Massive opalescent moonstone doors opened before them. Amari and Diana's knees barely touch the ground before they are racing to the open arms of Asseric. Guovanni’s chuckles harmonized against the beat of thundering footsteps. Both lightly echoed around the cavernous hall. Music that lightened the heart emanated from everywhere and nowhere.

  Diana edged out Amari by a hair colliding with Asseric with a body crushing thud. He chuckled warmly as he squeezed her. Amari belly laughed taking her turn to embrace the Alpha King. His firm warm hands pressed into her back and pulled out the last remnants of the gangrenous apple blossoms from her bones. Rema and Orion laugh as they kneel for a moment longer, their pace quick but far more reserved. In turn, they embraced their King.

  The rest remain on their knees, bits of fear, reverence, and hope swirling on their faces.

  “It's good to see you all. Ruac has kept me apprised of your work but I like having you here with me.” Asseric spoke softly. “Who have you brought to me?”

  They all chuckled, spreading apart into a loose group behind him. As Asseric stepped forward, they instinctively closed ranks a step or two behind him.

  Asseric stood looking down at the remaining group, a suppressed smile hidden under his beard. “Welcome. I have been expecting you.”

  Heads shot up with confusion and awe.

  “Please, rise.” Asseric's voice rumbled like thunder contained in a bottle.

  Everyone felt it, the restrained power. Electric, thunderous. It stirred excitement and adoration in equal parts. Hairs danced on the back of each neck.

  Asseric chuckled. “You need not fear. Please rise, there is much to talk about.”

  Unsure they rise slowly, knees shaking. Instinctively Elias and Max protectively shift their bodies towards Nova. Benjamin keeps his face downcast.

  “I see my pack members brought some new blood. That's good. Though I am quite certain that you all have questions some more than others.” Asseric's kind eyes rest on Elias beaming.

  They all nodded.

  “Well then. Make yourself comfortable. I'll talk with each of you one on one.” A solid clap of his hands, Asseric turns back to the four. “The rest of you have your own duties to start. We are preparing for battle and my experienced warriors need to prepare the newbies. Get going. I'll send each along as they are settled.”

  Amari paused as Diana, Rema, and Orion bowed. Slowly they walked out. Orion tapped Max's shoulder encouragingly as he passed. Rema ruffled Elias's hair. Amari looked between Nova and Benjamin.

  Her hands stretched out, Amari grabbed both of Nova's and leaned her forehead into hers. Taking a deliberate breath, she smiled warmly. Pushing hope and encouragement into her eyes, she winked.

  Stepping to the side, Amari pressed two fingers under Benjamin’s chin. She only had to slightly lift Benjamin's chin for him to look at her in the eyes. Her hands moved lightly to his shoulders. She whispered, he leaned down. “Don't be afraid. He's not like your dad. He's not like anyone you've ever met.”

  A ghost of a smile answered her as she placed a hand on his cheek. With a nod, Amari turned back to Asseric. A deep bow, she felt her throat tighten and her heart squeeze.

  Outside the door, Amari joined the rest of her family. A seriousness settled over them. With a wordless, solemn nod they break off in different directions. With barely a conscious thought, Amari’s feet take her in the direction of the medical ward and training grounds.

  Antiseptic waffs down the hall and around the corner, Amari smiles at the familiar smell far before her hand reaches the door. Every bit of training flooded her mind. Long days of running nonstop. Hours under bright lights, staring through magnifying lenses. Her hand wrapped around the cool, bright copper.

  Polished warm wood opened to a bright, clean robin’s egg blue room. Polished white floors reflected lights. Amari stepped to the side, this was home. In a different way. Where she felt she belonged and thrived, where nearly everything made perfect sense. For a moment, she watched the hub-bub of controlled chaos. Bags were being inventoried and verified against check lists. Murmured words created a base for the random shouted counts and requests.

  Pride filled Amari, these were her people, efficient, confident, capable.

  “A-ma-ri!” A deep sing-song hit each syllable of her name.

  Amari’s cheeks squinted her eyes as a head hopped up, then disappeared into the crowd again. She mimicked back. “John-a-than!”

  A shorter man came out of the crowd and wrapped her in a spinning hug. He set her down, hand pushing into her shoulder pushing her back. “What’er you doin’ here.”

  “Well.” Amari shrugged. Her hands aimlessly pointing at everything going on around them.

  “Ah. We were told to prepare packs and wait for a…..” Johnathan slowly nodded his head. “You would be the department lead we are waiting for.”

  “My family led the information gathering aspect.” Amari jammed a thumb over her shoulder. “We have a lot to talk about.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Jonathan’s head bobbed. “Want me to gather the section leads?”

  “Please. Have the sections continue to pack the standard bags but we are going to need to pack a supplemental kit after we all design it.” Amari weaved through the crowd as she whispered to Johnathan. Mostly ignoring the stares, giving kind waves to familiar faces. “Have everyone meet me in my office for a debrief and strategy session.”

  Johnathan’s eyes went wide as he absorbed the implications of her words. Without hesitation, he broke off and beelined for the closest section chief.

  For a moment, Amari watched him whisper to the section chief whose eyes found hers. Johnathan was a terrific second in command for this department. Astute, quick, discerning. He was quick with laughter and even quicker to sit in the darkness with you until you found your way out. Gratefulness filled her as she watched him efficiently maneuver about the room relaying the message.

  In the doorway of her office, Amari breathed deep looking out to the bustling people. Seeing the revelation of her return spread across the room. Holding her breath a beat as she settled herself. Some of these people wouldn’t be coming back. One day fighting wouldn’t be necessary, but until then she was responsible for getting as many of this pack home as possible. A sobering responsibility. Amari pressed her fingers to her lips. Sighing, she rolled her shoulders back imagining the confidence she didn’t quite yet feel. Quick raps of her fist against the doorjab, she turned into her office.

  It was mostly as she left it. Johnathan had taken over the daily paperwork and other things as she hadn’t known how long her assignment would take. Both her hands rubbed the back of her neck before pulling forward to tap her cheeks. The stacks were overwhelming, but not urgent. Carefully, she lifted each stack and placed them on the floor in the corner. Her desktop now clear, she pulled out and plopped a stack of notepads onto the table. Tipping her mug of pens over, they clattered over the pads. The ceramic tinked as she placed it on the windowsill behind her.

  Squeaky wheels protested as she spun the chair behind her. Gliding over to her filing cabinets, her fingers created a rhythmic flutter as she worked her way through the files. Mumbling to herself, she swore she had research, papers, something on the effects of Tanas Iveld’s magic on werewolves and other fae.

  “I missed that.” A melodic soprano drew her attention to the door.

  “Sarah.” Amari paused her search. Her shoulders relaxed as she walked around the desk to give the older woman a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Welcome back. According to the grapevine, this place hasn’t been the same without you.” Sarah pulled back. Her hands gripped Amari’s face, she turned it this way and that as she inspected.

  “Well same to you. They pulled you out of retirement?” Amari chuckled. The comfortable but cool hands pat her cheek.

  “This may be your department now, but don’t forget who taught you everything you know. My choice. I wouldn’t be sidelined for this.” Sarah stepped back perusing the changes to the office.

  “Hey.” Amari lifted her hands in surrender. “I will take all the experience I can get.”

  “That bad?” Sarah’s eyes searched her face, and widened slightly.

  “Worse.” Amari gestured her open palm to a seat. Slipping into her own desk chair again, Amari swiveled to the open drawer. “Do you remember the study done on the effects of Tanas Iveld?”

  “About ten or fifteen years ago?” Sarah asked. The low hum answered enough for her to continue. “That would be in the fourth drawer of the third cabinet, unless you reorganized.”

  Rolling metal ended in a resounding click, as the drawer shut. Amari rolled herself over to the mentioned cabinet. Silence filled the space between them, as Amari flitted through the files. “Yes. Thank you.”

  With a push, Amari glided back to the desk. The folder hit the desktop with a thuwap. Amari looked up into her mentor’s eyes. Confidence blossomed in Amari’s chest at the certainty she saw there. Just a moment, to ground herself before section chiefs filtered into the room. Johnathan closed the door and leaned his muscular frame against it.

  Amari looked about the room. Serious, devoted faces stared back at her. Asseric had many good and loyal people. “Well, I know you all are surprised to see me back after only a few short months. I know when I left, my absence had the possibility of a year perhaps more. Without getting into every detail, yes my family was successful in gathering information. That information has brought us all back.”

  A collective gasp. People fidgeted in their seats. Leaning to whisper to each other as the implications crashed on them.

  “Quiet down, we do not have much time.” Amari waited for the silence to settle. “I am not going to say this is going to be easy, but we are members of the Alpha King Pack. That makes us different. Grants us power and support unlike any other pack. We also have our own packs and gifts that allow us to do what most others could only dream of.

  “Now, those of you in the room represent the most gifted in the research and medical sciences. And I, well the world, will need you to be at the top of your game.”

  “We are here for whatever you need.” Johnathan pushed off the door and came to stand beside Amari.

  Amari touched his arm, grateful for the solid presence beside her. “Right now, that is to sit and listen. Our enemy is not a rogue pack or even the packless. My family and I discovered that a pack near my hometown is, and has been for some time, working with Tanas Iveld.”

  Amari held up her hand. The sudden chatter instantly died back down. “I know those of you that have lived in the Fae realm have probably dealt with his underlings more often than the rest of us and understand the particular brand of magic he implores. I am going to need you all working on designing anything that will help our soldiers to stand against that magic and getting them into supplemental kits. Those that are particularly good at research, I need you to work with our own magic users in ways to support and strengthen the veil.”

  “The Veil? What’s wrong with the veil?” A young woman shot up from her seat.

  “Nothing yet, but it seems the goal of Tanas and this pack is to tear the veil, or find a way to merge power or magic. To remove the restrictions on wolves and allow Tanas to move freely about the human realm.” Amari kept her own panic out of her voice. Nothing good would come from their panic. Her hands lowered slowly, guiding the young woman back to her seat. “Asseric will not let Tanas gain unrestricted power. We know he can. It is our job to help, so those of you that are part of the research departments you will be leading the solutions for those two problems. The rest of us will be either training our own people to search and identify those that have succumbed to Tanas’s magic and find ways to subdue them until they can be cured or running the frontline medical support drills. Any questions?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “Okay, before you go, everyone fix your faces. This is not the end. We will prevail.” Amari smiled as she got a few laughs. Clapping her hands she ushered them out of her office. “Sarah, Johnathan, stay. We have our own decisions to make.”

  Amari sat down across the desk, tossing them each a pad of paper. “We have the privilege of divvying up the squads.”

  “I am going to get us all coffee. This is going to be a long day.” Johnathan mirthlessly huffed a laugh as he stepped out.

  Amari and Sarah shared a look until Amari dropped stacks of profiles on the desk between them blocking their gaze.