Back at the hotel in the human town, Ezekiel was pacing.
His hands ran through his hair over and over. Hunter was on his computer, typing away in a stream of messages between them and Aimee.

"Right. Akela said her mother was South born. Lexi... She met her mate, Link James when she visited a northern pack. Akela doesn't know which one..." Hunter nodded.

"Ask Grange. She grew up in the south Island pack," Ezekiel said.

Hunter typed for a moment and waited. And waited until his face lit up.
Quickly his hands picked up the phone and set it on the loudspeaker.

"We're on!" Aimee said.

"Good. Granny?" Hunter asked.

"I'm here. Akela looks a bit upset though. We might do this when you come home," Grange said.

In the background, the sound of Zion and Abel fussing over Akela could be heard.

"No. We need to know what happened," Ezekiel said.

"Do you know where your mum came from, Akela?" Hunter asked.

"No. She said there was nothing left for us there and that we were better off without them," Akela said with a thickened voice.

"But she was from the south?" Ezekiel asked.

"Yeah. She was southern. I just don't know which pack," Akela admitted.

"Wasn't there a kidnapped girl from the south?" old Hunter was heard in the background.

"When was that?" Ezekiel asked, trying to connect all the loose bits of information.

"You were still a dog, kiddo... but it was just before you killed Erberus so we didn't really join in the search. Archer was too busy keeping his territory safe," old Hunter chuckled.

"It would fit with the timescale..." Ezekiel mused thoughtfully while looking at Allie with a wistful smile.

His mate gave him a warm smile back.

"So, if Lexi was the kidnapped female, but really she wasn't kidnapped but had mated Link... Why didn't they just go back to South?" Aimee asked somewhere in the background of the phone call.

"If she had been promised to Preston, she wanted to save the south Alpha from embarrassment I guess! To break a promise like that is a grave offence. Link would have been punished. Probably killed," Grange said.

"Why? They should be happy she found her mate!" Young Hunter frowned.

"No. Because this was an Alpha arranged marriage deal!" Grange explained.

"So she was supposed to mate the Alpha regardless of bond?" Aimee asked.

"Well. Yeah!" Grange confirmed.

"But... why?" Three youngsters chimed in.

"Up until modern houses and health care, the North had a high mortality rate. So. This meant true mates were rare. They believe the mated bond appears at the moment a claim is made..." Grange tried to explain.

"So no connection?" Allie asked. Her mate was pacing the floor, trying to connect all the loose wires

"Not before the mating, no," Grange said sadly.

Allie and Ezekiel looked at each other. Ezekiel flattened his mouth with obvious dislike.
"Most lycans bond though..." Allie almost whispered.

"Not everyone thinks it's a necessity," old Hunter said at the same time as Grange drew a sharp breath.

"Of course! I think Lexi might have been from the Southern Mountains!" Grange said seriously.

"Okay?" Ezekiel asked, urging her to continue.

"They are the only pack in the south who don't require a bond to mate," Grange explained.

"So Preston genuinely believes Kira is his mate?" Ezekiel frowned.

"If he's marked her, yes!" Grange said.

"Even if it is by force? Even when the mark is black?" Young Hunter blurted and received a warning look from his father.

"Sorry..." he muttered.

They heard some movement as someone made their way to the phone in a hurry.

"You saw Kira? How is she? Is she okay?" Akela asked, her voice out of breath and hitched.

"Kira is... alive," Ezekiel said seriously.

Allie rolled her eyes at his vagueness.

"I'm not going to lie, Akela. I worry about her. She's underweight and looks tired," Allie said.

"Did she say anything?" Akela asked again.

"She asked to keep you safe," Allie replied.

"And the baby?" Akela asked.

"I think that's why she's staying. The baby is strong. And Preston will never let him out of his pack," Ezekiel said.

"Can you try? I mean. Could you get her and her baby out?" Akela begged.

"We're going home the day after tomorrow. We can offer that they visit us and see what they say," Allie suggested.

"Oh, Kira!" Akela mumbled sadly.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Hunter opened to Sam still in his uniform but with the jacket undone and his hat off. He threw the keys to the rental car aggressively onto a table.

"What a fucked up pack!" He huffed as he slumped down in a chair.

"Sammy!" Grange corrected through the phone.

"Sorry, Grange. But they are! No omega workers or farmers. Every pack member below Alpha is a Delta fighter! They get food in 'tribute' from a few neighbouring packs in exchange for 'protection'," Sam scoffed.

"What do you mean?" Ezekiel frowned.
Sam gave him a deadpan look.

"If you pay us we will protect you from attacks from stronger packs... oh yeah... such as ours... because we're stronger than you and if you don't give us food and your most promising young fighters, we will attack you and destroy all of your pack..." Sam shrugged.

"Like Castilla and Aragon did to the Muslim towns in Iberia in the 1100s..." Allie chuckled.

Ezekiel smiled proudly at his mate.

"Yeah. And these people hold grudges like dragons hoard treasure!" Sam chuckled.

"How so?" Hunter asked.

"There's this kid. Felix. The other deltas don't even talk to him because he let some girl run away," Sam shook his head.

"Felix? He let me escape!" Akela gasped.

"Well... from the look of him he's paying for it. Never seen a fighter so beat on before. Every delta it seems is out to get him," Sam sighed.

"Oh no. Poor Felix!" Akela whispered.

"He seems to be the Lunas personal guard too. Which is probably another reason why he's not accepted," Sam scoffed.

Sam sent Allie a worried look.

"I wasn't allowed to speak to him," Sam said.

"Can we get him out?" Akela asked, knowing she had little hope.

Sam chuckled in his usual way.

"You really want to save the world don't you?" He grinned.

"No... or... I want the world to be better. And Felix is good. He's not like the rest of them!" She said.

"I could ask Preston for an exchange... Hell only knows what I'll trade for. I'm certainly not giving him my pack," Ezekiel mused.

"Send me... I'll go!" Abel said through the phone.

"Nope! You won't last a week. These are fighters! Killers!" Sam protested.

"And you are not sacrificing yourself!" Ezekiel chuckled, imagining in his mind how puffed up Abel was.

"Idiot!" Zion muttered in the background.

"At least I want to DO something rather than just sit there and pat Akela's hair," Abel shot back.

"It's called comforting, Abe... You might want to try it. Want a hug?" Zion sniped back causing a few misplaced chuckles among the pack.

"Will you two stop being assholes for a second? We kinda need a real plan!" young Hunter grinned. Ezekiel nodded proudly at his son's leadership.

"First of all... there is no way I'm studying up here. Fancy university or not, I'm not going near that psychopath!" Hunter sighed.

Allie nodded.

"But we need to help Kira. She's not happy." Hunter continued.

"So what is the plan?" Grange asked.

"I don't know. We'll be home in a couple of days. I don't want to stay here too long in case he gets suspicious," Ezekiel sighed.

"But we'll think of something," Allie reassured.