* * * Max’s POV * * * Last night’s meeting went very well, a general consensus amongst those who had attended. I feel such an idiot to have been so blind to the suffering of my pack. How self-centred am I to think it was only myself who has suffered with nightmares and struggled to accept what had been done. I feel it has brought the pack even closer if that’s at all possible. We had shared what haunts us, what we still struggle with daily and how it consumes us if we let it. I genuinely believe these meetings will help us begin to heal. The meeting had dragged up more memories than I cared to remember. Resulting in a more graphic nightmare, thanks to my pack members memories. But I had found it easier to accept although I couldn’t get back to sleep. The reassuring comfort of my pack, reminding me that we were in fact children. Forced into doing those things. I had actually awoken this morning feeling hopeful that together we can overcome our past. I had sent the councilman a text
* * * Eve’s POV * * *“Eve, wake up. It’s time to get ready for the deep clean”, Becca says while gently rubbing my shoulder to wake me.After a night of more memories returning, I’m not very well rested. But I’m glad that my previous life is becoming clearer to me. It gives me a sense of identity, who I am as a person is becoming clearer with each new memory. I’m not an orphan because I’m unloved, I’m an orphan because of that sorry excuse for an Alpha who murdered my family.Stretching my limbs with a satisfied groan, I rub my eyes and draw my hands down my face. My eyes shoot open, and I grimace at the pain in my jaw where Alpha Charles had struck me. Somebody please tell me why I thought it was a good idea to not let Cora heal my wounds. ‘Because the guests will hopefully notice during the next couple of days the mistreatment of Omegas, which will support Dorothy’s claims’, Cora reminds me. That means today is Friday. Today the council and the Alphas of all the other packs are a
* * * Max’s POV * * * We’ve spent the last 10 minutes in silence since Damian had woken me up from my dream. I’m working on composing myself, but I can’t shake my dream. The torture of Jasper was more graphic than usual, but the girl was new. It’s obviously a memory, but it’s the first time I’ve remembered her. I’m brewing a migraine and it doesn’t help that Nate is restless and pacing in the back of my mind. We pull up to the perimeter gate, there are two wolves present in the booth, "Names please" they ask, by way of a greeting. "Alpha Max and Beta Damian of the New Moon pack and councilman Fred", Damian informs them. The wolf at the booth window begins checking something, "I have a councilman, Fred, but I have nothing listing New Moon as a pack or as guests", he tells us. I can feel my anger rising. Who is this idiot? We have been a pack for five years and he doesn’t know who we were. This is his Alphas doing and it’s blatant disrespect. Before I can use my Alpha tone to put h
* * * Max’s POV * * * “What do you mean my mate was here?” I ask him, feeling dumbfounded. Is that what this feeling is?“What were you taught about mates, before you were sent to the nights’ watch?” Damian asks me. “Probably the same as any nine-year-old wolf, I guess. That a mate is a gift from the Moon Goddess, it is fated. That they complete you and when you meet them, it’s no longer gravity holding you to the earth, it’s them”, I answer him.“Max, buddy, there are lessons beyond that basic crap you were given. About how a scent can make you feel like you’re losing your mind, even if the scent is from days ago. How your mate is the other half of your soul. How crazy your wolf will become when he knows his mate is near and how he will continue to be crazy until you find them. Trust me pal, your mate was here”, he tells me.“I need to go and find the scent, go and find my mate”, I tell him.“You will scare your mate away, you look wired. I think you need to eat, shower and sleep.
* * * Damian’s POV * * * I leave Max to have his shower and freshen up, while I go in search of food. He really looks like shit. His eyes are bloodshot, and his hair is stuck up in every direction. I’m hoping we can find his mate once he’s sorted himself out. He’s done so much for us, he more than deserves a happy ending. The councilman had spoken to me and several others last night, asking questions about the type of man and the type of Alpha Max is. Apparently, the council will help him. I’m surprised that having Jasper as part of our pack hadn’t worried the councilman, but he seemed impressed at our peaceful coexistence and how we were making it work. I make my way through the packhouse in search of food. I’m about to ask for directions when the most delicious smell of freshly baked pastries and cake hits my nose. I follow the smell until I reach the dining hall and see the kitchen doors. I look around the dining hall as I walk to the kitchen. The flooring has marks to show the
* * * Eve’s POV * * * This morning is just too much to handle. It started with the revolting task of trying to make the guest wing clear of the backlogged drain smell. Then the visit from Beta Damian, who observed far too much and acted far too weird for my liking. Although the weirdness now has a reason. He could be Becca’s mate. Not only could he be Becca’s mate, but he may also have been around my mate. Me. With a mate. Of course, I’ve dreamt of what it could be like, but I’ve never dared to hope that it could happen. I mean, after all, I don’t leave the pack and I very rarely leave the packhouse. I don’t think I’ve ever met another wolf from another pack, in all my time here. The pastries and muffins have cooled enough to be placed on the tiered serving platters that we now have. It’s amazing, the lengths that Alpha Charles will go to, to make sure that his pack appears to be flourishing. That the pack appears to be well looked after and happy. The fact is the only ones who app
* * * Max’s POV * * * Damian was right. A shower was just what I needed. Once the cold water hits me, I feel so much better, and my mind feels a lot clearer. I’m eager to continue our discussion on whether or not it’s my mate's scent I have caught. We only learned what a mate was at a young age. It’s not until we turn 13 years old that we will begin to learn everything there is to know about mates. I had missed out on that. Living and serving at the Nights Watch didn’t entail educational classes. Damian returns to the room as I leave the en-suite, the smell of the food literally has my mouth watering and my stomach rumbling in appreciation and he encourages me to eat. It’s more of a bribe actually. He will talk only when I eat. We sit at the table, the mouth-watering smell of the various delicacies calling me. It’s like I’m a child again, unable to make up my mind about what I want to eat. So I do the mature thing, and I take a bite out of everything. As I’m enjoying a chocolate c
* * * Alpha Charles’s POV * * *That stupid Omega just had to come out of the kitchen and have her bruised jaw and head wound seen by the others. What was she trying to achieve? I’d forbidden her to come out, she could have made an excuse. But no. She had dared to defy my orders. I’d noticed the looks on their faces. She deserves her punishment. It feels good to punish her, it’s been far too long since I’ve shown I mean business. Maybe the others will now listen. That man and his wolf have come out of nowhere. I didn’t even see or hear him enter the kitchen. The first I know of his presence is his wolf’s teeth tearing into my shoulder and throwing me across the kitchen. It hurts like a bitch. It’s been some time since I’ve fought and even longer since I’ve been injured. Who is he to interfere with how I run my pack and how I punish insubordination? “Who the fuck are you to challenge me? You will regret this boy,” I tell him as I prepare to add another to my kill list.He’s edging t