The day Faustina had waited weeks for had arrived. She woke up happier than ever full of hopes, and in just a matter of seconds, Almec ruined everything.

"Something else came up today, we're not going to be able to go to the lake," he told her.

Faustina, who was already prepared to leave, hugged her backpack and looked down at the floor.

I couldn't believe that he would tell her something like that when we were already at the door. Faustina had been fifteen minutes at the entrance of the mansion waiting for Almec to come down the stairs so we could leave.

"But it's a perfect day to go today," she murmured. "And Demian already made me my lunch."

I crouched in front of her and my heart broke when I saw the small tears that began to fall down her cheeks.

"We can go another day." Almec opened the door and left the mansion. "I have a last-minute meeting with Geldra."

"Can't I at least go with Valen?" Faustina insisted, controlling her crying.

"It's dangerous for you to go alone, why don't you go get your bike and ride around the garden a bit? You said you wanted to ride it out of the mansion and today is a nice day."

"Okay," Faustina answered, dropping her backpack to the floor.

She didn't like being a burden to others, in the months we spent escaping from the hunters she never complained. I knew that what Almec told her hurt her, and yet, she preferred to hide it.

"I'll find a way to take you out," I promised in a whisper, hugging her.

Faustina hugged me back with all her strength, letting the rest of her tears fall.

"He's gone," she said, looking at the door when we broke the hug.

"I'm going to talk to him, you go with Demian in the meanwhile, I'm sure he can make you something delicious to cheer you up."

The wolf inside me was ready to attack as soon as I walked through the door. I didn't care that he was my mate, if someone made my little sister sad they had to suffer the consequences.

I saw Almec a few steps ahead of me, he was walking holding his cell phone next to his ear, almost reaching the gate.

Using my fury as fuel, I caught up to him in seconds and grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop the call.

"What the hell was that?" I asked him, controlling my tone of voice to not yell at him.

"What was what? I told you, I'm busy."

He tried to resume the call but I pulled his arm again.

"You know she's been waiting for weeks, she already had everything she was going to do planned and you canceled it like it was nothing." I let go of his arm and looked up at him full of contempt. "At least you could have let her know sooner or you could have asked for forgiveness if you had some decency."

"I'll call you later," Almec told the person on the other end before hanging up the call. "Look, I can't predict what emergencies are going to arise in the pack, in case you haven't noticed I'm trying to protect you."

I hated his condescending tone, it made me feel like a weak little child.

"And what is the meeting about, can I know? If it is something so urgent and it affects the entire pack, I have the right to know."

"It's about the members of Moon Guardians."

"Did they hurt anyone?" I asked him. "Are they planning to attack the pack now?"

"It's not like that." Almec scratched the back of his neck.

"It's about Ezra, isn't it? Couldn't you wait a few hours before running off to seek your revenge or find someone to accompany us in your place before you leave?"

"You don't understand. I have to do something for him!" Almec shouted. "Besides, it's not that easy to find someone I trust to go with you."

"Did you even try?" I asked him. I waited for a long minute for a response that never came. "So, you didn't. Don't worry, I'll find a way."

"I already said you can't leave."

"You are not my owner, I can decide what to do with my own life and I will not allow my sister to suffer because of you." I took a step back, I had nothing more to say to him. "I'm not stupid, I know it's dangerous to go alone, I'm going to find someone to accompany us. Good luck with your precious meeting."

"I'm serious, don't leave the mansion!" Almec yelled at me when I had already made it halfway back.

He was completely wrong if he thought that I was going to follow his orders. The first thing I did when I arrived at the mansion was call Feinid for help.

***

"Thank you for doing this for us," I said to Feinid as he helped me set up the picnic area.

"It's nothing. I was almost done with all my tasks for the day and Carmine owed me a favor," he replied, finishing straightening the tablecloth.

It turned out that I was right, it wasn't that hard to find someone willing to come with us to the lake. It didn't take me even five minutes of calling to convince Feinid to join our little adventure and he even brought another of the warriors with him.

My anger was completely buried under the laughter that Faustina let out the moment she saw the small lake with crystal clear waters. The calm of the forest, combined with my sister's happy screams, was just what I needed to forget my bad mood.

"Valen, look, there are a lot of fish," Faustina shouted, putting her hand in the lake.

"Don't get too close, little one," Carmine warned her, his black eyes moving from Faustina to the lake nervously. "Winter has just ended and the water is still cold. My son fell on a day like today and ended up with the flu that left him in bed for a week."

"Did you fight with your hubby?" Feinid asked me, sitting on the grass and motioning for me to find a place next to him. "I ran into Almec on the way, he looked furious. I didn't even dare to say hello to him."

I let out a sigh, grabbing the thermos and the mate. "He broke his promise to Faustina by going after the Moon Guardians members again."

"Was it as bad as it seems?"

"I wouldn't say it was intense, it's more about the feelings that fighting with him causes me than what happened," I confessed, returning Faustina's wave. "It was our first fight in a long time and we're both frustrated with what's going on in the pack."

"You're going to find a way to fix it. I don't think either of you can spend much time angry at each other. And for the sake of the pack, it's better to keep Almec in a good mood."

"Do you think I was too hard on him? It's his duty as an alpha to defend the pack and I know he's trying to take care of us, but when I saw Faustina crying I didn't stop to think before acting."

"The Moon Guardians members were still inside the inn, as far as I know, none of them did anything dangerous to us yet," Feinid said, grabbing a grape. "I would say that what he was going to do could wait."

"I just hope he doesn't get carried away with his revenge. It's hypocritical coming from me, considering that revenge was the only thing that motivated me for months, but in the end, I was able to see that it was eating me up. I don't want the same thing to happen to Almec."

"That's why you're here, isn't it? To open his eyes if he gets blinded by his hatred. If you need any help, I know how to deliver a few good punches."

"I don't think that's necessary," I laughed. "Besides, Almec would destroy you in less than a minute."

"Suddenly you're being mean," he pouted. "But seriously, don't worry too much now, you'll have time to talk to Almec when he comes back. Now Faustina is waiting for you, I thought we came here to cheer her up."

"You're right, complaining isn't going to help me at all," I said, standing up. "Plus it seems like she's already driving Carmine crazy."

I had to fight to keep my thoughts away from Almec. Having Faustina playing and smiling next to me helped me a lot, however, the memory of the argument found some way to slip into my mind.

Until the sun began to go down, I kept my fake smile on my face. It's not that I wasn't having fun with my sister while she collected rocks from the lake shore, there was just something that didn't allow me to feel fully happy.

"All ready?" I asked Faustina, grabbing one of her bags.

"Yep," she told me, walking in the direction of the mansion. Suddenly she started jumping and gave a cry of excitement. "Almec, are you going to come with us on the return trip?"

Confused, I looked at Feinid who winked at me and pointed to the path.

My heart skipped a beat when my gaze found Almec, the desire to run towards him almost took over me but my mind reminded me of our fight. No matter how much I missed him, we first needed to talk about what happened.

Faustina, unlike me, forgave very quickly, and she soon lunged at Almec who caught her in a hug.

"Did you come looking for me?" She asked, smiling.

"I have to talk to your sister first," he answered, lowering her to the ground. "I left a gift for you at the mansion, why don't you go ahead with Feinid and Carmine? We'll catch up with you right away as soon as we finish talking."

"I want to see my gift. Feinid, let's go, rápido!" Faustina grabbed him by his hand and without asking permission she began to drag him towards the mansion.

Almec waited until they were out of sight before approaching me.

I stood still, not knowing how to react. Almec showed no signs of being angry with me, however, he didn't seem happy to see me either. It was better to let him take the first step.

"You came anyway," he told me, putting his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Part of me wasn't even surprised when I didn't find you at home. Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"I told you I was going to find a way to bring Faustina to the lake. We were safe, I'm not stupid enough to put my sister in danger."

"I know, I wasn't trying to imply anything."

"It seemed to me that's what you were thinking this morning," I said, crossing my arms. "What did you want to talk about?"

Almec took his hands out of his pockets and shrugged.

"I'm sorry," he told me, looking me in the eyes. "I was overreacting today, I should have stayed with you. I made a promise to Faustina and I failed her, leaving her for a situation that Geldra could have handled alone."

"Well, she seems to have forgiven you, so don't worry about it."

"And you?" Almec asked me, grabbing my hands. "I'm really sorry. You were right, it's about Ezra, I can't stop thinking that they are lying to us and I can't let them get away with it. Still, I told you that you and Faustina are my priority and I did the opposite."

"I can't stay mad at you for long," I smiled at him. "But I want to know what happened."

Almec let go of my hands and hugged me, resting his chin on my head.

"Thank you, I was afraid I'd ruined everything," he said. "Romeo won't stop insulting and fighting with the clients of the inn and Wina told Geldra that if we didn't find them a place by tomorrow she was going to throw them out on the street. Apparently, she was giving the same threat to the members of Moon Guardians and they were ready to fight against Wina."

"So you left us to go find them a house?"

"Yeah, it sounds even stupider when I say it out loud. I just thought they were going to want to fight. And then there's the Ezra thing."

I broke the hug and cupped his face. "You can't let every little thing they do make you lose control."

"I know. But if I lose my mind I have a brilliant wife to talk some sense into me."

"Don't try to sugarcoat me," I told him before pecking his lips. "And Kilma?"

"What about him?"

"What did you talk about with him the other day? If the Moon Guardians members are staying in the pack I assume that you came to an agreement with him."

"I can't tell you much right now, but we're going to work together. You're going to have to trust me."

"I trust you as long as you trust me. Don't make me regret it."