"Liam, are you in here?" I hear Ethan say. Rolling my eyes, I continue to fold the laundry in front of me. My mates have been driving me crazy lately. They have insisted on being by my side every second of the day, and whenever they have to go on patrol, they send Luna over to watch over me. I am an adult now and have been taking care of myself most of my life. Even though the pregnancy has made me crave their touch, I do not have to be around them all the time.

"Yes, love," I respond, hearing Ethan and Erik close the front door behind them and walk into the living room.

"How have you been? How is the baby? Where is our mom? She's supposed to be with you, right now," my mates say, asking questions one right after the other. By the time they stop asking me questions and allow me to answer, Luna is back from the bathroom.

"He's fine," she says, walking over to the recliner and sitting down across from me. Ethan and Erik follow her direction, sitting on either side of me on the couch.

I look up from the shirt I am folding and catch my mates and Luna exchanging a look. Sighing, I put the shirt down and cross my arms over my chest, giving all of them a hard look.

"What has been going on with all of you lately? I know that with the pup it's normal for you to be protective, but I feel as if you all have been smothering me," I say, my eyes flicking in between them.

"Nothing is going on, love," Erik says, wrapping his arm around me. His scent causes my body to relax, but I refuse to back down. "We're just trying to keep you safe, that's all"

"From what?" I question. I see something pass over Erik's face as I continue to stare at him. "I know you are keeping something from me, and I don't like being kept in the dark about things."

Erik's eyes flick over to his brother's and I turn my head to look at Ethan, too. His green eyes are slightly widened, showing his surprise at what I had just said.

"Love, it's not-"

Luna cuts him off before Ethan can finish his thought. "You guys need to tell him what has been going on. He deserves to know. Especially since this has been going on for over a week."

My eyes narrow as I look from Luna over to my mates. Standing up, I move the folded laundry back into the basket and get up from the couch. Placing the basket to the side of the room, I turn around and fix my gaze on Ethan, knowing he will crack before his brother does. Noticing my crossed arms and hard stare, Ethan winces slightly before talking.

"Um, well, about a week ago, when Erik and I were on patrol, we noticed something odd," he says, looking over to his brother with pleading eyes. I can tell that he is uncomfortable with my hard gaze being fixed on him and wants his brother to take over the conversation.

"Well, what was it?" I ask a bit impatiently.

"Hold on, I'll show it to you," he says before leaving the living room and walking up the stairs.

"Love, please come here," Ethan says gently, holding a hand out. I uncross my arms and slowly walk over to him, begrudgingly placing my hand in his outstretched one. As soon as my hand touches his, he pulls me over to him and places me onto his lap.

By the time I am comfortably situated in Ethan's lap, Erik is coming back into the room, holding a small piece of paper. He sits next to Ethan and hands me the piece of paper with scribbles on it. Peering at it closer, I notice two crescent moons facing each other with letters in the larger crescent. A paw print sits in the middle of the drawing.

"What is this?" I ask, looking up at Erik.

"We found this carved into a tree not too far from our border. That wasn't all. Next to it was a smudge of blood. We believe it was there to attract more of the infected to our lands," he says.

"But, who would do that? What does this symbol even mean?" I question.

"Liam, this is the symbol of the Warriors," Luna says.

I look up at her from the drawing. "Who are the Warriors?" I ask, my face scrunched up in confusion. Just their name sounds intimidating.

"The Warriors are a very dangerous pack. It is made up of rogues who are dedicated to the strengthening of their own pack," she says, a serious expression on her face.

"Okay, but what would they want from us? Our fighters?" I question, confused as to why this pack of rogues would attack us.

"No, Liam," Luna says gently. "They want you." I feel Ethan flinch underneath me and hear Erik suck in a quick breath.

"M-me?" I stammer, heart beating faster than before. "W-why would they want me?"

Luna gets up off the recliner and comes to sit on Ethan's other side. She looks me over and grabs onto my hand, sandwiching it between her own. "Have you ever wondered about the origin and purpose of an omega in the pack, sweetheart?"

Looking at her, I feel my face scrunch up in confusion. Omegas have no purpose in the pack, that is why we are so detested by others. Many of my pack mates found me to be a waste of space and precious resources. Why would she be asking me about this?

"No," I say slowly. "We are used as scapegoats for the pack. Whenever something goes wrong, it is our fault. No one likes Omegas and that's why we are often kicked out. We are too much trouble for the pack and many don't find us worth the hassle."

Luna is shaking her head by the time I finish with what I am saying. "No, Liam, that's what many think, but it isn't true. Omegas are very powerful beings. They are what hold the pack together, and many do not realize how vital they are to maintaining a strong pack."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, squinting my eyes in confusion. I look over at Ethan and Erik, but they seem to be following along with what she is saying. I turn back around and return my gaze to Luna's.

"Omegas have a greater ability to love and empathize with others around them. This causes them to form strong connections with the pack and hold everyone together whenever something threatens their pack. Many different Alphas became jealous of the respect the Omegas gained from pack mates and started to grow resentful of their powerful pack mates. Having a lot of respect and love for the Omega, when the Alphas started to threaten the Omegas, the pack mates overthrew their Alphas and banished them from their pack lands. These banished Alphas, or rogues, formed their own pack and called themselves the Warriors."

I stare at her for a couple of minutes in disbelief, and nobody says anything to break the silence. I have never heard any of this before. I have the power to love and empathize? Doesn't everyone have the ability to do that? I voice my thoughts while trying to sort through what she had just told me.

"Not as strong as an Omega," she says. "But that isn't the only reason they want you, Liam."

I feel Ethan tense beneath me, his arms coming up to wrap around my stomach. I can tell that what she is about to say will not be good.

"O-okay. What is the other reason?" I ask.

"Omegas always produce strong wolves. They want to use you for your ability to have strong pups," Luna says, gripping onto my hand.

"T-they know about that?" I question.

"The Warriors know about you being an Omega. I don't think they know that you're already pregnant."

"So, what am I supposed to do? I'm already living behind a fence and have my mates with me almost every hour of the day," I say. Erik scoots closer to me and Ethan, wrapping his arms around the both of us.

"We'll protect you, love," Ethan assures. I turn around and look at my mates. They both have serious expressions on their face and Erik is nodding along with what Ethan is saying.

"That's why we want someone with you all the time. If someone were to make it past the fences, we don't want you to be unprotected," Erik says.

I have not liked being smothered by my mates, but now I know why. I do not think anyone would be able to make it past our fences and patrol, but if this simple thing would appease them, then I would do it. Besides, it meant more protection for my sisters as well, considering they are with me almost all day.

"Okay," I say. "You can continue with your following me around. Just, let me have some room sometimes. You don't have to stand outside the bathroom every time I go." I raise an eyebrow at them. Erik tries to fight a smile, but I can see it slipping through. Ethan just nods his head with a wide grin on his face.

"Good," Luna says. "Now that this is all settled, I believe it is time for me to go."

Unwrapping myself from my mates' arms, I stand up and give her a hug, following her to the door. "Thanks, Luna, for everything."

"No problem, sweetie." She smiles and gives her sons a quick hug before leaving.

"Well, at least Luna is here to tell me things," I say, turning to look at my mates with a small smile on my face.

"Sorry, love." They both have sheepish looks on their faces, so I walk over and give them each a chaste kiss.

"As long as you tell me anything else you learn, you're forgiven," I say walking back over to the laundry to finish the folding.

*****

"Holy shit, there are a lot of those infected beasts," I hear my brother say from beside me. Following his gaze, I see about ten of the werewolf infected scenting a tree and snarling at each other. We are about three miles from our fences, expanding our patrol each day in order to keep the ever growing infected away from pack lands.

"I've never seen so many in one place before," I whisper. We are sitting up in a tree right now in order to get a better view of the infected and to stay out of harm's way. But I still do not want those beasts to become aware of our presence.

"They seem to be circling that tree over there," Ethan whispers back while pointing at the bare oak tree the infected are swarming. "Do you think there is another blood smear and carving on it?" He looks over at me briefly before returning his gaze to the infected.

Nodding my head, I begin to climb down the tree. "We need some help if we are going to take them out, and we need to clear the tree of the blood."

Ethan looks over at me and nods his head before following my lead and climbing down the tree. Silently, we make our way down the tree and creep away from the infected, luckily going unnoticed by them as we hurry back to pack lands.

Fifteen minutes later, the fence is being opened to allow us to enter onto our lands. I walk over to the pack house in order to talk to our father, Ethan not far behind me. I notice Liam talking with Luna on the porch, his sisters playing with some of the other pups in the grass in front of the house.

Liam notices Luna looking over at us and turns his head to see us walking over to them.

"Is something wrong? Did something happen?" he questions in rapid fire while our mom sits there quietly assessing us.

"Yeah, but we'll tell you later, love. We have to go talk to our dad right now," Ethan assures. Liam slowly nods his head and gives us a small smile before ushering us into the house. I can feel him staring at us until we close the door and are blocked from his view.

Knocking on the door to our father's office, we hear papers being shuffled and then we are being called in. Looking up from the piles of papers and maps in front of him, Dad notices us and sets everything down, giving us his full attention.

"Any more news?" he questions once we take a seat across from him.

"We were about three miles out when we noticed ten or more of the werewolf infected swarming an oak tree. We believe there is a blood smear and carving on the tree, attracting all the infected," I say, motioning at the map on the desk and pointing to the spot where we found the group of infected.

Our dad is silent for a few seconds, probably thinking over what we had just told him. He looks at where my finger is pointing before sighing and dropping his head into his hands.

"This is getting worse every day," he murmurs. Ethan and I exchange a look.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"More infected seem to be coming closer and closer to our borders. No matter how hard we try to keep them away, they seem to swarm around us." He sighs and looks up at us, his eyes showing his exhaustion. "I think it's time for us to start preparing survival backpacks and cars."

"Wait, what?" Ethan says. "We can't just give up. This is our land, and those rogues can't drive us out of here."

Our father looks up at us, a small smile on his face, but it slips away quickly. "Ethan, I'm not saying we give up. I'm saying we prepare for the worst. We are going to fight those bastards off for as long as we can, but there may come a point where we have to run. I think we should be prepared for the possibility of that happening."

Ethan has a hard scowl on his face but decides to stay silent. I nod my head at my dad, showing my understanding.

"Good," he says with a nod of his own. "Now, both of you are going to come with me. We're going to round up a group to take out those infected you saw earlier. Erik, before we go, tell your mother and mate what is going on and have them start preparing the survival gear."

We both give him a quick nod of our heads and follow him out of his office. I look over at my brother's face to see it set in determination. While he may not agree with our father's plan completely, he is still going to support him. None of us are willing to give up our home or our Omega.