Arla’s thirteenth birthday came and went, and she had settled in and started to feel at home. The nightmares began to ease, which meant not only was she getting more sleep, so was Granny Elsie and unbeknownst to Arla, Alpha Lorenzo, also.
Arla, Chloe and Felix became firm friends, and the two newcomers joined Chloe’s posse of friends, sharing break times at school together. Arla and Felix, however, were almost inseparable. Wherever one went, the other was not far away.
Felix’s dad, Dustin, was a surgeon in the human world before finding his werewolf mate, and was now training at the pack hospital, learning everything he could about applying his existing knowledge to healing wolves.
He worked shifts, so on the days he was sleeping, Felix would have dinner at the packhouse with Arla, and the days
“Let’s just ignore them and get home,” instructed Arla, noticing the panic-stricken look on her friend’s face. Felix stood frozen in fear, and Arla had to grab his hand and pull him along to get him to keep walking. She knew that if they reached the packhouse grounds, Violet would have no choice but to back off. She was nasty, but she wasn’t stupid enough to break the rules while on the Alpha’s own residence. Violet’s taunts from behind them edged closer, until Felix was yanked backwards by his backpack and landed on his bottom with a thud, and Violet and her crew were standing in front of them both. “What do you want, Violet?” asked Arla angrily. “I want this human out of our pack,” Violet spat back with venom, emphasising the word human with distaste.
“Stop! Stop!” Granny shouted as she rushed over. As she got closer, she realised the first pup she had seen was Felix, and the girl on the floor was Violet Langford. Little shit, she thought. She didn’t need to ask any questions to know that Violet was the instigator, and Arla had retaliated in defence. Two warriors that had been patrolling the packhouse grounds had heard Granny Elsie’s shouts and rushed over. “Mrs Montana, is everything all right?” asked one warrior. “You three,” she said, pointing at Jared, Rocco, and Cynthia, who were still standing, shell-shocked at what they’d just witnessed. “Go home, now, before I tell the Alpha about your involvement.” They didn’t nee
“What’s going on, Granny?” Lorenzo asked, leading his grandmother into his office, and taking a seat behind his large wooden desk topped with grey marble. Granny sat across from him in one of the oversized cream coloured guest chairs. “Arla walked home with Felix and when they got to the meadow, they ran into Violet Langford and several of her friends. Violet and her group were verbally and physically abusive to Felix…” “Drew warned that pup to stay away from Felix,” interrupted Lorenzo. “Yes, well, it doesn’t appear to have gotten through to her,” replied Granny. “Felix was kicked and punched, as was Arla.” “I’m calling her parents right now, there will be consequences for this kind of behaviour,” growled Lorenzo. “Arla
The three of them followed Arla’s scent, which led them out the back door of the packhouse, and Lorenzo mind-linked the patrol team to keep an eye out for her. As they neared the forest line, they heard the sound of raised voices and shouting coming from the front of the packhouse. “Alpha?” Eli mind-linked. “Yes, Eli, go ahead.” “Have you heard of the term ‘angry mob’?” “Yeah...” “Uh, well, we kind of have one here.” “What kind of angry mob?” he asked warily. “Alan and Marie Langford are pissed off. Apparently, something happened with their pup today and they’re accusing Arla of witchcraft. I don’t know what the fuck is going on
“She tried to kill me!” shrieked Violet. Any remorse Arla felt at hurting her immediately vanished. “You will all stand down immediately,” boomed Drew in his Beta tone, causing the crowd to bow their heads slightly in acknowledgement of his rank and request. “Alpha,” shouted Alan, seeing Lorenzo emerge from the forest line. “What punishment will the witch face for her crime?” “As I said earlier, all the pups involved will receive their punishments in due course, Alan,” Alpha Lorenzo replied calmly. “How can you assure us this won’t happen again?” asked a woman at the back of the crowd. “Yes, exactly,” echoed Marie Langford, glaring at Arla. “How can we be sure that our pups are safe at school with this witch around?”
Drew and Granny Elsie followed Lorenzo to Arla’s room and watched as he sat on the bed, gently placing Arla next to him. “I don’t want to go, Alpha,” she whispered, her dark brown eyes still shining with tears. Lorenzo felt like his heart was about to rip in half. “I can’t keep you safe if you stay here, Arla,” he replied quietly. “Not without sacrificing a lot of your freedoms.” “But you’re the Alpha!” she exclaimed, trying to wipe her wet cheeks with the sleeve of her jumper. “I know, but there’s a lot more to being Alpha than just telling people what to do.” He reached over to the bedside table and handed her a tissue. “They fear what you can do, Arla, and when people get scared, they do stupid things. I promised your mum I would take care of you, and at the momen
The bumping and jostling of the car as Andy turned off the highway onto the dirt track woke Arla from her nap. She squinted her eyes, trying to recognise anything out of the window, but all she could see illuminated by the headlights was dense, dark forest. “Where are we?” she asked, rubbing her eyes then stretching her arms in front of her. “We’ve just left the highway,” answered Andy. “We’ve got roughly half an hour more to drive along this track, then we need to go the rest of the way on foot.” “We’re going to walk in the forest in the dark?” she questioned, her voice rising slightly in trepidation. She didn’t like the dark, and the forest always seemed to turn from beautiful to creepy at night time. Sensing her apprehension, Drew tried to reassure her. “Yes, we’l
“Drew, can I ask you a favour?” she said, looking up at him. “For you, little lady, anything.” “Can you look after Felix for me? Please?” she asked, her big brown eyes pleading. “Well, maybe not you, I know Betas are important, but can you get someone else to do it? He’s a human, he can’t defend himself from Violet and the others.” “You’re right, I have worked too hard and am far too important to babysit Felix Thompson,” he teased. “But you don’t have to worry, I will make sure he’s looked after.” “Promise?” “I promise.” “Thanks Drew,” she said as tears of gratitude filled her eyes. She pulled on the front of his shirt and
Arla, Lorenzo, Lydia and the witches had assembled in front of the pack hospital, waiting for the return of the rescue party. The witches were abuzz with a mixture of nerves and excitement. For some, it had been many long months since they’d seen their loved ones, and they still had no idea the conditions they were kept in, how they were being treated, or if they were still alive. Milo exited the first van, approaching Lorenzo and bowing his head respectfully as the rest of his team helped the passengers alight. Lorenzo held out his hand to shake Milo’s, stepping aside as one witch cried out and ran to embrace her daughter. “There were three casualties in the cells, Alpha. We’ve wrapped them and transported them with us, they’re arriving in a separate vehicle shortly. I thought their relatives would want th
Arla entered the bathroom, stripping off her borrowed clothes and running the hottest shower she could tolerate. Stepping into the stream, she lathered up her body wash, watching the dried blood and dirt slide down her body and into the drain. She became lost in her thoughts as snippets of the battle replayed in her mind - the evil look in Alpha Anton’s eyes, her fear for Lorenzo and her pack, the strength and power she felt when she used the mate-bond, Maeve’s pain as teeth sank into her neck…” She screamed as she was pulled from her thoughts by a pair of muscular arms around her waist. “Sorry, sorry, I thought you heard me come in,” Lorenzo soothed, holding her close. “Drew! Violet! Lorenzo, we need to inform her dad,” she struggled against him, her fac
Arabella stalked her prey silently, creeping further out of sight. With teeth bared, she saw her opportunity and took it. Arabella flew gracefully through the air, her attention focused squarely on the neck of the white wolf whose back was to her. Her sharp teeth pierced Maeve’s skin like needles and the white wolf yelped in both surprise and pain. Arabella’s paws had barely made contact with the ground when she felt an intense pain tear through her body. It started at her neck, causing her to open her jaw in reflex, releasing Maeve, who backed away. The pain quickly radiated throughout her whole body as she was flung forcefully to the ground. Violet felt weak, her connection to Arabella fading, and when Arabella glanced at her paws, Violet saw she was lying in a pool of dark crimson blood. 
As they forged deeper into the forest, they finally spotted Alpha Anton, standing in human form and surrounded by witches, only a handful of whom Arla recognised. Where did he find these witches, and where are Sadie and Victor? Were they punished for my escape? The thought made her stomach churn violently, and her mind raced. The sound of Marcel pulled from her thoughts as he unleashed a loud, primal, Alpha howl. Marcel shook his head in confusion, turning to see the wolves from his own pack, along with Alpha Dominic and Alpha Roman, also submitting. Arla and Alpha Anton’s army were the only wolves seemingly unphased by it. “You issued a fucking Alpha King comm
The first warning siren sounded at five o’clock in the morning. Lorenzo and Arla sprang from the bed as the first rays of sunlight peeked through the curtains. They quickly dressed in the first clothes they could find, listening to the sounds of frantic movement below them in the house. “Alpha, incoming, approaching the western border. Forest is ablaze. There are too few of them for it to be the full attack,” came the mind-link from Eli. “Probably a diversion, only send enough teams to cover it.” “Yes, Alpha. I’ll keep you updated.” Lorenzo relayed the message to Arla as he pulled the curtains open and saw the smoke rising in the distance. He could feel the adrenaline begin to flow in preparation for battle. The responsibility on his shoulders felt immense.
Violet stood in the training hall with the rest of the pack’s warriors, waiting for the meeting to start. She had presumed the gathering was to announce battle plans, but had been surprised to hear people around her mentioning that the Alpha was going to choose his mate today. Alpha Lorenzo was six years past mating age and still had not found his true mate, so it made sense that he would select a chosen mate. Violet had no doubt in her mind that he would choose her. She had rejected her mate in order to be with the Alpha and was still feeling some of the effects months later, but her single-minded focus on becoming Luna helped distract her from the pain. The pain would all end once Alpha Lorenzo called her name. The hall quietened as the head warriors arrived, and Violet’s chest constricted painfully
After breakfast, Lorenzo and Arla joined the visiting Alphas and their delegates in the conference room. Some packs had brought their Alpha and Beta along, while other packs had left their Betas to run their pack at home and had bought a head warrior in their place. Alpha Lorenzo had called his senior team into the meeting, so Drew, Eli, Andy, Milo and Jake were all in attendance. Introductions were made and Arla hoped she wouldn’t have to refer to anyone by name, as she’d immediately forgotten half of their names and packs. The men soon settled down to business. “To bring you up to speed, Luna, our borders have been reinforced, patrols are more frequent, warriors from all packs are on standby and ready to fight when the time comes,” Drew informed her, enjoying watching her squirm uncomfortably when he called her Luna, and hoping that she wouldn’t make
They were almost out the back door when Millie’s voice called out. “Good morning, Alpha, Luna,” she said, bowing her head with an excited grin. “Good morning, Millie,” replied Alpha Lorenzo. He could sense her excitement, making him smile warmly in return. “You don’t have to call me Luna,” replied Arla, feeling embarrassed that this wonderful woman who had treated her like a daughter all these years was bowing to her. “Oh, don’t spoil my fun, I want to,” she said, giddy, reaching out and pulling Arla in tightly for a hug. “Congratulations darling, you will be a wonderful Luna.” Arla was suddenly hit with a wave of guilt. She had been so overwhelmed since she arrived back home, and then caught up in her bubble of love, th
Lorenzo opened his eyes slowly. His entire body felt stiff and sore, as though he hadn’t moved a muscle in quite a while. The early morning sun was streaming through the curtains, casting an orange glow over the room. Isn’t it night time? He thought, confusion clouding his brain as he tried to recall what had happened. Arla! He turned his heavy head to see her platinum waves fanning over his chest, and wiggled his fingers, feeling her small hand in his. He sighed with contentment and smiled to himself, the delicate sparks dancing on his skin where she lay. Fuck, he suddenly thought.