Tonya POV

I minlinked my father instantly about the situation after watching Charlie's memories. Chandler found a clean blanket for me, and I wrapped it around my mate and then took him in my arms, holding his back with one hand and with my second under his legs.

Then I took him downstairs and into the living room where my father minlinked me. He secured Noah there. I enter the room and see my mate lying on the big sofa. Carson is tending to him, and my heart clenches. I feel tears streaming down my face as I come closer.

Noah is unconscious, lying on his stomach, wrapped in a blanket. His face is so swollen that it's difficult to recognize him. His arms are bruised and cut with claws, and that's all I can tell for a short glance. I'm sure there are many more wounds hidden under his cover. Sorrow and guilt, I feel, is impossible to describe. Strangely, there was no rage, and Silver lay curled in pain in my mind because I failed him. I let it happen; I came too late and wasn't with any of them when they needed me.

I feel Silver stronger, her and our hatred mixed together. They all should die, all of them. I close my eyes, trying to hold my wolf; she wants blood; she wants to kill everyone who did it to Noah and to all who only watched.

I set Charlie aside and kneel beside him, gently patting his hair. I feel Silver pushing forward to kill, rip into pieces, and make them pay...

"I gave him a sedative; he won't wake up for a while. He will be in a lot of pain, but there are no life-threatening wounds; he will get better. He was also..." Carson says, but I interrupt him.

"I know what they did to him," I say slowly, feeling my lungs slowly clenching. Silver is trying to force the shift, and I want to let her for a moment. I want to let her hurt everybody and take my mates home. My rage is growing, Silver is pushing stronger and... a soft touch on my face makes me stop. I glance at Charlie.

"Tonya?"

He is so tired, I feel it, and yet... our baby is not crying anymore, cradled to Charlie's chest.

I want to take them home; I just want it to be over; I just want to turn around and forget that something like that happened. I don't want to care about anything more than them.

My father, Chandler, and Kathy look at me, and I know what they think. They won't let me follow my rage and kill anybody, but they will not force me to help them. I am the Alpha now; I carry the responsibility and make decisions with the consequences of which many will have to live.

We could run away; we would be able to; we do not owe anything to the Shadow Pack; it's not our responsibility to save them. And yet, can I really turn around and leave as if it isn't my problem? Can I leave all omegas, women, elders, and children here at the mercy of Liam's creatures? Should I risk the lives of my wolves to save this pack?

I look into the corner of the room, where under the wall are five people, judging by the scent of weak wolves, probably servants. They are scared, it's obvious, but one of them is looking at Charlie very intensively.

"If you stop staring, go and bring my mate some clothes," I say, and she flinches but nods and walks out quickly.

"Have we caught any warriors in the packhouse?"

"Yes," Carson answers. "Around ten, they are in the next room guarded by one of our warrior's squad."

"OK, check on Charlie, please."

I nod to Chandler, and he walks with me, my father, and Kathy, still in their wolf form, to the next room.

There are around twenty warriors in their human form huddled on the floor, surrounded by my warriors, the Trio among them. And yet there is no will to fight in the faces of any prisoners; they all seem confused and frightened. And they have every right to be; once again, I feel my eyes shifting. Among them are those who tortured my mates; Silver is so close again; I take a big breath. I must maintain control, or the creatures won't be any problem.

I instantly spot Drew among them, since I saw him clearly in Charlie's and Noah's memories during the marking. He is ghost-pale and looks so surprised he probably never took into consideration that Liam could betray him.

"Since none of you look ready to fight, I presume that thanks to pack mindlink, you all know now that something is killing warriors of this pack right now, and your Alpha is gone," I say sternly, and they all look at me, I relish my Alpha dominance, and some of them seem ready to start running away.

Drew raises his head. He seems confused, wondering how the hell it came to this.

"Liam betrayed you. He wants an annihilation of the Shadow Pack, and you sent all your warriors for death. All of you will obey me, and maybe you will live."

The door opens, and Charlie walks inside, some of them look scared, but none make any move.

"You shouldn't be here," I say, but he interrupts me:

"I can help you; they are coming; let me help you."

I motion for him to come closer and hug me. I need his presence if I am to think it through calmly. Good that my father wolf is also so close; he was always very good at calming Silver and reassuring both of us.

"Charlie, is there anybody among them I can trust?" I ask my mate.

I'm so sorry I have to make him go through this, especially since he gave birth barely an hour ago. He nods and points to five warriors, whom I order to stand up, and I sniff them; none of them smells of Noah's blood except one.

"I...I gave him water..." the one says, totally frightened as I hold his neck.

"Nick helped us escape the pack," Charlie whispers, and I get myself calm enough to realize that I've seen him in Noah's memories as his friend. It may mean nothing, but I have to trust them.

I walk with them and Chandler, my father, and Kathy outside as the yard is full of pack members of Shadow Pack, most of them in their human form. Mostly families; they look confused and afraid. I'm sure the warriors who are now dying midnlinked their families but couldn't give them a proper explanation, so some have run here to seek their Alpha's help and protection.

"Your Alpha is gone; your Beta is unable to protect you. My dominance should make you all realize that I'm an Alpha. I'm also Charlie's mate, who was a part of your pack. A danger is coming, and you have two choices: obey me or run away. I promise to protect you, but I can't explain anything. You trust me, or you run away, make this choice now."

Some listen and start running away, but most decide to stay, and it's not surprising. Not many are brave enough to take risks. I don't owe them anything, and yet I just can't let them here to die.

"Charlie, who among them can I fully trust?" I ask him, and for a while, he observes them and then points in the direction of the girl, whose name is Natalie.

Chandler POV

It's been roughly half an hour since we entered the packhouse, which is slowly getting full. Natalie mindlinked the whole pack and informed them that they could either run away or hide in the packhouse. And it seems that most have chosen the second option.

Tonya's uncles, Rob and Kyle, along with one of the warriors of the Shadow Pack, have run in the direction of the creatures. Kyle's nose should be enough to smell them far enough to determine how much time we have before they arrive.

"Where have your father sent Natalie?" I ask Tonya, who is standing next to the window watching outside.

"She is our precaution; she knows the Alpha of the nearest pack, and even though he is conflicted with Shane, his patrols may let her enter, and he may at least hear her out. I want his warriors close to the border in case our plan won't work."

"And this is your plan? Brutal, I would say," I glance by the window from where the screams and begs for mercy come.

Tonya ordered to chain in front of the packhouse Drew and pointed five more warriors we will use as living bait.

"The scent of my mate's blood was the strongest on them, and Drew gladly confirmed they raped Noah the moment I sunk my claws in him. My uncles have just confirmed that two creatures seem to me dead. The rest are coming; there are no more Shadow Pack Warriors; we have, at best, 15 minutes. They follow the scent of warriors Drew has sent from here. We will have six squads."

She stands up.

"We must go ahead of them. My father will stay here and guard the packhouse along with the wolves from Shadow Pack. You, Kathy, Jake, Terry, your mother, and Tyler are leading the teams of my warriors and your hunters. Do you, by chance, have what we talked about in New York?"

I smirk and hand her the syringe.

"You sure it's worth the risk?" I ask, but she doesn't answer because Charlie does it for her.

"I can do it. I felt what Noah did last time, and now we are marked. It should be easier to connect." He says, and she gives him the injection to hold; I clearly see she isn't happy that he is going to be so close to the fight.

"Travis and Troy are your bodyguards," she says, hugging him. "Let's do it."

I take a big breath and go after her outside the house; I nod to the joint squads of werewolves and hunters and their leaders as they go into the direction of the woods led by the warrior Nick. Good that Tonya was already planning to deal with Shadow Pack, and her mates gave her a detailed description of the pack territory. Thanks to that, she could quickly find a good place for ambush, we just have to lure all the remaining creatures there, and the bait would be Tonya, or more accurately, she and I.

I ignore the tied Beta of the pack, screaming to let him go; he will stay here as a distraction. If the creatures won't follow us and come here, they will probably first focus on him, giving Mikkeli Blackwood time to react. Cruel? Yes. Do I pity him? No.

Tonya shifts, and Silver stands in front of me in her glory. I reach my hands and gently pat her on her back. A small gesture of reassurance, but it's good I will be fighting alongside my friend.

I sit on her and strap myself to her back with leather belts; she howls and goes into the woods. She doesn't go fast since we must cross with them at a very particular spot to lure them away from the packhouse to our chosen place. And yet she goes fast enough that soon the packhouse is left far away behind us.

We move among the trees, and I'm scared... The first time I encountered it, I had no idea what I was up against; this time, I know.

Silver stops growling a bit, and soon, three wolves run past us, the warrior from Shadow pack and Tonya's uncles. I feel her muscles clench as she relishes her scent and dominance. There is silence, like the last time... and the forest shouldn't be so silent no matter what.

I take a big breath, feeling Silver's tensed muscles under me and adjusting my night vision device, making sure I have my explosives close to my reach. They won't be able to save us, but at least I hope they will be distraction good enough if anything is to go wrong.

The intense sounds in the distance... something is coming... they are coming... I hear the sound of breaking trees as if something heavy is craving its way towards us. Silver snarls dangerously, lowering her head, she must smell them. She knows they are close.

The moment I see them coming from among the trees, Silver bolts and runs so fast, despite me being strapped to her back, I have some problems with not falling. They chase us; their heavy pants are close behind us, and the sound of their paws hitting the ground echoes in my ears. The wind smacks my face as Silver runs, jumps, and makes turns. I hear them getting closer and prepare myself.

With the sound of the explosion and the slight shaking of the grounds, they howl, maybe in pain and maybe in anger. The amount I threw wasn't enough to hurt them but sufficient to slow them down a bit.

Silver runs faster, although I was sure it was impossible. The moonlight is the only source of light that night as howls and growls of anger follow us, disturbing the silence of the night. They are close but can't reach us because Tonya is running so fast. Yet it doesn't stop me from shooting from time to time, probably missing, but the sound of firing makes them angry and confused. It helps us to keep them at a distance from us until we lure them into the place we want them to be.

Just a bit more. I'm sure we are very close to where the real fight will start.

Tonya POV

The woods that surround the packhouse and the main buildings of Shadow Pack end with the long stonewall at the south. Noah liked hunting in the region because it was a perfect spot to chase your prey into the trap. After all, the cliffs were challenging to climb and surrounded the not-so-thick part of the forest from two sides.

That's the place I chose to prepare the trap. That's the place my warriors are hiding; that's the place the warriors from Shadow pack who raped Noah are tied and left on display. Am I coldhearted because I chose to use them as some sacrificial lamb? Maybe?

But their death will help us win and save their pack members, but still, that is something I will have to learn to live with.

Silver is focused and ready to fight. She trusts me to make all the right decisions and take all of us home.

We get to the cliffs, where I stop, and Chandler gets off me. He climbs the nearest tree instantly, where the rest of the hunters should be. I notice one of them helping him get up. Most of the Alphas would say that I was mad because I allowed hunters to surround the area and maybe kill all the werewolves who are to fight on the ground.

We are ready...

The Shadow pack's warriors whimper and scream for mercy, but their pleas fall on deaf ears. Silver growls, getting herself ready; I close, take a deep breath, and...

Five monsters run towards us from among the trees. Despite the dim moonlight I can distinguish their twisted figures, their unnaturally long and strong arms with the long bloody claws, as their fangs shine in their open maws. Their red eyes shine as they come closer, and my wolves and I get ready.

We are ready...

Soon the snarls and howls are breaking the silence of this night. The blood is dripping as we lead this fight. Months of training weren't wasted; we attack and back away; we must ensure none of us will be bitten, although the cuts from their claws can't be avoided.

As I saw in Charlie's memories, they seem to follow the scent of the high-rank wolves but seem to have more trouble than help because of that. Their fur is caked in the blood of the warriors they have slaughtered, and probably because of that, their sense of smell is confused.

The Shadow pack warriors are also helping a lot with their screams and the bullets that form above from among the trees. They may not cause much damage, but they get them slower and are the perfect distraction.

And yet this battle is tough, I think, as we can push one of the creatures with its bell to the ground, and Kathy rips his spinal cord from its body.

Among all the snarls, shots, and screaming, I'm able to distinguish the howls of pain because of open wounds and broken bones. It takes too long. We may be able to get rid of two more before we are totally exhausted. I mindlink Kathy and Jake and back up a bit, not happy with the decision I have to make but to understand that I don't have more options. Hoping that I make the right choice, I despair in the woods.

I reach Charlie, hidden there. Travis and Troy, in their wolf form, watch me as I shift, and Charlie gives me a syringe. I know I can't hesitate because the time is running away. For now, nobody is dead, but we won't be that lucky any longer.

"I love you," I whisper when I give myself an injection, and Charlie hugs me firmly. I hope not for the last time. We have Noah, we have a child, we have a family to go back to