San groaned as he stood up and swiped his arm across his forehead to wipe away the sweat gathering there. It was so hot today... or maybe it was just warm in the fields.

He'd been out there for a few hours now working alongside Peniel. They still needed to keep up their cover, so Hongjoong and Minhyuk were helping out somewhere else.

It was so frustrating... He felt trapped in the never ending cycle and it was getting harder and harder to lay low.

Especially with the mixed emotions he could feel coming from Wooyoung. The hardest one was when he recognized one of his mate's spirals. It took all of his willpower to not run from the fields the second he'd felt it...

But Wooyoung seemed to be alright now. Whatever had happened, he'd managed to work through it somehow.

So now San was forced to continue speculating and hoping that they would figure out how to get out of this place soon.

"Hey," Peniel murmured from a few feet away. "Eunkwang is calling us back. I think Sungjae found something."

San's head snapped up and his eyes grew wide. It was hard from him to not run back to the house, especially because Peniel had to go through the motions of checking in with another alpha there to let him know they were going to take a break.

In another field, it looked like Minhyuk and Hongjoong were doing the same thing.

It was lucky for them that they had been assigned to members of the same little group within the pack. No one ever questioned them when Peniel and Minhyuk decided to leave together, it was something they had always done before.

When the four of them reached the cabin, they hurried inside to find the rest of the group waiting for them.

Changsub was rubbing Sungjae's back, looking over him with a serious expression.

"What happened?" Hongjoong trotted forward, his eyes darting between everyone in the room. "What happened??"

"Easy, Hongjoong." Eunkwang grabbed his shoulder and gently pulled him back. "Sungjae just went through a lot. Give him time."

San could feel the spilt second that Hongjoong bristled at the command from another alpha, but he pushed it aside instantly and nodded before stepping back to stand beside his pack mate.

The younger alpha took his hand, showing support, as they waited for Sungjae to start speaking.

It took a few minutes, but the omega was eventually able to take a deep breath and look around the room. "I think I know what Nova is planning."

Everyone in the room froze, the air growing thick with their intermingling scents as they spiked with anticipation and fear.

"I... I managed to sneak into her study. She has the tests for all the girls filled away." His hands started to shake, so he grabbed his elbows and tried to curl in on himself. "As well as how they are getting pregnant."

Minhyuk was the first to move, hurrying over to Sungjae and hugging him. "It's alright. Take your time."

Sungjae looked at him with wide eyes and whimpered softly. He was pale and still trembling a little. "Nova is impregnating them herself. She... She has an alpha here somewhere that is providing her with his semen. There were no names listed, but apparently he's a Pure Alpha, so she's hoping that he can help continue breeding female alphas."

"What?" Several of them said at the same time, but it was Eunkwang who held up a hand to silence them so he could continue. "Why on earth does she want that? We have plenty of land and food to support everyone here, it's not like we need to expand."

"You know how she is." Hyunsik said from where he was leaning against the wall. "She's always looked down on anyone who isn't like her."

Eunkwang pursed his lips and exhaled sharply through his nose. "Even so, she's never been vengeful or-"

"Maybe she's just more secretive than we imagined." Minhyuk sighed. "Did her notes say anything about it?"

Sungjae frowned. "Not... directly. She mentioned wanted to secure our borders, that the growing human population to the west concerned her."

"We have had more encounters lately..." Eunkwang started pacing. "So I suppose that would make sense."

"But why not simply try to recruit more packs to join ours? Raising pups takes time. Plus, there's no guarantee that the babies would be what she wants." Changsub said.

"She seems to think a Pure Alpha would be able to provide that. Her theory is that a Pure Alpha with a female alpha has the potential to make more alphas, that all of their pups would be alphas."

San froze, his eyes growing wider. Next to him, Hongjoong noticed the changed and looked at him. "Sannie? What is it?"

"Two alpha parents..." He whispered. It took a second, but he saw when Hongjoong understood what San had realized.

The others turned to face them with inquisitive looks. "We..." Hongjoong swallowed and shook his head slightly. "Nova may be right. I... I don't know about Pure Alphas. Honestly I've never heard of them, but I'm assuming it means he has a lineage of all alphas?" He glanced at the others and continued when he received a couple of nods. "Then we may have another one here with us."

Silence surrounded them, thick and heavy, and San wanted nothing more than to run. "I come from an all alpha family. My parents and two brothers. I don't know if anyone else is, though, they abandoned me when I was young."

"You're only one example, so we can't know for sure..." Eunkwang started pacing again, shaking his head while he spoke. "But I also have never encountered any other alpha who had two alpha parents. Really, Avayla was the first female alpha any of us have encountered who carried pups herself."

Hongjoong growled and pulled San closer to him. "This information does not leave this room."

"Don't worry." Eunkwang held up his hands as a show of submission. "You know you can trust us. We won't let anything happen to San. Now," He turned back to Sungjae and worked to keep his voice calm. "What else did you find?"

"Three of the female alphas have lost their children to miscarriages. All the rest are slowly getting sicker." Sungjae bowed his head. "Two of them... Two of them have been put on life support."

"No one else in the pack has been effected." Changsub added. "I've looked. Anyone else who has come to see us has had normal illnesses like colds."

Hongjoong huffed and started pacing next to Eunkwang but in the opposite direction. "But then what could be causing it?"

"I think it's the pups." Sungjae's voice shook as he spoke again. "This... Pure Alpha... I think there's something about his semen that isn't compatible with female alphas."

"But that doesn't make any sense." Hongjoong stopped long enough to look at San.

Sungjae followed his gaze and shrugged. "I don't know. I could be wrong. But maybe San's lineage isn't Pure. It would make sense that two alphas would have alpha children, the gene is so dominant it wouldn't have a chance to be anything else." The omega started to speak faster and faster the longe the went on. "But maybe there is a step above that. Maybe a Pure Alpha is truly someone who has a lineage of only alphas... maybe they can only reproduce with someone special?"

"Omegas." Eunkwang and Minhyuk said at the same time.

Minhyuk smiled at his alpha. "Omegas are meant to take everything an alpha has to give, whereas betas aren't always the best fit."

Hongjoong snarled and opened his mouth to argue, but San was quick to shush him. "He has a point, Joong."

His alpha huffed in response but let the beta continue. "I'm not saying an alpha mating a beta is bad, but there are some physical limitations we can't always... satisfy." He gave a crooked smile and shrugged. "I'll admit that every time. But even so, this still doesn't make sense, because how did San's mother survive? Why is he here? What goes into being 'Pure'?"

No one seemed to have an answer. There was too much unknown... From their experience, the only logical thing that San could think of was magic had to be involved somehow. But even then, it still didn't make sense.

"So..." San hesitated ask he broke the silence. "So what you're saying is that the female alphas aren't compatible, so the pups are destroying them from the inside."

"Yes." Sungjae nodded and stood up a little stranger. "Everyone who has become pregnant by this Pure Alpha's sperm will die."

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Theo waited patiently while Annabelle took the time to write down everything Angelo was saying to the rest of the pack. He cold only pick up pieces of the conversation because the beta kept turning his head to look at everyone that was preparing for the hunt.

And Annabelle was so understanding. She even drew diagrams for him if that was the faster way for her to explain.

Their goal today was to find the herd of elk south of the pack. It was full of large bulls they could take down. Apparently they rotated where they would hunt so they didn't deplete one herd too quickly.

Theo was to stay with Annabelle and follow her queues since he wasn't connected with the pack. Everyone else was splitting into pairs as well, that way they always had backup.

When it was time to leave, everyone moved to a private area to shift comfortably before gathering once more.

The sight left Theo feeling speechless.

There were so many beautiful wolves, with coats of many different colors. They wove together, rubbing and nipping at each other playfully.

Annabelle trotted over to him and touched her nose to his shoulder in greeting. She was... stunning. Her blonde coat was filled with chocolate speckles that gave her a unique flecked pattern.

Once everyone had gathered, Theo noticed he was still easily one of the taller wolves. It filled him with a little pride when he noticed a few of the betas admiring his size and trying to gauge his strength.

A single, short howl from Angelo had the group of betas surging into the woods. There were at least twenty of them weaving through the trees as elegant as fish through water.

This is what

They were born to do this. Run and be wild and free.

It cleared Theo's mind and he felt happiness flowing through his link with Avayla. She encouraged him to enjoy himself and let him know that she was proud of him.

That made his wolf soar and Theo had to hold back the howl he wanted to let loose to show everyone that he had made his alpha proud.

But he did inhale deeply, wanting to take in every bit of the scents around him that he could.

That's when he caught something that made him falter.

His foot caught on a rock and he had to stumble to catch himself.

The beta's nostrils flared, scenting the air furiously trying to find it again. He was so focused on that, he didn't notice right away that Annabelle and Angelo were both approaching him slowly.

T? What's wrong? Avayla asked, sensing his distress.

He never fully understood why he did it, but Theo told her he was fine and shut off their connection as much as he could. He knew she would be upset with him, but his wolf told him it was for the best, that this was more important.

With a turn of his head and the breeze picking up just a touch, he caught the scent again.

Theo bolted.

His long legs allowed him to fly through the trees. He moved so fast, his paws barely grazed the ground before propelling him forward.

Any other wolves he came across all moved out of his way, which was good because he wasn't stopping.

Soon he recognized the cabin he'd followed Nova to. The scent was stronger here... but why??

Suddenly the door to the cabin burst open, splintering from the weight of the impact, and Theo slid to a stop.

His eyes grew wide.

An awful, torn whine vibrated his entire body.

And time stopped as he watched Mingi fall down the stairs.