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The morning came with a heaviness that touched all of them. The survivors looked back towards their home with despondency and pain. Then, they trudged along the road toward Summer.

Caleb watched as Axel hugged and consoled several of the elderly and a few of the teenagers. He had known their parents. Their brothers and sisters. He could offer them comfort. But Caleb had only ever met their Alpha, a man that was torn apart while trying to call for help as his pack was decimated.

Summer was opening their gates, welcoming the survivors into their homes. But Caleb couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t too little, too late at this point.

Jonas limped over to Caleb.

“Looks like that wolf got you good,” Caleb said.

Jonas squeezed his thigh, wincing at the pain.

“A small wound,” he smiled. “But enough to prevent me from following the escort. I return home from here.”

Caleb nodded.

“I’m sure Liara will appreciate that.”

“That she will,” Jonas smiled. “My boys are all ready. They have spread themselves out among the crowd, offering what they can, where they can. Once you meet up with yours, they’ll just run on home.”

Caleb nodded.

Jonas looked at Caleb with concern.

“What is it?” Caleb asked.

“Do you know who did this?” Jonas asked.

“No,” Caleb said._.

“Could you have stopped it?”

Caleb sighed.

“Could you?” Jonas asked.

“No.”

“Then stop acting like it’s your fault,” Jonas said. “Ain’t nobody blaming you. You ain’t got a right to that guilt. So, let it go.”

Caleb nodded.

“Thanks,” he said.

Jonas waved him off and turned towards Amy.

“Hello, Darlin’,” Jonas said with a soft smile. “You know, you and your sister are welcome to come back with me.”

Amy smiled. She offered him a hug.

“Thank you, it’s kind of you to offer, but I think we should stay with the others. There aren’t many of us left.”

“You’re a good girl, Amy. Your momma and daddy would be proud.”

Amy smiled. She thanked him again and then hurried off to find her sister.

Once they were ready to go, Caleb and Jonas approached Axel together.

“I’ll let you know what I hear back from my scouts about the other packs,” Caleb said.

“I expect I will have something to share when I return home,” Jonas added.

“I heard from Saul a little while ago,” Axel said. “He only had news about one pack, Frostbite.”

“Do we consider them a pack? They are practically rogues.” Jonas asked with a scoff.

“Just because they embrace the wolf almost as much as you reject it?” Caleb asked.

“We don’t reject the wolf, boy. We just don’t rely on it for our strength.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Anyway…” Axel said, interrupting their bickering. “Frostbite wishes to meet with me. He said they wish to negotiate an alliance.”

“So, they approached you?” Jonas asked.

Axel nodded.

“That ain’t good,” Jonas said, shaking his head. “That means all these secret games you blessed boys been playing ain’t so secret anymore.”

“We haven’t been playing–” Axel began to argue.

“It really doesn’t matter,” Caleb interrupted. “Yes, it means that Autumn isn’t as worried about being found out anymore. So things might start moving much quicker now.”

Axel took a deep breath and pushed it back out.

“So much for a peace treaty,” Axel sighed.

“I’m still not sure how they have worked their way around that,” Caleb said.

“That ain’t hard,” Jonas said.

“What do you mean?” Axel asked.

“It’s simple. I signed that treaty for my wolves. But if one of them decides to follow another alpha, my oath to the Goddess don’t mean nothing to him.”

“So, what? They are taking the packs and leaving the alphas behind? Or killing them off? But wouldn’t killing them still break the oath?” Axel asked.

“Depends how it’s done,” Jonas shrugged. “Let’s take Eclipsed, for example… they turned on themselves. There ain’t nothing wrong with that in respect to the oath. And the others, Whiteridge and Shadowcrest, you said it was a former wolf of Winter that killed them, right? That makes him a rogue. Oath don’t apply.”

“Goddess…” Axel sighed. “What was the point of the damn oath if there are so many ways around it.”

“We didn’t know how bad it had already gotten,” Caleb said. “We thought we still had time. The treaty was never intended to stop the war from coming. It was supposed to slow it down.”

They sat in silence. There was nothing more to say. The blood had been spilled, and the battle lines were being drawn. All they could do now was try their best to prepare for what they knew was coming.

“I’ll return to Winter tomorrow morning. But, tonight, I will honor the fallen,” Axel finally said, breaking the silence.

“Good,” Jonas said. “I’ll have a drink to honor my old friends this evening.”

“And I will ensure that the survivors are taken care of,” Caleb added.

The three alphas said their goodbyes, and each left to go their separate ways.

***

It was five hours later when Caleb and the survivors arrived at the rendezvous point. The wolves of Broken Crag that had accompanied them separated from the crowd and moved to stand aside while Caleb approached Galen.

“Do we have everything arranged?” Caleb asked. He looked past Galen to see three vans and several SUVs lined up waiting to be filled.

“Just as you said,” Galen replied.

“It’s been a long journey. Let’s get them some water and food before we pile them into the cars.” Caleb said.

Galen nodded. He pulled a walkie-talkie from his pocket and gave the order to hand out the refreshments.

Two men came from one of the vans with ice chests in their hands. They proceeded down the hill and began handing out bottles of water and snacks.

Seeing that everything was moving as it should be, the wolves of Broken Crag let out a howl and then turned away to run home.

Caleb turned and waved them off.

“Were there any problems getting it all together? Have the rooms been prepared at home?” Caleb asked.

“Yes, everything had been prepared,” Galen said quietly.

Caleb looked at his friend carefully.

“And how is everything at home?” Caleb asked.

Galen avoided his gaze and swallowed hard.

“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked.

Galen did not answer.

“Galen, what’s the problem?” Caleb asked.

Galen stepped back and waved to the driver of the first van. He ran over immediately.

“Go ahead and get them organized into their transport groups,” Galen said.

“Yes, sir.”

The driver waved for the others and then proceeded down to talk with the survivors.

“Galen,” Caleb growled.

“Come with me,” Galen said, clenching his jaw as he looked into Caleb’s eyes.

Caleb saw fear. Galen never showed his fear.

The two men stepped away so no one else could hear them. Once they were far enough, Galen lowered his head.

“I failed you,” he said.

“What?” Caleb asked with confusion.

“I promised, with my life, to keep them safe.”

Caleb felt a spike of panic through his heart.

“What happened?” Caleb demanded.

Galen lifted his head, his eyes filled with regret and shame.

“Ashleigh has gone missing.”