There was a lot of commotion outside. Pack members were shouting from all corners of the house. I rushed to the window to look and saw warriors rushing to the edge of the woods. My eyes wandered to the edge and saw a raging fire.

On alert, my first response was he had found us and was coming to take us back. I heard miserable cries and protest from the pack members who stayed behind. The sound was terrifying and heart wrenching. This sound sent me crippling down to my knees. Liam came rushing to my side.

"Are you okay, Katya?" he questioned.

Breathe.

My entire body shook uncontrollably.

Breathe.

Sweat beaded my forehead and the tiny hairs all over my body stood up. Anxiety and stress hit me like a storm and I couldn't breathe. At this point, I'm gasping for air.

"Katya." Liam shook me. I looked into his eyes and everything was muffled. I couldn't hear what he was saying or the noise around me.

Tatiana!

Tatiana, you need to run.

Leave!

Liam was shouting at me and shaking me.

And I couldn't help the memories that came flooding back...

"Tatiana, take the children and run. The Beta and Gamma are dead. Alpha and Luna are barely alive."

A pair of similar brown eyes found me. I had my arms wrapped around a bundle of blankets. I was holding Liam. His midnight hair glistened underneath the swaying chandelier. We were in the middle of a large dining room.

"No, I can't leave you, Kevin. We have to leave together. Please!" my mom cried, holding onto my father like her life depended on it.

"I need to keep you all safe. Please just listen to me and run, mate. I have to protect our Alpha and Luna. Once we finish killing them off and it's safe, I'll come for you."

"You promise?"

I could see it on my dad's face. He didn't look convinced, but he gave my mom a small smile and kissed her on the lips and then brushed his lips across her forehead.

"I promise."

He walked over to me and smoothed back my hair.

"My girl, you are so brave. Take care of your mama and brother."

"Daddy." Tears were streaming down my cheeks. "Please come with us."

His eyes welled up with tears and he blinked them back furiously before rubbing a hand over his entire face. He took in a shuddering breath before leaning forward and kissing me and then Liam.

Standing up, he pulled my mom into a hug again.

"I'll see you all soon," he whispered before pushing through the secret passage of the packhouse.

My mom took Liam from me before taking my hand. The passage was an underground passage. It was dark. I turned back to look at my father. He stood at the entrance looking at us. He looked sad and tears streamed down his face. When he saw me looking, he gave me a sad smile. As our forms began to disappear down the narrow passage he closed the door. I watched until I could no longer see him.

We made it through the passage, but when we emerged, we were captured by the Alpha rogue's minions.

I jerked awake and realized I'm lying on the cold floor. Liam was crying and shaking me. Sweat drenched my body. I felt weak and lost. An image of my dad's face appeared in front of me and tears began streaming down my face.

"I thought you died," Liam sobbed and buried his face in my stomach. I ran my fingers through his hair—trying to comfort him.

Apparently, I had slept the day through. It was dark outside, but there was no longer any screaming and shouting. I looked up at the ceiling and inhaled slowly. The memories were so vivid.

The bedroom door swung open. A second later, Hunter came rushing over. His haggard face blocked the ceiling. Worry etched across his face, but my eyes traveled over his wounded face. He had blood all over his sun-kissed skin, a cut to his lip, and one of his eyes were dark and bruised. Claw marks were all over his body.

"What happened?" he questioned in panic. "Are you alright? Did someone hurt you?"

Before I could answer him, he grabbed my shoulders and yanked me into his arms. He held me tight as if I would disappear if he let go. Liam had moved off me to give Hunter room. Even he had grown accustomed to Hunter's appearance.

He yanked me back to look at me all over again. His hands were roaming all over my body and the tingling sensation followed his movement. His eyes were scanning me everywhere.

"I'm okay. I just fainted."

His light blue eyes snapped to me.

"Are you ill? Hungry?"

"Hunter, I'm fine," I stressed to him

His shoulders seemed to relax a little. He dropped back onto his heels and returned his hands to his side. I looked him over. He only had on a pair of grey sweatpants. He reeked of blood and humans.

"Are you okay?" I returned his question.

He looked down at his body.

"Our pack was attacked by hunters. We took care of it and the fire. There were a few casualties, but we are safe now."

Hunters? He must've seen the confusion on my face because he explained next.

"Rosemary's father was a hunter. He tracked Rosemary and her mom to our pack. He wanted them back. When he realized they were here, he started the fire to distract us while they invaded."

"Did you kill him?"

He shook his head. "Judah took care of it."

I fell silent. Hunter and his pack saved Rosemary and her mother. He protected them. His words and promises echoed in my mind. He had told me he would protect Liam and me. I wondered if he would do the same for us. But Alpha was not a human. He was a werewolf too and a powerful one too. I knew him too well. He wouldn't give up. We have been on the run for years and he hasn't given up yet. Alpha was obsessed with Liam and me. He'll stop at nothing to have us back at the camp.

What if I brought more trouble to this pack than I expected?

Hunter swept me up into his arms. I didn't expect that and so my first instinct was to wrap my arms around his neck. His eyes fell back on me again and softened before he carried me over to the bed.

"I c-can walk," I stuttered, feeling suddenly shy.

"You fainted. Until I know what happened to you, you will not walk. I'll have a pack doctor to check you."

Liam plopped down right next to me, "We don't need a doctor. Katya isn't hurt."

Hunter looked at Liam. "Even so, I'll feel better if we checked to see if your sister is healthy. We don't want her getting sick. I saw how worried you looked, Liam."

Liam looked like he wanted to argue, but Hunter's point got through to him. He scooted closer to me and pressed his body up against me. I wrapped one arm around him.

"I am fine. Don't worry, Liam."

"We had many injured warriors and pack members. Right now, everyone is just too busy. I'll take a shower first and I'll go down to the kitchen to cook you something." Hunter turned around to walk through the connecting door.

I watched his back. He looked extremely tired. They have been fighting two enemies today—the fire and hunters. I couldn't ask him to make me food at this late hour.

"It's okay. We can wait till tomorrow. We've gone nights before without food."

He stopped to look back at me.

"You won't have any more of those nights, Katya. I'll take care of you."

The serious look in his eyes told me he meant it. However, I felt awful.

"C-can we come along too?" I sounded unsure, because it would be the first time I'll be stepping out of the bedroom. Yet, I felt obligated to go. I shouldn't allow others to wait on me.

His eyes widened a fraction before he blinked and it disappeared. He nodded his head in agreement before turning and walking through the connecting door. I listened carefully to his movement. A moment later, I heard the shower running.

Thirty minutes later, Hunter appeared again through the connecting door. There was no blood on his body. The cut and bruise on his eye were still there, but he still looked ruggedly handsome. He had on a white plain t-shirt and a new pair of sweatpants. His hair was still damp from the shower, but he smells like himself.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

I had changed into something more appropriate? I am not sure even if it was. I wore Hunter's old t-shirt and shorts. Liam and I got up from our bed and walked over to him. Hunter walked ahead of us and we mirrored his footsteps. Emerging from the bedroom, I saw that the hallways were empty. There were a few pack members idling around the foyer. Most of them were conversing about the events that happened today. Others were comforting each other.

Their eyes flited in our direction. First to Hunter before it wandered to Liam and I. No doubt they were curious and have heard about us. Their gaze held no note of surprise. Instead, they were merely curious.

Hunter stopped when he saw that we were falling behind. Turning around, he placed a hand on the small of my back. I felt the tips of his fingers burn into my lower back.

"We're almost there." He leaned down to murmur in my ear. He must have brushed his teeth because I could smell the mint toothpaste. His hot breath fanned my skin and I felt goosebumps all over my body. I fought back the tantalizing shiver that wanted to run down my spine to the pit of my stomach.

It took us a while to get to the kitchen. Liam and I kept stopping, curious to look at paintings, open rooms, and wide hallways.

When we made it to the kitchen, I saw Catalina in the kitchen. She had her back to us, but when the kitchen door swung close she jumped and turned to look at us.

"Oh goodness me. I'm so sorry, Alpha Hunter. I didn't get a chance to cook anything. I've just been-" she wiped her tears with her apron.

"It's okay, Catalina. You can take the night off. I'm sure you are just as shaken up as everybody else."

More tears welled up in her eyes and she burst into a sob.

"Thank you, Alpha."

When she left, Liam hopped into a wooden stool next to a kitchen island. Hunter walked to the refrigerator and opened it. I stood next to Liam and watched Hunter pull out three cold steaks.

Minutes later, he was searing the steaks on the stove. Once the steaks were cooking on the skillet, he turned back to the refrigerator and pulled out a strawberry cake. He grabbed two small plates and forks and then walked over to where we were sitting and standing. Hunter cut two slices of cake and then slid them over to us.

"Dessert before dinner?!" Liam exclaimed with joy. He dug in quickly.

Hunter chuckled and watched me. I picked up the fork and cut a bite size piece of cake before slipping it into my mouth. The cake was delicious. It wasn't too sweet nor too dry. It was a perfect combination of cream and strawberries.

Liam and I continued to eat while Hunter cooked. Once he finished cooking, he walked over with three nicely cooked steaks. He slid one to Liam first before sliding me one. He had one in front of him.

"Not to boast, but I make amazing seared steaks. You might fall in love with me after your first bite."

Liam snorted. "I doubt it."

I slapped Liam on the shoulder lightly. Hunter laughed and dug into his steak. I looked down at my plate before using the steak knife and cutting a piece off for me to eat.

Damn it. He was right. The steak was perfectly cooked and seasoned. The saltiness and buttery goodness melted in my mouth.

I didn't realize I had my eyes closed until I opened to see him looking at me. He wore a cocky smirk. Heat crawled up my cheeks and I busied myself with eating and not looking.

Oddly enough, conversation with Hunter was easy. Especially with Liam. He didn't mind talking to Hunter. Those two took turns jabbing at each other with light insults.

We didn't go to bed until later and when I finally laid down next to a sleeping Liam, I recalled waking up this morning in my mate's arms. It was the first night that I slept without having a nightmare and for some reason, I wanted to be in his arms again. The urge tugged at my heart and twisted my stomach. I flipped to my side and stared at the connecting door. I wondered if he was having issues falling asleep like me.

Author's Note:

So, I thought I'll find myself a nice omegaxalpha book to read over the weekend on Wattpad and couldn't find a single one that I liked! I woke up this morning dissatisfied and debated if I should write one just so I could read one. LOL.

Anyone feel similar pain when looking for a good book to read?