Winston’s p.o.v. Ever since I lost an entire team out in the field, I have been cautious with sending out any of the other teams. I need to get this Pack back on its feet, but I need a gifted Mate to fulfill an ancient “prophecy” within my bloodline. A prophecy that wasn’t believed to hold any truth in our bloodline, but I have found enough papers to understand it. Technically, you can’t call it a prophecy, because it can happen to anyone in my bloodline. Although many details are still missing, I am confident that I have what I need to understand this prophecy. Only a gifted Shifter will give me the strength to win the fight for control of this territory and she must be a high-ranking Shifter; otherwise, it will not work out for the best. I have narrowed down the Packs she will be living in and I need to plan my attacks very carefully. Gold Moon is one of those Packs and it happens to be the Pack that killed the team I had out there. It will be the first one I will attack with my teams, while leaving the rest behind to protect the territory. “Boss, any idea on when we will be leaving?” My Gamma asks, he still isn’t aware of everything that is going on and I am not sure if I will ever trust him enough to explain my entire plan to him. “In a few days, once I am convinced that our borders are protected and everyone is trained to the best of their abilities.” I answer him.After returning to the Alpha floor and locking the door behind me, I take out all the papers I have on the prophecy. I spread them across the table in the correct order, placing empty papers to fill in the blanks or at least where I suspect the blanks are. A High-ranking Shifter of the Belleron bloodline will receive multiple gifts after being marked by their Mate(s). There is mention of a few of the gifts one could get and I have a few favorites, but we’ll just have to wait and see what I will get. I was able to follow my family tree back a few generations and discovered that I am a descendant of that bloodline. There might be others, but not every member born into that bloodline was registered with the Elders. No one in my family ever put much value on the prophecy and I hate that I can no longer prove them wrong. My Father and my Grandfather never received any gifts after marking their Mate, so I took a closer look at other generations to find out why it never happened for them. It turns out that every High-ranking family member who received gifts had a special Shifter as their Mate. “Boss, we might have a problem.” I hear my Beta say through the mind-link and I know it's real; he wouldn’t have disturbed me at this time otherwise. I don’t bother with putting the papers away; I lock the door behind me and head down the stairs. “What is going on?” I ask the moment I spot my Beta and my Gamma in the hallway.“As we discussed, I sent three members to Gold Moon to keep an eye on things. A squad has just left the territory and the future leadership is accompanying them.” My Gamma answers. Why would Gold Moon have a squad staying in their territory? It doesn’t make sense unless they got some information from my men and informed the Elders of it. “Let one of them follow the Squad. Tell him to stay out of sight and report every few hours on where they are heading.” I respond. “It is crucial that we know where they are heading and whether we have been compromised in some way.” My Gamma walks away to make sure my orders are dealt with and my Beta turns to look at me. “Do you believe that they know more than we want them to know? Or might this be a coincidence?” He asks. I walk into the main living room with my Beta right behind me. There are only a handful of members in the living room and I give him an answer that will not make them any the wiser. “It is probably a coincidence, but we also need to consider that the members of team three talked.” It is the best answer I can give him without revealing the truth. He nods his head while a female walks over to me. I know why she is heading in my direction, but I have no interest in spending the night with her. I make it clear that it won’t happen and as she looks at my Beta, he makes it clear that she will not be warming our beds tonight.“Check the training schedules and the patrols in the morning. I want an update on anything we need to handle before we go into action.” I tell my Beta as I accept a glass of Crimson Nectar from an Omega. We both sit in silence, enjoying our drinks while listening to the conversations around us. Most conversations revolve around what to do with the territory once we have achieved our goal. I will never abandon Grand Valley territory and becoming King has never been my aspiration. Leading my Pack, being a good Alpha and building on strength and wealth are my goals for this Pack. We have already rebuilt many structures in the territory, but there is still much more to do before we can consider ourselves a Pack. Our new Pack-house is coming along just fine and this old Pack-house will be turned into a hospital someday. After that, we need to rebuild a few of the old houses and build a few new homes to accommodate all members. Landscape is the least of my worries; I like that this territory is covered with trees, bushes and giant boulders. Perhaps make a few minor adjustments to the landscape around some of the houses, but that will be it. The rest of the territory will stay as it is, with natural hiding places all around us, making it easier for members to hide during an attack. “I’m turning in for the night. Keep me posted on that Squad and give me an update during breakfast.” I say to my Beta as I get out of my seat to head upstairs. I don’t even finish my Crimson Nectar, I leave the glass on the table for someone to take it away and slowly head up to turn in.