<span style="font-style: italic">Blood and the heavy stench of pain in the air made it nearly impossible to think straight let alone focus on anything but the next second. Their world was no longer one of peace and safety. There was change on the wind and with it came the blood shed they were subjected to in this moment. By the time the dust settled, Alick held the throat of one of the interlopers within his claw and in one violent moment ripped the flesh clean from the body. <br/><br/>Head thrown back to howl his victory, the rest of the pack ran off to lick their wounds while Alick and his pack did the same, though without having to lug away their dead too.</span><br/><br/><br/>The days that followed the pack was in a state and not a state that was a good one either. On edge and jumpy, their wounds allowed to slowly heal while they tried to recover emotionally along with the physical. This left the Alpha troubled in more ways than one, as he wanted to keep his pack safe but that meant more fighting. So, it was no surprise that when his mate roused him from his trouble sleep it was relatively quick. The nightmare he had been having as he watched her die over and over had been enough to make him glad to be awoken.<br/><br/>“Hmm…wha…” the last of sleep clung to his mind and body for a few extra moments before he finally nodded. Hand allowed to reach out and touch her leg with a small smile, “Alright, love. Though you are going to have to put on something more than that or there will be very little talking and a lot more roaming eyes.” Tone held a teasing note, though he did make the effort to push up into a sitting position and lean over to give her a kiss before he made the final move out of bed. The loosely worn boxers were already being pushed down before he disappeared into the bathroom that connected to their room. “I’m sure most of them aren’t sleeping or are sleeping terribly so I’m sure they won’t mind being woken up,” he called from the bathroom.