"How are you doing, Ben?" Frankie asked me softly, wrapping his arms around me from behind. I was sitting at my desk, papers scattered all around me, and a large map open on my desktop.

"Okay, I guess. Just some rogue issues I'm confused about."

He grimaced. "Oh. What's wrong?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, babe," I assured him. "I'm just trying to find patterns in their movements. Haven't found anything yet."

"Do you need any help?"

"I'm good." I pulled him onto my lap and let him lean into me. He didn't seem to be as jumpy as before when it came to physical contact, which made me so proud of him.

"Are you sure you're okay with all this affection?"

"More than okay."

"You sure? I can stop if it's too much."

"No, Bennett, I'm fine." He smiled at me. "I just have to get used to all this contact, that's all. I have to start from somewhere."

"If you say so," I shrugged, placing a kiss on his cheek. He rested his head on my shoulder, peering at my computer screen.

"Your dad sent me a tutor until second semester starts. He figured it would be better for me to wait until your exam season was over before starting school."

"I think that's a good idea." Dang it, I had nearly forgotten about my exams! With all the pack research I had been doing lately, I had started to somewhat neglect my homework.

"So,what have you been up to for the past little while, Frankie?"

"Mostly helping out at the pack house. They've assigned me the task of cleaning out your storage room. There's a lot in there."

"Ah, the storage room. Yeah, that's been needing organizing for a while. You know, some of the stuff in there is really, really old. I'm talking a couple centuries old."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We don't really use the room too much anymore, since all of our files and documents are online. I liked going in there as a kid to take a look at all my ancestor's files. I should show them to you one day. After all, they're going to be your ancestors, too."

He bit his lip. "Right. I am a Lacroix now, after all."

I could hear Nic scolding me in my mind for not knowing my mate's full name. But again, I figured he would tell me that information when he was ready. Names were just a label, right? They weren't too important, unless you made them so.

"Wait...Ben, I thought you weren't allowed to change your last name in Quebec."

I shook my head. "For humans, you can't change your name when you get married. But in the werewolf world, we've been able to pull some strings with the province. A mating union is much different than a marriage, and we aren't as sexist as humans. We just have our own customs."

"Oh. So that means I can take your last name?"

"Yeah. Or I could take your last name, or we could merge them together, or we could even choose a new name altogether."

"Frankie Lacroix sounds perfect to me," he hummed happily.

It sounded great to me as well. We just had to have our mating ceremony, go on our honeymoon, start our family right after — I already had my life planned out in front of me.

"Frankie, could you do me a teensy favour and get me a San Pellegrino drink from the kitchen? Pretty please? Any flavour is fine."

"Of course." He set his phone down on the table and headed out of my office.

I took a look at the map again. All the towns and cities that had been attacked or pillaged recently were highlighted with orange flags.

"Think, Bennett, what do all these packs have in common?" I murmured.

Territory didn't even make sense anymore, since none of the packs were similarly sized. Nor did the demographics add up, either. Some of the packs were extremely wealthy, some of them were lower income. Some of the packs were technology-based, some were resourced-based. Some were urban, some were rural.

I put my head in my hands. Honestly, the more I tried to find a pattern, the more confusing everything became. Maybe there wasn't even a pattern, and I was just overthinking this entire damn thing.

Frankie's phone buzzed, and I glanced over at the message that popped up on his screen.

I got it. Thanks for letting me know.

It was from Rosalie, and again, I was confused as to why he was talking to her. But I trusted the two of them, and figured that when he was comfortable, he would let me know.

"They only had the blood orange ones," Frankie exclaimed to me as he came back into the room. Quickly, I reverted my attention back to my work.

"Here," he said, handing me the can.

"Thanks," I popped open the lid and took a sip. My brain was starting to hurt from all the stress and studying.

"You know, Bennett...if you need to talk, I'm always here," he offered me.

I gave him a gracious smile. "Thank you, Hedgehog. You're the best."

-

"Chantelle, why are you still here?" I asked her. "Don't you have to go to work?"

The family was sitting around the kitchen table, comparing our notes on the recent rogue activities.

"Hm? Oh, I'm taking a vacation, I guess. I called my boss and let him know that I wouldn't be here for the next couple of weeks."

"What?" I exclaimed. "But we're basically going to be in a war. Are you sure you want to use up your vacation days now?"

"Of course! It's not everyday your typical Canadian can say they're taking a vacation in a warzone, after all," she joked before her tone became serious. "But really, though, I'm here to help you out. I know the situation isn't looking too good. War isn't fun, and I'm not going to let my family suffer."

"Chantelle..." my dad tried.

"Look, I'm staying here. Uncle William, I know it's dangerous, but I'm willing to take any risks. I mean, I'm in a life or death situation every time I step into a car, right? Might as well push my limits helping my family's pack."

"We just wanted to be sure, Elle," Nic shrugged. "If you choose to stay, then you probably won't be able to leave until we get this situation sorted out. This might be your last ticket out. Are you sure you don't want to take it?"

"I'm cool with staying. I've got a couple of weeks, plus some sick days I can use, and two unused vacation days. And if I extend my stay, then I'll figure out a way."

"Well, then it's settled," my dad ordered. "So, I'd like to hear from you, Frankie. What has your research

"Absolutely nothing. I made those connect the detail webs, like they do in those intense police movies, but I came up with nothing. Every pack is unique. The attacks have been seemingly random lately."

I looked over to see Frankie. He stood at the side of the room, in the darkness, watching us carefully.

"Hey, Frankie," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"Just...listening in."

"Are you okay? You aren't uncomfortable with these conversations, are you?"

He mustered a smile. "With you at my side? Never."

"Come here, Hedge," I said, holding my arms open. He happily scampered over to me, and I pulled him into my lap, ignoring Chantelle's smug look. I wrapped my arms around him and breathed in his lovely scent.

"So, as I was saying, I can't find a pattern whatsoever."

Frankie cleared his throat, before quietly saying, "Well, have we considered that maybe...there isn't a pattern?"

Everyone turned to face him, and I could feel him shrink up into me. I gently squeezed his arm to encourage him to open up. Go on.

"I mean...maybe this is all just uncoordinated? After all, rogues tend to fight dirty. They've never been known for their sophistication in battle. You guys have spent weeks trying to find some common ground, yet there's barely anything that makes sense."

"I see," my father leaned forward. "So, what exactly are you suggesting, Frankie? If the rogues are just randomly attacking at this point, what do you think this means?"

He hesitated. "I don't know, honestly. Maybe they just want to destroy things. Maybe they're following orders. Maybe they want to cause a distraction."

We all stared at him. His logic was so simple, yet liberating. I couldn't believe I had never even considered the possibility myself — that maybe, there were no specific packs being located. That this was all just to divert our attention away from the main plan.

Dad seemed to contemplate my mate's words. "That's an interesting viewpoint, Frankie. Very interesting. I'll be sure to pass it along the council. That way, we can stop stressing over finding order where there is only chaos."

I swelled with pride, kissing Frankie's face. He flushed a pretty pink at the gesture, fully relaxing into my arms.

That's my mate, I thought to myself. My strong, intelligent mate.