*We are continuing with Anubis' point of view. This chapter may not be for all viewers, there are some triggering topics discussed in this chapter."

     Going through the training exercise today I felt more worried than confident, we hunted them more than they hunted us, and no one came even remotely close to getting any of The Garden members. Rose has us fall back into the same formation against the wall facing the group of dragons, some had only one spots of paint while others were painted almost head to toe. Rose faces the crowed "Some of you performed excellently today and went above what we expected of them. When I call your names please come to the front and stand in front of the line behind me." she pauses and scans the crowed again. "Jennas group for being the first in, her team not only left extra weapons for others, but Jenna and her friend Beth were one of the only two to get close to tagging me. Darren, Ray, Jonathan, Osiris and Natalia for showing exceptional teamwork and determination; they were one of the only teams able to remain intact until almost the very end. You may wonder why the last person tagged will not be joining the group up here, we simply left those that would take less effort to take out last. I commend each and every one of you who took this exercise seriously and put their best efforts into trying to tag us." she finishes and Poppy steps forward to stand next to her.

     "Who here noticed the dragonflies?" Poppy asks, but no one raises their hands. "Well... That is slightly disappointing but expected." she pauses and holds out her hand, a tiny metallic dragonfly lands in her outstretched palm. "These are miniature drones that followed each group recording everything you said and did. After we break for lunch, we will be meeting in the theater building where we will watch how each group performed. We will discuss what you did right and where each group went wrong." she says and steps back. Rose turns to address the two formations she had formed when her face falls to a serious frown. In a flash she is moving towards the tree line followed closely by Poppy, Orchid steps forward to take over "Alright, alright, you guys are dismissed we will be meeting in the theater at thirteen hundred hours." she says but everyone's attention is on Rose and Poppy. They had crossed the field in a blink of an eye, as soon as they reach the tree line, I see Dahlia stumble out of the woods and collapse into Rose. She wraps her arms around him and slowly lays him down resting the younger boys head in her lap, it reminded me of how my mother took care of me when I was sick or hurt.

     James and Alice direct the dragons back towards the palace without being asked, Anti and Orchid had crossed the field immediately after dismissing the crowed, Anti picked up the dragon skull helmet that was discarded by Rose in her run to get to Dahlia. As I rush over to the group, I noticed I'm followed by the packs head Dr and a bunch of nurses carrying a stretcher. Rose cradles the boys head and rubs his face softly as she talks as calmly as she can to him; she holds one of his hands with her other hand and I have never seen her so worried. "You pushed yourself to hard Dal, you're okay now no one will hurt you I won't let them." she says, silent tears run down her cheek as she looks at the boy's unconscious face. He is filthy covered in a mixture of sweat, dried blood and fresh blood that was pouring out of gashes on his shoulder, arms and stomach; she helps load him on the stretcher before standing and looking into the forest. "I'll take care of her." Anti puts his hand on her shoulder and shakes his head. "You'll end up killing his fated in your state, stay with Dahlia and make sure he is okay. We will send someone who isn't as emotional right now." he says trying to hide his own pain at seeing Dahlia's condition. Rory and Sevrin run over and Anti turns to them he too had tears that were ready to spill over "Please his fated is only a few moments from being upon us, they have made her feral. Don't kill her, do your best to subdue and capture her without hurting her. I can explain more later but it won't be good if any of The Garden handle this." he says heading towards the palace.

     I find myself in the infirmary wing where I find Rose pacing and chewing on her thumbnail, she is shaking from emotions, and I can tell by her eyes she is doing everything to keep control. "He..." she swallows hard and stops looking at those closed door of the room he was in. "I failed him once long ago and it left him with a dead leg and his parent's dead. He is MY SON regardless if I didn't give birth to him and I let him do this by himself, he practically begged to have the job. He was so confident in doing this himself and I was so confident in him, this is my fault." she says the last part in a barely audible whisper. I walk over to her and hug her to me tightly, she tenses slightly and pulls away "No." is all she says, but I pull her back into a bone crushing hug and she finally let's herself relax in my arms. "This is not your fault, it's the humans who held you captive and turned his fated feral." I say doing my best to sound soothing. I didn't know Dahlia's leg was dead, sure he limped, but I figured it was just hurt. I can feel the grief, anger and sadness radiate from my fated, I reach up and softly rub the back of her head and hold her close to me. I feel her take a few deep breaths and center herself, when I feel she has calmed a bit I bring her over to a few empty chairs and sit her down.

     I kneel in front of her and lock my gaze with her watery one, she takes another deep breath and blinks the tears away not letting anymore fall. "The humans do a lot of terrible things, and they have shifters they tortured so much they have become feral. They save them for war and unleashes them on other humans who may stand in their way. Dahlia sent me a mind link as soon as he was close enough, his mate was one of those feral ones, he said she seemed fine until she locked eyes on him. He thinks the fated pull made her lose her mind again. She attacked him and he made it back here as quickly as possible..." she swallows hard and takes a few more deep breaths to keep herself calm. "He made sure to make it back because he knew I'd blame myself if he died out in the field. I have done everything I could since the day his parents died to protect him and keep from the market. General knew he could control me by threating him because his leg, but after they took my biological child from me at birth, I wasn't letting them take him from me at any costs." she pauses and cringes slightly and grabs my hand giving them a squeeze before continuing. "They have breeding programs, where they are doing what they can to make hybrids. I... I.. I was placed in the program for the longest time and lost many... They even had Anti and I, but we weren't fated and I lost that one too. Somehow, I was able to conceive with a bear shifter, but they had me strapped to a table when... I was never given the opportunity to hold my child, I saw him long enough to know he was alive and a healthy boy... But I never saw him again. I did everything from that day forward to help shifters escape, I was able to help a lot but not enough..." she pauses again and has to take a few more breaths to calm herself as she tried to hold back more tears.

     "It had been about twenty-five years after my son was taken and hidden from me when I met Dahlia's parents, they were a part of the breeding program, but they were allowed to keep their child. I don't know why maybe because both his parents were wolves, and he wasn't a hybrid, but I set about trying to help them escape... That night the General went for them and I tried to stop what was to come... He shot them in the back as they ran, the bullet went through his mother and into his leg. He wasn't old enough to shift yet, so he didn't heal right despite my best medical efforts.... I took him in when he was barely three, the General let me keep him but I had to wear the wrist and ankle cuffs.. That way I wouldn't be tempted to do something like that again." she finishes and looks at our intwined hands not looking at me anymore. I hug her tightly and pull her down into my lap even though I was still on the floor "That's why she will always be my mother and I will do all I can to be a useful member to our team." a raspy voice is heard behind us. We both look and Dahlia is leaned against the doorframe to the room he was being taken care of in, Rose let's go of me and is in front of Dahlia in an instant. She scans him to make sure he's okay and cups his face in her hands "You will always be useful to our team even if you stay where it is safe. We all Love you so much Dahlia and I couldn't imagine losing you... But I understand that I need to let you grow and do what you think is best, so I won't pull you from the field, but forgive me if I don't let you go alone for a while. I could never forgive myself if something were to happen to because of my orders. You ARE my son and I love you as such." she says and hugs him tightly and he hugs her back. And for the first time I realize he is much taller than Rose, I remain quiet letting them have a moment. While they have their moment, I let the information given to me settle into my brain, I would rip every last one of those humans to shreds.