~Missy’s Point of View~
I couldn’t believe I was ruining their date so badly, I was an absolutely horrible mate! Maybe I really was just a loser. Maybe I really was just doomed to be alone, there was no help for me. Surely they’d find some excuse, some reason to dump me.
After I got sick I just felt worthless. Hunting, eating raw meat, that is what wolves are supposed to do!! Goddess they probably think I’m pathetic. Well, big shock … I am.
They think I’m fit to be their Luna? Even more of a joke! What kind of pack would follow me? I’d be a laughing stock, I’d humiliate my mates.
Ryan’s wolf led us back to the clearing where their clothes were. He laid down and I swung my leg over him and slid down. I
Aww poor Nate! What did you think of their confessions?
~Missy’s Point of View~ Nate almost kissed me! Or had he kissed me? Dang it, why did I close my eyes! I should have glued them open so I didn’t miss anything. We walked into the lobby and I was sandwiched between my mates with each of them holding my hand. I knew everyone was staring at us, and I did all I could to hold my head high. Like, sure this was normal, everyday life. “We need to put something in your belly since…” Nate whispered as we stood in the snack line. Of course all they had here was junk food, I really didn’t want to eat that in front of them and two dozen of the most popular kids in school. My stomach was too much all over the place. “Just a drink for now, don’t forget there’s the diner lat
~Ryan’s Point of View~ Last night with Missy was a real wake up call for Nate and I. Once we got back to our cabin we were so amped I didn’t think we’d even sleep. We were both beyond pissed off that other pups were mean to Missy. That shit didn’t happen in my pack, but I guessed Missy didn’t have a big brother or someone looking out for her. No one to kick some ass and take names. Well she fucking did now! I wished I’d have punched that snotty little bitch when I had the chance. But the Beta was right, our packs had a good relationship and I couldn’t fuck that up. I also couldn’t have Ridge and Tyra pissed at me for messing things up for them with Hollow Hill. Damn politics. I hate it. *Yet you wanna
~Missy’s Point of View~ I’d spent about six hours with Tyra and I knew two things for certain: she was a machine who truly was born for this, and I was so screwed. She knew absolutely everything about the pack, down to the finest details. She even knew how to tell poisonous bushes, berries and trees apart. She knew where all the property lines were, she could even tell time by looking at the sun!! I, meanwhile, was too humiliated to bring up the fact that I threw up looking at the gift that my mate’s wolf brought me. That I couldn’t even stomach watching them enjoy their kill. Luna Missy? No way! It took everything I had to try and hide my true feelings from mates, about not wanting to be their Luna. It abso
~Missy’s Point of View~ Was I allowed to have my mates in the house without my parents home? They hadn’t said. They didn’t ever have to give me rules like that since I obviously never had males over. My mom did nothing but drool over them herself and dad just talked to them about their packs and how things worked. It didn’t seem like my mates cared a whole lot about how my parents felt right now. Ryan carried me up the stairs effortlessly, like I was just a sack of potatoes. I craned my neck up to see Nate a couple steps below, grinning for all he was worth. He winked. I made a face. I had no idea what the context of the face was but I was so nervous. Never, ever more nervous. I mean, I had been alone in the
~Nate’s Point of View~“Quit it,” I whispered, getting annoyed with Ryan bouncing his knee.“I can’t help it. I don’t do waiting around very well,” he whined.We’d been sitting outside the Governor’s office for an hour, waiting for a meeting we were supposed to have 50 minutes ago. I didn’t like it either, but we didn’t have a choice at the moment.Alphas had to have a tremendous amount of patience, which I knew Ridge more than did. But his Alpha? Shit. That guy is just a loose cannon waiting to blow. I had no clue how Zach ran a pack.I needed this meeting today for the distraction. We had b
~Missy’s Point of View~ “I heard they tried to rape her,” someone whispered. “I heard they beat her and raped her, she’s probably knocked up,” another whispered. “I heard they punched her dad,” someone said. This was my second day of the aftermath of my weekend, and while it seemed like no one was talking about what happened at the movies … this was far worse. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to breathe while paying attention to the teacher. We were in our small auditorium, having a mass lecture on the history of our council, and learning about the Shadow Warriors. They seemed so scary and intimidating.
~Ryan’s Point of View~ “This place is probably gonna have some harsh ass winters,” I said, looking out at the land. Nate nodded in agreement. The climate of Long Tooth was used to heavy and dark winters, but White Falls had a bit of a higher year round temperature, being more south. They’d never seen three feet of snow dumped all at once. It’s a lot of work to make sure your entire pack has food and stays warm. I hope he understands that. I had a flash of my sweet girl with a nice round belly, curled up under me by a fire. Damn, that’s a nice dream for later, making love to her in front of a nice fire… How about being stuck inside with her while she’s in heat? Ohh damn, I’ll have to keep that visual for later.
~Missy’s Point of View~ I was walking home from school, after another ridiculous day of whispers and teasing. I couldn’t believe how quickly the entire pack found out my mates were going to be Alphas. There was a lot of criticism of course, for different reasons. Some people said they’d never be real Alphas, like legitimate. They didn’t have a bloodline and they didn’t fight for it. Which was ridiculous! If Ridge was given his pack and he was legit then my mates would be too. I had to believe that. I’d just come around the side of my neighbor’s house when I heard a whistle, like a cat call. I ignored it, figuring someone was just being a jerk. I finally cleared the side of my house and stopped dead in my tracks. Was I hallucinating?
~Epilogue~ ~Four Months Later~ ~Missy’s Point of View~ “Are you sure you’re ready to try this baby,” Nate asked, from underneath me. I made a face, since I was already struggling like hell with my current position. I was splayed out across the top of Nate’s body with my back to his chest. My hair was likely suffocating him. Between everything with the village and having little Fisher, we rarely take advantage of the witches’ offers to send us somewhere exotic anymore. But tonight had been planned for weeks, and both grandmas were handling things so we could have a weekend away. However, I still had to have Kendra pop in every 12 hours
~Missy’s Point of View~ ~Next Month~ “Kendra I don’t understand, what’s so important that you had to--” I fumbled into the dark room to find the light, wondering why she was dragging me into the daycare at 8pm on a Friday night. I flicked the switch and my jaw dropped. “SURPRISE!!!” I gasped and covered my mouth as everyone cheered and shouted. There were balloons all over and confetti flew through the air. I looked next to Renata and saw a giant cake, easily four tiers. On top was a brown haired doll in a shiny red dress just like she’d made me for the dance. There were two males in tuxedos both holding on to the doll.
~Missy’s Point of View~ *Are you really not going to shift back,* I said, feeling defeated. My wolf and I laid in front of the packhouse and everyone gawked at us. It had been hours and hours since my shift, and my wolf seemed to be content to stay. She was still mad that I forced her shift early, she was mad that our mates weren’t here to see it and help. She was determined to stay until she got to see them and offer a piece of her mind. I was certain her little badass attitude would fall away once she saw them. The humans were very curious about her, and she let them pet her. She thought it made her feel special and important. Admired, when she couldn’t get that satisfaction from her mates. “Everyone can
~Nate’s Point of View~Could there be anything more impossible than both my mates needing me and having to choose? Missy only gets her first shift once, we had to know it would happen after getting marked. But we couldn’t put off the invasion, not when the Shadows were all ready to go.Would Ryan have been okay without me? Probably. It wasn’t like I did anything but try to comfort him anyhow. This was a whole new dynamic that would take some real thought. Two mates absolutely dependent on me, and Ryan having two dependent on him as well. We were as joined as three people could be. If you’d asked me even a month ago who I would choose in a moment like this, of course I’d have said Missy. She should always be the number one choice. But now I also know, if anything happened to Ryan it would positively devas
~Renata’s Point of View~ I felt Diego now as if he were so close, but I still couldn’t mind-link him. I watched out the window as there was a crazy rain storm that seemed to come and go, then a glowing light in the distance made my jaw drop. I quickly opened my two windows in shock, trying to be sure I was seeing things correctly. A forest fire. Ohh goddess! They’ll never put that out! They’re gonna burn the damn pack to the ground! Oh fuck I gotta get outta here! My mind went into overdrive and I suddenly had to wonder if I could shift and be able to get out of the ankle cuff, I’d have a smaller leg. Would that work? Desperate times Renata… I cle
~Ryan’s Point of View~I hadn’t been in the battle of Blood Claw, but everyone damn well knew the stories. A witch that could raise the dead, use them as a fucked up to way to fight your enemy. And in smoke so thick you can’t even see what’s coming at you? I didn’t sign up for this shit!*Renata, it’s all for her. We are here for her,* Huck reminded me.*It’s all for killing our fucking father,* I reminded him.We all had knives or daggers of some sort, but no guns. Did guns even work against the dead? Did knives? Fuck if I know, there isn’t a training manual for batshit crazy witches!*Katrina thinks this wit
~Missy’s Point of View~ I can only make popcorn for so damn long, what am I going to do for all these people tonight? On top of that, I had a huge migraine and my skin was just super itchy. Maybe if I could sneak away and get a bath I’d feel better. I was already sick of the wink and nudge act from Nate’s mom who kept finding excuses to look at my neck. Although, several people did. They said I smelled different and of course everyone knew what that meant. “We’ll have to have a proper Luna ceremony,” someone said. I had no idea what that entailed, but with my mates gone and my best friend kidnapped it was hardly something I could waste my brain space on for now.
~Diego’s Point of View~ I stood on the practically barren Blood Claw lands, and could hardly imagine what this looked like once upon a time. Tyson didn’t much like to talk about his childhood, he said he was just a mindless zombie doing and going where he was told much like everyone else. That was hard for me to believe now, knowing how strong and confident he was today. But I guess we were all children at some point, just eager to please our parents. Goddess knows I was always trying to prove myself. I had a massive family but we were now spread out all over the place. My parents still live with my youngest sister who has yet to shift. I have no clue what they’ll do when they finally have an empty house, maybe … just maybe I could convince them to come here. They didn
~Renata’s Point of View~ After Tyler’s stupid ass witch succeeded in scaring the shit out of me, everyone left me alone. One of the cooks from the packhouse I knew so well … an older female named Mary, brought me some fruits and finger foods. She refused to really look at or speak to me though. I couldn’t hold it against her, she was obviously scared. Sometime around two in the morning I did drift off to sleep, though it was so light and paranoid I woke barely feeling I’d slept. The sun was up, yet I was still here. I absolutely did dream I woke up back at home, in the strong arms I’d come to know so well. To depend on. How’s this possible? Aren’t they coming for me?