Joseph’s p.o.v. It has been seven years since I found my true Mate-bond and every single day I thank the Goddess for sending Jocelyn on my path. Joey is walking next to me, he will be keeping an eye on the rest of his siblings. We are needed on the Alpha floor of White Mountain Pack-house and Mom sounded so damn serious, I nearly ran out of the door. Jacob is walking in front of us and even though everyone sees him every day, he still turns heads where ever he goes. He has my golden locks, just like his Mom had hoped for, but there are silver streaks in it and it makes everyone look at him every single time. Joshua has my golden locks, while Jayla has her Mother’s silver hair. Our twins were born four years ago and Jocelyn and I decided that our family was complete, each of them hold a special place in our heart for who they are.I look surprised at all the people in the living room of the Alpha floor, each Alpha and his leadership is present and even the future leaderships that are of age are present. My eyes lock with those of my Sister, but she just shrugs her shoulders and I know we will have to wait for answers. Mom and Dad walk into the living room with three Elders behind them, one of them is the only remaining members of the original Council, Elder Boaz. We listen to Elder Boaz as he tells us about Alpha Bane, Beta Liam and Gamma Crimson of Crystal Blood Pack, how they found their true Mate-bond within the last year and that they suspected that it was the new way for Shifters to find a true Mate-bond. He explains in great length how the process starts and develops over the course of a few days, that it really depended on the amount of time they spent together for the bond to form and that their Shifter half had to claim the other. They had also found two couples that were able to break the connection, one couple because of the male’s reputation and the other couple because of the female’s love for another. “We also found a couple for whom it lasted longer before the bond was formed, we believe it was due to the female’s reluctancy to accept the male and that had all to do with his general behavior towards females. They had a long conversation with their Alpha present and when that didn’t work, he offered them a trial period. He just wanted to make sure that they would give this bond a chance, in the end it worked out for the best and the male even learned that his believes were wrong.” Elder Boaz states. Alpha Murphee asks a few more questions, but those are questions we could have answered ourselves. “Is this something from the past year?” Alpha Jaydon asks and Elder Boaz answers affirmatively. “No, it is not.” I hear Jocelyn say next to me and the entire room goes quiet. “What? Should we keep this a secret? They already know.” Jocelyn asks me, as she looks up at me and I know that she is right. We no longer need to hide our true Mate-bond or the fact that there are other couples within our territory. “Joseph and I have a true Mate-bond, we have gone through this process over seven years ago.” Jocelyn says and Inti informs Elder Boaz that he also has a true Mate-bond. “So do Herold and I.” April says, while she looks at her Mate with a loving smile on her face. “How many?” Elder Boaz asks and Mom is about to turn to her laptop, when Jocelyn answers him. “Besides the three couples in here, there was one other couple that year. The year after that we had two couples and the following two years none. Two years ago we had one couple and last year we had two couples, so a total of nine couples. It might have been more if we weren’t in the middle of a war. The couples, that formed in the past six years, were only formed with a new addition to the territory.” Jocelyn states. Mom knows she can trust Jocelyn on having her facts straight, but she wants to make sure that Elder Boaz has confirmation and looks down at the file on her laptop. “My Daughter is correct, a total of nine couples.” Mom says and I know that she had her own way of telling Elder Boaz that Jocelyn held power within this territory. We share the information we have gathered over the years with the Elders, hoping that it will make this war end a lot sooner and for us to finally be able to live in peace. It still takes years to end the war completely, but most Packs have been able to return to a normal way of life and a full blown attack has become less and less. Inti had to look for another Beta with Herold mated to April, not that he had to look for too long. We already knew who we wanted as our Beta and when we had asked him he jumped at the opportunity, Indigo was a different story. She wasn’t too happy with our choice, until Jocelyn of course pointed out that she outranked her Stepbrother. Chris made the trip to White Mountain Pack on his own and Indigo had paced the floor from the moment he left home, till she was able to pull him into her arms. It has nearly been a decade since we left our territory, but we know that it is still ours and we only need to rebuild a few buildings. This time the trip doesn’t take that long and the first two weeks we sleep out in the open, until the Pack-house is done. Most of the homes were ransacked and we needed to fix a few things before the original owners could move in again. White Mountain Pack is where I grew up, but Little Crescent Pack will always be my home and I am glad I get to raise our family here. Jocelyn and I peek into each room, before closing the doors, making sure that all our Pups are in a deep sleep. Joey is the only one still awake, but at the age of twenty three that isn’t surprising or it might have something to do with being on border patrol tonight.“Be safe out there, Joey.” Jocelyn says as she pulls him into her arms, the same words she told him before his first border patrol and she will keep doing it for as long as she is alive. I hear the front door close as I am lying in bed with my Mate and I send a silent prayer to the Goddess to keep our Son safe. The end. Author’s Note: This story was created to answer any questions you could have at the end of Alpha Amarah or at the end of Sanctuary: A Hidden Pack. Curious as to how this new way of forming a true Mate-bond develops or how some deals with this new connection?