Saving Kinsley

Kinsley's P.O.V

1 YEAR LATER:

So many things have changed in the past year, it's hard to wrap my head around it sometimes. Some days, I'm plagued with thoughts of what became of Dakota. Had he survived? He had to. But wouldn't he have come looking for us? I guess, If I were in his shoes, I would have turned the other way. To save the ones I cared for. I couldn't picture him killing his own father, exiling yes. So for now, I'd have to hope that he achieved that, and this was his way of keeping all of us safe.

None of us had forgotten that day, it'd be forever ingrained in us. Since then, we have searched for leads on my birth pack, I needed answers on this whole elemental thing. It was a fucking miracle I hadn't burned the tavern down yet. It was starting to get frustrating how often I lost control. The smallest things could trigger me. My biggest trigger was being approached from behind without warning. I tried to hide that I was struggling, but nothing ever slipped past Tate.

Diving into our search of my birth pack, we learned the pack had in fact, been attacked and slaughtered. So far, we were just stuck at square one. No one knew who or why. But if I survived, I had to hold out hope for more survivors too. Currently, we were tracking various rogue attacks around the region. Why? Because these attacks were getting to close to home.

"Honestly, I'll be fine. I can handle this alone." I sank into the sofa in Tate's office. The leather was warm from the summer afternoon sun against my skin. "Seriously, the smaller packs are never a threat to us, I think I can handle scouting alone." I shrugged.

Noah pinned me with a glare from the other side of the sofa, I could feel his stare from here. "Have you learned nothing Kinsley? It isn't safe to travel alone." I rolled my eyes again, "One time, Noah, let it go." I growled out. I was still irritated I hadn't heard the rogue wolves before they brought me down. If I didn't have the training that I did, I probably would have never made it back. Those assholes came out of nowhere, and they fought fucking dirty. I practically crawled my way back to the Haven pack borders.

Yeah, Tate finally petitioned for us to be named and recognized as a pack. Of course, he was an Alpha. You'd be blind to not see that. He had this commanding sense to him, you were drawn to him the second he entered a room. His attractive features softening that demanding blow to your senses.

That fight with the Rogue wolves almost cost me my life, again. My chest and leg looked like they went through a meat grinder. I cringed at the thought. Noah found me while he was out patrolling the borders, and I could see the fear in his eyes. He thought Dakota's Dad had finally found us. I thank the Moon Goddess it wasn't him. Because I can guarantee, I wouldn't have made it back.

"He has a point." Tate said smoothly as he rubbed at the short stubble of his beard.

"You made me Beta, Tate. Let me do my job." I said through clenched teeth. Tate sighed, "Yes, I did. And I know you can handle this, but we need to do it safely. Noah will flank you." The finality in his voice held no room for argument.

I glanced over and Noah had a smug grin on his face. I could feel Ember bristle beneath, "Come on you smug bastard. I'd like to sleep in my bed at least one night this week." Tate and Noah let out a laugh as I stormed out of the room.

Running right into a wall of muscle the second I left Tate's office "Woah what has your fur all ruffled?" Calum chuckled. I let out a huff, "Tate is making me take Noah with me on a scout."

Calum shrugged, "I don't see the problem?" His brown eyes lit up with amusement.

"The problem is, as Beta I can handle a simple scout run by myself. I don't need a babysitter." I folded my arms against my chest. Calum wrapped me into one of his big wolfie hugs, "Oh Kinz, we just care about you. We worry about you.." His voice trailed off, and I knew his mind wandered to when I was forcibly dragged from here in the first place. I crumpled into his arms with a drained sigh. How could I argue against that? Calum, the ever sweet guy, always knew how to temper my rage.

"Aw, I want in!" Vivi came barreling at us and her weight hit us, almost sending us into the wall. The three of us burst into laughter, "Why are we hugging again?" Vivi softly asked from behind my shoulder. I sank further into their arms, reveling in the comfort of their embrace, "I love you guys, seriously. Even the smug bastard."

"Heard that Kinz!" Noah's voice hollered from the office door. I couldn't help but smile. I found a family in these kind souls. A family I'd easily die for.

Vivi was the first to let go the second Noah sauntered out of Tate's office. Yeah, some things changed. Noah and Vivi mated, sure they weren't destined mates, but they chose each other. Their bond had long since been growing before they decided to mate. And that gave me hope.

Noah placed a soft kiss on Vivi's head, her eyes fluttering shut. Calum cleared his throat, "Get a room." I laughed as Noah reached out and punched Calum playfully.

"Be safe out there guys. Come back to me." Vivi looked at both Noah and I as we started our way down the steps of the shared home. Also, another thing that had changed in the last year. Since we decided to stay, Tate wanted to have his beta, Gamma, and Delta all under the same roof. This also allowed more room in the apartments for any new pack members, which we did have an influx of recently.

Hence, the reason Noah and I would be scouting for the next few days. Recently a number of packs across the states have been attacked and burned to ash, leaving wolves without a home and even worse without an Alpha. Scouting was our way of finding or receiving any said wolves. It was safer for our kind to be with a pack.

Noah, being the Delta of the pack. Or as I like to call it: A glorified enforcer. I couldn't knock him though, he fought like a badass, and that showed with all the wolves he's trained to date. Including me, not acknowledging the rogue wolf attack.

The two of us made a great ass-kicking team though, not going to lie. Calum preferred to handle the smaller pack problems. He handled everything exceptionally. Calum had this calming nature to him, always wanting to get to the root of the problem without violence. An admirable trait.

"We'll be back tonight Viv's" Noah hugged Vivi one last time and we were out the door.

I patted my old jeep, she didn't have much left in her at this rate. I was really pushing it lately.

Jumping in I turned the key over, cringing as I waited for the engine to stall as it turned over. But it never did. Huh, that's new. I looked over and Noah had a wide smile plastered on his face, "Fixed her up for ya, since we do a lot of this. Figured she would need to be up to date."

"My heart, you do love me!" My hand flew to my chest as I gasped out in a playful way. Noah barked a laugh as I pulled out of the gravel driveway. This was the smoothest the Jeep has ever driven. He had to do more than just the basic tune-up.

"What do you say we take her off-road?" A devilish smile slipped across my face. I ripped the steering wheel to the left, jerking us off onto an old dirt road that has seen better days. Noah reached over and cranked the radio up, my phone was already connected, he hit play on the playlist labeled Summer rock vibes. There was a thrill to taking a vehicle off-road, jamming out to your favorite tunes. I couldn't picture my day any better than this.