Conri Finally, the day has arrived that we get to claim our little Mate, and I have had a grin on my face all day. These past few months have been difficult for me and Evander, but the prospect of finally being able to claim Umayza is what kept us going, and I know it was worth the wait. In the first few weeks after we left, we avoided going to the Academy at all cost. Then we slowly started to visit the Academy again, and Kane and Mylo hoped that we would run into her. But for some reason, we never did, and the longer our Lycans went without seeing their Mate, the more agitated they became. Captain Armand had lost his cool with Kane on more than one occasion, and he had even threatened to bench us a few times; it was very hard to keep my control over Kane. After today, that will be over though, as we will see her tonight, and she will finally know what we are to her.Gray didn't tell us much about Umayza; he would just tell us she was doing fine, and we never pressed him for more as we didn't want him to find out. We couldn't risk that he would tell our little Mate, so we had to take whatever he was willing to tell us. Armand, Callan, and Theron had done their best to find her while they were here without us, but they never were able to, and Theron once suggested that she stayed away on purpose. Zaza had told us that the moment she found out, she would fall head over heels for us and that everything would work out. Zaza and her Sister joined our Squad about six months ago to learn as much as they could; they wanted to help out their Mates with their assignments for their Alpha, and Zaza had called in a favor with Council-member Atlas. Both of them are a lot of fun, but their Mates are not always willing to let them leave. Evander had gotten a text from Zaza that their Mates were unwilling to let them go with us; she had texted him to use the backdoor to get the drop on her Mate, and I did the same for her Sister. Finally, their Mates had let them go with us, and looking back, their Mates were glad they did. An hour after we left, the Pack had been attacked by Rogues, and they had managed to set fire to a couple of cottages, among them the cottages that belonged to Zaza and her Sister. When we received the call about the attack, Captain Armand had made us all turn around, and we helped with defeating the remainder of the rogues. Zaza and her Sister never had trouble again with leaving their Mates, and I hate to see them leave our Squad in a few weeks, but they have learned all they can from us. Now they will have to learn the rest on the job. Evander Mylo is finally settling down after months of annoying the hell out of me and everyone around us. He hates being away from our little Mate as much as I do, but he has had more trouble dealing with it, and the only reason I have been able to deal with it is because I kept my mind on my job, no matter how difficult that was. Teaching Zaza the ropes has been a good distraction, but I was also able to talk to her about Umayza and how Conri and I found out she was our Mate. Zaza pointed out that if Dolion had not attacked us along the way, we might have never found out she was our Mate. Mylo had been stunned into silence for a while after Zaza pointed that out to us, and Conri had told me Kane had calmed down for a while as well when I had told him Zaza's observation. Theron had been asking around about Umayza for the past few weeks, but no one had any answers to his questions. No one could tell him if she was still at the Academy; no one could tell him what she chose to study, and no one could tell him about her first shift after she turned eighteen. Theron didn't like the fact he couldn't find anything on her, and when Callan suggested looking in her personal file, he found out it was sealed. A sealed file can only mean one out of two things: One; the person had left the Academy for some reason, and Two; there was something about this person the Council didn't want anyone to find out. We discussed this for a long time, but we didn't find any answers. Umayza could have chosen to leave the Academy to move back to her Pack; Dolion could have made some threats that forced her to go into hiding; and there were so many other options we could think of. None of them were good ones in my book. Captain Armand never said anything during these discussions, and Conri and I have wondered if he knew what was going on with Umayza, but I think he would have told us if she had left for some reason. They all know she is our Mate, and he would not let us suffer if he had answers for us. Zaza helped us with our outfits because if it had been up to me or Conri, we would be wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but Zaza's Sister said we needed to look our best for our Mate, and even Theron and Callan chose their side on this. So, here we are in our black dress pants and a white button-up shirt. Zaza, her Sister, and their Mates had joined our Squad as we are waiting for the SUVs from the Academy to arrive. One after the other stopped in front of the Palace, but none of them was bringing us our little Mate, and Mylo is becoming agitated as more time passes. Conri is pacing behind me as Mylo is pacing in my head, and I am about to lose my shit if she doesn't show up fast, but I also know that all I can do is wait for her. Council-member Vivyanna has just gotten out of an SUV and gets hugged by Captain Ragnar, who is a good friend of ours. When she is saying her hellos to all of us, I decide to take a chance and ask her if she knows if Umayza is coming. She looks at me for a moment with confusion in her eyes. "I believe Umayza went on an assignment, but I can't be sure about that as most of her assignments are classified," she says. Ragnar guides her inside as I stare at Captain Armand, but he tells me he has no idea what she meant by that, and I know he is telling us the truth. Just as I am about to give up hope, another SUV pulls to a stop in front of the Palace, and Council-member Boaz gets out. I ask him where Umayza is, and he confirms what Council-member Vivyanna already told us, "You didn't get the chance to give her the invitation." Conri states, and his response has all of us confused, "I did get the chance, but she declined." "What?" Conri roars, and I ask him if she said anything, "I am not sure if you want to hear it." He says, but Conri and I ask him to tell us her response. "She said I wish them all the happiness in the world and that she hopes you will not regret the choices you made before she walked away from me."