*AN- Hey guys, been a while hasn't it? Been going through a bit lately and I kinda wanted to talk about that. First and foremost, one of my cousins just joined the military and so I've been spending time with him before he ships out for basic training. In fact the morning this chapter is uploaded I have to take him to the recruitment center. Secondly, I had a MAJOR technical issue which has set me back by a lot. So generally the way I write my content, is I type up the chapter on my phone, then do formatting, and the AN on my computer where I keep all the finished chapters. Finished chapters. All works in progress are on my phone, and it's not uncommon for me to work on 3-4 chapters at a time. Often times I'll rewrite a chapter because maybe I didn't like the way it turned out so I'll have 2 versions to decide upon. Anyway, all this was done on the Pages app on my phone because I like to lay in bed when I write it's just the most comfortable for me. Wellll upon updating my phone to iOS 11.2 (or whatever version it was) all of the saved writings were erased, causing me to lose a ton of work. I'd spent several days on some of those chapters and losing all that progress just killed my morale. But, I'm doing what I can to recover from that. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you know the drill. Ejoy!

*Percy's P.O.V.*

Leon and I parted ways early in the morning. He was off to hunt with Dexter, while I was left with patrol duty. Seemed like that was the norm for me anymore. Not that I would complain, it was an easy task and if I didn't have a partner then it gave me lots of time to myself.

The down side, at least this time, was that mating season had started.

The smell of heat was inescapable. Despite my feelings towards Leon, that damn smell was something my instincts were bound to find irresistible. Even Leon would be affected by it. It almost made me grateful to be on patrol duty. I'd spend most of the day at the very edge of the border, well away from the smothering musk of female heat.

Even there it made my head swim. I could hardly focus on where I was going due to the overwhelming urge to thrust myself into the nearest hole available. I'd heard that the sensation would be like nothing I'd ever experienced, but I wasn't expecting anything like this. I couldn't believe that even away from the well populated center of the pack, it was still getting to me. I did not envy any of my peers in their duties.

Patrol duty was always uneventful. We hadn't seen any lone wolves in months, and the only time you'd see someone was if you got lucky enough to pass by an eastern wolf also on patrol. I didn't care much for the eastern wolves. They all seemed a bit stuck up and overly cocky. Maybe it was just me that got that impression though.

Strangely enough, the first wolf I came across happened to be someone I knew.

"Hey there Percy," Felix greeted as he approached me.

"Felix, it's good to see you. Though I'd have thought you'd be with your mate," I said with a raised brow.

"She's still sleeping in. It was a rough night. She's not used to seeing storms like that," he explained.

"Hey, no need to brag about it," I smirked.

"That's not what I meant," he shot quickly, blushing.

"Easy, I'm just kidding. It kept me and Leon up too. It was a bad one that's for sure. I hope everyone is okay."

"Well I've not heard anyone calling for help, so let's take that as a good sign."

"Yeah. So, what brings you out here? You don't have duties anymore, at least not for us. Unless you're just out here to escape the smell in which case I totally understand."

"More or less. I've also got a lot on my mind, and I think Aurora is starting to notice it."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Let me ask you something Percy. Do you have anything you regret," the question seemed to come out of nowhere, but I decided to humor my former instructor.

"I let Alex get hurt," I admitted. He turned to me almost in surprise.

"You blame that on yourself," he asked.

"Mom and dad wanted me to watch out for him, keep him safe. He'd always been a little reckless, so it was my job to make sure he didn't get into too much harm," I explained with a sigh.

"Guess we're not too different in that regard. How much do you remember about Mina?"

"Hutch's mom? Nothing really. I only ever saw her twice, once when she dropped him off at alpha school and the second was at her funeral. I never got to meet her."

"Well, she and I shared an interesting relationship. A few weeks after Dexter died, she and I….well we became a little closer than we should have. We were both so young and reckless. We let our lust get the better of us. That's not to say we didn't care about one another, on the contrary. It was difficult to be so frisky with Hutch around though. In hindsight it was probably for the better, it kept us from going at it like rabbits and getting her pregnant. But I'd still use my position of authority to make sure we went on 'patrols' together. Thinking back on it now, I miss her. Don't get me wrong I love Aurora with my life, but things back then just felt so simple. I felt like she was slowly becoming my mate, and if things had gone differently that may have been the case. When she died, I blamed myself for not being able to save her. Thinking back, there wasn't really anything I could have done to help her. I can't help but feel guilty though. Especially knowing that Dex was alive the whole time. We were basically having an affair behind his back."

You ever have someone tell you something deep and personal out of the blue and you're left not knowing how to respond? That was me. It's not like I didn't know Felix or anything, but to have him randomly tell me he and Hutch's mom were sleeping with one another wasn't something I'd have ever expected. I had to say something, I couldn't just stay silent.

"It's not all your fault. I mean, no one expected Dexter to still be alive. It's not often someone survives a bear attack after all. Don't beat yourself up too hard. I'm sure Dexter would understand."

"I'd like to hope he never finds out. Dexter. He might be a nice guy, but he was really defensive of Mina. I can't imagine how he'd react knowing it was me. Listen to me Percy, you can't tell a soul about this alright? For my sake. If someone ever found out and told Dex, there's no telling what he would do. I know he's my brother, but you've not seen that crazed look in his eyes. When he gets like that, it doesn't really matter who you are. There was this one time, when we were just out of alpha school that really stuck with me."

*3 years ago*

*Felix's P.O.V*

It was a fairly muggy day out. It had been raining all morning and I was having to tough it out through my duties. On top of that, Dex, Mina, and I were being sent out to investigate rumors of a lone wolf who'd been spotted just outside of the southern tip of the territory.

"Think we'll find our guy," I asked as the three of us approached our target area.

"I hope not," Dex replied.

"What's the matter babe, afraid of some scrawny loner," Mina teased. Dex smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Pfft. Yeah, sure, I'm positively shaking. But we don't know what we're getting into. Winston decided to send us straight in without scouting the area first. What if we get down here and it's some northern wolf deserter, you've heard the rumors about those guys."

"Not a bad point. But I doubt it's anything we can't handle," I reassured the two as Dex ordered us to stop. We were officially in unfamiliar territory and ahead of us was a giant mesh of fallen trees. There was some shrubbery around what seemed to be an opening.

"Looks kinda like a den entrance to me. Camouflaged pretty well. If I were a loner I'd hide out here," Mina whispered.

"I've got their scent but, I don't think they're here. Let's split up and look around, don't stray too far. If you see them, call out. Don't engage them alone," Dex ordered. "Felix, you head out west, Mina go east. I'll hang around the den in case they come back."

"Got it. Be careful everyone," I said before slipping off to the west of the den. The area was entirely made up of dense forest. No game trails, open spaces, nothing. Honestly it made me a bit claustrophobic knowing that our target could be hiding around anywhere waiting to jump me.

I was a pretty broad wolf, rivaled even my brother in muscularity, but there was always that chance that whoever this was could outclass me. I knew better than to believe it was a northern defector. From the stories everyone told about them it seemed like they were far too closely knit to let someone run away like that, especially this far south.

I always hated being in unfamiliar territory. Sometimes Winston would have me and Dex escort him to the east for negotiations and that was the worst. Being surrounded by our rivals in terrain I didn't know sent my stomach twisting. Thus I decided to keep my sweep pretty close by, not straying more than a few hundred meters away from the den. I still had the scent, but it was very faint. They hadn't gone this way. I decided to regroup with the others and formulate a new plan.

"Nothing," I said as I returned to my brother. He was sniffing around the den, presumably trying to find out any traits if he could.

"It's a male, probably about our build, that's about all I can figure. We should go find Mina before-"

"DEX HELP ME!"

By the time it even registered in my mind that it was Mina calling for help Dex was gone. And I don't mean I saw him running away, I mean I didn't see a trace of him. I'd never seen a wolf run that fast before in my entire life. I almost didn't believe he did run, it seemed more like he just vanished. It took a second for me to even realize I needed to follow him. I darted off as fast as I could in pursuit of him.

"I'M COMING BABY," I heard Dex shout from way ahead of me. I didn't know how, but I beat him to the scene.

"Don't come any closer," the wolf demanded. He was covered in shaggy tan fur that hadn't been cleaned for a long time. He was pinning Mina to the ground seemingly effortlessly. She struggled underneath him but could hardly budge him. The was a fresh scratch along his face, which I guess she'd landed before he pinned her.

"Must be this little hotties mate. Well, you take one step closer and I'll kill her," he threatened, pressing his large claws against her throat. I wanted to tackle him and snap his neck, but I knew the second I so much as twitched he'd slicer her throat open.

"Let her go," I demanded. "Kill me instead."

"I'll do that when I'm done with her. Gets lonely out her," a wicked smile crept across his face as he lined his pelvis up with hers. Tears began to stream down her face as she struggled to get free.

'Where the fuck are you Dex,' I hissed to myself. I put a paw forward and she yelped in pain as he let a claw start slicing into her. I snarled, at began to tear up in frustration. He was too far away for me to rush him, so if I went for a tackle he'd kill her before I got to her.

"Bite your tongue bitch, I'm going all the way in," he laughed.

What happened next still haunts me.

Dex leapt from behind the psycho and slammed into him. The lunatic was launched off of Mina and through a large oak tree. Literally straight through the trunk. The tree cracked and groaned as it collapsed under its own weight. Dex's eyes were bloodshot and his claws were digging trenches into the dirt.

"I'll fucking bite you in half," Dex hissed so coldly it sent chills up my spine. I heard the loner groan in the distance. I didn't even have time to take a step before Dex was on top of him. He lifted the maniac up by his throat and once again launched him towards a large rock. He hit the stone so hard it cracked against him. Again, Dex was on top of him, clawing, slashing, biting, it was horrifying. The screaming, the screaming was the worst of it. A mix of fear and gargling blood which assaulted my ears, making me sick to my stomach.

While Dex was, well, slaughtering, I went over to check on Mina.

"Mina, are you GAH!" the next thing I knew I was rolling away from her. I felt like I'd been rammed by a bear.

"Dex, what was that for," I groaned. Dex only huffed, satisfied that Mina was safe. An hour passed before any of us even moved. Dex didn't apologize for tackling me. When I asked him about what happened, he said he was doing whatever it took to protect his mate, at any cost. It didn't matter who got in the way. I decided it was best to try and forget that ever happened. When we returned to Winston we simply told him that the loner had been dealt with. The only other wolves I ever told were Eve and Tiberius.

The only explanation I had was that something in Dex snapped and sent him into full protect mode. I just happened to be unlucky enough to get in the way. Mina tried several times to bring it up to him, but he would just say all that mattered is that matter to him was that she hadn't been raped. I guess after a while she just decided to forget it like me.

I know killing the wolf was a good thing, but the sheer brutality, it was uncalled for. It was like Dex was intentionally keeping him alive so he could feel as much pain as possible.

I hoped I'd never see that side of my brother again.