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The scouting party that had once been led by the hopeful beta of Winter had consisted of five men.

Mateas was a young man skilled in tracking and a reluctant leader when the position was suddenly made available.

Devon was a quiet man in his mid-years. He was a good archer and happy to live a life of service and solitude where he could.

Arthur was only nineteen and excited by the prospect of glory. He had taken it particularly hard when their leader had turned out to be a traitor.

Lane and Oren were the final members of the unit. These were the two men that helped the traitor escape after he had attacked Caleb.

They had been scouting through the trees after the battle with the fae. Searching for any stragglers that might pose a problem for Winter. So they were shocked when they came across their leader, bloodied and dying.

They treated his wounds and tried to take him to the hospital, but he refused. Instead, begging them to take him south.

He convinced them that Caleb was the one that had attacked him, that Ashleigh had chosen him, but Caleb couldn’t accept it.

He insisted that if he was taken to the hospital, Caleb or his wolves would see him dead before the morning came.

They believed him. They took him south and returned to their post, claiming to have never seen him.

They later told the rest of the team what he had said to them, and they believed it because of their complete trust in him. They harassed the wolves of Summer and demanded that they be forced out of Winter.

It was a devastating blow to the entire team when the truth came out.

Oren had struggled for several weeks, but in the end, he couldn’t remain with the rest of the unit. It was too difficult to face all the reminders of what had happened. He requested a transfer to a scouting party that would spend most of their time outside of Winter.

Lane left the service entirely. He couldn’t handle the guilt and the shame of his part in the traitor’s escape. He returned to the South and helped his parents in the kitchens._.

Though both men returned for the execution, both men also left again.

When Wyatt decided to join the scouts, he requested this team. He knew the hurt they felt and the unfairness with which they would likely be treated. He wanted to help them find their way again.

He was surprised by the ease of settling into a routine with them. Although the first few days had been difficult, they struggled to understand that he was just another man like them and not the Alpha.

But that soon passed, and the beginnings of a bond were formed.

When Penelope, at only seventeen years old, joined their team, Wyatt had worried for the meek child he had known. But she quickly showed him that wasn’t who she was anymore.

“Did she win again?” Arthur called out as he and Devon approached the rest of the team.

“She sure did,” Wyatt smiled, then with a bit of playfulness in his tone, he added, “but I almost got her.”

“This close,” she laughed, holding her fingers close together.

The team had a regular training exercise; one would play the hunted while the others were the hunters. The hunted were given a twenty-minute head start and a specified distance they had to stay within from the starting area.

Since she had joined, Penelope had not lost a single game.

“Perhaps you should be the hunt master this year,” Wyatt suggested.

All the other wolves looked back at him with surprise.

“What?” Penelope said in surprise and a touch of shyness. “I couldn’t do that….”

“Of course, you could,” Wyatt replied. “You are a great scout and hunter. Winter would be honored to have such a capable hunt master.”

Devon and Arthur smiled and nodded.

“Come on, Wyatt,” Mateas said. “Don’t get her hopes up for nothing. You know she can’t do that.”

Penelope looked back at Mateas. A look of hurt passed over her eyes for just a moment, quickly replaced by her steely resolve.

“I could lead any hunt, anywhere,” she said.

“I didn’t mean that you weren’t–“ Mateas began to clarify.

“But it doesn’t matter,” Penelope continued. “Thank you for the compliment, Wyatt, but I won’t be around for the Wild Hunt this year.”

“No?” Wyatt asked.

Penelope shook her head.

“I have requested the week of the full moon and the one that follows to visit Broken Crag and see how my parents are getting along.”

“You are a good girl Penelope,” Wyatt said, touching her hair gently. “Richard will be glad to see you.”

Penelope smiled and then quickly turned to the other members of the team.

“Alright, boys,” she said. “I won, and you know what that means….”

Devon closed his eyes and rubbed his neck.

Mateas sighed.

“Why did we agree to this?” Arthur asked with a heavy sigh and a groan.

“Because you still don’t understand how much better I am than you!” Penelope laughed.

The three men all lined up beside each other. As Wyatt stepped forward to join them, she reached out her hand and stopped him.

“Not you,” she said. “You got close to stopping me, so you get a pass this time.”

“Why thank you,” Wyatt said gratefully.

Penelope nodded and crossed her arms as she stared at the other three expectantly.

“Come on, let’s see it.”

Taking a deep breath before they started, the three grown men proceeded to hold their hands above their heads and spin, beginning a very unhappy ballerina’s performance. At the same time, they sang, I’m A Little Teapot.

***

It didn’t take much convincing for the agreement to be made.

Clara’s presentation, though last minute, had been well prepared and thorough. In truth, Axel had already been considering talking to Caleb about the possibility of integrating some modern world into Winter. Galen had simply saved him the trouble of asking.

“Clara will head back tomorrow and complete all the necessary paperwork and requests. After that, it won’t take long to get approved and get the materials sent over. The threat of war and all that,” Galen said with an unenthusiastic grin.

Axel looked up from the agreement he was about to sign to give a shrug of his own.

“Once the team arrives with the materials, with the size of your borders, it will take roughly two weeks to get all the hardware installed, tested, and finalized,” Galen continued. “If it’s alright with you, I can supervise the whole process. One of my primary tasks back home is border maintenance and upgrades. So I am familiar with all the tech and the things that can go wrong during installation.”

“That would be great,” Axel said. “Obviously, we don’t have anyone particularly familiar with that stuff. Plus, it gives you something to do while Bell is working.”

Galen nodded.

“Alright,” Axel nodded, “sound like we got a plan.”

Axel signed the paperwork and handed it back to Galen. Galen nodded and accepted it, turning to leave the room, but he paused.

“Was there something else?” Axel asked.

Galen swallowed and turned back to face Axel.

“I just wanted to say… I talked to Bell,” he said gently, “she almost kicked my ass for how the topic came up between you and me.”

Axel chuckled.

“You couldn’t have known,” Axel said.

“No,” Galen agreed. “But that doesn’t really matter, right? Bell is always right.”

Axel laughed, and Galen joined him.

“Seriously, though,” Galen continued. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through. If you ever… want to… talk about it?”

“Is… that a question?” Axel snickered.

“No…yea. I don’t know. I’m trying, ok?” Galen laughed.

“Thanks,” Axel said. “I appreciate it.”

Galen nodded and turned to leave.

“Galen,” Axel called to him.

“Yea?” Galen replied, turning back.

“I don’t think I need to tell you–“

“Oh, I’m not telling anyone,” Galen said quickly, raising his hands. “Bell made sure I understood that this was a top-level secret. So my lips are sealed.”

“Good,” Axel smiled. “But, leaving out the part about who Alice is to me, you really need to tell Caleb about the information she gave you.”

Galen sighed. “Yea… I know.”