I walked into the meeting room with Miguel at my side. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but I didn't care. I kept my gaze forward and set my jaw, showing my stubborn side.

"Ah, Miss DeLamont," Levi said, my heart aching. He curled his lip up in disgust and looked me up and down. "I was wondering when you were going to make it."

"My apologies, Alpha," I said, coldly. "I had other business that I needed to attend to." I took my spot at his left shoulder, ignoring the glare that his "girlfriend" sent his way.

Miguel stayed silent and took his spot near me. He kept his blank, but I could tell that he was disgusted with our Alpha.

"Ok, since everyone has finally gathered here, I think that it is time to make some changes," Levi said.

I made sure to make eye contact with most of the pack members and telling them to link up with me. My head pounded as everyone asked what was going on and what changes were going to be made. 'Everybody shut up!' I exclaimed through the link, and everyone became quiet. 'I don't know what is really going on, but I can tell you that our Alpha is being controlled'.

'By who? Why?' someone asked.

'I am not sure yet. I want to set up a meeting with the Elders of the pack as well as the Elites and trainers later this evening. We will discuss more in detail what is going on and how we can break whatever spell is on him.'

'Are you sure that he is underneath some spell?' another person asked. 'I mean, he could just be showing off his true colors.'

'Are you fucking blind?' Miguel asked whoever had made that comment. 'Levi wouldn't do anything to hurt Lexi intentionally. However, he is hurting her unintentionally. He... cares about her.'

'Or cared,' a female said. 'He has a bitch hanging off of his arm.' Disgust filled her voice, and I knew that it wasn't directed at me and my "relationship" with Levi.

'I'll let everyone know if I find anything,' I said. 'However, right now, we are going to have to disobey his orders for the safety of the pack.'

There was a deep silence as everyone thought about what I had said. It was wrong to disobey the orders of the Alpha because the Alpha was the one that made every decision for the safety of the pack.

'If you take leadership...' an Elder began.

'No,' I said. 'We both know that the only way for me to become Alpha is to kill him. I can't...' I held back a grimace, but I could tell that they knew what I meant. I had already lost someone that I "loved", and if I lost Levi, then our pack had no way of surviving.

'What will you have us do?' an Elite member asked.

"The first order of business is that there will be no training. If I catch you all training, then you will be punished," Levi said. He glanced at me, pursing his lips in disgust.

'Training sessions will be held in the cove,' I said. 'They will only be from thirty minutes to an hour. I want groups of six to go at one time. The trainers, Elites, Elders, and I will go over how we want to set it up tonight.'

"Border patrol will not be as large as it has been. We don't need as many people as we have out right now. We just need two groups four and that is it."

I bit back a growl and tightened my jaw. What he had just mentioned was suicide, and I had a feeling that his "girlfriend" had some say in it. 'We will discuss that tonight. Elites, I am sorry, but we are going to be needing you more now than ever. I will see if the king will be able to send some people over that won't be detected by anyone.'

"You will not follow any orders except for me or my mate. If you listen to the Beta, then you will be punished."

Ya, fight me, asshole, I thought, keeping that thought private. 'You all won't be punished if you listen to me. I will try to stop whatever punishment he has set up. If you are alone with him and need someone, then link either Miguel and I.'

'You are going to have to order us to do that,' an Elder said. 'Without the Alpha knowing.'

'I will,' I promised.

The girl clutched Levi's arm and batted her eyes up at him. "What is the punishment, Babe?" she asked all but purring.

"You will be banned from this pack. You will leave everything and everyone behind and be considered a Rogue. You will be fair game if you are found on pack lands and will be killed."

There were multiple growls of protest as he said that. Anger filled the whole room, and I could tell that they wanted to attack.

'Do as he said and leave,' I said. 'I know a couple of Rogue groups that are friends with us as well as Alpha Nike. I will ask them to take in those that have been "banned."'

"Oh, and we have no alliances. If I catch anyone talking to or hear that someone is in a different pack, then they will be killed. We don't need any allies, and to be frank, they are kind of weak."

I bit my lip to keep from growling out. 'We will still have our allies,' I said, anger filling my voice. 'Whoever is controlling him just wants us dead for some reason.'

'What if this is really him? What then?' someone asked. Fear filled their voice, and I understood why. We were basically becoming sitting ducks, and it unnerved us to no end.

'Then we try to survive without him,' I replied. 'We need to fight for another day.'

"You are all dismissed," Levi said. He watched as the whole pack stood and started to make their way out the door silently.

'Keep fighting. We will survive this. We have survived two years without him, and we will survive many more. Keep quiet and keep your head down. Make sure to not talk to anyone about what I had said unless you are sure that you are alone. Do you understand?'

'Yes, Alpha,' the pack chorused. And with that, I closed the link from them because I did not them to feel my worry.

I had no idea how much of the pack will survive, but I hope that we will all make it. We just need to take it day by day.

***

"I don't know why we can't just kill him," someone said. "It's not like he is himself."

I leaned against the wall of my grandmother's house and looked at all the people that were there. It was around ten in the evening, and I was hoping that Levi would come and try to find me.

"He is at night, sort of," Miguel said. He was seated in a chair near me, leaning his arms on the back of the chair. "He just can't talk in English."

"And, what does he speak?" the same person asked. "And, who understands him when it ?"

"Chinese and I understand him just fine, thank you very much," I said, speaking for the very first time.

My grandmother came into the living from the kitchen, holding a tray filled with teacups and food. "Tea?" she asked, walking around the room. She gave everyone a cup because it was hard to say no to her, especially after she would send them a sharp glare their way.

"And, why Chinese?" the same person asked, causing me to shrug. "Why not a different language?"

"The spell he is under, probably," I replied, clutching the cool cup in my hands. "And, yes, I am sure that he is underneath a spell."

My grandmother walked back into the living room with a kettle in her hands. She started to fill up each of the cups, leaving me for last.

"If he is underneath a spell, then who put it on him?" an Elder asked, and I shrugged. "Is there a way for it to break?"

"True love is always a way," my grandmother said. She looked at the elder and winked. "It is such a lovely thing. Don't you think?"

"True love between who?" the Elder asked. "They aren't mates."

"Ah, but they do love each other. She does give some Wolves a second chance. In fact, I think she had given you one. Hasn't she?" She smirked when he scowled. "But what do I know? I am just the tea lady."

I rolled my eyes when she walked back into the kitchen. "He has been rejected, but I don't think he has accepted the rejection."

"Is there something there, between you two?" another Elder asked. She smiled when I looked at her, urging me to confirm or disagree.

"I would say so," Miguel said. "He kissed her last night."

"Kissing and loving are two different things," the same Elder that had spoken before said. He scowled. "Professing one's love for someone else works."

"Unless they are under a spell," I replied. "And, Levi is underneath a spell. Even if he wants to, he can't tell me that he loves me."

'Alpha, the Alpha Male is on your way to your grandmother's house. He is coming in hot,' a member said.

'Thank you,' I replied. "He is on his way. Just... be quiet. He doesn't know that we, my grandmother and I, are not alone. I want to keep that as long as possible. You will be able to hear and see what is going on in the kitchen. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Alpha," they all agreed.

I nodded my head and practically stumbled into the kitchen. I shut the kitchen door and locked it before running to the table, making sure that my tea didn't spill over. I sat down and picked up a book just as he slammed the door open and looked at me with a heated gaze.