Chapter 1: It's Time to Wake Up, Ellie's POV

           “Ellie darling, wake up!  Breakfast has been ready for over 20 minutes now!” my adopted mother, Bella, yelled through my door. Stretching my 5’5” frame out on the bed with a groan, I rolled myself off, standing on wobbly legs from lack of sleep and the intense training sessions I have every day. The dreams have not stopped and every night I wake up completely drenched in sweat, wishing I had someone to talk to. I wanted to talk to the triplets but it was forbidden for anyone to talk to them during their training so that was a no go. When I tried to talk to my adopted dad, Bradley, about it the only thing he would say is it was just a dream and not to worry about it too much. I attempted to shake away my tiredness, running my fingers across my sweaty brow to pull my unique, long silver hair back into a pony tail.  I quickly moved to get dressed so Bella wouldn’t have to come back up the stairs to get my ass into gear. With all of the training I have been doing, I am constantly hungry and already can feel the “hangry” stage approaching and I’ve only been up for five minutes. I checked to see the damage of last night’s sleep to the circles under my eyes, groaning at how terrible I look just for my stomach to voice its displeasure at the lack of food. Sleep would come later, I guess.

             Despite the negative thoughts I have each morning after the dream, in the grand scheme of things, I know things could be worse for me.  Yes, I had lost my parents and know nothing about them or anything for that matter about my family but I was loved and taken care of.  I truly appreciated what Bradley and Bella Locke have done for me, welcoming me into their family.  Their and the triplets’ love for me helped to fill the gaping hole a bit and made it bearable. 

            “Whoa, where you going in such a hurry, half pint?” Bradley says to me as I dashed through my open door, running smack dab into his brick wall of a chest.  He reminded me so much of Bronx with blond hair and emerald green eyes.  Goddess, I miss the Locke triplets’ hugs so much…wait, where did that come from??  Awkward…get it together, Ellie, your thoughts are out of control!  My adopted dad is the Beta of our pack, the Red Moon pack, which is surprising as he doesn’t  seem to like Alpha Max Warner that much.  The Alpha and Beta relationship is supposed to be close but I have caught a number of looks and comments from Bradley filled with disdain towards not only the Alpha but the Alpha’s son.  Once again, more questions I will most likely never get the answers to.  It doesn’t surprise me Alpha Max chose him to be Beta, however, as he is the strongest in our pack and one of the most brilliant strategic minds.  He’s also my personal torturer with grueling training sessions which have turned my small body into a literal killing machine. 

            “I can’t miss Bella’s waffles; I am starving!” I shouted at him as I use one of the moves he taught me to duck around him since he was blocking my way, hearing him chuckle at my retreating form.  Take that, old man!  

            “I told you that move would come in handy! You’re up late, hopefully there’s some food left for you!” Bradley yelled back with humor in his voice as he watched my dash down the stairs. It’s well known that I’m pretty un-coordinated everywhere but on the training field and have more than once taken a tumble over my own two feet. The Moon Goddess must have given some of my coordination and balance to another wolf.  Bradley always thought it was funny how well-trained I was but then would make an absolute fool of myself doing something simple, like walking while chewing gum.  Easy, right? Not for this gal. I was 100% a hot mess sometimes but I owned it. His comment about food made me skirt to a quick stop. 

            “C’mon Beta B, I’m a growing girl! I need fuel to survive today’s training sessions…please tell me there’s food left!” I exclaimed.

            “There are waffles left, Ellie, but I may or may not have eaten all of the bacon,” Bradley chuckled.  “Now hurry up, girl, we have work to do today!” as he walked towards me with a twinkle in his eye.

            As I continued to run down the stairs, I couldn’t help but think about how quiet the house seemed without Bronx, Benji and Baylor here with us. Although I’m sure if they were here, I would never have anything to eat; they were like garbage disposals when it came to food, eating anything and everything. The interesting thing about them is while they are triplets, they are not identical. It is extremely rare in the werewolf community to have this, hence why I believe they were chosen to go to the Knights League. The Knights League is a group of specialized warriors hand-chosen to support and protect special wolves blessed by our Moon Goddess. They are led by seven of the strongest Alphas in existence with only those that follow them knowing their true identity. I equated it to the movie “Fight Club.”  No one talks about Fight Club but it was a huge honor to receive the letter you had been chosen. 

           Bronx looked a lot like his father with his blond hair and green eyes but he and his other brothers are much bigger being 6’3” and built with solid muscle.  Solid muscle I’d like to sink my nails into…ugh, I have got to get my internal thoughts under control! He was the first born and carried a level of strength within him of being the “responsible” one of the triplets. Baylor, being the youngest, looked more like his mom with dark hair and striking blue eyes that made all of the she-wolves in our pack swoon. I attributed my jealousy of that fact to being protective of my older adopted siblings. There was an openness in Baylor’s eyes which made it feel like you could just get lost in them. Benji is almost a mixture of the two with brown hair and the most unique grey eyes I have ever seen. Benji had a way of calming down a situation, even if it was mostly through humor. All three of them have similar facial structures with perfect noses, chiseled jaw lines and smiles that made your heart do double-time when they flash it.  And they all smell SO GOOD…Down, girl!  You were raised with these boys…well, now men...very, very attractive men…ugh, what is WRONG WITH ME?! 

           If I’m being honest, I would have to say that my three adopted brothers were quite the eye candy.  Due to their being gone for training, despite being 21, I don’t think they have found their mate or mates yet.  While identical triplets tend to share a mate, really not much was known what would be in store for them. Maybe they have already found their mates. For some reason I don’t like that thought. Whenever I think of them, I can never picture them with any other female by their side but me with their six arms wrapped around my body. OMG, my inner thoughts need to take a cold shower! Shocked with having these thoughts, I try to throw them into the “do not think again” bin and finally make it to the dining room with Bradley hot on my tail. 

            “Heard anything from the boys yet?” Bella asks Bradley.  Bella gave me a soft smile as I mumbled how great the food is that she prepared.

            “Don’t talk with your mouth full, honey…” she chuckled “…you want to be able to taste it, right?”

            “I’m sorry Bella, I’m not trying to be rude, my appetite is just out of control lately and your food tastes SO GOOD,” I blushed with a smile, hearing my adoptive parents chuckle while they shake their heads.

            “Ellie, you know you don’t have to call us by our first names,” Bella started to say.

            “Yeah, you’re a part of our family and always will be, Ellie, we would love if you called us mom and dad,” chimed Bradley.

            They have told me this for years but for some reason, I just haven’t been able to bring myself to do it.  I don’t know if it’s something to do with my past and not knowing my parents, or hoping it was all some bad dream, but something inside just made it feel uncomfortable.  Seeing as I had not replied to them, Bradley saved the day by answering Bella’s first question, “No, babe, I haven’t heard from them yet but they are nearing the end of their training so we should hear from them soon once they are able to use their phones.” 

            “I totally forgot about that!” I exclaimed, continuing with my line of questioning like I were a detective on the show “Law and Order,” “Are they doing well? Do we know if they will be coming home before their first protection assignment? Did any of them get a specialty yet? When do I get to talk to them?!” I rapid fired to Bradley. Both Bradley and Bella quickly glanced at one another with small smiles on their faces, Bradley responding only with, “Yes, unknown, unknown and unknown.”

            Grumbling under by breath at his evasive answers, I continued to eat since I know we have to go to training soon. Changing subjects, Bradley said with a grimace, “Ellie, the future Alpha wants to speak with you today.” I inwardly rolled my eyes as Alpha Mason is the last person I want to spend any amount of time with.  My eyes desperately darted to Bella, forgetting the ire about my previous questions not being answered, pleading with her to intercede in some way. Catching on to my pathetic look for help, Bella jumped in, “Sweetie, I think it would be inappropriate for Ellie to meet with Alpha Mason alone.  We wouldn’t want rumors to start.” 

            “I will be with her,” Bradley said with a smile on his face. “Do not worry, Bells, I’ll take care of our girl.”  With this comment, Bradley looked my way and sent another wink my direction and I immediately feel better knowing I, at least, will not have to do it alone.

            “Ellie, can you please clean up your dishes before going to training? I need to speak to Brad quick.  Also, I got you a new phone since your last one ‘magically’ died being put through the washer and dryer. It’s on the kitchen counter,” Bella said.

            Oh, thank Goddess, FINALLY. My phone. As any teenage girl would be, I have been lost without it. My one connection to Cailee and the triplets, even if it’s only to look at the old photos of me and them growing up…finally I would have some connection to the outside world. I smiled knowing that now when I am really down, I could just look at their three smiling faces and remember all of the good times we had. A feeling of peace and calmness takes over my wound up too tight body. I chalked this reaction up to growing up with them and paid no attention to the seemingly inappropriate increase of heart rate or the flush appearing on my cheeks.

            I was so upset when my phone would not work and felt even worse about lying how it happened to my adopted parents. My phone didn’t get “accidently” included into our laundry but had actually been destroyed by Alpha Mason at the swimming hole a few days ago. I didn’t want Bradley and Bella to worry. They had enough to worry about with the triplets being gone and with their responsibilities of being the Betas of our pack.  Another reason I lied is because I didn’t want to lose the only “alone time” I managed to find for myself.  If they knew the whole story, I would never be let out of the house again alone without an escort and the full story would cause all sorts of issues for our family and the pack. 

Flashback  

            Training had just finished and Bradley had to run to the Alpha’s packhouse to discuss an issue regarding the rogues who were increasing their attacks. After receiving the mindlink, Bradley worriedly told me to go right home and not to deviate due to the threat surrounding and probing our borders. As I started the quick walk home, the feeling of emptiness and longing came back into my mind, missing the triplets. Stupidly, I decided to go visit one of our favorite spots, the waterfall, just to see if it would bring back happier memories of them living at home to make me feel better. As I did not have my wolf yet, I ran to “our” spot and started to strip down my clothes until I had nothing on but my underwear. The water felt so amazing on my sore muscles after the “two a day” workouts Bradley had me doing with him. 

            Completely immersed in the memories flowing through my brain of the last time Bronx, Benji and Baylor and I had visited the waterfall, in the distance, I heard a branch snap. Immediately, red flags began to pop up in my head, worried I had just put myself into danger with the rogue situation. As I slowly started to swim to the edge, I focused all of my attention on being as quiet as possible, staying beneath the water to hide my scent as Bradley had taught me to. I started to get frustrated at my stupidity for going out by myself, as I did not have my wolf and could only protect myself in human form. Without my wolf counterpart, I also did not have my heightened senses yet which put me at a huge disadvantage. As I continued to move like a stealthy ninja through the water, I could not smell or hear anything out of the ordinary but that did not stop the feeling in my stomach telling me someone was watching me. Once I got closer to the edge, another branch snapped. Then another…and another. Out of the brush appeared Alpha Mason.

             “Oh hey, it’s just you,” I said in relief to him. Instead of saying hello, he just stood there and stared at me with his dark eyes, penetrating my face, making me feel like I was exposed to the world. Alpha Mason carried with him a heavy, dark aura. While not especially unattractive to look at, I felt anything but comfortable in his presence. He was as large as any other shifter but not as big as the triplets. Little good that did me since they were far away from me at this moment. 

            “What are you doing out here, little mouse?” Alpha Mason growled out. 

            “Uh, isn’t it self-explanatory?” I quipped back. Probably not the smartest of decisions on my part but I was feeling very defensive and to tell the truth a little scared by the way he was looking at me. He was sending out a major creeper vibe and I was not digging it.

             “Little mouse, do you have a death wish? You know there are rogues trying to get on to our land. Do you not know how dangerous it is out here right now?” he drawled out in his voice that made me shiver and not in a good way.

             “I’m sorry Alpha Mason,” I replied immediately, wanting to advert my eyes to stop staring into his which looked like they would swallow me up whole. “I will immediately get up and go as soon as you leave,” I continued.

             “Now, why would I want to do that, little mouse? I have you right where I want you,” he replied.

             Not only were red flags popping up everywhere in my head but now I could hear loud, blaring sirens which told me being alone with this man was the last thing I should be doing.

            “Alpha Mason, if you would please just go or turn around so I can get dressed,” I pleaded.

            “Little mouse, why don’t you just get out of the water and come get your clothes from me,” he said, making me more afraid. 

            What was he playing at? Yeah, sure we were shifters and were used to seeing each other naked but I had not even shifted yet. Not to mention when people do, its customary to not sit and stare like a fat kid in a dessert shop, drooling over something they wanted to devour.

*Ring, Ring, Ring*

            I heard my phone going off with the ring tone I had set up for Bradley and Bella. Not moving a muscle, I sat and stared at Alpha Mason waiting to see what he would do. Instead of leaving like I asked, he reached down into my clothes and grabbed my phone. Looking at the screen which had a picture of me and the triplets on their 21st birthday, he growled low under his breath. Fury replaced the creeper vibe he had been giving off. 

           “Nice picture, little…mouse…” he stated, then turned quickly, throwing my phone straight at the tree, exploding it into pieces. Shocked, I couldn’t say a word, wondering what he was going to do next. The thought scared me. I was out here alone, not able to mindlink, without my wolf and extremely underdressed for the occasion of kicking some Alpha butt, which I highly doubted I could do if I was being realistic here. 

           With one last searing look at me, he turned on his heal, shifted into his dark brown/reddish wolf, Hades, and ran into forest. Even his wolf with his red eyes gave me the creeps. I quickly left the water, throwing my clothes on quickly and ran as fast as I could back to the house. I felt gross, thinking about how he looked at me and the tone of his voice which made me go into “fight or flight” mode. I don’t know why a picture of me with the triplets would have caused him to act this way, not to mention the fact he rare spoke to me, this being the most he had ever spoken to me in one sitting. Something was not right with that man and I made it a point to not put myself in the position again to have to deal with him one on one.

End Flashback

            “You know how her phone was broken, right?” Bella whispered loudly to Bradley. I knew it is wrong but I slowed my steps down and quieted them in hopes to hear what they were saying. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pick up the bulk of their conversation until I heard Bradley say, his voice getting closer, “Only a few more weeks, hon. She will be 18 soon and will know everything. She will be okay. They all will. Would I lie to you?”

            “I worry about her,” she whispered, “maybe they got it wrong?” I perked up hearing this comment with a frown and but continued to move further ahead so they wouldn’t realize I was eavesdropping on their conversation.

            “They haven’t gotten it wrong, Bells. The boys confirmed it before they left. So did Pearl,” Bradley reasoned back. 

            Wait, confirmed what? Why are they worried about me? Who’s the hell is Pearl? Is that one of the triplet’s mates? Did Bella really know what happened at the waterfall? Was that why she made sure I wasn’t alone with Alpha Mason? Stopping by the front door to put on my shoes, my ice blue eyes stared into my reflection in the mirror by the door, feeling frustrated by so many questions that were now playing ping pong in my brain with no answers in sight.