RAINA’S POV
The meeting room was stuffy and crowded. I could see at least 15 different packs represented at the meeting, if not more. Callan had filled me in on some basics about the different Alphas, including Alpha Brock and Alpha Scott, whom I had just met. Alpha Scott seemed nice but Alpha Brock was a prick. I could tell from the brief interaction I had with him. Callan also told me that there were 20 different packs spread across the U.S., although there were currently only 19 since no one had taken over for Alpha Thomas. Much to my surprise, there were apparently some pack members who had stayed behind.
The Council sat along a long table at the front of the room on a raised area. Ten men sat along the table. As Callan walked us to our seats, I looked at each of them. While I wasn’t specifically trying to read the emotions of any of them, I was struck by the different emotions that some of them seemed to be experiencing. Most just seemed interested, ey
As the meeting wrapped up, the councilmen asked that each pack approach Callan to discuss planning, including when the warrior would be coming to our pack and how we would accommodate them. A few of the smaller packs were not able to send a warrior due to safety concerns, which made sense. Callan tensed a little bit when the first Alpha mentioned it, but I quickly put my hand on Callan’s arm to calm him down. One pack was a quarter of the size of our pack ad had lost several warriors in a recent rogue attack. It would be more dangerous for them to send a warrior for their pack. Not only would I have the guardian warriors protecting me, but I also have my own pack. It was important that we considered the other packs in the discussion, especially since I truly did have so much protection.“Luna Raina, Alpha Callan, I am so glad that you are so understanding. This last year has been very hard for my pack. During the last rogue attack, I lost my brother and a son. My
I awoke in the back of a car. My head was pounding. For a moment, I thought that I might have been knocked unconscious in the car crash and I was in the back of the car on the way home. But none of the smells in the car were familiar, and I knew that was too much to hope for. The pain in my head made it hard to open my eyes, but I forced them open. I was quite dark outside now. I tried to focus on the clock in the car, and, although it was blurry, I could just make out that it was 9:15 PM. “Looks like someone is awake.” A voice said from the front seat of the car. My head was throbbing, but I was awake and looking around, trying to get some understanding of where I was. However, there were just trees everywhere, so I really couldn’t pick up on anything. I looked up at the man in the front passenger seat. He looked young, but I knew that he was a vampire. I would guess that he is probably much older than I thought, although he looked like he is in
ALPHA CALLAN’S POVThe sound of breaking glass awakened me. My head was pounding, but when I looked at the car around me, my first thought was Raina. I could barely see the other side of the car, but I could tell that she was not there.“Alpha Callan? Are you alright?” A voice spoke from outside of my window. The breaking of glass was Beta Jack and Brett, who were attempting to pull me out of the car.“Where is Raina?” I asked as I pulled myself out of the car. Although pieces of glass were in my hands and legs, I did not care. I did not care that my head hurt and that it was bleeding. All that I cared about was Raina.Brett shifted and then spoke. “We have a faint scent of her. Right after the crash, my scouts observed two vampires in the area. We believe that they took her. My scouts have spotted the car and are following it.”Rollo roared forward. “We must get her!” I growled out, ready to sh
RAINA’s POVLela made it back to the pack in less than a minute. I did not even know that we could run that quickly, but fear can make you run quickly. While fear often drives you away from things, this fear drove me to Callan. Fear and anger. Callan was hurt and I was not going to just stand by and do nothing.Another pang of pain ran through me, but I refused to stop, despite how searing the pain was.‘Do you know where he is?’ I asked Lela as we approached the edge of pack territory.‘By our clearing.’ She responded. There was a certain irony in Callan being in the clearing that I had found so much comfort in. The amount of pain that I was in told me that Callan was severely injured. We would not stop until we were upon him. Brett and Emma were right behind me, keeping pace with Lela for the sprint to Callan.As soon as I hit the edge of the clearing, I saw Callan on the ground, and I immediately shifted back. One o
Eight days. It has been eight days and there has been no change. I went home once a day to change and shower. Otherwise, I did not leave Callan’s room. Different pack members would come to visit, bringing me food and to keep me company. It had become almost routine at this point. Beta Jack and Marta would come first thing in the morning, bringing me breakfast. Beta Jack would stay and keep me company, updating me on anything relevant to pack business. Nathan and Jennifer would come at lunch time. Catherine would come with another pack member who had made me dinner. Justin would typically stop by after dinner and would stay with Callan while I went to shower and change. And the day would begin again.At the end of day eight, exhaustion was starting to set in. I was not sleeping well and worried filled me all day. I had just returned from showering and changing, thanking Justin for staying with Callan, when Dr. Powell walked in.“Hi Dr. Powell. What is
Two weeks laterLela was antsy. She wouldn’t stop pacing. I thought at first that it was related to the two weeks of recovery for Callan finally being up. But even after he woke up this morning and joined me in the shower, making sure that I knew that he was more than recovered, she still would not settle down. I know that my sexual frustration went away and down the drain twice this morning, but Lela still had this weird nervous energy about her. It was very uncharacteristic.‘Lela, what the heck is going on?’ I reached out to her, hoping that we could figure all this out. Her anxiety was rubbing off on me and I did not like the way it felt. I suddenly regretted all the times my emotions were overwhelming and bled in to how Lela was feeling. And that happened A LOT.‘I honestly don’t know what it is. I feel like I am waiting for something to happen, and I don’t know what it is.’‘Let’s just try to tak
10 years later“Anders! Get back in here! Your mom told you dinner was almost ready five minutes ago!” Callan yelled out the back door, before giving up and going out to the backyard. I laughed as Callan fought to round up our son. From what Catherine told me, Anders was just like Callan was when he was young; stubborn, strong, and, at times, apparently hard of hearing. I had called him in several times alerting him of dinner, but he continued to run around the field behind the packhouse. At nearly ten years old, Anders was already showing his power and strength. He took after Callan in both behavior and looks, although he had my green eyes. Callan was often proud of his behavior while I was stuck running around trying to wrangle him in. His sister, Romy, was the opposite. At age 7, she was calm and controlled. She was empathic and caring. I didn’t expect her to be a red wolf and I doubted that she would be. At this point, there were six red wo
I sat on my bed, sighing. Looking at the piles of homework on my desk, I knew that I had to get up and get moving. Yet, I just couldn’t get myself motivated. As I closed in on my finals within the next week for my senior year, I was determined to finish up strong. So cliché, I know, but after what this last year had thrown at me, I felt like I had to show myself that I could do it. I threw my long, thick, red hair into a low messy bun and pushed myself off the bed, determined to start at least one of my final projects. I pulled down the shirt that had ridden up as I laid in bed. I was tall for a girl – nearly 5’11, so many shirts rode up on me. I have been told that I am beautiful by more guys than I could count, but that meant nothing to me. Although I had casually dated, I was waiting for my mate. But the current situation was doing nothing to help with that. I sat down at the desk and a picture of my family caught my eye. Every time I sat at
10 years later“Anders! Get back in here! Your mom told you dinner was almost ready five minutes ago!” Callan yelled out the back door, before giving up and going out to the backyard. I laughed as Callan fought to round up our son. From what Catherine told me, Anders was just like Callan was when he was young; stubborn, strong, and, at times, apparently hard of hearing. I had called him in several times alerting him of dinner, but he continued to run around the field behind the packhouse. At nearly ten years old, Anders was already showing his power and strength. He took after Callan in both behavior and looks, although he had my green eyes. Callan was often proud of his behavior while I was stuck running around trying to wrangle him in. His sister, Romy, was the opposite. At age 7, she was calm and controlled. She was empathic and caring. I didn’t expect her to be a red wolf and I doubted that she would be. At this point, there were six red wo
Two weeks laterLela was antsy. She wouldn’t stop pacing. I thought at first that it was related to the two weeks of recovery for Callan finally being up. But even after he woke up this morning and joined me in the shower, making sure that I knew that he was more than recovered, she still would not settle down. I know that my sexual frustration went away and down the drain twice this morning, but Lela still had this weird nervous energy about her. It was very uncharacteristic.‘Lela, what the heck is going on?’ I reached out to her, hoping that we could figure all this out. Her anxiety was rubbing off on me and I did not like the way it felt. I suddenly regretted all the times my emotions were overwhelming and bled in to how Lela was feeling. And that happened A LOT.‘I honestly don’t know what it is. I feel like I am waiting for something to happen, and I don’t know what it is.’‘Let’s just try to tak
Eight days. It has been eight days and there has been no change. I went home once a day to change and shower. Otherwise, I did not leave Callan’s room. Different pack members would come to visit, bringing me food and to keep me company. It had become almost routine at this point. Beta Jack and Marta would come first thing in the morning, bringing me breakfast. Beta Jack would stay and keep me company, updating me on anything relevant to pack business. Nathan and Jennifer would come at lunch time. Catherine would come with another pack member who had made me dinner. Justin would typically stop by after dinner and would stay with Callan while I went to shower and change. And the day would begin again.At the end of day eight, exhaustion was starting to set in. I was not sleeping well and worried filled me all day. I had just returned from showering and changing, thanking Justin for staying with Callan, when Dr. Powell walked in.“Hi Dr. Powell. What is
RAINA’s POVLela made it back to the pack in less than a minute. I did not even know that we could run that quickly, but fear can make you run quickly. While fear often drives you away from things, this fear drove me to Callan. Fear and anger. Callan was hurt and I was not going to just stand by and do nothing.Another pang of pain ran through me, but I refused to stop, despite how searing the pain was.‘Do you know where he is?’ I asked Lela as we approached the edge of pack territory.‘By our clearing.’ She responded. There was a certain irony in Callan being in the clearing that I had found so much comfort in. The amount of pain that I was in told me that Callan was severely injured. We would not stop until we were upon him. Brett and Emma were right behind me, keeping pace with Lela for the sprint to Callan.As soon as I hit the edge of the clearing, I saw Callan on the ground, and I immediately shifted back. One o
ALPHA CALLAN’S POVThe sound of breaking glass awakened me. My head was pounding, but when I looked at the car around me, my first thought was Raina. I could barely see the other side of the car, but I could tell that she was not there.“Alpha Callan? Are you alright?” A voice spoke from outside of my window. The breaking of glass was Beta Jack and Brett, who were attempting to pull me out of the car.“Where is Raina?” I asked as I pulled myself out of the car. Although pieces of glass were in my hands and legs, I did not care. I did not care that my head hurt and that it was bleeding. All that I cared about was Raina.Brett shifted and then spoke. “We have a faint scent of her. Right after the crash, my scouts observed two vampires in the area. We believe that they took her. My scouts have spotted the car and are following it.”Rollo roared forward. “We must get her!” I growled out, ready to sh
I awoke in the back of a car. My head was pounding. For a moment, I thought that I might have been knocked unconscious in the car crash and I was in the back of the car on the way home. But none of the smells in the car were familiar, and I knew that was too much to hope for. The pain in my head made it hard to open my eyes, but I forced them open. I was quite dark outside now. I tried to focus on the clock in the car, and, although it was blurry, I could just make out that it was 9:15 PM. “Looks like someone is awake.” A voice said from the front seat of the car. My head was throbbing, but I was awake and looking around, trying to get some understanding of where I was. However, there were just trees everywhere, so I really couldn’t pick up on anything. I looked up at the man in the front passenger seat. He looked young, but I knew that he was a vampire. I would guess that he is probably much older than I thought, although he looked like he is in
As the meeting wrapped up, the councilmen asked that each pack approach Callan to discuss planning, including when the warrior would be coming to our pack and how we would accommodate them. A few of the smaller packs were not able to send a warrior due to safety concerns, which made sense. Callan tensed a little bit when the first Alpha mentioned it, but I quickly put my hand on Callan’s arm to calm him down. One pack was a quarter of the size of our pack ad had lost several warriors in a recent rogue attack. It would be more dangerous for them to send a warrior for their pack. Not only would I have the guardian warriors protecting me, but I also have my own pack. It was important that we considered the other packs in the discussion, especially since I truly did have so much protection.“Luna Raina, Alpha Callan, I am so glad that you are so understanding. This last year has been very hard for my pack. During the last rogue attack, I lost my brother and a son. My
RAINA’S POVThe meeting room was stuffy and crowded. I could see at least 15 different packs represented at the meeting, if not more. Callan had filled me in on some basics about the different Alphas, including Alpha Brock and Alpha Scott, whom I had just met. Alpha Scott seemed nice but Alpha Brock was a prick. I could tell from the brief interaction I had with him. Callan also told me that there were 20 different packs spread across the U.S., although there were currently only 19 since no one had taken over for Alpha Thomas. Much to my surprise, there were apparently some pack members who had stayed behind.The Council sat along a long table at the front of the room on a raised area. Ten men sat along the table. As Callan walked us to our seats, I looked at each of them. While I wasn’t specifically trying to read the emotions of any of them, I was struck by the different emotions that some of them seemed to be experiencing. Most just seemed interested, ey
ALPHA CALLAN POVI was surprised when I slept until 5. I had really expected sleep to elude me with the meeting with the Council today. In anticipation of things such as this, Rollo typically was up early, as he was on high alert. ‘Decided to let me sleep?’ I joked to Rollo.‘I needed the sleep. I am still exhausted from the other day.’ Rollo stirred and stretched.I could only laugh, as I, too, was still feeling a bit of the exhaustion from the other day. But we needed our energy for today. It was clear that this was going to be a long day. I hadn’t meant to upset Raina yesterday, but I did have a feeling that the Council or someone at the meeting might ask for her to “prove” that she was a red wolf. It was ridiculous and I agreed with Raina about her concerns. If she didn’t want to shift or show them anything, then I would 100% support that. Quite frankly, it was ridiculous that they would even ask,