EllieA thousand stars lit the sky above her as Ellie sat on the back porch, looking up at the night sky and reflecting on the day. She'd wanted to share her thoughts with her father, but Michael had been so busy after the race, taking information from onlookers to make sure that no one cheated and preparing for the final contest, which would take place the day after next, she hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to him. Over dinner, all he'd done was go on and on about how much fun everyone had had watching the race. He didn't even ask her what she thought about the outcome.Maybe it was just as well. She'd never been good at sharing her feelings with others. Telling her father she was glad River had won the race but was worried about Blade cheating in the final contest probably wouldn't do any good. Michael didn't seem to be listening anyway. Was anyone listening to her? One of the stars she'd been watching seemed to wink at her, and Ellie smiled for the first time in a while. Was
RiverThe question of the hour was whether or not to punch Blade in the face or thank him for interrupting the almost kiss River was about to share with Ellie when his annoying self showed up at the stables. On the one hand, having the opportunity to kiss Ellie would've been magical. It would've been something River would've never forgotten, and possibly the highlight of his life. On the other hand, kissing Ellie now but not winning her hand would make the sting of defeat all the worse. So perhaps Blade had done him a favor by being a nuisance and sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. He had to have seen what was happening. He probably even timed it that way on purpose.MIchael was busy assigning horses now that he had returned. Ellie had her own horse, Cottonball, a white horse with brown on its nose, and when she went to saddle up, all of the guys rushed over to help.Kane, one of the guys River knew thought of her as an older sister, stepped in front of the Alphas. "I got th
EllieIt seemed like everyone wanted to ride by Ellie and chat. She was perfectly content to spend the entire ride with River, but that would be rude. So when Strand rode up on her other side and started talking to her, Ellie was inclined to at least pretend to listen. He mostly talked about himself, which wasn't surprising to her having spent a little bit of time with the man now. Really, the only difference between Strand and Blade was that Blade was sneaky, underhanded, and a cheater whereas Strand was just full of himself.She had a conversation with Clark, which was at least a little more of a give and take, as opposed to just him talking and Ellie saying, "Uh huh," like she had with Strand. The conversation with Lance was even better than Clark, though he didn't have much to say at all. Ellie preferred the quiet, stoic type to the rambler. She glanced behind her to see her dad riding next to River, and the two of them seemed to be having a nice conversation, which brought a smi
RiverMichael Knight was an interesting man. River could've ridden beside him for the entire trail ride and still found things to talk about. Mostly, he talked about the struggles of being an Alpha, his late wife whom he obviously loved very much, and Ellie. While River was interested in everything he had to say, when he spoke about Ellie, River tuned in. This man knew the Luna better than anyone, so if he really wanted to know how to win her heart, he should listen to her father."She's been talking for years about how she didn't have time to try to meet someone, how she didn't want to go to a Moon Ball, didn't believe in all of that, and how she would just be better off by herself," Michael was saying."Why do you think that is?" River asked. He had said many of those things himself over the years, but he was curious to know what Ellie's reasoning was."Well, if I'm honest, I think she is a little scared. She saw how much her mother and I loved one another, and how it crushed my sou
EllieAnother dinner. This time, at least Ellie had some idea who she wanted to sit close to and who she wanted to steer clear from. Of course, she'd already had a feeling about River the first time they'd all eaten dinner together. It seemed like a few weeks ago, but in reality that had only been a few days before this event. Her father was wiser, though, and when he made the place settings, he sat Ellie between River and Ulysses with Blade and Strand all the way down at the other end of the table.The first thing out of Blade's mouth when he saw the names on the little cards in front of the plates was, "Hey, wait a minute. Why am I all the way down here?" He picked up the tiny card and turned to look at Michael, his eyes narrowed with accusations."Oh, uh, it was random," Michael said. Ellie could tell by the way her father was rubbing his palms together that he was agitated and trying to be polite. He didn't like Blade any better than the rest of them. Maybe Michael would be on the
RiverWaking up early seemed to be his thing now, even if he didn't particularly like it. River got up before the sun the next morning, trying to focus on the task at hand. Today would be the final competition for Ellie's hand. Whoever won today had a good chance of being the victor, the man she married.It was neck and neck between himself and Blade, and he couldn't stand to think of that dirty, underhanded creep winning. As he took a shower, letting the warm water wash over him, he concentrated on what he needed to do that day to beat Blade, but his mind was on other things.Ellie had been so beautiful the night before. He was so glad that her father had arranged for them to sit next to one another. When Blade had started that ridiculous argument, trying to make him look bad, she had come to his defense. She'd even tried to calm him down by putting her hand on his leg.It had done more than calm him. It had also sent tingles up his spine and made his heart race in his chest. There w
EllieWatching people fight was not exactly a pastime she enjoyed, especially not when it was a physical fight, compared to an argument. Not that she hadn't ever been in a real fight. From time to time, rogues or lone wolves would show up on their borders, and they'd be forced to defend their territory. Ellie never hesitated to get into a fray when she had to, but fighting for fighting's sake was not something she had ever learned to appreciate."What do you think this is going to be like?" Shelby asked as the two of them walked to the gymnasium at the pack school where her father had the tournament set up. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "Dad said there are some pretty clear rules. It's supposed to be more like wrestling than boxing. I guess we won't know until we see it for ourselves.""It sounds savage," Shelby said."Yeah, I agree.""Oh, by the way!" Shelby said, grabbing her arm. Ellie knew those words were her cue that the next statement was going to involve the name "Carl." She
RiverListening to the rules would've been the intelligent thing to do. Unfortunately, River was distracted. The moment Ellie walked into the gymnasium, she was all he could think about. His eyes kept darting over to where she was sitting with Shelby and her little brothers, and by the time he tuned back in to hear what Beta Andrew was saying, he'd missed most of it."The objective will be to get your opponent outside of the circle or down on the floor for five seconds, on my count. Alternatively, getting your opponent to give up would also grant victory to the remaining competitor.""Why would anyone give up?" Ulysses muttered under his breath."Because he can't take the pain." Blade turned and looked at him, an evil look in his eyes. Even though he wasn't looking at River, it was enough to cause a shudder to go through his body. This guy was one messed up b*stard. He did not need to win this tournament."Initial pairings were drawn at random. Remember, this is not a double-eliminat
EllieThe string quartet was playing a soft, slow song that seemed to make the silver stars above them twinkle even more somehow as Ellie stood admiring the scene. She'd been right. Everything had come together perfectly, and all across the dance floor, couple after couple had paired off. Her students were finding their fated mates. Alphas and Betas from packs far and wide were coming together with women that had trained in her school."Well, what do you think, beautiful?" River asked, stepping over from where he'd been speaking to another Alpha who'd come with his wife and son, who was their age and looking for a wife so he could take over the pack. "I would say this is a huge success.""Definitely," Ellie agreed. "I see so many people dancing together and falling in love.""I know," River said. "Look at Sarah and Alpha Rob over there. And Nelly and Alpha Lance."Ellie had noticed both of those couples. Sarah looked so lovely in her red dress, and Nelly in her blue one, gazing into L
EllieThe final touches for the Moon Goddess Ball were falling into place, and Ellie couldn't believe how beautiful the event center looked. As she looked around at all of the decorations, her heart fluttered in her chest. She could only imagine how many couples might fall in love in there tonight.It hadn't been easy, getting everything ready for the event, but along with Michael, River, Shelby, and several other volunteers, Ellie had gotten it done. Not only had they put together a beautiful event center, but they'd also managed to get several Alphas and Betas from packs far and wide to commit to attending, and for the past several days, they'd been arriving. Many of them were staying in the cabins in the pack village, the same ones that the Alphas who had competed in her contest had stayed in.Ellie pushed those thoughts out of her mind. It all seemed like ancient history now. The bachelors remaining from that contest would be back that night, still looking for love, though there w
EllieThe idea of having a Moon Goddess Ball with the women she'd been training to become Lunas was ultimately the idea behind the training to begin with, so when River came in and suggested that they have the grand opening of the new event center be just that, a Moon Goddess Ball for the women in her class, Ellie couldn't believe her ears."Do you think that's a good idea?" River asked her."No, I don't think that's a good idea," Ellie told him, watching his face fall."You don't?" River blinked a few times. It was clear he was searching for something to say that wouldn't offend her."No. I think… it's a great idea," she said, winking at him.A smile broke across his face, wide enough to match her own. "Oh, he said. Good. I was afraid you were going to tell me that it was a bad idea.""No, I definitely think we should do that," she said. "In fact, I think we should start planning it right now. When is the full moon?"River pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the calendar.
River Rebuilding after the fire wasn't easy, but it was something that brought the entire pack together. In a way, River was slightly glad, though he'd never say it out loud. Supervising the project while Michael recovered from his injuries was interesting. River invited some of the members of his own pack to come over and help. At first, it seemed like there was a bit of a divide between the two groups, but once the "outsiders" proved their value, everyone began to work smoothly together.It took quite a while to clear away the debris from the old event center. After that, they planned a new one. This one was better. It was bigger with more rooms for different events. River had the pack architect draw it out with input from several of the pack elders and other important members of the pack, including Michael, who was out of the hospital by then and staying with Ellie and River so that the pack Luna could spend as much time as possible with her dad. River knew it had really shaken El
EllieIt took a few days before Michael was able to come out of the coma, but part of that was because the healers thought it would help him heal if they kept him in a medically induced coma, so by the time he finally opened his eyes three days after the attack, Ellie was thrilled.She was also exhausted, but seeing her father's eyes register on her own made all of that fade away momentarily. "Dad?" she said, looking at his familiar face. "How are you feeling?""Ellie?" he said, his voice weak. He still had an oxygen mask over his face, but all of the tubes and other wires had been removed, other than the monitor hooked up to his finger and the IV he had in his arm in case he needed more medicine. "Where's Michaela?""She's at home with River," Ellie said, giving him a reassuring smile. She wasn't sure how much of the battle he would remember. "She's perfectly fine."Her father's head rolled to the side a bit as he released a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the Moon Goddess," he said. "I w
Ellie Watching the healers work to bring her father back from the dead was like watching a dream for Ellie. She stood there with Michaela in her arms, River's hand on her shoulder, thinking none of this could be happening, that it had to be a dream.But it wasn't. It was real. Her daughter had really been ripped from her bed, and now, the same people who were responsible for taking her child from her may have succeeded in taking her dad.Ellie couldn't imagine what her life would be like without her father in it. For as long as she could remember, he'd been there for her. Like a rock, like the brick wall she needed to hold her up anytime she felt like she couldn't stand on her own, he was always there. Even though she had River now, it wasn't the same. No matter how old a person got, they always needed a parent.But if Michael died, she wouldn't have any parents at all. She'd be an orphan.While she could imagine that her father would be happy to finally be reunited with her mother,
RiverSeeing Ellie fighting all of those rogues by herself was enough to make River kick himself into a gear he didn't even know that he had. But when he saw his wife carrying his daughter away to safety, he knew that everything was going to be all right, especially since the rogues were grossly outnumbered.There was just the matter of making them pay for the horrendous atrocities they had committed. Not only had they set the village event center on fire, which may have already spread to other buildings, but they'd also violated his home, stolen his daughter, and taken her off in the middle of the night.None of these wolves were walking away from this fight.Not even the huge male that was bearing down on him now.River didn't care that the male seemed to be twice his size. With the anger boiling inside of him from everything he'd seen, River lowered himself to the ground and waited for the wolf to come at him. When the large wolf's teeth snapped at him, River dodged to the side and
EllieThe fact that she'd jumped right over the Omega's head would buy her some time, but only a matter of seconds. He would turn around and be right after her. So… Ellie had to make those moments count. She needed to head right for the female holding her baby and attack before she had the chance to register what was happening.Ellie landed hard on the ground from her leap and ignored the searing pain that shot up her right front paw. She continued to run, registering the look of fear in the female's eyes. It was only there for a split second, but it was there long enough for Ellie to know that she had the upper hand.She aimed low, darting around for the back of the female, away from her baby. She managed to sink her teeth into the female's leg, causing her to yelp. When she did so, she had to let go of the baby blanket. Michaela tumbled to the ground, but it wasn't much of a drop. Still, the baby screamed in fear and possibly a bit of pain. Ellie considered her chances of grabbing h
RiverLeaving the fire to run out into the night, searching for his daughter was enough to make River's heart catch in his throat. How was it possible that someone had taken his baby from her warm bed in the middle of the night?As he tore through the forest, running in the direction his wife told him she was tracking the culprits in, he tried not to think about the fact that he'd been suspecting something like this in the back of his mind for some time. Ever since the rogues started getting close to the village, he'd been wondering if they'd try a stunt like this. If he'd been able to put the pieces of the puzzle together, if he'd thought it was truly possible that they'd try to take his daughter, he would've been more vigilant. Now, he was running as fast as he could, praying that Ellie or someone else saw them soon.If they found them, they would stop them. They just had to find them."River! I see them!"Ellie's voice in his head gave him hope. River's breath stuttered. "Where?" h