Winter waited by her car not sure what the guys would do. She basically made them homeless. The man was about the kick them out anyway. She was so lost in thoughts that she didn't hear how someone approached her. 

"Winter." Josh stood smiling in front of her. 

"I knew you were impressive." He said with a smile. 

"You survived?" she asked mock surprised. 

"Didn't our little standoff, gave that away already?" she asked. 

"Yeah, but I never imagined your wolf this impressive. She was majestic and so pure white."

 Winter was confused, her wolf was light grey not white. Had her wolf changed? 

"The same white as you have in your hair." He said with a smile. 

Could the pain from the rejection force her wolf to change as well? Losing her mate, had affected her. But like this? The only person who she could trust with such questions and answers was Thomas. She needed to ask him tomorrow. 

"I thought this place was only for rogue's?" she asked suddenly. 

"There were a lot of pack wolves in that arena, it's the perfect place to scout warrior's. Anybody would be lucky to have you in their pack." Winter smiled at him. 

"Yeah, not going to happen." Josh smiled back. 

"My alpha still wishes to see you." He said with a snicker. 

"Then why isn't he here?" 

"Pack business." Josh answered. 

Winter rolled her eyes off course she thought. 

"Well tell your alpha I said hi." Winter snickered. 

"Or maybe don't." she winked. 

"You are going to meet him Winter, one of these days you are going to meet him." 

Josh said as he walked away.

Luke approached her, holding two large sacks. 

"Who was that?" he asked. 

"Josh, Beta of the Opal Storm pack." Winter answered. 

He looked shocked at her. 

"What did he want? You know how dangerous that pack is? Or haven't you heard the stories?" He said concerned. 

"Ooh trust me I have heard them." 

"Winter, they kill trespassers without thinking, their alpha is ruthless, their strength is unsee and they show no mercy. Is the alpha position already getting to your head?" 

he asked as he tossed his sacks in her truck. 

"I am not your alpha, I just saved your ass. What he had in store for you guys next wasn't pretty." She answered. 

"Thanks Winter." She looked confused at him. 

"I destroyed your home." She whispered. 

"No you didn't. Not only did you stand up for us. But you gave us something to look forward, you gave us a home." He said with a smile. 

"Does your brother feel the same way?" Winter asked carefully. 

"He will get to it." 

Luke said as he saw Jack storm over. Winter saw how the other guys were gathering their stuff and tossing it in the truck. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jack said angry. 

"Enrique asked me not to, he said he would solve it. So I gave him my trust." She answered calmly. 

"I lost everything tonight." Jack jelled. 

"Really?" Luke said stern. 

"She saved your life and our lives. She gave us a place to stay." He added. 

"Jack, I am sorry by how it turned out." She said. 

"Sorry won't get me my building back." He said with a sour face. 

"You truly have no idea on how to be an alpha." She said with a smile. 

"I don't see how that's relevant." Jack answered. 

"Who's territory are you standing on?" she asked. 

"Yours, your pack." He answered. 

"So, yours as well. What if you have a building in another pack's territory?" she asked. 

"I don't know." Jack answered. 

"None of your pack members will want to rent it. You can't rent it to rogues either. So there is only one solution, sell it. For now he will ask a high price, but he will have the lower that price soon. The building costs too much to keep it empty. I doubt Enrique can pay for it." She answered with a smile. 

Jack looked dumbfounded at her. 

"Now I am getting tired of this shit and I want to go to bed, we still have an hour and a half drive in front of us. Are the boys ready?" she asked. 

"I'll go check on them." Jack said. 

Luke chuckled; "that's his way of saying that you are right." 

She smiled at him.

Fifteen of the eighteen fighters had packed most of their stuff and had chosen to follow Winter. Luke smiled as she started to drive and a lot of vehicles followed. 

"Why aren't you driving with Jack?" she asked curious. 

"He would complain the whole way and I don't feel like that. I much rather like to know how a rogue she-wolf ends up with a compound in this territory." He said as he studied her.

"And I most definitely want to know if it has always been your ambition to start a pack?" 

Winter was silent for a second. 

"My grandmother left it to me. She thought that one day I needed it, apparently she was convinced that in time I would start my own pack." She said, eyes still on the road. 

"As for your other question, I didn't. I came here to be free off a pack, to not have to live by the rules of an alpha. I am not planning to be your alpha, I just wanted to help you guys." 

Luke was silent for a couple of minutes. 

"Your family do they know the compound exists?" he asked. 

"No, I am the only one and Thomas. He maintained it, after my grandmother had to leave him."

 He looked outside again. 

"How do you see this?" 

Winter's fingers grabbed the steering wheel tighter. 

"Look I didn't think any further than saving your asses. It was this or seeing how he would end all of you." She whispered. 

Luke squeezed her hand. 

"I know, but we need to think about the next steps." He said with a smile. 

"Luckily we have an hour and half drive for that." She smiled.

Winter had parked the car and Luke immediately made his way out of the vehicle. 

"This place is amazing." He said. 

Even in the dark with the enhanced wolf vision everybody could see the building they were standing in front of. 

"I will show you guys around tomorrow, for now I'll show you were the rooms are. You can walk around here freely, only the small house in the field is off limits. That house is property of Thomas. If for any reason you harm him, I will remove you instantly." 

Winter pushed the large entrance door open and made her way across the compound towards the rooms upstairs. 

"My room is the one in the back. If I find you in there, I'll throw you out as well." She said with a smile. 

She watched how the men divided the rooms quickly. After a while they started to load their belongings from the cars and Winter helped. She tossed a big sack on her shoulder and walked upstairs with it. Every fighter that passed her took his time to tank her. They all were happy with the way there living arrangements had been improved.

As the sun started to rise, it lit up Winter's face. A smile formed on her lips as she thought back of the fight last night. It was the first time in a long while that she hadn't felt any pain. Her wolf seemed more at peace and her mind started to settle as well. 

She jumped in the shower and changed into a pair of jeans and a lose knitted lavender sweater. She tied her short hair in a tail making her shaved neck visible. She smiled as she made her way down towards the kitchen. 

Maybe preparing breakfast for the guys would be a good start of the day. Wolves were known to eat a lot, so it would take her some time to prepare breakfast. Luckily her fridge was full but with them all staying here she would need to go shopping. And she would definitely need a plan to start a solid income. 

Now that the territory was known as claimed, she needed to think off a way to attract business, she needed to attract young people and wolves to make the place thriving. 

"What are you thinking?" 

A voice asked while she was making coffee. 

Winter turned around and looked right at Luke. 

"Morning" 

She said with a smile and handed him a cup of coffee. 

"Morning" he replied. 

"Did you sleep well?" she asked. 

"Yeah, this place is amazing." He said. 

"But you are avoiding my question." 

"I was thinking what we need to do to get this place on tracks." Winter smiled at him. 

"You truly are an alpha." He responded. 

"Ooh shut up."

The guys came down when the place started to fill up with the smell of food. They all looked happy at the breakfast, even Jack had smiled a bit. 

After the breakfast Winter had showed them around and announced that they would need some ground rules. And so, now she was sitting in the grand hall waiting for the boys to arrive. She had created one large table, with a chair for everyone in the large pack hall. There was room for a lot more, but Winter smiled at herself knowing this would be a good start. 

Thomas walked in the room before everybody else. 

"Starting on that pack of yours?" 

He asked with a smile as he took a seat next to her. 

"Sort of." She answered with a smile. 

"You don't need me here." He answered. 

"Are you sure?" Winter looked at the man. 

"I am an old lone wolf, what could I possibly bring to the table?" Thomas asked her. 

"You would bring a lot of wisdom to our table." She answered with a smile. 

The boys started to walk in and the looked from Winter over to Thomas. Luke passed them all and took the seat right next to her. 

"Are you ready?" he asked. 

"Yeah, are you?" she answered with a smile. 

All wolves took their seat and looked expectantly at her.

Winter started the meeting, she had never felt this nervous. It felt as the most important meeting of her life. 

"Guys, you are all here today because I cost you, your living arrangement." 

Jack sighed loudly.

"But in my defense, the guy wasn't planning on letting you guys walk out of there. And I wanted to protect my family." Winter looked around the table. 

"We know and we are thankful for what you did. You defended us and our honor." 

She felt surprised as she listened to the words of Big Franky. 

"It isn't because grumpy-pants over there doesn't agree right now, that we can't hold a different opinion." 

Winter smiled at those words. 

"Thank you. I know that I said that I was your alpha but I don't want to be that." 

The boys looked shocked at her. 

"What do you mean?" Vinnie asked. 

"We came here to be part of a new pack, a pack guided by you." He said. 

Winter looked shocked at him. 

"The words I said last night are true, I don't want to live following the traditional pack rules. My pack and every pack member comes first and everything I do will always be in function of the pack. I don't want to have a pack containing an alpha, a beta or even an omega. They only way I would ever see a pack is as all wolves equal." 

Winter felt how Thomas smiled next to her. 

"I have been a rogue for a long time, but sometimes it's nice to not be forced to have your own back. I would like to live in a pack were everybody is equal. But I do think that there is a person who needs to make the decisions." 

He said and while he did so all wolves around the table nodded their head. 

"Maybe there is a solution in between, all wolves can have their opinion about the pack but your word is final." Luke said as he looked at her. 

"I will only agree if I am replaceable." 

"What do you mean?" Jack asked. 

"The moment somebody else is more fit, we host physical and phycological tests for a successor. My position will not be passed by birth right, it will only be passed towards the most fittest wolf. The only thing that stays in my family is the compound." 

All wolves nodded their head. 

"You need someone to help you with the tasks, if word gets out that a new pack has been created by rogues, more rogues will arrive." Jack said. 

"I think Luke is the most fitted for that role." 

All wolves agreed again. 

"There is one thing that you are missing, you guys share the same values and agreed to the code. But we need to think about the new wolves that want to join us." Marshall said. 

Winter nodded her head. 

"Maybe each one of us can be in charge of a task in the pack. We are the foundation of the pack."

 "But by the same rule, the moment someone better fit walks in, we step down." Jack added.

 Winter was surprised by what he had said, but she knew he had meant it. She was grateful that he was finally turning around. 

"Alpha and Beta role is filled." Luke said. 

"What did you have in mind?" he asked. 

"Responsible for property." She answered. 

All wolves pointed over towards Thomas, he nodded his head with a smile. 

"Recruit training." Winter continued. 

"Marshall and Big Franky." Someone proposed and all wolves accepted. 

"Fighting pit." Fingers were pointed towards Jack. 

Winter continued. 

"Food and reserves, territory rounds, business, protection, fighters, scouts." 

Until all wolves had a responsibility and the men smiled at her. 

"I will make a list with our pack laws, so by the meeting tomorrow we can official start preparations." Winter said. 

"There is one more thing." Thomas interfered. 

Everybody looked at him. 

"We do need a pack name." he said. 

"The Silent Winter pack." Jack answered with a smile.