It was close to midnight and they were nearing the border of his pack lands. Fin felt a sudden surge of energy and excitement. This was it. He was bringing his mate home.

Bringing Alice home didn't look anything like he had imagined it would. He still had to end this thing with Cadman before they could settle down to their happily ever after. But he'd found her and she was more perfect than he'd believed was possible. Everything they had to push through now were just details they needed to get out of the way.

The forest around them had become familiar. He recognized the scents and sounds, and managed to pick up a trail that he knew as he led the way with Alice staying close behind him. It struck him, for a moment, that it had almost been too easy, making their way from the cave to Lena's cabin, coming upon it as if guided there by the hand of the Goddess herself, and then finding their way with Lena's directions to his own lands without a single bit of trouble. The journey had been absolutely nothing like he expected, and he was grateful for it.

Half an hour later they arrived at the boundary of his land and he stopped, reaching out with his mind for his Beta, Rune, only to be met with a torrent of confusion and anger. He tried again, sending the message that he and Alice had arrived, but no coherent words managed to come back through the link.

Just then he heard footsteps coming from the north, running along the trail that skirted the perimeter of the lands. He nodded. He'd hoped to come across a border guard on this night, especially now that he hadn't been able to contact Rune, so that he could get an update on what was going on before he arrived at the Pack House. It would also prevent any of the guards from picking up Alice's trail, since they didn't yet know her scent, without him having to announce their arrival via the pack mind link to every person in the entire pack, since he didn't know who was on guard duty that night.

Roric was young, but Fin knew him fairly well. The dark haired young man was in human form, or he would have noticed the two wolves watching him long before his Alpha shifted into human form and stepped foot onto the path about ten feet in front of where the young warrior had been walking steadily, his eyes sweeping from side to side.

"Alpha." The expression on Roric's face was not what Fin had expected. Usually when his men saw him they smiled warmly. He was both well liked and well respected. Especially because he had been unmated before this past week and he had spent a good deal of his waking hours, at least those not devoted to other pack business, training and working with the warriors of his pack. They knew him better than anyone else. But the expression that flashed across the young warrior's face now, as he met his Alpha's eyes and then quickly looked away, was fear, and Fin thought, maybe doubt.

"My mate and I have been through a lot this past week and we've only just made it home."

"She's with you now?" The warrior glanced around, his eyes finally finding the golden She-Wolf as she stepped forward, staying close to her mate's legs.

"I'm sorry about what's going to happen, Alpha." Roric's voice was so low that Fin barely heard it.

"Roric?" He tried to meet the young man's eyes again, but Roric was gazing steadily at the ground near Alice's paws.

"There were so many of them. And you couldn't expect us to stand up to soldiers with their training." Roric glanced up meeting his Alpha's eyes for just a moment. "Not once they took Beta Rune. And you were gone. And they said that Izzy said such horrible things about you Alpha. We didn't believe that. Not really. Not most of us. I don't even think they do really. At least not the Alphas. But they have to investigate. I would let you run. But they'll catch you. And probably kill me. They're everywhere. Even out there beyond our borders, searching for her. Alpha Vos is losing his mind."

It was then that Fin heard them. They were already surrounded. He raised his hands, his eyes going down to Alice. Fuck. He wanted to find a way to get her away from all of them. If there was any chance that this could go badly, and that they might believe Cadman over the two of them, or that Alice might get sent back to that bastard, he was going to lose his mind. At the very idea he felt his canines lengthen.

"Hands in the air, Nowak." He obeyed, his blood running cold as he heard a growl coming from somewhere near his hip.

"You too, Sweetheart. I'd hate to have to use a tranq gun on you but I will if I have to. Shift." At the command a string of swear words left Fin's lips as his eyes turned to the man giving the command to his mate. It was hard to see anyone around them now. The men who had emerged from the forest were on the other end of intentionally bright lights. The disorienting tactic worked.

He felt more than saw Alice stand straight and still at his side, her hands slowly raising as she did as she was told. He could tell it took everything she had not to throw her hands across her chest and cover up, instead of doing what they said. Somewhere in the forest he heard someone whistle and his blood pressure went through the roof as he nearly lost control.

"Shut it." The Alpha closest to him snapped, not looking at all amused at whoever at made the sound. He stripped off his own t-shirt and tossed it to Alice. "You can put that on, Sweetheart."

As she raised her arms, to lift the shirt over her head, she glanced at his face, her cheeks burning pink. He focused on the fact that he hated the idea that she would be wearing some other Alpha's shirt, although not nearly as much as he'd hated all these men staring at her naked. As she straightened the fabric a scent that was distinctly her own drifted towards him and he nearly managed to recognize it before it was eclipsed by the heavy scent of the male whose shirt she was now wearing. At least it covered her almost all the way to her perfectly lovely knees.

His mind went back to the scent. It was familiar, but not something he'd smelled every day. It was distinctly Alice. It had just barely been there.

"Luca. Luca? Can you have her taken to the room next to Dani's? I don't trust that other Nowak woman as far as I can throw her and Dani's a good judge of character. Have them spend some time together and see what she thinks of this one."

A man who Fin hadn't noticed a few minutes earlier turned around. He'd been standing far off to one side, with his back to them, but now he ran a hand through his dark hair and turned around, nodding.

"I can do it. Alpha. I mean, Sir. I mean-" Roric had stepped forward, his face a blazing red color as he refused to even look at the man who was still a distance away from the rest of the group. Fin knew who had that name but was having a hard time believing it could really be the Luca that he was thinking of. Then again, Luna Emery was missing and she was an important member of the Royal Family. Who else could it be? But the man before him, while clearly an Alpha, was wearing black tactical gear like every other man in the group and looked so entirely like a soldier it was hard to believe that he was really a king.

Their King.

"No. I need to go speak with Dani anyways. I'll take her myself. You aren't going to be any trouble are you?" He gave Alice a pointed look and she frowned at him before slowly shaking her head. Fin briefly wondered if his mate had worked out who she was talking to. If she hadn't, he guessed the chances of her giving him trouble were exponentially higher. Or maybe it didn't matter. He hadn't known her for very long but Alice seemed to be trouble either way.

"No your majesty." He barely heard her whisper the words. "We seem to have found enough trouble on our own without looking for more." He nodded and held out his arm. After a long pause Alice reluctantly took it before glancing back at Fin. 

She obviously didn't want to leave him. As they walked down the path that led to the pack house he heard her say, "They aren't going to hurt him are they? He had nothing to do with any of it? I can swear to it on my own life. On my mother's grave. On anything you ask. He's innocent, you're majesty. You have to believe me."

And as he focused on her words his mind recognized the scent that had been growing stronger and stronger all day since they'd woken upon this morning, but that had only become clear when she'd shifted and raised her arms to put on the shirt. She was about to go into heat for the first time since being marked. And he was about to be locked in a cell to be interrogated by the King and his men. Fucking Hell.

He needed help and he needed it fast. 

A/N- I hope you are enjoying this story! If you are I'd love it if you'd comment and click that little star button to vote for it.

This is Chapter Forty-Three and I will continue posting weekly updates here until the entire novel is finished. You can now read the entire novel, all sixty chapters, on Patreon! And for those of you who want more stories, long and short, right this second and who want to read Patreon exclusive short stories, you may also want to check out the link below:

www.patreon.com/OpheliaShaw

All the links can be found (clickable) in my profile!