My name is Calla Tor. For years I had loved Renier Laroche, but then Shay Doran came into my life. I fell in love with Shay and ran from my life/destiny in order to save his life. Ren followed us a couple months later. The three of us fought along the Searchers for a year before Ren and I left them to go back for our pack. When we returned, we managed to convince the Keepers we hadn't known what we were doing. Thankfully, they accepted and returned my brother to the wolf he was always meant to be. Our pack was once again whole, and I was happy.

The whole reason we'd returned to the Keepers was because Monroe, one of the friends I'd made among the Searchers and Ren's real father, had asked us too. They needed more information than they had on the Guardian packs in order to plan their next move effectively. We volunteered because the Keepers needed us. They'd be willing to let us come back. I tried not to remember the betrayed looks on the rest of my Searcher friends' faces when Ren and I had left. They didn't know why we were doing this, and it had to stay that way for awhile.

Today marks the day we left the Searchers (almost four months ago) and three more months till Ren's and mine second attempt at our union. Though both Ren and I knew that I was nowhere near ready to decide who I wanted to be with yet. As usual, I drove Ansel and I to school the way I always had since before Shay came into my life. The second we got to school and parked, Ansel hopped out and went off in search of Bryn (my second and his girlfriend). As I walked inside the school, I knew that the pack would be waiting for me. And sure enough all of them were by my locker. They watched me as I dug around for a moment then we went into the cafeteria and sat around our table. There we chatted casually, like one big family, until the first bell rang. Some of the Banes and Nightshades went off in their own directions while Ren, Bryn, Dax, and I went to the history room. As we sat down in our own respective desks, I couldn't help but think about the true history of the Guardians that Ren and I had learned.

…

Five months away from the Searchers and two more months till the union. I constantly found myself wishing that time would go faster. Ren and I had secretly been feeding the Searchers information on the Keepers, but nothing else was allowed to happen yet. I was getting restless and anxious. Something had to happen soon.

But then I realized that time was going to take as long as it wanted. As my mind came to this conclusion, it brought me into other thoughts. If I hadn't left almost a year and a half ago, I'd be married to Ren. We'd be the alphas of the official Haldis pack. Sometimes, with the events that had transpired and the people I'd lost that I cared about, I wished that I could turn back time. I wished that I'd never gone after my own heart's desires. But then I regretted those thoughts. I knew that I'd never turn back time even if I got the chance. The friendships I had now meant more to me than what could have been.

As soon as school was over, I went into the woods behind the school to shift into my wolf form. I ran for a little bit until I reached a clearing. Here, I would wait for Ren and Ansel then we'd run patrol. I let my mind wander as I waited. This time I thought about my friends among the Searchers. I remembered the first time I'd encountered them after running away with Shay. Ethan had been constantly swearing as he failed to hit me with his crossbow bolts. Connor kept taunting him as he swiped at me with his kataras. Monroe had been trying to calm his team down and keep Adne from entering the fight. Gabriel was protecting Silas as the Scribe had insisted on coming along to document everything. As I thought about them all, I was not sure who I missed the most. Fortunately, I didn't have to think very long on that matter as Ren and Ansel joined me. We conversed for a few minutes before we set off on our patrol.

A couple of hours later, the three of us headed to my house. Bryn was waiting for us at the door and as soon as we were inside, she and Ansel went upstairs. Ren and I stayed in the kitchen, and as my parents were out patrolling now, we made dinner for them. While we did so, we talked quietly about the Searchers and how long it'd be before we could go back. Ren and I fell silent as we heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and a moment later Bryn and Ansel rushed out the door as wolves.

…..

There was only one more month to go until the union and so much had changed. Sabine had become a bit nicer to all of us. Dax and Fey had recently gotten together. Cosette had gotten involved with a Bane named Carl that was a year older than her. Ansel and Bryn were still dating. Mason and Neville were going out though Dax didn't really like it and the humans thought of it as weird. But I didn't care who my pack loved, or how they acted, as long as they were happy.

The Keepers had given the pack the day off, so we all went our separate ways. Ren and I however returned to the clearing in the woods behind the school. We talked about how we'd get back to the Searchers and how we'd get our pack to follow us. That wasn't going to be easy, but we'd have to try if we wanted to help our friends win this war. Eventually, we'd sat there talking so long that we got hungry. We ran through the trees until we scented a herd of deer.

Crouching down in the undergrowth, we watched the herd in order to pick out our target. After a minute, we settled on a young buck at the edge of the group that seemed to have an injured leg. Ren and I went over the strategy then slowly got up and crept forward. Without warning we sprang from the bushes. Ren went for the throat and I dove for its injured leg. When I heard the simultaneous crunch of bone and gurgle of blood, I let go of the deer and watched as its body toppled over. Without another word to each other, Ren and I began to eat.

When we'd each had our fill, we trotted over to a shady spot and laid down. Ren fell asleep almost instantly but for some reason I couldn't. I stared out into the now empty area and couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. I didn't know if it was finally the stress of sneaking around the Keepers to get information to the Searchers finally catching up to me, or if it was something else entirely. All I really knew was that sleep would not find me so easily today, even with a full stomach.

…

Tonight was the night of the union and no matter what I told myself, I was nervous. I stood quietly as Sabine, Bryn, Fey, and Cosette helped me get ready for the wedding. Each one of them looked absolutely beautiful. Sabine and Cosette each had their hair up the same way and wore the same blood colored dress. Bryn had her hair up in a complicated style while Fey had just opted to leave hers down, but both girls wore a dress of a beautiful dark rose color. They helped me get my dress on, then Fey and Cosette stood back while Bryn and Sabine did my hair up in a style similar to the way Bryn had hers. Once I was finally ready, the Bane girls left and Mason picked the rest of us up at my house.

Not even quite an hour later, I stood atop a hill waiting for the warrior's song to call me down to the union. I couldn't even really tell how nervous I actually was until I realized that I'd been continuously wiping my palms on my dress. When I finally heard Sabine's voice start the song, I had to stop myself from just running forward. As I slowly walked towards the clearing where the union was being held, I listened as the rest of my packmates' voices joined in the song. I could feel the effect the song had on me. It was pulling me towards the union, the wolves were calling for their alpha.

I entered the clearing and took in the scene. Ren was standing in his human form off to the side of our assembled pack. The Nightshades were on the left side of the clearing while the Banes were on the right. A few Keepers stood towards the front, and Lumine and Efron stood in front of Ren. When I reached Ren, he took his hands in mine and we turned to face our masters. It seemed to take no time at all before an elder from each of our former packs left the clearing. Ren and I were to make our first kill and only then would we be considered husband and wife as well as the alpha pair.

Ren and I shifted into our wolf forms and waited. I smelt the scent of the Searcher long before I saw it. At first I didn't recognize the Searcher until I saw the leather duster. I exchanged a glance with Ren and could tell he was thinking the same thing. Please don't let this be Connor. Please don't let this be our friend. But then the elder Bane pulled off the sack that was over the Searcher's head to reveal Connor's face. I watched as his eyes scanned the crowd of assembled wolves, no doubt trying to plan how to escape, until his eyes found me and widened in shock. I gave a small whine but made sure to turn it into a snarl. A moment later Ren did the same. We weren't going to kill someone we'd called our friend.

How do we make it look like we're going to kill him without actually killing him?

I don't know, Ren

Ren and I slowly circled around Connor, making it look like we were planning the best way to attack. Connor's eyes stayed on us the entire time, widening as I stalked towards him. Ren circled around behind him while I made it look like I was keeping Connor's attention on me. With a barely noticeable nod to me, Ren lunged at Connor, knocking him face first into the ground. I darted forward and clamped my jaws around his arm. I made sure it was hard enough to draw blood but not hard enough to seriously hurt him. After a couple of seconds, I released Connor's arm just in time to watch Ren sail over me and slam into an elder Bane. My parents slammed into another pair of wolves just moments after and my pack followed their example. Some of the Nightshades attacked the Banes while other Banes turned and fought their own pack members. For a moment, I watched the tangling of limbs before I remembered Connor. Quickly shifting forms, I dropped down onto my knees to free Connor. Ren moved to my side in order to protect me as I worked to free the Searcher. After Connor was free, he pulled me into a bear hug.

"I knew that you didn't really turn on us," Connor whispered into my ear before pulling back to look at me, "Why did you leave?"

"I'll explain all that later. For now, we have a fight on our hands," I grinned and flashed my fangs at him before I shifted forms. I watched as he drew two swords from wherever they'd been hidden in his clothing because I was amazed he'd managed to keep them with him.

"Just like old times," he said before charging into the fray of wolves. I barked once and went after him followed by Ren. Together the three of us wrecked mass destruction on our opponents.

An hour and a half later, half of both the Nightshade and Bane packs along with my own pack were on the run from the Keepers. Connor had been fatally injured during the skirmish in the clearing, and not wanting to leave him behind, I turned him into a Guardian. So now he was running beside me and Ren as a dark brown, almost black, wolf with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Calla, am I a part of your pack now?

Technically speaking, Connor, yes you are since you're now a wolf. But you're also a Searcher so you'll remain part of the Haldis team as well

I never imagined that something like this would ever happen to me. What will Adne think? He turned his head towards me as we continued to run with a curious expression on his face. How many other Guardians have you created?

I've only ever turned you and Shay, I answered him. He nodded his head and just continued to run. I turned Shay so he could save my life. Now I turned Connor in order to save his. It made me wonder how many others I'd turn in order to save their lives.

Within no time at all, we arrived at Rowan Estate. The other Guardians balked at the sight of the building until they saw Ren and I shift and open the door. Only then did they all follow us inside. Inside there was a glimmering portal evidence that Searchers must have just gone through. Ren and I exchanged a glance before we both stepped through, the other Guardians once again reluctantly following our example. We weren't allowed to get very far on the other side of the portal as spears and swords were pointed at us. I scanned the crowd and caught the eyes of a few Searchers, a smile coming to my face once I saw my favorite Searcher team.

"Anika, it's good to see you," I said as I eyed the spears and swords before me.

"Good to see you too, Calla," Anika replied while giving me a cold look. This immediately told me that she did not know of the plan Monroe had concocted and the reason I left, so she didn't know I'd been feeding Searchers at different outposts information on the Keepers. She thought I had betrayed them.

Monroe surprised me slightly by pushing through the assembled Searchers until he stood in front of me, putting himself in front of the spears. Ethan lowered his crossbow a moment later and joined him. Adne, Tess, Gabriel, Silas and even a Searcher I didn't know joined them too, creating a circle around the Guardians. A human shield in between us and the rest of the Searchers.

"Why are you here, Calla?" Anika asked me, still holding my gaze.

"I came back because they were going to make me kill someone that I didn't want to kill. That and it's been awhile since I've seen my home and my friends," I replied and had to resist smiling when Anika looked like I'd caught her off guard. I watched her for a moment, then a minute later she was hugging me, the scent of relief rolling off of her. The Searchers put down their spears and swords in shock as they watched their Arrow.

"Where's Connor?" Adne asked turning to me once the Guardians were safe and all the Searchers, except the Haldis team, left to continue their different duties.