Josy Every morning I wake up with Ivan and Malik next to me; I don't even bother putting them in their own beds anymore, and I doubt any of us would be able to sleep without the others present. The day after Mano left, Peter started building my cottage. Alpha Chris had sent over a few builders to help out, and besides my cottage, they finished four more cottages. Yesterday, Conan and Kanoa painted the inside and outside of my cottage, and after they were done, Peter put varnish on the hardwood floors in my cottage while I had been outside with the boys ordering furniture as they were planting flowers with Mylana. She chose to use Lantana with Purple Daydream Dwarf Loropetalum and a few other plants I forgot to remember the names of, but it is looking gorgeous. Peter just told me I can move the furniture inside when it arrives in the morning, but that I can already put up the curtains, and I am excited to see the look on Ivan and Malik's faces when they see their rooms. When Mano was still unconscious, we had talked about what they would want in their rooms, and sometimes we had fun looking at furniture for their rooms, but most of the time it had ended in tears when they saw something that reminded them of home. I got to know their family a little during those moments, and I think it helped them to talk about their family. They know what happened to my parents and why Alpha Lakota had asked me to join her Pack. Malik had growled angrily when he heard my story, while Ivan had crawled onto my lap to hug me, and I had held them both when they had cried for their family. The next morning, I watch as Pack-members move my furniture into my cottage; they are putting everything in front of the cottage, and Conan and Kanoa are going to help me place it where I want it to go. Two Warriors carry the parts of my bed up the stairs; Peter is there to show them where to put it, and he will assemble it for me. When it is almost lunch time, everything is moved inside, and I walk to the dining room with Conan and Kanoa; Ivan and Malik are already waiting for us. After lunch, they head back to the library, and I go back to my cottage after I have packed up everything in my Quarters; I will unpack everything in the next few days. Right now, I just want to make sure we can live there, and I have a few more things to take care of. I make our beds with the linen I ordered; I unpack the toys I got for the boys and place them in bins in their rooms. Their rooms have a connecting door; they can keep it open if they want to or close and lock it when they get older. I place pictures in both their rooms: one of the three of us and one of the two of them. I hang a painting above their beds, similar to my necklace, and my hand automatically goes up to the pendant. I caress the tiny cub as I think of my Mate, and I pray to the Goddess to keep him safe; I need him to come back to me and the boys. He hurt me before he left, but last night I remembered something my Mom always said, "Always talk with your Mate, especially when he has hurt you. They don't always realize they did something to hurt you, and we need to make sure they know what they said or did wrong." Mano is my Mate, and I am not willing to give up on us just yet, but he better understand I will have someone kick his ass next time. I walk into our bedroom and start making our bed. I am exhausted by the time I am done with our room, but everything is as I had imagined. Pictures of the boys are scattered throughout the cottage; a picture of the boys sleeping on Mano's chest is on the nightstand on my side of the bed and a picture of the three of us on Mano's nightstand. Tomorrow I will move everything from my Quarters to our cottage, and then I will return to work; I need to do something until Mano gets back or I will drive myself nuts. Romano We are half an hour from Jazzy's former Pack, and we just shifted back to our Human forms. Alpha Lakota is on the phone with Alpha Mauro; he has already placed Warriors around the territory, and they have orders to make sure that no one escapes. This is the day Jazzy will get closure, and I will get revenge for my family. Lance has sent a message home to make sure everyone knows that we reached our destination; I watch Jazzy as she is pacing back and forth, and everyone can tell that she is anxious and angry. Anxious because she will be faced with former Pack-members that treated her badly, and angry because of what her former Alpha's actions caused. Last night, I finally told them what I had seen and heard that night, and Jazzy lost control to Dusk; she was one pissed-off Lycan. She swore that today both males would pay for what happened to my family, and I know she will rip them apart herself if she has to. As we approach their border, a Warrior looks at Jazzy with disgust in his eyes, but she just ignores him as she steps across the border, and when he tries to step in front of her, she punches his lights out. "Just make sure Josy never asks her to kick your ass, Mano." Tychon mumbles in my head, and I vow to myself that I will make sure Josy will never be that pissed off with me. The next person we run into falls to her knees when she sees Jazzy, and I know that she will be on our list. One of Alpha Mauro's Warriors stalks towards her, and I hear him mutter the word "Mate" as the female looks up at him with big eyes, not quite believing what he says. The closer we get to the Pack-house, the more Pack-members we run into, and the majority of them give Jazzy dirty looks, but she doesn't pay them any attention as she keeps walking. Two of our Warriors have found their Mates as well, but they both looked at Jazzy before going over to their Mates, and both females seemed to be relieved to find their Mates to be from a different Pack. "Alpha Mauro, this might not be my place to tell you. It might not be something you want to hear, but I doubt it will be a good idea if your Warrior's Mate stays here with him. I don't know the details, but from what Jazzy did tell us, their lives were hell here; maybe you should let them decide where they want to live." I say.He looks at me for a moment before he answers me, "You are right; it isn't something I want to hear. However, I am glad you did. I would hate to be responsible for her to keep living in hell; I will talk to them about this, and I know Alpha Lakota will accept him as a member if they want to leave." A female on the front porch in a very skimpy dress snaps her head towards Alpha Mauro, and I see his head snap towards Jazzy. The look she gives him tells me he should stay away from her, and by the look on his face, he got the message she was sending. The female walks down the steps, and as she sees Jazzy, her facial expression changes rapidly. "What the fuck are you doing here? You should be lying dead in a ditch somewhere, rotting away." She yells at Jazzy, but Jazzy looks rather bored with the female. "Layla, I have no idea what has crawled into your panties. Did you finally finish every male in this Pack? No one left to spread your legs for?" Jazzy asks, and when Layla tries to punch Jazzy, Alpha Mauro stops her by grabbing her wrist. He turns her towards him and, without hesitating a second, he rejects her, but even though she is on the ground in pain, she isn't willing to accept it. "Whatever you want. Let's see if you can stand the pain when I am with another female." He responds, and I get this feeling he will do it just to make her feel the pains of betrayal, to make her accept his rejection. One of our female Warriors walks up to him and asks if he needs some help with a wicked smile on her face. Alpha Mauro looks at her with a smile on his face, "Sure, why not. Maybe Jazzy can tell us where we can find a room to use." He says, and Layla realizes he will go through with it, making her feel the excruciating pain when they have sex. She accepts his rejection, understanding that he will never want her and will do anything to make her understand that. "Did you finally come to your senses, Jazzy?" Her former Alpha asks as he walks out of the Pack-house, but he growls the second he sees Tychon standing next to her. "No. We came here to make you and Ruben answer for the massacre of an entire family, and before you start objecting, we have permission from the Council to end both of you. We have had that permission for months, and I regret we didn't act on it sooner; my baby Sister will never get to meet her Mate's family because of the two of you. Two young boys will have to grow up without their parents, and you and Ruben are to blame for that." Jazzy replies, and I can see that most Pack-members don't care about what they did. Alpha Mauro will have his hands full with merging this Pack with his own, but I know that he will have no problem with putting them all back in their place, and I wish I could stick around to see it happen.