I wanted to leave.

I didn't want to be around the crying females. Even though they were calming down, the tears bothered me. What was worse was them trying to hug me. I didn't like physical contact on the best of days. I tolerated it for my beta brothers and their mates, but outside of that? I didn't like it. Especially by crying females, Lilith was pretty much the only exception to that.

I kept my hand on Julieta's lower back, putting pressure onto it. I had seen Luka do it to Shey when she had gone into labour and I figured it must have helped. Julieta wasn't complaining about it or telling me to fuck off, so I must have been doing something right. I felt for her though, her not wanting this. My wolf gave a small whine of sympathy for her.

This would be difficult for her. I knew, instinctively, she was going to fight the labour. She was in a space where she didn't want anything to do with it but I knew mother nature did not care about wants or needs. If the pup demanded to come, it would come. I just wished that I wasn't as hard, that I could offer her the support I knew she needed but I wasn't that male anymore.

I watched as more and more people arrived, the stench of flowers was enough to make me want to sneeze. Witches were joining and I knew they were eager. Witches loved chaos and if they could help create even more chaos they were the happier than a wolf under a full moon. I could hear cracks of teleportation outside as well and I knew that even more people were arriving. The hunter said he had wanted the enforcers involved so I could imagine they were getting pulled in.

I really just wanted to leave.

I could feel Julieta stiffen under my palm as another contraction hit her and I shifted, pressing my other hand to her back. I started massaging at the tense muscles, something I had seen both Luka and Micheal do for their females.

She groaned deep in her throat, her hand against the table, her knuckles white. "I can't-" She gasped it out and I nodded.

"I know." I struggled to find something to comfort her with but there were no words that I could express. She didn't want this; I could understand it and both my wolf and I sympathized with her but she had to do it. The labour wouldn't stop until she was ready. It was happening now and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. I just wished I was a softer male, that I could explain it to her, to try and guide her through it.

"I never wanted this." It came out like a whimper as she sagged against the table and I nodded again. I went back to simply pressing against her lower back again. "I just..." She stopped and I could hear her gritting her teeth, I didn't like that.

I reached over and nudged her cheek. "No." Grinding teeth was not good, it grated on my wolf and I. Even when Luka and Micheal did it we had to leave the room. It indicated illness, stress, anxiety, pain. Things I and my wolf couldn't help with. It was made worse after Micheal had been attacked by that shit male. I had no tolerance for it.

She attempted to get upright and I grasped her hand, letting her hold mine as she pushed up against the table. Her face was slightly flushed, sweat had beaded up on her forehead, making her hair cling to her skin, and she looked to be on the verge of tears. "I don't want this baby." It came out like a broken whisper and I nodded at her. I understood that. I was only natural for her to not wish for something forced upon her. There was no judgement from me for that. "Sometimes I wished I would miscarry, that I wouldn't have it in me anymore." Her voice was tiny, like she was telling me something she hadn't been able to say out loud before.

I nodded again. "Is kay." It was okay. Her feelings were more than valid. Wild wolves abandoned pups all the time to die in the elements. Maternal feelings didn't simply spring up because a pup was born. Sometimes it was never there at all to begin with.

She looked almost haunted, staring off into the distance but not really seeing anything. I tilted my head as I watched her and I had a brief surge of anger move through me. Luiz had been so protective of her, I had been too. Now she was here, in this situation, because she had been kicked from the safety of her pack, torn from the protection of her brother because Vera did as she always did.

I cupped her neck firmly, forcing her to look at me. "It. Okay." The words were gruff but I wanted her to understand that it was okay, how she was feeling was fine, natural even. "It okay. Normal." I searched her eyes and she looked defeated, exhausted and defeated. I waited, not looking away until she nodded her acknowledgement of my words.

"You, we need you outside!" The hunter posing as a bartender pointed at me from the front door and I nodded. I needed to go.

"Go now." I let her go and headed straight for the door. I glanced over my shoulder and that other female took my place at her side. I liked that. She was a good support for Julieta. I shoved into the morning air and spotted the almost military formations of the fully outfitted enforcers.

"These males are to be considered armed and dangerous. If you must shoot to kill, do so!" I knew that voice. My gaze slid to the female mundane pacing along the front of the enforcers. Julia Savage was actually doing her job for once. I was surprised. "We don't know if there are any innocents in the pack but the report says twenty females were brought to this checkpoint."

"Enforcer Savage, I have the male who brought them." The bearded hunter pointed at me.

"Agent Smith, thank you." Julia nodded and then pinned me with a cold stare. "Are there any innocents left in the pack?"

"One." I doubted Luiz would like to be cuffed and tagged. He was the only one I would class as innocent that was left in camp.

"Young, old, male female? I need details here!" She seemed overly agitated and I simply stared at her.

"Male. Healthy." I shrugged and looked towards the trees. I just wanted to get going, I didn't do well around people and I wanted those fucks taken out as soon as possible. They were a threat to Fortis and I wanted them dealt with.

"That gives me absolutely nothing." Julia rolled her eyes and turned back to her enforcers. "Okay then. Try not to kill anyone that isn't on your lists, if they are and they have an extensive record, feel free to rough them up or kill them."

"Disregard that. Try to apprehend." A tall female moved from what looked ot be a group of white witches that had just arrived.

"Councilor Kathrine." Julia settled into a wide legged stance, lifting her chin. "Good to see you."

"Roughing up is okay, Katarina." A burly male with a thick Ukrainian accent followed the female and Julia smirked at him. He looked positively thrilled as he looked over the lined up enforcers.

"Councilor Sasha." Julia nodded and I started down the stairs. "Don't you move yet." She pointed at me without even looking and I bared my teeth. "We are going to circle the camp before we do anything else. You will wait until we are in position and then you can enter the camp again. We aren't taking the chance that any of them escape." I gave a low growl, disliking the order. I barely tolerated orders from other shifters, a mundane wasn't something I liked being ordered around by.

But still, I stopped moving. I kept my gaze on the trees as more orders were shouted and more time was wasted. I wanted this taken care of. Those males were planning on attacking Fortis and I refused to allow them to hurt my pack, my family. Even though I didn't know where I belonged, where I fit, I knew I could never let them be harmed.

I could feel Micheal and Luka pushing harder against the blocks I had up. They wer3 concerned, worried, and pressed the feelings against the block, clearly hoping I would soften, trying to alleviate it. I wouldn't, this shit was something I had to do on my own. I'd get everything figured out with Vera, deal with my past, and then I believed I would be able to figure out everything else.

I could hear the orders slowing down before they finally finished. I had a witch move over to me and I resisted the urge to bare my teeth at her. I was agitated but not stupid, witches could do serious damage and smart shifters minded their fucking tongues when around them. Witches could be vicious and brutal when pushed. They always reminded me of large cats, like lions and tigers. Creatures that knew they could kill you but generally wanted to play with their food before they did it.

The witch didn't say anything but grabbed my shoulder and I was teleported close to the camp. The scent of roses was cloying and made me want to gag but I swallowed back my nausea at the sensation and almost hit my knees. I wasn't sure how I remained vertical but I managed, barely. Clearly the witch hadn't cared about comfort at all for the teleport but then again, that didn't surprise .e.

There was a crackle from a walkie on the witch's shoulder. "In position, let the wild run free." I didn't wait for the witch to repeat the order as I headed straight back to the camp. I would get this taken care of, make sure Fortis was safe, then go deal with that dragging weight I called my past. I would sever it cleanly and then I could come home, feel less muddled.

As I got closer I could hear angry shouting but I merely rolled my head on my shoulders and shook out my arms. The patrols weren't out so clearly something was going on in camp. Which made sense. They must have discovered the females were gone. I was just glad they were so cocky and arrogant they didn't think to be suspicious of it. Shitty males were always sp over confident and it always brought about their downfall.

"He can't just fucking steal all our shit and then the females! Brandt had these rules for a-"

"Brandt's dead, guys!" Luiz sounded exasperated and I wondered how long he had been dealing with the agitated males. Probably at least an hour, I wasn't sure how long it had been since we left, an hour at the very least, probably closer to two. "These aren't Brandt's rules anymore because he's fucking dead! The new guy is the leader, that's how this works, what he says, goes."

"We need to all calm down." There was someone clearly trying to placate and calm the situation down. Fat lot of good that would do with this bunch. I walked into the camp boundaries and I could see the males all grouped around the entrance of what used to be Brandt's tent. They were muttering to each other, some listening, others dissenting, that didn't matter much to me though.

"He seems pretty calm for a dude whose bitch sister is fucking missing!" It was snarled and there was a returning snarl from Luiz. I let my dominance out and watched as the males in front of me immediate tensed and backed away, some hitting their knees. They immediately cleared a path for me and I walked to the center of the group. I let my dominance stay free. There were no females that it would affect and I didn't care about the males. They could hit their knees and wiggle in the dirt showing their bellies for all I cared. My wolf snapped his jaws together, his agreement clear.

I ignored them all, Luiz included, as I sat down in a ratty lawn chair, leaning my head back. "Hey..." Someone approached but I didn't respond. They didn't deserve a response. The hunters would deal with them as they wished. I just wanted it to be dealt with quickly and safely. That way Fortis would be safe and Luka and Micheal wouldn't be out trying to fight them.

"Where the fuck are the females!" It was snarled, from that loudmouthed male who had been yelling at Luiz and I smirked slightly.

"Gone." They were where it was safe, where they could get help, where they didn't have to deal with these sick males anymore. Males my wolf and I seriously wanted to kill. But it was still funny. They were so cocky, so overconfident they didn't realize what happened.

"Gone? Are you fucking kidding me? It took us years to build up that harem and you say they are just gone?!" He was coming closer and I lifted my head and slowly turned it to look at him. He faltered in his approach as I set my gaze on him, shoving the dominance at him harder.

I could see sweat beading up on his forehead, a vein in his neck popping up. He wanted to hit the ground, I could see it. A weak male. A tiny, pathetic junkyard dog, trying so hard to challenge the more feral animal in the words. It wasn't working, we both knew it, he was just taking his time accepting it. I could see it though, in his eyes, his wolf was belly fucking up.

"Gone. All gone." That was all they would get out of me. The females weren't their concern anymore, in fact no females would ever be their concern. Where they were going I was fairly positive they wouldn't see another female for the rest of their miserable little lives. My wolf bared his teeth, licking his teeth, he wanted me to tear into flesh, to taste blood across my tongue but I held him back. The hunters wanted to take care of it and I liked being the one to hold him back for once. Was it petty? Absolutely, did I care? Not really.

"Bullshit. You can't just come in here and change our way of life!" The words were gritted and he grunted with the effort to keep standing. I could see his knees shaking, he was trying so hard to stand underneath my dominance.

I slowly stood up and several of the males backed up rather quickly as I slowly walked to the male. "Agree." I bent down until I was eye level with him, letting him see my wolf, letting him see just who was more dominant between us. "Hunter can though." I gave a rather malicious grin as the realization seemed to dawn over him.

I yanked the dominance back right as Julia Savage was teleported in the middle of the group by a white witch. "Come on boys! It's our lucky day! Sic em!" The mundane shouted it as the witch made a complicated gesture with her hands. I watched as a beam of magic seemed to pierce the sky before it met with others, creating a barrier over the forest, trapping the males.

"Fuck! Run!" The males scattered and I sat back down on the lawn chair, looking up at the sky. It was amusing, listening to them cursing and some of them snarling and growling. They were clearly trying to fight the enforcers as they poured from the forest to arrest them. Sporadic gun shots rang out and that seemed to make the chaos even worse. Snarls and growls, yelps and shouting, it all ring through the air as the males were dealt with.

I wasn't sure how long it took but the sounds of fighting rose higher and higher, the cracks of teleportation and then there was simply silence

That felt nice.

Someone approached me and I turned my head on the chair to look at them. It was Agent Smith, the bearded one, and he looked disgruntled. "I need you to come back to the bar. The little female, the one in labour. She's not wanting to leave. Maybe you can talk some sense into her. She keeps asking for an Ezekiel or Luiz."

I stood up and nodded. "I go." If Julieta was asking for me I would go.

"I don't know who she's asking for." The male looked concerned and confused.

"I Kiel. Luiz..." I looked around slowly. "Gone." He wasn't anywhere and I wondered if he was caught in the crossfire and was arrested. More than likely but that wasn't my problem. "Luiz brother. Hers." I turned back to Agent Smith as I spoke. I knew I would need Luiz released if we were going to head back to Provacatio and deal with Vera. He and Julieta had been poisoned by the viper, just like I was. It was more witnesses to her dangerous ambitions. But right now, that wasn't a priority, Julieta was.

He nodded, "Okay, I'll put in a notice for his release but you should come with me, she's not letting anyone touch her and she really shouldn't be in the bar. She needs to be transferred to a healing facility." I could understand that and I nodded again. Julieta needed to accept she was having that baby.

Mother nature stopped for no one but I would be with her if she needed me, if she needed someone and Luiz couldn't be there. I wasn't so cold that I would leave her to suffer alone.

Not when I could help in the little way I could.