ISABELLA I woke up really early today. After that little showdown with my mom, I stayed with Zira for two weeks. I looked over to my best friend with her mouth wide open, drooling, wetting her pillow, and smiled. Had to do a lot of groveling to get her to stay and not leave. She’s been such a great support these weeks. Staying up watching romantic movies, eating our weight in desserts, and singing into the night. Even on days when she wasn’t feeling good. I had to find a way to repay her. I carefully got out of bed, trying not to wake her, and packed my things. I quietly exited the room and headed for the front door. I heard Mrs. Lake making breakfast in the kitchen and stopped by to say goodbye. “Good morning, Mrs. Lake.” “Oh, Isabella. Good morning. Breakfast?” She asked, gesturing towards the spread on the table. “Oh no. I’m fine,” I said as my stomach protested loudly. She laughed and practically pushed me into a seat at the table. “Just take a seat and fill a plate. Ca
ZIRAI woke up with a mission: get through the ceremony without incident and get my papers signed. Although I’ve tried to see Alpha Isaiah the last few days, he’s either too busy with his Alpha’s duties or running around with Alaia to prepare for the ceremony. How hard was it to sign papers? Hell, I could totally fake his signature. It’s the blood that’s tricky. Apparently, the smell of an Alpha’s blood carried some kind of magic to let others know you’re not a rogue trespassing. I would’ve left long ago if that hadn’t been the case. I got up and immediately felt a bit uneasy. This is what happens when you eat your weight in cookies and biscuits. I thought to myself. Strangely, I still craved chocolate and pickles, which hit all my three S’s: salty, sweet, and sour. I waved off the queasy feeling and threw on some yoga shorts with a matching bra and a light sports jacket. I gave myself a look and saw how pale I looked. I hope I don’t come down with anything, though werewolves ar
ZIRAI guess Zed wasn't lying. I thought as I watched Alaia move through the tables. She was beautiful. Tall, slender, porcelain skin, a round face framed by long blond hair, and her eyes. Her eyes almost looked like ice. Hell, I would leave me for her. She stared at me with a nonchalant expression. Probably sizing me up, too. For some reason, I was getting nervous and sick to my stomach. How could someone make me feel this way?"You didn't answer my question," Alaia said, breaking me from my thoughts. "Why were you touching those?" She pointed to the napkins on the table."Sorry, I...was just admiring the decorations." I kept my eyes on the ground and stood tall. She'll be our Luna soon, but hopefully, I'll be long gone. Still, I was a hunter and had to show respect. I've learned long ago not to underestimate Luna's power.Alaia walked next to me, grabbing the napkins from the table. "Do you think these will work better than the blue and white?" I looked at her, wondering why she w
ALAIA It was nice to put his little “friend” in her place. The look on Zira’s face was priceless and only proved that she still had feelings for him. I needed to lay the groundwork before she thought she could be anything else. Though the last thing she said really pissed me off. What did she mean about jinxing the ceremony? The ceremony was happening no matter what, and if she had any plans to sabotage it, she had another thing coming. I couldn’t help but glare at her as she walked away with Isabella. “Everything ok?” Isaiah’s question brought me back from plotting. I smiled and planted another kiss on his lips. I didn’t have the time to have him worrying about everything, especially with him almost catching me coming out of the closet. Though, standing here with Isaiah made me feel grateful. Whenever I could have him to myself, I felt more connected to him. Besides, it tamed Elaine enough to get off my back. “Ahem.” We stopped and saw Luna Bella standing with her hands on
ISAIAH I was pacing back and forth in my room. I don’t really know why I was nervous. It was just a silly ceremony, but something worried me, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. “You’re worrying about nothing,” Devon said in my mind. “Our mate is here, and, in a few hours, she will be marked and ours. What more could you want?” He was right. I found my mate, and she accepted me. Now we’re going to be complete. Why am I buggin’? I need something to calm me down. “Best friend to the rescue,” yelled Hunter, bursting through the doors with a bottle and two shot glasses. “Dude, I could feel your anxiety down the hall. You need to chill. Take a shot.” Of course. His remedy to everything. He quickly poured us a shot, and we downed it immediately. We repeated this about four more times before I felt a bit calmer. “Thanks, man. I don’t know why I’m so nervous.” Hunter cocked an eyebrow towards me, and I shrugged my shoulders to say, ‘What?’ “You’re about to seal the deal wi
ZIRAThe ceremony was beautiful. Luna Bella really outdid herself. I was a bit jealous as I watched Alaia say the words, making her Luna of Black Moon. It wasn’t that she was mated to Isaiah but that they found each other. I wanted that. I wanted a mate just like that. I cannot wait to leave. I’m even more determined now. After the ritual, we all went to eat, which was what I was really looking forward to. I felt like I’d been starving all day. I was sitting with my family, far from the main table. It was full of all different kinds of food, every type of meat I could think of. I didn’t waste time as I started to fill my plate with a little of everything. “Slow down there, Z-bug. How many are you eating for?” My dad asked, laughing with my mom. “What? Would you rather I let all this food go to waste?” I asked with a mouthful of food. “You’re embarrassing, you know that.” I threw a bone that narrowly missed my brother’s head. “You keep talking, and Mister Giggles finds his way i
ISABELLA My anxiety was at an all-time high. Victoria was here. I caught her walking in with Alpha Zack and his entourage. Now, she was sitting only a few tables away from me, and her scent was taking over all my senses, but not the ones that mattered. I wanted to hold her, feel her body close to mine, and taste wherever she would allow me. She wore a beautiful yellow chiffon dress with a deep slit showing off one leg. I couldn’t help but trace the outline of her body with my eyes, from her heels to where her thigh disappeared under the dress every time she walked around. Her hair was done up with a few sapphire stones that brought out the blue in her eyes. Occasionally, I glanced her way, and she would whisper something to some chick sitting beside her. My anxiety was slowly turning to envy. Who was this plain Jane taking all of my mate’s attention? “Someone I can sink my claws into. That’s who,” Jas growled. “Easy now, Jas. We don’t want to go all she-wolf on her, but we co
ZIRA “I know the cocktails are amazing, but damn, Zira, they’re not that good,” Hunter laughed while pulling me back against him. I laughed faintly while ordering a seltzer. “And here I thought you were trying to have another go at me.” Hunter laughed and spun me around, which made me even dizzier. I crashed against his chest, laughing and trying to regain my footing. “Stop that, you big oaf.” I pushed against his chest. “You’re going to make me throw up all over this dress.” “Ah, yes! The dress. Nice color. It reminds me of something, or maybe it’s someone,” Hunter said suggestively. I cocked an eyebrow in his direction. I knew exactly what he was suggesting. Maybe he was right. I last caught Isaiah’s eye earlier in the day, which was good, right? I looked over at Isaiah, who was being babied by his mom, who was trying to fix his hair. Why was I even trying? Stupid, stupid. I sighed and turned around, fiddling with the choker he gave me. I hope to find someone else to o
ISAIAH Water splashed on my face for the hundredth time as my son’s laughter filled the bathroom. I looked down at Arias, who apparently got a kick from throwing soap in my face. Each time seemed to make Arias laugh more. “Arias, we’ve been in here for twenty minutes. You have to let me wash you,” I said, trying to grab him, but Arias slipped out of reach. “That’s it. I’m coming in.” Arias shrieked, trying to get away from me. I couldn’t help but laugh. Who knew bath time could be this fun? After another ten minutes or so, I was able to thoroughly wash and dress Arias for bed. I laid Arias down in his crib and grabbed a book to read from the bookshelf. Arias climbed out of his crib and
ZIRAI stretched and yawned as the light from the window crept across my face. I reached across my bed and realized it was empty. I instantly sat up. Panic starting to set in. I looked around the room for him, and it was empty.I was on my way to get out of bed when the door to my bathroom opened. James walked out and noticed my panicked face. He cocked an eyebrow, with a smile playing across his face.“What?”“I thought,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “I thought you were gone.”James laughed. “Where would I go?” James asked sarcastically. “You barely let me pee without hovering over me. And that snoring-”
ZACKAfter Alaia’s death, getting things back together slowly improved as the days passed. I took her body back to my pack to have a proper burial. Mirja didn’t think she deserved it. She wanted to burn the body, but I stopped before she could.True, Alaia was evil, and I knew that. However, she was still my sister, and I felt partially responsible for everything that had happened. So, I brought her home and buried her next to our parents. She was their problem.After that matter was settled, our days were filled with rebuilding the Blue Moon Pack. With the help of Alpha Isaiah and Alpha Fiona, we were now working at a ninety percent capacity. Most of the houses were rebuilt, and Bronx proved to be a responsible Beta. George and Harry came around more often. Harry was obsessed with Mirja’s knowledge of
ISABELLA"No, no, no!"Luna Bella's screaming filled the entire hospital room and down the hall. She sat in bed, holding her hands out in front of her while Victoria stood in front of her. Victoria sighed, holding a teacup of medicine in her hands."Luna Bella, you have to drink this to get better," Victoria said to her, clearly frustrated. "Are we seriously going to go through this every morning?""Are you seriously going to force me to drink that crap," Luna Bella growled at her.Hitting the breaking point, Victoria growled back. "Drink it!"Luna Bella leaned back with a shocked expression before glaring at Isabella, who sat back, watching everything unfold.
THIRD POV After her little laughing fit, Alaia turned her attention back to Mirja, who was trying to claw her way out of Alaia’s grip. Alaia could see her brother stalking back and forth beyond her little shield, looking just as helpless as his little mate. “You know,” Alaia started with a malicious smirk, “it tickled me when I found out you were my brother’s mate. All this time, I couldn’t figure out why you always dismissed my plans of wanting to kill him. Subconsciously, you were always on his side. You just didn’t know why. So now I’m going to enjoy killing you while he watches.” Alaia tightened the hold around Mirja’s neck as Mirja gasped for air. Alaia was so wrapped up in her fury to kill that she didn’t notice anyone entering her space until the last moment. She whipped around and came face to face with James. 
THIRD POVAlaia blocked another attack from Deacon as he pushed her away from Arias and Zira. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Zira finally getting up and assessing the situation.Alaia looked around, confused. James’ wolf, Deacon, was attacking her, but she could clearly see James’s body in the hall. Unfortunately, her mind was so clouded that she couldn’t figure out who was real. Besides, this wolf was moving too fast for her to focus on attacking.This…this wolf had to be an imposter or some sort of trick. She thought.Deacon kept attacking her, pushing her back, and she could feel herself getting weaker, or maybe it was tiredness. She watched Deacon stand between her and Arias. The one whos
THIRD POV It took a moment for Zira to realize she was being carried. Then, she looked up and saw James, who noticed she was awake. “You...you rejected me,” Zira said softly, and it tugged at James’s heart. “James would not reject you, Zi. I can tell he loves you,” James said to her. Zira looked at him, confused. “You’ve never called me Zi before, and why are you speaking in the third person?” “I’ll explain when I get you as far away from here as possible,” James said as he proceeded down the long hallway. They descended a few hallways before Zira squirmed out of James’ hold. “No,” Zira screamed. “I have to get Arias. I have to find him.”
THIRD POVThe sounds like that of beating drums echoed throughout the woods as werewolves collided with each other. More rogues descended upon them as they tried to hold the line. Deacon maneuvered as best as he could, taking down a rogue every step of the way, but they seemed to be multiplying. He did his best to concentrate, but he felt pain spiral throughout his body occasionally.Zira. He had to get to her, but there were too many obstacles.“Portals are open,” George linked him.Deacon immediately started running towards George when a rogue jumped right before him. Maybe it was because he was only a few minutes away from her, but he felt a new kind of energy surge through him.
THIRD POVMary gripped the bottle behind her back as the rogues glared at her. She tried controlling her fear as she approached them, but it slowly took over as she felt her legs shaking slightly. She was still just an Omega with meager fighting skills.“No one should be in this area,” growled the she-wolf as she gave Mary a once-over, noticing the shaking. “Why are you here?”“Luna Alaia,” Mary squeaked out before clearing her throat and failing to stand tall. “I’m here at Luna Alaia’s request. She wants me to check on the baby.”Mary tried to step through them, but the she-wolf held her back. Mary was able to get close enough to spray the pheromones on the she-wolf.