Everchanging

Lya

Us vigilantes had met almost daily the past couple weeks, refining and perfecting the plan. Oliver had nearly found us out, but it was not a wolf my anger - and fear - brought forward. A roll of power surged through me, similar to the one that hit when I marked him, and filled my words.

“Just stay away from the training grounds while I am here, Oliver,” I demanded. “You can’t act on every worry, and you know I am safe here.”

Hurt flashed across Oliver’s face and consumed my thoughts, but I did my best to push it aside. I’d be hurting him a lot more soon enough. But right now, this was for the best.

When I got home that afternoon, we didn’t talk about it. Thom mentioned I shouldn’t be able to muster a command yet - especially a command an alpha had to obey - but I didn’t quite care why or how. It provided the means to an end. Oliver had been getting closer and closer to finding out what was going on right under his nose, and we couldn’t let that happen.

I had been at the pack for over a month now, and it was safe to say I was quite easily finding my place here. I owed them a debt for the new lease on life they gave me, and I would repay them, no matter the cost.

Maybe I hadn’t changed as much as I thought.

Cody had been doing his best to answer any and all questions I had about the Wulver Pack we were a part of. Unfortunately, the Alpha - my father - had vanished several years previously, leaving them to find their own direction. The pack had not felt his passing, but no one could find him. The only way to replace an alpha was in the event of their death, leaving the position open for someone else to assume, or a challenge, where the winner took control. You couldn’t exactly challenge someone you couldn’t find, however. He had tried to press me for any sort of information that might lead to my dad’s whereabouts, but I had not laid eyes on him since that night when I was fifteen, and aside from a few phone calls over the years, I hadn’t even talked to him. The last time he had called was two years ago, too.

Thom had some affiliations with the Wulvers, too, thanks to Cody. He may have left Snow Moon, but he was nowhere near ready to abandon all of werewolf kind. He wasn’t anywhere near considering joining them, but was always willing to assist when asked. Cody said that made him an honorary Wulver, at least.

They would never tell Oliver, or any other pack for that matter, but the reason our particular area had known peace for so long was because of their unknown frontline of three - Cody, Thom, and Gregory.

Gregory was the one that actually made the most sense to me. Quiet and unassuming, passionate about protection and preparation, carrying on the Beta role because of a duty to protect and serve. If it weren’t for his mate, he wouldn’t have ever joined a pack, either. Cody said he was apprised of the plan we had, but not to expect his input unless he saw a legitimate flaw.

This was the first time Gregory had appeared for one of our secret meetings, and his presence made me nervous. We had planned so carefully up until now, and I wasn’t prepared for everything to come tumbling down.

Trevor, Thom, Gregory, and I sat quietly in Cody’s office, just waiting for him to get back from his meeting with the scouts. I glanced around nervously, thankful when Gregory cleared his throat to talk.

“So Thom,” he started, “how is Maggie doing?”

Thom glanced up, smiling a bit at the mention of his wife. “Very ready to be done with pregnancy. I’d put money on her going into labor when you guys are gone.”

Oliver had quickly agreed to having Thom stay behind and oversee the pack for the - ideally - day or two he, the old and new betas, and gammas would be out east river. Someone needed to be around just in case things went south, and Thom knew how to lead. Derek was staying behind also, but Oliver wasn’t about to put him in charge. That, and Thom needed to be close to Maggie if the pup came. Everyone was worried about her, too, what with her being human and all. It wouldn’t be very fair to put him in the line of fire.

“The first pup is always the most stressful,” Gregory offered. “You two will do just fine.”

Cody barged into the room, interrupting whatever it was Thom had for a response.

“I don’t think we can wait any longer,” he said quickly, demanding everyone’s attention. “There are eight confirmed hunters milling around, and I’m sure there are others we don’t know about.”

“Can you remind me why we are doing it this way?” Trevor asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I really don’t understand why we can’t just take the eight or more that are there out and call it a day.”

“Because we can end this for good now if we play our cards right,” Cody reminded him. “Hunters will always come back into play, but a dozen or so of them isn’t going to hurt their ranks enough. We need to maximize the impact, and we need to know their plans. If they’ve been tracking her but not striking for years, there’s got to be a reason, and we have to know. It’s not just our Luna and our pack we are trying to protect.”

Gregory turned to me. We had hardly spoken, even though I had been in the packhouse for so long. He was quite happy to keep his distance, only offering pleasantries on occasion. At first I thought he didn’t like me, but I was quickly learning that was just who he was. It was always the silent ones you needed to look out for, right? He slid a carefully wrapped package across the desk, a somber look on his face.

I gulped down the nausea the contents of that package brought up. “Is this really the best way?” I asked feebly.

“It’s the only way,” Gregory said sadly. “You’ll need to start tonight.”

I snatched it up, stuffing it in my backpack quickly. I stood up, leaving the office. I had expected arguments from Tala about this, but she seemed just as resigned to the necessity of it as I was. It would be her that was impacted the most, her that would shield me from feeling any of it.

'I’m so sorry,' I whispered to her.

'You don’t want to do it this time,' she said quietly.

Tala and I were still figuring out how to forge a new path forward. It was difficult trying to figure out how to happily share my brain, but we seemed to be getting one step closer every day. Shifting regularly, along with our proximity to our mate, helped. It was beginning to feel more natural. I resented what I was going to have to do to her.

'We will be okay,' she assured me. If only I could believe it.

Rose caught up to me just as I was leaving the training grounds, falling in step with me. “Guess what!?” she shrieked

I glanced up at her, trying not to let my inner turmoil show. No response was apparently invitation enough to continue.

“I got an assignment!” Joy bubbled over on Rose’s face, making it hard not to smile with her. “I mean, I’m kind of upset that I didn’t get selected to go out to your old place and help clean the mess up there, but I am going to work!”

“I wouldn’t be too upset about sitting that one out if I were you,” I said slowly. Hell, I would sit it out if I could have it my way.

“This will be a longer assignment, anyway,” Rose giggled. “I’m keeping tabs on that Wyoming gamma! Do you think he’s really as bad as Oliver thinks he is?”

“Yeah,” I snorted. “He’s a prick at the very least. He was all for just handing me over to the hunters.”

Rose looked over at me, wide eyed. “No! He said that?”

“Right to Oliver’s face,” I confirmed. A small part of me warmed remembering how Oliver jumped to my defense. “That’s why he’s not being included on the east river
assignment. Oliver doesn’t think he can trust him. But you knew that already if you’ll be trailing him.”

“I never thought this pack had issues like that,” she mused. “I guess they don’t really let the pack in on the drama, though.”

“I guess not.” Come to think of it, even the east river assignment was being kept relatively quiet. Oliver had not done anything to publicly alert the pack to the threat. Of course, everyone knew there was a big thing going on, because the warriors were apprised of it and mandatory training had increased. It was big enough to call on some of the non-warriors to take over patrols and such while everyone would be gone. But overall, the extremity of the situation had been kept quiet.

Granted, if we had covered our tracks well enough, Oliver shouldn’t think it was a big deal, either. They were projecting three or four wolves to each hunter present, meaning aside from us rebels, everyone should be under the impression that it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle to go in, neutralize the threat, and leave. It actually seemed like a lot of manpower to me. I mean, Oliver, Trevor, and Rose didn’t seem to have any problem with the four hunters in Pierre.

At some point, Trevor had joined us in our walk back to the packhouse. I glanced over at him, offering a small smile. I knew this was all weighing on him heavily, and the guilt of lying to his best friend was eating him alive. At least he had a new mate to keep him distracted.

We came to a stop in front of the packhouse. Cody had made it here before us, and it looked like he was breaking the news to Oliver that the timeline had been moved up.
I could feel his eyes on me, but I tried to ignore them - just for a moment.

“Mind stashing this?” I asked Trevor, passing my backpack over to him. “I want to go on a run one last time.”

He took the backpack gingerly. I wondered if he could feel the contents of it through all the fabric. I really hoped I’d be able to find that backpack again. I knew he wasn’t completely on board with the plan, and he had really thrown a fit about this part.

I finally caved, locking eyes with my mate. A smile crept up to my face, pulling at the corners of my mouth, and I felt Tala push forward.