Notes:
    Lea explains what's happened since Merlin left.
Warnings: mentions of past strife and past violence

    Lea leaned back her head and let out a low howl, drawing Seth to her side as well as a beautiful female were with curly raven hair, kind brown eyes, and a figure only slightly smaller than Lea's herself, dressed in a purple dress and red vest, a matching red scarf tied in her curls.
    Seth raced over to give Merlin a hug, Merlin patting him on the back. "Hello, Seth. Missed you, old friend."
    "Missed you, Alpha."
    Lea smiled, stepping forward and introducing the raven haired woman. "Alpha Merlin, meet my true mate, Deanna. Dearest, this is Merlin, my former Alpha Pack Leader and an old friend."
     Deanna rushed in for her own hug. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Alpha Merlin."
     "Likewise." Merlin said, nodding in her direction.
     "Dearest, if you would be so kind to take Merlin's pack to their new homes?"
     "Well sure thing, Alpha." Deanna spoke in a southern accent, kindness dripping from her words as she nodded for Merlin's Pack to follow her.
     "Brother, you and Matthew take Chad and Zelena to the house. I'm sure they want to see their family after such an ordeal."
     Seth jumped at the opportunity. "Sure thing! Guys, lady, why don't we head off?"
     "I should join them." Adam added. "This is just as much my family as theirs."
     Without waiting for an answer, he shifted and chased after them. Merlin, Rose, Ryder, Sera, and Gideon were left with Lea.
     "So what's the problem?" Merlin asked as he took a place beside Lea, Rose tightly secured to his side.
     "Who are they?" She gestured to the other three.
     "My family." Rose answered. "My long lost brother and his mates."
     Lea eyed them with suspicion. "I see." She gestured to Merlin. "Walk with me. Only you and Rose. I don't know them well enough to spill my secrets."
    Merlin nodded at them to go. More than any of them, Sera seemed the most reluctant to go rather than Ryder but a quick command in the Alpha Voice had the two mates by their Alpha's side, the three bowing in respect and following after Deanna.
    "What was that all about?" Rose asked.
    "I'm so sorry, Ro, but I don't know who to trust anymore. I feel there are spies everywhere, just waiting for an opportunity to spill our secrets to our enemies. Especially from what I hear about this upcoming war."
     "Please, explain. What happened that made you need to call on us?" Merlin rumbled, his arm all the more tightly wound around his mate. "And who was that human that attacked when we arrived?"
    "He goes by the name of Kanen. He was just a sad human bandit that decided to attack the farm a few weeks ago, nearly killed Matthew, but he's been the least of our worries."
    "Then your troubles must be far more severe than I realized."
    Lea nodded. "It all started a few months ago. Until then, things were going well." She explained. "After all of you left to go to Wolf Haven, those of us that remained had a period of unrest. Most weres didn't want anything to do with me because of my past actions."
     She hung her head in shame. "The past doesn't matter." Rose spoke up. "Yes, you did a lot of fucked up things but you made the right choice in the end. If it weren't for you and Brietta, we would've never been able to stop fighting. And Adam trusted you to take over from him."
    Lea turned and hugged Rose, surprising the red haired Omega. "Thank you, Ro! You and Adam are the only people who ever trusted me!" She glanced over at Merlin. "Most everyone else I've ever known has used me: Nimueh, Charles, not to mention all the others I knew before I ended up with Nimueh."
     Lea then cleared her throat quickly. "Anyway, as I said, we had a period of unrest so I did odds and ends here and there to prove myself. I was put in charge with my brother as my second. For a time, everything was going well. But then..." She trailed off, as if looking for the right words.
     "Well...there was trouble in the neighborhood. Many of the humans left. At first, we thought it a blessing y'see." Lea explained as the group headed across the farm. "We used the extra land to make more room for ourselves, expanded our land, rebuilt. It helped a lot as we have taken in many weres, not only wolves like ourselves but many other types. Deanna is a werecat herself, like me."
     "I've heard of the other types." Merlin explained. "We have quite a few ourselves."
     "Anyway, as I said, we rebuilt, expanded our lands, things were going well. But then...well, remember on the journey here, how you said before Nimueh attacked that there were warning signs."
     "An influx of ferals that were working for her. Some hunters here and there that were much too bold. Although now we know it was only the Winchesters and they are now our friends and part of my pack." Merlin agreed.
     "Something like that, yes. We had a lot of ferals trying to attack us and the humans here. Not so much when it comes to hunters although there have been a few here and there. Rejects, wanting a name for themselves."
     Lea shrugged. "And that's the problem, is it?" Rose asked. "You believe someone like Nimueh, another member of the Old Religion, is targeting you, your subordinates, and the humans you protect?"
     Lea shook her head. "Not exactly although it is possible. But there in much more going on here." She took a deep breath. "When the ferals attacked, some humans learned the truth of who we are."
     Rose gasped and Merlin looked concerned. "We were worried about the repercussions, worried they'd send hunters. We have pups here, for Goddess' sake!" Lea took a breath. "We asked for help from old friends...old acquaintances. More packs showed up here. One of the biggest is the main reason for our worry."
     "How exactly?"
     Lea sighed. "It's...complicated rather." She explained. "You see...Seth and I were abandoned as  pups. With no one to take us in, we were alone in the world. I raised Seth myself and taught him to survive. Then we met them...Adrian's mother was the Alpha Pack Leader at the time. His father had died in a fight years ago. His mother took us in, was kind to us. Adrian became like a father to us, being much older than we were. As pups ourselves, he was fully grown and had just mated."
     "Anyway, we lived with that pack for many years. Then, a fight broke out. Ferals attacked. Many of our family died. Ferals took Seth and Adrian, all of them away from me. I was alone in the world. I was passed around from pack to pack, left alone, captured by hunters, taken by ferals, and finally sold to Nimueh. She eventually got Seth too and I wanted my brother back. That is why I originally joined you, Merlin."
     Merlin's gaze softened. "The world has not been kind to you, Lea. And, I confess, I had been too harsh to you when all you needed was a friend and kindness and compassion shown to you."
     "I hold nothing against you, Alpha. You did what you thought was right." Lea explained. She sighed. "The point is, we sent for many different packs for help. Some old friends have arrived and more are coming. Remember Braith?"
    Merlin nodded.
    "Who's Braith?" Rose asked.
    "Arthur's old flame from when we were teenagers. When he was a kid, they were engaged to be mated by our grandfather. He wanted Arthur to mate with someone of high tier from another pack to build strong ties and allies. Braith is the next heir of her father's pack, a pack of Danish vikings."
     At Rose's confused glance, he added, "Saxons, we call them. Anyway, Arthur and Braith grew close when they reached their teenage years, before Arthur mated Gwen. Braith went back to her father's pack about a year or two before that, when he started getting promiscuous. He also had a bit of a fling with Mithian but they decided to just be friends and she joined us when her father died."
     "But that's beside the point." He added, turning his gaze back to Lea. "I apologize. I got caught up in old memories."
     "It's alright. As I said, many old friends have joined us to help, Braith and others, as well as a few new ones. There's the Riders Pack, a pack of Nordic viking shapeshifters who ride dragons. The Dunbroch Pack is coming soon." Quickly, she added, "They are a pack made up for four different clans, Dunbroch the highest among them, Scottish werebears, they are."
     "The point is," Lea explained, "many different packs have arrived to help us, from all over. Word has spread far and wide, to the four corners of the world, that war is coming and they have pledged their allegiance to us. That is why this matter is so delicate."
     "Adrian is not just our ally but family as well. And yet, we are having trouble with him." Lea continued, hanging her head and sighing. "Ever since he has arrived, he has seen fit to take control over the farm, the packs, the humans, every piece of land around here except the town."
    She looked sad as she concluded, almost tearfully. "We cannot go against him, not when so many lives are at stake, not when the fate of our kind is at stake. I cannot, in good conscience, fight him, not when we need him the most. Yet, at the same time, if we don't do something soon, I fear the war is the least of our worries."