THIRD PERSON'S POVBeta Thomas knew he was going to make one of the most important decisions of his life in this moment. He already knew by some instinct that Alpha Kane was dead. The mystery of the sudden pain during his sleep was now explained."Did you kill him?" He finally brought himself to speak. He wasn't particularly mourning the man. Their relationship was a strange one. They could have become fonded, but the Alpha never allowed him to cross that distance. Eventually, he stopped trying to breach that barrier."No, I didn't." Maria answered honestly. Yes, she had witnessed it, but there was nothing she could have done about it. The only thing she would have done was get herself captured and killed."You're not lying to me, are you?""I don't know how bold you think I am, but I would never kill an Alpha and then come back to his pack. I didn't have a hand in it."Beta Thomas thought about that and decided that she couldn't be lying. The mad Alpha couldn't have been taken out by
THIRD PERSON'S POV A week later, Aria was still in a coma. Lucas had completely shut down and wasn't responding to anything. Beta Cole and Gamma Lane had to take complete control.The last time either of them got any response from the Alpha was on the second day. Beta Cole had gone to inform him about the purchase of the land they had been meaning to buy all this while."I trust you, Cole. Handle this however you like." He had said to him. He wasn't leaving his wife's side, not to eat and certainly not to take care of his appearance. He still had on the shorts he had on from the night of the attack, and he had pulled a sweatshirt over it, but that was all."Have you seen him recently? Do you think I can go see him?" Brielle asked her husband this morning as he got ready to go to work."I was too swamped with work yesterday, and I think Lane saw him yesterday.""I'm going to go by today." She said. Brielle had missed her friend terribly. If there was anything she could do to wake her u
THIRD PERSON'S POVJon returned to the Moonlight pack that night but because it was late already. He went straight to his girlfriend's house. Haley was getting ready to sleep when she heard a knock on her door.She jumped in his arms the moment she saw who was there. "My love." He held her close and breathed her unique scent in."Hi." He grinned tiredly at her. "You look beautiful.""And you look tired." She pulled him in and immediately got to making him as comfortable as possible. She drew him a bath and brought out a microwaved chicken. She always kept something for him in case of impromptu visits like this one.After his bath, he sat down to eat and caught her up on the latest development. Jon had told her every detail of his mission even though he had been severely warned against it by both sides he was working for.Jon had been broken after his only family, the woman who had raised him was humiliated and killed in front of the entire pack. Their extended family had conveniently
THIRD PERSON'S POV Maria's confidence was at an all-time high. She knew how today was going to play out. She was finally going to get her revenge. According to Thomas's unknown source, Aria was still in a coma, and Lucas was absolutely devastated. She didn't doubt the news for a minute. It was to be expected."Don't worry, Lucas. I'm going to blow your mind." She smiled at herself. At some point, she was beginning to question if this was all worth it. She got the same answer all the time. Yes, it was worth it. Lucas was worth it. That afternoon, she stood beside Alpha Thomas as he addressed his warriors. They looked like they would rather be anywhere else than here. It was all she could do to keep herself from snapping at them. Where was that zeal to succeed? Where was their bloodlust? Honestly, she knew these people didn't have any chance against Moonlight's pack elite warriors, but that would only work in her favor."Gentlemen, this is our chance to make history." He had told them
LUCAS' POV I was brushing her brown hair back when I heard a knock on the door. I scowled immediately. I specifically told the nurses not to let anyone in except, of course, Lane, Cole, and his wife. I doubt why any of them would be here at this time of the night. Aria still hasn't opened her eyes, and it's been eleven days.This morning, I told the doctor to give it to me straight after his routine morning check-up."What's going on, doctor? Do I need to consult another doctor? Is there anything else I should be doing?" I feel so helpless just seeing her lie there day after day. My wolf has been completely withdrawn. I haven't seen the love of my life. She might be laying there, but that's not her. I haven't seen her eyes and her smile in so long."It's not looking good, Alpha." He had said honestly. "There was trauma, but we had quickly treated those. There's no reason why she shouldn't be awake by now.""So what are you going to do?""When I say it's not looking good, I didn't me
THIRD PERSON'S POV All through the night, Alpha Lucas couldn't sleep. He kept thinking of how close Maria was. She was going to go through so much pain that she wouldn't believe it, yet he wouldn't kill her. He would draw out her pain and suffering for as long as he could. He had trouble falling asleep, and only the lull of Aria's faint pulse finally pulled him into a shallow sleep that was filled with nightmares.The dreams were different yet the same. He was in all of them. Aria was, too. She was sinking, and he couldn't get to her fast enough because Maria was in the way. He couldn't go through her, not if he wanted to stay alive. He woke up in a cold sweat and plagued with such deep fear that only the sight of Aria calmed him down.He would fall asleep again, only for him to experience the same thing over and over again. In one dream, Aria was in a quicksand. In another, she was being tortured. In another, she was in a fire so hot that he couldn't get to her. In all of it, he cou
THIRD PERSON'S POV The people of the Red Moon pack were not happy. They have been going through possibly one of the worst periods in their entire existence. The war that was supposed to bring them all the fame and glory that they thought they deserved only did the exact opposite. They had stayed up all night waiting for their warriors to bring them glory and fame. They had gathered at the pack square, telling stories and recalling fond memories about their pack. Strangely, no one mentioned the former Alpha Kane in all these fond memories. They all collectively agreed not to talk about the man."No one ever saw Jon after Lori's incident, right?" One of the girls asked."Please. Would you have stayed on in the pack if something like that happened to your only family and sister?""You're right. I sure hope Jon is happy wherever he is." The other replied. Unknown to the girl, Jon was indeed happy where he was because at the time when they were waiting for their warriors to arrive, he wa
ARIA'S POVSilence. Darkness. Everything is still. Deathly still. Not a tree or leaf is moving. For a moment, I don't know where I am. My eyes open even though my eyes were opened. I'm in the same clearing like the one I was in when I first became Luna. I'm dressed in white, and I seem to be walking in dirt, but my gown remains intact. "What is happening?" I whisper to myself, and I find that I can't speak. I can think, but I can't speak out loud.Suddenly, in the middle of the wandering. I don't know how long I wander for, but I'm suddenly enveloped by a sudden darkness. "Baby," the voice sounds so familiar. It's close yet so far away. It's strangely reassuring and filled with so much pain that I want to hold him close. I want to kiss his pain away but I can't because I can't find him. I fall to the ground and weep in pain. "I'm going to leave you for a few hours. If today's the day you finally decide to wake up, please wait until I'm here. I want to be the first thing you see. I'm
ARIA'S POVThe dinner has to be perfect. Nothing must go wrong. "You keep stressing about it, baby." Lucas rasped from the bed. I guess my pacing must have woken him up. I don't know why I've been so snappy and irritable all day. I'm not one to snap at maids, but how hard is it to set the chairs at the right side? How hard is it to note down the number of chairs needed? It's very frustrating. "I'm not stressed. I just want everything to be perfect.""And it's going to be, baby. Come here to get some sleep so I can sleep. I have several important things to do.""What you're saying is this dinner isn't important?" The anger in me was rising by the minute. "You know, I've seen the way you've been nonchalant about this, and I get it, you're not the one bringing two sides of your lives together.""Whoa, whoa, I didn't mean it that way, baby." His gentle words made me burst into tears. "Come here, sweetheart." He pulled me under the covers, and I snuggled up to his warmth, which made me w
THIRD PERSON'S POV "Through her necklace?" Alpha Lucas wasn't sure if he was hearing correctly. He tightened his hold on his wife. He had first known that some people who could possibly be her parents were looking for her through Oliver. That was all he had heard before he told his people to go check them out. He just wanted to make sure they were not some weirdos or anything that could pose a threat to her at all. They had turned out to be real. This was the first time he was seeing them too, and he thought they were solid so far, but this necklace talk was bothering him. "How I found her was through a silent auction that was being held." Augustine spoke up. "It was a necklace I had when I was younger. It's a stone yin and yang necklace, see?" He showed them the one on his neck and produced a similar one in black while his was white. "Of course, it could be a similar one, but there was an old picture of us wearing it, so I took it to Mum for confirmation.""I knew it was hers the
ARIA'S POV The first thing that came to my mind was to hug the man in front of me. I don't know if I was in an alternative universe or something. I managed to recover my composure to raise an inquiring gaze."Luna Aria?" He said. His voice was deep and calm. Like hot cocoa in freezing winter. He spoke my name again and snapped me out of my reverie. The sound of my name coming from him felt wrong for some reason I couldn't fathom. There was a pull from him to me. I shook my head to get rid of the thought, and I realized that I had been staring at him, which was very rude of me. "You're talking to her." I said calmly enough to hide the tremors in my voice. I could certainly be an actress. He bowed lightly and introduced himself. "My name is Augustine, and these are my parents." Huh. Why can't I stop staring at him? There was something about him, and it wasn't even because of our resemblance. I hope I wasn't the only one that saw it."Can I come in?" He stared back at me with a quiet
THIRD PERSON'S POV What happened next was a blur. Zach could barely breathe with the bullet firmly lodged in his side. His life was flashing before his eyes, and he knew he had only a few minutes left to live. The blood had already seeped to reach his head. He could hear someone screaming, but it was distant. He knew he had to say something. Thankfully, Todd had come nearer to examine his beta. He didn't even know how to feel about the last two minutes. "Zoe was a spy. He was trying to help him take over the pack. He wanted to..." "Stop talking, Zach. I'm going to get you help." Todd said and he meant it. There was no way he was letting him die. Todd bent over him and pressed firmly over his wound, but it was useless. He had bled out too much. "I'm not greedy, Alpha." Those were the last words he whispered before he gave up the ghost. Alpha Todd didn't have time to mourn too much because the cry of his youngest and favorite child rang out clearly. He looked up to find Au
THIRD PERSON'S POV "I'm still a little bit skeptical about this Alpha's mental health." Alpha, Todd said to Zach. They both stood in front of the new glamorous pack house, waiting for the guest to arrive."It sounds insane in theory. You have seen the numbers, they're insane too, but we're both going to make a lot of money off it in the long run.""Yeah. I wouldn't have believed it if everything hadn't checked out. I guess we have a little bit of competition now.""What do you mean, Alpha?" "I sent out a messenger to slyly check on that pack yesterday to see if there's really a well and everything. He came back yesterday, and everything checks out. They do have a well, so yes, we have competition.""Huh. I didn't know you were sending anyone." Zach tried to keep his voice level so he didn't sound suspicious. "Yes, I didn't want to burden you any more than I should. I hope you find a way to resolve your wife's situation."He blanked for a moment before he remembered he was supposed
THIRD PERSON'S POV The next time Zach woke up, he was tied to a chair, and not one muscle in his body was working."Welcome. I was beginning to think you wouldn't join the party on time.""We had a deal." Zach managed to whisper. "You said I could trust you.""I didn't say anything like that, boy. It's not my fault you're so naive.""What do you want with me?""Oh. You're going to find out in a minute." Bart stood up from his chair and rounded his desk. "There's no silver, is there?""Isn't that obvious?" Alpha Bart laughed as if there was anything remotely funny about the whole situation. He cursed his own st*pidity. How could he believe something that st*pid? He would kick himself if he could move. "Of course, there's no silver.""I still don't know what you plan to achieve by holding me hostage here.""Plenty, boy. You know, when I first sent out that proposal, I told Gary here that there was no way we would get any response. You know what John told me?"A man snorted behind him,
THIRD PERSON'S POV Zach knew the plan was too good to be true, but he still couldn't help but pursue it. He knew he should trash the document and forget he ever saw it, but he had already made all the mental calculations in his head. They would make millions of dollars if it were true."Snap out of it, Zach. You know it can't be real." He kept telling himself but he couldn't help but open the document over and over again. He read the document over and over again until he could recite most of it by heart."This is crazy," he said to himself as he sat down to make a rough estimate and calculations. He took into account the manpower that they would need and how long it would take to have it running. By his rough calculations, the factory would be up and running in eighteen months, at most twenty-four months, and they wouldn't even have to spend one penny. That would also mean employment for the pack members. A second factory would mean more money for the pack. Maybe they could finally
THIRD PERSON'S POV Zach was aware of how much influence he held in the pack. There was nothing that went on in the pack that he didn't know. More importantly than all this, he was the Alpha's most trusted man and his right hand. He was in a delicate situation because he knew how deeply paranoid his Alpha was. If he ever got a whiff that he was plotting something behind him that might pose a threat to him or his children, he wouldn't even think twice before killing him.Not that he would ever betray the Alpha, he would chop off his own hand before he hurt the Alpha and his family. Zach was always careful of the deals he brought to the Alpha's attention. He would vet it about a million times before he brought it to the Alpha's attention.As usual, when another pack wanted to make a deal with the pack, they would have to go through him. Just last week, they had spoken about how they could move the pack forward. He had even been surprised that the Alpha was talking about new developments
THIRD PERSON'S POV Sixteen years ago, the lives of Alpha and Luna of the North pack changed. The North pack was the largest pack in the North, and there was only one reason for it. The North pack was the only pack in the North. They didn't start out that way. In fact, they used to be one of the smallest packs out of the ten packs that were in the North back then. Their name used to be The Bright Moon Pack. The Bright pack kept to themselves and managed their resources well. The Bright Moon pack was the only pack with high-level technology, and most importantly, their pack had a high concentration of silver. Silver trading was a major source of income in the werewolf world. Alpha Todd was wise, and he knew that this resource could become a source of misery for his pack. He knew how power-drunk people could be. Alpha Todd had to kill his own friend, his Beta, when he found out he was plotting against him. His friend's reason was that he was not monetizing their resources well. Alpha