"Chaos happened after the soldiers returned." Helda said, walking beside me as we ventured deeper throughout the woods. Her eyes would flicker around us warily, as if expecting someone to launch out at any moment to attack, but we were still near the pack and I'd spotted a few warriors as we walked.

"My uncle, aunt and cousins packed up their things and left after the soldiers returned. Some of the members of the council left as well in less than an hour, and Elizabeth and I got into a terrible argument when I refused to go with them. It was almost as if she had become a completely different person, and it was terrifying. She was so aggressive." Helda's eyes narrowed as she seemed to recall what happened.

A grimace of irritation crossed her face and her pace quickened to match up with mine. "I stayed in Corozal after they departed, and then some of the warriors of this pack came for me."

Helda fell quiet as we passed by a barely clothed male pack member, and I noticed the way her cheeks flushed and eyes briefly drifted to the ground at that moment. She hissed after we passed him, "Is that some sort of normalcy here? Walking around like that?"

I glanced at the man who'd disappeared behind some trees. "I suppose. I've seen many with little clothes."

Helda studied me. "It doesn't bother you?"

I scoffed, taking hold of her hand and directing her to the tree stump on the slope that would allow us to have a great view of the woods. "Surprised, but not bothered. I've seen plenty of naked persons in the Klawmoon prison at times so seeing lycans half-dressed doesn't disturb me."

Helda had not been in the prison as long as I had. Whilst I'd been there for twelve years, she'd only been in for five; I've perhaps witnessed more events than she had throughout her time there.

"Do you think we will have to wear similar clothes?" Helda asked, but then frowned. "Or lack of clothes, I mean?"

My lips twitched. "No."

Helda held my gaze for a moment longer, and then I gestured to the view before us. I watched as the tension on her face dissolved as she allowed herself to soak in the beautiful sight, and she plopped down heavily on the tree stump, widened blue eyes seeming to take in every detail of what was laid before us.

A frozen lake was in the distance, and many trees bare of leaves could be seen as well. The sunlight reflected off of the frozen lake, making it appear to shimmer. The morning sky was pink with a slight purplish hue, and I knew that in a short time the sky would become either gray or light blue.

"It's gorgeous." Helda breathed. "Do you spend much time out here?"

"I'd like to. I only returned a few days ago, remember?"

Helda nodded, eyes still fixated on the view before us. I continued to watch her for a short while, somewhat relieved that her sadness was gone, although temporarily. I remained standing by her side, fingers drifting over the denim coat I wore. One of the many pieces of clothing Hannes had bought for me.

I shifted on my feet at the thought, ears beginning to sting and my movement drew Helda's attention away to me. Immediately she apologized, and scouched around, offering me a spot to perch myself on the tree stump.

"Thank you." I told her. She nodded and then pulled out a small yellow packet, which I soon realized to contain mints.

"Where did you get this?" I asked, accepting the mint she offered me. It was the same white color of the sleeping pill I'd taken, but much larger. The scent of peppermint drifted from it when I inhaled.

"An Elder had been present when the Beta questioned me about if my loyalties were tied to Corozal or not, which I'd made explicitly clear it wasn't. I won't lie, I got a bit unreasonably upset at the insinuation. When the Beta stepped out of his office, the Elder, I believe his name to be Helmitch Bennett, opened a drawer and handed me the packet and said to keep it in my pocket and eat it later. I think he gave it to me to somehow ease my worried mind." Helda grinned at the memory. "The Beta returned and looked a bit suspicious, but said nothing."

I arched an eyebrow, and lifted the mint into my mouth. It reminded me of the peppermint leaves I'd chew on as a child whilst traveling on foot with my mother and father, but it was somewhat stronger in taste.

Enjoying any mints or sweets had been a rarity when I was child, and my mother and father had only, for the most part, bought what they deemed necessary, which excluded any sweets.

"Have you ever walked any further into these woods?" Helda asked, standing abruptly. Her eyes looked around us, clearly alerted by something which I couldn't see. I stood as well, albeit slowly, shaking my head at her question.

"And I wouldn't advise it either."

Helda and I both turned simultaneously at the sound of Yanneek's voice. He stood a few feet away, with his hands deep into the pockets of his pants. Beside him stood a stoic faced Jeremiah who informed us,

"The Alpha has requested that all pack members excluding the warriors return to their homes."

I frowned, confused. "Why?"

Impatience and worry flared in Jeremiah's gaze. "A neighboring pack has been attacked and calls for the Wildeland pack's assistance has reached us. Some of the warriors and The Alpha will be travelling there, and although the attack isn't happening in this pack, it is possible that violence may come this way and it's important that everyone is kept safe."

Jeremiah waved a hand in a hurried manner, and Helda and I exchanged a quick, baffled look before I began walking back to the house, the others hot on my heels.

********

Dark smoke and fire could be seen in the distance and I could somehow even smell it, despite most of the windows being closed in the house. It had been many, many hours since I'd been told to return to Hannes' home, and what had transpired afterwards had been a bit chaotic, as I'd seen pack warriors running to vehicles, and then Hannes before he too got inside one and left.

Elijah stayed behind, and currently was in the kitchen in which I stood, along with Athena, who was casually reading through a magazine whilst perched on a stool by the kitchen counter.

"You're bleeding." She murmured, without taking her eyes off of the words of her magazine. I blinked, confused.

"Pardon?"

Athena lowered the magazine, and glanced pointedly towards my palms. I immediately halted any further pressing of my nails into them, and lifted a hand to gaze at the small dots of blood that had arisen from them before moving to the kitchen sink.

"You need to do something to occupy your mind." Athena said, watching as I washed my hands. "The smell of your nervousness has overwhelmed any other scent in this kitchen."

I knew that it was true. Thoughts of an attack on this pack had caused my nerves to skyrocket significantly. Elijah looked on silently as Athena circled the kitchen counter, and then took up a notepad. She flipped through it until a blank page was shown, and then asked that Elijah pass her a laptop.

He did so, but then said, "I need to leave. I'll be outside with the warriors." He locked eyes with me. "Stay inside."

I said nothing; I had no intentions of leaving this home, and he eventually left.

"Did something happen between you two?" Athena asked, a finger drifting over her laptop screen. I sighed noisily, and walked to stand by her side as I muttered,

"Elijah and I exchanged a few words about me leaving the Wildeland pack a couple days ago, and he'd made his thoughts of my act known. I think he suspects that I may do something which he deems to be naive again." I shook my head, turning my attention to the laptop screen. "What are you looking for?"

"The recipe for meat pie. With your help maybe we could make one that was similar to the one which your mother made." Athena leaned forward, pressing against the counter as she stared hard at her device. Suddenly, a lump formed in my throat and I stared blankly ahead at the images which arose on the screen, a pang of sadness arising.

When I said nothing, Athena's fingers which were decorated with small but various diamond rings hovered over the keyboard, and she turned to face me, expression guilt ridden.

"I apologise. We don't have to do that if you're not comfortable. I just thought that maybe it would take your mind off of things temporarily." Athena closed the laptop when I struggled to speak. "The cooks have gone home. I'll just make a quick meal for Hannes in case he is hungry when he returns."

She walked away, searching through cabinets and gathering a pot and a pan, and I watched her for a short while before sliding the notepad closer to me, and lifting the pen which she'd intended to use. Silence fell over the room, with Athena and I focused on our different tasks, although mine was shorter.

I finally ripped the page out of the notepad once the recipe of my mother's meat pie was completed, and when Athena came to rest a bowl on the kitchen counter, I placed the paper beside it, watching whilst sitting on a kitchen stool as she read through it.

"These are all the ingredients?" Her voice was soft, gentle. Almost motherly. My fingers tapped the pen on the table, and I nodded in confirmation as I explained, voice a bit unsteady,

"Yes. I was often by my mother's side, watching and helping her make the pies, so what you see there is exactly what she placed in it."

Athena smiled, and looked over the paper before folding it in half and tucking it away in the pocket of her skirt. "Perhaps we could make it sometime this week then?" She asked. I nodded, just as the front door opened.

I stood immediately, narrowed eyes on the doorway of the kitchen. Athena however, didn't even flinch, and simply continued to stand facing me as her son stepped into the room.

My eyes widened almost immediately as I saw his blood drenched uniform and the splatters of blood, not his own, on his neck and cheek. His eyes shifted between his mother and myself as his large frame filled the tall doorway. A muscle in his jaw ticked rapidly and my eyes lowered momentarily to his hands smothered in dark blood and dirt.

It was on my tongue, to ask him what had happened, but it was obvious. He'd killed. And more than likely, he'd killed many.

"Was anyone from the Beckland Pack killed?" Athena's voice was low, and she finally faced her son. Her eyes travelled up and down his body and then rested on his face.

"The Luna. She was killed." Hannes told her, voice cold. He looked at me as he spoke, and I felt like the insides of my stomach twist in discomfort. Athena sighed softly, hand raising to rub at her face whilst Hannes continued to look down upon me as she whispered,

"God. Her mate must be devastated."

Hannes' honey eyes narrowed at her words, and he exhaled slowly. "He was." He finally looked away from me to address his mother after casting a look across the kitchen. "I will be taking a shower. Don't bother about preparing any food. Elijah is outside and he will escort you to your home. Goodnight."

Athena watched as her son walked away, not allowing her to say anything else. His heavy footsteps echoed loudly above us as he walked on the floor above and she gave me a sad smile.

"He doesn't particularly enjoy what he does. Killing, murdering others. But sometimes, it needs to be done." She then walked quickly to the stove, and shut off the flames that were burning under the pan.

Afterwards, with few tugs, Athena managed to withdraw a pair of gloves from her pocket and smoothly slipped them on as she began walking away, "Night, Olivia. Keep an eye on Hannes, will you?"

I watched as she left after giving a small wave of her fingers, diamond rings gleaming under the kitchen lights above. When I too left the kitchen, I listened for any sounds emerging from Hannes' room, but heard little to nothing.

I showered for a long while, thinking hard about if the bond would allow me to sleep alone tonight. Hannes did not appear to be in an approachable mood, and I was unsure if he wanted my presence.

However, the bond gave me no mercy, and I didn't leave the room but stood in the doorway of my bedroom instead. It was a bit strange, the way this bond worked. I had spent a long time away from Hannes throughout the day and other than feeling a bit concerned, the bond had not brought about any urgencies or needs to arise in me, but now that he was nearby, it was pressing me to go to him.

Throughout the time in which I'd been away from this pack, it didn't seem as if a bond had developed, but it seemed to somehow grow rapidly since I'd returned.

"Olivia."

My eyes widened and I slowly peaked out. "Hannes."

I could see that his door was open despite the hallway being mostly shrouded in darkness. His deep voice spoke again, coated with tiredness yet laced with amusement,

"Aren't you coming inside?"

I didn't see him after entering his room, for it was mostly pitch dark. I stupidly blinked multiple times as I stood where I suspected to be the middle of his room, as if the act of blinking would somehow allow me to see what was around me. "Hannes, I can't see sh-"

A warm hand encircled my wrist, and my breath caught as my legs suddenly touched the side of a bed. My fingers drifted over what I believed to be the bedspread before I hesitantly lowered my body onto the bed, sitting upwards as I listened for any footsteps from Hannes, which I didn't. A small flare of irritation grew at the fact that I was finding it difficult to hear him, and unable to know what he was doing.

However, I soon found out after feeling the bed dip beside me, and then I felt his shoulder graze my own as he too sat on the bed, both of us resting against the soft headboard.

"You will be trained soon so you will know how to fight, and you will learn how to handle weapons," Hannes' voice was low, and a snarl was heard in his words. "In this world and in your life, you will need to know how to defend yourself. There are too many possibilities of you being attacked or harmed by others, and although I'd like to be there to defend you if that were to happen, there is always the chance that I may not be."

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.💕