The wooden door of the bedroom creaked noisily when I pushed it open, and I heard the sound of feet moving against the floor.

The noises stopped when I entered the bedroom, and my eyes immediately fell on Leora, who was seated on the side of the bed.

Her eyes were low, casted on her threaded fingers which rested on her lap, and her body was almost curled into itself, as if she was trying to make herself smaller than she already was.

"Leora." I called out to her, and then cursed inwardly when I heard the rough growl in my voice.

It had been a long time since I had talked to someone gently, and I knew, especially by the way Leora's scent became tainted with her fear, that I had failed in my attempts to communicate lightly.

Her lips were pressed tightly together, and her eyebrows were now deeply furrowed as she refused to look at me.

I could not see much of Rhyan East in her features. Her eyes were brown and empty of emotion, and her dark brown but long, curly hair was pulled into a loose bun. The few curly wisps of her hair that were not in that bun, grazed the sides of her still lowered face.

She also did not share her father's pale complexion, and instead, her complexion was a warm, olive one. Her clothes were thin, and held several dirt stains along it, which was a contrast to the clean clothes I had seen the other humans wear.

When my gaze traveled to her neck, my fingers curled tight around the plate I held as I once again examined the puckered, long bruise that disappeared into the neckline of her shirt.

"Eat this." I lowered the plate in my hand against the table nearby as I spoke, and her eyes finally raised, lifting and staying on the plain cheese sandwich I had made.

The fridge below did not have much food in it, but it was enough to prepare the sandwich. I had seen the way she had looked at the food I had not eaten in Rothman's house, and heard the noise from her stomach as she had done so.

As I looked at Leora, it became even more apparent that she did not eat much, which was not surprising, as I knew human slaves often are not provided many meals by those who control them.

The practice of lycans owning human slaves is not uncommon, however, this practice was one that I did not partake in, and I had little intentions of ever doing so.

Leora had yet to move from where she sat. Her breaths were slow, and her interlaced fingers would occasionally twitch.

Her body was strung so tight and tense, and after a moment of saying nothing but watching her, as well as understanding that I was the reason she was this way, I stepped out of the room, and closed the door behind me.

Silence was all that was heard in the room for a short while, but then her footsteps echoed softly on the floor as she moved from where she sat, no doubt to investigate the food I had brought to her.

It was then that I walked away, and almost immediately, Abner joined me at the bottom of the staircase.

"Jareth has reported that the warriors of Feldon appear to be on standby, and he has yet to know why," Abner said. "Our warriors, however, have remained successfully hidden. They're just waiting on your command."

My eyes travelled to a closed window when I heard the strong wind rattle the pane. The sky outside was dark, and no vehicles travelled on the roads nearby.

People were also scarce, and had been throughout the time Abner, Leora and I had walked to this house.

"Tell Jareth that if he overhears any information from the Feldon warriors, to immediately report it to me." I looked back at Abner, who nodded at my words, and slowly, his eyes became glazed as he sent along my message to Jareth, one of the warriors who were waiting near the borders of the pack.

I was not entirely surprised that none of my warriors had been caught; the places in which they were hidden were surrounded by many trees and bush, and based on what I knew, the Feldon warriors seldom patrolled near those areas.

Why Rothman or Edith had instructed their warriors to be on stand-by, I was not entirely sure, but I was almost certain that they had yet to realize that my warriors were nearby.

Guessing by the other information which came flooding to me after instructing Abner what to tell Jareth, the Feldon warriors seemed to be preparing to leave the pack, rather than preparing for a coming battle.

"Has she eaten the food?" Abner's dark golden eyes were still glazed as he asked me this, but refocused seconds later.

His mouth was set in a firm line, as it had been when I had told him earlier today of the changes of plans that would need to occur because my mate was in the pack.

Abner had swiftly picked up that Leora had been my mate when she had entered the dining room. Even though my reaction to discovering my mate had not been obvious to many, Abner was able to read me easily.

"I am not sure. She did not eat it whilst I was in the room." And just as I said this, I heard the sounds of a clattering of a plate as it hit the top of what I believed to be a table. Nothing else was heard, except for the squeak of a bed. Leora must have sat back on it.

Abner and I both stood in silence, waiting for any further noises, but nothing came. I redirected my focus on my Beta.

"We leave in twenty." I said, and Abner dipped his head in a nod.

**********

Leora was still seated by the side of the bed when I returned to the room.

Satisfaction pricked me when I saw the empty plate on the table. This time, whilst I walked into the room, her eyes were steady and locked on mine, but hers was still dull, empty of expression as she watched me.

I was nearing her when my attention paused on her bare feet.

"Where are your shoes?"

Leora's eyes flickered, and she wet her lips, nervously. Immediately my eyes dipped to her full mouth, and stayed as she spoke, her voice barely audible, "They've been thrown away."

I grunted, and forcefully dragged my gaze from her lips, meeting her eyes instead. I would need to ensure that Leora was protected throughout all that would happen tonight.

I had already instructed several warriors to come to the home and take her out of the pack whilst the battle ensued.

However, if she chose to leave the house after Abner and I departed from it, the warriors would have difficulty finding her.

I took several more steps inside of the room, and I saw the way Leora stiffened, hesitation moving through her features before she asked, her voice still so soft but full of distrust, "Why am I here?"

My fingers curled tight as I studied her. I did not have a lot of time now to explain to her all that I wanted, but that could happen after the battle.

Instead, I told her, for now, "You're here so that you remain safe. A battle will more than likely transpire within the next half hour, and you being amongst it is something that I would not want."

I watched her confusion, and the slight tilting of her head. "You brought your warriors to Feldon?" Her voice was no longer as soft, but instead was raised to a normal volume, filled with her surprise.

Her eyes, which were no longer quite as dull, were curious, although traces of fear were also in them.

"They are near Feldon." I took another step closer to her, and that fear became more prominent.

I scowled; immediately I wanted the distress gone from her, and I said, unable to hide my growl, "You do not need to be frightened of me."

Doubt crossed her face then, and I saw the slight and slow lifting of her eyebrows. A thread of amusement pierced me, but disappeared rapidly.

"You will need to stay here, Leora. Two of my warriors will be coming to the house, and will call you by name. When they do that, come downstairs, and they will direct you to safety."

I leaned forward, holding her gaze, making sure that all of her attention was on me, and I continued speaking,

"Do not leave the house before they arrive here, Leora. You may be killed if you choose to do so."

Her brown eyes widened, and finally, the dullness completely lifted from them, and her bewilderment grew in them. "I..." She shook her head. "I don't understand. Why would you want me safe?"

Abner knocked on the door, the noise of it startling and jerking Leora's attention away from me. As she looked towards the noise, I touched one of her curly strands of hair which had fallen loose from her bun, watching it coil around my fingers, and her gaze returned back to my own.

I waited for the stiffness from her body, but it did not come, and something, almost akin to pleasure, arose in me. The feeling of the softness of her hair lingered on my fingers when I pulled away, reluctantly.

"We'll discuss that later. Stay in the house." My voice was gruff now, and I watched her until she nodded, confusion still on her face.

I did not hear her move from the bed even after I left the room.

***********

The office Abner and myself was shown to by Edith, held Wilfred and Rothman. Both of them were seated, but moved to stand at us entering.

Almost immediately I knew Rothman's Beta was intoxicated since he struggled to climb to his feet, and I sensed Rothman's irritation at this.

"Please, have a seat." Rothman said, beginning to sit himself.

"I'll stand," I watched as Rothman paused, and the slamming of his eyebrows together as he watched me, his body slightly hunched since he had been prepared to sit. He straightened slowly as I continued speaking. "I won't be here for long."

Rothman looked between Abner and myself, whilst Wilfred dropped down into his chair heavily and made a choked sound as he did.

Rothman did not look at the inebriated man, but something was moving in his eyes as he watched Abner and myself.

"Why don't we continue the conversation we had earlier?" Abner suggested dryly when Rothman said nothing. Rothman's face hardened, and he exhaled, slowly, annoyance heard in that sound.

"The man, Timothy, was speaking bullshit. I have never discussed with anyone about wanting control of your pack, and wanting to kill you, Vakkar, to do it." Rothman snarled, swiping a hand through the air as he spoke.

Solid fury grew at his words, but I remained where I stood.

"Stop lying, Rothman." My voice was low, an effort which was difficult for me to maintain, whilst his own voice kept rising.

"And I, quite frankly, think it was very disrespectful for you to accuse me of such a thing. I let you come into my pack, and stay in one of my homes, and this is how you treat me? I have never had any intentions of going to your pack and-"

"Stop. Lying!" I snarled, unable to bite back my anger, advancing closer to Rothman, whose panic was beginning to ebb into his face with each step I made closer to him.

"I know the truth, Rothman. Timothy told us everything. You went to his pack, five days ago. You insisted on speaking with him even though he wasn't taking visitors, and then, when he did accept you, you told him about wanting assistance with invading my pack and then killing me. He didn't want in on it, and you still insisted that you would do it alone if you had to."

My fangs snapped closed to his face when I stood before him, and I roared, "I know the truth, so stop fucking lying!"

Rothman's shoulders lifted and fell with his now panicked breaths, and I saw it then. He knew he had fucked up. He could no longer deny it.

However, I did not expect defeat from him, and I knew that Rothman was attempting to display that he was more panicked than he actually was.

His eyes darkened, and glazed over.

When he swung an arm my way, my claws sheathed immediately, my skin rippling as I fought back the urge to fully shift. My claws pierced and ripped into his arm, dragging flesh and skin with it as I swiped at him.

He fought back immediately, attempting to jerk his own claws into my stomach, but I moved, taking him with me, slamming him into one of the walls of his office.

His body shook then, no doubt preparing to shift, but I rapidly shifted before he could, feeling my clothes rip and shred as I doubled in size, feeling my fangs lengthen and my face harden with my transformation.

I was faintly aware of Abner behind me, fighting Wilfred who no doubt would be an easy kill. My claws jerked into Rothman's chest, keeping him still by pinning him to the slowly cracking walls.

His body by now had fully shifted as well, and his body bucked against my own, trying to escape my grasp.

"Your pack will be mine in the next few hours." His words were garbled and rough, which was not uncommon when lycans shifted, and I understood then, why his warriors were on standby.

More than likely, when Rothman's eyes had pitched black, he had issued a command for his warriors to ready themselves and travel to my pack to defeat the warriors there.

For Rothman to fully get the control of my pack however, he would also have to kill Abner and myself, and Rothman had more than likely assumed that he and Wilfred would be able to do so now.

He was about to be very disappointed.

Our bodies moved as we fought, each blow I delivered strengthening my bloodlust.

Blood spurted from Rothman's mouth when my fist collided into it, and his growls of pain and frustration flooded the room whenever my claws embedded parts of his body.

Eventually, my claws successfully slid into Rothman's neck, curving and ripping through it entirely as the sounds of his gurgles echoed in the air.

His blood dripped down my claws and arm, staining my shirt, and I lifted my hand, watching the neck stretch up, more skin breaking, exposing the bones and hanging flesh until I jerked back.

Rothman's body toppled to the floor, and immediately began twitching.

Edith's horrified scream pierced the air, but that noise was a distant sound as I locked eyes with a snarling Abner.

By his feet lay a very still, and a very dead Wilfred. The smell of blood permeated the air, and I felt my nostrils flare when I inhaled it.

Edith was grasping at her face, tears streaming down her cheeks, but I saw that she was soon going to attack, as the muscles under her shirt began to move, and her mouth opened, revealing her fangs.

"I'll deal with her." Abner offered darkly, a gleam moving through his eyes, turning to her.

And whilst he dealt with her, I commanded my warriors to enter the pack and battle Feldon's.