Thank you so much for reading. All constructive comments and gems are appreciated. I cannot interact here. If you would like to join in the conversation you can find me on Face. Book. under Miss. L. Writes. It has come to my attention that my books are being stolen/plagiarized on many other reading sites. Sometimes blatant copies of my work. Sometimes they have gone to the trouble of changing the names, but using the original story. If you see anything, GoodNovel has a team dedicated to handling the legal side of things. Please email a screenshot and a link (if you have it) to contact@goodnovel.com or DM me on the socials. I appreciate all of you so much for reading and following me on my author journey!
43 - KennedyThere is an apartment above my mom’s studio. I have been having it renovated over the last couple years. Even Aunt Beth doesn’t know that. She’s been trying to find reasons for me not to leave the pack for school since I got here. She thinks I don’t know about her plans, but her fear of me leaving has become a bit over the top as we all come into adulthood. I know it’s the first place Jer will look, but I’m hoping his loyalty to me is strong enough to keep everyone away for a little while. The studio is thriving and I have been working with Mark for years learning the business and helping it grow. He’s another one to worry about since he’s one of Jer’s pack warriors, but I’m putting a lot of faith in the fact that he understands as much as Jer why I need this. But if an Alpha or Luna command is put on him, he won’t be able to go against it like Jer.I pack a couple days worth of clothes, my laptop and a few other small essentials and move toward my door listening. I
44- RykerThis whole day has been a roller coaster of emotions. Add to that not sleeping and my wolf worrying about whatever made Kennedy so afraid that she screamed herself and half the packhouse awake last night.I can only pace my room so long hoping to hear any of their conversations. Clearly, this is all normal and everyone just goes about their business like nothing happened.I hear Rayna and Kennedy getting ready in her room when I go down to meet with Alpha James and Luna Beth this morning. It lessened some of the tension in my chest to hear them laughing together. At least she likes my sister.“Maybe that will soften her up for us.” My wolf sounds lovesick and wistful.“We can only hope.” I roll my eyes, because I have a feeling Kennedy has fairly strong, expressive emotions and she probably would not put ‘soft’ and I in the same sentence.There isn’t much for us to do since Beth won’t let Jeremiah near the girls, which apparently extends to all the guys except Jason and Be
45- Ryker“Hey, man. I’m sorry. This mate thing has me f*cked in the head. Is she okay?”He shrugs. “I just hope I’m not this stupid about my mate when she finally shows up. I do not have time for the bullsh*t you and your wolf are up to. Especially right now, since I am on twenty four seven Luna duty for the foreseeable future since she thinks you are an asshole.”“She said that?”“Not in words, but I figure it’s a common thought amongst us and she’s pretty smart so she's probably on board with the idea based on the way you keep treating her.”“Again, f*ck you. I never wanted a mate. You know this. I have too many enemies that will try to use her against me. After everything my parents went through, I thought everyone understood. I thought maybe the Goddess agreed with me, but no. She made me wait until after my sister found hers and then just for fun decided to give me a weak ass human. She can’t shift or protect herself. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”“Start
46 - RykerI finally catch sight of her running like her life depends on it, meaning she heard the growl too and gave up on her stealth in order to run the path to safety. At least she doesn’t have a complete death wish, she just rides the line of danger at all times.“Bennet, I see her. Do you have the wolf?”“Yeah, just a rogue out for a run. He caught sight of her and thought he would have an easy meal. But, he didn’t fight me when I corrected his misinformation. What do you want me to do?”“Take him to Jeremiah. He should know there is a rogue camping this close to his territory. He can decide. I’m going to go collect Kennedy.”“See you back at the packhouse.”“Josh, we are on the outskirts of the forest bordering the neighboring city about five miles out. Kennedy is scared and has been running for a while. She was chased by a rogue. Bennet is handling him, but I don’t think she could or should walk back to the packhouse. Come meet us.”“Did the rogue take her?” Danny
47 - Kennedy“Are you f*cking kidding me? Ryker, put me down! Now!” It is not lost on me that I am looking down at the most perfect ass I have ever seen in my whole life and pounding my fists against muscles so ripped, he probably doesn’t feel it. I am trying not to think of the front half of this massive man. Specifically the appendage that keeps slapping the side of my ankle.“Not a chance little lamb, you’re skittish. I wouldn’t want you to run off again and get lost. Lots of big bad wolves out there ready to gobble you up.” Now he thinks he’s a comedian.I know it’s not going to do me any good and will probably leave bruises on me tomorrow, but I keep flailing around just to be difficult and make him as irritated as I am right now. It’s the principle of reminding him that he doesn’t have complete control over me. As long as I move enough to force him to keep adjusting his grip I am satisfied. And the pain reminds me to be mad at him and not enjoy the feel of his skin under my
48 - RykerAt least she is talking to Bennet. They seem to have come to some kind of understanding. That will be helpful in gaining some insight in getting her to cooperate. But, watching her look at the pack brands on Rayna and Jeremiah’s hand longingly and heartbroken did something to my insides. I felt my stomach drop with her expression. Their mate marks she completely ignored. She just wants to be a part of the pack. And watching Jeremiah’s reaction to her rejection of him. I don’t know what I would do if that was Rayna and I. She has been my everything since the day she was born and I know Jeremiah feels the same about Kennedy. But, there has to be a reason they never made her pack. She’s been physically a part of it her whole life and permanently here for the last three years. I never got a full explanation of why they left her out and the events here so far haven’t left much room for that discussion. Jeremiah said it was her story to tell.There’s no way I can ask her a
49 - Kennedy“Kennedy. Hey Ken. You have to let go and wake up. Kennedy.” The last one comes out like a song.“What?” I grumble. I am so comfortable and I don’t think I had a nightmare, I don’t think I dreamed at all last night. I just want to curl up and fall back into the blissful darkness. I am so comfortable, I don’t want to move.“Luna, I need my alpha back.” My eyes fly open at Bennet’s words, and he laughs.“Don’t call me that.” I grumble and try to bury my face back into the pillow as he laughs.“Then let go of my alpha and get your butt up. We need to leave and your death grip on his fur is making things difficult. His wolf is not going to let him up until you let them go.”I don’t move, but I blink and look around and sure enough Ryker’s wolf is still laying in front of me. My arm is draped over the side of the couch and my fingers are threaded through the fur at the nape of his neck and balled into a fist. Maybe I did have a nightmare and don’t remember. I don’t u
50 - Kennedy“I don’t know what I am allowed to tell you. A lot of your questions are going to be better answered by the Alpha.” He pinches the bridge of his nose, but I can’t tell if he is frustrated with me or the situation.“The Alpha? Who spends so much time with me and enjoys long drawn out conversations?” I raise my eyebrow again as I slide into the booth and look around. “Speaking of, is anyone else joining us, or are we the only ones who didn’t eat?”“Everyone else is fine. You will always have hidden warriors around as backup. That is protocol by the way. Sometimes even the Alpha will patrol if we think there is a threat. He will want to keep you as safe as possible and that may include luring a potential problem away while it looks like you are just going about your day.”“I’m sorry for that by the way.”“What are you sorry about?”“I feel like you got the short end of the stick with me. You had to sit out in the hallway all night, had to run down a rogue wolf and take him
35 - FinnI can’t even begin to describe how good Greta feels in my arms. But I can’t think about that right now, we have a fight to finish. So I thread my fingers through her hair and kiss her gently one more time before pushing her off my lap and standing. She takes the hint and then takes my hand and we both run into the forest or we can still hear growls and snapping of wolves fighting.“They knew we were coming.“ Greta says, a little bit more worry than I’m used to in her voice. “I know, I think your Warriors got played.“ I say exsasperated. Ryker’s team is so good though, I don’t know how it is possible. “Could they be using any of your old hideouts or old methods to get into the pack?” She asks. “I don’t think so, because Amy‘s dad was very secretive about how we moved from place to place. There was a lot of magic involved, so I don’t think anyone actually knew how and where we were traveling until we finally got to where he wanted us to stop.“ “He really pushed for the mag
34 - FinnWe are a tangle of fur and fangs. The stench of this rogue is enough to make me want to gag, but I continue to bite at him. He’s fast but sloppy. His claws don’t hit their mark because he’s fighting angry, not controlled. His wolf rears back and mine lunges to the side and whips around to grab his flank. He rips at the muscle and we are rewarded with a howl as he hits the ground and tries to limp away. There’s no way my wolf is standing for that. He jumps on his back and bites at his throat again and again, until he finally collapses.When my wolf feels the pulse in his neck completely stop he drops him to the ground and we go in search of our mate. I hear the sounds of fighting all around me. This group wasn’t dumb, but I’m not sure what their plan is. They haven’t gotten past our defenses to get further into Dark Moon. I haven’t heard of any demands of threats or what they want. I keep following the sounds and my pull to Greta. Another two grey wolves dodge out towards
33 - FinnAs we reach the SUV a blood curdling scream in the form of Finn’s name comes from behind us. We both turn around, he catches the child flying at him easily.“No, don’t go.” She keeps repeating through sobs, holding onto him as tightly as her little fingers will allow.Finn looks at me, but I don’t know what to do either. We are both so out of our depth here. Part of me hopes that Ryker is wrong about her parents, because neither of us knows the first thing about raising a pup or dealing with emotional outbursts like these.“Hey.” I step closer and try to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. I get a ‘humph’ and she burrows into Finn’s neck further. Taking a quiet breath in and out, I look at Finn. We have to go, Janelle is our problem, but Trinity is our responsibility. I don’t know what to do.Finn rubs her back, consolingly. “Trin, why can’t we leave?”“Cause you won’t come back.” She blubbers out. The sound is extra muffled against his neck.“What makes you think that?” I
32 - GretaA blast of sunlight hits me right in the face. I gasp, but I can’t move. What is going on? My eyes peel open slowly and I take in the surrounding bedroom. I see immediately why I am stuck. I am in the middle of a four human pretzel. Gabriel’s head is on my stomach with his butt towards Finn, who still has my right hand laced with his resting on his chest.Tilting my head a little further, I see Trinity woven into my legs. Her head is on my left thigh, but she’s under my right leg. Her feet are tucked under Finn’s leg. It explains why I no longer have a blanket on me, their body heat is plenty.“How did you not get wound into all of this?” I whisper to Finn.I hear a huff before he answers. “I was, but I had to pee. When I got back they had you locked down. They haven’t moved since.”“Did you hear what Ryker said about their pack?” I’m not bringing up the part of the conversation about me.“I did. I think we let him and Josh do their thing and we have a discussion with the
31 - GretaWalking down the hall, I hear Landon and Ryker. “Yeah, we don’t know what happened exactly. The fire was just too big and everyone was running around. Peyton and I were at training and someone came in and yelled ‘FIRE’ then all the kids went crazy. Peyton and I ran together, cause we’re neighbors but the wind was too bad and there were sparks everywhere. I got burned on the arm and she told me we can’t search anymore. We told you how we found Gabriel and Trinity. Do you think that our parents are still alive?” I finally hear a whisper of the little boy he is in the question.“I hope so buddy. But you are here now and you can stay as long as you want to. In the morning I’ll have my guys start looking into your pack’s situation, now that we have an idea of what happened. You have done a great job protecting your pack. Your parents and your alpha will be so proud.”“Speaking of the littles,” I step into Bennet’s room where they are sitting on the bed. They both look over a
30 - GretaThis little doll of a girl is wrapped in Finn’s arms like a koala. She tucks her face back under Finn’s chin so she can look at me while maintaining full contact with him. Her posture is shy, but the look in her eye is most definitely not. It is almost territorial. My wolf grumbles in my head before I remind her that this baby has been through a lot and isn’t a threat. But she knows my name. That is interesting.“Oh! I am so excited to see you all!” Kennedy gushes unable to help herself. “Are you hungry? Samuel said you hunted before you left your camp. Or are you tired? We’re going to set you up here with us tonight.”“I’m hungry!” The youngest boy says and we all laugh.“Gabriel, you’re always hungry.” The oldest girl laughs at him.“Well Gabriel, you are in luck, I just had the fridge stocked. I’m always hungry too.” Kennedy giggles, patting her stomach. “Let’s get a snack and then you can all get cleaned up and in bed. Sound good?” She reaches her hand out to him. H
29 - FinnI give her fingers a squeeze and shift to follow Landon and Gabriel to get water. I lose count of how many trips we make, but Landon is smart and kept them close to a stream so it wasn’t terrible. Seth and Sameul talk the kids through what they do to process the deer and how we use everything. Nothing goes to waste. We eat and use the deer skin to hold what we don’t consume. Trinity doesn’t leave my side and only breaks contact to eat. Her cute little hand is wrapped around my pinky finger and her warm body is pressed up into my side.All the kids are fascinated with the whole food prep process, asking question after question to Seth as he cooks and hands off finished pieces of meat. After, we all wash off in the stream and head back to sit around the fire, talking comfortably. “You know you remind me of a friend of mine.” I tell Trinity.“I do? Who?” She has gotten more confident around us, but her voice is still strong, but shy.“Her name is Greta and your hair is almos
28 - FinnHe pads over to the opening and crawls in. I can hear muffled talking, but I don’t try to listen in. If she’s younger than Gabriel, she’s just a baby and I have no idea where her mind might be at. Other than my friends we never came across too many pups in our journey and I always thought that was because situations like Sammmy’s and mine were a fluke. But after seeing these kids, I wonder if it’s because they didn’t survive long enough to get help.I hear a little squeak behind me as Gabriel sits next to me. When I turn he shrugs his shoulders. I guess that means I’m up. I chance a slight look and my breath catches. This tiny little thing is huddled in a ball next to the opening, staring right back at me. Her body language says she’s afraid, but her eyes tell me a different story. She has piercing green eyes that are hard and fierce. Her look is almost a dare to go over there and see what she’ll do to me.I keep my ass on the ground and lift my hand in a wave. “Hi.” I say
27 - FinnI hear a grumbled ‘jackass’ from one of them. I try to fight a smile, kind of. “The Luna said you need help, what can I do? The Alpha is already planning how to remove my head from my body for leaving my partner alone to defend the Luna…”“WHAT!?! Why in the hell would you leave her?” The bulkier of the two warriors steps towards me.I throw my hands up. “Because SHE had a pregnant tantrum about rescuing these kids! I chose to piss off the lesser of the two evils! Have either of you dealt with a pregnant she wolf?” Both males stop in their tracks and share a look before laughing. “Wait. What’d I miss?”“I take it you don’t have kids?” Lean man asks.“No?” “The Luna is intense on her own, the hormones are making it tenfold. The name’s Samuel.” The larger built warrior says extending his hand to me. I shake it, a little confused. “Finn, nice to meet you I guess.” That’s it? All I had to do was tell them their Luna scared the crap out of me and they decide I’m not a threat?