Lakota We made good progress by the time we stop for lunch. It isn't easy traveling on foot with twenty-two adults and three pups, but we manage just fine, and Rory has been on his best behavior. We are in a small clearing that is surrounded by trees with white and purple flowers all around us. Dad and I discuss which direction we have to go in. Colton has Warriors walking around the clearing to keep an eye out for trouble, not that we expect much trouble out here in no man's land. "Lakota, get to the north side of the clearing. There are a male and female fighting," one of the Warriors links me, and I jump to my feet, running in the direction he told me. We watch as the female is able to punch the male in his face. He lands on his ass with a loud thud and looks up at her with anger in his eyes. "I am not going to be your breeding machine. You rejected me for that Bitch. You will stay the fuck away from me, or I am going to kill you," she growls at him, and I think I might have an idea. "Dad, did Doc give you any sedatives?" I ask him through the mind-link. After I tell him what I need it for, he tells me he will be there straight away. "If he is an Alpha, there won't be much I can do, but otherwise I could Alpha command him to never speak a word about today," Dad says as he makes his way over to me. Colton has crept through the forest to end up at the male's back, and the moment we step forward, he pales. "I don't think kindly about males turning females into their personal breeding machines, and I will do anything I can to protect them," Lotus says as I step closer to the male. Colton is standing behind him with a bag in his hand. "Looks like your former Mate decided to leave you and the Pack to find herself a better place to stay. If she wants to, she can accompany us, and I know of a Pack that will be happy to have her as a member," Lotus is only an inch away from his face, and he backs into Colton.Colton and Lance hold him in place while I talk to the female, and he growls when she accepts my invitation to join us. Dad asks her what his rank is, and when she tells him that he is the Gamma of their Pack, Dad gets a smirk on his face. This is working out just great. "You will never mention to anyone what happened here today," Dad says with an Alpha command, just before he injects the Gamma with a sedative. "He will wake up in a few hours, but he will not be able to tell anyone that you left or with whom you left," Dad tells her as he guides her back to the rest of our Pack. After we explain to her who we are and where we are going, she asks if she should break the Pack-bond. "No, we will do that after dinner. It will give you a head start just in case someone decides to come looking for you, and with running in our Wolf or Lycan form until we stop for the night, we will be further away from here," Dad tells her. We leave within ten minutes, and Dad tells me through the mind-link what he found in Lance's file. It turns out that Lance is the Son of a Beta. His Father died shortly after he was born, and his Uncle had taken over the position until Lance was old enough to start his training, but we know that it never came to that. His Nephew will be taking over the position that officially belongs to Lance, and I doubt anyone ever asked Lance if he wanted the position or not. I think it has to do with Lance being the Son of a fated couple and that he would never use his fated Mate the way our former leadership did; he would rather go Rogue before doing that to her. "Do you think Lance was ever informed about the position?" I ask Dad, and for a while he is quiet, thinking about what I just asked him. When he finally answers my question, his answer doesn't surprise me at all. Dad and I decide that I will talk to Lance about this, because he has shown that he is a true Beta. Keir Fuck, Lakota is right. Lance is unaware of his heritage, and his entire family is to blame for keeping it a secret. I am glad she offers to talk to Lance about it. I doubt I would be able to keep Echo under control if I had to be the one to inform him, and I am glad Echo agrees with me on this.I can understand why his Uncle and Nephew never told him about it, but I don't understand why his Mother never mentioned it to him. It was his birth right, and she took that away from him by keeping quiet about it, by allowing his Uncle and Nephew to act as if it had been their birth right. Echo is getting more agitated by the minute, and I ask one of the Warriors if he can handle my backpack for a while. "I need to let Echo out for a run before he takes control and shreds everything," I say, and moments later Echo takes off to blow off some steam. He makes sure we don't go too far from our Pack, and we circle around them for a while as he runs at full speed. We are about to head back when we hear whimpering to our right. "Quinn, take a Warrior with you and let the others wait for us. Echo can hear someone not far from here," I tell her through the mind-link, and moments later I feel her coming closer. Echo comes to a sudden stop when he sees a male leaning against a boulder in the middle of the forest, and we slowly make our way over to him as we take in the injuries he has sustained. "Please, just end me. I have nothing left to live for," the male whispers, and Echo howls sadly. I take control back to take a better look at the male, and I ask him what happened to him, who did this to him. Quinn walks up to us with the bag Doc gave me in her hand, and I quickly give him something to lessen the pain, but from what I can see, I fear he might not survive his injuries. "He is a Delta; he should be able to survive. Unless he has really given up on life," Echo says, and as we take care of his wounds, I introduce myself to him, explaining to him why we are there and where we are going. "Alpha Keir, my Mate just rejected me because he didn't want a male for a Mate. He doesn't want anyone to know he prefers males. He took me here to reject me and to kill me, but something stopped him from finishing the job. I doubt there is a Pack willing to accept a same-sex couple," he answers my previous question."I accept everyone for who they are; their sexual preference is none of my business, and as my Daughter would say, why the hell would I doubt the Goddess," I mumble. It takes me a while to clean his wounds, but by the time I am done, most of them are starting to heal with the help of his Wolf, and I shift back to Echo to take him with us. Alice gets him some clothes to change into, and I explain to them what has happened to him. Lotus roars as she hears what his Mate did to him, and Darrius looks at her with confusion in his eyes. "Darrius, that is Lotus. She is my Daughter's Lycan, and she hates injustice more than anyone I have ever met. She is more vocal than Lakota, but when it comes down to it, Lakota is more cunning than her Lycan," I say, and I see a smile appear on his face. Echo decides he will carry Darrius until we stop for dinner, giving his Wolf some extra time to heal his Human, and soon we are on our way again. Darrius drifts off to sleep on my back, and Lance places Josh behind him to make sure he doesn't tumble off.We travel through the forest parallel to the dirt road that leads to another Pack, and I silently thank Lance for suggesting we travel through the forest with one Warrior keeping an eye on the road. Lance has been putting the safety of this Pack before anything, proving to me that he will make an excellent Beta for Lakota. Quinn has taken the lead with Colton, and Lakota and Lance have taken up the rear. The Warriors surround the rest of the Pack-members while they take turns watching the road. Lynn is talking about our new Pack and that she wants to become a Warrior, making Alice look a bit uncomfortable. "If you train hard enough and learn the smart way to pick your opponents, I am sure you can become anything you want," Sela says, and I see a huge smile appear on Lynn's face, but for some reason Alice still looks uncomfortable. "Alice, she is right. If Lynn learns how to fight and is smart about picking her fights, she will be able to become a Warrior," I tell her through the mind-link.She thanks me for at least allowing Lynn to try to become something other than an Omega, and I ask Alice if there was something she had wanted to do. "I wanted to become a Doctor; I even have my degree for medicine. However, my former Mate's Father didn't believe I could be anything other than an Omega, and he refused my request to prove myself," Alice answers. "Well, you better start digging up that knowledge, Doctor Alice," I say, and she nearly loses her balance. Sela is quick enough to grab her arm while Lynn asks what is wrong. Alice tells them what we had been talking about through the mind-link and that she had been stunned when I called her Doctor Alice.