* * *

Sage slept in again the following morning, the third one in a row. Which left Blake to relax downstairs as he hadn't a clue if he should wake her up or not, luckily that's when Ellie and Julia came into the house.

"She's not up yet...Is she?" Blake shook his head and the two females looked at one another.
"Maybe we should plan a big sleepover, I'm sure she doesn't want to be alone the first night—Or any," Ellie suggested, and Blake shrugged his shoulders.

The she-wolves could do whatever they want, all he knew was that the Alpha was trusting both him and Jack to make sure Sage is safe. Which sounded like they were going to end up crashing the sleepover.

Course the Alpha was all for the company, but he couldn't help but feel that something else was wrong. He kept asking her about her sudden shifts in mood, but it was clear she was getting growing frustrated as little things started to set her off.

And when she burned her hand on the stove, she swore.

Blake, Eli, and Jack have never heard their Luna swore—Correctly and in full knowledge of doing it. Not just a tease in repeating it when someone else throws it into a sentence.

Their Luna said 'fuck' on account of burning her hand on the stove.

To say that their Alpha was a mess was an understatement, there was no valid excuse he could conjure to stay on pack grounds. Even Harlow was attending, with a few-month-old pup at home—Everyone would be there, rumor is that even Arctic Crest would arrive as well, and part of Remus was excited on that end, but not in leaving Sage.

The nerves were eating her alive, and while Kenzie suggested it was food poison in addition to the stress of her mate leaving. It pushed her—When she was feeling a calmness from the nausea—to take over for Luke and Ellie with the Reformed, she and Blake would take them on runs around the pack.
Establishing them the same familiarity as though they lived here all their lives.

Most of them wanted to become warriors, trackers, and hunters. And this was a great installment of learning the basics as it brought out a sense of realism to the land they were going to be protecting, but also the she-wolf who aided them in the processes.

They all adored Sage, the females would make her countless things such as offering to clean the Alpha's house, help in the garden, cook...There were endless offers as they wanted to show how grateful they were.
Sage would invite them to help in the garden sure, but it didn't go farther than that.

Today was like any other day, though her wolf would huff and shake her head in aggravation every time the thought popped into her head that Remus would be leaving soon.

We can end early today hun, Luke told me he didn't take it easy on them today.

Sage took it into consideration, and right when she was about to agree, her nose inhaled a foreign scent. Looking off towards Blake before putting her nose up in the air, she stilled.

Human?

What? Where?

Sage nicked her head in the direction where she believed them to be, which left Blake to follow after his curious Luna. All while directing the reformed to stay put—Though even they were suspicious on the scent their leaders smelled.

The Luna's nose was connected down to the floor as her paws padded through the grass as scent highlighted the path. The stench was different than Sage remembered, this human smelled...Off.

There was an offset of whines off behind them, the reformed didn't like that their Luna was leaving them to go in search of an unknown.

Didn't they prove themselves already?

Dante and a few others decided to split up, in pursuit to cautiously follow behind while the rest would remain there in the off chance something happened. And the further they separated, the sicker they felt.

Blake so badly wanted to tell Sage to call the Alpha, but his own curiosity to figure out what the hell a human was doing on pack land—This far into the border was mind-boggling.

The two were going purely on instinct and scent alone, until movement captured their attention. Lowering down onto their stomachs, they stalked towards the unwanted figure in their woods.

But neither could identify what they were up to, but Blake tilted his head as he tried to identify the type of clothes they were wearing.

What's the plan Luna?

I don't know. What do packs do when there are humans on land?

Being unfamiliar with the proper protocol had stumped them, and appearing out in the nude would raise suspicion. Yet if they were this far out, there could be the rising possibility that they could wander into the town and see the houses.

That there could be more than just one.

Humans hunt in packs?

Nah, maybe a few at a time? Humans don't like sharing.

Is killing human wrong?

It was such a controversial topic that he couldn't give a straight answer, not with the background they shared.

They're trespassing, what does your wolf say?

Kill.

It had been close to an immediate response, and a growl settled the order. He had no problem with killing, he's killed his own share of humans before—Though never allowed them to turn.

Turning them was a death sentence, both by the council and for the human. Granted there hadn't been a successful turn in decades, not that the council is aware of at the very least.

You have to make sure they're dead Sage, humans could shift if our genes form with theirs.

What?

They could become wolves if you aren't careful, aim to kill a human. Not just hurt.

Her wolf silently agreed and rose to her feet, silently making her way through the thickets and stalking the human with the intent of assassinating them without any hestation. Sage hadn't a clue as to what they were doing besides waiting for something—Or someone.

In the midst of her distraction, it caught the human's attention. And an excited smile graced the boy. "A wolf...Daddy said you'd come." Sage knew that childlike voice, it was similar to her brother Casey's.

Blake, human is a kid.

The male knew exactly that his Luna had been spotted by the human, and after hearing the voice, he agreed. The human couldn't be more than seven or eight, but he smelled off.

Blake lived among humans for a short time and this was not how normal children smelled.

"Are you a good wolf or a bad wolf?" The child asked, and perhaps it was the she-wolf persona, but Sage couldn't find it in herself to hurt a human child.

No matter what happened to her prior, she stalked forward—Offering her tongue out in a sign that she is a good wolf.

The boy squealed at the idea of the wolf coming closer to him, but Sage was still cautious. And it escalated quickly when he offered up food.

Do not eat anything, hunters could be after non-shifting wolves too.

Blake issued, and Sage sniffed the slab of meat and shook her head. Informing the boy that she didn't want the piece.

"Can...Can you understand me?" Sage nodded her head, blinking towards the young child, though there wasn't much of a height difference between the two.

"Can you talk?" She cocked her head to the side, while she had teeth and a tongue, it wasn't possible in fur. So she shook her head, not wanting to give up her other form to the human.

"Can I pet you?... Daddy says I needed to stay at this tree. He's hunting." Sage fluffed her tail in temptation, she wanted to learn who this boy is and so she stepped forward slowly with her head craning forward.

Sage, I don't know if this is such a good idea, can we link the Alpha?

Too far out, howl and scare...Send reformed to go and warn scouts to find boy's dad. Some reformed stay here to—

A sudden metal clank erupted into the air and caused Sage to yelp, while the boy jumped back and behind the tree. Peeking out to see what he had done, while Blake scowled as he spotted what was hurting his Luna.

It was indeed a bear trap hidden within the grass.

With that he threw his head back and called upon anyone—Everyone to come in aid.

But Remus had already felt the spurge of pain that was being inflicted upon his mate, he just didn't understand until a desperate howl sounded off seconds later.

Sage tried moving her left leg out of the metal contraption but it failed, it was locked and wouldn't allow her to move due to a chain being hammered into the ground.

Blake, however, growled in warning to the child. Telling him to remain in place—Yet he knew the reformed he was with were ready and waiting for his call.

The child remained hidden behind the tree, and Sage was growing delirious with the pain. The shock of what happened and the sharp teeth of the metal was digging further into her leg, she tried her best to remain still—But she loosing blood violently, and the reformed were issuing their own huffs of impatience.

They wanted to rip the child to sheds for hurting their Luna.

WHO HAS EYES ON THE LUNA?!

Remus' voice had traveled miles, he hardly ever used his Alpha tone throughout the pack link to every single member. Including the reformed who accepted him as Alpha.

I do Alpha, we're out near Sector 12. Human child on sight, another human hunter somewhere near Sector 12.

And Sage?!

She stepped in a bear trap, I don't trust the human child—He tricked her.

ALL WARRIORS TO SECTORS ELEVEN, TWELVE, AND THIRTEEN. FIND THAT HUMAN!

Sage whined off towards Blake, her body wavering as the blood loss and pain were finally starting to dawn on her. She staggered and swayed, though she tried to stay awake.

Her wolf howled in a sequence of red alerts.

Blake...Human.

She whispered, and Blake had caught the barrel at the far end of the scattered trees within the thicket. He sent a mental image and stood tall and proud in front of his Luna.

But it wasn't enough, the bullet fired and all the wolves in the area froze.

The scent instantly drew in a location, allowing the reformed that no longer had the guidance of their Luna and General—Turning into a free for all.

Leaving the young boy to watch in damnation as a large mixture of wolves racing after his father.

The human managed to reload twice before being tackled and shredded to bits, his body was mutilated within seconds.

Yet the wolves hadn't forgotten the trickster, who soon found himself in the center of a circulating tick of wolves. There wasn't a single escape root for him to go through, he hadn't a chance and he knew it after he heard his father screaming—then silence.

He couldn't even hear his own sobs as the wolves' growls were growing louder.

Dante had been the one to be the first to act, and the shrilling shrieks of the child-like screams had ruptured Remus' ears. There was no controlling what the reformed had done or what they saw, but his mate's blood loudly permitted in the air.

He skidded to the protective circle the wolves had created, and a few shifted in order to get Sage's paw from the bear trap. But the hiss was a clear indication that the bear trap was silver.

"Alpha. Blake's been shot, the bullet went through him and hit the Luna." The Lewis said, only for the warrior to bow his head and accept submission from his Alpha, all while his hand were attempting to pry apart the silver clamps.

While Remus hadn't wasted another moment before shifting.

"I want healers here now!" He shouted, but Kenzie and a few other healers were already on their way in the medic trucks.

Remus had found himself shaking as he neared Sage's figure, he stared at her stomach until he was sure it rose and fell. Proof that she was alive and breathing, but her heart turned erratic. 

And his fell into the same tune once he caught where the bullet had entered--And a desperate sob had escaped him.

Petting her cheek to behind her ear, he tried to whisper words of encouragement, but her nails were shattered—her paw ripped open and the mangled position. It was convulsing slightly, and Remus had no cloth or anything to stop the bleeding. Which caused him to shift once again, soaking her leg in saliva as the most he could do is stop the bleeding and enact some healing.

He peeked his attention up to see the incoming set of cars, he heard that another two wolves had been shot in the defense of the hunter. But he wanted their bodies and whatever they could salvage from the attack, as well as order a few wolves to find their campsite—their parked car.

Anything that could tell them who they were and why they were here.

Remus shifted back to skin and picked up his mate, earning a sharp and desperate whine. But he managed well enough to sit in the trunk, they sped off to the infirmary and went straight to work in getting the bullets out of her fur side.

A shift would risk movement and there was no telling where the shards would end up.

While the procedure was going on, Remus was not allowed to be in the room. So he guarded the door and watched the mess that they brought the infirmary—As well as the attention that migrated with him.

He wanted to vomit over what he was hearing over the pack link, that the Luna was going to die, that they were going to lose another Luna.

That he was a cursed Alpha—That Crescent Moon was cursed.

He hadn't bothered in getting dressed, or not until Eli forced a pair of shorts into his hands and he managed to do it purely on autopilot.

"Hey, it's going to be alright. Sage is a tough she-wolf. Gotta remember that." Eli said, his hands on his Alpha's shoulder as he tried to get the words across.

But the guilt was starting to set in, Remus felt he should've been there—It was Blake who protected her from the bullet, or tried to. While he wasn't in surgery, they were trying to get his blood loss under control before forcing a shift.

"Scouts find anything?"
"Bunch of tracks, but sir it—He and the boy were poking around where the silver was dug up." Remus tried to pride himself into not letting it link together, that they weren't after Sage.

But with his mate bleeding on the operating table it was hard to think rationally.

"I want identification from the humans."
"Yes sir, Shawn is out now with the scouts," Eli said, awaiting another order. But Remus' attention turned back towards the crowd of pack members.

"Get rid of that crowd."
"Sir they're—"
"I don't care what they're doing, they're thinking and I hear all of it." Eli knew exactly what his Alphas was talking about, he could sense it when he came in.

That the Crescent Moon curse was still being upheld.

"They're praying, sir." Remus blinked off to his Beta in pure denial, and Remus shook his head as he allowed his body to sink back into the chair as his Beta joined him.

It felt like hours—and the sound of the thumping drums was not aiding his scatterbrained mind. But if he truly concentrated, he could take the pain away from her, feeling the small pinches of the healer's attempt in getting out the bullet fragments that scattered when going through Blake to Sage.

The second a body came out of the room, Remus and Eli rose to their feet. However, the Alpha felt faint in seeing how much of his mate's blood ended up on Kenzie's scrubs.

"We managed to get everything out, Alpha. The Luna is being given a small dose of wolfsbane to shift...We still need to see the extent of the damage to her hand, both in fur and skin." Remus nodded, his mouth opening for a moment but his voice lost.

"When will she wake up?" Eli asked, his hand back on his Alpha's shoulder to him in check.
"Within the next few hours, the nurses are just cleaning and dressing her arm and bandaging her shoulder." The Beta thanked Kenzie for her work, but Remus couldn't find it in himself to sit.

"LET ME GO!" The panic sound of Blake called upon the Alpha's attention instantly, and Eli followed the commotion to see Blake shaking off the IVs in his arm, which caused the nurses to turn frantic in trying to calm him down.

"Blake," Remus spoke, and the wolf instantly still at the sound of the Alpha—As did the rest of the room. "'No trouble.'" He quoted his mate, and it relaxed the General enough to move across the room in a limp, until the IVs tugged him back a bit. Prompting him to move the entire damn thing on its wheels towards the Alpha.

"Is she alright—Sage, is she okay? Fuck, I should've—"
"The shards are out, you did nothing wrong, Blake. You acted." The look of approval was clear, but the male was shaking as he looked around the room of the infirmary.

How could they forget?

"The second Blake is able to be released, let him. Set him in my guest room."
"Yes, Alpha." A nurse said before leaving the three alone in the room, and Remus didn't waste any time before pointing to the bed and Blake complied.

"What happened?"

"Sir, we were just on our normal route and Sage smelled it, it didn't smell human—The kid I mean. We knew there was a male somewhere so I sent the reforms to look out around us but the kid led Sage into a bear-trap." Remus' fists were pure white, why didn't Sage call him?

Why did she go alone?

"Sir, I swear—I've lived with humans, they couldn't human...What happened to—"
"They're dead. The reformed took care of them, practically ripped to shreds. Both the father and son." Blake swallowed and nodded his head.

"Sage didn't want to kill a child...And I didn't know what the policy of humans on pack grounds was." Remus nodded, but his mind continued to spin back to the fact that the boy didn't smell human.

"What do you think they were?"
"I don't know sir...I mean there are rumors of supernatural hunters...Do you think—" Blake had heard whispers here and there, it was normal in his life as a Rogue. But Eli scoffed, interrupting Blake.

"I thought we had a treaty with them."
"A treaty? With bounty hunters?" Remus groaned into his hands. "Link Jack, I want the witches on the phone to fix the fucking shields on our lands. And I want a blood test on the bodies." Eli did just that, and Birdie was on-route after hearing what's happened.

"Do you think this is why Sage was feeling off?" Blake questioned, and it caused Remus to look up from his disheveled position. His shoulders bounced in reference to his silent chuckle.

"Fuck...It was her intuition."
"Sir, you didn't know." Eli offered, but Remus was hell-bent on blaming himself.

"I should've! She was scared and didn't want me to leave!" A new body had entered the room and didn't need any leeway to involve his input.

"And Sage can speak up, she didn't," Luke stated leaning against the wall as he eyed Blake and nodded.

"You alright?"
"Yeah, this is nothing." Blake waved it off, and the fact that a silver bullet wound was categorized as 'nothing' was unacceptable and spot volumes to everything else Blake endured.

"They're cleaning Sage up and bandaging her arm." Remus felt a shiver run up his spine in picturing how she was or how she was going to feel.

"Alpha! Alpha Remus!" The nurse screamed, and Remus darted out of the room in a mess of worry. Sage was convulsing and a foaming substance began sprouting from her mouth.

She was choking, and the lack of oxygen was sending Remus into his own state of shock.

"Alpha, we need your blood!" There was hardly any hesitation on his end, the nurses worked effortlessly sitting him down and injecting a needle into him before connecting the receiving end into Sage.

"What's happening?!" Eli roared, and it was explained in a mixture of words that there might've been something laced in the bear trap or the bullet.

"I want that bullet and bear trap analyzed," Remus growled as he tried to relax his own arm at the prospect of helping her to survive.

But all Remus could think of was if he wasn't here, if they didn't have access to his blood.

"Her levels are going back!" Other orders were rushed back and forth, but by the end of the hour, Sage was back to normal. And by normal it meant healing, breathing, and twitching her fingers—Which was a good sign considering her arm was in a sling.

The underneath of the sling was bandaged, the entire room fell still. The only sound consisted of her repetitive breathing and the sound of the heart monitor.

Remus didn't dare deviate his eyes away from her, he caught every twitch and every peep she had made. Blake had joined him for awhile, dragging his IV machine in.

Sage's charge was nervous.

However, when the nurse discharged him, he chose to stay and sleep at the other end of the room instead of going to the Alpha's house. While his exhaustion won over, Remus was left wide awake, though he appreciated Blake's dedication.

Luke strolled in, handing his Alpha a hot coffee before taking Blake's seat before.

"Every time she gets hurt—I keep thinking back to the first time she left the cell. Left us and came back all bruised and bloody. She knew what each day meant, what type of hell we were going to face..." It was the first time Remus had looked away in the past few hours, and the weariness was taking a toll on the Alpha.

"Blake thinks it's bounty hunters."
"Meaning he's after her." Remus wasn't prepared for that reality, he wasn't prepared to lose his mate after barely a year together.

They weren't even mated a year...

"You think it's the curse?" He chuckled, and Luke growled.

"No, we lost your mother because your father was fucking insane, he elected wars, and the Moon Goddess punished him for it... Either this was another pack, sir, or this is him." Remus and his wolf were trying to run logistics, his enemies and all.

"They would've acted when I wasn't on pack grounds, this isn't a pack. This is him. And I want Sage guarded twenty-four fucking seven when I'm gone. If that means someone sleeps in the same room as her, fine." Luke nodded, mentioning that the she-wolves were planning a sleepover.

It wasn't until around 2 in the morning when Sage's eyes popped open, and they were onyx—a deep abyss. But she was trying to feel out the room, the smell caused her to remain still.

But her heartbeat was spiking heavily.

"Sage...Munchkin, I'm right here...It's alright. Luke and Blake are here too." She tried to speak, her wire-infested hand to make a 'W. Remus knew what it was, taking the ice water from the table and put the straw in front of her mouth.

She's never been so desperate for a drink of cold water and gulped it greedily. "Slow down munchkin, there's plenty."
"Hurts." She croaked, her hand going to her throat.

The formulated medication thankfully worked in keeping her comfortable, but then she reached out for her mate. Wanting his warm hand in hers, and Luke cracked a smile in seeing her trying to soothe him.

"I wish you told me you were feeling that intuition hun."
"Know...I don't know..." She said, her blinking eyes fell out of sync. But her beautiful grey eyes returned, flickering between him and Luke before a smile graced her face.

"Having a nice trip there hun?" Blake chuckled, settling himself up against the pillows, but his voice pushed her attention to the other side of the room.

"Okay?" She yawned, and he nodded. "Yeah, how's your arm?" She was clearly confused, but as she tried to rise up it caused Remus to rush and trying to prop her up onto a pillow.

But her left arm completely wrapped caused a sense of panic to drive into her flight or fight moment.

"Heyheyhey...Your arm's healing. Do you remember what happened Sage?" Remus said sitting on the bed while Luke traded his seat in order to get a view of his Luna.

"Uman...Human...But they smell funny, not like humans from the mall." Remus took that as confirmation to what Blake said, but then her memory turned to the beartrap.

"Foot spike."
"That was a bear trap hun, did it feel like it could be silver or poison?"
"Cold, very cold." Blake sighed into his hands.

"It's Claikite," Blake breathed out, "That could be why they smelled off. They got Claikite on them, or a new version on it. Shit." Blake's panic was starting to upset Sage, instantly turning his rant to silence.

"Panicking isn't going to solve anything, when the witches come tomorrow we'll have answers."
"Birdie's coming?" Sage said, her throat still mildly scratching as the ventilator did have to be in her throat for some time.

"She's going to help us and fix the shields." 

"But you have to go to...to Alpha meeting."
"I know hun, but we still have today and another morning...You'll be safe." She nodded, as Remus left no room to think otherwise.

"You call every day?"
"How am I going to say goodnight to you hun? And I'll even send you a few puppy videos." She grinned widely at the idea of Remus doing that in a room filled with Alphas.

Sage had fallen back asleep not long after she had woken up, the nurses had checked on the four of them. Providing coffee and checking Blake's stitches to make sure he didn't rip them...Again.

Otherwise, they were healing. But this would be hard to go on from.

______

Date: 07-48-2021

Time: 11:48

Words: 4472