It's better not to know where your foot has been

A week had passed since the attack and Adira was now fully recovered from her injuries. Nora visited her constantly, making sure the warrior was well taken care of. Adira thanked her constantly and reminded her that she should not be showing favoritism.

Angelo had passed due to his injuries, and although Adira was not close to him, his death took a heavy blow on the team. She had been excused and replacement was found for her and Angelo alike; Alexander had other plans for her.

On the morning after the attack, Adira had woken up with a sore throat and a dull pain in her abdomen. She was under constant care by the nurses and the doctor as it was soon found that she had an infection growing. The doctor had treated her with silver, as a way to stop the fast-spreading infection to the rest of her body. Now she had six bulging scars that looked like burned tissue.

Alexander called her to his office once she was discharged from the hospital. She made her way to meet him and found herself in a room with other warriors, just as curious as she was.

"Thank you all for coming so quickly," Alexander started speaking after two more people entered the room. Unknown to her, Adira found herself among the top members of the pack. "I am glad to see all of you healthy after suffering terrible injuries last week. I have some bad news to share with you."

All the people in the room waited for their Alpha to continue with his explanation, and when he did he pulled out a vanilla folder from his top drawer.

"These are reports shared by the Alphas in the Canyon Area," he passed the folder to the closest person on his right and signed for him to pass it around. When Adira got one of the papers inside, her stomach dropped. "We are not the only ones being attacked."

Adira read the document. There had been two other packs attacked before theirs.

Alpha Tobar was in charge of the Midnight Pack. They were strong but their forces had failed after being attacked for the fourth time last night and were requesting aide from nearby packs. The Moonshine Pack and their Alpha, Gloria, had also been under attack right after their own attack happened.

"We will depart at six pm. Our friends need our assistance and we will help them," Alexander sat on his chair behind the desk, exhaustion apparent on his face.

"If I am correct, there are only thirty of us here," A warrior with a shaved head and a buttlerfly tattoo on his neck spoke up. "If the numbers that are here are correct," he pointed at the paper in his hand. "I do not think we will be enough help."

Alexander looked at the man and sat up straight, leaning on the table.

"That is correct, Marcus. All of you standing here are excellent warriors, each of you excels in your own area of expertise," Alexander's gaze traveled around the crowd, looking at each and every man and woman in the office. "Each of you will select five members, of which you will have full authority over, and form teams."

Adira was taken aback for a second, not ready for the responsibility.

"And what are these teams for?" Adira recognized Alondra, one of the women who had finished warrior training alongside her years ago. "What will we be doing when we get there, Sir?"

"You have exactly four hours to select five warriors, make sure they are people you can trust," Alexander stood up and looked down at the floor thoughtfully. "When we show up at the Midnight Pack's territory, we will most likely enter a battleground. I will not be able to help each and every member so I trust you will be in charge of your five. Half of you will stay with me, and the other half will follow your Gamma. Beta Caleb will stay here in charge."

When the meeting was over, Alexander dismissed everyone except for Adira. She waited by the door as all others left to start preparing to leave.

"Sir?" she asked him.

Alexander looked at her, and for a second she thought a hit of regret on his face.

"I want you to assist Rose," Adira wanted to protest, but ever since their last fight she refused to challenge him. She was still angry at him.

"Okay."

"I mean it," he said. "When I say I am sorry for what happened, I mean it. But I also really need my two best fighters working together."

"You know I would not put the pack in danger for petty fights," She replied slightly offended. "My personal quarrels are not of your concern, sir," Alexander opened one of the drawers under his desk and pulled out a pink folder with her name on the tag. Adira recognized the handwriting and her blood started to boil. "You had no right to go through that."

Alexander opened the folder on a flagged page and read it out loud.

"Patient reports hearing voices," he went to a different page. "Patient informs staff that treatment has been unsuccessful. Reports hearing thoughts of pack members without the need of the link."

"Alexander!" She screamed at him. He looked up and met her eyes.

"I wanted to talk about this at a better time, but I realize there might not be a better time than right now. The pack doctor advised against you being one of the leaders in this fight, and when I asked him why he told me you might have schizophrenia. Being a werewolf makes it unlikely, but there is always the chance that it is true," He closed the folder and placed it back in the drawer which he locked. "I am aware that you have auditory hallucinations, but I believe that even if you do have that illness, you can still do a good job."

"I am not hallucinating it."

Her anger was increasing, she felt a strong desire to run to the hospital and tear up the pack doctor.

"I understand that you may be angry at me and the doctor. But please, understand he had to speak up as you will be working with Rose. I want to avoid another fight between the two of you like last time."

Adira understood what he was saying. He was thinking that what she heard had been just a hallucination. But he was wrong, but she knew that arguing about that would just prove him right in his eyes. So she said nothing.

"Understood."

It was clear Alexander had expected her to fight him on that, so when she agreed with him he was taken aback.

"Go then. And please, continue the treatment with the doctor once you return."

Adira ignored him and left the office, anger running through her veins. He had violated her right to privacy, the doctor had too.

She made it to her room and grabbed a big sling bag. She extended the strap as much as possible so she would not break it once she turned into her wolf. She packed her sanitary items and two change of clothes, sure she'd probably not need them as she was planning to spend most of her time as a wolf.

She made her way to the common rooms in the basement of the packhouse, where she found the two people she was looking for.

Noah and Camila were playing pool against each other. Camila cas about to take her shot when Adira grabbed the white ball and placed it inside one of the pockets.

"Hey!" Camila exclaimed. "What was that for?" He short red hair was braided into two Dutch braids. Her brown eyes were decorated with long lashes and black eyeliner.

Noah let out an obnoxious laugh and raised his hand so Adira could give him a high five.

"Get ready, we're leaving at six pm. Meet you near the entrance."

"Where we going?" Noah asked, lowering his hand slowly after not getting his high five from Adira.

"The Midnight Pack has been under attack and has requested help. Alpha Alexander has chosen a few of us to go with him and told us to take five more. Congrats."

Noah rested his weight on the table, and Camila placed her pole on the rack hanging on the wall.

"Deal. Please do not pick Carmen, bitch has been in heat," Camila begged her.

Adira rolled her eyes and waved her hand, leaving them to find the next three people she knew would be a good addition to their team. But for that, she had to visit Nora.

She made her way to the top floor, Where the Alpha and Luna lived by themselves. Nora was in her office, clicking away on her calculator and writing down numbers on her notepad.

"You know there are programs that can do the math for you, right?"

Nora looked up and smiled at her cousin. Nora was wearing what Adira thought to be one of Alexander's t-shirts and a pair of biking shorts. The woman looked tired with eye bags under her eyes and oily hair tied up in a bun.

"I prefer doing the math myself, thank you." She returned to her work. "What do you need? And yes, I know you need something. You wouldn't be here unless you wanted something from me."

Adira walked around her office, looking at the pictures she had on the wall. Her favorite was the one from their wedding, Adira had been the maid of honor and Caleb the best man. The four of them had their arms around each other, smiling at the camera.

"I need you to let me borrow Adele and Matias."

"I supposed you are picking them as two of your five?" Nora spoke as she kept doing her calculations. "Why not Margaret? I know you two work great together."

"No," Adira shook her head. "She is your best guard and I cannot take that away from my Luna."

"So, instead of taking only one of my guards, you are taking two?" she raised her eyebrow, her work now forgotten.

"Yeah."

Nora considered for a few sconds and nodded, waving her away.

"Alright."

"Thank you," Adira kissed her cheek and left the top floor.

"Be careful!" She heard Nora yell after her.

She did not look for Adele and Matias, she communicated with them through the link. When they confirmed they were to start getting ready, she cut the connection. Adira made her way to the training grounds and found the person she was looking for.

Tobias was training by himself. He was holding a few thring knives and aiming at a target a few feet away.

"Tobias," Adira announced her presence. He turned his head with a bright smile on his face.

He had a long nose, high cheekbones, and brown eyes. His dirty blonde hair blew over his eyes as the wind hit them.

"Hello," he threw the knives on the table placed next to him. "What brings you here?"

When adira finished explaining the situation, Tobias was already cleaning up his station. They made their way back to the pack house so he could get ready.

"And Alexander really gave you the task?" He asked her as they neared the house. "I thought he'd still be angry with you after the argument you guys had."

"It seems he knows I can do my job," she kicked a rock on the ground. "And he went through my medical records," Tobias raised an eyebrow.

"All of it?"

"Looks like it," she looked over at the tree line in front of them. She felt shame, but she needed to talk about it to someone who would be able to understand her. And that someone was Tobias. "But it seems like he does not care much as long as I do my job."

They entered the house and walked up the stair. Tobias' room was on the second floor; Adira waited on top of the bed as he collected his items for the journey.

"You know," He told her as he took his shirt off and changed into a different one. "As much as I dislike him as a person, He is a good leader. That is why I follow and respect him."

Adira said nothing and pushed herself on the bed and closed her eyes.

When the four hours were up, the two left to find the rest of their group. She took her clothes off and folded them to put them inside her bag, and then turned into her dark grey wolf. Tobias did the same and his light brown wolf pushed playfully. Adira did the same but then ignored his attempts to continue playing.

Adele and Matias found them after a few minutes. Matias, in his black wolf, had a similar bag as Adira, and Adele, a wolf with patches of brown, white, and orange all over her fur, had a smaller bag in between her jaws.

Noah and Camila, both in their black wolves, came running and joined their small group.

Adira noticed when Rose looked over her group, clearly just as annoyed with Alexander's decision in having them work together. Alexander passed in between the two women and growled as a warning. Adira turned to the side and Rose exposed her neck in submission.

That was the difference between the two. Rose got the title of Gamma due to her ability to submit to her Alpha more easily than Adira.

Caleb was there, the only one in human form, assessing the groups with a critical eye. Alexander and Rose were next to him, clearly talking among themselves in a private link. When they were done, alexander addressed the rest of the warriors.

"You should know your places by now."

The warriors separated into two groups. Ninety of them stayed behind Rose, Adira and her group included, and ninety went behind Alexander.

"Be careful," Caleb told the warriors. "Return home safely."

And off they went in the direction of the southeast. It was a run, not at full speed but still very fast. As werewolves, they had more resistance than the average athlete and more strength than the average soldier.

The forest that surrounded their lands soon came to an end when they reached the border. Adira saw the beginning of the canyon that extended for miles and miles. Far away in the distance, she recognized the place where just a few months ago a young rogue jumped to her death.

The one hundredth and eighty-two wolves ran for half a day and took a break for an hour to replenish themselves. And the next day around midday, they reached the center of the canyon. There were very few trees and a lot of tall bushes, and the ground had more rocks than soil, making it hard to run fast.

Alexander made them stop and turned into his human form. He bent down, taking off his own bag over his shoulder, and pulled out a phone. He spoke with the other person for a few seconds and then put the phone back inside the bag. He told something to Rose that Adira did not hear and then addressed the whole group.

"The Moonshine Pack will find us near the northern border of the Midnight Pack lands."

They kept moving, and eventually, the rocks started to get smaller and smaller as they reached closer to the Midnight Pack land. Adira noticed the bridges that allowed for easier access to the main part of their lands. At first, they were all cut down, but as they started to move forward, two bridges were still connecting the two sides of that part of the canyon. There were no guards posted by them. Adira was increasingly anxious, the smell of scavengers and rogues alike was getting stronger the closer they got to the center of the canyon. The two bridges still standing were worn down, one of them was hanging only by one side as if the person who had to cut it down had stopped halfway.

The group stopped once again, and Alexander allowed them to rest while they waited for the Moonshine Pack.

They did not wait long, Adira smelled them before they appeared. It was a group as big as theirs, following a group of three at the front. Adira figured it was Alpha Gloria, her mate, and Beta Susan.

When they reached Alexander, both Alphas turned into humans. Adira paid attention to their conversation.

"Hello, Alpha Alexander. Long time no see."

"Too bad is under such circumstances," He replied politely, then turned towards the one bridge left standing strong.

"We should send a scouting party first. It's too quiet for my liking," Gloria told Alexander. Her hair was short and curly, the air messing with it as she moved her head from side to side. "It looked to me like this is the only bridge left."

"Tobar mentioned the rogues were using them to access the center of the land, but he also mentioned they kept attacking from all sides even though he had cut all but one bridge."

"It's obvious," she told him. "They are using the routes from inside the canyon."

Alexander nodded, agreeing with the woman.

"Let's send a scouting party first."

Then Adira heard Alexander inside her head.

"Come here. You and your group."

Adira called the attention of her friends and they followed her. She stood next to Alexander, in front of Alpha Gloria. She had also called a few of their own, one of them standing next to Adira. The two transformed into their human forms so they could all communicate more easily.

"Go in there and report what you find," Gloria told the two of them.

Adira looked at the werewolf next to her. It was a man in his twenties, probably a year or two older than her. He had an undercut, the top hair in a ponytail that reached his shoulders.

"Jake," He looked at her and shook her hand.

"Adira," she replied.

"We'll take the left side."

Adira nodded.

"I will send two of mine with you, so we can communicate."

"Good idea," he turned to an ashy wolf. "You and Luke, go with them."

Adira turned to her friends, Adele and Matias had already stepped up and were exchanging places with the ashy wolf and a light grey one.

They all dropped their bags, Alexander took them in his hand and gave them to someone else to put them in the back of the group.

"Be careful," Alexander told them before they were too far away.

Adira followed after Jake and each took their group of five in opposite directions.

"Be careful and let me know if anything goes wrong." She told Adele.

They moved fast, following the edge of the canyon. It was too quiet, the repugnant smell of scavengers started to get stronger the closer they got to the small group of houses. Adira kept giving small updates to both, Jake and Alexander, as they continued to look for any signs of life.

When they had the small village in sight, Adira felt her stomach drop, vomit threatening to come out. Along the line of the houses, there were seven scavengers eating the insides of a pregnant woman. They were fighting among each other, trying to get pieces of her arms and legs.

The scavengers had no fur, their skin had red boils, and some were broken and leaking a yellow liquid onto the ground. There were more bodies, most were missing big chunks of their limbs, and all that was left of others was their bones.

"Adele," she tried to communicate with her and Matias. "They were attacked recently. I do not think anyone made it."

Adira sent an image of what she was looking at Alexander, who was clearly upset by the news.

"No. we found a few survivors. They are in a bunker, but we cannot risk opening it yet." Matias told her. "Jake wants to investigate this side of the village. We do not sense anyone."

"Do not go in there," Adira hadn't noticed Alexander was also part of their link. "Leave the people in the bunker and come back." He said and cut off contact.

"Jake is insisting," Adele told Adira.

"Tell him I do not approve. Retreat."

Adira grew more nervous as she waited for Adele to reply. The ashy wolf turned into a human woman with purple hair and green eyes, she spoke softly to Adira.

"Jake says he will meet us back at the bridge. They found nothing but dead bodies and the bunker."

"We are going back," Adele told her finally.

Adele gave one last look at her surroundings. The more she paid attention to the details, the more disgusted she was.

She guided her group back, trying to not gain unwanted attention. But soon she heard barking and growling behind them.

They all looked back and saw the seven scavengers running after them. They were too many to fight them, and although her friends were good warriors, the odds were not in their favor.

They ran disregarding stealth completely.

"They saw us!" she informed Matias and Alexander.

"They are too fast." She heard Camila.

Camila was in the back, the scavengers trying to catch up to her. She saw Tobias and Noah fall behind and flank Camila. The scavenger at the front had almost caught up to them when Noah stopped suddenly and kicked the side of the scavenger.

The scavenger fell, a whimper coming out of him. Noah kept running and soon cough up to Tobias and Camila.

Adira saw Jake and the rest of his group coming from the left, running to help Adira and her group. The two groups met up and turned around to confront the seven scavengers, the one that Noah had tripped over had a clear limp.

Adira was the first to jump on top of one of the scavengers. It was a female, and although she was very skinny, the beast was strong.

Adira tried her best to avoid being injured. The beast was blinded by hunger and fury, her attacks on Adira were uncoordinated and sloppy. Adira soon found her neck and bit down on it hard, trying to break it.

The scavenger was not bothered by the pain of the hold Adira had on her and kept trying to use her paws to shred her to pieces. The scavenger used her back legs and pushed on her stomach, but Adira twisted her so they both fell to the ground, Adira on top of her.

She was hit on the side, causing her to let the scavenger's neck go. A second scavenger, a male, stepped over the female, growling threatening at Adira. The male jumped with its front claws ready to attack Adira, and she met him halfway. The two trying to gain the upper hand in the battle.

The male scavenger was considerably larger than her, stronger too. Adira did not let that distract her as she dodged his attacks.

Adele rushed to help Adira, but she was stopped by the female scavenger. Adele saw the injury on her neck and immediately attacked her with her jaws. Adele twisted her neck, trying to break it and ignoring the now weak attacks she got in return from the scavenger.

The male heard the cries of the female and Adira used his distraction to push him closer to the cliff of the canyon with the intention to make him fall. She noticed the scavenger getting furious as the female's cries ended when Adele pulled back, a big piece of the female's skin between her jaws.

The male ran to Adele, who was cleaning the blood that splashed in her eyes. Adira ran after him and bit his tail. The male turned to her, clearly annoyed.

Adira fought him, the male's rage making him the mistake of forgetting to protect himself. Adira used one of her back legs and pierced through the skin on his abdomen. She then kept attacking the same spot over and over until she felt the entire bottom of her leg buried into something.

She ignored the sensation as the male cried in pain. Adira pulled her leg back, now full of blood.

The male was weak now and Adira used the opportunity to attack his neck, killing him in a quick motion.

She let go of her victim and looked around. Jake was disposing of the last standing scavenger.

As the fight came to its end, Adira transformed into her human form.

"Anyone injured?" she asked

Everyone shook their head.

The two groups walked back to the bridge. Gloria and Alexander were waiting for them on the other side. Adira let Jake give them the report of what they had found. She sat on the floor next to a bush, still as a human, and used it to brush the bowels of the scavenger off her leg.

"We should call Sebastian," Gloria told Alexander when Jake finished.

"You do that," Alexander told her. "I'll go and open the bunker."

Gloria nodded, grabbing the phone her Beta offered her.

Alexander found Adira, who was using a twig to clean under her toenails. Was that poop?

She refused to smell it and just threw it away.

"Are you guys, okay?" he asked her.

"Yes."

Alexander looked her up and down, assessing the small gashes on her body that were already healing. No signs of infection were present.

"Good."

He walked away and turned into his blonde wolf, a group of twenty warriors followed him across the bridge. Adele went with him and guided the group to the bunker.

"Too bad." Adira thought.

They had been too late.