White Mountain Pack Everyone has been busy ever since the news came in that Joseph was returning home, every member of Little Crescent Pack would be coming along and many preparations need to be made. “I am glad that we prepared for this day.” April says to her Mother, while she is looking at the building in front of her. It is a six story building that can house all the members of Little Crescent Pack, on the top floor are Quarters for their leadership and the four floor below it are for their Pack-members. The ground floor has a main living room, main dining room, kitchen and some office space. “I was hoping that it would never come to this, but their Pack is too small to survive a full blown war.” Alpha Amarah answers her Daughter. She still can’t believe the ramifications the war has had so far, her heart still bleeds for the day she lost her connection to the Royal Family. No one survived the day three Packs decided to attack the Palace. Alpha Amarah walks into the Pack-house of Little Crescent with a box in her arms, none of them know what they will encounter on the way and how many Pack-members will make it to White Mountain Pack. Every room in the Pack-house is getting decorated, from a bed to a dresser and every other piece of essentials someone might need. Pappi is walking in and out of the office spaces, making sure that the leadership of Little Crescent can function. Pappi helps his Granddaughter with unpacking the box she just carried inside, they put everything in a place they feel is best and Inti can always change it later on. “How is April?” Pappi asks, knowing that his Great Granddaughter has not been the same since Joseph left White Mountain Pack. “I don’t know, Pappi. I thought she was doing better, but knowing that he is coming home. I just don’t know.” Amarah says to her Grandfather. Neither one of them says another word as they start unpacking other boxes and after a few hours the offices are done. April is still struggling with herself, she called her big Brother an Idiot for moving to Little Crescent Pack and she hadn’t said goodbye to him on the day he left. Females had been kidnapped, Warriors had gotten injured while trying to protect those females and some had even died. According to April not the best time to take over a Pack or to leave the safety of one of the biggest territories. When the Pack was told that Little Crescent Pack was on the move, she had felt relief and a lot of shame at the same time. Relief, because they had finally realized that the situation became too dangerous for them to stay. Shame, because she hadn’t realized that it was his job and for letting him leave without a last hug. April is taking care of the top floor, her big Brother’s new home. She needs a way to show him that she is glad that he is home, but also to show him that she understands why he had to leave. It took her a while to understand his reasons, it took her training to show her that her Brother had more to think about than just himself. Getting to know every aspect of running a Pack opened her eyes and she wanted to tell him face to face how wrong she had been. “How is it going up here, Angel?” Alpha Theseus asks his Daughter and she turns to him with a smile on her face, while spreading her arms to show him that she is done. He wraps an arm around his Daughter’s waist and both of them go in search of her Mother, who is busy in the kitchen with placing the plates in the right cupboards. Almost everything is done and she has her Pack to thank for it. They all head back to the main Pack-house for dinner and the murmurs keep going during dinner, until someone finally asks the question everyone wants an answer to. “Alpha, how much longer before the boys are home?” Doc Jason asks and all eyes are on Alpha Amarah and Alpha Theseus. “Joseph mentioned that they expected seven nights and seven days, he also send us a copy of their route and if everything goes according to plan, it will three more days.” Amarah answers. Quietness settles over the dining room and everyone continues with their dinner, thinking about the boys they saw grow up here. Most Pack-members stay in the dining room to play board games or just to talk and the Omegas walk in and out with coffee, before they take a break themselves. Listening to the stories the older Pack-members tell of their Alpha and her fights in the Alpha Bloodline Competition. Everyone has heard them more than once, but no one ever gets tired of hearing about their Alpha’s fighting skills. The best story is always told by delta Eos, the story about Joseph watching one of his Mother’s fights and his comments and cheers that pissed off other Alphas. April walks into the main living room the next morning and crosses off night five on their countdown calendar. Her eyes fall on the calendar next to it and she realizes that is it only eight days until Christmas.She runs down the hall to the Alpha office and after a short knock she pushes the door open, “Mom, it is almost Christmas and there are no decorations anywhere.” She says, bursting through the door. Her Dad is sitting behind the desk and points to the other side of the office, April steps further into the office to see her Mom bend over a few boxes. “Theseus, where the hell did you put Joseph’s first Christmas ornament?” Her Mom growls, but she doesn’t look up at her Mate. “With the rest of the ornaments our Pups made, My Alpha.” He answers and that earns him a growl of his Mate. “It should be the box to your left.” April hears her Mom sigh in relief, when she finds the box that holds the ornaments her Pups made every year and each ornament has its own story. “I want to put this in the tree at Little Crescent’s Pack-house.” Amarah says, as she turns around with a golden ball with dark grey stripes on it. It was the first ornament Joseph made, in the colors of Griffin and Minerva. The rest of the day is spend with preparing for Christmas and the arrival of Little Crescent Pack.