7

Stevens P.O.V.

I didn't feel good about leaving my mate with these crazy people. Who knows what they'll do to her if I'm not there to protect her? But I had a plan. Once I'm back with my old pack, we can assemble an army and free Silva from her clutches.

You must have been worried about me. Who knows exactly how many years I was imprisoned down there. I didn't understand the meaning behind it either. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to finally returning home. I'm looking forward to my older brother Dave, to my parents, to Aurelia...

Aurelia. She died next to me. I was holding her hand when she suddenly got very cold.

I immediately became sad. Because a lot must have changed in recent years and without Aurelia everything is no longer the same.

"What's going on?" Marius asked me worriedly in the Mindlink. Poor guy was only 16 when we were attacked and now a large scar running across his face will forever remind him of that day see how long ago that day was, because what was a young teenager has now become a man.

"Nothing, I'm just wondering how it will be at home." I answered him, trying not to think about Aurelia or Arsen, which must have affected her death the most. He certainly wasn't the same anymore.

"I wonder about that too. I'm also happy to finally see Cody again. He was my best friend back then." I was happy for Marius. At least someone who could see his best friend again.

Then suddenly the black and gray wolf of Owen stopped in front of me. "I can't wait to see Kiana again soon," he gushed. Owen, who was supposed to be in town on the day of the attack, was also there for my birthday. Luckily without his mate Kiana, he could rest assured that she was fine.

At least one who doesn't worry about his mate.

" Why are you stopping?" asked the gray wolf, which was Marius.

"I don't know. I've got a bad feeling about this right now," Owen said. And I got the same feeling now. We'd been running for a while, so we might well have been running beyond the limits of our pack by now, if at all It's also possible that someone else defeated Arsen after Aurelia's death and is now Alpha.

The whole group of eight people stopped next to Owen. Everyone seemed to notice this threatening feeling because they began to look around in all directions.

When a seemingly hostile growl sounded, we stood in a circle and could look in all directions. If it was necessary to fight, then we could do it.

Then we saw shadows slowly coming towards us from the forest. There were other wolves and they had surrounded us. Now some wolves from my group started to growl. But the other wolves kept coming at us and didn't even think about retreating.

When she got close enough, they menacingly loomed in front of us. A loud growl suddenly made us all small. It must have been the Alpha.

With my head bowed, I looked around and could see a black wolf to my left, which was larger than the others. He had to be. And if I'm not mistaken, it's even arsenic.

"What are you doing in our area?" asks another menacing voice, which connected to us in the Mindlink. That probably means they no longer recognize us.

"Talk!" the voice continued to command. I assumed it was coming from the light brown wolf in front of me, which was the second largest here. The Beta, Costa.

Because they didn't recognize us, I didn't know what to say. I thought it would be easier, but would you believe us?

"Cody?" It was Marius' voice that broke the dam. Shortly thereafter he jumped out of our circle, towards a dark brown wolf.

"Marius?" Cody asked, obviously completely confused. But he didn't have time to think anymore when Marius jumped on top of the other and the two tussled in the leaves and lovingly bumped their heads together.

"What the hell?" came the voice of the alpha, who took the menace out of his stance and looked confused after the playing and cuddling wolves. Well, Marius isn't as grown up as I thought he would be.

Now that we were no longer threatened by the other wolves, I decided to transform back. Some of the other seven did the same.

When we stood in front of the other wolves, as God created us, most of them lost their facial expressions, which they also had as wolves. Then they turned back too, including Costa and Arsen.

They still looked at us in disbelief until the alpha himself broke the silence: "How can you still live? Everyone thought you were dead." He paused and, shocked, grabbed his black hair, which was already showing a few gray hairs. "Steven? You were dead and really."

"Seems like I somehow survived it after all." I scratch the back of my head nervously, unable to explain myself how I can still be alive.

"This can't be real." Even he was completely out of character.

"We should get you back to the pack first so that a doctor can check you out and you should get a proper meal first. You look emaciated.", said the beta, who has now taken over the speaking for his alpha.

We all turned back into our wolf form and ran after the others. Back to the pack. Back home.

Aurelia's POV

"Arian!" I called out to my son, who once again thought he could hide. Unfortunately, it didn't sit well with me at the moment as Steven was sitting in his high chair in the kitchen, whining about being hungry while I was doing it was busy warming up his porridge.

"Soon sweetie," I tried to calm him down, but he wouldn't stop.

But luckily for me, Inala came in to the kitchen.

"What's all this noise?" she asked, clearly amused by my situation.

Stressed out, I put a hand on my bulge and tried to calm myself down. All the stress was not good for my baby.

"Do you know where Arsenic is?" I asked her about my husband as I could really use Arsenic's help right now. Baby number 3 is coming in two months so I could really use some help.

"Before he stormed off, Costa said that strange wolves were on our territory again." Well, of course, that explained why he couldn't be found again.

"May I help you?"

I nodded, pleased with her help. "Could you look for Arian? He's hiding again and I really don't have time to look for him right now. Of course, only if you have time for it."

"It's clear. I think I know where he is too..." she said. Then she left the kitchen. Luckily she helps me, otherwise sometimes I really wouldn't know what to do without her.

Just then, the microwave pinged, telling me the porridge was now warm. I took him out and sat in front of the still whining Steven.

Before I gave him the first bite, I tried again to make sure the porridge wasn't too hot, then I put the first spoonful in his mouth. My son stopped crying immediately and ate the rest of the bites as well.

"You're causing Mommy a lot of trouble right now," I said to Steven.

"Mommy," he babbles after me. After he's eaten half the porridge, Inala came into the kitchen with Arian, Sebastian and Elvira. The three 4-year-olds sat down at the small table that was in here, at the also Stevens high chair was.

"When I said there would be food, everyone came along voluntarily," Inala said, amused by the hungry children.

"And where were they?" I asked while shoving another spoonful of porridge into Steven's mouth.

"Arian and Sebastian were in the common room and fought with each other." Besides, Inala gave the children some of the pumpkin soup, from a pot on the stove, on plates, which she then put in front of the children.

Sebastian immediately started wolfing while his twin tried not to get dirty. Arian, however, only looked disappointed at his plate.

"What's the matter, my wolf?" I asked my eldest son.

"I thought there was meat," he said sadly, crossing his arms.

"Because I know my little wolf, I chopped up some extra sausages for you." Immediately Arian's face brightened and he also started to wolf down the food.

"That's really delicious, Aunt Aurelia," said Sebastian's childlike voice, who then handed his mother the plate and asked for more. This made me smile.

Everything is almost perfect...

But Steven, in front of me, started to get restless again. It was only then that I realized I had stopped feeding him. So I quickly gave him another bite.

"Do you actually want more children?" I asked casually to Inala, who now took a plate of pumpkin soup herself.

"No. The twins keep me busy enough as it is." She laughed. "How about you?"

"No idea. Arsen would love to have an entire football team. But I think 3 children are enough. I'm already sometimes overwhelmed, especially when Arsen is on the go." When Inala didn't say anything more, I looked at her and noticed that she seemed to be absent at the moment. Most of the time they then communicate via the Mindlink. It's a shame that I didn't I can't. I think it would be really cool if I didn't have to keep looking for Arian or Arsen.

Inala's smile suddenly turned serious.

"Inala? What's going on?” I immediately inquired. This sudden mood swing worried me.

"That was Costa. He didn't want to tell me directly what's going on, but we should get enough food and clothes," she replied, looking at me worried.

Without hesitation, she set off. After Steven was finally full, I immediately got down to cooking more food. There was still Jagdwurst in the fridge, which is why I decided on Jägerschnitzel.

Sebastian, who apparently still wasn't full, immediately started to cheer. "Yeah, I love Jägerschnitzel."

Arian, who was younger than the twins but a bit more mature, seemed to realize something was wrong. "What's up, Mommy?" he asked.

"It's fine, my little wolf," I said, trying to calm him down with a smile. At that moment, Steven became restless again. He was probably bored.

"Can you please go get your brother a toy?" I asked him and he nodded before jumping up from the table and running through the door into the hallway.

When he came back, he brought his little brother a rattle and his favorite stuffed animal. Then he sat down again next to Sebastian at the table.

Suddenly the door flew open and Arsen, Costa and Inala entered the kitchen looking as if they had just seen a ghost, the latter especially.

Then more men entered...