"What the fuck do you mean?" Avery finally asks after a pregnant pause.

"There are two she-wolfs who are carrying children," the girl repeats, and Avery rises from her seat.

"Oh, Avery, Louisa," Lilith exclaims, slapping the table as she puts the pieces together.

Avery raises a brow, sitting back down and staring at the woman in the corner.

She doesn't say anything else, retreating back to her knitting.

"She lost her mate to this," Byron murmurs, "I'd take everything she says with a pinch of salt."

"I can hear you. Being mateless doesn't make me deaf," the woman scoffs, scowling over her half-formed scarf.

Avery tries to cover her chuckle with a cough at this remark, and she quickly shakes her head, forcing herself to focus.

"What do you want us to do though, Wilcott?" The other man asks, and Avery frowns at him.

"Alpha," she simply says, staring at him intensely, and releasing some of her dominance.

The woman with the knitting cringes at the influx of power, Byron blinks rapidly, and Hayden sits where he is.

The other man is the focus of the force, and he bows his head almost immediately.

"Sorry, Alpha, what do you want us to do?" He asks again, his tone far more subdued now.

"I would appreciate your forces being told to leave my land alone unless they'd like to patrol the boundary. I would, of course, reward you in return for your efforts, regardless of which one you chose," she nods, looking around at each of them.

"They need training, but they aren't willing to sacrifice their lives," Byron murmurs to her, and Avery shrugs.

"My boundary is one of the most peaceful on this side of the equator. They're very unlikely to face any harm, and if they do, they'll be treated in our infirmary and hospital," Avery responds calmly, keeping her tone level and her volume moderate.

"What will you do for us?" He asks, and she sits back in her seat.

"Firstly, I can bring your daughter to my hospital. You can visit her on my land whenever you choose. If any of you are in a similar position, with relatives in a coma due to this poison, we can arrange for their transport, too," she nods, clasping her hands in front of her.

There's a stunned silence in the room, and they all look at Avery in confusion.

"Why would you do that?" Rose asks quietly, looking at the floor.

"I can't imagine not being able to see my brother. Plus, if you can't visit them, you can't know they're being helped. I'll leave some forms here when we leave, and if you need somebody brought here, you fill it out," she continues.

"I'll leave a phone number here to ring when the forms are completed, and then we can organise medical transfers," she finishes softly, her tone gentle and caring.

Hayden stands up abruptly, scowling again.

"You can't fix your own brother, so what can you do to six more people?" He asks angrily, and Avery keeps a hold on her temper.

She knows that he's hurting, and he will lash out.

"I can't fix them. I'm not a doctor. But it will give you unlimited access to your injured family member, and that can do a world of good for both of you," she responds, looking at him evenly.

"This is bullshit," he snarls, storming out of the cabin.

Avery watches after him, a frown on her face.

"He'll come back later," Byron mutters grimly.

"What's wrong with him?" Avery asks curiously, and Byron looks briefly uncomfortable.

"His little boy was poisoned," he eventually states, looking out the window sadly.

Avery widens her eyes and sits up a little.

"And his mate?" She asks, unsure if she wants to hear the answer.

"She died giving birth. The little kid was all that he had," he murmurs morosely, and Avery frowns.

"Why is he here?" She questions, standing up and pacing in a circle.

"The poison was meant for him," Byron sighs, running a hand through his thatch of silver hair.

Avery's eyes widen even more, and her heart aches for the furious creature that left.

"We'll bring the kid here," Avery murmurs, standing still for a moment.

"I'm going to go talk to him," she decides, and before anyone can protest or disagree, she wanders outside, hurrying down the steps.

She stops in her tracks when a log comes flying in her direction.

Sonya takes the reigns and shifts immediately, causing the log to fly over her.

Shit, Avery snarls, and Sonya shares her sentiments.

What do I do now?, Sonya asks, idling a few feet away from the hulking figure that's attacking a felled tree with an axe.

Avery looks around, spotting a shirt nearby, and quickly scampering over to it.

Shift, Avery orders, and Sonya does as she's told.

She quickly struggles into the t-shirt, making sure that it covers her before she wanders over to him.

"I'm sorry if that brought up things you were trying not to think about," Avery says quietly, looking at his tensed back.

"You couldn't have known," he mutters.

"How old is he?" She asks, sitting down on another felled tree.

"Six," he murmurs, staring at the tree and putting the axe down.

"What's his name? You don't have to answer if you don't want to," she quickly adds, keeping her volume quiet and her tone soft.

"Tobias," he sighs, sitting down on his tree.

He stares at her for a minute, then furrows his brow, looking from her to the t-shirt she has on.

"That's my shirt," he mutters, and she refrains from rolling her eyes.

"If you want it, I'll give it to you," she shrugs, ready to pull it off.

"I'm too hot right now, keep it for a minute," he sighs again.

"Tobias is a lovely name," she nods to him, looking at the house behind them.

"Yeah, little Toby. He was the best little kid, he followed me everywhere, much to my Alpha's horror," he chuckles.

"You were ranked?" She asks curiously, and he nods.

"A General. I had a legion of soldiers. When Toby was poisoned.." he trails off, closing his eyes and inhaling sharply.

"None of it mattered," she finishes for him, shooting him a sympathetic look.

"Exactly," he mutters, standing up.

"When did this happen?" She asks, waking Sonya up so that she remembers the information.

"Almost a year and a half ago now," he murmurs faintly, running a hand down his face.

"Why was it not reported to the Council then?" Avery enquires gently, standing up too.

"He had epilepsy, so they just assumed it was that until they tested his blood. By the time the realised it might be something else, his blood was practically solid," he whispers, looking away from Avery's direction and pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed.

"I'm so, so sorry," Avery murmurs, walking closer to him and resting a hand on his back slowly.

"Well, we'll figure it out now that people are looking for a cure," he sighs, blinking rapidly and then straightening up.

Avery merely nods, watching him move around.

He can feel her eyes beating into the back of his head, and he turns around sharply, thrusting his arm out in front of him.

"What?" She asks in confusion, staring at his hand in bafflement.

"Shirt," he demands, and she raises her eyebrows.

"Seriously?" She grins, and he looks at her blankly.

"Dead seriously, I want my shirt. It's my favourite one," he shrugs, and she gapes at him.

"I can have it dry cleaned," she suggests, and he shakes his head.

"I want it like it is," he orders, and she rolls her eyes.

She slowly pulls the shirt over her head, only briefly breaking eye contact with him when the shirt covers her eyes.

She balls it up and throws it to him, sending him a slight smirk as she walks away.

It's her turn to feel his eyes boring into her.

Mainly her ass, but into her nonetheless.

Making sure to add an extra swing to her hips, she attempts to climb the stairs with the rhythm going, only minorly failing when she nearly falls.

She hears a muffled chuckle, and she feels her cheeks redden as she reaches the door.

Avery closes her eyes and inhales slowly before she walks back into the cabin.

How does she ask these people to do what she needs them to?

Just do it, Sonya encourages nervously, and Avery grits her teeth, summoning every ounce of courage she has left in her body.

"Okay," she says aloud, pushing the door open.

Lilith exclaims in horror, covering her eyes and flinging a blanket in Avery's direction at the same time.

Everyone else turns at the noise Lilith makes, and by the time they look at Avery, she has a sort of toga fashioned out of the plush grey blanket.

"What the hell happened?" Rose asks, raising a brow.

"I shifted to avoid a log killing me," she grumbles and then straightens up.

"I have an idea," Avery begins hesitantly, and Lilith groans, sitting down.

"I hate her ideas; they always end so badly," she mumbles, rubbing her face.

Byron rolls his eyes at Lilith's dramatics and then nods to Avery to continue speaking.

"If I could set up a concrete time, and ensured strict safety protocols, could I convince you to all do me a favour?" She asks hesitantly.

"Stop beating around the bush and just tell us," the other woman mutters, sitting forward irritably. She discards her knitting beside her and stares at Avery expectantly.

"I need you to watch the interrogation of the man who created the poison," she finally gets out after a minute of pure silence.

The room is so quiet you could hear a fly breathe.

"No," the quiet woman says, shaking her head.

"Fred is gone, and I don't want to think about the man that caused his death. I can barely control my wolf around people I like, I don't want to risk killing him," she adds, continuing to shake her head.

Rose stays quiet.

Byron nods reluctantly.

The other male looks ghostly.

"He got both of my parents," he whispers, looking like he might faint.

"I'll do it," Hayden states coldly, strolling into the room and flinging his shirt at Avery.

Once Hayden weighs in, Rose perks up a little bit.

"If he does it, I will too," she mumbles, and the other man grabs her hand gently.

"Me too," he whispers, and Avery looks at them all individually.

"Are you all sure?" She asks, and they nod solemnly.

Rose hesitates a little, looking at Avery nervously and raising her hand slightly.

"What's up?" Avery asks her, moving to sit nearer to her.

"Will he be able to see us?" She whispers, and Avery shakes her head.

"Not if you don't want him to. We can put you behind a screen," she promises, and Rose slowly nods.

"So we have a deal?" She asks, and Byron stands up, his hand out for a shake.

"Deal. We'll send you over the paperwork tomorrow morning, and we'll have our contractors start patrolling as soon as possible. We'll also put out the word that you personally have our protection. Very few, if any, of the rogues will fuck with us, no matter how deranged they are," Byron murmurs to her, and she nods, shaking his hand firmly.

"We'll see you tomorrow, then," Avery nods, "we will try our best to have everyone's relatives moved into the coma wing, or the appropriate wing, by the end of the week."

"Three days? You're not leaving yourself a lot of time," Rose says warily, and Avery shrugs.

"I work best under pressure," she smirks, giving them all a wave as Lilith leads her out.

She gives Hayden a nod, and he gives her one back.

Shorter but I didn't want to overload this chapter!

Like/Comment, et cetera, if you want to!

Have a brilliant day!

- Aoife :) xx