...Darius POV...It felt like I was in a dream. A dream I never wanted to wake up from. I couldn't even describe the feeling I had. It felt like I was floating on a cloud. I was in a state of pure bliss. It was peaceful. As if any worry I had, had been wiped away.I was wrapped in a warm and comfortable embrace. I slowly opened my eyes, wanting to understand what was happening. I couldn't remember anything. What had happened?I looked around to see the ground covered in blood. The stench of rogues plagued the air. As I sat up, I felt something move from on top of me. I looked down, to see a girl hugging me. I had no idea who she was, but just by looking at her, I didn't feel like disturbing her. If anything, I wanted to wrap my arms around her.'Ash? What happened?''I don't remember exactly. I remember there being rogues, but not much else.' He replies.I nod my head. Still confused, but unable to take my eyes off the girl at my side. It was almost hypnotic. It was as though nothing
...Wynter POV...'How is this even possible?' I asked Caedance after we had made it safely away from him.'I don't know. I didn't know he was even here.'"You didn't? Then how did you manage to lead us there?''I think it must be because of our bond. We are still connected to him.''I've heard of mates being able to find one another, but not across continents. How did we manage to find him when we didn't even know he was here?''I don't know. Perhaps he felt the same pull we did?''But how?''I don't know.' She replies to me. Ever since I left Darius, I was beyond anxious. Everything inside of me was fighting to go back to him. I knew I had no other choice. I had to leave. I couldn't risk going back to him. We had gone much further than we should've done. It was as if I was in a trance. Seeing him alive after everything had happened, had managed to make me forget about everything that had happened. The only thing I needed was him. It was both a selfish and risky move. I couldn't beli
I left Croatia shortly after that happened, and continued to travel across the globe. I don't know how Darius managed to do it, but he always seemed to find me, regardless of where I went. We never saw each other again after what happened in Croatia. I managed to identify the feeling of Darius' proximity to me, telling me it was time to leave before Darius even got the chance to find me.After several years of travelling, I decided to go back to England. Since I had been gone for so long, I decided to go back to visit my family.Thanks to Miles, I managed to get my high school diploma long before other high school students. This meant I could get a full-time job without having to worry about having to go to school. Thanks to Phoenix and Ember, I managed to secure two really great jobs. I needed a distraction from my life, and working all of the time really helped. In the daytime, I led a boxing class at the gym Phoenix worked at. It was because of her training that I was able to get t
...Catherine POV...After running into Darius in the hallway, I quickly ran to Alpha Xander's office. It was late at night, but I knew he would be awake. The man rarely slept, so tonight would be no different."Alpha!" I yell, bursting into Alpha Xander's office."What is the meaning of this?!" Alpha Xander says, sounding annoyed.Ignoring his outburst, I continue to approach his desk."It's Darius. He's here!" I say, getting to the point."Is he.." He says, clearly contemplating."Has he seen you already?" He asks."Yes." I say crestfallen."I take it by your response, he wasn't happy." "No." I sigh."He looked annoyed actually. He looked happy at first, but..." I begin, only to cut myself off, as I remember our encounter. "It looked like he had forgotten about me." I partly whimper.I'm not an idiot, I knew this was a possibility. After all, we weren't really destined mates, so he would never think of me as such. But I've always had strong feelings towards Darius. To me, he was th
...Kenji POV...We had finally completed our mission. Well, Darius' mission anyways. We managed to gain hundreds of new alliances and couldn't be happier. Since Genesis was here at Blood Moon, I was able to do most of my work for him while staying at the pack. There were times in which I had to go with him. However, Hunter and Spencer did most of the work that was directly involved with Darius. They travelled with Darius throughout the past eight years. I was glad that Darius never forced me to come with him. Being his Beta, I was bound to go, but he knew I didn't want to leave Genesis. So he never pushed me to go with him. Only on missions that posed to be a threat did he have me accompany him. Since having his luna with him was out of the question, I was the next best option. Similar to Lunas, Betas typically are more peacekeeping than warriors. We know when to pick our battles and are naturally good at calming others. Whereas Alphas typically are fuelled by emotions. There is a tim
"What do you mean she's in a coma?" I ask, furious. Instantly my mind begins to swarm with thoughts of what could've happened. 'Does someone know about her? Did someone order an attack on her? Are they trying to get to Blood Moon through her?'"Shit! How did this happen?" I ask."I don't know. Everything was going ok. We were sparring when suddenly it was as though she wasn't there. Not realizing that she wasn't paying attention, I hit her, but not that bad. She seemed fine after a few minutes, just winded. But..""But what?" I ask."All of a sudden, she clutched her stomach and gasped out in pain. Before I had a chance to figure out what happened, she fell to the ground screaming in pain. I rushed her to the hospital right away. Charlie is with her now, and is checking her over as we speak." He remarks. Like any werewolf, we're always leery of human doctors and hospitals as our DNA is not the same as a human, which also means that we don't always have traditional ailments. Due to t
This was it...This was the day that I've both been dreading and longing for. The day in which Wynter returns home. I haven't told Darius yet, as I want to wait until she's here. I need to make sure she's safe before attempting to bring Darius into this.I arranged for a small clinic just outside our pack border to house Lexi while she's here. Charlie liaised with the medical staff to ensure they would have everything we needed. We couldn't risk bringing her onto pack grounds, as Alpha Xander would find out right away. He knows anything and everything to do with the pack. Until Darius becomes Alpha, all members are loyal to Alpha Xander. In their eyes, there's no reason for them not to be. They don't know what's been happening behind closed doors. They are unaware that Darius is being played like an instrument and kept in the dark about his true mate.My phone rings a few moments later, bringing me out of my thoughts."It's done." The caller says, then immediately hangs up the phone.
...Darius POV...I was so confused. I had no idea what was going on. 'What the hell was he talking about our true mate?' I ask Asher, hoping that he'll be able to shed some light.'Catherine is our true mate. And she's at home. We just left her.' I say to him.'I don't know. But I want to see where he's going. I can't explain it, but I feel worried. Like something bad happened.' Asher replies.'I felt that too. But I thought I was just feeding into Ken's emotions. He seems super stressed about something. I just don't know what.' I reply.'Could it be true? Is it even possible to have a true mate, after finding our mate?' I ask as doubt begins to creep into my mind.It was something that I had often wondered about. Since I never felt that connection that everyone talks about when they have their mate. Even the way I look at Catherine. It's not the way that Kenji looks at Genesis. The fact alone that I was fine being away from her for years at a time should be a red flag. I never even c
...BONUS CHAPTER......10 Years Later......Wynter POV...A lot has happened in such a short amount of time. Not long after the merger of our two packs, did more requests come. Alphas far and wide were coming to us in hopes of merging our packs. What had begun as an alliance designed to help strengthen the packs, soon became to act as a Peace Treaty. Each pack we aligned with, were given the same conditions as Crescent Moon. The ranking members would remain in power, so long as they came to myself or Darius for any critical decisions. We had merged with so many packs, that we were no longer separate packs, but one happy kingdom. One of my more recent projects was to create a city devoted to the rehabilitation of rogues. Those that had been rogue would now have the opportunity to reenter pack life once they were deemed to not be a threat. Many of which had already successfully made the transition. Given our extensive reach, we were more easily able to help those in need. We now had en
...Wynter POV...After a lengthy discussion we all came to the unanimous decision to merge with the Crescent Moon Pack. Everyone had very valid concerns for not merging with them, however, I knew Alpha Landon's pleas were genuine. He was only coming to us as it was his only option. Without a merge, his pack could be killed. A fate no Alpha would ever want for their pack. The five of us decided to go over a sort of job description if you will, for Alpha Landon. He would be a valuable resource, but at the same time we couldn't afford to give him too much power. In order to successfully merge the two packs, there had to be one concise leadership. If others felt that they could turn to Alpha Landon for their problems, it could risk a mutiny.So while Alpha Landon would have power, he would have to go through either myself or Darius to make critical decisions. It was the only safe way to merge the packs, while also allowing Alpha Landon a position as well.Before informing Alpha Landon of
...Darius POV...After Wynter and I had finished, we quickly showered and got ourselves ready to meet with Alpha Landon. I was confused as to why he suddenly showed up. But decided not to look too much into it until I had a chance to hear him out.Wynter stayed by my side as we entered my office. Alpha Landon was seated in the chair in front of my desk. However, he stood as Wynter and I entered my office. "Alpha. Luna." Alpha Landon addressed us, bowing slightly.I had walked over to my chair behind my desk. Wynter dutifully followed, and planned on standing behind me. However, Wynter was my Luna and my equal. Whatever Alpha Landon had planned on talking to me about, now involved Wynter. She had just as much say as what happened in this pack as I did. Which meant that I wanted her to be treated as an equal. I reached over to her, and guided her to sit on my lap. I smiled as Wynter quickly obliged my unasked command, and sat on my lap. I kissed the side of her cheek before turning to
...Darius POV...I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping. I could hear a faint heartbeat nearby and felt an incredible warmth. I opened my eyes to see Wynter lying on top of me. Memories of early this morning began to swim in my mind. I kissed the top of Wynter's head, careful not to move her. She's been running at full tilt ever since she woke up from the hospital. We had nothing pressing that needed to be taken care of, so I decided to just lay here and watch her sleep. I smiled as I remembered our lovemaking from earlier. The feeling was so euphoric. We had both longed for this moment in so long, that it felt like we would never get it. Now that we had the chance, I never wanted this moment to end. Without even trying, Wynter made me the happiest man in the world last night. I began to daydream of our future together. Of Wynter chasing around our pups, as I watched from behind. I pictured myself training our son to fight and to become the next alpha. I pictured Wynter running to t
...Wynter POV...As Darius and I continued to run through the woods, I could feel Caedance grow stronger. It was almost as if we were feeding off of our surroundings. The rush was making us stronger. For the first time, I felt truly in control. I had the sudden urge to test my abilities. So far, Darius had managed to not only keep up with me, but he even managed to run past me. I was both stunned and proud. I wanted to perform a few tests of my own. Caedance had given me some suggestions, and I had wanted to see if they would work. Caedance had suggested we try to hide from Asher to see if he would be able to find us. Much to my surprise, he managed to find me each time. Typically when I would try to hide, I would attempt to cloak myself using a mixture of camouflage, similar to a chameleon. I would focus on my surroundings and soon found myself becoming invisible. I had to hide my scent from him as well, which was probably the most difficult task. Each time I had done it, Darius had
...Darius POV...The air in the room had gone serious as Wynter announced her suspicions. While Wynter and I hadn't had the chance to properly discuss what had happened, we were both suspicious of the outcome. People don't just come back to the dead without being changed. I also can't deny the change I felt inside of me. I had long suspected that I'd been changed, I just wasn't sure exactly how. I already felt far stronger than I already had been. To the point that I often found myself having to dial back my strength. I also felt far faster than I had been. It was as if all of my senses had been heightened. I could now see far better along with smell things from a large distance. I had gone for a run the night I had first woken up after the battle. I had a strong sense of restlessness. The urge to get out quickly became the only thing I could focus on. It was as if my entire body had been electrocuted. Every fibre in my being needed me to go on a run. To get out.I began to have flas
I felt uneasy as we made our way back to Darius' office. I could tell that Darius sensed that something was bothering me, but refrained from asking me. There was just one thing that I couldn't seem to forget. Once we made it back to the office, we all quickly resumed our positions. Darius sitting beside me, placing a hand on my knee as a sign of comfort. I found myself biting my lip as I continued to chew over the thoughts plaguing my mind.I looked over towards Kenji, waiting for him to restart the meeting. Kenji stood up, but didn't start the meeting right away. My anxiety started to run full-course. Before I knew it, I found myself speaking out."What does this mean for us?" I watched as all heads turned to me. Waiting for me to continue."What do you mean my child?" The oracle asks.I find myself nervously biting my lip. I look at Darius for support. I watch as Darius nods his head for me to continue."Xander had told me that if Darius and I completed our mate bond, that it wo
...Wynter POV..."Upon the seven daughters of the seven daughters, the completed ritual shall activate the rise of the true king. While lightning strikes twice, a proposal shall mark the age of love and become the fall of unholy ones. It shall be when fire burns red, the forgotten princesses face, will trigger the return of the resistance. Once the green sea swallows towns, a challenge shall mark the start of war and witness the return of the fallen. Those in power will bend to one knee, bowing before the lost queen.""So what does that actually mean?" Darius asks."It basically means that one the descendent of the Kazakh wolves finds her true mate. The true king will come about. A moment in time, born out of love, will result in the downfall of the ones unloyal to the couple.""But what about the princess triggering the return of existence?" I ask."Wasn't that when Xander first realized or at least suspected your origins? He constantly tried to keep you away from me." Darius remarks
...Darius POV...I was quite possibly the happiest man on earth. The love of my life just said yes to marrying me. She may have already said yes to me once before. But I didn't think it really counted. The first time I hadn't planned on asking her, but I thought there was no better time to do it. I had just shown her how I truly felt about her. No other moment would ever be as special. Even though we were mates, I didn't know for certain if she was going to say yes or not. A proposal isn't ruly a proposal if there isn't a ring. Something I had kicked myself for not having at the time. But it was just so spur-of-the-moment, that I had even surprised myself. While this may not have been the ideal proposal, at least I had a ring for her. I know it would never make a difference to her, but I felt she deserved the best. I wanted to show her how special she was to me. I would make up for my sporadic proposal later this evening. When Wynter was in the hospital, I was continuously plagued by