DPOV

I could tell that remaining in wolf form was starting to get to Rose, but I wasn't Shifting unless absolutely necessary and even then, I'd Shift back as soon as possible.

We'd gathered the pack in the living room to share the information we'd collected while feeding and hoped to gather information on what had happened to Christian.

"Why don't you start, Liss," Rose said gently taking Lissa's hand in hers as they sat beside each other on one couch. I lay on the floor beside Rose resting my head on her feet.

"Derek stopped me on the edge of the wards. He wouldn't let me follow you guys and Rose. I was a little irritated, yes, but then I thought about what I could really do to help and decided it was better if I stayed back to help when you returned. That was until I felt the pain in my chest."

Lissa paused briefly and shook her head as if to rid herself of the memory. Christian, who was sitting on the other side of Lissa, took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"I don't know what power overtook me, but I broke away from Derek and bolted in the direction I knew you guys were. Everyone was fighting except Christian. The pain in my chest was still there, and I didn't know how to get rid of it, but my Spirit did. Instinct took over and next thing I knew…the pain was gone and Christian was sitting up perfectly fine."

"You're shadow-kissed," Babushka said after a moment of silence.

"I'm what?" Christian asked taking his eyes off Lissa for a brief second to look at my grandmother.

"Shadow-kissed." I cut in raising my head to look them in the eye. "We had a couple back in Baia that was shadow-kissed. You've been brought back from the dead."

"Dead?" Rose asked with a puzzled expression.

"Most likely, the pain you were feeling was the loss of a pack member, but young Vasilisa brought him back." Babushka explained in a relaxed state, like we didn't just discover one of our pack had been killed then brought back. "I'll put you in contact with Oksana and Mark so you can know what to look forward to."

"I'd appreciate that," Lissa said kindly. She and Christian shared a look, but I couldn't place all the emotions. The air in the room shifted as all eyes turned to Rose and me.

"What did you find out?" Abe asked leaning forward, hands folded together.

"We found out who is after me," Rose said moving closer to me. I laid my head on her lap to provide her a little comfort, and she rewarded me by running her fingers through my fur.

"And?" Abe probed wringing his clasped hands.

"Her name is Galina. She was a combat instructor for St. Basil's. A few years ago, she was turned by force, but from the loyalty she's gained from these Strigoi, she's doing pretty well for herself." I said closing my eyes to focus on Rose's fingers.

"So, you know the monster that's hunting Rose?" Pavel asked with frustration in his voice. I opened my eyes and lifted my head to turn and look at Pavel standing in the corner of the room.

"I knew her from my time at St. Basil's. I haven't seen her since graduating, and she was turned after that." I said calmly. Rose sensed my defensiveness and place a calming hand on the back of my neck.

"Do you know where she would have set up?" She asked soothingly.

"I doubt she would leave Russia. She recruited Victor Dashkov to operate in the States, but she sent her Strigoi followers to attack us here, so I would assume that she is still in Russia."

"Russia is a big place." Christian pointed out. "How are we supposed to know where to start looking?"

"I don't know. From the following she has, I would assume that she's got a large building or house that houses them all, but there are still a lot of those, so it doesn't really help narrow it down." I said laying my head back in Roza's lap.

"I can talk to the Alchemists to see if they have any idea on a location. If they don't have a specific location, they'll have cities that are high in Strigoi activity. I'll have my men start questioning Strigoi they find."

"Questioning?" Rose asked with an amused smirk.

"I have a few…persuasion technicians that are particularly good at their jobs." Abe said with a similar smirk on his face.

"You two are too much alike," I muttered to myself with a shiver, but Rose heard me and laughed.

"Sorry," She said halting her laughter. "What are we going to do until then?"

"Well, I'm going to have to have the Alchemists out to clean up the bodies you all have left behind in the woods. I'll also need to call someone at Court to get your kills on record, and I know you'll hate this, but I have to inform the queen of your situation."

"Why does the queen have anything to do with me and my situation?" Rose asked with furrowed brows.

"You know how I told you that she was invested in your wellbeing? Your current situation is kind of threatening your wellbeing." Abe explained. "Tatiana wanted to bring you to Court until this mess could be settled, but I knew you never wanted to hide behind walls, well wards in the case, nor would Court allow you and your pack to roam freely. You know how Moroi feel when wolves are just running around."

"Yet they have no problem with us when they're under attack," Rose muttered pensively.

"Not all of us are like that, Rosie." Christian snarked earning him a deadly glare from Rose. Had my head not been in her lap, she probably would have strangled him.

"I know you all aren't like that, but you happen to be in the minority," Rose grumbled.

"Will the queen do anything about Rose's situation?" Lissa asked.

"The most she will do is send someone to either reinforce our protection around you or someone she can trust to relay any and all relevant information. She can't actually do anything to help." Abe answered.

"I don't like the idea of Guardians I don't trust," Rose said looking down at me

"We'll figure out something, Roza," I reassured her.

"Would you rather me tell her you'd rather have someone extremely trustworthy to be here with us and not provide reinforcement?" Abe asked looking more at me than Rose.

"I'd appreciate someone trustworthy. I know all of the queen's men are loyal to her, but what about to my Roza? If she sends anyone, it should be someone that she can trust has Rose's best interests at heart." I answered ignoring Rose's silent protests.

"Comrade, I'm safe within the wards." Rose voiced rolling her eyes.

"You will not leave my side, no matter where we are. If I can't be there all the time, one of the pack members will be with you, preferably someone who can be in wolf form." I growled in a threatening tone. "We will not lose our Alpha because she thought we were being overprotective."

"Listen to him, child," Babushka said with a kind smile. "It will be easier for you in the long run if you just let him do as he pleases."

"As long as you're human for at least a few hours every day. While I enjoy snuggling up with your wolf, I want your arms around me, too." Rose consented. I narrowed my eyes at her debating on agreeing to her condition, but I didn't know if I wanted to leave her more vulnerable while I was in human form.

"Fine." I agreed. Rose smiled widely and patted my head.

"Good boy." She said with a wink.

"What do we do in the meantime?" Christian asked looking around at the rest of the pack.

"We train. We prepare for what might be coming next." Rose responded. "Christian, you'll be working with Abe on advancing your fire skills while the Dhampirs, Lycanthrope, and humans work with Dimitri and me on combat. When you get tired of fire, you can join us learning combat."

"You mean you're going to teach me to fight!?" Christian asked bouncing in his seat.

"Unless you keep acting like that, yes." Rose quipped quietly shaking her head, but Lissa had heard her and was trying to hold back her laughter. "Liss, would you like to learn to fight?"

"Could I just focus on learning to heal?" She asked looking a little scared at the idea of fighting.

"That might be more beneficial." Rose laughed. "We'll start tomorrow. Yeva, you said that you were going to call the Spirit user you know, could you possibly invite them here? Lissa could use a mentor."

"I'm sure she'd be thrilled to come," Babushka said with pride in her eyes. I raised my head off of Rose's lap and turned my head in Babushka's direction. My eyes narrowed as I studied her.

This Babushka was much friendlier and less stern than the one I had grown up with. This Babushka seemed to always have a smile on her face, and her voice was softer. When she noticed me looking at her, Babushka's normal stern, displeased expression returned to her face but then she smirked knowingly.

"I told you she would be loved more than you," She said within my mind. I huffed and returned my head to Rose's lap. Rose gave me an odd look, but I shook my head slightly as everyone settled into their respective seats.

Seeing as no one had any other information to hand out, Abe and Yeva stood from their spots and exited the room, presumably to make their promised calls. I could feel someone staring at me and then I looked up at Rose, she was glaring at someone across the room.

I, again, lifted my head from Rose's lap and saw Pavel still glaring at me. I could feel Rose's anger rising again and quickly stood in front of Rose to break her glaring contest with Pavel. I lowered my head to nudge Rose's chest. She responded by tangling her hands in my fur.

"You need to sleep, milaya," I told her quietly.

"Only if you'll sleep, too." She said burying her face in the fur on my neck.

"I'm not promising anything, but I'll definitely join you," I said using my nose to push her off the couch. She giggled before jumping up on my back.

"I think I could get used to traveling like this." She sighed settling flat on my back. From the way she was laying and my size, any normal human being, or Strigoi, wouldn't be able to see Rose on my back unless she sat up.

"I'm not a horse." I joke as I make my way up the stairs.

"No, you're too big to be a horse," Rose mutters. As she settled into the warmth my fur provided, I could feel her eyes drooping and her breathing become more shallow.

"Don't go to sleep yet, Roza. You need to change and get in bed." I said turning my head slightly to get a look at her over my shoulder. She grumbled unintelligibly but sat up slightly to keep herself awake.

I reached our door and nudged it open with my nose. I closed the door with my tail and crouched low to let Rose off my back. She slid off and landed with an almost inaudible thud. She immediately started taking off her clothes and headed to the bathroom. I laid down at the threshold of the bathroom and watched with fascination as Rose washed away the events of today.

Much like last night, Rose remain naked as we cuddled in bed. My back was up against the headboard as Rose settled in against me. She fell asleep almost instantly. I was comforted by the steady movement her breaths caused.

She gave a happy sigh when I tucked my head around her body, and I couldn't help feeling content knowing that I could cause such a reaction. I'd just closed my eyes when I heard someone approach our door. The knob slowly turned, and I lifted my head gently as not to wake Roza.

Abe stuck his head in the room and smiled as he observed my position around Rose. It was highly unlikely that he could see all of Rose's body, but he probably saw her legs sticking out around my paws. I'd hate for her father to witness his naked daughter in my embrace.

"I've talked to Tatiana. She's going to send someone to keep an eye out for us. He's going to relay information to Tatiana, and Tatiana is going to relay information to us through him. He'll be here by the end of the week. You'll want to inform Rose when she wakes." Abe said quietly, but Rose stirred slightly as he was talking.

"I'll let her know. Thank you, Mr. Mazur." I told him tucking Rose into my body to keep her warm.

"Please, Dimitri, call me Abe." He said with a kind smile before backing out of the room and closing the door almost as quietly as he had opened it. I looked down at the perfect small body pressed against me and curled myself around her tightly.

With my mind clouded over with the scent of vanilla and lavender, I joined my Roza in the land dreams.