Tristan and I returned home to First Montana Pack a few days later with our children. Beverly stayed behind to pack up all the things in the house she wished to keep. She moved to Montana with the moving truck full of boxes a few days later.

Most of the pack chose to stay with Tristan and I and moved to Montana, too. A few others scattered to other packs where they had family.

The old pack lands had been sold and this chapter of our lives was closed, but our work was far from over.

Tristan and I would be making a trip to meet with the highest wolf authorities in the world: the Royal High Council of wolves, or the wolf council, and the King.

We were scheduled to present our evidence regarding the transgressions of the five dead alphas and the conspiracy with several of the wolf council members.

Since the dead alphas were already taken care of, this trial would focus on the corruption of the American wolf council and the lives they had cost the Western Hemisphere.

The allegations were numerous: corruption, bribery, inciting war, and interfering in true mate bonding. Though some of these crimes were Martin’s and MacKenzie’s the council had been aware of what was happening and in doing nothing, became accomplices to the crimes.

Alpha Clovis and his family would meet us in the royal city and stand witness to the allegations during the trial against our council. We were so thankful for their support and alliance and would never forget, despite their protests, how much we owed them.

One of our concerns regarding the proceedings was an allegation against Tristan and I for which we would face trial. The Vampire World Council had noticed the absence of Gabriel, his duties, and his communications with the council had ceased.

They had decided to make the journey to the wolf royal city in order to accuse us of killing him. There would be a trial and we were strongly advised by our legal counsel to produce Gabriel.

This was something we were unwilling to do as he was still unconscious and unable to waken, which left him defenseless. Transporting him to the wolf council would give any number of his enemies a chance to sever his head and therefore end him.

Onan had explained to Tristan that even several of the Vampire Council members wished him dead and this was likely a plot to make sure the job of assassinating him was done.

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We had to choose a different route that involved producing witnesses to his continued existence without revealing his location and it would be no easy task. There would be several demands to reveal his whereabouts and we would likely be held in contempt of court when we refused to comply.

In light of these circumstances, Wolfgang had revealed that there was a secure bunker somewhere in the vast acreage of our ranch that would be invisible to all and impenetrable by anyone. Emma took Gabriel there and stayed with him to ensure his safety and keep us updated through the pack mind-link regarding his recovery.

They were under orders by their Alpha not to leave the bunker for any reason until Tristan himself arrived home and called the all-clear.

When I expressed concern to Wolfgang regarding the accommodations, he explained that the “bunker” was more of an underground house and had fulling functioning electricity, plumbing, etc., that was invisible as all of the lines and even the door had been buried well beneath the ground.

He promised to stock it full of everything Emma and Gabriel would need for several months even though it wasn’t likely they would be sequestered there for that long.

My mind was eased a bit, but I was still worried about all of the upcoming trials, besides the fact that I had never before met the King.

King Avalore was a lycan wolf over four hundred years old and was on his second chance mate. They had ruled together for nearly three hundred years and had seven children who were all more than 100 years old themselves.

Alpha Clovis Entropus and his family were close friends of the King, and Clovis tried to reassure me many times that Tristan and I would have his support during the trials.

Tristan had spoken to the King over the phone and during the call the King had confirmed this sentiment to Tristan directly, while officially inviting us to stay at the palace during the proceedings.

We accepted the invitation but now I was nervous to do so, not having been raised in conditions that taught me formal royal etiquette. Tristan explained that there was only very minor etiquette required as we were all wolves and the most important thing about wolves was hierarchy. No one cared if you ate with your fingers or your fork.

Kasia tried to soothe and comfort me and promised she would be present near the surface to offer me kind advice and reach out to the other wolves for information. It did make me feel a little better to know that she and Onan would always be near to support us.

I’d done all the reading I could about the Royal City and its rulers up until today. In the morning, we would depart on our private plane and begin the journey to Russia.

We were traveling only with Crypton as our pilot, our team of attorneys, and a small team of pack warriors as bodyguards. This was recommended by Alpha Clovis, since many people believed we knew where Gabriel was and would stoop to nefarious means in order to find out.

The children were staying with Beverly on the ranch since we weren’t sure what we’d be facing once we arrived.

We would stop over once on the way to fuel and continue on.

That night I curled up against Tristan as closely as I could and allowed him to wrap himself around me. His presence soothed me into a peaceful slumber.