#Axel's perspective#My mother asked me once, when I was eight, what would I like to be when I grow up. She was only half paying attention to me as she watched a show on tv while my father was away on a diplomatic trip."The Alpha..." I answered, quite confused. Was she asking it as a trap, to see if I had devotion to my purpose? Or was it that she didn't even realize what she asked? After all, I was the only child of the Alpha and I knew for sure she refused to produce another, so what choice did I have?My mother turned to me with a sad smile and for the first time that day or maybe even that week, she looked at me like she was actually seeing me."You really are you father's son, aren't you?"I thought about that simple conversation a lot over the years. At first, because it confused me and then, after she died, just to spite her trying to become exactly like my father wanted me to be. I knew she would have hated that just like she hated him. But after I met Rose... I started looki
When the pack warriors started to attack the rogues that were still standing, I rushed towards the edge of the battle. I didn't get to say anything else to Damon, as I didn't want to distract him from his father's attack, but I brushed my hand against his arm before he transformed. So many promises and pleas for him to be safe spoken without any words. I want us to go dancing, I want us to talk about all those things that we pushed to the side because of the war. I want us to build a relationship. A real one. Not one based of the maddenineg attraction I feel towards him or on the common purpose that brought us togheter. I want to get to know every part of him, even the flaws he hates about himself and I want to learn how to love all of it. I want to love without being pushed by a greater power, but because I choose to.Luna Karina, Axel's aunt, is in her human form, dressed so pretty you'd say she's going to a party, not a war. But she smiles when she sees me and invites me to sit wit
"Sorry for disappointing..." I say as I see the moon Goddess taking shape in front of me after the darkness that surrounded me after my death starts to vanish."You can not disappoint me, Rose. You did more than many others in your position would have done. You did more than many others that I sent to try and solve this problem." She gets closer and as the shimmering light aura that surrounds her touches my soul, I feel at peace, like I'm home and I can finally rest."Maybe the next one will succed." I sigh, but in the unnatural calmness that took over me, I can't seem to care much about that."I hope they do. Third time is the charm, they say, right?" She smiles, not a trace of worry or sadness on her beautiful face."Third time?""The first time was a test, if you want to call it as such. I had never tried such a thing before so I needed to see if it was possible. Second time was, well, almost successful. If your Beta wouldn't have had the pack intervene, the king would have died an
"You talked with the Moon Goddess moments before waking up. Why were you so surprised?" Nala asks and I find it exasperating to have someone else in my head with me at all times. Is this how everyone is feeling all the time? No wonder they hated me. They were freaking jealous of my peace and quiet."I expected to just... Go back in time? I don't know. But to just wake up in my bed like I was jus sleeping before that was... a bit weird. It was weird." I answer, trying to be polite. We're roommates now... Roomates? Headmates? Thoughtmates? I wonder if she's feeling the headache too."I don't. The headache is all yours." She answers and I wonder if it would be fine to curse in front of the Moon Goddess' wolf.But I don't have time to answer that existential question as I find myself in front of a house that even though I technically see for the first time in this lifetime, I came to think about as a home. And I don't know why I can't gather the courage to open the door."Is it a good ide
And tomorrow comes a little too fast. I sent my mom a message that I'd stay out for the night, and I'll explain it to her later. She dropped all the questions when I said the word mate. And technically, that's not a lie, as I do plan to meet with my mate today. Just... later.Until then, I enjoy the blissful peace that I feel with Damon's arms wrapped around my body and his hand lazily playing with my hair."I really hate that I have to do this, but..." He starts and I sigh. It's for the best though. I wouldn't have taken the first step to end this. "How did you find me?"I look at him a bit confused. Maybe I didn't go out of the house a lot, but I lived here for months. And as I explain this to him, his eyes widened in shock."When?" he asks, getting up and staring intently at me."In the other lifetime? Past? No idea how it works, you can ask the Moon Goddess.""The other lifetime? Rose, I have no idea what you're talking about. And maybe my abilities in bed gave you the wrong idea,
"Hi mom!""Rose, when you became an adult, I swore to myself I will give you freedom and trust you. And I kept my promise so far, but could you not make it so hard?" My mom is angry whispering as she's still at work and I doubt the other lawyers in her office see her rebellious daughter as an actual emergency."I'm exercising for when I become an unruly rogue. Building your resiance to it." I answer, trying my hardest not to laugh at my own stupid joke. Only if she knew..."Rose...No, you can't. Good God, I was going to ask if your mate is a rogue, but it can't be. Right?" She asks and I can hear her telling someone that she has an important call and she will use the conference room."No quite. It's complicated.""Rose...""If I promise, promise to explain everything to you in one year? But I can not now under any circumstances?" A year and a half, but she already sounds enraged enough."You really are playing with my nerves. Should we have the talk again? Condoms? STDs? I am too youn
"I feel like shit." I sigh and allow myself to fall on the couch while Diana brings some tea over."It's been two months, you should be over it by now and I should be over hearing about it. But here we are..." She smiles, ready to hear some more drama.Damon didn't explain to Diana much about the past life and the time reverse stuff, but did tell her that I'll be working with them in secret, trying to get the packs to work together against his father. And just like before, she was a bit wary about me for two weeks while I went to visit their house, but warmed up after one night when Damon made the mistake of leaving us alone and found us drunk, watching Temptation Island."At least I have an excuse... Why aren't you over this drama?" I shoot back, but Diana just dismisses me by a flick of the wrist."I'm just trying to be a good friend.""Then tell me what to do!""Just sleep with him!" She throws that idea in the air every time and I can't quite explain why I really don't want to sle
My heart is beating like a drum in my chest. So fast and so loud it's the only thing I hear while my legs hit the ground. I told Damon not to follow me as that would rise questions, but now, the closer I get to the fight, the more I regret not having him near me. I don't know how to fight, how to protect myself in wolf form. The quick bloodshed of an attack. The cracking of bones. The screams of the dying ones. I've only seen it once and I died for it.Just as I pass the last tree that separates me from the river, Nala whispers something and my body suddenly freezes. She took control over it and my breathing slows down, the muscles relax and contract while she gets used to them. That gives me time to look at the massacre in front of me. Not even the worst attacks from before compare to this. The blood is flowing into the river, giving the blue waters a terrifying shade of red. Bodies that seem half broken are gathered around the wolves that are still standing to fight, with claws and
"Damon! We really need to hurry!" I try to sound assertive, but it sounds more like a moan. His hand is roaming under my shirt , leaving a burning sensation of pure desire on every inch of skin he touches. I get drunk with his smell, his presence, his love. So much so, that it worries me what I will do when the mate bond finally snaps into place. Will we ever leave this room?But to find that out we really need to leave. Like five minutes ago.I manage to peel Damon off of me with the promise of tonight being our first time as mates and with that we are out the door to Caroline's Alpha ceremony.We drive by the southern packs that managed to rebuild most of what was destroyed in the war. By how things are going, they will become fully independent again in less than a year."The road helped a lot of them connect to resources." I say, proud that we could make it real. My grandma started it by telling me how nice it would be to be able to just drive to her cousin's pack in the north. Wit
Werewolves don't fight in daylight. I think it's one of the first things I remember my teacher saying, way before I could truly comprehend the meaning of it. It was fine until a century or two ago when, if any unlucky human saw anything they would have been considered mad, but now, with phones and cameras in everyone's pocket?We are wolves in the shadow, humans in the light.We were. Until this war. Until the rogues broke every rule we have ever been taught and we had to push ourselves out of everything that felt right in order to defeat them.Once the sun starts to rise, and the piles of bodies gather around the open field, every instinct screams at me to run. To hide. I see everyone around me feeling the same, everyone remembering what we've been taught. Except our enemy, who teached their children that victory must come at any price.I see people so tired, they can't maintain their wolf form. They fall on their knees, so tired they don't raise their heads when the enemy bites off
"This time, everything will work perfectly." Damon seemed confident, even though that never happened before. And I really, really wanted to believe him, mostly because I needed to, but also because he made it seem so real. Like we had a chance.But that chance slips a little bit through my fingers with every look the council throws at each other. Or even worse, with every look they sneak in Thomas' direction. Waiting for him to take a decision, to take the lead. And unfortunately, Thomas is not desperate, he is young and has all the time to be cautious and smart about his decisions.After a bit of bickering, the king explains his reasoning in an avalanche of ill-fitted sentences."It would be unwise to march, while we lose the base." Someone comments."This is absurd!" Thomas finally bursts and shouts at his father. "Damon doesn't have enough men to take over the pack. We left enough warriors there to make sure of that. We can't march back, wasting everything because you got informati
On the second night of the funeral march, once we reach the fourth pack that abandoned their territory, I see Thomas starting to put things together. His father calmed down a lot and is now advancing slower, making sure the sentinels spread in between the bases and the army can maintain the pack link and keep the communication open. No shadow of the Strychnos plant.That's not good."This doesn't feel right." I say to Thomas as we find ourselves walking next to each other."Why are you scared? Even if it's a trap, your mate will protect you. No one will jump to punish a Moon Priestess.""Yeah... But..." I let the silence speak as I look at the ground. I know Thomas looks at me so I brush my hair off my face so he can see my teary eyes."But you're not sure." Thomas tries to sound sympathetic, but I would be a fool not to feel the satisfaction in his voice."He is my mate, he would... protect me.""You know, every time you say the story of your past life, there is one detail that doesn
Caroline is standing so close to me, I can feel her breath on the back of my head. The king wanted her to be on the other side of the little funeral march as Damon called it, but Caroline looked ready to snap a few necks before she would be separated from me."As long as my pack stands, she is my Luna! It is my duty to protect her or die trying!" None of the men in the office questioned her determination, so she was allowed to act as my bodyguard if it came down to it."Wish you'd have been as determined in the last life too." I can't help but clap at her as we make our way to the MoonWalk pack's borders."Yeah... me too." She answers, to my surprise. Usually, when I make remarks like this she counters with the fact that I wasn't powerful or useful enough to be accepted, let alone respected as Luna. She must sense my surprise because she's quick to explain. "I know. That's what I thought all my life, but... I know Omegas who wouldn't have betrayed the pack for all the power in the wor
"Your friend was put in another room." Thomas is by my side when I wake up, gently pressing an ice bag on the left side of my head. But even with that, I can feel every second of Caroline's training throbbing in my head. I bite my lip as i get up and make sense of my surroundings, mostly of the little silver bracelet that stands as proof of the fact that I am not a good liar. If I would have, the king would have trusted me by now."It's fine... I deserved it." I tell him as I grab the hand he offers to help me stand up. He holds it for a second longer than he should and I realize I was staring at him. Well, not at him, at every feature that reminds me of Damon."I'm sorry about earlier. I just... A lot of things happened at once and...""It's ok." No it was not and he is a piece of crap, but if I can't fool the father maybe I can the son? "I was surprised since you said you have a girlfriend and you know... I have a mate.""Yeah... She really doesn't want to be involved with this so s
"I haven't seen you freeze like that since you got a wolf." Caroline snarls at me as she closes the door after us."I wanted to test something.""And?""And it confirmed that the off feeling I had about Thomas was because he was… interested not because of something more sinister." I answer while trying to use the pack link to tell her that she can't, in fact, trust Thomas. But despite everything, I am still blocked."Remind me to complain about this logistics flaw to the Goddess. She can't lock me out forever." I say to Nala, but the ancient she-wolf is not in the mood for joking."She has enough on her plate. You need to find a way to return to the meeting and warn them!""She can't see what is going on?""To make your mate's prison stronger, she locked herself in too. They have no connection to the outside. The only reason you were able to wake up was because I pulled you out by force." Nala explains and my last hope of a plan finally working, as Damon promised, gets tossed down the
I am shaken awake by Caroline, who has a terrified expression on her face. I almost jump out of bed when I see her, but as soon as I open my eyes, she sighs in relief."You sleep like you're on fucking drugs!" She snaps after I ask her what the hell happened. One second I was sitting with Damon in front of a very angry gathering of Alphas, the next, I am pulled back by Nala in a panick.I hear a loud bang on the door before Thomas' voice comes through, full of annoyance and urgency."Listen here, you little pack girl, you have one minute to wake her or I'll..." He doesn't get the chance to finish that pseuodo-threat because I open the door."What the hell happened?""So you're not in a coma.""Oh, come on! I am a good sleeper, but this is ridiculous. And it's not even morning yet!" I point at the pitch black sky outside, wondering how on earth did they figure everything out so fast."Apparently, some Alphas, if not all of them are in some type of coma. Our spies reported that they wou
The Alphas who agreed to help from the start moved closer, pushing the rest to the side so we can discuss a thing or two. I can see Axel with the corner of my eye, but I don't have the courage to face him yet. In the explaining that I did earlier, I had to mention a few things that involved him in the past life and I know he is hurt, but... this requires a longer and more private conversation.Fortunately, everyone is so caught with the entire war thing that no one thinks to ask why Damon stands next to me instead of my mate.Everyone but Luna Karina. When everyone spreads out for a small break, she approaches me with a stormy expression. Damon takes the hint and walks away, all the eyes following him like he's a jailer. With a straight posture and a half-smile, I can see he's enjoying it more than he should, though."I tried to break through this dream a few times. Just like the other Alphas surely did too. I tried to connect with anyone from my pack to try and wake me, but that was