Before

**Peters POV**
I am not sure if I am in Heaven or Hell. I watch my mate take full control of the room. When she touches Barlas I can’t help but growl again – she is mine, my all. Then she mind-speaks me.

*Shush your moaning honey, I will get to you, but there is something really wrong here, please trust me*

I can feel her love in the message, and she called me honey, maybe she has forgiven me already. Braon is bouncing. I think about going to her, but she said she would get to me, so I will wait, show her I trust her, I just hope this doesn’t take too long, the bedroom behind me is calling and I want to scoop her up and peel her out of that oversized t-shirt. Then I am going to kiss every square inch of her delectable body. I am going to pleasure her with my fingers, then my mouth, and finally when she is a quivering wreck… I am going to ease my hard throbbing dick into her warm wet slit…

I move slightly to ease the discomfort in my boxers, can she hurry up already.

Finally, she turns to me with a devilish glint in her eyes. Her face is carefully schooled into a you are in trouble look. But the way she is swaying that ass in my direction… mmm… I think I am in trouble, but in a good way… I inhale deeply… Yep she is definitely turned on.

Slowly my memory buffers process what has happened in the room while I was daydreaming.

Shit did Barlas say at least twenty one pups are missing? Oh Goddess what has my selfishness done. It is like before… I feel myself shrinking into myself, I am spiralling, the room is fading out. I am falling...

**A memory.**
*The day had been dark and gloomy, and the night was cold, with the cloud cover finally breaking, allowing the light of a not quite full moon through. The pack had introduced a lockdown on the children and young people in the pack. They didn't quite understand why, just some of their friends had gone missing.
*
*A young Peter, barely fifteen summers old, had snuck out a meet up with some of his mates after curfew. They had spent the evening drinking bears and acting the fool.
*
*It was after 10:00 PM when Peter crept back into the pack house anxious to avoid his parents, and the guards, and punishment that would surely come if he were caught. As he stole along the corridor towards his room he heard a squeak coming from Fel’s room, so he made his way quietly towards her door and pushed it open.
*
*The door opened silently and through the gap he could see his sister’s bed. The white counterpane reflecting moonlight. His eyes widened, and the blood drained from his face, as he witnessed his sister, in her nighty, being dragged towards the balcony doors by a pale white arm. The rest of the body attached to the arm was cloaked in darkness.
*
*Without thinking Peter transformed into Braon and launched himself at his sister's assailant. His teeth came into contact with it’s bare flesh. He ripped and tore at it.
*
*Until a ghastly wail came from the shrouded being, and it released its grip on Felicia. Felicia dove forward away from the monster running past her brother, towards the open door, towards safety, towards help.
*
*Braon snarled and snapped at the creature desperate to defend his little sister from it. The creature moved forward and backhanded the young wolf, throwing him across the room and into a solid oak wardrobe.
*
*The force of his body colliding with it splintered the wood and left Braon with his head reeling.
*
*Desperately he scrabbled to his paws and turned round to face his attacker again. Still defending the door. He bared his teeth ready to launch himself again, behind he could hear sounds of movement in the wider pack house as his sister woke his parents and found guards to assist him.
*
*The creature moved towards him again within the cowl of its cloak he could see its eyes glowing red. He was sure he could hear it growling as well. Again it hit him, throwing him into a wall this time. His head hit harder and despite his best efforts he was knocked unconscious.
*
*When he came round, the fight was over. He was in his mother’s arms and his little sister was sobbing. His father and his father’s beta, Josef, were looking for the assailant, but there were no clues.
*
*Whoever it was left no scent behind. How was that even possible Peter wondered.
*
*Once they were sure that Peter was okay his father and Josef had taken him for debriefing, as it turned out that no one else had seen the beast except him and Fel. A white arm with talons and glowy red eyes were the extent of the description. Peter felt that his father was disappointed at the lack of leads and blamed him at least partially for it.
*
*That was a final attack the pack that suffered from that summer. In fact ever since that summer there have been no more attacks, no more missing children until this year.*

**Peter’s POV**
I am face down on the carpet…. shit, I think I blacked out when the memory of nearly losing Fel hit me.

I can hear a loud keening wail, and Barlas calling for Jess, then someone is turning me. I open my eyes as I roll over and find myself staring straight into the stormy grey eyes of Em. Tears are running down her face.

She looks at me and then she is on top of me. Hugging and kissing me.

‘Now, now you two’ Jess greets us. ‘Put each other down so I can give you both a check over.’

Within moments I was sat on a stool in the kitchen while Jess checked me over. Looking for signs of concussion or brain injury, although as she said you need a brain to injure it.

Once she was happy with my health she went into the bedroom with Emma to check her out.

While the girls were in there we settled into the couches with a beer each and ordered pizza.

‘Barlas’ I began. ‘I am sorry for being a selfish arsehole, but I promise from now on it will be about the pack’

Barlas runs his fingers through his hair. ‘Yeah I know it will be, or that little firecracker is going to kick your butt. She is something else. I am sorry I doubted you and the Goddess, but I think she is just the ticket now.’

We all stare at the bedroom door for a moment waiting for my little firecracker to emerge, but obviously Jess and her haven’t heard of dramatic timing, because the door stays firmly shut.

‘So thirteen of our kids are gone?’ I ask him.

‘At least thirteen boss,’ he replies. ‘There were a couple of runaways at the beginning who fit the profile of the other missing kids, so you have to wonder.’

‘Do you think it is the same as last time?’

‘Last time?’ he queries.

‘Yeah, when we were teens,’ I tell him. ‘You must remember the curfew and the kids going missing.’

‘I vaguely remember a curfew, but no missing people.’

That is weird, especially as I hadn’t remembered either until I blacked out. It was like someone had put a spell on us.

Ding, dong… The doorbell went, and Onan paid the driver and retrieved seven large pizzas from the guy which he brought back to where we all sat.

Five minutes later Emma and Jess join us. The room is mostly quiet as we eat. I wave at the pizza’s encouraging them to join in.

‘Peter, Emma is fine, healing better than expected, but she does need to rest. So don’t let her stay up too long.’ Jess informs me, while grabbing a beer and snagging a slice of mighty meaty.

Once we are all replete I turn the conversation back to the pups.

‘Jess,’ I ask. ‘Do you recall seven or eight years after you joined the pack a load of kids were kidnapped and never found?’

‘No,’ she shakes her head. ‘That sounds like the year I didn’t visit… actually I can’t remember why I didn’t come that year… strange.’

This memory thing definitely warrants further investigation, but not now.

‘We need to go and find out what we can where the children went missing,’ Emma offers quietly.

‘I think you are right, my love.’ I say to her. ‘But that means we can’t hunt down the people who hurt you… are you okay with that?’

‘I guess,’ she replies. ‘But someone is going to have to teach me to fight… because I never want to feel that helpless again.’

‘Okay.’ I smile at her. So the plan is to leave first thing in the morning. We will enter the other realm via…. Griff where is the nearest entry point?’

‘Brigadoon’

‘...Okay entry via Brigadoon. Can someone organise a horse for Emma from Brigadoon? Can you ride?’

‘I haven’t ridden for years, but I used to, and I am sure it is like riding a bicycle’ she laughs at her mixed metaphors.

‘Right, we have a plan. Anyone got any other concerns or suggestions?’ I ask looking round.

Everyone shakes their heads.

With the decision made to head to Brigadoon and on to the packlands as soon as possible.

I leave Barlas and Griffin to make the arrangements, and take Emma to bed… Doctors orders after all.