"Avery, slow down," Lilith pants, moving as fast as she can through the trees.

"No, we're going to be late," Avery shoots back irritably, grabbing Lilith's hand and pulling her along.

"They're rogues, they don't care much about time," Lilith groans, trying to take her hand back.

She eventually shakes Avery off, just to promptly trip over a bramble.

"I thought you were supposed to be some badass rogue," Avery grumbles, picking Lilith up off the ground.

Lilith stays quiet, pouting a little bit at her friends snub.

"Are you okay?" Avery asks reluctantly, and Lilith rolls her eyes.

"I'm fine, let's hurry, they won't wait for you to show up for too long," Lilith sighs, resting a hand on her bump as they walk at a more manageable pace.

"I thought you said they didn't care about time?" Avery retorts, raising a brow.

Lilith stays uncharacteristically quiet.

Avery shoots concerned looks over her shoulder to Lilith every couple of seconds.

This distracts her so much that she gets hit in the face by a low-hanging branch.

"Fuck," Avery groans, rubbing her forehead.

Lilith doubles over laughing, gasping for air as she does, her hands on her knees and her eyes watering from giggling.

"Don't laugh at me, wobbles," Avery grunts, and Lilith grins at her cheekily.

"Well, I guess we've lost the element of surprise," she snorts, and this time, she takes the lead, her shoulders back and chin in the air.

She looks comical to Avery, because her bump is slightly sticking in front of her, and her entire body is unstable as she walks.

"Are we almost there?" Avery asks with a sigh after a couple of more minutes.

Lilith rolls her eyes and shoots her a look.

"Well, at least I'm getting practice parenting," she mutters, and Avery opens her mouth in shock.

"And what do you mean by that, mama bird?" She retorts, and Lilith grins wider.

"Kids are annoying, and so are you. It's a great exercise for my patience," she mocks, leading Avery along a dirt track.

"I'm not the annoying one!" Avery exclaims, "I don't cry every five minutes!"

Lilith lets out a hoot of laughter.

"Yeah, but you lose your temper every two minutes, so I'm just waiting for the mother of all tantrums," she grins, squinting into the distance in front of her, "I'll be perfectly prepared for a stroppy toddler then."

"Oh, shut up," Avery groans, folding her arms and sulking.

"See, you're doing it again," Lilith teases, sniffing the air and then making a sharp turn where she is.

Avery nearly runs into a tree at the sudden change in direction, but she just sighs and follows Lilith, who has far more experience and knowledge of this side of the woods.

They're just outside of Rapid Rock's pack boundary, searching through the forest for the rogues Lilith ran with.

Avery isn't happy being outside the boundary, but the rogues refused to meet inside it in case it was a trap.

Lilith trusted these people, so Avery was trying to force herself to do the same.

It wasn't working.

If they try anything, I'll kill them all, Sonya growls, and Avery nods.

I'll let you, nobody is going near her. Or us, but mainly her, Avery snarls back, perfectly prepared to jump in front of Lilith at any sign of trouble.

Lilith lets out a sudden exclamation of excitement, and she takes off in a run.

Avery scowls and takes a deep breath before hurrying to follow her, easily catching up with her.

She grabs her collar and pulls her back gently, rolling her eyes.

"Lilith, no running," she scolds, and Lilith rolls her own eyes.

"Avery, stop being so bossy, I can smell them," she laughs gleefully, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed.

Avery is shocked to see how lighthearted her friend has suddenly become, but she nods and releases her.

Lilith continues in a fast pace, but doesn't run.

In seconds, she makes it across a clearing and lands in somebody's arms.

Avery hurries after her, standing a foot behind her as she hugs this man she can't see.

She gags again as the scent of rogue fills his nostrils, and she wrinkles up her nose.

Lilith moves her hand and gets back to her own feet.

"Avery, this is-" Lilith begins, and Avery cuts her off.

"Byron," she finishes the sentence, and the man nods, extending his hand to her.

"It's nice to see you again, Alpha, although the circumstances aren't the best," he states formally, and she shakes his hand firmly.

"Are they ever?" She sighs, running her free hand through her hair.

"You two know each other?" Lilith asks, her face scrunched up in confusion.

"I've interviewed him before," Avery quickly interjects before Byron has to lie to her, "he had suggestions about safety measures."

Byron stares at the female Alpha curiously, but shakes his head.

"We're going to have to go to our cabin to talk, I don't want to be this exposed," Byron nods, and Avery shrugs.

She feels safer, she knows this rogue. She knows where he used to be, and she knows about his daughter. She confirmed he was actually a former general in the Connors pack, so she had no reason to distrust him.

We also have no reason to trust him, Sonya reminds her grimly.

Avery follows behind Lilith and Byron, her ears perked up for any sound in the forest.

The two in front of her chatter the whole way to the cabin, and Lilith informs Byron about her pregnancy.

"That's delightful, love," he grins, pulling her into a side hug as they walk.

"How is your mate doing?" He asks her curiously, a wide smile on his face.

"He's really good," Lilith admits with a shy smile on her lips.

"Byron told me I had to go be with Zephyr. I wasn't sure when I first met him, I had never met a nice Alpha before him," Lilith murmurs to Avery, her cheeks going a little red.

"Well, on behalf of Zephyr, thank you," Avery chuckles, nodding to Byron.

They arrive at a rustic wooden cabin.

Avery furrows her brows at the structure in the middle of the forest, utterly baffled at how this managed to go unnoticed by the surrounding packs.

"It's human owned, we rent," Byron announces as they walk up the steps.

Avery nods slowly, her mind racing.

He unlocks the door and leads them in.

Four people spring up from couches in the entry room, staring at the intruders.

Lilith nudges Avery roughly, and Avery glares at her until she realises how much power she's exuding.

Avery immediately brings down her dominance a tad, and stares back at the rogues in the room.

There's two males and two females, and her eyes are instantly drawn to the taller male.

He's hot, and she's willing to admit it.

"Guys, this is Alpha Avery Wilcott, Rapid Rock's Alpha," Byron sighs, his tone laced with warning.

"What happened to the guy?" One of the girls asks, raising a brow as she sits back down, spreading out on the couch she's on.

"He was poisoned like your relatives were," Avery replies for herself, her tone stony.

Lilith is being hugged by the other girl, and Avery has one eye on them, and one eye on everything else.

"How do we know that it wasn't you that poisoned him?" One of the males ask, and it's the tall one.

Even his voice is sexy, Sonya mutters, and Avery tries not to sigh in exasperation.

"Trust me, I was otherwise occupied that night," she mutters awkwardly, and Lilith pats her on the back sympathetically, no doubt remembering hauling her crap from Roman's room.

"I don't trust you, though," the man shrugs, his dark, straight hair in a low bun at the back of his head.

"That's fine," Avery responds calmly, shrugging her shoulders, too.

She looks him in the eyes, and he takes a step forward, glaring into hers.

Byron clears his throat and stands between them, shaking his head.

"Hayden, back down, she'll hand you your ass on a plate," he mutters to the man, and the man rolls her eyes, stepping back and sitting down again.

"So, why is little Lil here?" The other man asks, his arm over the girl's shoulder.

"I'm staying with Ave- Alpha Wilcott right now. There's a security risk in my pack, and hers has proven to be safe," Lilith sighs, ruffling the guy's hair.

Avery's phone rings, and she nearly has a heart attack at the sudden intrusion of noise.

"Excuse me, where can I take this?" She asks once she reads the caller identification.

"Kitchen, but we'll still be able to hear you," Hayden sighs, pointing towards a door.

Avery nods to him and refrains from giving him the finger or scowling.

She walks into the kitchen and closes the door behind him before she answers the phone.

"You leave me until the last ring, seriously?" Scott grumbles, and Avery rolls her eyes, leaning against the counter top.

"I was busy," Avery sighs, "what do you want?"

"I want Kali to come home," he says bluntly, his tone leaving very little room for argument.

"Did you sort your pack out?" Avery asks, raising a brow.

"We found the mole, and we found a whole rake of soldiers who were disloyal. So yes, I'd say I have sorted it out," he mutters, sounding more stressed than she's ever heard him.

"Stop scowling, you'll get wrinkles," she grunts, and closes her eyes.

"Make sure you got them all. I don't want to send her home unless I know it's completely safe. I don't want either of you hurt," Avery murmurs, being as quiet as possible as her tone turns more concerned.

"I am. I wouldn't take her home unless I knew it was safe, you know that," Scott responds quickly, his tone a good deal calmer. He knows she's only trying to help, even if her way of helping is a little irritating and very useless at times.

"Just check again," Avery pleads, and he sighs heavily.

"I will, I promise. Just tell her to pack, I'll be up to collect her before the end of the week. Nothing will hurt her here, and I haven't been near her in too long," he mumbles, "I nearly killed my Beta yesterday for questioning me."

Avery raises an eyebrow and lets out a small laugh.

"I can only imagine how bad your wolf is if you did that in human form," she snorts, and Scott releases a laugh too.

"Yeah, I'm not planning on telling Kali about that when I phone her tonight. So if you could tell her to pack, I'd really appreciate it, I want to hear her happy again," he says in a voice that almost makes Avery 'aww' out loud.

"I will tell her, I promise," Avery vows, and gets a relieved sigh in response, "be careful, Scott, don't get yourself hurt please."

"Don't be such a mother hen, Ave, I'm fine," he groans, "I'll talk to you tomorrow with a final report on my ranks, but call me if you get any useful information."

"I will, goodbye, Scott," Avery nods, and hangs up her phone.

She inhales slowly, closes her eyes, and leans against the countertop.

Hayden walks in and clears his throat, scowling down at her.

Avery opens her eyes irritably, and raises an eyebrow at him.

"What do you want?" She grumbles, and he clears his throat again, pointing at the cupboard just behind her.

"Oh," she mutters, moving about a meter away and beginning to text Kali.

She's as enthusiastic as one would expect, and Avery gets a million kisses and emoticons in the response.

"Pack business, or romantic affair?" He snorts, staring at her intensely.

"What?" She asks, furrowing her brows as she looks up at him.

"Scott?" He responds questioningly, and she scowls at him.

"Alpha Petty," she mutters, walking by him.

He gently grabs her wrist, and turns her back to face him.

"Be careful what you agree to with them," he murmurs, his face suddenly beside hers.

She moves back as quickly as she can, extremely startled by the sudden movement.

"Um, okay," she coughs, quickly shaking him off and then returning to the main room where everybody is waiting.

They're all talking, but everything goes quiet when Avery walks back in.

"Kali?" Lilith asks, and Avery nods.

"Delighted, as one would expect," she snorts, and then clears her throat, looking around the room at everybody.

"I've been getting prank calls, and my room was vandalised. I think it was one of the rogues," she announces, and Byron furrows his brows.

"Rose, do you have information on this?" He asks, sitting down at the dining table calmly.

"It isn't one of ours, and if it is, it isn't sanctioned," she shakes her head, picking her laptop up from the coffee table.

"What do you mean 'one of yours'?" Avery asks curiously, sitting down opposite of Byron.

"We have smaller groups of rogues that we contract things out to. We don't terrorise Alphas," Rose shrugs, shaking her head again as she clicks and types on her laptop.

"What were these prank calls saying?" The other guy asks, and Avery sighs.

"Not much. Just some creepy laughing and singing, but I've also had a few hangup calls to my office. My press secretary picked them all up, and I managed to answer one before they hung up," Avery mutters, smoothing her forehead with her fingers.

"Okay, do you believe you're in immediate danger?" Byron asks, leaning forward to look into her eyes.

"Someone broke into my house last night, I don't know how though. My house is basically impenetrable, it was built that way," she grits her teeth, and hears a snort behind her.

"Obviously it isn't impenetrable in somebody got in," Hayden comments.

Byron shoots him a look, and Avery doesn't even bother responding to him.

"My concern is for Lilith. She was sent to my pack for protection and medical care in her pregnancy. I can't look after her if there's something in my pack that could hurt her," she states, leaning on her arms.

"Lilith can fight, she'll be fine," Hayden shrugs carelessly, and then his eyes widen, "Pregnant? That's the problem, then."

Lilith's bottom lip wobbles, and Avery hurriedly stands up and moves over to her, wrapping her arms around her gently.

"He just said my baby is a problem," she whimpers, and Avery shakes her head quickly.

"He didn't mean it, your baby is the best," Avery soothes, stroking Lilith's hair.

Hayden watches the scene with slightly widened eyes, before he plants himself onto the nearest arm of the couch.

"I didn't mean the baby was a problem," he awkwardly says, petting Lilith's arm hesitantly, "I'm sorry."

"Apology not accepted, you pig," Lilith grumbles, scowling at him and turning around to put her head on Avery's shoulder.

"Okay, can we finish this discussion now? Was there anybody there who can confirm either the calls or the break in?" Byron asks, and Avery cringes slightly.

"Alpha Lancaster was," she grits out, and Lilith can't hold in the giggle that escapes her.

Avery squeezes her slightly tighter and Lilith stops snorting.

"He was more than just there," she mutters, and Avery prods her gently in the back.

"What does she mean?" Byron asks tiredly, and Avery shakes her head.

"He was there for personal business," she sighs, leading Lilith over to the table to sit down.

"What kind of personal business?" Hayden snorts, "That implies romantic or sexual relationships."

"Cool," Avery simply shrugs, patting Lilith's back still.

Hayden's eyes widen, and he goes quiet.

"Could they have been targeting him instead of you?" The other boy asks, and Avery shakes her head grimly.

"It was very obvious that he left yesterday morning," she states, and Byron simply raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, well what do you want me to do?" He asks, drawing Avery's attention back to him with ease.

"I don't know. I'd appreciate if you could put the word out," she shrugs, "it's very inconvenient, and it's extremely worrying due to the presence of a pregnant shewolf on my land."

"Two," the other girl mutters with a rolling of her eyes.

"What?" Lilith asks, furrowing her brows.

"There are two, not just one pregnant shewolf."