1 Prologue

Alone with his mate the Alpha rushed to make phone calls to the packs that were allied to him,

but no one picked up.

The Alpha tugged at his hair pulling painfully at his scalp, it was nothing compared to the pain and unease he felt knowing his pack would likely die in just an hour or so.

Along with himself and his mate.

His mate, Aria Matsumoto

'Aria' he thought with tears brimming in his eyes threatening to tip over and spill. 'My beautiful mate, you do not deserve to meet this end.'

As if sensing his thoughts his mate looked at him with a determined glare. "Dylan do not give up hope. We must protect our pack, we must protect Rylan."

The Alpha with new determination running through his mind link over his brother, Erin. He felt heavy though, a sense of doom lingering over his head like a rainy dark gloomy cloud.

The doors bust open and Erin came in looking disheveled. His hair was a mess and eyes were bloodshot, with some remnants of tears.

"Dylan?" Erin questioned with a shocking amount of softness. This wasn't like Erin at all. Erin was fun, loud, and humorous. Never was he this down.

'A reminder of the times', Dylan thought humorlessly.

"Erin, we need you to take Rylan and run." Erin's eyes comically widened, and Dylan would have laughed if it were in different circumstances.

Dylan's wolf was getting harder to control by the second, his protective nature taking over, the fact that his own were going to be attacked sent him over the edge, blood lusting over who dared harm his pack. Wanting the blood of those who dared go after his pup.

Erin stuttered out a reply, "Dylan are you sure? I can't just leave-"Aria cut him off. "This isn't a request, it's an order Erin," she softened her tone at the mention of his name. "If we don't make it," she let out a heart broken sob at the thought of not being there for her pup. "We want Rylan to at least live his life in peace. Until he shifts at least."

Erin nodded and his lips quivered a bit as he sighed shakily.

Dylan took this chance to speak, "You will depart in 5 minutes, we have gotten everything ready in case of emergencies such as this." His wolf let out a heart broken howl. He was losing his pup. He reminded him and his wolf that this was for the best. But fuck it was hard to resist the urge to flee with his pup and mate in hand.

"Meet us at the family exit, we will see you out from there."

And so there stood Alpha Dylan and Alpha Nakano underground whispering apologies to their 8-year-old son as he cried and screamed for them to take him back. Aria approached and cupped her son's face in her hands. "My intelligent little pup please be well. Survive for me, for us, my strong pup." she finished before pressing a kiss on his forehead and moving to stand beside Dylan.

Their wolves were pleading with their skin counterpart as they watched Erin wave a final goodbye and disappear. For good were the unspoken words.

The couple didn't want to believe their son was going to grow up without them, live his life without him. But it was the only way they could guarantee Rylan's safety.

Aria then turned and sobbed into his side and Dylan allowed a brief moment of vulnerability to show.

Tears slid down his face silently as he shakily breathed through the whispering comforting words that he told his mate.

But nothing could fix or fill the void that their little pup Rylan left.

Aria then straightened up and, they went to get their pack ready for battle.

A battle no one would come out alive from.

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Erin waved a final goodbye to his brother and his mate before sprinting, silently and quickly.

The two words were a mantra he repeated as he fled with the 8-year-old over his shoulder. Rylan had fallen asleep, probably tired from the screaming and crying he did earlier. Erin knew Rylan wasn't stupid. Rylan was intelligent for his age, and when his parents told him he was going on a trip with his dear Uncle Erin, Rylan knew that was pure bull and demanded to know what was going on. So, he threw a fit until he finally tired himself out.

'Silently and quickly,' Erin chanted over and over in his head. Erin hoped to avoid rogues or any other violent creature to get to safety as soon as possible. He was a skilled fighter. But was he skilled enough to fight while watching over his slumbering nephew?

Well. Probably not.

His skills had gotten lax as he mourned the loss of his mate.

Erin cursed as he heard the deranged howl of a rogue. A battle cry. His eyes teared up and his wolf whined pitifully.

'What a pathetic excuse of a beta.' he scoffed mentally. He was tasked with protecting Rylan and while Erin was honored he still felt guilt. Guilt for leaving his pack to deal with the fight, guilt for taking a pup from his parents, guilt for not being more useful in the past.

Could he have prevented it? If he had been more serious? Less of the funny jokester wolves in his pack knew him by? If Erin had maybe just maybe instead-

Erin shook his doubts away with teary eyes. He had been running for about an hour on legs before deciding to shift and have Rylan ride on his back.

He continued to run, run, and run, overpowered by the adrenaline and determination to care and protect his nephew.

And he ran for hours on end, he estimated he ran for a total of 3 painfully long hours before finally stopping at a town and checking into a hotel, where he finally felt the exhaustion hit him like a brick.

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