EllieSeeing the visitor on her bed, Ellie backed out of the room quietly and went to find some clothes and shift before she came back in. Clearly, they needed to talk, and that was something she wouldn't be able to do as long as she wasn't in her human form. She had some clothes in the laundry room, so she shifted in there and got dressed."Hi, Luna Patricia," Ellie said as she walked back into her bedroom. River's mother was sitting on her bed, holding Ellie's wedding gown in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks."Oh, Ellie!" she exclaimed, standing up and coming over to wrap her arms around the other Luna. "I'm so sorry!"Seeing Patricia crying made tears well up in Ellie's eyes, too. She didn't want to let them fall. She had hoped after her run that she'd be done crying over River, but as Patricia squeezed her tighter and tighter, she wasn't able to keep them back, and the same salty tears that wet the cheeks of the mother rolled down the face of the would-be bride. "It's no
EllieWalking down the front porch steps with her heart in her throat, Ellie hurried back to where she'd been when she'd found out River was gone. It was the last place on earth she wanted to go, but she had no choice. Her father had called for her, so she was going.Patricia was coming, too, but Ellie didn't wait for her. Whatever it was, it was serious, or else her father would've told her over the mind-link. Her mind was running wild with possibilities, but when she arrived in the meadow where the archway with the flowers on it was still standing in preparation for a wedding that would never happen, she couldn't believe who she saw.Blade was back, and by the looks of things, he wasn't happy. He was squaring off nose to nose with her father, and both of them looked angry enough to throw punches. Ulysses was there, too, as well as her little brothers, all of them trying to keep the peace, but it was clear that whatever was going on, Michael was about to punch Blade in the face."Bla
RiverThe sun was going down when River heard a car pull to a stop behind him. He'd been sitting there for hours, looking out at the land as it spread in front of him, his mind oscillating between thoughts of Ellie and reflecting about his own life in general. He wished his dad was around so he could get some advice from him, but that wasn't possible.So now he was going to have to talk through this with Allen instead, and while his Beta had been married for a few years and knew a thing or two about women, it wasn't the same as confiding in his dad.Allen sat down beside him, his legs dangling over the ledge as River's were. He didn't say anything for a long time, only sat there, waiting. River had nothing to say, so he could stay silent for hours if that was the way Allen wanted to play it.Eventually, the Beta broke. "How long you gonna sit here?" he asked."I don't know. I was thinking about going home," River admitted. "Don't really want to see my mom, though. I take it she's gone
EllieIt was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Instead, it was one of the worst. Ellie sat in her living room, staring blankly across the room as her friends and family tried to console her. Despite their best efforts, it wasn't doing any good. She felt a vice tightening around her heart. All of this trouble, and it had been for nothing. She never should've agreed to the tournament in the first place."I'm so sorry, honey," Michael said for at least the hundredth time. He was sitting in his chair, across from her. "I should have never have come up with this crazy idea to begin with."She didn't want her dad to feel bad, but Ellie couldn't get the words to come out of her mouth to insist that it wasn't his fault. It came from Shelby instead. "You didn't know, Alpha Michael. How could you have ever guessed that something like this would happen?"He shook his head. "I never would've thought that anyone could treat another person this way, especially not someone like River. He
EllieUnable to communicate with the large wolf that was growling at her, Ellie could do little more than growl back. She wasn't going to stand there and let Blade attack her, or whatever else it was he planned to do. She didn't think she could outrun him, nor did she think she could overpower him. But she did know these woods. Perhaps she could find a way to outsmart him.Blade growled at her again as Ellie took a few steps to her left, thinking about the layout of the woods and where she was standing. There was a steep ledge about two hundred yards to her left. She could possibly use that as an advantage.She'd have to do so quickly, though. Blade was done standing around. He came lunging for her, his claws exposed, aiming for her face.Ellie dodged out of the way, watching as the sharp claws from his outstretched paw drew close to her head. He missed this time, but Blade landed next to her and spun around, reaching for her with his teeth.Instinctively, Ellie swiped out and caught
RiverHis house was dark as River walked inside, dropping his car keys in a bowl by the door. He stood still for a moment, listening. He heard a faint, slow heartbeat coming from the kitchen and realized his mother was sitting in the dark in the other room. He headed that direction, crossing through the foyer, living area, and dining room before he saw her, sitting in the nook, staring out at the window, a cup of tea on the table in front of her. No steam rose from the cup, so he could only imagine how old it was. He doubted she'd finished it.She knew he was there, too. "You're finally home," she said, her tone melancholy. "I was getting worried.""Sorry, Mom," he said, not sure whether he should pull out a chair and talk to her or just run upstairs and bury himself beneath his blankets. "I didn't mean to worry you."Patricia turned to look at him, and even though it was dark in the room, only the moon and starlight filtering in through the window illuminating her face, he could tell
EllieHer hip ached. Ellie woke up, staring out the window, the sun pouring in on her face, and remembered that she'd been attacked the day before. That wasn't the worst of it, though. As much as her leg was hurting in the place where Blade's teeth had sunk into her flesh, her heart hurt even worse. River had walked out on her. He didn't want to marry her....Ellie brushed her hair back off of her forehead and stared up at the ceiling. The fact that the sun was streaming in her window told her that she'd slept longer than usual. Part of her wanted to go back to sleep, to bury her head under the pillow and pretend away the reality of what had happened the day before.But she couldn't do that. She had to face the facts. More importantly, she had to tend to her duties as the leader of her pack. She couldn't let her own personal problems interfere with her job.Reluctantly, Ellie pulled herself out of bed and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. She'd have to cover up the gauze
EllieRamming head first into an unexpected wall of muscle was jarring. Ellie stumbled backward, almost colliding with the door. Two strong hands took hold of her on either shoulder, straightening her out and making sure she was firm on her feet. "Sorry, Ellie! Are you okay?"She looked up into Ulysses's familiar, dark eyes and breathed a sigh of relief that it was him. As much as she wished River would come back and talk to her, she wasn't ready for that, not yet, anyway. "I'm fine, thanks," she said. "What are you doing here?""I came to check on you," he said. "How are you doing? I mean, after what Blade did yesterday, how could I not check on you?"Ellie gave him a small smile. She was so thankful for his friendship. "That's really sweet of you. Thank you. I'm fine. I just… need some time to think about what happened and decide how to proceed.""You can't let him get away with this," Ulysses warned. "He'll take it to the next level if he thinks he can get away with coming into you
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