Lakota I still can't believe what happened; I found my second chance Mate only to lose him within minutes. Lotus is whimpering in the back of my head; she has been like that ever since we found Jake, and I feel like giving up, but for some reason, Lotus won't allow it. Lance is holding me as we travel through the night, and I am grateful that he is willing to keep me calm. Lotus made me jump into his arms after Jake died, and she refused to leave him when Kobal approached us; not that she doesn't trust him, but she feels better in Lance's arms. No one says a word out loud as we travel, and no one tries to reach out to me through the mind-link; something I am grateful for. I am not sure when I will be able to function again or when this pain in my heart will subside, but I know they will all give me the time that I need to deal with my grief. Dad once told me that I was his reason for not giving up, and Lotus told me that our Pack is our reason for not giving up; they need me as much as I need them. For now, Lotus and I need to grieve, and I am grateful for the others for taking care of whatever needs to be done. When Lotus had made me jump into Lance's arms, I wanted to object, but she refused to let him go, and even though losing Jake still hurts like hell, being in his arms takes the sharp edges off the pain. Having Kobal and Lance nearby keeps me calm and comfortable; I need their presence for some reason, and I feel safe wrapped up in Lance's arms on Kobal's back. Somehow, I managed to fall asleep as we traveled, and instead of the nightmare I feared that would come, I only saw Jake's handsome face, the smile on his face he gave me as he thanked us for easing his pain. If this is how my nights will be from here on out, I might get to terms with his death a lot easier, but I am not counting on it. The sun is starting to rise as I slowly open my eyes, and like last night, I am in the middle of our Pack, surrounded by every Wolf and Lycan that belongs to Crystal Blood Pack. Lance squeezes me tighter to his chest, and I realize we traveled all night without stopping for some rest. "Keir didn't want to wake you, so he asked if everyone was comfortable with walking the entire night," Lance answers my unspoken question. Why doesn't it surprise me that Dad would put my needs first and ask the others how they felt about it without asking me for my opinion. "Because you would have forced everyone to stop, because you would have put them first, and they all know that," Lotus answers my thoughts, and I know that she is right; I would have made everyone stop for the night. I also know that a Pack will always look out for their Alpha, even a future Alpha. Each of them in their own way knew I needed the rest, and they chose to put my needs before their own, even the Pups. When we finally stop, Lance glides down with me in his arms, and for some reason, he knows not to let go of me; he just sits down with his back against a tree. Once we all have our breakfast, Dad shows everyone a picture of the markings we need to look for; even Josh and Lynn take a good look at them by tracing their fingers over them and memorizing how the markings run. It will take us another hour or so to get anywhere near the territory, but I know it will also take my mind off Jake. With a century of decay, I doubt we will find any buildings, but we might find the foundation of some of them, and that will give us an indication of what the territory might have looked like in its glory days. It will also be completely overgrown as no one was there to look after the territory, and that will make the search for the markings more challenging. I can feel the excitement in the air; each of them wanting to get to our new territory for their own reason, and I give Dad a small smile when he looks at me. We continue our journey in Human form and, like before, I am stuck in the middle with Lance, while the others surround us on all sides. "Okay, we better start paying attention," Dad calls out to all of us, and I take one final look at the map. If I am reading this correctly, the road should end in a Y soon, and the road leading right goes by the territory we are looking for, but there is no indication of how far from the fork the territory might be.There is also no sign of a road leading towards the gate of the territory, if this territory ever had a gate that is, and I am glad we at least know what their markings look like, or we might be searching for the rest of our lives. I put the map away to concentrate on finding those markings, and Lance stays right beside me. It is a slow progress with the entire area overgrown with vines and moss, but we are all determined to find this territory and to start a new life. I have no illusion whatsoever that Jace will give up his search for me, and our allies have only confirmed my suspicions. After sending their Warriors out to search for me and Dad, Jace started calling surrounding Packs, but every single one of them told him that they hadn't seen us, and some Alphas had even asked why their Gamma had left. Not that Jace or Alpha Geofry answered those questions; I doubt many of them would have liked to hear the truth. Uncle Chris was the last one to inform me of his phone call, and Aunt Lucy had been the one answering; she had asked Jace about Keir as she had known a male with that name when she was a young Pup. For some reason, Jace had cut the call short and never received an answer from Aunt Lucy, meaning she didn't have to lie to him. I know Aunt Lucy wished she could have told him the truth, but she also understood why I didn't want him to know who or what I really am, and I think if she can get front row seats the day he does find out, she will be there with bells on. Kobal is clearing trees to my left of any vines or moss that could cover the markings; Cian is doing the same to my right, while Josh and Lynn follow close behind him checking the trees for markings. So far, we haven't found any of them, and Colton is already looking for a place to rest for the night. Half an hour after Colton finds a good spot, we finally give it up for today; dinner is ready, and Lynn and Josh are at the end of their rope. Alice and Josy have made us a decent meal, and like the hungry Wolves and Lycans we are, we shovel it down fast. Josh and Lynn lie down next to me and ask me to tell them about the Pack that used to live in the territory we are searching for. I tell them no one knows what the Pack was called or who the Alphas were. "There is very little known about the individual members of the Pack; the Alphas gave as little information to the Council as possible. The Council assumed it had to do with the fact that they hardly ever waited for their fated Mate and didn't want anyone to interfere with their way of life. Like every other Pack, the Council would visit them from time to time, and all the information that is in the Council's Archive is mostly from their observations. With every passing year, the Council-members realized that the Alphas no longer had a strong aura, like you would expect an Alpha to have, and about a hundred years ago, when Council-member Nakoa paid them a visit, he was informed that the last Alpha had died without an heir. He asked if there was anyone that could take over as Alpha, but every High-ranking member of the Pack had died, and there were only about thirty members left, Warriors and Omegas. They were relocated to other Packs, and the territory has never been claimed by a new Pack; it was the only request the last Alpha had left behind. There was a will and a letter from the last Alpha, and in the letter he wrote the Pack history in big lines. Just like the Council had suspected, the Pack had grown weaker as every Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta took a chosen Mate instead of waiting for their fated Mate. It was out of necessity they had taken chosen Mates, but he didn't mention what that necessity was. I hope that after we settle down there, we will be able to find out why they thought it was necessary to take a chosen Mate, or maybe we will be able to find the Pack's Archive and find some answers in there." By the time I am done, I know both of them have missed the majority of the story, but the others have been listening to me without saying a word. "Okay, now I really want the night to pass quickly. I want to find those answers too," Quinn exclaims, and we all chuckle at her comment. Everyone settles down as Colton gives some final instructions to the first watch, and I slide down in between Lynn and Josh. As I close my eyes, I see Jake's smiling face, and I slowly drift off to sleep, a sleep filled with Jake's face and his voice telling me that he loves me.