Keir I am still amazed at the territory Lakota found. After we cleared the debris that was once the Pack-house, Peter discovered the Pack's Archive, and it had been preserved nicely from the elements. We didn't take the time to take a look at it; according to Lakota, we had all the time in the world to go through it later. After we rebuilt the last three structures we found, we started to remove overgrowth around the Pack-house and Warrior building. Lakota and I had informed the Council together, and when she explained what she wanted to do with our territory, the Council welcomed it wholeheartedly. "I do have a request, though. I want to build a diner with a motel at the fork in the road; it will be where you can bring anyone that needs refuge, and it will allow Pack-members to meet with family away from the Pack," Lakota had explained, and it only took the Council seconds to approve it. Chris helped Peter out with the design and building it, and Lakota decided to inform him about the reason why we were going to need it. He told her that whatever we needed to rebuild the rest of the territory he would get it to us, and he would never tell anyone who or what it was for. Once the diner was complete, we decided that it was time for Lakota to take over as Alpha, and a week later I stepped down as the Alpha of Crystal Blood Pack, letting Lakota take over the position. I have spent my time clearing away the overgrowth and watching my Daughter flourish as an Alpha. There is a huge clearing behind the Warrior-house and the Pack-house, and the clearing is surrounded by cottages, but each of them are in a major state of decay. We have gotten into a nice daily routine, and slowly but steadily our Pack-members are getting stronger; even our Omegas are able to defend themselves. Darrius and Lakota taught them how to use a bow and arrows, making them capable of helping defend our Pack if it ever becomes necessary, and I know they feel much better with knowing how they can defend themselves and our Pack. I watch as Lakota and Lance are looking at the tree line in front of us; they have been each other's life-line in the past few months, and I know both of them have become a better team because of it. They can sometimes finish the other's sentence, or just a look is enough to get the other one moving.We know it will take a few years to clear this territory and rebuild the structures that once stood here, but we will keep going with this to rebuild our territory. Lance Lakota and I will spend our day going through the last files the Alpha had in his office; somehow they survived nearly a century of elements, and we want to find out if there is something here that will give us a peek into the day-to-day life of the Pack-members. "Okay, let's get this over with. I want to get back to rebuilding this territory and find a way to keep this territory hidden from anyone that wants to cause us problems or harm," Lakota says as she spreads the papers out on the table; I sit down next to her as she places a file in front of us. After an hour, Sela walks in with some coffee and snacks for us, and she leaves without saying a word, knowing we have a lot to go through. After the first file, we each grab a file to read through, and so far it seems as if these would be files they would leave in the other Pack-house. Each file contains basic information on a Pack-member with different ranks within the Pack, but so far we haven't found a file of a high-ranking member, and Lakota doubts we will find them in here. She thinks they kept all the important files in their Archive, just to make sure no one would be able to find them. She pushes a piece of paper in front of me, and as I read through it I get this feeling this wasn't supposed to be here; it contains Pack-rules. Something no Pack will leave out in the open for anyone to find, and yet here it is right in front of me: the Pack-rules. Our Pack-rules are a work in progress; we won't be able to finish them until we know how to handle new Pack-members and our hidden territory. Something we are still discussing on a daily basis; Lakota doesn't want to accept any new Pack-members until we have resolved this issue. Not because she fears they might tell others—at least not the ones we might accept in the next year. She fears that once it gets known that the hidden territory is found, we will receive refuge requests from Wolves or Lycans with ill intentions, and she wants to prevent that from happening. Most of the rules are what you will find in most Packs; rules we have to live by according to our Laws, and they are rules we have written down for our Pack too. It isn't until I am halfway through the second page that I understand why Lakota placed it in front of me. I read the sentence again before I turn towards her; I see that she is watching me, and I realize she has been watching me ever since I started reading the Pack-rules. "This at least explains why the Pack grew weaker, but why state specifically to reject your Mate if he or she was anything other than a Wolf? What else is there besides a Lycan?" I ask her as I glance back at the paper in my hand, and I know she doesn't have an answer any more than I do. "Did you read the rest of it?" I ask as I let my eyes go back to the paper in my hand, and she tells me she had been too stunned to read the rest. The next rule states that anyone that doesn't reject his or her Mate gets banished; the one after that states that anyone hiding their Mate that isn't a Wolf will face death with their Mate, and I stare at Lakota as I hear Lotus growl softly. "Sorry, Lotus doesn't like that a Pack's leadership would do this to their Pack-members. I know that none of our members would have wanted to live here under those rules; they would have walked away and they would have informed the Council," she responds. We talk about the Pack-members that found a Mate that wasn't a Wolf and had hidden it from their leadership; it must have happened somewhere during the history of this Pack for that rule to have been in place. We know that there are Wolves that wouldn't be able to recognize a Lycan if they sat next to one another, but our Pack-members have been trained to sense the difference by Keir and Kobal. We decide to discuss this with the entire Pack at dinner and let them think about why this Pack might have made this a part of their Pack-rules. I find a binder with a black bow holding it closed, and I slowly pull the bow to open it; I can barely hide my excitement as I slowly open it. The crest on the lock box Lakota found is also on the binder, and I hope it will answer a few of our questions, but I am not going to hold my breath. The first paper is dated shortly after the war with Humans, and it is a letter from the Alpha that formed his Pack here. Thursday, October 1st, 2189 My name is Ferdy, and today I will settle in this territory with my Pack. My members and I were once a part of one of the largest Packs in the States, but with the raging war against the Humans I lost most of my old Pack, and we made the decision to settle in a new territory. We all need a new start, far away from the bad memories of the war. I lost my parents and my siblings within the first two months of the war, and three months later I lost my Mate of six years. I don't blame the Alpha who is responsible for our kind to get discovered; I might have done what he did if she had been my Mate, and I doubt anyone could have predicted this outcome. We had been wandering around this area for a few months now, and when my Gamma found the hidden territory we discussed with the Pack how we could keep it hidden from the rest of the world. One of my Warriors and his Mate came up with the answer; they were willing to stay in the main territory without knowing how to get to the hidden territory. They said that they wouldn't be able to tell anyone if they didn't know where it was located, and a few more were willing to do the same. This will keep our main territory inhabited all of the time, and we can build a small Pack-house to keep up an appearance in front of visitors, but we also decide not to tell the Council the real size of our Pack. We have cleared the area to build a few structures, and we have furnished the small Pack-house; there are even a few files in the Alpha's office. Our hidden territory has been prepared as well, but today we will all be in the main territory for the ceremony and to show the Council where we will be settling down. Once the Council is gone, our Pack-members that will be living in the hidden territory will receive an Alpha order to keep the entrance to our hidden territory a secret. They all agreed to it voluntarily; none of them wants to risk revealing the entrance by accident, and I am proud of my Pack-members. Alpha Ferdy, Hidden Mountain Pack. I hand the letter to Lakota before I start reading the next letter.