Chilli POV "...Erin Stone." A loud applause thunders around the hall as Erin gracefully pushes out her chair to walk upto the stairs to join us, her mother, Regina, shocked face beams with pride and glee at her daughters newly appointed position in our pack. As Erin reaches us up on the stage, she embraces me, then hugs Elias also before she takes her place by my side. "And," Elias continues once the room dies down, "Leroy Miller!" The room gasps even louder this time as Leroy surprised eyes lock with his alpha as he slowly pushes back in his chair and sheepishly joins us on the stage as our guests clap unsurely, not completely following what's happening or what we mean, looking from one another complex with raised shoulders. I give Erin a subtle, gentle nudge with my elbow to get her attention so we can share a wink, as I think back to last night at dinner in the dining hall after Elias and I decided to ask Erin what she thought about our idea to share and sligh
"Next, we are bringing back the role of the Epsilon," Elias pauses for a few seconds before going on. "The Epsilon, their job is to ward off intruders and will be responsible for the safety and well being of this pack. They need to be warriors, so they will need to be skilled fighters but also be able to look for a peaceful solution first. Meaning, they should only resort to violence should peaceful persuasion fail. They are the guardians of a pack. They will also be taking part of the head of securities duties by being in charge of training our fighters in aid of protecting us and teaching us how to fend for ourselves." I fight to keep my eyes forward and to not make eye contact with the unknowing wolves he is talking about until he says their names, and my eyes flash two them both with a firey prideful smile eclipsing my face. "Jay and Chantelise Ackles," their faces pale with shock as surprise as Chant locks eyes with me as if asking if this is really happening, bu
Elias POV With the speaking done the food arrives at the tables and the hall fills with the low rumbling, mumbling of chit chat and chewing. Every so often I glance out at the room and its inhabitants, subtly looking and checking where Nathan is and what his is doing. I spot Chilli doing it too, but from where she is sitting it is a lot less noticeable as she simply has to look up and around without really having to move her head much. Each time her eyes meet mine and I give her a sneaky grin before we return our full attention back to the table. Every time I look to the alpha he is convercing with either his Luna or beta, seemingly fine, and looking over confident. Perfect. 'So he went to see him?' Chilli's voice sounds delicately in my head once our tables conversation moves on slightly amongst themselves, seemingly not needing or noticing our silence.'Must have,' I reply, sipping my drink, 'Taylor reported the guard at the cells door steppe
A few days laterLogan POV Leaning against the cold stone walls of my cell as I stare at the high up, tiny window as dawn breaks and fills the dark sky with beautiful reds, oranges and pinks. I wince as I sigh, 'how can my throat hurt when I still can't make a sound?' I think to myself, rubbing my rough hand over my swollen neck and up to the back of my head, 'I guess all that silent shouting did it.' What ever that prick drugged me with is still in effect and shows no sign of weathering off anytime soon, that crap burns even now, like acid dripping down my throat, I wonder if I'll ever talk again. That thought would have brought me to tears if I wasn't so dehydrated. Wow, I'm shocked and surprised, but I'm also weirdly a little proud at Charlie for following through with the punishment by keeping me down here like this for so long. I'd like to blame it all on Elias and Sam's influence but I know better than that, although, yes, they all probably support and
Nathan POV The look on Logan's face as he is brought out here for the banishing is priceless, my Luna questioned me slightly on wanting to be here so much and as I told her, I wasn't going to miss it for the world, even though we were just here the other day for the welcoming. Which is perfect, that means the toxin in his system would have spread and done it's job. Now, who ever next comes into contact with his blood, even just a drop, well, lets just say I won't be biting or scratching him anytime soon. I can't help but feel so gleeful that these idiots are none the wiser to the poisonous boobie trap laying in wait in Logan's veins. Sarah nudges me with her elbow as Logan miserably fails to try and get up with a look of murder in his eyes, as she links to me,'Wipe that grin off your face, you look like a fucking child in a sweet shop! Whatever your up to, your going to give it away if your not more careful.' Her words are not filled with love or worry for m
Chilli POV My stomach is in knots, twisting every which way it can and shouldn't, fear and dread filling me. It doesn't help with all the wittnesses eyes burning into the back of my head, especially ones in particular. Nathan. His whole body, attitude and energy has been ... I don't know, there's just something off about him today, and it's unsettling me. He is up to something, but that we already know. The day after the welcoming event Elias and I listened to the recording of Nathan's interaction with ... the prisoner. During his ... visit, Nathan did something, we could hear their conversation, if that's what you'd call it, but by the sounds of it he did something to cause the prisoner's sudden tight lips. However, there something that niggles at me, like there could be more going on, I don't know, it's just a feeling that something isn't right. I continue to ignore the other pack leader's eyes watching us as Elias finishes delivering his last words to the
Elias POV I follow his line of sight straight to Nathan as I expected, as Chilli's thumb rubs in a circular motion on my arm in a comforting mannor. But this just fills me with more guilt and heartache as I stare into her blue waterfall orbs, our family and loved ones waiting on the edge of their toes to rush to her side to help with baited breaths, as I can feel their fearful gazes on us. She was the one just screaming out in agony and now she's trying to comfort and soothe me."I'm so sorry Chilli," I whisper under my breath as she painfully gasps for air. Why did I let her do this? Why did I suggest it? And what the fuck happened, what the hell is in his blood? Wolfsbane? Why didn't I listen to my instincts? I knew I shouldn't have let her do this, fuck! Anger boils up inside of me at myself and the one responsible for my mate's pain. My eyes shift back to Logan still on his knees, now looking more paniced and worried at Chilli, but something tells me its more
Chilli POV The burning sensation prickles as the blood still burns my skin, but the pain is mild compared to when it first came into contact with my claws. My mind races to the recording and hearing what we thought to be Nathan doing something to ... him, to silence him. What did he do? The more it plagues my mind, I come to the assumption he must have injected something into him, it's the only thing that makes sence. I fear for the next person his blood touches, when a small part of me is slightly glad he'll have a kind of defence, protection in a way, against any foes or attackers. I watch Elias in the corner of my eye as he drives, the guilt eating at him for my pain. But I wouldn't have it any other way and I think he knows that, which makes him feel worse. However, it had to be me, of course it did. My red wolf fire gives me a sort of protection, a shield, I fear how much worse it could have been if he'd been the one to have the blood on his hand. I fear it could
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