As I hold a sleeping Chilli in my arms, there is a gentle knock on the door and a head appears from behind it. "Shhh," I whisper, touching a finger to my lips and them pointing down at the sleeping she wolf. Erin mouths the word 'sorry,' to me as I open a mind-link with her.'It's okay,''Sorry, I just wanted to see how she was,''Sleeping at last,''I can see that,' she goes to leave but before she does Erin adds, 'did she say anything about what happened to her?''A little,' I feel my face somber, 'she was on about someone called Beatrice or Bea? I'm not sure, Erin, do you know her?' I ask as her face pales and drops.'Bea? Are you sure that's what she said?''Yes, Pauline's cousin I think she said, she was rambling a bit. Why?''Oh, goddess... did she get her hands on her?' She asks as she perches on the arm of the chair.'I don't think so, not directly, why? Who is she?'"Erin?" Leroy's booming voice carries into the room.'S
Chill POV The sounds of screams from my loved ones, my people deafen me, filling my mind, body and soul. I can feel their pain, their suffering like it is my own, they are crying out for help, for us, for anyone to help them, but no one answers, no one comes and it brakes my heart. I feel powerless and unable to help them. My body feels wet with sweat like I am drenched in it, but no, this isn't sweat, it's ... blood, their blood, and I feel like I am drowning in it as I suffercate on their misery. I gasp for air but nothing comes, nothing reaches my lungs only hurt, as my heart pounds in my chest, swelling in the confined space as the pressure from the red liquid surrounds me and constricts in on me, whilst panic and fear over running my mind. 'Stop it! Get a grip! You need to be strong and pull yourself together. You are Charlotte Winters! You are a red wolf and a future luna of the winter pack, now act like it!' A voice that sounds like my own scolds me, making me see reason. I s
The bright sunlight hurts my eyes as I emerge from the shadows, 'where am I?' I think to myself just before it becomes abundantly clear. I'm home, oh, it feels so amazing to be back where I belong, I finally feel at peace within myself as flashes of happy memories flicker before my eyes. Memories of joyest times with Erin, Leroy and Elias playing or training in the courtyard in the cool sunshine of spring. Of the love beating within these walls, of... I gasp feeling all the air rush from my lungs, 'what ... what have they done?' I stagger looking around me at the place I once called home. 'What happened?' I can't help but wonder. My home, it... it's suddenly... it is cold? Empty and emotionless. The joy and warmth vanishes like someone has flicked a switch to reveal the horror of reality. Everything pales and dulls as the colour fades away taking away the ... hope, hope for the future, for live and love, the hope and faith in ... us! Is ... dying.It freezes me to my core and breaks m
Chilli POV I wake up in the morning with my mind still racing with what was said in the middle of the night, and excitement at the prospects of going home, even though it's not going to be easy, far from it. But also dred from my dreams and the fear for how real or close to reality it could be.Elias yawns and stretches his arms as he climbs out of the bed, whilst I feel hot under the skin from the nights adventure,"So?" I ask inpatiently, unable to wait a second more and wanting to keep my mind from wondering about into that dream, but he just chuckles at me as he heads towards the door."So... what?" He asks in a teasing way, "Elias!" I can't help but bark at him, this is no joking matter, "you said you agreed with me! That we were going to go back and ...""Yes, I did, and I also said we'd talk about it in the morning," he interrupts me very calmly."Well it's morning, so, whats the plan?" I ask, sitting upright in the bed like a student e
Elias POV Why is she feeling guilty all of a sudden? The weight of it hurts my heart, what is she thinking about? I reach out under the table and squeeze her hand tightly on instinct, trying to ground her and bring her back to me. I go to whisper in her mind when Erin's stern voice pulls my attention,"Elias!" I turn to see the both of them staring at me, "Yo, dude, you with us?" Leroy asks,"Yes, what? Sorry," I stumble over my words in response to them, having no clue what they are talking about."Food, we need to go up at get what we want. Hey, Chilli, you..." I wave my free hand at Erin to cut her off as I interrupt her by saying, "No, don't, leave her be. I'll grab her something." Erin gives us a worrying look, then nods and pushes her chair back to get up from the table as Leroy follows suit. I gently let go of Chilli's hand but as my fingertips brush over her skin as they leave her hand, she turns and looks at me with glass eyes, clearly l
Chilli POV I am knock from my wild racing mind by the return of my loved ones, "Your brave mate fought tooth and nail for your breakfast," Erin laughs,"Hu?" I asks looking at them with bewilderment as they retake their seats and I try to shake away the emotions brimming at the surface."Oh, the woman serving the cooked breakfast questioned my full tray of food," Elias smiles as he places a plate of bread and a bowl of fruit in front of me followed by a glass of apple juice by the looks of it."Yes, your heroic mate defended it from the dragon," Leroy jokes, "but we had his back to help him succeed in his quest," he laughs."Would you like some bacon?" Elias asks me, seemingly ignoring them as he points at it on his own plate, "the lady gave me extra for you.""Oh, err, okay, thank you." I say as he uses a fork and knife to transfer the said meat onto the plate with the buttered bread."Just eat what you can," he says as I stare at the cho
"Come on, lets get you out of here," I whisper to Chilli, wanting to get her somewhere more secluded, so she can tell me about her dream away from any prying eyes or ears. "Erin," I call at her abruptly, who is still interacting with the woman from before and trying to calm her down, Erin turns to look at me and on seeing my serious expression, she nods as she response,"Yes sir," and follows me out of the hall with Leroy by her side, but not before turning back to the woman and apologising for our abrupt departure. I whisk Chilli out and away, still holding on to her,'We need privacy,' I inform them through a mind-link as we hurry out of there, 'Yes, sir,' their voices echo in my head as Leroy rushes ahead of us to scout out possible locations.'What about your room?' Erin asks, and I go to say yes, okay, that will have to do when Leroy's voice calls to us.'Over here,' he says in through the link as he appears from behind a door at the other end of the h
Chilli POV Our minds fall as silent as the room once I am done sharing the details of both my dreams, the first one seems like a distant memory after the last one. I glance at their faces as they all try to digest my words and absorb what I've just told them, none of them are looking at me, they are all staring off into the distance. After a further moment of silence, Elias makes eye contact with me, his facial expression is extremely serious, but his eyes reflect love, worry, and concern. 'I'm sorry,' he whispers with guilt, and I can't help but stare at him in shock, sorry? Why is he sorry? 'I had no idea, there you were in pain, getting hurt and I was sleeping right next to you, not doing a thing to help or protect you,' he says answering my unspoken question. 'How could you? It was a dream, I didn't know for sure until....' I stop, realising a bit too late what I was on track to say. 'Ohh,' his facial expression seems to break with the realisation,
Elias POV I look up and watch as Chilli steps out from the en suite, wraped in just a towel, making her way towards her dressing table as I lay on our bed where I was just aimlessly flicking through my phone. Taking a seat and opening its draw, she removes a single, plastic pot housing her facial cream and unscrews its lid. It's nothing fancy, not expensive, its just a simple, none branded, vitamin E night cream.I continue to ovserve as she dips two fingers into the pale lotion and looks into the mirror, to then slowly drag said fingers down her face, starting at her forhead, gliding smoothly along her nose and then finishing with a dab on her chin. She then wipes a bit of the remainder on each cheek before replacing the lid and putting it back in its draw. My eyes are fixed to her as she slowly but firmly works the cream into her skin, taking extra care near and around her eyes. Her finger tips caress over her own face and down her neck, over my mark on her neck
Chilli POV Perching under a tree with Chant as we take a break from sparring whislts our mates for some reason decide to chop some fire wood. I find it amusing and humble how as the alpha he likes and enjoys chopping fire wood for the pack house, no job is to small for our mighty leader.Chant's seductive eyes never leave her mate as he swings the axe up into the air, where it seems to pause for the briefest of seconds before falling down onto a chunk of wood, spilting it into two. The whole movement and process is magical, so smooth and artistic like poetry. I had watched my own mate for a time, admiring his tensing biceps with every swing, the beauty of his movements and strength of the action, but now I'm just leaning back against the tree's trunk with my eyes shut, listening to the beautiful rhythmic sound of the wood splitting, of metal against nature, somehow for some reason I find it peaceful as I smirk at the thought of Chant lustfully gazing at Jay, it al
Elias POV That was brutal, oh my goddess do I hurt, I haven't hurt this much from training since, shit, I don't know when. Sure, I was mad and needed to work it off, but fuck me, Chilli was livid, she was masking it well, I mean, wow. My ass hurts. I had to use all my strength to stay on my feet, especially after I hit the ground hard the first few times of her kicking and taking me down. Once she swept my legs out from underneath me, my wolf instincts took over just so I could stay on my feet. I think I pulled something that time, thank the goddess for wolf healing, cos my left ass cheek and leg are killing me. With Chant now paired with Chilli and Erin and Leroy working together, that leaves me with Jay, who is as good as his mate, oh dear. I sigh inwardly as we step away from the others to train, I can spar and keep up with anyone, I'm alpha afterall, but after the beating I've just endured, I'd prefer a nice easy spar, but hay ho, lets do this. Thankfully, Jay see
Chilli POV Finally everyone is out on the field, we can get started. I am needing to hit something. Elias insist on sparring with me first and to Erin's relief but Chant's dismay, I agree. Which just leaves the others to pair up, one of them did suggest mate paring but the guys seems a little bit wary so it's girls vs girls and guys vs guys. For now anyway. After a fairly rough spar with Elias, I finally start to calm down and release my rage, which I guess was his plan, so I don't feel gilty later now if I cause anyone else major harm. Clearly sensing this, Elias allows us to switch partners and Chant and I go straight to each other, to which the rest of the group chuckle at our predictableness. Chant and I exchange a sinister grin as the others repair up, Elais with Jay and Erin with Leroy. I mirror Chant as she raises her arms up into a defensive stance, declaring she is ready, a smile growing on her face. As we stare down on each other I am reminded of our rematch
"You know there was no way he would accept and train with us," Leroy says once we are alone and with just our own pack members, "I know, but it was fun and satisfying to embarrass him like that, the look on his face at the mere thought of it was golden. To watch him squirm." I can't help but let out an enormous laugh, to which Chilli shoots me evil eyes for finding any of this so amusing. "What?" I chuckle at her before pulling myself together because if looks could kill. I had to laugh, if I didn't I think I would have lost it, plus it felt so good, too good to put Jordan down a bit like that in such a slight way in front of the others. However, by Chilli's facial expression, she does not agree, goddess, did I want to kill him, thankfully in a way he did say no, or we would have had a dead alpha on our hands and territory. "Come on, your telling me you didn't want a chance at hitting him?" I ask her in a teasing way, she looks at me whislt crossing her arms across he
"I hear some incorrect information has reached the ears of my children," "Oh, and what's that got to do with us? Idle gossip is not what these meetings are for." "No, not normally, but," she pauses for the briefest of moments to adjust her tone and the ferocity of her words, "but when it comes to petty, stupid, horrible lies about my family, my children, then you and I have a problem! A big problem!" He nearly chuckles in her face as he asks half heartedly,"Pray tell what are these so called insults?""A spare heir, a baby," she lists off the tamer ones first, working up to the biggest and worst one, before she stops again as I feel a heat burning off of her directed straight at Jorden, "and an inbreed!" The room falls silent after everyone gasps and shoot death stares at the alpha. A low growl escapes from mine, Erin and Leroy throats, our protectiveness taking over. Jordan looks like he doesn't know weather to laugh or bite back."Jordan!" One of the ot
Jordan holds his hands up in defence as I take a few deep breaths to calm myself before turning to the rest of the room to acknowledge our other guests. "Alpha Jonathan, Luna Suzie, beta Willow, sorry for my tardiness, how is Maxwell?" I ask taking my seat next to Elias, pushing my anger down for now, eyeing up Jordan in the cornor of my eye, I'm not done with you yet, I think to myself."No problem Luna Winters, father is doing well and thoroughly enjoying his retirement," he smiles with a nod of his head, which we return, "thank you for asking." Jonathan took over as alpha of the west pack two years ago with his mate Suzie and appointed Willow Steal as the first female beta of the west pack. She is a strong minded woman with a powerful right hook."Alpha Alex, Luna Ela and beta Karl, welcome and thank you for coming today," Elias smiles to the leaders of the Spring rise pack from the south, who joined our alliance about four years ago.With the greetings done and out of the way, we
The drive to school is a pretty normal one, we talk, sing and laugh all the way there, forgetting about any and all problems the day may have already brought. Once there and out of the car, we all walk hand in hand with Marcus in the middle, through the blue painted gates."Luna," the teacher on the gate addresses me with a nod of the head, as does any other adult that comes into eye contact with me. I smile back and return their nods.Like always, even though we come to Lily's class room first, we walk Marcus around to his first at her insistence, she says its part of her job to look out for him to make sure herself she sees him to his door. It warms my heart the care and love they have for each other. As I kiss my son goodbye and he hugs his sister, I take note of the other high ranking children from other packs, sitting at their tables ready for the lessons to begin. Future alpha's, beta's and Luna's all learning together including Tammy and Willow, Erin and Leroy's twins who are a
Chilli POVEleven years later"Lilith Kay Rosalee Winters! Get your furry tail out here now! Don't make me call you again!" I call out by the front door as I wait for my ten year old to take her to school. "Mummy, is Li-li in tuble?""She will be if she doesn't hurry up sweetpea,""Oh,""Lily!" I shout again,"I'm coming, I'm coming," my oldest calls back at me, jeez, ten going on fifteen, she's acting like a teenager, where does the time go? It feels like only yesterday that she fitted in my arms as I rocked her, singing her back to sleep.Take me home tonight, I'd do anything with you, buy a bottle of whiskey, we'll get matching tattoos, tell me that you love me, let me drive your car, we can sit 'til morning light, just countin' every star, 'cause if there's a hell, I'll meet you there, and if there's a heaven, they're serving beer, and if you're an angel, then I must be high, if there's a church, It's rock 'n roll, if there's