Sarise woke to someone brushing her hair from her face and opened her eyes to see Jacob sitting on the edge of the bed.
He threw her a gentle smile, brushing her hair back from her face again.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, removing her hand as she slowly sat up.
"Still tired." She answered, throwing him a smile as the Pack buzzed in her head. "How do you deal with it?"
"The Pack?" Jacob asked and she nodded. He shrugged lightly.
"It's just always been there." He answered, standing and motioning her to move over in the bed.
Sarise moved towards the centre of the bed and Jacob climbed onto it with her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her to his chest.
He ran his fingers up and down her arm slowly, the voices of the pack receding as he once again blocked them out.
"I forget that you're not part of a Pack." Jacob said lightly and Sarise looked up at him. "That to you, this is new."
"You said it's always been there." Sarise breathed, snuggling against his chest and heard him grunt in response. "Since birth?"
"I assume so." Jacob responded. "Like I said the pack has always been there, we learn early how to filter it out."
"Is it the same with everyone?" She asked, playing with the buttons on his waistcoat. "Or just the Alpha and his heir?"
"With everyone." He answered. "The Link allows us to communicate with each other at any given time."
The lay in silence, his fingers trailing up and down her arm in a slow repetitive manner.
"In the Zones." Jacob asked. "Is there a link between parent and child at least?"
"No." Sarise answered, looking up at him. "There is nothing, just blissful silence and your own inner voice."
Jacob chuckled, reaching over to plant a kiss on her forehead.
"It must be something to do with the link to the Alphas." Jacob said lightly, his brow creasing in frustration. "I wonder if it can be relinked if we reinstate the packs."
"You're going to have a whole bunch of crazy wolves if it does kick in." Sarise added with a giggle, seeing him look down at her, creases in his forehead vanishing as she chuckled.
"If it does work, I doubt most of them would be able to use the Pack Link initially." He pointed out, reaching up to brush the soft hair at her temple.
"What is it like not having the pack in your head?"
"Normal." Sarise laughed, leaning into his hand. "But for the Zones we've spent a thousand years without it, so it's normal for us not to hear anything."
"Your head must be pounding." Jacob said lightly, leaning down and kissing her forehead.
"That's an understatement." She answered, touching her temple "I'm having trouble filtering it."
"Have you tried calling your wolf?" Jacob suggested and Sarise looked at him. "She may be able to help you filter it."
Sarise sighed, closing her eyes and curling up against Jacob as she spoke to her wolf.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴." Her wolf grumped and Sarise chuckled.
"𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵?" She asked, hearing her wolf huff lightly.
"𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭."
Sarise relaxed against Jacob, letting her wolf push her back slightly, not enough to shift, merely enough to take over her body as she attempted to filter the pack.
"Any help?" Jacob asked and Sarise felt her eyes open and look up at Jacob.
His eyes narrowed before blazing lavender and Sarise felt her wolf huff at him, pushing her body away from his as anger built in her.
"𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦!" Her wolf snapped.
"Why do you have aqua eyes?" Jacob rumbled, no not Jacob she realised, his wolf.
Her wolf retreated back into her mind, forcing Sarise forward and the chattering of the pack slammed into her mind.
Sarise groaned, clutching her head and falling against Jacob's chest, clenching her eyes closed as the conversations of the pack banged around in her mind.
"Make it stop!" She pleaded with her wolf and suddenly the noise was gone, Jacob's fingers touching her temples lightly.
She looked up, seeing Jacob's eyes still blazing lavender and realised his wolf was still in control as he tilted his head to look at her.
"Interesting." He rumbled before his eyes slowly returned to their normal light green.
"It didn't work." Sarise said quickly, dropping her head to Jacob's chest once more and hugging into him, hoping he wouldn't press the issue over her wolf's eye colour.
* * *
Sarise lay in the long grass, her wolf licking herself clean of the mud that stuck to her fur, content after the run that she had very much needed.
Over the last week she had been spending time in wolf form, it seemingly helping her to learn how to filter the link with the pack.
Her wolf it seemed was able to overpower the constant chatter from the pack and even when not in wolf form, Sarise had called upon her wolf countless times to learn how to handle the link.
First had been to filter out the constant chatter that came with people talking within the link, next had come to ability to contact one person through the pack link.
Jacob had been impressed with her progress, telling her that Amelia and Casey had taken three weeks to learn how to use the pack link properly.
Calling her wolf hadn't come without some issues.
After Jacob had seen her wolf eye colour, she had refused to call her again in his presence, it seemed his wolf was suspicious of her for some reason.
As a consequence, Sarise had been going on runs every day, normally in the afternoon so it didn't coincide with Jacob's daily run.
She now lay in a field of tall grass, grooming herself slowly after a well-deserved run through the forest.
Suddenly her wolf stopped in her grooming, ears perking up as she turned to look over at the edge of the clearing, a growl rumbling from her as she slowly stood.
Sarise gasped as a massive black wolf walked from the forest, walking towards her before stalking around her at a leisurely pace.
Her wolf dug her paws into the ground, snarling at the newcomer before a voice spoke in her mind.
"𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯." A hoarse voice called in her mind.
Her wolf instantly dropped her stance, noticing the colour of the wolfs eyes for the first time, a blazing lavender.
She also noticed that while her own wolf wasn't as powerfully built as his they were nearly the same height, strange considering he was an Alpha.
Her wolfs head tilted to the side as Jacob's wolf walked up to her, his muzzle running lightly along hers before he licked her snout lightly.
Sarise heard her wolf growled in appreciation, pressing her head to his and rubbing it under his massive chin, rubbing up against him.
He walked down her side, rubbing against her before he pushed his nose between her back legs, licking her lightly.
Sarise's wolf growled at the action, pulling away from him and snapping her jaws in warning and she saw Jacob's wolf snarl in response.
Sarise gulped lightly, knowing that even though they stood the same height her wolf would have no chance against Jacob's.
He was an Alpha, more dominant than her and she knew just by looking at him he could easily subdue her wolf.
She did take her time to study him though.
A powerfully built body that projected sheer power, deep black fur seemed to suck light into it, lavender eyes blazing as a chuckle sounded in her mind.
"𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦?" He asked, his nose indicating the hills as he slowly walked away.
Her wolf yelped in excitement and without another word she leapt forward, rushing past him.
She heard a howl from behind her as she dashed into the woods, hearing him chuckling as he quickly caught up to her.
He gently nipped at her hindquarters before running alongside her, giving her a friendly bump before rushing ahead.
Sarise growled, her wolf pushing forward as she attempted to catch up to her mate.
Without warning her wolf stopped, Jacob nowhere to be seen and her wolf lifted her nose, sniffing the air as a howl sounded.
Spinning her head in the direction of the howl her wolf bounded forward, rushing through the forest and changing direction every time he howled to show her where he was.
Eventually the forest began to thin and her wolf slid to a halt, seeing Jacob's wolf standing on the edge of a large cliff.
Slowly she walked forward, head down as she cautiously walked up.
Below was a mountain lake, a single waterfall cascading down the side of the hill into the crystal blue waters below.
Sarise walked up, gasping at the beautiful of the spot before her wolf fell onto its stomach, head on her forearms, exhausted from the run.
Jacob's wolf turned to look at her before lying down beside her, licking her face.
Her wolf growled lightly, turning her back to his wolf as he continued to lick her face, rubbing his muzzle against hers in affection.
Her wolf dropped her head again, resting it on the ground as she looked below.
"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦?" Her wolf asked
"𝘌𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬." Jacob's wolf replied, still licking her lightly. "𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬."
"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭." She answered, lifting her head to rub it against his massive neck.
"𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵." He replied, his wolf looking out over the hidden spot.
Silence hung between them as they gazed over the simple beauty of the secluded stop.
"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳." Jacob voice cut through, pushing past his wolf to take some control as his wolf turned to look at her.
"𝘐𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘲𝘶𝘢 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴." He asked and her wolf snarled lightly. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯."
Sarise felt her wolf growl, felt her pushing Sarise forward to take control as she snarled at Jacob.
"𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨." She snapped, her wolf standing and walking back in the direction they had come.
"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦��𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯." Jacob responded, his wolf appearing at her side and bumping against her. "𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘲𝘶𝘢 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦."
"𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘲𝘶𝘢 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴." She answered, walking into the forest and stopped when she realised, he wasn't at her side anymore. "𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮?"
Jacob's wolf stood with his nose up, sniffing the air, the hackles on his back rising as a low growl rumbled from his wolf.
"𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴." He growled, looking at her the moment Donovan's voice cut through, linking with her and Jacob.
"𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢!"
"𝘐 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮." Jacob growled. "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺?"
"𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳." Donovan answered. "𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺." Jacob turned to Sarise.
"𝘎𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯." He snapped and Sarise's wolf snarled at him.
"𝘕𝘰." She snapped and Jacobs wolf growled again, his jaws snapping at her angrily.
"𝘎𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯!" Jacob yelled at her and her wolf dropped onto its stomach, showing its neck in submission to an Alpha.
Sarise cursed her wolf as Jacob's wolf jumped into action, heading towards the northern border.
Her wolf picked up its head, looking in the direction he'd gone.
"𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮." Sarise breathed, letting her wolf take over and instantly they were up, following their mates' scent through the forest.
She felt the ache in her wolfs body as they pushed through the forest following Jacobs scent.
They were worn out from the runs they had done today. At least she'd sleep well tonight.
Before too long she heard the yelling of men and the growling of wolves, smelt blood in the air and she pushed harder, hoping Jacob was okay.
She burst through some trees into a small clearing to find a man standing over a wolf that was down.
Growling she jumped, jaws snapping around the man's neck as her wolf pulled him down, shaking him until she heard the tell-tale snap of his neck breaking.
She released him, walking to the downed wolf and heard it breathing, whimpering lightly in pain.
She knew it wasn't Jacob, the wolf far too small to be her mate and she turned, looking at the chaos on the field.
"𝘓𝘶𝘯𝘢." A voice breathed and Sarise's wolf turned, looking at the wolf at her heels as she stepped back to let Sarise speak through the link.
"𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳?" She gasped, seeing the wolf close its eyes in response. "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘪𝘵?"
"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢..." Ember began, looking behind Sarise. "𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶!"
Sarise turned, standing in front of Ember, hackles up as she snarled at the man holding a gun in his hands, her jaws snapping at him as he laughed.
"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧?" He snapped, slamming a magazine into the gun. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?"
He raised the gun, smirking at her.
Sarise's wolf dropped down, snarling as she prepared to pounce yet she didn't have time as another wolf came from the side, grabbing the hunter by the throat and pulling him to the ground, shaking him violently as it clamped down its jaws.
Sarise heard the snap of the man's neck, yet the wolf didn't stop continuing to shake the dead body until the man's head was severed.
The wolf dropped to the ground, rolling in the spurting blood for a moment before it stood, raising its head and howling loudly before it glared at Sarise with blazing lavender eyes.
"𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣." She breathed as the wolf sprinted off, downing another hunter and ripping it apart with his teeth.
She heard Ember whimper behind her and turned, nudging her with her nose before licking her wounds, checking very now and then to ensure they were safe.
Only one other hunter attempted to do anything to them as he tried to flee into the forest, yet Sarise and quickly clamped down on his arm, tearing it free from his body before grabbing his neck and shaking him until it snapped.
As the hunters fled a number of the wolves gave chase, yet two stayed behind, staying with Sarise and Ember as they waited for people to come from the city.
Before too long the rest returned, crowding around Ember in order to protect her.
She heard a deep growl from beyond the circle, seeing some of the wolves move as Jacob's wolf came into the circle, fur matted with blood as he stalked forward, snarling at Sarise as he did.
"𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯!" He snarled in a hoarse, jaws snapping at her; his wolf in full control.
"𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥!" She snapped back, her own wolf snarling at him.
"𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦!" He roared, her wolf nearly dropping on its belly yet refused, snarling at the Alpha as those around them dropped in submission as she realised the conversation had been an open one.
He walked forward, pushing her out of the way as he bent down to Ember, nudging her with his nose lightly as she whimpered.
Sarise's wolf looked over at Jacob's, not hearing the conversation between the two wolves as she moved from the circle, looking over the bodies in the clearing and huffing in disgust at the hunters who had breached the border and caused so much damage.
She heard a snarl from behind her and turned, seeing Jacob's wolf moving from the circle, snarling at her as it came towards her.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦!" He snapped, his eyes blazing lavender.
"𝘐'𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦..." She began and he snapped his jaws at her. "𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣!" She snarled, dropping onto her hunches.
She heard him laugh as he realised, she wanted to attack him, his eyes blazing lavender as he snarled again.
"𝘉𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧!" He growled, standing tall and proud as he glared down at her with blazing lavender eyes and Sarise's wolf snapped at him.
He was at her instantly, throwing her wolf backwards onto the ground, snarling over her as her own wolf snapped up at him.
He growled deeply, muzzle moving towards her neck as his jaws snapped around her own muzzle, indicating if she didn't back down, he'd rip her throat out.
"𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢." Donovan's voice called and Jacob snarled, snapping at Sarise one last time before moved off her, turning and walking towards the circle of wolves.
Sarise's wolf was up in an instant, growling at Jacobs before she turned and bolted into the forest, away from the group, away from him.