"What's that smell?" I question, sniffing the air. Ethan stares at me for a few seconds before he discreetly sniffs the air around us. We are on guard duty right now, so we were patrolling the area just outside the pack lands.

"What are you talking about?" Ethan says, raising an eyebrow at me. He is still sniffing the air every few seconds, trying to catch the scent that I am smelling.

"You can't smell it? God, I swear, it feels like we are being cocooned in it." I start walking in the direction where the smell is resonating from. It becomes stronger and stronger as I walk closer towards our perimeter. Ethan follows behind me, leaves crunching under our feet as I try to find the source of the smell.

I stop at a huge tree that is growing about a hundred feet from our fences. The smell is stronger than before, and as I look closer, I see a dull red smudge on the tree. Without hesitation, I lean forward and sniff the smudge. Reeling back, I try to clear my nose of the awful scent.

Wheezing, I look at my brother. "Oh God, can't you smell it?"

He looks at me before leaning in and scenting the tree. He reels back while wrinkling his nose in disgust and nods his head. "It smells awful, but almost... familiar?"

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," I say. Holding my breath, I once again lean in to inspect the smudge. By the color and the smell, I piece together that it is blood, but that is not the thing that catches my attention. Right next to the smudge of blood is a small carving in the tree.

"Hey Ethan, come look at this," I say, motioning him over with my hands without looking away from the carving.

"What is it?" he asks, walking over to me. Without answering him, I grab him by the back of his neck and pull him over to the carving. I raise my finger and point at it, careful not to touch the strange carving or the blood next to it. We both study it for what seems like hours but is most likely only a couple of minutes.

"What do you think it is?" Ethan says, finally looking over at me. I move my eyes away from the tree and lock them onto my brother.

"I don't know. I have never seen anything like it before. Do you think it means anything?" I ask, once again looking at the strange symbol.

"Probably, but what could it possibly mean? It just looks like a whole bunch of scribbles."

"No, it doesn't," I say. "Look, there are letters within the design. It looks like two t's and an oval."

Ethan scrutinizes the carving, green eyes squinting in concentration. "No, I don't think those are t's. They look like j's to me. Take a closer look. They kind of do a swoopy thing at the end."

I cock my head and study it again, seeing the letters I thought were t's transform into j's. "Yeah, I guess you're right. So, J oval J? J O J? Joj? What the hell does joj mean?"

"I have no idea. But, what about the blood. It smells horrible," Ethan says, scrunching his nose in disgust. My head swims just thinking about the horrible smell. I have gotten used to it, so it is not as bad as it originally was when I first caught the scent.

"It smells familiar, but I can't place it. You know, I think whoever left it behind may have been infected. No healthy person or wolf would have blood this horrible."

Ethan nods his head and we fall silent, thinking about everything that is happening.

"I think we should head back and tell Dad about this. The new patrol should be waiting at the fence to relieve us," Ethan says, breaking the silence.

We turn to leave, but then I think of something. "Wait! We need to copy this down so that everyone can see it. Do you have any paper or something else we can write on?" I ask, pulling my backpack off my back to search for a pen and a piece of paper. Ethan does the same, and after a couple of seconds, he pulls out a chewed up pencil.

"Here," he says, handing me the damaged writing utensil. I raise an eyebrow at him but do not say anything about the rough state of the pencil. Rooting through my backpack some more, I manage to pull out an old piece of homework. Turning it over, I use the pencil to copy a rough sketch of the carving.

"Okay," I say once I am finished. "Let's head back."

*****

It only takes us about ten minutes to make it back to the pack house. We walk together up to our dad's office and I knock on the door.

"Come in," I hear my father say in a tired voice. Erik and I glance at each other before pushing open the door and walking into the room. My father looks up at us from behind his desk. Just by looking at his face, I can tell how tired and overwhelmed he is. Purple bags under his eyes make them almost look bruised and his blonde hair is disheveled as if he has run his fingers through his hair multiple times.

"What is it, boys?" my father says, motioning for us to sit in the seats across from him.

"Uh, are you okay, Dad?" I ask, trying to take in his new appearance. We sit in the seats he told us to, and listen to what he has to say.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I know you boys didn't come here to ask about my wellbeing, so what brings you here?" he asks, setting the papers he is holding down and looking over at us.

"Well, while we were out on patrol, Ethan and I came across something strange," I say, pulling out the piece of paper that Erik had sketched on. "We found this carved into a tree next to an awful smelling smudge of blood not even a hundred feet from our borders."

Our father takes the piece of paper and studies the sketch. A look passes over his face that I almost do not recognize. It looks as if he is scared, something I have never associated with my father before.

"Dad, what's wrong? Do you know what it is?" I ask, sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what he will say next.

"Yeah," he breathes, not looking away from the symbol. "I know what it is and it is not good."

"Well?" Erik says when Dad does not elaborate. "What is it?"

Dad stays silent for a few more seconds before finally answering our question. His gaze studies the symbol on the paper we handed him.

"This design belongs to a pack of rogue wolves who call themselves the Warriors," my dad says, finally looking up at us. "They have spent the last two hundred years or so going around and stealing wolves, or more specifically, omegas. That is why most packs kick out their omegas, and why most Alphas see them as dangerous. They don't want the Warriors to attack them and destroy their pack. They must have found out about your mate somehow."

Erik and I let out matching growls. How dare someone try to steal our mate!

Before we can say anything, though, our dad continues. "Now, these letters are specific to the wolves who left the carvings. Most likely the ones who are dedicated to kidnapping Liam."

"But why are they stealing omegas? I thought they were weaker than others in the pack," Erik says, giving our father a questioning stare.

"Omegas are one of the most powerful in the wolf society, but others do not realize this," a familiar voice says from behind us. Erik and I turn to see our mother standing in the doorway, her arms crossed as she leans against the frame.

"What are you talking about?" I question.

"Omegas are so rare because they were almost wiped out by jealous alphas hundreds of years ago. Omegas have the potential to mend or break a pack. While most wolves think they are weak, they actually have two of the greatest abilities: empathy and love," she says, coming to lean on our dad's desk so that she is facing us.

"Wait, what?" I say, confused as to what she is talking about. My mother just stares at us for a few seconds before shaking her head in exasperation.

"Haven't you noticed how Liam is great with children? Why do you think his sisters respond so well to him?"

"I thought it was because of his neglectful parents and they grew close to him because of how he cares for them," Erik mutters.

Luna rolls her eyes before responding. "Yes, that has something to do with it. But haven't you noticed how they seem to cling to him? How they won't calm down without him?" We all nod our heads, including my father. "This is because of his omega status. Now, the Warriors want Omegas for a different reason. They don't care about their ability to keep a pack together. They are concerned with their breeding abilities."

I blink my eyes a few times before the meaning of her words sinks in. "They want to kidnap our omega because of his ability to have pups?" I shout. Erik lays his hand on my arm, keeping me from rising from the chair I am sitting on.

"They have a high chance of producing strong and powerful offspring, and the Warriors want those offspring to strengthen their numbers and their pack. They are power hungry and have no interest in keeping peace with others or keeping our secret hidden from the humans."

She pauses for a minute before continuing. "I guess that wouldn't really matter now, though."

"Okay, so now we understand why they are targeting us, but why the blood?" Erik asks, turning back to look at our father.

"It's to attract the infected. Patrol and scouts have noticed more infected than usual roaming near our borders. I guess they are attracted to the blood," he says, looking back at us. "I am going to strengthen patrols and security on the borders. We need to take down all traces of blood so the infected are no longer drawn here."

Mom looks at us after listening to the alpha. "Both of you need to keep a close eye on Liam. Make sure he is always with someone, especially since he is pregnant."

"From now on, he will never be out of our sight," I say and Erik nods his head vigorously.

"This shall be interesting," Mom says with a laugh.