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84 - Ryker“Ken.” I shout, not even getting her full name out before she’s out of the breakfast room.“Luna.” Bennet chases after her.“Hey!” Danny and Greta both call out behind me as I follow.I can’t tell if she’s ignoring us or if Todd has her full attention and she can’t hear us. But, she is fast. I can feel her worry for this girl. It’s palpable through our bond. “Where was she last? Or I guess the better question is where did you lose her scent?” I hear her ask Todd.He’s breathing hard. He must have sprinted all the way to the packhouse. “We weren’t too far from the soccer field. Our house is close. She wanted to play hide and seek and we were all having fun, but it’s been too long and we have all been calling her. She doesn’t play tricks like that, something’s wrong.”“Kennedy, slow down. We don’t know what we are getting into. You can’t just rush in blind.” I grab her arm and spin her around. Her eyes are wild and she isn’t thinking clearly. Her emotions are going
85 - KennedyI can hear Ryker grumbling something above me, but he must know that I’m right or he at least agrees with me because he isn’t following. I can’t think about how hot it is that he is so protective of me or the way that Alpha stayed in contact the whole walk through the woods, even if it was just his tail brushing my leg.I scramble the best I can down the side of this hill. It is further than I thought and I will admit to myself that maybe Ryker had a point about looking before I jump. I won’t stop now, she needs help and I am the only person who won’t get hurt being down here. I couldn’t see her tiny body very well from where we were standing on the edge. I hope that she is like most werewolf kids and is fairly indestructible. I remember playing with Jeremiah and the guys when we were little and being so jealous that they rarely got hurt and when they did they healed in hours or days. And I fell down a hill, just rolling, and broke my arm. I was in a cast for month
86 - RykerI am locked into place. What did she just say? There’s no way I heard that right. She’s just focused on the little girl and letting words fall out of her mouth.“If that’s the case, then wouldn’t she be saying common phrases? Things she says all the time. That is not something she has said to either of us and I was kind of hoping she would tell me before she told you. She does like me better.” Alpha is joking, but I know he is just as shocked as I am. If he heard it then I wasn’t hallucinating.“Did you just get those special three words from a special Luna, Bossman? Danny taunts.“Uh, yeah. I think I did.”“Is she high? Like does the wolfsbane mess with humans differently or something?” My head snaps to him. He’s f*cking smiling like the cat that got the canary.“F*ck off.” I mutter, finally getting the use of my legs to follow where Kennedy went with Emily. He just follows, not trying very hard to contain his laugh.Being high ranking wolves, many women over the y
87 - RykerI become conscious of a tingling brush along my face. I don’t open my eyes though. I savor the feeling. “That’s nice, Little Lamb, but yesterday sucked. Give me another hour.”A small giggle interrupts my thoughts quickly. I turn my head to see a bright-eyed Emily looking at me from her bed in the middle of the room. “Why do you call her a lamb? She’s not a lamb, silly Alpha!” She covers her mouth and laughs again. I can see the delight in her mother’s and Kennedy’s eyes. All three of them want an answer, an honest answer. Copyright ©️ 2024 Miss L Writes and Ember Mantel Productions“Well, my little ninja,” She laughs at her own nickname. “Your Luna tried to run away from me once. She hid her scent just like you did. She was very sneaky. I had to use my wolf to find her and she had never seen him before.”“Oh my gosh! Your wolf is so big! Were you scared, Luna?” She turns her wides eyes to Kennedy.“A little at first, because I didn’t know who it was chasing me. But onc
88 - KennedyOh sh*t! I did say it. I was so caught up in getting Emily taken care of that when I was telling Ryker to keep his distance so the wolfsbane wouldn’t affect him, I told him I loved him. He didn’t say anything or react at all, so I thought maybe he doesn’t feel the same or I imagined saying it. I laid there last night, holding onto Emily, worried about what today would look like when he completely took me by surprise and kissed me goodnight then whispered I love you softly in my ear.He has a small smile on his face as he lets me process all the things that happened in the last couple days. I can’t believe it was just yesterday that I threw Amy out of the packhouse and Ryker let me break down a few more of his emotional walls.“How do you feel now? I know that the wolfsbane wasn’t as bad for you, but it did affect you.” He rubs my arms and goosebumps erupt with the tingles. He’s watching the reaction intently while I watch him.“I feel okay now.” I take a deep breath
89 - Ryker“F*CK!” I yell. Willing myself not to put a hole in my office wall. He was there, right under our noses and we missed him. We searched the whole deserted camp and found nothing. I don’t know if they were tipped off or if they saw us coming, but everything was packed and gone.I know my beta saw the camp. I know he’s one of the stealthiest people on my team. I can’t believe he would make a mistake to let the rogues know we are onto them. I also know the camp was only half a mile away from where we found Emily. That can’t be a coincidence. I wonder if they were using the wolfsbane to hide their existence. Who knows how long they have been there. If she wouldn’t have disappeared, we may never have discovered it. That ravine borders land that is an unspoken neutral zone. That section of land had a great big fire when I was young that took all the surrounding packs weeks to put out. And in the twenty or so years since, it has never recovered. Many of our more superstitious
90 - RykerI rest my forehead to hers, breathing heavily. I have no idea what just came over me and I am still shaking. Clearly my body understood what needed to be done because I’m pretty sure that my soul left my body.“See, nothing to be afraid of.” She whispers, playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. “That was amazing.”“There’s still so much to be afraid of, but I don’t want to talk about that right now. I want to savor this with you. It is still amazing.” I haven’t pulled out of her yet reveling in the feeling the tiny little flutters her body is giving me as we breathe together. I press her into the wall with most of my weight and I have no intention of moving anytime soon.“The bathtub is about to overflow.” She giggles and I groan. I guess I am moving.“Fine.” I mutter as I slowly slide out of her, loving the sensation. “Mmm, we are definitely not done tonight.” My wolf is on board with trapping her in the bedroom for the foreseeable future.“Absolutely not! Now th
91 - KennedyI pull back to look at Ryker. We are both still exactly the same and yet so much has changed in just moments. I can’t believe I made it through that. I never thought I would be able to tell that story to anyone. I still feel a little numb, almost like it wasn’t me telling the story. Like someone else was using my mouth, but I’m just here for it. Even now, I just realized I have my hands on Ryker’s face with no memory of moving.He sits quietly and lets me study him with my hands. I trail my fingers from his corded neck up to his manicured five o’clock shadow. Trace along his jaw and run my thumb across his lips, where he gives me a light kiss on the pad, but nothing more. His strong cheekbones are more defined as he clenches and unclenches his jaw with my movements. He closes his eyes as I run both thumbs across his eyebrows and he sighs. Then I comb my fingers through his hair, lightly scratching my nails along his scalp earning me a tiny shiver from him.“You are killi
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?
26 - FinnWe can’t catch a break. Every time I get Greta to talk to me about this whole mate thing, something interrupts. Neither of us is stupid enough to go against our very pregnant luna though.“What’s up Boss lady?” Greta puffs out. Even she isn’t immune to these f*cking stairs.“Samuel and Seth found some abandoned pups on the border.” She screeches.“I don’t understand.” I step forward, but stay behind Greta’s shoulder. I haven’t been around many pregnant she-wolves, but I have heard they can go from sweet to violent in a blink and Kennedy is still getting used to the heightened emotions of her wolf. She’s less likely to hurt Greta in this situation.“They need your help! What’s not to understand?!” She’s frantically running her fingers through her hair, pacing and I am at a loss. I look sideways at my mate. Greta’s glassy eyed, meaning she’s hopefully getting some insight from the alpha.“Luna…LUNA!” She finally looks at me. “Can you give me more details? Are they being c
25 - FinnDeal. That’s all we were told, to deal. I am now stuck here, for who knows how long with her. I can’t deal witht this right now, I have to get out of here.“I’m going to go look around.” I drop my bag and scurry to the door.“Finn, wait..”I don’t hear anything else she says as I spring like a coward down the hall, down the stairs, past a confused Kennedy and out to the massive patio. I’m panting, my lungs won’t take in air. I can’t do this. I can’t be around her. Her scent in the car was difficult enough to deal with. I am the most relaxed and at the same time the most tense than I have been in weeks.“You need to calm down. This is a good thing.”“How can it be a good thing?! I was just getting used to not being around her.”“You get another shot, that’s why it’s a good thing!”“I don’t want it. She doesn’t want me. I am a rogue with nothing. Just let me reject her and we can move on. The rest of our group is settled and Ryker is going to make them all pack soon.”“NO!
24 - FinnI slide out of the SUV looking around. This feels like a trap, and yet none of the usual alarms are going off in my head. My wolf and I have established a decent radar for bad situations. Avoiding them is our top priority. I’m not sure what it is about Kennedy and Ryker, but I have not had one single instance of distrust with either of them the entire time we have been in the Dark Moon pack.“Greta! Finn!” I whip around to see Kennedy at the top of a ridiculously tall staircase. “Well, don’t just stand there, come on!” She waves us up excitedly.It’s almost strange to have someone excited to see me. Nan was it, as far as I can remember, other than the pups at Dark Moon. But, they are excited to see most people, so they don’t really count. I always have Sammy and some of the other guys. We fight side by side and hope each one makes it out alive. We have had to leave guys behind and move forward, move on to the next location. I couldn’t tell you where we laid those people to