The plane ride from the pack house in Austria to the airport on the Montana/ Wyoming state border in was a few hours; supersonic plane and all that jazz. I got a good rest in those few hours though and I woke just before we were scheduled to land.

I knew that Yiannis and at least ten of the pack warriors would be waiting for me when I landed. Jenna had sent another thirty men with me to insure that I had sufficient backup if I needed it.

I unbuckled my seatbelt as the plane touched down and stood, stretching my limbs. The door opened a second later and I waited until all the men had exited the plane. The sun was bright as I stood in the doorway of the plane. Flicking down my glasses I surveyed the crowd and smiled when I saw Yiannis and Hunter. I bounded down the stairs and before I reached the bottom, Hunter had scooped me up in a giant hug. “Eve! It’s so good to see you!”

He pulled away and Yiannis took his place, smiling down at me. “Well look at you little Miss she wolf!” He exclaimed. I rolled my eyes and stepped away from the men I’d grown up with; Yiannis was my grandfather’s brother, my granduncle, and Hunter was Jenna’s second cousin. Both of them were formidable warriors and hundreds of years old, in fact, many of the men here were.

“Are you ready for the challenge?” Hunter asked as we walked to the numerous cars parked on the tarmac.

I shrugged and looked out of the window. “I hope so.”

-

The cars drew up the driveway of the pack house. As the men exited the cars, the house doors opened and people began spilling out. They all thought that more men had arrived to take care of the rouge situation… how wrong they were.

I was the last to step out of the car and none masked the surprise and shock on their faces; a woman enforcer was unheard of, save for Jenna and Davy. I walked with Yiannis and Hunter towards a group of people who looked very haughty; three females and two men. Some had a resemblance to the woman I was going to torment and looking at her family, I felt no regret of what I would do to them; they were looking at everyone around them like they were dirt under their shoes.

I saw a curvy woman rush past by but as she passed one of the younger girls who looked to be around seventeen or eighteen, she tripped on her extended foot. The entire family cracked up in laughter and no one offered to help up the poor woman. I ran forward and grabbed her arm, helping her up while glaring at the alpha. “Is this how you treat your pack members? Your daughter just tripped this woman and you do nothing but laugh?” I questioned angrily. It reminded me too much of the times Lani’s foot had been in my way.

I passed the woman over to two of Jenna’s warriors and faced off with the alpha who looked to be fuming. “How dare you come in and question me in front of my family and pack?” He snarled. “I could have you put to the death for speaking out against me you lowlife bitch!”

My face was blank but my eyes were spitting fire at him. “I challenge you, Robert Cordero to the position of alpha over the Nahkohe Tribe.” He looked completely shocked for a second before he burst into laughter. “You’ve got to be kidding; it seems that your alpha has got a sense of humour after all.” He shook his head while looking me up and down with a mocking grin. “You’re feisty but I know you can’t shift, so how do you to expect to beat me, an alpha and a shifter?” I gave him a feral grin as my eyes began to blacken. “Do you accept my challenge alpha?” His grin fell away and he looked around to see everyone watching us. He was stuck between a rock and hard place; accept and die or decline and lose any control he has over his pack. Obviously he didn’t think I was any threat because he promptly accepted. “When?” I wanted to get it over as soon as possible and I knew that if I stuffed around they could assassinate me or toss me out. “Now.” “Very well then, prepare to die.” He turned and strode away. I looked over my shoulder to see every single one of Jenna’s men behind me. I felt a malicious smile spread across my face as I turned back to watch the alpha retreat. He would die today and his family would be shipped back to Jenna where some very…. unsavoury things would happen to them, by my hand. That bitch would watch as her family died because of her actions and by the time I was done with her, she would be wishing for death. - The pack stood on the edge of the field, the pack warriors standing in front of the women and teenagers; there were no children, only wolves older than sixteen. The alpha stood opposite me separated by only a few metres. An elder stood between us, announcing the rules of the challenge and offering a chance to back out. I stood my head when he offered me my last chance to withdraw; I would not back down, not now, not ever. As the elder stepped back, the alpha pulled off his pants and shifted into a decent sized sandy wolf, slight red streaks running across his back as he glared at me with dirt brown eyes. His long sharp canines were bared at me as he snarled. I bared my teeth back at him and stripped off my jacket, throwing it over to Hunter. My shirt, jeans, boots and bra followed before I let the change wash over me. I saw the surprise in his eyes as I fell onto all fours, now a giant dark brown, nearly black wolf. Because I’d been turned by a powerful alpha and my parents, both betas in their own rights, I was huge for a female and stood a few inches taller than him. I growled, revealing my sharp, deadly canines and without warning pounced. He ducked and snapped at my belly but missed. I kept him in my line of sight at all times as I circled him; underestimating your opposition could and would get you killed. He made the next move and swiped at me face. I dodged and clamped my jaw down on his paw, shattering bone as I nearly bit his foot off. He snapped at my face with a fearsome growl and caught the side of my muzzle, tearing the skin. I released his paw and he tried to bit my side but I shoved him to the ground with my shoulder. His injured foot prevented him from standing as quickly and I took advantage of it. I pinned his injured paw with my back foot and put weight on it, making him howl in pain. I snapped at his shoulder when he tried to bite me and then went in for the kill. My teeth latched onto his throat, sinking through skin and flesh. I jerked my head from side to side, tearing out his windpipe. His body went limp underneath me as he gurgled and I watched the life drain from his eyes. There was a scream and a woman broke away from the guards, running past them to cradle the head of the dead alpha on her lap. Tears poured down her face as she sobbed over his dead form. This was the alpha female and the bitch’s mother. I knew that I could end her here but I had better things in store for her. I shifted and Hunter handed me a shirt. “Take her and the alpha family away, lock them in the cells; all of them.” Hunter nodded and I watched as guards seized the family members, dragging the alpha female away from the body of her dead mate screaming. “Wait.” I called, walking towards the family. They stared up at me with hateful glares but I could see the fear they tried to bury. “You can thank your sister for what will happen to you all.” The male growled and tried to lash out at the guards but he was forcefully pushed down to the ground. “You will pay.” He growled, glaring up at me through his eyelashes. “I already have.” I muttered as they were dragged away. - “Jenna says that I should have a word with the rouges while I’m here.” I told Hunter and Yiannis as I walked into the alpha’s office, buttoning up my jeans. Hunter nodded as Yiannis sighed and flopped onto a nearby chair. “I’ve sent word to her; she will send planes for the pack. We will oversee the sale of the pack house and we’re still not sure what to do with the land. Are you sure that you want to hand it over to Jenna?” Hunter asked. “You’ve got the blood of a powerful alpha running through your veins now; you could claim this pack as your own and I know that Jenna wouldn’t protest.” I shook my head and sat down across from Yiannis. “No, I don’t want a pack.” I didn’t want the responsibility of hundreds of lives, constantly staking my claim over territory and the bother of conversing with other alphas; not all were as good or tolerable as Jenna. “Let’s just visit the rouges and get it over with.” “How many men do you want to take?” “How many rouges are there?” I asked, knowing that although they hadn’t attacked the pack, it would be unwise to wander onto their territory without protection. Rouges, no matter how young or rabid, were all unpredictable and dangerous; you could never be too careful. “And how many enforcers does this pack have? What’s their skill level?”

“From the estimation the previous alpha gave us when we arrived, there is around fifty rouges. This pack has seventy guards but they could definitely use improvement in their techniques, stamina and tactics.” He said looking down at a sheet spread across the table.

I leant back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling. We had eighty of our men here so I could take twenty and leave the rest to protect the pack in case the rouges decided that it was an optimal time to attack. I knew that the men I would take were completely capable with dealing with the rouges if things got out of hand. “We’ll take twenty and leave Ivan in charge with the rest.”

He nodded and looked out the window. “You’ll need to speak to the pack before we leave; crush any thoughts of rebellion and enforce your command, no matter how temporary it may be.”

I agreed one hundred precent but I still didn’t want to give a speech to over three hundred wolves who hated my guts right now and were probably imagining me in small, bite sized pieces. “Let’s get it over with then.” The sooner I got home, the sooner I could kill that bitch and get on with my life.

They walked on either side of me as the pack assembled in a giant meeting room. I walked up the few stairs and stood on the plate form as enforcers from Jenna’s pack stood in front of me in a protective barrier, the rest standing in the crowd and in the back of the room. I stared out at the crowd for a few minutes as they settled down and took a deep, calming breath. “Your old alpha is dead and for now, I am your alpha. The pack house will be sold and a plane will fly you back to the Alcaeus Aatu pack lands-” There was uproar of outraged voices until I let out a fearsome growl that shook the walls; they shut up pretty quick after that. “-where I will confer with Alpha Knight. Those who wish to leave the pack may take it up with me at a later date and anyone that is found trying to leave will be severely punished for defying your alpha’s orders; if you want to leave then you ask.” It may have seemed harsh but I would not tolerate wolves running and becoming rouges simply due to a change of power; if they didn’t like it they could talk to Jenna and she could deal with them, after all she had much more experience than me in this. “While I am dealing with the group of rouges, Ivan will act in my place as alpha.” I said gesturing to the large man in front of me.

I had nothing else to say so I walked down the stairs with the men surrounding me, pushing through the crowd like body guards. The cars were waiting as I hoped in with Hunter and Yiannis. The car pulled out of the driveway and through the trees to the road. “How far are the rouges?” I asked Hunter. Yiannis was staring out the window and seemed to be agitated so I left him alone to his thoughts.

“It’s a forty minute drive to the ranch they reside at.”

I nodded and settled back in the seat, leaning my head against the head rest. It would be a long drive and I was in desperate need for a nap.

-

“Eve.” I felt someone shake my shoulder and quick as a serpent I grabbed their wrist, applying bone crushing pressure until I heard a snap. My eyes open at a loud growl and I looked to my right to see Hunter trying to pull his arm from my grip, his hand dangling uselessly from his wrist.

“Oops.” I murmured, releasing my hold. “Sorry.”

“That’s all you can say ‘oops’ and ‘sorry’?” He growled as he set his hand back into place, our supernatural healing abilities quickly fixing it; though it wouldn’t be fully healing until tomorrow.

I shrugged and patted his shoulder. “You’ve had worse and you should know better than to touch me when I’m sleeping.” Bad things happened to anyone who did; the nightmares made me jumpy and I had once strangled Griffin when he slept in my bed. The doctors called it post-traumatic stress disorder but it was my own personal hell; flashbacks, vivid and terrifying dreams that resulted in the development of insomnia, constantly paranoid with an almost obsessive needed to be armed at all times and the need to supress the memories and numb the pain by pushing everyone away. I wasn’t living; I was barely surviving.

“Well we’re here.” Hunter said with a growl, evidently angry with me; I didn’t blame him though, after all I had just snapped his wrist.

He and Yiannis slid out of the car and I followed, flicking my sunglasses down at the bright sunlight. It must have been late afternoon and the sun was beginning to set, making it extra bright.

The house was a beautiful, old ranch style building that was only slightly smaller than thePiedra de la Luna pack house that I’d visited when I was twelve with Jenna; she was good friends with the alpha family and it had been the alpha heir’s birthday. Caleb was his name, he’d been really kind and friendly despite the fact that I was human; he’d treated me like a friend and I never had told him how much I’d appreciated it, probably never would.

“Who are you?” A lady who appeared to be around my age, though she was probably much older, approached us with a group of three men behind her, all of them watching us wearily.

I took a step forward and held out my hand, ignoring the way they growled at me as I gave the woman a small smile. “I’m Eve; I was hoping that I could speak to whoever’s in charge around here?”

She ignored my outstretched hand as her eyes landed on the men behind me. “Why would you want to do that? And why have you got so many men with you, bitch?” She asked coldly, sensing that I and the men with me were wolves; she wasn’t insulting me, she was stating what I was.

I crossed my arms over my chest as my eyes roved over the hostile men behind her. “I am the new Nahkohe alpha and I want to speak to your leader, rogue, to find out why, apart from the obvious, the previous alpha had found you to be a threat.”

Her eyes narrowed as her eyes travelled up my body, assessing me. “Cordero get booted? Too bad I couldn’t be there to see him die.”

I raised an eyebrow and gave a feral smile. “It was painful and messy if it’s any consolation. Now,” I said walking past her to the four steps that lead to the porch and front door of the ranch house and took a seat. I made a shooing motion with one hand as I lounged against the stairs and jerked my head. “Get your leader before I and my men decide that you’re threats and rip you and your buddies’ limb from limb.” There were resounding growls but I didn’t care; I didn’t want my time wasted with petty little shows of power and nuisance wolves.

She looked at one of the males before nodding her head. “Get Evan and Cheveyo.” He nodded, shifted and galloped away through countless paddocks. I sighed and surveyed the land from my perch. It was a beautiful property with rolling green hills for miles, mountains in the distance and from what I saw behind the house, and extensive forest; perfect for a pack of rouges.

I sat back to wait until five or ten minutes later when my ears picked up the thundering of hooves through the vibrations in the ground; I literally felt the tiny, almost non- existent tremors that shook the wood of the stairs. The movement was so minute that I doubt that Hunter or Yiannis could detect it; what was happening?

I stood and faced the direction of the tremors and as the seconds passed, the vibrations got louder. Two horses and a wolf appeared; the horses appeared calm in the wolf’s presence. Atop the horses were a man and a woman. The man looked to be of Native American decent with caramel skin, high cheek bones, chocolate brown eyes and thick, black hair that licked his ears in messy waves. The woman on the horse next to him was stunning, even with dirt smudged across her face. She had cheekbones that could’ve cut glass, piercing brown eyes, long mousy brown hair with a few lighter highlights and a tall, lean body.

I heard a growl from behind me and turned to see Yiannis’s gaze fixated on the girl. They hopped of their horses, tying them to a fence post before making their way towards us.

As they drew nearer Yiannis’s nervous behaviour was making everyone else behind me uncomfortable. I turned and growled at him, shooting him daggers with my eyes; he was not usually like his and this was neither the time nor the place for him to be acting like a pup. He growled back at me, his eyes darkening and bolted forward.

He headed straight for the woman and before any of us knew what was happening, he’d scooped her up in his arms and was sniffing her neck, loud growls emanating from his chest at anyone that even looked at him.

The woman’s companion lunged for Yiannis and tried to pull her out of his arms but instead narrowly missed being bitten by him.

“It’s ok Cheveyo, he’s not hurting me.” She assured him. From what I gathered her name must have been Evan. She let a few minutes pass as she stood still and let Yiannis growl before she began pushing him away. When he growled and held on tighter she frowned and looked up at him. “Let me go now or I will kick you so hard you’ll be a girl.” She said with a slight southern twang. “I don’t know what you’re angle is but I don’t like it; let me go.”

He growled again and pulled her impossibly closer and I heard the one thing I never thought I would; though I should have seen it coming with his behaviour.

“Mate.”

Well shit. I heard her sharp intake of breath and then she did something I wasn’t expecting; she rammed her knee into his balls. He groaned and let her go, falling to his knees as he cupped himself. She drew a handgun from her hip and aimed it at Yiannis’s head. “I’ve gone to prison once for murder, let’s not make it twice; what do you really want?”

I took a step forward and before her rogue pets could do anything, I had a knife at her throat. “Put the gun down and I won’t slit your pretty little throat.” I hissed. Yiannis was my granduncle and my family; I would protect him no matter what, even though he was an idiot sometimes.

She swallowed and slowly nodded as growls sounded. “I’ll out the gun down when your wolf tells me why he thinks I’m his mate and then you can tell me why you’re on my land threatening me. I have done nothing but offer shelter, food and jobs to people in need; whether they are rogues does not matter to me as long as their motives are pure.” She has guts and I admired that.

I shot a glance to Yiannis who was looking at Evan with sadness. “Yiannis is she really your mate?” I asked, though I had never seen him so sure of anything; he was normally a laid back guy but in the span of ten minutes he’d been edgy, possessive, angry and dejected.

He nodded and slowly stood. “I swear on my honour as a wolf and beta of the Alcaeus Aatu Clan.”

Slowly her arm fell to the side and I held out my hand for the gun; when she placed it in my hand I slid my knife away and unloaded the chambered round. “I did not come here to cause problems however it seems that confrontation was unavoidable.” I popped the magazine clip from the gun and handed it back to her without the ammunition. “I came here to tell you that as long as your rogues did not attack humans or wolves unprovoked, you would be left alone; I don’t know what kind of beef the previous alpha had with you and I honestly don’t care, just keep them in line and we’ll be good.” I offered her my hand and raised an eyebrow. “So are we good?”

She looked towards the native wolf who pursed his lips and nodded. She placed her hand in mine and shook. “We’re good.”

I gave her a small smile and gestured to Yiannis. “Have fun, he doesn’t give up easily.” I turned to him as a small groan escaped her lips. “I’ll tell Jenna why you won’t be coming back with us; at least I assume that you’ll be staying?”

He shot a quick glance to Evan and nodded. I gestured for Hunter and the men to return to the cars after they said their goodbyes to Yiannis. I waited in the back until they’d all left and slapped him on the shoulder. “Good luck.”

He scowled and grabbed my shoulders, dragging me into a hug. “Don’t give me that cold shoulder crap; you know you’ll miss me, I’m not dead though and you can call anytime. It was good to see you again and I’m just thankful you’re alive.” He placed a quick kiss on my forehead and patted my shoulder as I pulled away. “Don’t let your hatred and anger override the Eve I know is still in there; the kind, caring little girl that used to follow the adults around all the time and demand wolf back rides.”

I swallowed and nodded, turning away from the uncle I’d always known; something told me that I wouldn’t see him for a while and it was just now I’d realised how much I’d missed him all those years… and how little I thought of him while I was gone. “I’ll try, but I think that girl is already gone.”

He shook his head and smiled. “Nothing’s ever truly gone Eve; I know that deep down you still care and in my eyes and the eyes of your dads and Jenna, you’ll always be that little girl, our little girl.”

I nodded and swallowed thickly as I took a step back, giving him a small wave. “Good bye Yiannis.”

“Good bye Eve.”