Evander After tonight, there is only one day left before the days of the Full Moon start, and I really hope that Umayza will be awake during those days. I want her to be able to tell that we are her Mates. I want her to experience for herself how it feels to find your fated Mate. I had heard so many stories from family and friends on what it felt like when they found their fated mate, but it hadn't come close to what I felt when I found Umayza. It is very difficult to describe how it feels because most words just don't cover the essence of the experience. Hell, Conri and I had had difficulty explaining how it felt to one another, and we share a Mate. So how can anyone try to explain it to someone if I hadn't been able to explain it to Conri and he hadn't been able to find the right words either? There was something we did agree on: the words to describe our Mate. Beautiful, fierce, and cute were the words we used, but after talking to her and mating with her, I know there are a few other words that describe her. Amazing, loving, forgiving, and extraordinary are just a few other words that can describe her. Yonatan just finished preparing dinner, and he informs us that we can fill up our plates in the kitchen. "I didn't feel like setting the table, and I doubt the two of you want to leave her side for too long," he says, and I am glad Yonatan took that into consideration. Orion is the first to go to the kitchen, and I smile as I see him come back with two plates of food. "Here you go," he says as he holds the plates in front of me and Conri. "Thank you, little Brother," Conri says as he takes the plate from Orion, and I quickly follow him. "It looks as if her eye movement becomes less and less; do you think she might wake up soon?" Malik asks, but none of us knows the answer. I keep my eyes on Umayza for a few moments, and I see that Malik is correct; they don't move so rapidly anymore. We enjoy our dinner as Orion asks us about the Pack we grew up in, and we are more than happy to answer his questions. We tell him about our former Alpha and his Pups, about the trouble Conri and I could get into, and how we once lived as the other for a week. It still sends us into a fit of laughter. Conri had failed a test in school, and on Monday, I had taken his classes while he had taken mine. In order to make it work, we had to do this for a couple of days, and at the end of the week, I had re-taken the test for Conri. When Conri had gotten his grade for the test, he had confessed that we had switched places for an entire week, and our teacher had been stunned to find out no one had noticed. She gave Conri another chance to re-take the test because he had been honest with her. He had barely passed the test, but he was proud of his grade as he had done it all by himself. Conri found out during school he sucked at the theoretical side of life, that he enjoyed training and talking about strategy. Like Theron, he enjoyed coming up with plans, and he was damn good at it. It was one of the reasons we decided to join the Council and the King's Army; we also wanted to protect more than just our own Pack, and we haven't regretted our decision. There was one downside to it: we don't get to go home often, and that is also why I hope Umayza will wake up soon. Conri Talking to Orion about our birth Pack brings back a lot of memories; I really miss being there, and I think I might need to talk to Evander about where we will settle down with Umayza. We need a Pack where we can go when we are between assignments and where I know our Pups will be safe. "Evander, there is something we need to talk about. Something we will have to discuss with Umayza eventually," I say through our mind-link. As the evening slowly passes, the others leave one by one, except for Orion, and I wouldn't ask him to leave. He is as worried about his Sister as we are, and I know he doesn't want to leave her side, so I don't say anything when he sits down in an armchair facing us. Evander asks him how he is feeling, and he tells Evander he will feel a whole lot better when his Sister wakes up. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" Evander asks as he turns towards me. Like me, he doesn't mind Orion's presence, and I know we can discuss this with Orion in the room with us. "I think we need to discuss where we are going to settle down with Umayza. The Academy is no place to raise Pups, and it will be difficult to find a babysitter there. I doubt Umayza wants to go back to her former Pack; I think she will kill us if we even suggest it," I say, and Orion smiles at me before he says, "You better warn me when you are going to suggest it, big Brother." Evander and I stare at him, and eventually I ask him why, as he doesn't respond to our silence. "So I can start digging your graves," he says, and the three of us are in stitches. There is no doubt in my mind he would actually start digging graves for us. "Shouldn't you include your Captain in this conversation?" Orion asks, and for a moment, Evander and I don't say a word. Usually, a Squad stays together at the same Pack, but I never bothered to ask anyone in our Squad where they would want to settle down. Before either one of us can respond, Armand walks back into the cottage with Malik right behind him, and soon the others have joined us; Orion had sent Malik a message to get Armand in here. I explain what we had been discussing, and Tarja offers her help to Orion if he ever needs to dig our graves. "Actually, I have given this some thought over the years," Armand responds. "Normally, I would make that decision with my Mate, but seeing the fact I still haven't found her, I made a decision after the two of you found Umayza. We will discuss this as a team, but you get to make the suggestions on which Packs.You have found your Mate, and I know you will make a decision we can all live with. Discuss this with Umayza before you ask us to help you decide exactly where we will settle down, but keep in mind that not every Pack wants a Royal Squad on their territory," he says. We know there are Alphas that think the Council asks us to settle down in a Pack to spy on them; they don't want us on their territory as we will not become Pack-members, and they don't like being responsible for the safety of our Mates. In the past, some Alphas thought they could use a Squad that had settled on their territory but had been disappointed when the Council had stepped in to let them know that the Squad only answered to them and the King. It had made settling down on Pack territory a lot more difficult for a Squad. Nowadays, if a Squad settles down on a Pack's territory, it is the birth Pack of one of their members or one of their Mates; usually, there is still family living there, and that makes some things a lot easier. I know Alpha Amarah won't object to us settling down, and I know Mom will welcome all of us. "Captain, there is something we might need to figure out. What about Umayza's protection detail?" I ask him, as I just realized she will still need protection, and I am not sure if the Council will assign her to our Squad as they did with Aziza. If they don't assign her to our Squad, I will be more at ease if her protection detail stays with her, but I also know that every Squad she has to work with will protect her with their lives. They will consider her one of their own because she is our Mate. Callan asks Evander where he wants to settle down, and his response makes me smile, "Wherever Umayza wants." Kane agrees with him; he doesn't care where we live as long as our Mate is there with us. I ask Malik what he will do now that he can't go back to his Pack. "I broke the Pack-bond after I put the chains and cuffs on them. I was there for a reason, and that reason is taken care of now. I will go back to my Brother and take some time to figure out what I want to do, maybe settle down somewhere permanently," he answers me. I think most of us will settle down somewhere; maybe some of them will finally find their Mate and even have a few Pups in the near future. It is something Evander and I talked about after we met Umayza, and we will let her decide on when that time comes; we will even accept it if she doesn't want Pups. Mylo and Kane had been a bit more reluctant to accept that, but pointing out to them we couldn't force her had made it a little easier, and asking them if they wanted her to reject us because we wanted something she didn't want finally brought them to their knees. There is one thing they hate more than not having Pups, and that is losing their Mate.