15

Today was finally the day to split the rescues between packs. My emotions were all over the place, to say the least. On one hand, I was happy, excited even, to see some of the rescues off. I was hopeful that the next time I saw them it would be when they were in a better place.

On the other hand, I was worried about them. It wasn't that I didn't trust Alpha Emerson or Alpha Bowen—In fact, it was the opposite. After years of knowing the two men, I trusted them deeply. More than I trusted my own brother. It wasn't them I was worried about. This was a new experience for many of these wolves. So far we had managed to keep interaction to a minimum, but it wouldn't always be like that. I was worried that they wouldn't be able to adjust.

It wasn't just the rescues that were leaving I was worried about, but the ones that were staying as well. Especially after my conversation with Elder Samuel yesterday. I knew the elders wouldn't be happy when they found out about Milo being my mate. I knew there would be trouble in that regard, but I was worried that the distaste they harbored toward Milo would extend to the other rescues as well. I might've just been overthinking the situation, but if I was right then I needed to get a handle on the situation fast.

"Stop making that face. You look constipated."

My eyes shot toward Indiana who was sitting on the ground. Stellan was beside her, leaning against a tree while we waited for Alpha Emerson and Alpha Bowen to show up. The warriors and Emilia had stayed behind in order to prepare. I wanted the transfer process to go as smoothly as possible.

"Constipated?" I frowned. "Are you saying that when I think I look constipated?"

"No, I'm saying when you overthink you look constipated," she corrected and I rolled my eyes.

"You don't know what I was thinking about."

"Maybe not, but I know you," she said confidently. "And when you frown like that, furrow your brows, and start talking to yourself then you're overthinking."

"I don't talk to myself."

"You do," they both said in unison.

"Come on. What's on your mind? Are you worrying about Milo? Simon won't let anything happen to him you know," Indiana said.

"That's not it," I told her.

I trusted Simon with Milo. The two of them seemed to have gotten along well enough when I had left him with Indiana and Simon last time. I also knew that if something did go wrong, Simon wouldn't hesitate to link Indiana or me.

"Then what is it?" She asked me.

"Elder Samuel decided to pay me a visit yesterday," I admitted. I could already feel my bad mood from yesterday begin to return.

"Not good things?" Stellan questioned but I was sure we all already knew the answer to that.

"He wants me to pick another wolf to be either the second alpha or luna."

"Seriously?" Indiana scoffed and shook her head. "I mean, we all knew that the elders wouldn't stay silent for long, but come on."

"They probably only waited this long to try and make a plan for when you said no," Stellan told me.

"Why haven't we just gotten rid of the elder system? Other packs have already started to move away from it," Indiana muttered.

The idea had passed my mind before. It was no secret that as the packs evolved more and more of them were starting to pull away from the elder system. Instead, they were implementing new systems in replacement of it. Originally, I decided not to because the elders' intervention didn't cause much harm, but now I wasn't so sure.

"Do you honestly think they'd go away easily?" Stellan asked Indiana.

"Did we look the other way when we found out what Alfie McClain was doing because rescuing those wolves wouldn't be easy?" She retorted.

"That's not the same," he frowned.

"Stop it," I instructed the two just as a white van began to approach with more in the distance. "We'll finish this conversation later."

Neither one objected so we waited quietly until the cars came to a stop. Alpha Emerson approached from one Alpha Bowen from another. Each of them had their betas by their side and some of their pack members along to help drive the vans.

"Alphas," I greeted the two men, holding my hand out.

"Slater," Alpha Emerson grinned and tightly clasped my hand whilst Alpha Bowen nodded in greeting. "It's finally time for the split. Is everything ready?"

"It is," I nodded. "The wolves are being prepared to go as we speak."

Emilia and the doctors were giving everyone who was leaving one last check-over and helping make sure they were ready to go.

"How did you decide which wolves are going where?" A short, blonde-haired woman behind Alpha Emerson asked.

Stellan decided to answer. "The wolves who get more anxious in larger groups will be going with Alpha Bowen since the Red Woods is smaller. The fewer members the higher the chance the rescues will adjust better. The wolves who we believe will have an easier time adjusting will be going with Alpha Emerson. The ones who require extra help will be staying so we can focus more on them."

After talking with the doctors, Stellan, and Indiana, we decided this would be the best method. As it stood now, a decent amount of the rescues had shifted. As they did so, we tried to match the records we had with the wolves. So far it was mainly the wolves who hadn't been everyday participants in Alfie McClain's fighting ring that were shifting. The ones who were more involved were more hostile and distrusting which we expected. By sending out the ones who had already shifted we could focus more on the ones who needed more support.

Emilia was already talking to the wolves who could understand us and was letting them know what was happening. We didn't want to scare them any more than we already had.

"We should go. Emilia said they're ready to begin," Indiana informed us.

Indiana, Stellan, and I started back toward the pack while Alpha Bowen and Alpha Emerson loaded back into their vans and gave directions to their pack members.

The walk back to the pack wasn't far. Once we got there, I could see Emilia talking to the warriors. Her head turned toward us when the vans came into view.

"Everything's ready?" I asked her one last time just to be sure.

"Everything's ready," she confirmed with a nod while Alpha Emerson and Alpha Bowen stepped out of their vans. "Let's start with moving the wolves who are going to the Lunar Night."

Emilia's eyes clouded over and I could tell that she was linking the warriors to start bringing the wolves out. I made my way toward the two alphas.

"We're going to start with moving the wolves who are going to your pack, Emerson since they already have an understanding of what's going on."

"Alright, let's get this started then," he grinned.

So that's what we did. We started to bring small groups of rescues out and help them get seated and settled on the vans. At first, we moved slowly to make sure that we weren't overwhelming anyone, but as more time passed we gradually began to speed up.

I knew this would likely be the easiest group to move since the majority of these wolves could understand us. Some of the wolves were curious and a few even asked questions. For most of the questions, I let Alpha Emerson answer since the wolves were going to his pack. It only made sense that they already started to get to know him.

Van after van filled up and soon enough, all the wolves were prepared to go.

"That went better than I expected," Stellan said to me as we watched the last van door shut.

"Well, that was only the first part," I reminded him.

"Still, it does give some hope, right? I mean, considering how they changed in so little time."

"You're right," I agreed quietly.

It did give me hope. It gave me hope for the rest of the rescues and it gave me hope for Milo. Like the group of rescues we had just loaded into vans, he had also made such a large improvement in such a short time. There were still some things he needed help with, but I believed that in time he would master them.

"Are you ready to continue?" Emilia asked me through our link as Alpha Emerson's vans began to drive away. Alpha Emerson decided to stay behind to help, but his warriors and beta had already gone back.

The image of the skittish wolf from the other day, Ezra, formed in my mind and I took a deep breath. "Yes. Let's continue."

As expected, the second group was much more skittish than the first. I could hear the sounds of the whimpers and whines as the wolves slowly emerged. Eyes darted around, taking in the area and I could feel sadness begin to form as I stared at them.

This was the middle group of the rescues. The first group was the calmest, this group was nervous and skittish, while the last group was downright hostile and distrusting.

Most wolves didn't try to fight as we helped them into the vans. We kept the number of warriors small and contact to a minimum to try and make sure that there wouldn't be any problems. We had gotten about half of the second group loaded up when I could hear the sound of a familiar growl.

It didn't take long for me to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. I watched as one of the warriors struggled to contain a thrashing grey wolf and my eyes softened. It was Ezra.

I wasted no time as I made my way toward the warrior and gently took the small, grey wolf from him.

"I'll take care of this one," I said and the warrior looked relieved as he nodded.

Ezra's thrashes became much more erratic and he started to shake violently. I figured it had to do with the aura coming off of me and the fact that his movements were limited, so I sat him on the ground—not quite giving him enough space to take off, but enough to where he wouldn't feel completely trapped.

"I know this is a new experience for you," I told Ezra softly. "I can't make you any promises, but I believe that you're really going to like the Red Woods. The pack is smaller and there's space for you to freely run around. The members are really nice as well. You won't have to worry about being locked up again."

I didn't know if he could understand me or not, but the words seemed to calm Ezra down some. The two of us took slow steps toward the van. I let him walk on his own and stood beside him. We were about halfway there when Ezra stopped. My brows furrowed as the once partially calm wolf's demeanor shifted and he grew more antsy.

"Ezra?" I start to crouch down, but I pause when out of the corner of my eye, I catch Alpha Bowen staring down at the wolf. The two's eyes connected and I glance between them, watching the way Ezra shifts, before it clicks.

They were mates.

In a flash, Ezra was scooped off the ground and pulled into Alpha Bowen's arms. Ezra's eyes widened and he began to shake once again. I watched Alpha Bowen's eyes soften and he began to speak quietly to the smaller wolf. I slowly moved away to give them space.

At least I knew now that Ezra would never have to suffer again.

A hand clasped my shoulder and I turned to see Alpha Emerson staring at the two like I was.

"That his mate?" He asked me.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "I think so."

Alpha Bowen placed Ezra into the van and Alpha Emerson smiled.

"I'm a little jealous," Alpha Emerson said playfully. "How do both of you manage to find your mate around the same time?"

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Yours is out there."

He snorted. "Thanks, Slater. Speaking of mates, where's yours?"

"He's back at the house," I said.

"How is he?"

The smile on my face grew. "He's doing good. He shifted not too long ago."

Alpha Emerson's eyes lit up. "Yeah? Is he talking to you yet?"

I shook my head. "Not yet, but I'm not worried about that."

I wasn't. Milo was already extremely expressive. Even if he didn't talk, he had no problem showing me what he wanted through his actions and facial expressions. Talking wasn't the end of the world; if it truly was a problem then he could learn sign language.

"I'm happy for you, Slater," Alpha Emerson said. "Really. I'm glad to see you smiling more."

"Thank you—"

"Alpha Slater," Simon linked. "You're needed back at the house."

The smile on my face immediately dropped. "What's wrong?"

"Slater?" I heard Alpha Emerson call out.

"I need to go," I told him.

"Stellan, Indiana," I linked them. "Something came up with Milo. I need to go. Handle the rest of the rescues."

I didn't wait for either one of them to respond before I took off in the direction of the house. Simon didn't respond which only fueled my nerves. Was Milo okay? Did he somehow hurt himself? I knew that he wasn't used to shifting yet.

No, that couldn't be it. I would've felt it.

I quickly reached the house and unlocked the door in a hurry. I opened the door and expected to find Simon sitting there, but he wasn't.

Sitting on the couch, leaning back, and staring me in the face was Solomon.

Simon sat on the couch awkwardly with Milo beside him, but his attention was glued to the TV. Solomon's lips tilted up slightly and he nodded at me.

"Hello, Slater."

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