28

I woke up with a powerful yawn. A stifled laughter erupted from beside me and the black bed covers were pushed aside slightly so I could see Damian, who was watching me on his side, one hand supporting his head.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." I frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Damian recognized the question on my face and replied: "Jack once called you Sleeping Beauty and somehow I thought the name was just right." I mumbled my agreement and turned to the other side. "It's still too early." "Not quite. It's already eleven." I turned my head to him. "I told you. Clearly too early." He planted a kiss on my cheek.

"We have to get up. You know. Responsibility, alphas and, don't forget breakfast. I'll make you pancakes if you want." Now I turned my whole body to him and grinned. "You really can be very persuasive if you want to." Damian laughed and got out of bed to get his clothes off "It's kinda weird," I shared my thoughts with him, "everything's so normal right now. As if we didn't know the task ahead of us. what we have to lose About a day ago I was with another pack and now I'm in our bed."

A smile crept onto his face. "What is it?" I asked him, clearly confused. "You said our bed." The next For a moment, his blissful joy faded and was replaced by a thoughtful expression. "You were gone for 29 hours. Although it wasn't that long, having you back in my arms felt so relieved, like we'd met again after a year." He laughed mirthlessly.

"It's funny how quickly circumstances change." I got out of bed as silently as possible and put my hands on Damian's cheeks to turn his face to me. "I understand what you're trying to tell me. It was the same for me. I've lived without a feeling like this for so long and now that I can finally feel it, I never want to live without it again. It was horrible, the hours without you. It wasn't really that long, but not knowing what you were up to and how you were doing was awful for me." Damian wrapped his arms around my waist and looked at me with pain in his eyes.

"Then imagine how it was for me. You were suddenly gone and I had no idea where you were or if you were still alive. And without me wanting to, these other people's thoughts got into mine head sneaked." His jaw clenched and he looked at the floor. "That you just walked away because everything is too much for you. Because you may have realized that this is not the life you want after all. And although I would like to convince myself that I would have accepted that, I know but that it would be terrible for me." Now he looked at me again.

I knew how difficult it was for him to come out like that in front of someone, so I gave him an encouraging smile. "I can no longer imagine live without you. Because only now do I really know what I've been missing all these years. Someone to share my deepest concerns and fears with. You understand me and it's something I never knew I needed." He took a deep breath and I waited to see if he had anything else to say, not wanting to interrupt him now. When I was sure was that he had shared all his thoughts with me, I started to talk.

"To be honest, it offends me that you really think I'm going to leave you like that. I knew I just wanted to get back to you. To the person who understood me from day one. That's why I promise you one thing: I will always find a way to you." Damian trembled briefly, maybe with a sob, I didn't know it. But then he composed himself and smiled at me as well. Our lips found each other in a soulful and slow kiss, in which we put all our feelings. That way we could show the other how we were feeling.

"One pancakes for sleeping beauty." Damian placed my plate of three pancakes right in front of me. "You know, maybe I shouldn't have credited you so much. The first time you gave me dressings. Even cutlery was there. Now I have to get everything myself." I got up to get exactly that from the kitchen cupboards, having to search for them first. "If I remember correctly, you were taking a shower at the time. So I had a lot more time to prepare something. But in a way you are right in your assumption. I've got everything I need now, so why bother." He shrugged.

"Next time you can make them yourself. I can give you another prescription and you do the rest." I narrowed my eyes as I sat back down. Damian wanted to play? Well, he could have that. I glanced at the pair of jeans he purposely put on today and I had an idea, “Since we're so stuck in the past, I can think of something else.”

I got up from my seat and Damian leaned expectantly against the kitchen counter with a sly grin on his face. Standing directly in front of him, I put my thumb and forefinger on his chin and pulled him down towards me. His eyes sparkled with interest as he did my bidding. When his lips were finally close to mine, I whispered, "I've got my hands on you, you know that. And you like it." My words did to him exactly what I intended. Damian's eyes darkened and I felt the change in his posture. He leaned even closer to me and wrapped his arms around my back. Still those simple words had such a powerful effect on him. I looked at him encouragingly and waited for his next step. We both knew that if one of us took the first step, we would be unstoppable. Then there would be no more chance to suppress our lust and longing for one another.

Luckily - or perhaps unfortunately - Jack burst into the kitchen at that moment, taking in our situation at a glance. Damian and I both made no attempt to break away from each other. "Somehow I always come at the wrong moment", said Jack and looked at Damian. "I bet you hate me now." Damian mumbled something incomprehensible in response, but also had to smile slightly.

"Anyway, I can reassure you, because I didn't interrupt you unnecessarily, in whatever you are doing or wanted to do at the moment." Jack shook his head in confusion before pulling himself together.

"Lerhome is back. Everyone has arrived safely and the others have gone straight to their alphas. Lerhome is waiting for you in the pack house." Jack pointed at us with his hand. "But he can certainly wait." "No," Damian said abruptly. "I'm in the best shape right now to listen to whatever he has to say."

"Very nice. Then we'll wait for you." Jack disappeared as quickly as he came. "You probably meant you could use a little distraction right now, didn't you?" Damian winked at me. "You clearly know me too well." ||| "That's good information," Damian said, apparently still stunned by what he had just heard. I could understand him. After we both greeted Lerhome and Damian was sure that his friend was doing really well, he started talking straight away. Already in the first days the werewolves had found a huge field of krecanos.

The annex was controlled by several guards and there was a brick building right next door. There were always some representatives of the organization there and examined the growth of the plants. Since Lerhome and the others hadn't found anything else in the entire area around it, they assumed that this annex was one of the most important areas of the organization.

Although they hadn't been able to locate the whereabouts of the organization, we hadn't assumed they would. So we were just lucky to get such an opportunity. If we were able to destroy this field, it would improve our chances significantly. Damian thought so too when he said: "Then we now know what to do.

DAMIAN’S VIEW

A few hours of persistent walking and we got close to the field. We gathered around the annex, which was surrounded by a high barbed wire fence, and I sent several warriors to search for the gate Lerhome described.

It was the same height as the fence, the only difference being two large latches that allowed safe entry into the area. At least if what Lerhome had seen was true. I had trusted his reports and only taken my people with me. If everything he said was true, we would have nothing complicated here. I trusted that because I couldn't do anything else.

Still, in a way, I played it safe and took more warriors with me than I actually needed. I had my pack protected by Egbert and Zabrina, both of whom promised to do whatever it took to ensure my people survived. I believed them. This alliance between us was important to everyone and the two of them were smart enough to understand that. I also left behind the people I trusted the most. Jack initially balked at my decision, but eventually understood the importance of his survival should anything go wrong, which I didn't anticipate.

I also entrusted him with the important task of making sure Egbert and Zabrina weren't up to some shit or, as always, misunderstanding. Persuading the second person to stay at home turned out to be a lot more complicated. Alina didn't even give me a chance to finish my sentence. She started right to argue against. We just broke up, the risk is too big, it's probably just a trap, I'd leave my people behind, can't someone else do it?

Well, I didn't think the risk was that big and it was an important step in the right direction for us. If it was a trap, I was well prepared and would tell Alina immediately about our connection (I didn't know what the point would be, but she insisted). I left my people in her hands and under Jack's and her direction, she couldn't say anything against that, it wouldn't sit well with her pride. Someone else couldn't do it because I figured someone else would screw it up.

In addition, I reminded her that Alina had not connected soul mates for a long time, which seemed to be a good point too as she stalked back into the room right after we said goodbye. So I let my mate and beta run the pack, at least until I got back. I took my best warriors and let Lerhome and Sophie, Zabrina's spy, who was keen to come along, guide us. We made good progress and now waited for Drokor to return with the other wolves to enlighten us on the situation. Instead, there was a squeak and then several screams. I shook my head and growled at the wolves around me before we ran to the others.

In fact it was just one big field and the perimeter was only guarded by a few humans who had already overpowered Drokor and the others. I glanced at her. They were dressed in red clothes and the only weapon I could spot was a pistol strapped to their waist. I nodded to Ethan, who gave me a questioning look and now transformed back to take a closer look at one of the weapons. He looked at the cartridge and gingerly felt for its contents. Ethan grimaced and dropped them both on the floor.

"No Krecanos. Just normal cartridges." That explained why they hadn't shot the wolves. It wouldn't have done them much good. People would only have made us angry. I let my gaze wander in confusion and swiveled my black head towards the forest, expecting that Alina was right and that this whole operation really turned out to be just a trap. But nothing happened. my ears twitched but I couldn't hear anything either. It was unsettlingly quiet around me. I looked back at my people and noticed that they were waiting for my order to enter the field. I walked through the alley they had formed and stepped through the gate.

The next moment I wrinkled my nose. The pungent smell of the herb stung my nostrils terribly. The plants had been planted in straight lines and each row was approximately a meter and fifty centimeters wide. Four tall green plants stood side by side and were crowned by purple flowers that made the herb so poisonous to us. With slow steps I entered the sandy path that separated the rows. My wolves waited impatiently behind me for my signal, I knew that but I wouldn't let her out of here until I was sure this wasn't turning out to be an ambush after all.

So I kept walking, putting one black paw in front of the other. At some point, about halfway through the entire annex, I stopped and spun in a circle. So I could take a look at the whole area. But I couldn't find anything unusual again. Instead, I saw the brick house I was already familiar with.

Okay, do as I told you. That was the sign everyone was waiting for. Connor and Ethan ran straight to me while Drokor and Lerhome stayed outside and, as I had instructed them, kept an eye on the surroundings. After a short time, my selected warriors stood in human form in front of the plants and dug the benzene out of their pockets. They poured it over the krecanos, crouching directly over the plants to avoid spilling too much.

A rogue friend of Egbert's was able to get us the benzene and advised us to spill as little as possible as it was a highly combustible substance. And because we didn't want to cause a major fire, we followed this instruction. One painful hissing sound was heard during the procedure when Sophie got a little too cocky and got too close to the plant and made contact with it. It didn't take long and every row - and therefore every plant - was covered.

Now they took the lighter and, at my nod, ignited the trail of liquid. Everyone present watched what was happening, some even more fascinated than it should have been. I could understand her. It was crazy what a liquid and a little fire could do. After a short time, the smoke snaked past us into the sky. The stinging in the nose also subsided. Connor, Ethan and I walked on to the house leaving Lerhome and Drokor in charge.

After all, there wasn't much that could go wrong now. The red brick house didn't look particularly fancy or big from the outside, so I didn't expect much about the inside. And in fact it consisted of only one room, which was maybe a few square meters. The first thing that struck me was the man who was shaking and talking into an old telephone and noticed with horror in his eyes who had just walked through the door.

I cocked my head and watched him for a few seconds. It was funny to see how the short bald man with square glasses couldn't even control his shaking legs. Eventually I got tired of watching him explain to the person on the other end of the line what was happening and knocked him unconscious.

"Maybe we should kill him," Connor said and looked through the small and only window through which the man could see us. "It's not necessary. You'll soon know who did it anyway." I held the phone in my hand and crushed it. "If you don't already know." "It doesn't look tidy here." Ethan went to the desk and pushed the chair and the man into a corner. I joined him and could only agree with him. Dozens of sheets were piled in disorder and a few were even sodden with whatever. I probably didn't want to know.

Ethan shoved all the hands off the table in one motion and I was about to nag him when I also noticed the card that had been on the bottom. It covered the entire forest area and certain areas were circled in red. Among other things, my village, Zabrina's camp and the school nearby. Only one spot was circled in blue. "What is that?" I asked confused. "It looks like multiple buildings," Ethan replied. Now Connor joined us and took a look at the map. "This is a new development area. In the last few years, new houses have been built there in record time."

"How do you know that?" I said. Connor seemed a bit ashamed because I noticed a slight blush on his cheeks. "Every time we move, I find out everything about the area within a hundred kilometers and that's part of it." Ethan didn't bother to hide his grin. "How sweet." But then he looked back at the blue circle. "How likely is it that their headquarters are located there?" "I think so. The location is ideal. And yes, I found that out too." "Other question: How likely is it that we find this?" At my question, Ethan shrugged and Connor frowned. But it was Ethan who answered me. "Not very high. A real stroke of luck." "Yes," I mumbled.

"Really a happy coincidence." "What do you have?" Connor was visibly confused. I looked out the window. No more purple plants to see. My wolves were just waiting to go home. "It's all too easy." My wolves were just waiting to go home. "It's all too easy." My wolves were just waiting to go home. "It's all too easy."