BODIE POV

It would have been handy to have a wolf in my head to save me from awkward introductions all my life. My phone buzzed in my back pocket as we walked toward the laid out children. I picked up one covered child, she didn't weigh more than 80 pounds. I guessed the hormones still coming from the body told me she was a girl. I waited for Howard to pick up another and lead the way.

We walked across a field stained with blood and various bits of body parts. There was still smoke coming from the houses that caught fire. Small pyres were laid out in an open field, there were too many of them. Some people were finishing laying flowers at the base of them.

We laid the first two bodies on the pyres closest to us and the 5 people who were there turned to us.

"Help us get the rest of them?" I didn't want to distract from the task with introductions. They shouldn't lay there any longer. They nodded and followed us the short distance.

When the last of the bodies were laid in their final place, I started the walk toward the ones packing up. Only to see them huddled together, already on their way.

"Howard lInked us, told us we were starting." One girl stopped in front of me. "I'm Laurel, my little sister is in there, she was supposed to be with me, they told her to come find me, but she wanted to go find mom. That's how she died."

"It's not your fault, Laurel. You couldn't have known. There's always a frenzy during times of distress and from what I understand, no one prepared you for it. But we will do better." I didn't want her blaming herself for a war that they didn't ask for and that her last Alpha got them into.

"I was mated to Satan. Korbin's Gamma." She started to walk as she was talking, I guess that means she wants to talk. That's a good thing.

"Was that really his name?"

"No. But it may as well have been." She walked with her arms crossed over her chest, her shoulders curled in, like she was trying to hide herself.

"How old are you?"

"I just turned 17." I stopped and she continued into the arms of some waiting people. She's so young and judging from his nickname, she wasn't fond of him or the decision to mate.

<i>'We shift anywhere from 14-16, shortly after starting puberty. Some people are lucky enough to find their mates not long after the first shift. Others have to wait. She's from a new family, they were told that we needed her father's expertise in business when they transferred. They wanted a change anyway. But, Korbin had only taken his Gamma to find a mate. One that wasn't even his.'</i>

<i>'And her entire family was killed…'</i>

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<i>'I'm sorry for this.'</i> Caine was solemn, but he thought he had something to do with how this ended.

<i>'What do you mean? Why are YOU sorry?'</i>

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<i>'I could have done more. As an Alpha, I could have forced the shift. I could have gone against him and in my way, I did. He didn't use any of my abilities to aid him. I cut him off, but he was strong and charming and he knew how to make people trust him. In the end, I could never betray him by turning against him. We wolves are dormant inside from birth until puberty. We were made for each other. How could I betray him?'</i>

<i>'I hate to be able to say this, but I've seen worse. I wasn't trying to be sympathetic when I said that humans are bad and I only trust a few. Besides that, you did what you could and obviously the Moon Goddess saw that otherwise she wouldn't have sent you to me.'</i>

Caine nodded and curled up. I looked toward the 96 children on an individual pyre, they must have worked all through the day and night to make them. Each person when down the line with a torch to send their loved ones away. I stood in the same spot watching the fires light one by one. They took their time, stopping to say a few words, lay flowers and kiss foreheads.

I saw scenes like this all the time. I was just never there for the aftermath. I never saw the families mourn for their loved ones, or try to part with their things, put the pieces of their life back together.

Everyone gathered back together. It took a second to see that they were all looking at me.

I looked at my phone and saw a missed test from Parker.

<i>'All set! Let me know how you like it. I wired it all up for you too.'</i>

"If you are ready, we can start putting all the things together that we need to leave and I can get transportation done. By the way, no one has an issue flying to New Zealand, right?" There was chatter but one boy stepped up.

"I'm Elliot. What if we don't have passports?"

"I've already thought of that and I think I can make it work, I just need to make a phone call." Elliot nodded and everyone turned to walk off.

I turned to my phone and called Parker.

"Hey hey! You there already?"

"No. I was hoping you could help me with transport, 40 people? No documentation."

"Ok. I'm going to ask now. What are you doing?"

"I… have some people that I need to look after."

"Making friends? Highly unlike you, sir." Parker knew me too well and there would be no way to tell her what I'm doing without telling her the whole story. I didn't feel comfortable lying.

"I'm turning over a new leaf. What can I say? I'll give you all the details when it's all ok. The situation is a bit delicate and I want everyone to feel comfortable."

"Ohhhhhh. It's one of those. Ok then, I won't pry anymore. But this sounds juicy so I hope you'll tell me soon." I couldn't really resist chuckling at her.

"I promise. You think you can get us over there? ASAP?"

"I'm already shooting out some texts. Someone should get back to me pretty quickly with the urgency I'm wording this with. I'll get back to you with some de- OH!! Wait, wait, wait. Looks like I have confirmation on an aircraft that is flying to its home country, New Zealand. I think this captain has a crush on me…" I heard the keys tapping on the line. Most likely from her computer. "If you can get there within the next four hours, you guys can get on that plane. It is gonna be a tight fit though."

"I don't that will be very much of a problem. I'll make sure to get it done. You're the greatest Parker."

"Yeah yeah. I love you too." She cut the call and I walked back up to the front of the pack house to deliver the news. Most of the kids had suitcases and a few other bags sat in front of the parked car. It probably wasn't smart to get a sports car when there's so many people to take to the air strip.

Elliot paused at the car while dropping two suitcases. "We aren't taking much, not like there's much to take."

"We have to be at the air strip within these next 4 hours. Do you think we will be ready by then?" I looked down to my phone again to check how far away we were exactly. "We are about 45 minutes away. And we need a way for all of us to get there together."

"There are cars in the pack house, Alpha." A little boy, no more than five, hugging a stuffed animal and looking at me with the biggest eyes. No tears, no fear, all determination.

"What's your name?"

"Stephan" He smiled and walked so he was standing directly in front of me. I knelt to eye level.

"Do you think you can show me where, Stephan?" He took my hand and started the walk toward the garage. The door was mangled and the first half of the cars in the garage were completely damaged. Thankfully, 4 of the SUV's seemed fine. I found the keys on hooks on the wall and all the cars started. I took Stephen's hand again and went back to the front. Everyone was there.

"We all need to get to the airstrip that's about 60 miles away. Can we all get there together with everything at one time?"

"I think we can do it." Howard said.

"Then let's head out."