--- Henry ---

We were ten, and they were two, but there was no doubt who had the upper hand. Alpha King Prospect Ben Connors oozed power, and his beta was... equally intimidating. I cast my eyes down in what officially was a respectful submission, but the truth was that this alpha's mere presence almost demanded it. I felt my father's struggle, but even he was eventually subdued by the power in front of him, and the alpha hadn't even said a word yet. Instead, his beta spoke.

"Alpha Neron Johnson. You and your entourage are most welcome to the Prospect Pack territory. What brings you here today?"

He said entourage almost mockingly as if they knew my father had only brought our pack members here to level the power. We all now learned that my father's attempt had failed miserably.

"Beta Zac, Alpha King Prospect Connors. Let me introduce my son, Henry," my father nodded toward me and gestured for me to sit on the chair next to him.

They both looked at me and nodded.

"Beta Zac, Alpha King Prospect Connors. It's an honour to meet you," I knew my choice of word would annoy my father, but it was true. 

"Please sit down. All of you."

A mocking tone again, and as much as I tried, I couldn't entirely suppress a smile this time. Fortunately, I didn't think anyone saw it. As the pleasantries continued with the offer of coffee, snacks, and small talk about pack dealings, I studied the men on the other side of the table.

Both were tall and muscular, as per protocol. Beta Zac had quite unusual blonde hair and blue eyes for werewolves. Something unruly and edgy was around him, a looming presence of his wolf pacing restlessly in the back of his mind—or rather, in the front of his mind. His friendly face suggested otherwise, but having to choose any of them as an opponent, I think I would've fared better against his alpha than him.

Alpha Connors had a very different appearance. His darker hair was combed to the side, and where Beta Zac had a couple of days stubble, Ben Connors had a full beard. His eyes were dark, and his intelligent gaze was hard to face. If his beta was all friendliness, Ben Connors was like a statue. No emotions at all. Due to the nature of our visit, I was somehow grateful for this lack of feelings. There could be no bad ones if there were no good ones.

I was wrong.

My father had delivered the message from the discussions, and a deafening silence ensued. Finally, Alpha Connors spoke.

"Oh. So you think I am unfit to rule?"

My father had the decency to at least hesitate when he answered.

"My Alpha, this is certainly not my personal wish, but the question has been raised, and I felt it my duty as your closest neigh -"

"I am sure you did. Now, pray tell me. How has this 'unfitness' expressed itself? Do you feel unprotected against the other Prospects? Enlighten me, please."

By now, I was sure my father had realised that being the messenger had not worked in his favour. Discussing rumours about the Alpha King Prospect's love life, or lack thereof, was probably not something he now wanted to venture into, as "you can't find your mate, you are probably cursed" just didn't have a serious ring to it. My father still looked undefeated, though, and answered promptly:

"Well, rogues."

An ever-so-slight movement by Beta Zac told me something had struck home.

"What of rogues? There are no rogue problems here," Alpha Connors replied, not without hiding the irritation in his voice.

My father seemed to have sensed something, too, enough for him to regain his confidence.

"Well, we have had some incidents lately. They are only minor, but they have certainly increased. They sense that this Prospect has weakened over the years. Before you dismiss it, about one hour ago, we caught Berta just after tending to an injured rogue. Admittedly, it smelled to be just the one, but knowing you had no idea of it makes me wonder what else you have missed lately."

Bullseye.

Beta Zac looked alarmed for a split second but quickly composed himself. I was surprised. A stray rogue, or anyone at all for that matter, was hardly a threat to either him or his pack.

On the other hand, Alpha Connors looked more than annoyed, but he composed himself and stood up.

"Berta's establishment is on neutral land, as you know, and she can tend to anyone she sees fit to. However, the rogue you refer to has already been interrogated and dealt with."

"So, who was it?" my father said and remained seated with a calm demeanour.

"This meeting is over. I will issue a statement to the Prospect packs. You will have your Gathering and Tournament; afterwards, we will all commit to the results. Which will not change who is in charge here," Alpha Connors said, giving my father an expectant look.

My father stood up, and the rest of our pack members joined him.

"We will see about that."

With those words, my father put his chin up and, with a straight back, walked out of the room with our pack members following him. I got up last, and before I left, I nodded towards our hosts.

"Beta Zac. Alpha King Prospect Connors."

They nodded back, and then the meeting was over. We survived. For how long was a different question.

--- Zac ---

The son at least had the decency to say goodbye, but his bold display of proper respect had done nothing to soothe Ben's rage. I mind-linked Tristan. "Call Berta and tell her to tell the girl to leave immediately." Fortunately, Tristan asked no questions. 

"We need that rogue found now."

"Of course, Alpha. I will leave immediately," I said and rushed for the door.

"Don't be ridiculous. Why would you go? I have already mind-linked Zane and Tristan; they are our best trackers and can surely handle one stray rogue themselves."

I stopped in my tracks and moved around, facing him.

"If it is just one stray rogue, why do we even bother? It is no threat to us."

He gritted his teeth.

"Of course, it is not a threat to us, but what do you think Neron will do now? He will track down the rogue himself, and who knows what it will say? You know how Neron treats rogues. It's not pretty. And you heard them; we cannot afford any display of weakness right now."

Now.

Here.

This was the window of opportunity I had to define my future relationship with my alpha and brother. Was I a true beta, loyal to my alpha, or something else? I dug deep inside and chose.

"She."

"She what?" he sat down again and leaned back in the chair, thunderclouds radiating from him.

"The one on the run. It's a girl. It's not a rogue."

His eyes snapped up to me. Bottomless darkness. He half raised himself from the chair.

"You.."

And then, as if he had had the same internal debate as I had on the type of relationship we should have, he sank back again.

"Tell me everything."

"One sec. I'll be right back."

I darted out of the room.

--- Henry ---

I half-ran to catch up with the rest of my pack members on their way to our cars. When I approached, my father was seated and rolled down the window.

"Honor? Really?"

I stopped midstep and looked down.

"I.."

"He is weak. Didn't you notice that he had no idea there had been a rogue on the border of his territory? This will not do. I have told Antonio to track the rogue from Berta's place. You will help him. I want you to capture and interrogate it. Do not fail me, Henry."

"Of course, father," I moved towards the car.

"You can run."

He started the engine and drove off.

Dumbfounded, I just stood there for a second and watched the cars drive off. Now what? I would have to go back to ask permission to run on Prospect territory unless I wanted to cause an even bigger upset than my father already had done. I sighed, turned around, and walked back towards the entrance, where I almost bumped into two werewolves going in the other direction. I walked through the door and found myself face-to-face with Beta Zac.

--- Zac ---

Running out of the room, I bumped into Tristan and Zane, who were getting ready to drive down to Berta.

"Only detention. No killing."

They nodded, and I didn't even bother mind-linking Tristan. I knew he would call me as soon as he found her. They darted through the door to the parking lot to get one of the cars and were replaced by Henry Johnson, who moved in the opposite direction.

"Henry?"

He was embarrassed, I could tell.

"My father wanted me to run back home, and I just wanted permission, Sir."

Finishing the sentence, he straightened up as if he suddenly remembered being his father's son.

"Run? Isn't it like really long... Well, never mind. Sure, you can run. You are going straight east, I suppose?" I asked and was just about to mind-link the patrollers in the eastern quadrants when he stopped me.

"Uhm, no. I will be going via Berta's."

I was confused. Berta's was in the wrong direction. And then... I realised.

"Ah. Let me guess. You were too polite to us, and now your father punishes you by making you track the rogue."

I smiled sympathetically. Henry offered a dry smile back.

"Well, if he hypothetically wanted the rogue found, he would consider it a perfect punishment to make me run after it. So.. yes."

I gauged him and decided he was different from his father.

"It's a girl. A young girl. Nothing anyone would want to catch and interrogate," I raised an eyebrow to see if he got the silent question.

"A little girl," he said pondering over the fact.

"Well, to be fair, maybe more of a young woman," I said and chuckled silently. I was sure B would have huffed at being called a little girl.

"Does she smell like vanilla?"

I frowned.

"Come again?"

"When I was in the pharmacy, I didn't notice the bloodied bandages until my father indicated them. I couldn't smell the blood. The only thing I smelled was a faint scent of vanilla," he said and looked confused at the thought.

"I don't think she smelled like anything at all. Unless—" I replied, tilting my head and looking at him.

He looked back, and his eyes widened at realising what I meant. Fated mates often found their loved ones by their scent. You could smell like hell to anyone else, but to a mate; there would always be another scent overriding it all—the intoxicating fragrance of something you loved—chocolate, coffee, the ocean, the forest, blueberries, whatnot, and, I suppose, even vanilla. Then I realised something else and relaxed.

"She is seventeen."

"Ah," he nodded in understanding. "I am also seventeen."

Too young.

"Maybe it was something else."

"Yes," he nodded agreeably. "In any case, this rogue doesn't sound like someone anyone would want to catch and interrogate. Maybe observe from a distance and deem it a non-threat, for my father's sake."

I smiled and clapped him on his shoulder, ushering him towards the entrance door.

"My brother Tristan and our tracker Zane happen to be going to Berta's. You can catch a ride with them if you want."

As we walked through the door, I waved to Tristan to wait for Henry, turned towards the young man, and extended my hand.

He took it.

"It was good meeting you, Henry. See you at the Gathering, if not before."

"Beta Zac," he answered, nodded, turned, and ran towards the car with Tristan and Zane.

I mind-linked Tristan.

"Neron Johnson is also coming after the girl. Make sure you get to her before Zane or their tracker. Find her and get her to safety from both packs. Keep Henry Johnson close."

"Got it."

I turned back towards the building and ran up to my room. I located my jeans and reached for the photograph in my pocket. It came out together with something glimmering, and I noticed it was the necklace the girl had wanted to give me. She must have put it there without me noticing. I smiled.

I examined the amulet, but it still stung even at the lightest touch. I tried again. It still stung. Hum, hers had stopped after a while. 

Hesitantly, I put it over my head and immediately regretted it as it stung against my chest. White flashes danced before my eyes, and I felt filled with white light. Then it stopped. I touched the amulet again. 

Nothing. 

I took it off, grabbed the photograph, and went down the stairs again and into the meeting room.

Ben looked up and nodded as if agreeing with himself.

"Speak."

"Okay, so I was in quadrant 112 this morning, and suddenly, I smelled a bear approaching. I saw a young girl at the top of a waterfall. The bear cornered her, and eventually, she fell down the waterfall with her back against me. I couldn't let her die, so I caught her. Or, well, Frej did before I knew it myself."

He nodded and waited for me to continue. I sat down.

"When she woke up, she started crying, and I didn't know what to do."

I thought I detected a faint smile on Ben's lips, but he said nothing, so I continued.

"And then she passed out again, so I put her down and started to well, clean her up and dress her wounds. She was badly injured."

"Who was she?"

"I went through her backpack while she was passed out," I said, figuring I did that right. Her name is Beonnie... something. She had nothing but clothes, chocolate, money, and old heirlooms in her backpack."

I stopped. The hard part was left.

He raised an expectant eyebrow.

"And.."

"And there were some photographs," I reached for the items in my pocket and placed both in front of him. I pointed at the necklace.

"She gave this to me as thanks."

He nodded. Then I pointed at the folded photograph.

"And this I took without her knowing."

He frowned and gave me a quizzical look.

"Why?"

"Look at it."

He pulled the photograph closer to him, unfolded it, examined it for a minute, and leaned back again. I stared intently at him, but he showed nothing. He pushed back the necklace and photograph, and I returned them safely to my pocket. When he finally spoke, his voice was as calm as ever.

"A question for you. You said the girl was badly injured. Why did you not take her to the pack doctor?"

"She wasn't a pack member. I couldn't take her into the middle of pack territory," I fumbled with the words. Praying he wouldn't delve deeper into this.

"But you had already deemed her a non-threat. Or Frej had."

"Yes. Both Frej and I considered her completely harmless. Heh, Frej even felt protective of her.." I laughed half-heartedly, not realising the trap.

"Okay, so you wanted to protect her. Again, if the urge to protect her was there, why not take her to the pack doctor, considering she was so harmless? You could've easily protected her here."

"I..," damn.

He stopped me.

"Unless. Unless what you thought the girl needed protection from was something, or let me guess, someone inside pack territory."

I looked up. Our eyes met briefly until I couldn't take it anymore. He was not devoid of emotions—not at all. His eyes, which previously had contained bottomless darkness, now held abysmal disappointment—broken. I had done this to him.

"Ben, I.."

"Leave."