"Casey wake up."

I could feel someone gently shake my body.

"Come on, I brought you some food."

Whoever had been shaking me, was now getting rougher. Groaning, I opened my eyes, trying to see who had woke me.

"Oh good, you're awake," Destiny said with a kind smile.

I slowly sat up in bed, my muscles stiff from sleeping. Stretching, I looked over at her, watching as she placed the tray that had a plate full of food, onto my lap. Looking around the room, I noticed that Katie was no longer with me. Micah let out a sad whine when he couldn't pick up on her scent.

"I didn't think I'd ever get you awake, you're just like Xavier, hard as hell to wake up," she stated, before taking a seat in the chair by my bed.

"Xavier?" I asked, picking up one of the sandwiches she had brought me, taking a bite from it.

"My oldest son, it's like a damn act of Congress to wake him up," she stated.

"Oh."

"Katie's helping with the pups at the nursery by the way," Destiny said, as she took a swig of her sweet tea.

"Hmm?"

"I noticed you looking for her when you woke up."

Destiny looked at me with questioning eyes as I took another bite of my sandwich.

"She's your mate, isn't she?" Destiny casually said, causing me to choke on my sandwich.

"W-What?" I asked, feeling flustered.

"Smooth," Micah sarcastically mumbled.

"Shut the hell up Micah."

Destiny's face wore a kind smile as she handed me a glass of water.

How did she know? I thought as I took another bite of my sandwich.

"You're probably wondering how I knew," Destiny asked, I sat there staring at her, before slowly nodding my head.

"Your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"When you look at her, you have a look in your eyes that only a mate can make," Destiny said, smiling fondly at her wedding ring.

"I, for one, have no issue with you two being mates but I can't say the same for my hard-headed husband. He's quite protective of his little girl, you know how Alpha's are," rolling her eyes, she took a sip of her tea before continuing. "But I think he'll warm up to you."

I looked over at her, giving her a small smile as I finished my sandwich. She looked like she was about to say something else when there was a knock at the door. Shortly after, the door opened, revealing a man who looked to be in his early forties.

He had jet black curly hair that hung down to just below his ears, he was covered in tattoos, and he wore a ring on every one of his fingers.

"Calum, I didn't know you were here," Destiny excitedly said. She stood from her seat, walking over to him as they hugged.

"I just arrived, Trenton called me here, asked if there was any way I could help with his situation," the man I now knew as Calum said, gesturing towards me.

They both turned their attention to me. I slowly swallowed my water, as I stared back at them. Why the hell were they staring at me like that?

Then it hit me, he was referring to me.

"Took you long enough to figure that out, dipshit," Micah said sarcastically.

"No one asked for your opinion you damn mutt," I shot back at him.

Micah mumbled something that I couldn't make out, before giving me the silent treatment. I hate calling him a mutt, but that was the only way I could ever get him to shut up when he'd get brash with me. I learned real quick if you didn't shut him down sooner than later, Micah could really hurt your feelings.

"You know, I figured you'd be excited hearing this news," Destiny said.

"Huh?"

"Did you not hear Calum?"

"Sorry. I was, uh, a little distracted."

"I sent word back to the Elders, they're sending some of our strongest Enforcers to your pack, along with our best medical team," Calum said, smiling softly at me.

Hope and relief washed over me, something I haven't been able to do much of lately. Just as I was about to thank him, my body felt like it had been hit by a ton of bricks. My body was overwhelmed by a ton of emotions, something that only happened to me when I was near the pack.

My eyes widened in realization as I flung the blanket off of me, sending the tray of food flying to the floor. I quickly stood from the bed, stumbling forward as Calum's hands grabbed hold of my arms.

"Where are you going? You need to get back in bed, the doctor said you need rest," Destiny said, worriedly.

"I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" I screamed out as I pushed Calum away from me.

He staggered back a few steps, staring at me in bewilderment. Before he could make a move, I ripped the I.V port out of my arm, as blood started pouring from the wound I had just created, normally something this small would've done been healed, but since Micah and I were so worn down we weren't healing at our normal rate.

"Casey!" Destiny shrieked at me.

Choosing to ignore her, I rushed past Calum and Destiny. Flinging the door to my room open, I made my way into the hallway. Drops of blood fell onto the white tile floor as I made my way down the hall, I could hear people saying my name, I could feel the stares I was getting as I passed by.

None of that mattered, all that mattered was me getting to my pack members. I could feel them, they were getting closer to here. I used the little strength I had to run towards the double doors, the only thing that was separating me from the outside world.

Once I reached the doors, I jerked them open, stumbling barefoot onto the snow-covered ground.

"Casey what are you doing here, and why are you bleeding?" Alpha Trenton asked.

"Where are they?"

"Where's who?"

"My pack, I can feel them," I said.

Arms wrapped around me as I could feel myself being dragged backwards.

"Come on Casey, back inside," the doctor said as a few Enforcers tried to take me back inside the hospital.

"Get off of me!" I growled out, I could feel Micah trying to take over.

"Let him go." The Alpha ordered.

"But sir," the doctor protested.

Trenton raised his hand, signaling that this wasn't up for discussion. Andrew and the Enforcers reluctantly let me go.

"Casey, what do you mean you can feel your pack?" Trenton asked, but before I could answer a sand-colored she-wolf walked up to us, before shifting into her human form.

"Sir there's a group of wolves that just crossed the packs border, we think there are a few Elders with them, but there are too many scents to know for sure, " she said.

That's all that I needed to hear to finally let Micah take over. It didn't take long before I felt the familiar popping and breaking of bones, as my body transitioned from human to beast. Before anyone could stop me, I ran off in the direction of where my pack's scent was coming from. It wasn't long after that, that I could hear the sounds of more than one wolf behind me.

It also didn't take me long to see just how exhausted Micah and I was. We weren't able to run as fast as before, we were also getting out of breath a lot easier than just a few days ago. I knew we were exhausted, but I didn't think it was this bad.

My heart was pounding in my chest as every step we took, felt like it was taking every bit of strength we had. If it hadn't been for the scent of my pack members edging me on, then I honestly would've sat this one out.

It was just a few hours ago that I was asking for directions to the nearest pack from here. Looking at the shape I'm in now, I was foolish to believe that I could've made that journey. I was barely even holding up now, let alone a two or more day trip.

Micah growled in frustration, he was starting to feel anxious. He was also frustrated with me, I only ever let Micah have thirty percent control when we phase. It's way too dangerous for him to have one hundred percent control, I could never let him fully take over me.

We couldn't have a repeat, I don't think I could mentally or physically live through another possession. Possessions were rare, but sadly not as rare as you'd think. Eighty percent of wolves were able to find level ground and live a peaceful life with their wolves.

But sadly the other twenty percent weren't as lucky, I was and still am one of the twenty percent that couldn't find that common ground with my wolf. Being possessed, that's where your wolf takes total control of you. You get pushed to the back as your wolf makes its way to the top, you're still conscious, so you know what's going on, but it's like you're paralyzed.

If you can't take back control over your body and you continue to let your wolf have the reigns over you, then that's when you have the risk of going feral, after that, the council has no choice but to kill you. Shaking my head, I tried to rid myself of the horrendous thoughts that had entered my mind. Now wasn't the time for that, all I needed to do was focus on finding my pack.

Taking a right, we passed by a frozen pond, various wildlife that didn't hibernate for the winter, scurried away at the sound of our heavy paws. Their scent was stronger, no doubt we were getting closer. Taking a left, I came into view of Jesse, he was our top Enforcer, the leader, and trainer of all of our Warriors. Jesse met my gaze as he limped over to us.

"Jesse are you ok? Where's everyone else?" I asked through our mind link.

"If I'm being honest I'm barely holding on, I've lost a lot of blood and I think my left foreleg is broken. As for the pack, they are a few steps behind me," Jesse spoke.

Jesse looked as if he would pass out at any moment, his eyes kept trying to close, his body kept swaying as he tried to remain standing. His heart rate was slowing down as his breathing was becoming shallow.

I looked over at Alpha Trenton, giving him a look that I hoped he would understand, since I wasn't a part of his pack I couldn't mind-link him like I could with Jesse. I'm guessing he understood, because seconds later, two of his Warriors walked over to Jesse, getting on either side of him as support, before leading him in the direction of the pack's hospital.

"Where are they taking me?"

"To the pack doctor."

Jesse gave me a hesitant look before letting the pack Warriors guide him away. I gave Alpha Trenton a grateful look, which he returned with a nod. We continued down the trail we had found Jesse on, soon coming across the rest of my pack, or what I feared to be the last of it.

Looking around, my eyes landed on Baron, my Alpha, my best friend, and more than anything my brother. He was in his human form, bloodied up and unmoving on a stretcher that was being carried by who, I'm guessing to be the Enforcers that the Elders had sent out.

Would Baron have been so heavily wounded if I hadn't followed his orders to find help? If I had stayed behind, would there have been more pack members left?

I watched with a heavy heart as they carried him past me in a hurry towards the pack hospital. I hung my head in sorrow as these dark thoughts and questions kept flooding my mind. I shifted into my human form, not caring that I was as naked as the day I was born, and ran over to where Baron was at.

Someone I didn't recognize came up to me, placing his hands on my shoulder, before giving me an apologetic look. He didn't have to say anything, I knew what he meant, it meant Baron was in critical condition and they were in a hurry to get him to help.

"Sorry," I mumbled before taking a step back, letting them carry him away.

I felt a warm hand cup my icy shoulder, looking up, I saw Calum standing there, giving me a look that said 'it's all going to be ok', but was it going to be ok? I was having a hard time believing that.

"Beta Casey, thank God I found you," a young, male voice called out to me.

Turning away from Calum, I watched as a young male wolf, who looked no older than seventeen, walk up to me. It wasn't until he was right in front of me that I noticed it was Jeremy. Jeremy was one of the few pack's orphans, his father had been killed before he was born. One of the pack members had gone feral, his father had tried to calm the wolf, but well, I think you can guess what had happened.

His mother sadly had passed away during his birth, the only family he had left in the pack was his uncle who had adopted him. Unfortunately, tragedy had struck once more, when he was five, his uncle had passed away during his sleep, to make matters worse, Jeremy was the one who had found him the next morning.

After that, he was sent to the pack's orphanage, which was where I had met Jeremy. I used to help my father fix things up at the orphanage, I had accidentally bumped into him, and we instantly hit it off even though there was a five year age difference between us. I think one of the reasons we hit it off so well is because he reminded me so much of my little brother.

"Jeremy are you ok?" I asked.

"I'm fine, the orphanage had gone into lockdown when everything had started, luckily the battle never came close to where we were at," Jeremy stated.

I let out a sigh of relief, at least the children hadn't been harmed. It was hard enough that we are going to have to hold a mass funeral for our fallen pack members, but to add children to the mix would've been way too much for anyone to handle.

I scanned over him just to make sure he wasn't lying to me, I needed to make sure he was ok.

"Jeremy, what are you holding?" I asked once my eyes had landed on a yellow blanket that was wrapped around something.

"Huh?"

"What are you holding?" I asked again, pointing to the thing in his arms. He looked down and then back at me.

"Oh right, this was the whole reason I was in a hurry to find you," he said before handing me the object.

Once I had it securely in my arms, I pulled back the blanket to see a sleeping baby.

"Um, Jeremy. Who's baby is this and why do you have it?" I asked, starting to feel worried.

"It's the Alpha's and Luna's daughter. Luna Emma was at the orphanage when the Rogues attacked."

"That doesn't explain why you have their child."

"Luna went into labor the night before the Elders showed up to get us, our house mother took her into a different room while us older kids watched over the younger kids. A few hours later mother came out with the baby, handed her to me, and told me that I needed to give her to you, that's all I know," Jeremy said.

"Do you know what happened to Emma?" Calum asked as he walked over to us.

"No sir," Jeremy said, fidgeting with his fingers, a tell-tale sign that he's lying.

"You're lying," I said, causing Jeremy to look at me with wide eyes.

"Are you sure?" Calum asked.

"He's always been a terrible liar."

"But-"

"No buts Jeremy, now tell me the truth," I demanded, using my Beta voice to make him listen. I hated to do it, but he wasn't a child anymore, he was now seventeen, I had to start treating him as an adult now.

"She died about an hour after she had the baby," Jeremy took a shaky breath before continuing. "Mother said she bled out, that they tried everything they could but they couldn't stop the bleeding and the pack doctor was busy tending to the pack members who were in battle."

"Emma's dead?" I asked but was met with silence.

I looked down at the baby who was now awake and staring at me with curious eyes. She started to coo at me as I wrapped the blanket more firmly around her.

"Do you know what they did with her body?" Calum asked.

"The Elders said they'd handle it."

"Take Jeremy with you and go back to the hospital, have the doctor give the baby a once over to make sure she's fine and then I want you to rest like you're supposed to be," Calum said in a stern voice, making sure I knew he meant what he said.

"I will."

"Good, make sure he listens," he said, smiling at Jeremy before walking away from us.

"Are you going to be able to walk back?"

"Honestly, I don't think I can."

"You can just ride on my back then," Jeremy said as he began to undress.

Every bit of my pride had taken a blow, as stupid as it sounded I felt ashamed of myself. Here I was, the Beta over this pack, and I was having to ride on the back of one of our young Omega wolves because I was too weak.

"Quit pitying yourself, we're both exhausted right now, it doesn't make us weak, just tired," Micah said, causing me to let out an annoyed sigh.

I knew he was right but still. Once Jeremy was completely undressed, he handed me his sweat pants as I handed him the baby, long enough for me to change. He handed me the baby after I was dressed, I watched as he transformed from his human to wolf form, then climbed onto his back.

"Remember, take it easy, it isn't just me back here," I told him as he began to head towards the pack's hospital.

I held the baby close to me, making sure she was safe, Baron had already lost his mate, I couldn't have him losing his daughter as well. My heart filled with sorrow as I looked down at her sleeping form. I may not have been able to protect my pack but I swear I would protect her no matter what.