Cold Kisses

42. Pack meeting

Hunter stood in the living room, gazing over the forest behind his house. Dave had just recently arrived to his house, as Hunter refused to leave Verity alone in the house for more than a second due to the prior night's events.

His eyes were trained on the forest outside his window; his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought and concern whilst he rolled his thumbs. Dave was seated in one of the armchairs, a report neatly placed in his lap and a pencil stuffed behind his ear.

"The rouge attack last night was abnormal," was the first thing Dave had said when he stepped over the threshold to Hunter's office. "Delta Enrico said the rouges had one target only; Luna. They had lunged for her at the first glance, not even registering the wolves protecting her. They thought strategically."

Hunter snarled. "There is something going on around here that I do not know about, and I don't like it."

"Look, Verity must know something." Dave gestured upstairs. "Have you spoken with her about it?"

"No, I have not, for I see no reason to question her about rogues." He leant against his desk, crossing his arms over his chest. "She is a vampire, Dave. She knows nothing about rouges."

Dave held up his hands in the air. "Hey, man, I'm merely suggesting you ask her. You must understand it is a bit strange that they targeted her, right? I mean, they did not even look at them, Hunter. They only focused on her."

"I know, I know," Hunter sighed. "Trust me on this one, Verity knows nothing. She is just a vampire, clueless to our world. I doubt she even knows what rouges are."

Dave raised an eyebrow as he stared at his alpha. "Surely, you cannot believe that yourself. There is more to her than what meets the eye."

"What would you know?" Hunter snorted. "You've barely spent any time with nor around her."

"I have seen her enough to know she is not some naive little girl, but an intelligent, strong woman who knows how to keep things to herself." Dave stood up while handing the report to Hunter, who took it within the second. "Look at the report, Hunter. The rogues attacks have increased significantly since we brought her to the pack grounds. Years of no rogues even daring to step miles near the border and now? 

"Now we have rogues sniffing near the borders and daring to breach it multiple times. We have rogues targeting our Luna for no known reason. The pups are no longer safe in the forest. Some of those who are not warriors want to have escorts because they no longer feel safe." 

Hunter flipped through the reports, his eyes darkening whilst he stared at the statistics. "How many warriors are out of training this season?"

"Twelve females and eight males. Another five are nearly finished."

"Increase the border duty. Groups of ten, five groups at the same time working a rotating schedule. Require check in every fifth minute." He closed the file and put it down on the desk whilst tilting his head back and sighing. "Let's hold a pack meeting. A quick one so everyone can return to their duties and we do not leave our borders unprotected. I want everyone in the pack house within thirty minutes, aside from the patrolling squads. I will brief them after they are relieved from their duty."

"Will do, Alpha." 

Dave bowed his head before the two men left the office, heading for the door. Unlocking and opening the door, Dave halted his steps when his ears picked up sounds from the kitchen.

"Give my regards to the Luna, Alpha."

Hunter nodded and closed the door after him, locking it before heading into the kitchen. A pair of green eyes peaked up at him from the table. Verity smiled slightly, whispering a 'good morning' before shoving a spoon full of lemon yoghurt into her mouth. The corners of Hunter's lips twitched at the sight. He placed a lingering kiss to the top of her head before grabbing an apple from the counter.