Logan left the prisoner among the dogs in the cage and walked back towards the pack house with his aides. His mind was in turmoil. He was confused about the next step to take, as he hadn't envisaged a trespasser.

When they got into the foyer of the packhouse, Jesse his gamma spoke up. 

"So what are we going to do next, Alpha?" He asked.

Logan frowned in thought. "This is definitely an unexpected turn of events. I think we should gather the head wolves and have a meeting on the next step to take, because I am personally very confused on what to do."

They then walked towards the strategy room. Once they entered, Logan sat down on one of the chairs and fetched a guard. The guard came into the room and bowed reverently to the three leaders. 

"Yes, send messages to all the head wolves of this pack. We need to have an impromptu meeting concerning the hostage that was taken." Logan commanded.

"Yes, my Alpha." The guard said and bowed again before going out of the room. The Beta and Gamma took their seats on either side of the Alpha and waited for the other male wolves to arrive.

Within a few minutes, they all poured into the room, hurling questions after questions at him.

"Alpha, is it true that a rogue wolf was captured close to the border?"

"Alpha, is it a wolf from the pack that killed our pack members?"

"Are we in danger, alpha?"

"Will there be war?"

Logan stood up from his chair and turned to the window, trying to calm his already frayed nerves as his beta and his gamma calmed the head wolves down. He did not need this kind of pressure on his mind.

He knew that the wolves under him will be as agitated as ever. He could smell the raging emotions in the room. He could smell the sharp tang of adrenaline that coursed through their veins as they knew that battle was near, and underneath that tang was the aroma of contained fear. 

The head wolves were scared too because they knew how unprepared the whole pack was for battle. They had barely fifty able-bodied warriors, and about twenty half-trainwd teenage wolves. That was no match for the number of rogue wolves that could attack them at any time. They were severely depleted and utterly unprepared for the certain battle that lay ahead.

Casper and Jesse managed to calm the anxious men down and they sat around the table in the strategy room. Logan turned back to the table and sat at the head. There was still a lot of murmuring going on around the table and the aloha waited for it to calm down. When they had settled down, he began.

"Good morning, lycans. I am sure you have heard about the rogue wolf that was captured at the border this morning." He started. They all murmured in the affirmative.

"Soon enough we'll have to make a decision, wolves. War is coming soon. What do we do in preparation for it? We are severely reduced in numbers. Our warriors are low in numbers and very unmotivated. We have teenage wolves that are ready to fight, but I'd rather they don't. They are the future of this pack. If we put them at the war front to fight, this pack would be wiped out."

There was a strained silence as the wolves contemplated the alpha's words. One wolf raised his hand and Logan gestured for him to speak. The wolf stood up and looked at the rest of his counterparts around the table. 

"I think," He said "That the rogue wolf needs to be killed. We need to kill it and dump the body at their border too. Make them feel what it feels like to lose a member of their own pack. We need to give them a taste of their own medicine!" He bellowed and hit the table with his fist. Some other wolves around the table followed suit and began hitting the table too.

It took another couple of minutes to calm them down and continue with the meeting. After the wolves had been called to order, Logan spoke up.

"Alright." He said. "Any other suggestions?"

Jesse the Gamma raised his hand and Logan indicated for him to speak. He stood up  "My suggestion is to keep the captured wolf alive for now." Immediately he made that statement, most of the wolves around the table started to murmur and shake their heads.

"Listen to me!" Jesse raised his voice above the voices of the rest. "If we kill him now, what else would we gain apart from the satisfaction of killing our enemy? We would only kill one out of the hundreds of rogue wolves out there that wants to wipe out our pack. What's the essence? I think we can use the privilege of this captured wolf to our advantage."

By now the whole room had gone silent. Everyone was listening to the gamma attentively now. 

"We can keep torturing the rogue wolf until we can get the information we need out of him. He's half human too, right? Enough torture and he'll be spilling all the information in minutes. He can't be resistant to torture for too long. And after we get what we want from him, we can then kill him and send his body to the rogues. That way we'll be killing two birds with a stone, yeah?" He said, then sat back down.

Logan stared at his gamma with admiration. Now he remembered why he had picked the man as his gamma. He was wise in a quiet, observant way.

"That's a very good one, Jesse." Logan commended him. Then he stood up. "All in favour of this suggestion?" Almost all the wolves around the table raised their hands, including Casper and Logan himself. Only three stubborn wolves didn't raise their hands.

"Okay, that's settled. We'll keep the hostage for a few more days, torture the information out of him. And if he doesn't tell us anything–which I highly doubt–we'll get rid of him and show the rogue wolves that two can play at that game." Logan concluded and called off the meeting.

He walked out of the strategy room and towards his own wing where he knew Aella would be waiting for him. He was really craving the touch of his mate. Sure enough, she was in the room on the couch, reading a book.

She looked up as he came in and smiled. She looked so beautiful with her hair let down and the setting sun illuminating her face. She was dressed in one of her thin white gowns which flowed down to her ankles. She looked so angelic, so serene. His perfect little mate.

"Hey." She called. "I was wondering when you would get back. Come sit with me." She patted the chair beside her and he came and sat. She dropped the book and faced him.

"Have you heard of the rogue wolf that was captured at the border?" He asked her. Immediately he mentioned the wolf, he saw how her face fell and the happy express changed to nonchalance. "Yeah, I heard. From one of the maids."

He wasn't surprised that she had heard. News traveled fast among the pack. "What do you think I should do, Aella? We held a council meeting and concluded on torturing the wolf until he gives us useful information, then kill him thereafter. Do you think it's a good idea?"

Aella paused and contemplated his words. Then she said. "Why do you have to torture him for information or kill him? I think you should let him go. It wouldn't bring back the lives of those that have been killed, neither would it guarantee a victory if you were to go into battle. Just free him, Logan. He's an innocent man I'm sure. He just happens to be in the wrong pack."

Logan was taken aback by Aella's words. He didn't believe she would say something like that. "Why would you think that getting information from him wouldn't help us in any way? My men are depleted in number. We need all the help we can get."

"Still..." Aella started, but was interrupted by a loud insistent knock on the door. The person opened the door without waiting for an answer. It was a guard who was panting as though he had run a mile.

"Alpha," he panted. "We found another dead wolf, this time inside the borders."

Immediately Logan heard that, he jumped up and ran towards the door, followed by Aella and led by the guard. The guard led them outside and towards the training ground where a small crowd had gathered. The crowd parted to let Aella and their alpha through, and when Logan saw who was on the ground, he stopped still in shock.

It was Kylie, lying there with her organs out and her eyes cold in death.