"Acacia" I whisper softly as I gaze out at the clearing in front of us. I notice all the wolves doing their patrols, completely unaware of what is about to happen. 

I turn back around and see everyone staring back at me, game faces on. I nod to the other Alphas in acknowledgement. We got this. These rouges really don't know what is coming for them. 

"Yeah?" Acacia replies sleepily, a hint of exhaustion in her voice. 

"We are here and ready to go on your call," I start, slowly. 

"We're outside in the forest waiting. I had loads of serum made so now everything is untraceable by scent". 

"Good. I don't want anyone getting hurt" she replies softly, causing me to frown. 

"Acacia, you know that's not going to be possible. We're dealing with rogues here" I say gently, not wanting to upset her. 

"I know but just all of you please try and be safe." 

"Of course, Princess" I reply, mouth pressing into a line. Of course, we will try and be safe but unfortunately, there will be some causalities. There always is. The other Alphas are aware of this too as it's just part of the job. We only brought warriors who were willing to sacrifice their lives, we gave everyone the choice to bow out if they wanted to. I pause and go to ask how she is when I am cut off. 

"Grayson" Acacia says quietly, the tone is her voice changing. 

"Yes, Princess?" I ask, concerned. 

"He's back" she whispers, and I know she is fighting back tears. 

Oh fuck. Here we go.

I growl quietly, as a warning and I receive grunts back from Levi, Bentley, Noah, Corbin, and Oscar. 

"Right. Everyone listen up" I say quietly in a low tone so that none of the rogues can hear me. 

"Zane's just gone to Acacia, which means we are about to start our attack. I need everyone to be ready to go because we will play this by Acacia's signal." The group gives a collective nod and I watch as everyone begins to shift before casting my attention back to Acacia. 

"Acacia, say the word and we attack," I say quietly into her mind. 

No response. 

I wait patiently for the next couple of minutes, the nerves growing inside me with each second that passes. 

"Now, Grayson" Acacia finally replies, in a choked voice. 

She's crying. I let out a whine before turning my attention to everyone in front of me. 

"Now" I growl and instantly everyone springs to life, bounding out of the tree line and towards the rogues. I stay back for a moment and watch the chaos ensue before shifting and heading towards the run-down house standing in the middle of the clearing. 

I manage to dodge my way through the fight, stopping only to kill a couple of attacking rogues, before shifting and quickly slipping inside the house and immediately gagging at the smell. It reeks of blood and dirt. 

Quickly scanning the area, I bound down the hallway in front of me until I get to a t-intersection where the hallway splits off. 

Shit. 

Dante growls, pushing through, and begins to sniff the air for Acacia's scent. Instantly, he picks up on it and I bolt down the left corridor that seems to go on for forever until finally, I reach the end. This is what Acacia was talking about because low and behold, Zane's office door is right in front of me. I go to open the door but stop as I hear a door open on the other side. 

Zane. 

Without thinking, I dive into the room next to his office and gently close the door just in time. I listen carefully through the solid wood door as his office door opens and he bounds out and heads down the corridor, his footsteps soon disappearing.

"We could have killed him right there and then!" Dante hisses, annoyed.

"Yes, we could have. But if we kill him now, the rest of his rogues will just scatter and I want as many of them dead as I can possibly get. So as much as I hate not killing him on the spot, I want the fight outside to go for as long as possible so we don't end up with any of the leftovers running away and starting what Zane was trying to finish."

Dante growls in annoyance but he knows I'm right.

Slowly, I pop my head out to check if the coast is clear before flinging the door open and racing into Zane's office.  

Acacia's scent is now very heavy in the air, I run across the room to the other door and head down the stairs into the cells and there, in the last cell, is Acacia. She is hanging from silver chains attached to the wall, completely naked. 

Dante whimpers while I rush over to her and touch her face gently. 

No response. Shit, he knocked her out. 

Growling, I gently lift her head up and knock on her collarbone with my free hand. 

Nothing. 

Panic setting in, Dante takes over and begins to kiss her softly. Eventually, hot tears begin to stream down her face as she slowly kisses me back. I pull away and search her face examining the damage as she stares back at me with bright eyes. 

"God, I missed you" she mind links with a watery smile. 

"I missed you too, Princess" I reply, eyes burning into her, trying to keep my composure. Scanning the room, I notice a set of keys resting in the lock of her cell and a cupboard full of clothing just outside her cell against the end wall of the corridor. 

Bingo. 

I kiss her again gently before quickly grabbing the keys and a large shirt and rushing back over to her. Holding her in place with my arm, I reach over and unlock her from the chains, trying not to touch them myself. I feel her limp body give way, falling into me as I toss the keys away and pull the shirt over top of her body. 

"We need to go," I mind-link with a grunt. She nods in agreement and I gently scoop her into my arms, holding her tightly. 

"Try to keep your skin and shirt against my skin as much as you can, Princess. I'm wearing enough serum that it will rub off on you," I say as I bound up the stairs. She nods and does what she's told and we make it out of Zane's office and out of the house.

I pause briefly, assessing the absolute carnage before me. Most, if not all of our men look like they are still standing whilst a considerable portion of rogues lay motionless in the dirt of the clearing. The rest are still fighting for their lives and very clearly losing. Brilliant. Now to get Acacia out of here. 

"I have Acacia" I start, mind-linking to Levi and Bentley as I race away from the house and towards the forest line, slipping past the many distracted rogues.

"Meet me in the safe spot now so I can go back and rip that motherfucker's head off."

"Yes, Alpha," they reply, simultaneously.

I sprint faster, a squeak escaping from Acacia as she stayed tucked in against me.

We almost make it into the forest without being discovered but we are stopped short by a large wolf blocking the way. 

He roars and I'm instantly hit by Zane's scent. Acacia looks up and the colour drains from her face in fear.

Shit.

Dante takes over and within seconds, he has put Acacia down and pulled her behind us whilst pulling out the dagger from the band of my shorts.

Zane roars again, causing everyone in the fight to stand still for a moment in shock. I watch carefully as he shifts back into his human form. Scanning the area, I mentally try and prepare the best route of escape. However, none of them seem particularly safe to get Acacia out of here.

Fuck. I was trying to avoid it for her sanity but I'm going to have to kill him right here in front of her.

"Give her back!" Zane roars, his eyes glowing red. A protective growl rolls out of my throat as the fight resumes around us. 

"She's mine. Give her back, Grayson! Give her back and no one else has to die" Zane roars again as I grip her tighter. Instinctively, I wind up and flick the dagger at him, watching it narrowly miss his face, catching him on the cheek as it wizzes past and lands in the tree behind him with a resounding thunk.

God, clearly my throwing accuracy is not as good as it used to be. He hisses as blood pours from the wound, this expression darkening.

Suddenly, a growl tumbled out of Acacia's mouth and I turn slightly to look back at her, gaze narrowing. I watch as her eyes change colour and I know her wolf is in charge. 

I look around quickly and see that all the other rogues are dead now and my pack, along with Oscar and Corbin and their packs hovering behind us protectively. 

Turning my attention back to Zane, I growl at him and I watch as his expression briefly falters as he realises he's outnumbered before quickly regaining his composure.

"She's mine, asshole" he spits again in a feeble attempt to gain dominance of the situation. Suddenly, Zane shifts and begins to run towards us, his growl chilling. Dante takes control again and we shift and race towards him, growling protectively. Dante pounces and I meet him mid-air, crashing to the ground. I clamp my jaws down on his shoulder and he growls again, thrashing under me. 

I let go and blood pours out of him, matting his fur but he doesn't care. He launches himself at me and I slide out of the way with ease. Quickly taking advantage of the vulnerable position he is in, I tackle Zane, biting down hard on his shoulder. 

He lets out a growl and thrashes around under my grip, his own jaws finding my arm and locking onto me. I growl lowly, the pain spurring me on and I tear my jaws away, ripping a chuck out of him in the process. He howls in pain, limping away slightly to try and gain any high ground he thinks he has left.

I watch him carefully, before running at him while he tries to assess his shoulder. Caught off guard, he lurches for me and this time, I slide out of the way before jumping on him yet again and clamping my jaws down hard on his neck. 

He whines and starts to weaken underneath me as I bite down harder when suddenly Acacia is in front of me. Shocked, I growl at her to back off but she doesn't move.

"Go, Princess. Go with Levi and Bentley, I don't want you to have to watch this" I grunt through mind link to her.

"No, I don't want to leave you, I just got you back," she mind-links, her tone wavering. 

"Fine but go stand behind Levi and Bentley." The sentence comes out harsher than I meant for it to, causing her to flinch slightly. "Sorry, Princess. I just don't want to cause you any more pain than you've already had to endure," I continue, attempting to soften my tone as best I can with Dante still in control. She nods and relaxes the tiniest bit. 

"I want to talk to him before you kill him. Please?" she mind-links after a moment, looking back at me. 

"Acacia..."

"Please? I need it, I need him to know how I feel."

I growl but do as I'm told and let him go just enough for him to stop whining, my weight still pinned on him. Acacia crouches down to Zane's level and he snarls at her coldly. I growl back at him and place a paw on his snout to shut him up. 

Everyone watches in silence as Acacia stares at Zane's wolf for a moment before tears begin to stream down her face. 

"I-I-I h-h-ate y-y-ou Z-Z-Zane! Y-y-o-ou r-ruin-n-ed e-ever-y-y-th-thing! Yo-ou w-will n-ne-ever d-d-des-s-erve th-the lo-ove yo-ou th-thought-t yo-ou c-c-ould g-e-et fr-o-om m-me! Y-you a-are th-the m-m-o-ost f-foul m-mon-s-ster to-o e-e-ver h-have w-walk-ked th-this ear-r-th a-and I-I h-hop-p-pe yo-ou r-rott in-n h-h-hell!" she stutters aloud, quietly in between sobs. 

She looks up at me, eyes flashing between her wolf's and her own, before slowly getting up and walking over to Levi and Bentley, who both give her a small smile and a nod as she approaches. 

"K-kill h-hi-m-m," Acacia continues loudly, before hiding herself behind the boys, who instantly create a human wall. 

I growl and close my jaws back around his neck and in one quick motion, I snap it with a sickening crunch. Zane roars with pain before falling limp under me.  

Dead. 

I stamp on his skull, crushing it with ease, just to make sure it's real and not just a dream.

Shivering slightly, I walk away from the body and shift back and instantly Acacia is in my arms, sobbing. 

"It's over, Princess. You're safe now" I mind link softly as I hold her tightly, kissing the top of her head. 

"Right, now let's get this done quickly. Noah, I want you and the rest of our men to put all the dead rogues inside the house and burn it all" I boom, my Alpha voice present. Acacia jumps a little at the sudden change in my voice but stays tucked tightly against my chest, not daring to look at anyone as tears continue to roll down her cheeks.

"Oscar, Corbin, you and your packs are free to go. Thank you so much for helping, I couldn't have pulled this off without all of you."

"It's been an honour, Grayson," Corbin grunts, before walking over to shake my hand. I keep my grip tight on Acaica with one arm whilst extending the other to give him a firm handshake. Oscar nods and quickly follows suit, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"I'll contact you both to debrief in a couple of days. If you need anything in the meantime, just let me know."

Both men give me a final nod before walking over to dismiss their packs and head home.

I watch, relieved as their men howl in victory before shifting and heading back into the woods, leaving just my pack behind. 

"Well done, Grayson," Levi says proudly. 

"Thanks, but it wasn't just me. I'm just glad I have my Luna back" I reply smugly before kissing the top of Acacia's head. She sighs and I notice she has stopped crying. The boys nod before disappearing to help with the clean up and within ten minutes, all the bodies are gone and the house is set alight. I quickly dismiss my men after telling them that we will debrief about the whole thing tomorrow and watch as they shift and head off for the long journey home.

"We should get you home too," I mind-link softly with a small smile. She nods against my chest tiredly. 

I let her go just long enough to shift once more and let her climb onto my back. One day, her wolf and Dante will be able to run alongside each other, however, today is not that day. 

She snuggles into me and Dante purrs loudly, causing her to let out the tiniest of giggles. 

God, I missed her. 

Smiling, I walk off into the forest and head back to our territory, my heart full.

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Hey Guys,

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