My father motioned for Aiden's father, Raphael, to speak, and what he said irritated the bubble inside me."We need to make Harper the alpha of the pack."I didn't know where he got this stupid idea in the first place. I know that he knew that to become an alpha, I needed to have my Luna with me. He also knew that Zara wasn't with me right now, so there was no way I could get the alpha position right now. It was basic werewolf knowledge and not some rocket science shit. My father scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. His pale face looked tired and withered and I hated to see him like that. Fragile in a hospital bed. But I also knew that I couldn't do anything about it. I was powerless here. Dad's healing was dependent on his willpower and his wolf's strength. I just hoped that it was enough to get my father in shape as soon as possible because I had a feeling these rogues were not going to rest for a long time. They had done considerable damage to the pack infrastructure and werewolf
~ Harper’s POV ~I snuggled deep into the duvet, grateful for the short amount of sleep I was getting at the moment. With everything happening with Zara, my dad, the pack, Katelyn, and the rogues, I have been on my toes for the longest time. Any little rest I could get, I was going to take it. No questions asked.My wolf felt relaxed too, as the faint smell of Zara surrounded us. My wolf took a deep whiff of her scent, hoping to wrap it around himself permanently. I shifted and turned my body around in sleep. I was stuck in the sweet limbo between sleep and conscious awakening. It was a sweet place to be.Last night, after my father had woken up and after the blasted meeting, I had let my wolf let off some steam. He had run for hours and was still surprisingly still feeling restless and ready to fight. I wasn't surprised when he had come to stop at the familiar house, after exhausting his muscles. I had resisted going to Zara's house to sleep for some time now. I had my reasons, one
~ Harper’s POV ~I needed to see my father immediately after getting the grave news of the murder of three innocent children. The incident was creeping into my conscience and was making me and my wolf feel reckless, vengeful, and guilty at the same time. So, that's exactly what I did.I walked over to the hospital and got my daily dose of coffee before mustering up enough courage to read the news to him. I knew the news would hit him hard. As an alpha, it was his job to take care of the people in the pack, as well as the people of the town. And to fail so miserably at the heavy task was a blow to one's confidence. I gave myself a mental pep talk before entering my dad's room. Mom and Katelyn had gone to the pack house to get fresh and change into new clothes. In all this drama, I didn't get enough time with my baby sister and I wanted to change that but there was no way in hell I could sit around while a dangerous enemy was looming in the background.I walked inside the room to find
~ Harper’s POV ~I took a deep breath as I contemplated the situation before knocking on the door. I knew what I had to do but that didn't make it any easier. My wolf was restless at the back of my mind, unable to sit still, but even he agreed that this needed to be done. This step was necessary because there was so much resting on my decisions.Before I could overthink everything and convince myself to walk away, I rang the doorbell of the mansion-style home of one of our esteemed warriors. I knew that both he and his wife were busy tracking the rogues, so there would be only one person in the home who I needed to talk to.I heard footsteps on the other side of the door and braved myself to face my problems head-on. Giving myself a mental pep talk didn't make it any easier to face Natalie.She was surprised to see me standing on her doorstep but the clever girl didn't say anything and stepped aside to let me enter.I entered her home and walked inside to sit on one of the couches in
~ Harper’s POV ~I wasn't averse to Natalie's condition. I was kind of surprised that she had thought of it but she had and I was glad she did. We knew that Zara had blocked all of our numbers, but still, we tried to reach her via our number. I called her twice, and so did Samantha, Natalie, Aiden, and my dad. We didn't get any answer from any of them, not that I was surprised. Zara had ignored our existence to start afresh.But we didn't stop there. We got several burner phones and tried her number at different times. All of us tried to reach her in any way we could. We even sent emails, even though we knew she didn't check them regularly. I asked Aiden to swipe the phones of Zara's brother and mother, hoping at least she would answer them. We kept calling till their batteries died but we didn't get any answer from any of them. Did she drop off the face of the earth? We were running out of time because rogues never stood in one place. We had to attack them as soon as possible befor
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had to repeat the words over and over again in my head. I was standing on the precipice of the backyard, with Ethan standing behind me. I was back home, after so many months, and my timing was impeccable. I had just walked in on the alpha ceremony. Harper's Alpha ceremony. He was standing on the stage, his blood mixing with the blood of my best friend, Natalie. Who was now his Luna? In addition to being the mother of his child. So, Natalie, who was my best friend, was now pregnant with my mate's child and was also his Luna. My brain was processing what I was seeing and what it all meant. I knew that the pack was having rogue problems. Some serious rogue problems. This would explain why Harper had to become the alpha, considering the fact Harper's dad was seriously wounded. The pack in a crisis needed an alpha. I knew that. Everyone knew that. Then why did it pain me to see Harper on the stage with someone else beside him, taking the oath I w
I opened my eyes slowly and blinked them rapidly to ward off any residual sleepiness. When I had rested my head on the pillow of MY bed, which somehow mysteriously smelt of Harper and did an amazing job of relaxing me, I had planned to doze off for a few hours because sleep was the best damn cure for anxiety and all the confusing jumble of emotions I had been feeling. What I hadn't expected was to excel in that motive because when I looked out the blinded window of my room, the sky had an orange glow, which either meant that I had woken up in the evening or slept straight through the night and into the morning light. I wasn't sure which and didn't know what it said about me. I groaned out loud as my cranked-up muscles came back to life. The magical beauty sleep had done the job and I was feeling well rested and relaxed. I still wasn't sure how I felt about Harper's alpha ceremony, but I wasn't having an emotional breakdown either. Which was good, all things considered.I picked up m
~ Harper’s POV ~ One minute I was standing on the stage, overcome with pride and satisfaction that this day had finally come. I was the alpha of the pack. I was perusing the crowd. My pack. It was my duty to take care of them now, to protect them and provide for them. As an alpha, I would have to put the pack before myself, if the circumstances demanded it. I was the sole person responsible for the well-being of these people. My people. The feeling was overwhelming. This moment, which I had waited for so long. My gaze swept over the crowd, who had bowed down, to pay their respects to me, their alpha. Not future alpha, but the alpha.My eyes moved over the crowd and landed on two figures standing by themselves, by the doors of the backyard. I did a double-take when I realized who this person was. My eyes had landed on Zara, who was staring at me, standing at my home. For so many moments, I could just stare at her, doubtful if she was a figment of my imagination, or if she was there.
Bonus Chapter: Natalie's POVI knew something was wrong when I didn't get my period for two months. I never had a smooth cycle so I wasn't troubled when they didn't happen the first time but their absence in the second consecutive month got me worried. My body had undergone certain changes I knew weren't normal and I was worrying myself to death, thinking about some kind of deadly disease that would kill me in a few months. Even though I knew that my immunity system was way better than a normal human's, I couldn't help but entertain such thoughts. I didn't tell anyone of my concerns as I didn't want anyone to worry because of my baseless concerns. Nonetheless, I booked the first possible appointment with the pack gynaecologist. I had prepared myself for everything, a tumour in my ovary, internal hemorrhaging of my uterus that would result in an immediate hysterectomy, or even breast cancer which would again lead to a complete mammectomy. But as I sat in front of the doctor and she ex
Bonus Chapter: Ethan's POVWhen you grow up as a werewolf, all you ever hear is the word 'mate', because people around you can't stop talking about them. Some elders talk about mates with a dazed but happy look in their eyes and you can easily tell how much they love their mates. When young people talked to mates, you could practically feel their longing and the love they had for their mates. When teenagers talk about mates, you can feel their desperation to find their mates and be one with them. Rejections in my pack were extremely rare and every werewolf lived happily ever after with their fated mates. There were no doubts, no questions asked because your mate could be the exact fit of your soul, your second half, and the one who you are supposed to live as long as you live. Growing up and watching my parents and pack members, this is all I had watched and learned, that a mate was for you to love, hold and protect till the end of your days. When you're brought up like that, the ide
EPILOGUE 3: HARPER'S POV (TEN YEARS LATER)It was three years ago when Mason was first teased by a classmate about the unusual arrangement of his parents. I had always known that as he was growing up, he became especially attuned to the fact that the way his family lived wasn't exactly normal by usual standards. There were so many unusual factors that they were bound to seem different to him and I wasn't exactly prepared for how Mason was coping with how different his family seemed to be from any other family in the pack. As the future alpha, it was essential to be a part of the pack because other people were often intimidated by the power you had and by the power you would have in the future. My father always taught me to be a part of the pack but always remember that you could never essentially be a part of the pack. And this is exactly what I had taught Mason to do; I had asked him to play with all the other wolf kids but always remember that in the future, he will be responsible
Epilogue 2: Zara's POVI could feel everyone's eyes on me, which instantly made me nervous. I hated feeling this way but I wasn't sure I could help it. I hated being the centre of attention and walking down an aisle and standing in front of all the pack members to take part in the Luna ceremony was exactly that, being the centre of attention. Harper had told me that since I was the true luna of the pack, the ceremony would be a little different and I wasn't sure how that would affect me as I hadn't exactly attended Natalie's ceremony. I weakly smiled at all the pack members assembled in the pack grounds and started walking down the aisle towards the raised stage at the front of the pack. I was barefoot to pay homage to the natural aspect of the pack and to respect the raw nature of the wolves. The grass was soft beneath my feet and I immediately compared the softness to the grass in the spirit world where I used to meet the moon goddess. Harper had instructed me to not look around an
Epilogue: Zara's POVA blush immediately coated my cheeks as I slowly woke up from my deep slumber. The bed felt too cosy and I couldn't help but snuggle against Harper's body. His amazing body heat and the tingles that danced all over my skin whenever we touched made me let out a deep, sleepy moan. I felt Harper stir beside me and felt his arm settle on my bare hip, eliciting a heady warmth to settle deep in my belly. His thumb gently caressed my hip bone and I moved closer to him, determined to have as much skin contact as possible and leave no space between us. Harper's scent surrounded me, which brought an involuntary sleepy smile to my face. Even with my eyes closed, I could picture Harper's slightly upturned nose as he slept. It was too hard to resist his adorable expressions so most of the time, I didn't even try. My head rested on his shoulder and my face settled in the crook of his neck. Without needing to open my eyes, I leaned forward and planted an open-mouthed kiss on Ha
I thought about it for so many months, because the act of being marked by Harper seemed final. It felt like a full stop and in a way, it was final, an end. I knew the meaning of being marked even before I had decided to go away when I had learned of Natalie's pregnancy. I had asked him to mark me so many months ago and he had refused. It seemed so long ago, Aiden's birthday party when he found out that Samantha was his mate. So much has happened since then, things that have made me value the most precious things in life, let go of grudges, and the importance of relationships. After all, I have been through, I believe I have grown as a person. Not just me either, I know that all of us, Harper, Natalie, Samantha, and Aiden have grown up and matured in a way that most eighteen-year-olds don't. Well, Natalie is nineteen years old and so is Harper, as of today. So, I want to stress the fact that the decision to mate with Harper wasn't a light one even though I know most people wouldn't s
I think what the moon goddess said somehow helped me get over Ethan's death. I was still wrung and grieving about him for weeks, don't get me wrong but thinking about how must be at peace somehow made it easy to bear his loss. If I were to believe the goddess' words, Ethan wasn't happy in his life and was lost because he had no apparent purpose. I like to think that he got the release he so desperately wanted and needed. Even after knowing all this, I still couldn't cope with the fact that I won't be seeing him every day. He had been my source of comfort and strength for so long, he was someone I could lean on. He had begun to understand me in ways I'd never thought possible. And his absence felt left like a big void and I wasn't sure I could fill it. I didn't know if it was possible to fill it. When Harper told me that Ethan wouldn't be getting a funeral like the pack members because he was a rogue, I had been so infuriated. I knew that what Harper was saying was a part of who he w
~ Harper’s POV~"You do realize that to break the bond between us, either one of us will have to complete the mating process and mark our mates," I remarked and watched as Natalie nodded her head in acknowledgment. We had just gotten back after performing the final rites of the pack warriors who had lost their lives from the battle with the rogues. Needless to say, we needed some time to regain our bearings before we mingled with the rest of the world. I had done it before when my father was fighting for his life and I still found it jarring to my being, to perform the final rites of the werewolves who lose their lives. I couldn't imagine how Natalie must be feeling as it was her first time dealing with this ceremony. And hopefully, the last time. "I know," she said and we didn't speak for a few moments. I sincerely hoped that it would get easier with time, performing this ritual. It certainly hurt more when I knew that the pack members were paying for the mistakes my father committe
When I came to my senses, I immediately knew that Harper wasn't in the bed with me. I had lost consciousness when I was engulfed in his body heat, with his arms wrapped around me. The loss of his presence was so pronounced that I didn't want to open my eyes. It felt like he was the only reason I wasn't emotionally breaking down right now. A very big part of me wanted to be near him right now and the fact that he wasn't here with me disappointed me a lot. Even in my dreams, I had expected him to be here with me, helping me get over my loss. I wanted to never open my eyes and I was glad the room was shrouded in darkness. My neck prickled in awareness and I became aware of someone sitting in the room and even though, the threat of the rogues was over, I suddenly felt unsafe. "I know you are awake, Zara." I recognized that voice and the fear immediately abated. I opened my eyes and got up in a seating position. I leaned against the headboard and regarded the figure of the soft figure of