“When do you think she will wake Pauline? You rid her mind of them days ago” A voice growled.

“She’s exhausted, she was fighting them so hard and then they managed to break in and take over. I’ve never seen anything like it before Alex” She replies.

“But it’s all gone right?” He asks.

“Yes, Silas and I managed to push it all from her mind. But I feel like she may struggle with what she did Alex, she doesn’t take well to harm coming to her people. She won’t take that she hurt you and almost killed Carla, even though she was not in her right mind” She sighs.

She was right, I hurt my mate whom I wasn’t even fully mated to yet and then nearly ripped apart my best friend and her mate, who was also one of my closest friends.

I tried to act like I was still asleep but Alex must have noticed the change in my breathing.

“Serena?” He mutters, his hand squeezing mine as my eyes burst open and I took my hand from his, crawling backwards in the bed I was in away from him.

“Calm down sweetheart, everyone is ok. No one is hurt, you’re safe now” Pauline says calmly.

“I hurt Alex…” I mutter.

“I’m all healed baby, look” Alex showed his arm which was healed.

“Never hurt a mate, we don’t cause harm to our mates…” I murmur.

“It wasn’t you. What happened wasn’t your fault” Alex said trying to come close to me again but I just flinched from his touch as he sighed against his seat.

“Alex go for a run, leave her with me,” Pauline said softly as she placed a hand on his shoulder and he nods but glares at her, walking out the room as I sag against the bed.

“I could have killed everyone” I cry as Pauline sits on the edge of the bed.

“Yes, but you didn’t, that wasn’t you Serena. That was Ben in your mind. We got him out Serena, they won’t do it again while I’m here” She wipes the tear from my face as I go into a full breakdown, crying in her lap as she rubs my back softly.

“Serena!” Mum and Dad burst into the room as they notice me sobbing in Pauline’s lap.

“Oh sweetheart” Mum cries out as Dad lifts me off of Pauline’s lap as she nods and leaves the room, placing me on his lap as he holds me tight to his chest.

“You’re safe baby girl, we’re here. You’re so brave, so, so brave” Dad murmurs in my ear.

Mum comes to his side as we all sit on the bed in each other’s arms as they just let me sob in their arms, finally letting out every single painful feeling from my heart.

“Serena, you must know, I would never say you were weak, you are not weak and I am so sorry that I hurt you. But you did so well, you battled me well. I wish it had never happened but I am so proud of you my little alpha wolf” Dad kisses my forehead.

“I love you, dad, you too mum” I wipe the tears from my eyes.

“We love you too sweetheart” Mum smiles and kisses my head.

“Now, you have another visitor. Don’t let what has happened change you. Your friends still love you, your pack wants their alpha back and your mate needs you” Mum says as she and Dad leave the room as I nod.

“Serena…” Daniel and Carla enter the room slowly and stand at the bottom of the bed as we stay silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry” I cry as Carla darts to my side and hugs me to her tightly.

“You scared me” She cries against my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop it…I tried, I couldn’t stop it. I would never hurt you, I swear. I’m so sorry” I murmur into her.

“I know, I know you would never hurt me, I know it was Ben in your head. It’s ok” She looks me in the eyes as we cry together.

“I…I…I was going to tear you apart if you hurt Carla…I didn’t want to Serena…You’re my friend…” Daniel murmurs.

“You had every right to Daniel. I would never have forgiven myself if anything happened to you or her because of me. I’ve already hurt Alex…”

“I told you I was fine! You let them touch you! But not me! I am your MATE!” Alex burst into the room angrily.

“Calm down Alex” Daniel stands in front of him.

“Our number one rule when it comes to mates is to never harm your mate…I damn near tore your arm off!” I cry.

“So then what? We’re over before we even get the chance because someone else had control of your mind and you bit me! I’m all healed up Serena!” He growls.

“I won’t lose another mate because of MY actions!” I shout.

Carla places a hand on mine in an attempt to keep me calm but this seems to anger Alex even further.

“So SHE can touch you! You were about to rip her to shreds, but me, your mate cannot touch you…” He snarls.

“I’m sorry Alex, I don’t want to hurt you” I cry.

“Fine then. Then how about this…I Alex Berg, re…” He begins as my eyes go wide.

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence” Daniel growls.

“You were going to reject me…” I whimper.

“Well it seems you can’t handle being with me so what choice do I have?” He snaps as he begins to storm off, but Carla ran out of the room and grabbed him as I began to hear her shouting at him loudly.

“You stand by her side, you give her time, she has been through so much already and she doesn’t need the people she loves leaving her when she needs them most. You are her mate and you cannot say you can’t feel the connection between you still. It will take time. Be with her, let her come to you in her own time! It took me forever to be able to get in her head as her best friend! She needs you by her side so when she is ready she can get back to normal!” Carla shouts at him.

“Why are you shouting the house down Carla?” I hear Lucien in the corridor as he groans.

“Alex don’t you dare leave!” Carla shouts before I hear the slam of the front door.

“He’ll be back Serena” Daniel squeezes my hand.

“He was going to reject me, Daniel…How do we come back from that?” I murmur.

“Time, let him cool off, you need to get your mind back together and just give it time” he sighs, kissing my forehead before leaving the room to find his angry mate outside the door.

“Stupid god damn wolf son of a bitch” She grumbles as Daniel smirks and kisses her, she waves at me as Lucien leans against the door frame.

“You’ve caused more damage to the house than Alex ever did” He smirks.

“Sorry Lucien, I swear I will pay for the damage” I sigh.

“No need cupcake, your pack has already fixed most of it. Quite a handy bunch you have” He smiles.

“They are amazing” I smile back softly.

“Fancy coming on a run with me? The pack would love to see their alpha up and about again”

“I…Ok. But I need to shower first” I say as he nods letting me go off to wash quickly.

When I’m done the house is quiet as I find Lucien waiting for me out the front of the house as I’m greeted by hoots, hollers and howls as I come out of the house.

“Your pack missed their alpha” Liv runs up to me and braces me in a hug tightly.

“How about a pack run?” Oliver smiles next to me as his hand squeezes my shoulder in support.

“Sounds like a great idea to me” Dad sneaks up behind me as he lets out a loud howl.

My dad begins the process of getting the packs together for our pack run as I walk about, taking in my home as I breathe the fresh air in, but something kept calling to me in the back of my mind.

“Where is Alex?” I whisper as my wolf calls out for our mate.

We hurt him. I know we did. He’s our mate. I know! Find him, we have to find him!

“Alex?” I try via the link but it’s like he’s blocking me out. I whimper, feeling the loss of contact.

“Serena, we need to update you on what’s happened to our borders quickly” Mum walks up to me slowly, looking at me as if trying to read what was going on in my head.

“I need to find Alex…” I whimper.

“He’ll come back, he will. But I have to tell you this. Pauline and Silas have had to put a spell on our borders in order to protect the packs. We’ve ordered that no one leaves the territory or they pose a great risk of their minds being taken over. Any wolf found to have left will not be allowed back in and will be placed in the hunters’ facility until it is confirmed they are not a threat” She says.

“Ok. That makes sense, as long as no one is hurt” I nod.

“Calvin has a group of hunters who are patrolling each night too. He’s worked with Silas to find out who is truly loyal to him as a few of his hunters have turned to Yusif and the others. Christopher being the main culprit” Mum says as I turn to her.

“I knew something was up with that guy!” I growl.

“Serena! The packs are ready!” Oliver calls as I sigh, my mother and I walking up to the front of the house where the others all stood in their wolf forms.

“Today we run as a pack, today we welcome Serena back amongst us, today we show that we are as one! We run as one!” Dad roared as the packs howled together.

I shifted but growled out in pain as it tore through my body.

“Easy Serena, it’s been a few days and you’re still not up to your full strength” Liv nudges me softly.

“Was this the best idea?” Oliver sighed.

“I need this, it will help me heal” I nod.

“Stay within the pack borders!” my dad orders as the wolves howl in turn as we both lead the packs into a run.

The wind blew through my fur as I felt the relief of being in my wolf form without someone tearing up my head, but I still couldn’t concentrate fully as one person was still missing.

I sniffed the air trying to work out where he was but smelt nothing of him in this area as we darted across the field and through the trees, over logs and through the thick bushes.

“Why is Alex not here?” I growl as dad takes notice, his eyes darting backwards as he notices the lack of my mate too.

He howls loudly calling for Alex to join the pack as he was clearly ignoring me.

“He won’t come, I’ve ruined everything” I whimper as I dart away from the pack and head back to the house.

“ALPHA!” My betas shout at me as the pack follow me, driving me to go faster.

When I get to the house I shift and rush inside, slamming the door behind me as I scream out angrily.

“Do you mind, I was taking a nap…” Alex grumbles from the lounge as I stare at him in shock as I run up to him, picking up a cushion and smacking him in the face with it.

“Why didn’t you come for the run?!” I growl angrily, although secretly relieved that he was fine.

“I was giving you space” He rolls his eyes as I smack him again as he grabs the cushion and quickly stands, taking my wrist as I feel the tingle of our bond through our skin.

“Don’t, don’t give me space…Don’t listen to me…Don’t let me make you leave, stay by me, be with me,” I say quickly.

He looks at me for a moment as if he was confused before he steps forward, lifting me into his arms as he kisses me deeply, my legs wrapping around his waist as we fall back to the sofa.

“Mine” He growls as he kisses my neck, his teeth nipping at the spot he would mark me.

“Yours” I agree before we kiss again.

“I see you found each other” Dad walks in and sniggers at us.

“That didn’t take long…” the twins laugh from the doorway with Lucien smirking behind them

“If we ignore them will they go away” I murmur which causes Alex to chuckle.

“Come on boys, these two need to kiss and make up” Mum wanders in with a grin as she pulls her husband away and the boys follow her.

“I don’t think it’s just kissing they’ll be doing” David laughs.

Alex looks into my eyes as he kisses me deeply again once more before lifting us and heading out of the lounge and up the stairs.

“Where are we going?” I whisper against his lips.

“I can’t wait any longer, I need to mark you” He growls as we enter his room, lust filling our eyes as he tosses me on his bed.

“Are you sure Alex? I hurt you” I whisper, my fingers gliding across the scar on his arm.

“That was not you Serena. I will always want to be by your side, you are my mate, my alpha, my love. You are powerful, beautiful, brave and the most amazing woman I have ever met. I want nothing more than to be your mate and I am so sorry I nearly rejected you earlier, my anger got the best of me” He says.

“Don’t ever leave me” I say quietly.

“Never,” He says as he takes my lips with his as we fight for dominance before he takes my hands pinning them above me as he kisses my jaw down to my neck.

I tilt my neck giving him more access as he goes to bite but we are suddenly interrupted by the door opening with a smash.

“Serena! Oh my god! Sorry! But we need you now!” Carla bursts into the room as she turns away quickly seeing us in our compromised position.

“This couldn’t have waited?!” Alex growls.

“No it couldn’t,” She says.

“Why couldn’t someone say something through the pack link?” I raise a brow.

“Because I haven’t told anyone else yet” She bites her lip nervously.

“Carla, what’s going on?”

“Craig’s gone…” She says.

“ So…” Alex huffs as I whack his arm and he scowls at me before rolling his eyes.

“He’s not in pack territory” Carla adds.

“How do you know?” I ask as she passes me a note.

If you found this that means I have left. I do not feel right being around the pack when I have a huge chunk of my memory gone so I am going to find a way to get those memories back, no matter the cost. Do not come after me. This is my choice.

“Shit” I mumble before I run past Carla, abandoning them both upstairs as I slip down the bannister towards the packs’ office where I could hear my father talking with Calvin and Lucien.

“Do you think she’ll be ok?” I hear Lucien ask.

“Serena will be fine, she recovers quickly, she’s strong, even I can see that. She’s already pushing through it and it’s the first day” Calvin answers.

“We have a problem” I burst into the room surprising them all as they sit with their glasses of whiskey.

“What has Alex done now?” Dad sighs.

“Why do you assume this is to do with him?” I frown.

“You aren’t marked” Lucien raises a brow pointing to my shoulder.

“No we got interrupted” I sigh.

“What is that in your hand Serena?” Calvin asks.

“Craig left, Carla found this note from him” I pass it to my dad as they all glance at it.

“I told that boy to stay put!” Lucien growls angrily.

“YOU KNEW!” I snap.

“I knew he wanted to figure out a way to get his memories back, he wanted to leave to find a coven that might be able to help but away from the pack, he didn’t want to risk anyone. But I told him to wait until we had dealt with the outside threat!” Lucien replies.

“You know that boy’s impulses to do anything are strong, when he gets something in his head he does it. You should have come to me Lucien” Dad scolds his beta.

“Sorry Alpha” Lucien bows his head.

“So what are we doing about it?! What if they get to him?!” I exclaim.

“Calm down Serena, we’ll work this out,” Calvin says walking to place a hand on my shoulder, but I just growl at him in warning for him not to come closer to me.

“We can’t risk the whole pack, Serena, we have to be logical. Yusif and his men are training a whole new group and they are more powerful than the last. We need more people as it is on our side and we risk getting infiltrated just by going out of the border. I have been talking to some other alphas in other packs and we have been talking about an attack from all sides, surprising them, but it’s not an easy feat” Dad says.

“They might kill Craig…AGAIN!” I scream out.

“Calm down Serena” Lucien steps forward as I growl at him.

“I will not see him harmed again. Just because I lost him as my mate does not mean I do not care for him. I still love him!” I growl.

“You are mine” Alex growls behind me possessively.

“Yes, I know Alex. I am your mate, but Craig was too and I will always love him, but I don’t love him in the same way as I do a mate anymore, it’s different!”

“Choose,” He says.

“What?” I murmur.

“Choose who you love,” He says.

“For god sake, Alex, stop being so dim” Carla pops around the corner.

Alex steps towards her in a menacing stance as I rush in front of her growling in warning.

“That is enough!” Dad growls.

“I’m seriously starting to worry about this guy…Seriously HE’S your mate” Carla grumbles in my ear but he hears it and comes storming up towards us, squishing me between them both.

“Got something to say about me then say it to my face” Alex growls.

“You’re a prick, seriously, you act all high and mighty, you boss everyone around and then act all sweet and nice around Serena. It wouldn’t surprise me if you just want to mate with her to try and become alpha” Carla says.

“Shut up Carla!” I hiss.

“She’s not wrong” Lucien mumbles as I glare at him and then fix my gaze on Alex who is looking at Carla like she’s a piece of meat he wants to tear apart.

“Daniel told me that wolves can have multiple mates of which they had to choose from and I just hope Serena finds another. Daniel told me to hold back and give you a chance but I can’t, I won’t watch her destroy her life with you” Carla adds.

“I’m going to rip that head of yours off your shoulders!” Alex growls as he pushes me roughly but I knock his legs from under him, growling in warning as I stay in front of Carla.

“You will NOT harm Carla!” I growl.

Lucien goes to grab him but my dad holds on to him, signalling him to wait, that I had it under control.

“YOU ARE MINE! She is stopping us from being together!” Alex growls.

“I need the truth, has anyone had bad experiences around Alex lately? If so, what happened?” I send through to the rest of the pack as I feel the electricity of our bonds come together as my mind is flooded with responses.

It would seem there was more to my mate than I had thought. But it was the final one that pushed me over the edge.

“He forced Monty into patrolling, said he wasn’t wolf enough if he didn’t do it. He was just sixteen and wasn’t ready for it yet” Monty’s mother cried through our link.

I roar in anger as my wolf comes to the surface, my eyes bright purple as I see them in the reflection of the picture frame opposite me.

“Carla, go find Daniel, stay with him” I order.

“O…O…OK” She stutters and runs off as Alex watches her leave, looking like he was going to tear her apart.

“Daniel, Carla is on her way to you, stay in a large group, Alex might come for her” I link to him.

“What? Why?” He says back.

“Ask Carla” I reply.

“Ok,” he says.

“Did you put Monty onto patrol when he didn’t want to?” I ask looking at Alex.

“Of course I did, he needed to learn” Alex rolls his eyes as I grab him tightly around the throat.

“He wasn’t ready!” I growl, my grip hard around his neck.

“He was weak, like the rest of the pack. They will never be strong enough!” Alex growls as he fights to loosen my grip, but my alpha power was at it’s fullest and he couldn’t move against me.

“You forced the boys to fight you when they weren’t ready. You pushed the pack around like they were yours to control, you hurt them, you belittled them. MY PACK! I trusted you!” I shout as I heard my dad growl, he obviously hadn’t heard any of this either.

We respected our pack and never wanted anyone to do something they felt they couldn’t do or pushed them too far. We worked with them, not against them.

“They are weak, they needed me to push them or they will be as weak as their alpha,” Alex growls.

“Fine, I Serena Baldo…” I begin.

“Don’t you dare! You are mine!” He begins to shift but I hold him harder as he begins to snap his muzzle at me.

“I Serena Baldo, reject you Alex Berg as my mate, for here on in you are no longer part of this pack. I banish you!” I growl as he howls out, snapping at me ferociously.

He breaks free of my hold and bounds out of the house, crashing against everything as I shift and follow as I see where he’s heading.

“He’s coming!” I link to Daniel.

“Alex is no longer part of the pack, he is banished. Protect the pack, protect Carla!” I order the pack as wolves began to flood the grounds trying to get to Alex as he tore through the pack as I bolted down towards him, pouncing on him before he got to the house I could hear Carla’s erratic heartbeat coming from.

“Leave now!” I growl angrily, my teeth biting at his neck as I felt our bond finally snap as he began to fight back.

We circle each other, snapping our teeth, our eyes looking at each other ferally.

“I challenge you for alpha!” he growls shifting to his human form to announce the challenge.

“Challenge accepted,” I shift and growl back.

“Now” He growls at me.

“Dad, promise me something” I link to my dad quickly.

“Yes?”

“If I lose, you challenge him for my pack, don’t let him have my pack and find Craig,” I say as I look behind me as he looks pained but nods as the packs begin to surround us, my mum rushes out from the house, looking confused and in shock.

“What happened?” I hear her mutter.

“We do this away from the houses, up in the field, give me a few minutes,” I say as Alex nods and begins to walk up the field.

“What’s going on?” Carla creeps out the house with the boys by her side as I was about to knock.

“I rejected him and now he’s challenged me for alpha” I sigh as she looks at me in shock before hugging me.

“You’ll win, I know it,” She says.

“I’m not up to my full strength Carla” I reply.

“You are strong Serena, stronger than us all, you will come back to us. If you don’t, I’m coming after you” Carla gives me a small smile before I hug her to me quickly before glancing at Daniel.

“If he wins, you take Carla and run. My dad will challenge him for alpha but I cannot risk her getting hurt. You find Craig too” I link to him as he looks at me sullenly.

“I will, but you will win this,” He says.

“Why do I feel like you’re saying goodbye?” Carla sniffs as I see a tear in her eye.

“Because it might be. I love you, Carla, you mean the world to me and if I do die Daniel will keep you safe and know that you will always have me with you. You’re like the sister I never have and I don’t know where I would be without you” I kiss her cheek and hug her as I walk out the house trying not to cry as I see my parents standing with Lucien, Vance, Tony and Pauline.

“Take care of them all if I don’t make it” I murmur to them from afar as I see Tony tell Pauline what I said.

“Come on!” I hear Alex roar as I make my way to the field where he was waiting.

I walked up to him as my hand shook with nerves before I clenched my fist and tried to calm myself.

We can do this, we are stronger, we are the true alpha.

I didn’t want to kill Alex, I really didn’t, but what choice did I have, he challenged me and an alpha challenge is always to the death, proving that the victor was the better of the two.

“Any rules for our little fight? Would you like to do this as a human or wolf? Or we can do anything goes. I’m going to win anyway” Alex grins at me with an evil glare.

“Anything goes” I growl.

“Very good choice” He growls before he shifts and takes a leap towards me.

I guess it’s already begun…

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