In the morning I woke up next to the pile of ash that was the fire to see only Rose still asleep. I sat up, brushing the leaves off my hair and clothes before I glanced around.
Only ten or so metres from the camp, Tobias and Theodore stood face to face.
"She's not your responsibility anymore, Brynn," Theodore hissed, "Let her go."
He spoke quietly like he didn't want to wake us but his voice was still as sharp and commanding as ever.
"She's my little sister," Tobias replied.
"And she's my Luna now," Theodore said, "Trust me to take care of her."
Tobias's face creased, "Trust you? What reason have you ever given me to trust you?"
Theodore clenched his jaw, "What do you think I'm going to fucking do?"
Tobias shrugged, "I've learnt over the years not to underestimate what you are capable of. And I know for sure that you will take away her autonomy."
"For her own protection but also the good of my pack," Theodore said, "Esme
Theodore held my hand as we walked South.The chill of the morning had never fully lifted and even as we marched on at the fast speed Theodore set, I felt my hands and feet become numb as my cheeks and nose blushed red. The discomfort of this combined with the pain of being ripped away from Rose and Tobias after just being reunited meant that I was in no mood to speak.So I just walked with my eyes on the floor, watching the light shining down on the dead leaves slowly change to orange and then just begin to fade away."Are you alright, Esme?" Lou asked after hours of walking."She's fine," Theodore said, "Alpha and Luna Brynn are needed on the Eastern territory. We are needed in the South. It has to be like this.""I thought I was a burden?" I asked, "Now you need me?""I need you by my side where I can protect you," he replied."And you don't think Tobias and Rose can protect me? Or that I can't protect myself?" I asked.He c
The next time I saw the light of day I found myself inside some kind of tent laid on a bed of linen spread over hard wooden planks.I groaned as I lifted my stiff neck.How long had I been lying there?"Welcome back," A soft voice said.It was Lou. He was stood on the other side of the tent, by the door, with his arms folded as he watched over me.I scrunched my eyes together and the effort required to lift my body any further proving too much, I let myself fall back onto the bed."What happened?" I asked."You got knocked out cold," he said, "You've been unconscious for nearly two days."I stared at him in disbelief, "Two days?""Like I said...cold," he replied."All I remember is sinking to the bottom of the lake. Then someone pulled me to the surface and that's it," I said.Lou smiled, "A few moments after you fell off that cliff, Alpha Rivers jumped after you. By the time he got you to the shore, you we
The next morning was cold and crisp. I was glad to have Theodore's arms still firmly around me, keeping me warm but dawn was approaching fast and he soon got up.At first, he just sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands, probably dreading what he was going to have to do today.I sat quietly watching him, feeling the same dread on his behalf. I felt it for me too. The dread of losing him.His shirt was still on the floor by the bed where it was discarded last night and for the first time since I saw them on the night of the storm back at home, I noticed the thin scars on his back."What happened to your back?" I asked after a few moments of mustering up the balls to question.He seemed to freeze up and he stayed facing away from me."Nothing," he said bluntly.I shuffled forward and sat behind him before I ran my fingers down his spine, feeling the faint bumps of scar tissue underneath my tips. He tensed even more and sat upr
I next woke on a dark stone floor. The bustle and hustle of the camp had gone and now all I could hear was the echoing drips of water droplets and the pacing footsteps of one man.My every muscle felt tired and useless and I could hardly even sit myself up."How are you feeling?" someone asked.Upon glancing up, I saw Lou looking down at me."Exhausted," I replied.I glanced around. It was dark but I could just about see damp stone walls."Well, that's expected," he replied, "You'll be okay soon."I diverted my glance back to Lou."Expected? Why?" I questioned.Lou furrowed his eyebrow, "Because Alpha Rivers marked you.""...So? And where the fuck are we?"It was then that Lou's face dropped and his jaw tightened, "You don't know, do you? He didn't warn you?""Warn me of what?" I asked.Lou sighed and sat down beside me, "When a female wolf is marked she goes into a deep sleep. It's the natura
I was taken through a large pair of wooden doors into a large room. I stumbled forward as the men holding me shoved me forwards to where a middle-aged man sat comfortably on an ornate chair."Well, well, well. What do we have here?" he asked, looking me up and down.His voice was deep and patronising. His features were sharp and oddly familiar. I even knew those brown eyes. It felt like I'd experienced their piercing stare many times before.Klaus stepped forward and brushed my hair off my neck.The man's eyes lit up and he instantly got to his feet. He smiled warmly yet his eyes remained dark and beady as he strode over to me and held out his hand."Alpha Kane, a pleasure to meet you, Luna Rivers," he said.I looked down at his hand and scoffed."You expect me to shake your hand? After everything?" I asked.He continued to look down at me."Yes," he said sharply, "Has Theodore not taught you how to show respect yet?"
I looked into Theodore's eyes. They were wide and frozen as he kept looking down at his hands."Klaus," I said to the soldier who now cowered in the corner, "Tell all your fellow soldiers that their leader is dead and that if they surrender immediately, we can end this with no more bloodshed."Klaus nodded and scrambled out of the room, not taking his eyes off Theodore for a second."Are you okay?" I asked, stepping closer to my mate.He suddenly snapped out of his trance and his eyes locked on me."Why the fuck are you here?" he growled, striding forward and grabbing my wrist."I'm sorry I-" I stuttered as he dragged me at high speed from the room, "I had to help.""And how to fuck is getting yourself captured and put in extreme danger helping, Esme?" he hissed."If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to challenge Alpha Kane and he would have killed you on your knees," I replied.With that, he
Sometime later, Theodore came over to me. I was sat with Rose and Tobias and had just finished stitching up a nasty wound on the shoulder of one of our soldiers."Alpha Brynn, everything here is sorted. I'm sending my men out to search the rest of the territory for escapees and to recover the bodies of our lost soldiers. I'd appreciate if you did the same. The sooner the place is cleared, the sooner we can let the citizens out," he said.Tobias nodded.As he spoke I'd been trying to avoid looking behind him at the spiralling flames of the 'crematorium' his men had made to burn the bodies of hundreds of Alpha Kane's men. But the smoke billowed and itched our lungs, refusing to be ignored."We've lost a lot of soldiers so we will be searching the territory for their bodies," Rose said."Fine," Theodore replied, "Esme, you are coming with me though."I looked up at him."I was actually hoping to go with Tobias and Rose. The least I can d
After hours of walking around Pheonix land, hunting down Alpha Kane's men and loading up the bodies of our soldiers and friends onto carts to return home wrapped in a sheet, we were all drained and exhausted.We still had miles of territory to scour but we hadn't had a moments rest in far too long so we decided to make camp for the night."So it's over," I said finally breaking the silence around the campfire, "We can go back to normal.""Finally," Tobias said with a sigh."But now what?" I asked, looking up to my brother."We reclaim our territory and rebuild our pack. There may not be many of us left but it's something," Tobias said.I nodded, "Although it will be a quarter of its original size, it's still our duty to be there for the Nightingale pack.""It's not your duty, Esme," Theodore said, speaking up for the first time since we made camp.He'd been sitting on the opposite side of the fire, his fingers firmly entwined a