chuckled as he did what he always did when I was putting pressure on myself. "Love you too, Em."

+++

(I felt I brought out little of the relationship between Em and Train in the first book, so I guess this shows that even though the two aren't really biological brothers they love each other more because of it.)

LMJ