Edric's POV:
Our pack members start arriving one after the other, all of them in wolf form. Most live on the mountain property, and running is just easier than driving. Besides, no wolf I know will pass up the opportunity to shift and let their wolf run free. Well, except for the one by my side.
The wolves that live in the town in the shadow of the mountain will be the last to arrive; they usually drive part of the way and shift when they’re away from human eyes. About ninety percent of the town’s population are werewolves and the humans are blissfully unaware of this fact.
Maya’s nervous, her body coiled like a too tight spring, ready to let go and run off at any moment. As our pack members disappear into the woods to shift back to human form, she moves closer to me. Without even thinking about it, I put my arm around her, and to my surprise, she leans into me, resting her head against my shoulder.
The feeling of bliss I experience when she lets me take care of her, even in this small way, almost breaks my heart with sheer joy. Once most of the tables are occupied, I take Maya’s hand and lead her to the head table where my father, sister, and Luca already wait. It’s customary for the Alpha to take his seat last.
All the people jump to their feet, staring at Maya, and I hear the whispers that ripple through the pack. I don’t care, but she does. Her hand tightens around mine, crushing my fingers, but I ignore it – if she’s this nervous just walking to our table, she’s gonna explode with it in about another minute.
I stop in front of our table. My dad gives me a sly smile and a wink. I can’t help but grin back – there aren’t many wolves that have to wait years to find their missing half, and very few would understand the sheer ecstasy I feel after all this time.
Turning Maya with me, I look out over the gathered wolves. They immediately stop talking, looking at me expectantly – this is only my second month as the Alpha, but no one lacks respect for me. My family has proven themselves as a capable and honourable line of Alphas without the need to abuse the shit out of our pack members. “I have to introduce you to the pack,” I whisper in her ear, and I can almost feel her whole body scream no.
“Welcome back everyone.” I nervously look out over the expanse of the crowd before me. It’s not the crowd of wolves that are making me anxious though, it’s Maya’s reaction I fear.
A hundred tables, give or take twelve people at each table. Managing a pack this size can be a logistical nightmare, but I won’t have it any other way – even though I don’t know everyone by name, I love all of them. I can feel their hopeful eyes on me, and finally I just have to say the words. I turn to Maya, smiling at her, “This is your Luna and my mate, Maya.”
“Finally,” someone yells, and the pack erupts in a loud cheer.
They won’t care that she’s a rogue, a lot of them came to our pack as rogues, but they may care that she was born to humans. That’s a bit too weird, even for our ragtag pack of wolves. “See?” I say. “No big deal.”
She smiles up at me, actually giving me a true to Goddess smile, and my heart almost gallops out of my chest. “What’s a Luna?” she asks softly.
Ah. I have forgotten, again, that she has no idea how our society works. “I’ll tell you later. For today, just nod and smile.”
I bring Maya around the table, sitting next to Luca who is on my left, and Maya on my right, as is the custom. Jolie scowls at me, giving Maya a tight, unfriendly smile. I can’t for the life of me figure out why my twin sister can’t stand my mate, she barely knows her. Mind you, I barely know her, but that’s neither here nor there – your mate is your mate. I frown at Jolie and she immediately mind-links me, “You didn’t reject her then?”
“I told you I won’t.”
“But, Edric…”
“Jolie, what is your problem? You don’t even know her….Why can’t you just be happy for me?”
“She’ll only bring you heartache, that’s why.”
“You don’t have to like it, but you will respect my decision.”
I break our link. I love Jolie, as twins our connection is so strong, but I won’t, I can’t, tolerate insolence, not even from my own sister, it will very rapidly weaken my authority as Alpha. “Since my son doesn’t have the good manners to introduce you, I guess it’s up to me,” I hear my father say. “I’m Joshua.”
From the corner of my eye, I see my mate stick out her tiny hand to shake my dad’s. “Maya,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Nice to meet you. We have been waiting for you for a long time. Our pack’s been without a Luna for nearly a year now.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Maya gives me a sympathetic look. She understands enough to put two and two together.
My mother took her own life for unknown reasons. It almost destroyed my dad, and Jolie hasn’t been quite the same since. Maybe that’s why she is so afraid of Maya. I make a mental note to ask my sister about it later.
Two wolves carrying heavy trays of food approach our table. Maya almost jumps up to help them, but I quickly grab her hand and shake my head at her. A Luna helping Omegas will confuse the pack. There’s no slavery in our pack, but true Omegas can’t help themselves – they’re born to serve. It makes them happy. It’s not something any of us can understand, but to them it makes perfect sense.
I glance at Maya, who smiles so beatifically at the Omega serving her that I can practically hear him fall in love. She thanks him with so much warmth that his eyes fill with tears. I find the Omega’s reaction a bit odd. In other packs I’ve visited over the years, I’d see that reaction when I treated an Omega with kindness and respect, but in our pack it’s nothing strange….Then why is this Omega reacting like no one’s ever given him a sideways glance, let alone a thank you?
Just one more weird thing in a sea of weird that I can add to my list, I guess.
As we eat, I keep stealing nervous glances at Maya, but she’s handling herself well for a wolf that’s not used to pack life, though the tension doesn’t leave her face, and by the way she’s gripping her utensils I can just tell that she’s uncomfortable. She would rather be anywhere but here.
Like the night before, she barely eats anything, and when she pushes her plate away, I’m ready. “Let’s go for a walk,” I offer.
Jolie shoots me another of her ugly looks, Luca grins and claps me on the shoulder, and my father just nods his approval. “Don’t you need to stay?” Maya asks.
“No,” my father answers for me. “As long as he’s back for the ceremony tonight.”
“What ceremony?”
“Our yearly offering to the Moon Goddess,” Jolie answers, an ugly smile on her face. “You should like it – it’s a blood offering.”
Maya says nothing for a while, just stares at my sister, her face passive. “Should be interesting,” she remarks dryly.
I can see Jolie and I are going to come to blows very soon. I hope to Goddess that she gets used to the idea that I have a mate now, or things will get very ugly. “It’s not a blood sacrifice,” I say when I’m sure Jolie can’t hear us anymore. “It’s not even an offering. We’re just accepting new members into the pack.”
“I didn’t think anything of it. Jolie doesn’t like me,” she says it with a quiet kind of certainty that’s really quite astounding.
I never thought, not even for a second, that my mate and sister wouldn’t get along. When I imagined it, they were always best friends. “I want to show you something,” I say. “But the only way I can is if you shift. Will you do that?”
She looks at me with big, accusatory eyes. “Are you trying to trick me into shifting?”
“Astute observation, but no, I’m not. It’s the only way we’ll get there fast enough. Please?”
Biting into her lip, she stares at me, her remarkable eyes dark and full of questions, but finally she nods, and my wolf practically jumps out of our skin with joy. “Not here…not this close to others.”
“No,” I agree. “Not here.”
Ignoring my broken toes, I hobble deeper into the woods with Edric by my side, my heart nearly banging out of my chest. Why did I agree to shift? Of course, my wolf is elated – I don’t blame her, she rarely gets a chance to be herself, but I’m already regretting my decision. Who knows what she’ll do when I’m forced to the background and she takes control? When we can’t hear the laughter and talking of the gathered pack anymore, Edric stops and turns to me. “What do you usually do when you shift? Do you take clothes with you, or go back to the place where you shifted before you turn back to human?” “Huh?” He chuckles softly. “Most of us will carry clothes with us – so we don’t walk around naked when we shift back to human form. We’ll shift back when we get to…where we’re going, so I think you should bring your clothes with.” “How?” I’m starting to realise that not only do I know nothing about being part of a pack or werewolf society, I also kno
Edric's POV: I smell the rogue minutes after turning my back on Maya. I don’t know how to communicate to her that the asshole is watching us. This is not a rogue looking for refuge, as so many of our other ex-rogues tended to do; this one is dangerous. He’s the very kind of wolf she keeps running into – one that’s more beast than man. Very casually, as if I don’t know he’s there, I pull my t-shirt over my head and start moving backwards to Maya. I don’t want to scare her, but we haven’t marked each other yet, so we don’t share a connection. I can’t mind-link her. The moment I let her know what’s going on, I shift and turn, relieved to see that she followed my advice. Her magnificent wolf shimmers in the sunlight, and this really sends the rogue over the edge of what little reason he has left. He comes crashing through the forest like a deranged animal, which I guess he kind of is, forgetting about me and going straight for Maya. He’ll
I can’t believe I did that. I can’t believe I attacked the rogue. But when he was on top of Edric, trying to get at his throat, I lost all control. For just a moment, my wolf took over and she didn’t think twice. I regained control just in time, just before she could rip into that poor man’s throat. ~ Poor man? ~ my wolf asks angrily. ~ He tried to kill our mate. Rape us. ~ * He can’t help it. He’s crazy…feral. * Then Edric tells me to leave, and she really doesn’t like that suggestion one bit. It takes all my willpower to drag her away. I don’t want to leave him either. He shouldn’t have to deal with the feral wolf – he came for me after all, so I should the one that takes care of him. I want to listen to my wolf, want to give in to her demands – but I can tell by the look on Edric’s face that he really needs me to go. There aren’t many options that I can see. They can’t let him go, and they can’t keep him here. All that’s left is killing him, and I know wha
Edric's POV: Despite feeling like absolute dog shit about killing the rogue, I can’t help but laugh with joy when Maya throws herself into my arms. I didn’t expect it, but it doesn’t matter – having her in my arms eases some of the pain I feel about what I had to do. I hug her closely, feeling her bony little body shift and flow under mine. I’m slightly concerned about how thin she is, but I’ll make sure she eats from now on, fatten her up a bit. She slips out of my arms, but doesn’t step away. She looks up at me, her eyes soft, sympathetic, and oh Goddess, filled with so much understanding – like she knows exactly how I feel. She cups my cheek, sending sparks of electricity through my body. Does that ever go away? I’ll have to ask Luca. “Thank you,” she says. “For what?” I ask, genuinely confused. “For putting yourself between me and that guy…you know what he would have done if you weren’t--” “I know,” I interrupt quickly. I
I sit at the table next to Jolie, who is giving off some serious I hate you vibes, watching as the male wolves build what promises to be a truly spectacular bonfire. All I want to do is go back inside, away from all these people. I just want to be alone. It’s a lot for me, the constant movement, the never-ending laughing and talking, and strangers coming up to me to congratulate me on finding my mate. They didn’t even know me twelve hours ago, why do they care? Edric disappeared as soon as we were back, and I think it’s because I hurt his feelings. I reacted on instinct when he rolled on top of me – I knew, my wolf knew, that he wasn’t going to do anything to me, but I acted before I could think. However, I don’t think that’s what bugs him the most. It was the fact that I wouldn’t let him near me when we ran back. He tried to keep pace with me, wanted to run side by side, but every time he slowed down so I could catch up, I’d stop and wait for him to take the lead ag
A knock on the door wakes me. Edric’s gone again, leaving only his delicious scent behind. “Come in, I guess.” A young girl, maybe eighteen, walks into the room carry two massive paper shopping bags. “Good morning, Luna.” She smiles nervously. “Alpha Edric asked me to bring this up to you.” “Okay. Thank you,” I say trying to focus. “What time is it?” “Almost noon, Luna.” “Really? Shit. Why did no one wake me?” “Alpha Edric said you need your rest. He also said I have to make sure you eat.” The girl blushes a deep red as if she just told me some deep, dark, scandalous secret. “Alpha Edric can go fuck himself,” I grumble as I swing my legs off the bed. The young wolf looks shocked by my remark, but I guess she would be – she grew up in a pack. “Where is Alpha Edric now?” “In his office, Luna.” “Thank you…what’s your name?” “Jessica.” “Jessica. Thank you.” She beams at me, looking so pleased, and I
Edric's POV: What was I thinking? Telling her I’m going to kiss her? After the fight with Jolie, and my wolf trying his best to push his way to the front, I have very little control left. But I said it, I meant it, and I want to do it. I want to know everything about her, about her body. What she tastes like, what she feels like, what she smells like when passion takes her. What she sounds like when she comes. But… I can’t go too far. Can’t lose control. Don’t get me wrong, I want to. I want to feel her body move under mine, want to feel her soft, slippery skin against my fingers, her soft breasts pushing against my chest, want to know what it feels like being inside her, becoming one…but we have to wait. We have to. She needs to know that I’m her safe haven. The place she can come to when she needs peace. She doesn’t say no when I lean over her, our lips only a fraction apart, sharing the same air, her breath tickling my skin. My hea
Edric's POV: The little bell above the diner jingles as I pull open the door for Maya. She gives me an apprehensive look, and then steps inside. She’s afraid – it radiates from her whole body. Who can blame her? After what she told me about how people treated her. But they won’t do it now. Not while I’m with her. Not now that she smells like the Luna she is. I take her hand, leading her to a booth in the corner. She’ll feel more comfortable without all the eyes on her. Almost everyone in the diner are werewolves, and everyone are curious about their new Luna. The young server who comes over to us is a werewolf too, and she looks very nervous when she hands us the menus. “I know it doesn’t look like much,” I tell Maya, ignoring the menu. “But this place has the best ice cream sundaes in the whole state.” “I believe you.” “Are you hungry yet?” I ask. She was quiet on the ride over here, staring out of the window. I d