"How am I supposed to get a bracelet on any of them if they can''t even pull their hands out of their pockets to hug me, Sam?" "You were able to touch him though, right?"


    "Yeah, I was able to hug him, but not the other way. He looked awful."


    "They all do. Maybe one of us can get the bracelet on, maybe if you just have physical contact with them it will work."


    "It''s worth a shot anyway."


    "I wonder if it''s going to be the same with the twins or if you won''t be able to touch them at all."


    "This is so stupid." I huff through the link.


    "Bright side. Birthdays areing up and no one can get in the way of that. Eighteen baby!"


    "You wanna bet? And I will not be eighteen."


    "We always celebrate together. It''s an us thing, always has been."


    "I was not a part of that ''us'' thing for fourteen years, remember."


    "Nope, I don''t remember anything of the sort. You have been around since the dawn of time. You were just the silent partner for a really long time. Now you have your voice and ''silent'' isn''t even in your vocabry."


    "You are stupid, but I love you. You will have fun no matter what."


    "It''s my birthday. Everyone else can f*ck right the f*ck off. If we have to, we will party at your house in the backyard. I just want to be with all of my friends for my eighteenth. Is that so much to ask?" "Once a diva, always a diva."All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    "This is happening Sky, it has to." All his yfulness is gone. "This one is important, you know that, I know that, everyone knows that. Does it surprise you that all this sh*t is going down right as all of us are about toe of age?"


    "Yeah, I thought about that too."


    "Not just the crap with Kaley though. Everything. All the attacks, The Alpha going crazy, tons of new peopleing into the pack. All of it. This is big."


    "We just have to keep everyone safe until this all blows over then. Which means we have to figure out how to get the twins alone long enough for someone to get those bracelets on them and for me to set the incantation. That''s a big task."


    "We''ll figure it out. Go sleep, you are running on none right now."


    I do as he asks, for once, once and head straight to the house. Wyatt and Nathaniel are eating before Wyatt heads to patrols and Nathaniel heads to help with the next training session. "Perfect, we didn''t miss you. Heard a rumor today and think you should check it out." Nathaniel stops me as I walk by the ind.


    "What''s up?"


    "Rumor is, the Alpha enjoyed the spectacle of the trails so much that he wants to run something like that again, but no other packs wille here with the threat of the Rogues, so he is going to do some kind of mock trial soon."


    "So what? He can run anything he wants, it''s his pack. Maybe it will boost morale a bit, since everyone has been so focused on training and protecting the pack. It will be something fun to look forward to." "Yeah, but we are pretty sure it''s not his idea, because there is also a ball to follow to announce the winner officially, and of course it is going to coincide with the twins birthday." He gives me a pointed look. That got my attention. Of course Kaley wants a spectacle surrounding the twins turning eighteen. She thinks she is going to be Luna, and if she has them under mind control, that is exactly what is going to happen.


    I am so tired and I just want to sleep, but now I have to figure out what this is all about. At least I have a bit of a time frame. If it is set for the twins birthday, then that gives me two and a half weeks to set them free.


    "Sam, Oliver. We have to talk."


    "Little Bit, I''m pretty sure the instruction was ''sleep'' not ''overthink ande up with more sh*t to do.""


    "What''s up Bitty?"


    "Such a suck up."


    "What do you know about mock trials and a ball to celebrate the twins'' birthday?"


    Now I have their attention. I exin what Nathaniel found, because that was actually news to them. Meaning they are being left out of conversations, they have always been and should be a part of.


    We decide that we need to get to Mateo ASAP and the best way to do that would be during patrols so Nathaniel can be our lookout on the cameras as well as Jena and the guys helping. I''m hoping that having Jena with me will help and not hinder our n. I''m pretty sure Kaley has been keeping Mateo away from her in the hopes that he will choose one of her friends.


    I don''t understand how one person can be responsible for ruining so many lives and is doing itpletely on purpose for a title.


    Sam said he will get his dad to shift the patrol schedule, but to make it look natural, we have to wait until the weekend when a shift like that would normally ur.


    Four days. I have to wait four days


    to save my brother. They seem to be


    ??


    the longest days ever. Jena and I have been keeping busy in the tiniest spaces of downtime that we do actually have nning a party for the boys. I don''t know if it will happen at all, but the thought of something fun and just for them is helping us both cope with the very real thought that our n has no back-up or n B, it has to work to save the guys and the pack.


    The pack was finally informed of the Mock Trials and the Ball to follow. Of course the kids who have no idea what''s going on think it''s great. Exactly what I thought, marketed as a distraction for all the bad things that have been happening. And of course with the pack being thinned out all the pups and non-warrior Omegas are still in the Royal pack. It has be a bit of an elitist thing. Only the people here are strong enough, good enough to be here, the cream of the crop, cing the best of the best as choices for dates to the ball.


    The Elite warriors of course will be helping to run the mock trials and then are expected to continue providing protection for the pack while the pack members party to their heart''s content.


    We are now getting all of our information via mindlink from the Alpha. He is too busy nning to be seen. nning defenses against the rogues, nning the mock trials, nning the ball and his son''s eighteenth birthday.


    In all my life, I have never known him


    1.n


    to n any of those things without his team and his Luna. He was always a team yer, loves to take an idea and have everybody run it. He was always encouraging, never@ssuming his idea was the best or the be all, end all. Maybe that was his downfall. He never, in my presence, looked at someone and just said ''no.'' There was always the neutral, peacekeeping answers, I''m sure he hoped that if the topic was never approached again it would just go away.