Lakota After lunch, Luna Victoria asks me to follow her as we are off to see Mylana and Rory. I ask Luna Victoria to inform me when we are close, so I can wait at a safe distance. "I don't want to scare her or Rory, even though I doubt he will understand everything," I say, and Luna Victoria tells me that it would be best if I stayed back a bit. Mylana is outside the cottage but rushes back in the moment she sees me. Luna Victoria goes inside to talk to Mylana. "Lakota, you can come in. Mylana would like to hear what you have to say," Luna Victoria calls out, and I make my way into the cottage to see a petite female with a two-month-old pup in her arms. "Mylana, thank you for allowing me to introduce myself to you and for being willing to listen to what I have to say. My name is Lakota, and my father is Alpha Keir of Crystal Blood Pack. Our Pack is currently at twenty-one adults and two pups. We are heading to a territory that was abandoned almost a century ago, and you are more than welcome to join us. I would also like to inform you that Quinn, who is a Gamma, has asked me to tell you that we will all keep you and Rory safe. We will be leaving after breakfast, so if you want to join us, I suggest you be at the Pack-house by then. For now, I will let you talk to Luna Victoria and give you time to think about what you want to do," I say before I walk out of the cottage. There is not much else I can do, and Mylana needs to take her time to think about what I said. I don't know who her former mate is, and if I am being honest, I don't give a damn. If he comes looking for her, I will kick his fucking ass and end him if I have to. No one does to another what he did to her. "Let him come. I will enjoy myself showing him a female can fight back," Lotus growls in my head. I am surprised she didn't miscarry from the beating he gave her, and if I find out that Rory is at a disadvantage because of what he did, I will go find him myself to give him a taste of his own medicine. By the time I get back, most of the things we asked for are already in our room, and the rest will be there within an hour or two. The pups are looking happy in their new clothes, and even Alice looks a bit more at ease in her new outfit. "How do you feel?" I ask her as I sit down next to her, and she says she is no longer in pain."Good to hear that, but that is not what I want to know, and you know it," I say to her, and she tells me she has never felt this relaxed around high-ranking werewolves and Lycans before. "I always assumed everyone was the same, but Crystal Blood Pack and Silver River Pack have shown me that there are those that actually treat everyone the same," she says. Dad walks in with the pack doctor as Doc explains a few of the items he has collected for us. "Quinn and Alice, I would like the two of you to go with Doc and get yourselves checked. I know both of you are no longer in pain, but I want to make sure there is no permanent damage," Dad says. "Alpha, if you don't mind, I would like Doc to check Lynn and Josh as well. I know they look fine, but our lives haven't been easy, and I don't think I could forgive myself if I let this opportunity pass by," Alice says, and Doc tells her he is happy to look at the pups. "I will check if they are where they are supposed to be at their age, and if there is anything you can do to help them if they are not," Doc says as he introduces himself to Lynn and Josh. The four of them follow Doc out of the room, and I start packing up everything we have gotten so far.We have enough backpacks for each warrior to carry one. Lance grabs a larger backpack for himself to make sure he can carry some of the things for Lynn and Josh, and Dad takes the rest of their stuff to put it in his backpack. Lance fills up his old backpack with everything that belongs to Alice and puts it against the wall near the bed. Alice will be sharing the bed with her siblings, and Quinn has volunteered to take the couch, just to make sure there is someone there in case it is necessary. There is a knock on the door before it opens to reveal Luna Victoria, and I smile when I see Mylana right behind her with Rory in her arms. "Keir, I would like you to meet Mylana and Rory. Mylana would like to take you up on your offer to join you, and we thought it would be best if she stayed here for the night," Luna Victoria says, and Dad slowly walks over to Mylana to introduce himself to her. Sela offers to take Rory from her and sits down on the floor at the foot of the bed while Dad talks to Mylana. Lance and Colton rearrange two backpacks to make sure that Mylana doesn't have to carry too much. After all, she already has a pup she has to take with her, even though I think Sela will help her out with that. The door opens again, and when Lynn and Josh see Rory in Sela's arms, they both walk over quietly. It causes Mylana to smile as she watches them sit down on either side of Sela. We all listen as the pups are talking to Rory, and he slowly drifts off to sleep. We get informed that everyone is perfectly healthy and that no permanent damage was done to either one of the females—not that I thought it would have, but you can't be too careful. Dinner is amazing as we get to meet a few more pack members, and each of them hopes we will get safely to our destination. I know we will get there just fine; the only question is when will we get there and how big will our Pack be by that time. Dad was never able to find out how big the territory is because, according to the Archives at the Academy, a part of the territory was hidden from the rest of the world, and every Alpha had refused to reveal that information to the Council. Dad and I had looked at a map of the area, but we were never able to determine where this hidden part of the Pack was located, and I had eventually told Dad that it meant that it was hidden well enough to keep a Pack safe. It is the main reason why we want to settle down there; if we can find the hidden territory, it will mean that some can finally start living again. I share my room with Mylana and Rory, not only to make sure she feels safe but also to be there if she needs someone to help her with anything. Dad didn't mind I kicked him out of our room for her; he was more than willing to make room for the two of them. "Lakota, can you keep an eye on Rory while I take a shower?" Mylana asks as I walk out of the bathroom, and I see that the little pup is still fast asleep on the bed. I tell her to take that shower as I place my clothes on the foot of the bed. After getting dressed, I lay down on the bed next to Rory and just look at him as he is making little noises in his sleep. Last night I found out that his father is the Gamma of a pack hours away from here, and by the time we get to our destination, there will be even more distance between them. His father had lost his fated mate a year after finding her, and with no offspring produced, their Alpha arranged the Gamma's mating with Mylana. Mylana’s father had a debt with the Alpha but was unable to pay back what he owed, so she was given the choice: either she became the Gamma's mate, or the Alpha would turn them Rogues. She chose the lesser evil choice but regretted it the moment she had gotten marked by the Gamma, and she had thought she was lucky to never have gotten pregnant. Despite finding another female, he still visited her bed every night, and even though she fought him every single time, it had been in vain; he was too strong for her. The day she found out she was with pup, she started planning her escape, and I already know how that turned out for her. I am just grateful she was able to keep Rory safe and that both of them survived the attack from Rory's father. If he ever comes after them, there will be a lot of pack members that are willing to take care of him for her. Rory opens his eyes to give me a huge smile as he stretches out his arms to me. "Good morning, Rory. Are you ready to start a new adventure?" I say as I hold him in my arms. We take everything with us when we head down for breakfast, and Sela sticks with Mylana as I had suspected. Everyone eats, talks, and laughs during breakfast; it is a nice chaotic mess, and I hope we will be able to have many meals like this in our new territory. It takes us a while to say goodbye to everyone that came to see us off, and I know that we will have a pack we can rely on in our corner. Let's hope we will never have to call on their assistance for whatever reason.