The southwest border was quite far off, so I quickly shifted and took my shirt with me. I started running, and I caught up to Duncan halfway to the border. He only spared me a glance, then went on.“What is it about?” I asked, trotting to his side.“They caught someone crossing our border. Noah must have had a really good reason for making a fuss about it. The kill order is on.”“Do patrols really kill everybody who crosses the border?” I asked, a bit shocked.“They should, but as you can see, they don’t. How is Sabrina?” he changed the subject.“She is a happy mommy of a beautiful baby boy,” I said, my heart growing warm again.“Had Gabe made it on time?” he asked, slowing down a bit.“Yes.”“Good,” he nodded, and we walked the remaining distance in silence.Getting close to the border, I saw Noah standing by a figure on the ground, wrapped up in a blanket. I also saw members of the patrol nearby. The border was about 100 meters away, behind the trees.We sifted, and I pulled my shir
I just sat there, not really knowing what to say, when he reached for the drawer and pulled out a book from the very bottom of it. I watched him flip through the pages, and an old photo fell on the desk.“It is the only photo I have left of her,” he said as I reached for the picture.A beautiful young woman was smiling happily, crouching down and hugging a little boy, around 3 years old. For a single moment, I adored the cuteness of him with the messy black curls and the mischievous smile, then turned my attention to the woman.They weren’t really alike. Elena Rose O’Sullivan was a fragile little woman with blond hair, her green eyes sparkling with joy even in the fading old photo. She was truly beautiful, and she was happy. Not just seemed like. Somehow I felt that then and there she was truly happy.“She was the same age as you here. It was before he started beating us. They had a few quarrels even before that, and he hit her even before I was born, but nothing like what came after
His POV—Flashback“Mom?” I called her for the thousandth time, but she didn’t answer. I couldn’t even smell her in the heavy rain. I just went on blindly, deeper and deeper into the woods, not bothering with the pain in my ribs and face. Yesterday was quite a bad day. The old man went berserk again, and I know he hit her too after I passed out.“Mom!” I screamed again at the top of my lungs. She must be hurt. All she needed was a nasty cold from this stupid rain. I knew she wanted to get away a little, but I couldn’t let her be all alone. If something happened to her, I would surely go nuts.I suddenly got out of the forest and saw her. She was standing at the edge of a cliff, and my heart skipped a beat. What if she falls?“Mom,” I called silently, just loud enough for her to hear above the sound of the downpour, not wanting to surprise her.“Hi, my baby,” she turned to me with a smile and I instantly knew something was off.“What are you doing here, Mom? You will catch a cold in thi
It was still early in the morning and I was lying in our bed, studying him sleeping beside me. He seemed so calm and peaceful, I had to fight the urge not to touch him. I knew he would be awake the minute I did.We were together for three weeks now, but this was the very first time I actually saw him sleeping. He was a light sleeper. He woke even if I sneaked out to the toilet at night, and also got up ridiculously early in the morning. He usually let me sleep on until he attended some Alpha business, or woke me to have some sweet morning sex and have breakfast together.But it never happened before that I woke before him, so I just laid still and watched him. He seemed so peaceful in his sleep, finally looking like his actual age without his usual frown and serious gaze. Not like I haven’t loved his serious self, too, but he needed the rest now. Yesterday was a very long and emotionally demanding day for both of us.He snuggled closer to me, hiding his face between my breasts, and I
I had quite a busy day, but the afternoon found me on the training grounds with Marissa and eighteen other women.We did the usual stretches, and I felt myself relax with the all so familiar moves. It will be good to let some steam out, and Marissa wanted to have one-on-one fights in the second half of the training. It will be fun.From the corner of my eye, I saw the men going on with their own training at the other end of the field, this time led by Noah. It was usually Gabriel, but they made things so he could stay with Sabrina and the baby for a while.I turned away from them and went on with Marissa’s instructions. During training, she was in charge, and I followed her instructions like anyone else.When I first joined them, she explained that she did things a little different from what Gabriel did with the boys. She put a bigger emphasis on defense, as they had very few female warriors, and Duncan preferred keeping them back as a last line of defense.I concentrated on my body a
“Moiraaa” I woke to an otherwise lovely voice screaming my name, and in the next moment she jumped on me, making me lose my breath. “Wake up! It’s today” Rosie laughed, bouncing on the bed next to me.I managed to open my eyes and was met with her bright smile. She was already dressed, her hair neatly weaved in two. She was all ready to go, and I couldn’t even open my eyes properly.“Give her some time, baby. It is still early,” I heard Duncan say, but I could tell he was smiling even without looking. Rosie grew to love me quite fast, just like I adored her from day one and it made him happy.“Fine, but hurry up or you won’t have any of the pancakes!” she said, climbing off the bed and making a run towards the kitchen.“Sorry darling,” Duncan sat on the edge of the bed and kissed my forehead.“It’s okay. It is her day. Just give me twenty minutes, and I will be down,” I said, sitting up and kissing him.I got out of the bed and he left me alone. Getting into the bathroom, I made the s
Duncan found us right in front of the shop, with all the things neatly packed in a big paper bag. Rosie ran to him, and he got her in his arms, but I could tell something was off.“I will tell you later,” he told me through our link before I could ask anything.“Moira got me a whole lot of amazing stuff, and we even met a nice lady who draws pictures for books, and I got pencils just like hers,” Rosie informed him happily. “There was a really rude sales lady who said I was too small for these, but Moira told her ‘My girl is getting whatever she wants’ and she even told her she would tell the manager.”“Really?” he raised his eyebrow at me.“It was just an overzealous sales clerk,” I shrugged. “I didn’t actually talk to her boss.”“I think she is more preoccupied with you calling her your girl,” he said through our link as he put Rosie down and got her hand.I was surprised for a minute because I wasn’t even thinking when I said that and never thought my words would mean so much to her
By the time we got home, the packhouse was full of people and bustle. We woke Rosie, and she walked by my side sleepily, but she forgot it all the moment we stepped inside.“Granny” she screamed happily and ran to a small, white-haired woman, hugging her tight. She was Abigail, Noah’s mom, and the only grandparent Rosie ever had. They simply adored each other.She lived down in the village in a lovely little house with a big garden. Both Rosie and Liv would spend a weekend with her every now and then, and that was how I met her for the first time. Duncan went to fetch the girls, and I tagged along. It was only a brief visit, but she accepted me immediately.She was a petite woman who seemed fragile, but I knew better already. She had bright blue eyes, and even though she was only 43, almost completely white hair. Noah said it grayed in less than a week after they lost his father.“Did you have fun, my angel?” she asked, caressing Rosie’s face.“Yes! Moira got me beautiful pencils and
Things started falling apart a week later, when one morning Warren and Bran hadn’t returned. Everybody was on alert already, when Bran finally linked Duncan, reporting that they found a hideout. He said that there was a big movement, and they were probably preparing for something, but their leaders were not there. He left his group there to find out more, while he and Warren went ahead looking for the witch. Duncan decided that if they managed to find the rogue’s headquarters, he would take his best warriors and attack them before they could start attacking our borders. With that being said, the whole pack turned upside down the minute he dismissed the morning assembly. It may have seemed like total chaos, but in fact, everything was pretty well organized. All our warriors reported to the training grounds, where Noah and Gabriel organized them in small units, all ready to take off anytime. Duncan sent Caleb down to the village to make sure that everyone would be safe if something
“What’s going on here?” I heard Duncan’s cold voice, and it helped me come back to my senses. He was quite dangerous when he sounded like that, but oddly enough, it made me relax.“I believe we need to talk,” I told Warren as I stood from his chest, and held out my hand to help him up.Duncan just studied us with cold eyes, and I had no doubt about Gabriel telling him everything through their link.“You can go and hold your training. I’m staying with them,” he finally said. For a long moment, Gabriel just studied us with a dark gaze, then nodded and left. Marissa looked worried, but I sent her a reassuring smile, and she left us too.“Care to explain?” Duncan asked, his voice still calm, but by now I knew he sounded like that when on the inside he was anything but calm.“Warren decided to help with my training,” I answered, not looking away from him, as he absentmindedly rubbed his chest where I stabbed him. “But in the meantime, he showed me something interesting.”“Like what?” Dunca
Things settled down a little once more, but everyone was uneasy. It was like the silence before the storm.I sat in my usual armchair, listening to the reports, but they were the same as every morning in the past week.Duncan strengthened our border patrols on the east, from the ridge up north to the Blue Moon border on the south, not trusting their security one bit after the last incident.That meant we pretty much left the western borders unattended, but Warren and his men from the Crimson were going back and forth all the time anyway, and Duncan was pretty confident about Alpha Blackwood keeping the Silver Moon quiet and secure.But no matter how tight we kept security, patrols reported no rogue movement, or anything unusual.Bran and Warren returned empty-handed again, too. They found nothing on the first two nights, but then they found something that they believed to be a lead. But that turned out to be a dead end.Just like the other three, they found after that.They only manag
After everything that happened today, all I wanted was to snuggle up in bed and sleep for maybe two days, but of course, I couldn’t do that.What I got was a little snooze with Rosie when I tucked her in, and I fell asleep with her after reading. To tell the truth, it felt salutary. The love this little angel gave me and her unborn little siblings was intangible and really warmed my heart.To Duncan’s credit, he really tried not waking me. He came to check on us, and kept really silent, but I guess I just felt him, and woke when he was about to leave.“Wait for me,” I called after him, carefully getting up, not to wake Rosie.“You don’t have to come. Just stay with her and rest a little,” he offered, stopping at the door.“I want to come. Just a minute,” I answered, putting a stuffed animal in Rosie’s arms to take my place.“You are one stubborn woman,” he commented, and I just smiled.“That is one of my charms, is it not?” I grinned at him, wrapping my arm around his.“We are taking
It was the longest 20 minutes of my life till I ran straight to the Blue Moon’s packhouse. With car, taking the road, it was about a 45 minutes’ ride, but going straight down the mountainside, it was about a 20-30 minutes run, depending on your speed.I was pretty sure Duncan made a new record.“They let them through, Luna. The rogues came from the Blue Moon,” Noah’s words rang in my head all along.I was sure it was all just a misunderstanding. They would never do it on purpose. I knew it. Something must have happened, but if Duncan was mad enough to go straight to see Richard like this, I wasn’t sure if he would listen. He must be seeing red right now.Oh dear Goddess, he is going to kill Richard.“They are already there,” Noah informed me. “Caleb and Derek are with him, but they won’t stop him.”“Almost there,” I answered, cursing to myself.I would have been faster if I shifted, but I didn’t want to push my luck after what the doctor said, and also, I didn’t want to face my old pa
In the morning, I couldn’t remember anything about the dream, but I felt like shit. I was sleepy, with a growing headache, and my morning sickness was worse than ever. After I spent the entire morning in the bathroom, Ducan called the doctor on me, but he found nothing. He gave me some pills I could take if needed and told me to take it easy. “Don’t look at me like that.” I looked up at Duncan’s worried face above my mug. “You heard the doc. It’s nothing serious,” I tried reassuring him, as I took two pills with Mrs. Stevenson’s magic tea. I have been drinking this thing for weeks now, but I still haven’t figured out what she put into it. Not like it mattered. It did miracles to my poor stomach, and I was eternally grateful. “Still. You should take it easy today,” he sighed, kneeling next to me. “I will, don’t worry,” I squeezed his hand. “My only appointment is with Rosie in the afternoon,” I grinned, and he managed to smile back. By then, I felt totally fine, so I went for Rosi
Why does he always know what’s on my mind? I groaned internally. I really wanted to keep him out of this, but as things were now, keeping silent might hurt him more than telling everything. “He and Jenny had an argument,” I started reluctantly. “Neither of them told anybody what it was about, but it is ruining their relationship and making things difficult for the whole pack.” “And how does it concern you?” “I think it might be my fault,” I said, resting my head on his arm and staring up at the ceiling. “What is?” “It was about pups,” I blurted out. Wows of secrecy don’t apply to your mate, right? “They argued about having pups?” he asked carefully, and I just nodded. “And how is it your fault?” “I was the one who made Richard like this,” I sighed. “You know, this whole thing would be ridiculous, if it wasn’t ruining their life. Richard wants pups, but Jenny thinks she is too young to have a baby. It is as simple as that. But they got emotional, hurt each other, and now they don
The rest of the night went on more smoothly.Returning from the Alpha meeting, Duncan seemed calm and content. Richard still looked displeased, but Thomas kept him from doing anything stupid. Lucas rejoined his mother and acted like nothing happened, but I felt the steely gaze of his bodyguard on me from time to time.It was quite late when we finally got to the car and headed home. We told Duncan everything, and I saw his frown deepen. He seemed to be concentrating on the dark road, not saying anything, but I knew he was thinking carefully about it.And in the silence of the dark car, I did the same. I kept thinking about everything that had happened tonight. The main question, of course, was Lucas Montalvo and his offer, but my mind kept going back to my other conversations. How cold and angry Richard seemed, how tired Josh looked and how worried Mallory was. And at the end, I always ended up remembering Jenny’s face drenched in tears.Was it my fault? Have I done this to them?I m
I felt like rushing into the alpha meeting and strangling Richard with my own two hands, but I forced myself to stay calm and close the door behind me silently.Jenny would need some time to fix herself.Marissa waved to me, and I forced a smile on my face. Heading towards her, I tried to collect my thoughts, and I was so distracted, I didn’t even realize someone was standing next to her and Noah.And it was none other than Lucas Montalvo, future Alpha of the Crimson Pack.“Luna Moira,” he bowed politely. “It is nice to meet you.”His voice was deeper than I expected, his face friendly and still a little boyish, but his eyes were serious.“The pleasure is mine,” I returned his politeness.“Would you mind taking a walk outside with me?” he asked, and I almost raised my eyebrows. He was so overly polite, and it was even more disturbing from a boy as young as him.“You should go and hear what he wants to talk about,” Noah linked me before I could say anything. “I will be right behind you