* * * Eve’s POV * * *The elderly lady is still embracing my Mama, stroking her hair with tears running down her face and murmuring reassuring words to her. Telling her everything is OK now, that she is here and isn’t leaving her again. Whoever she is, she’s very dear to my Mama, who continues to rest on her knees and cry. “Mama, what’s happening?” I ask her, stepping closer towards her. Ready to protect her if I need to, but I have a feeling that everything is as it should be and there’s no threat here.“Evelyn. Is that really you?” The elderly woman asks me.Taken aback that she knows my given name, I cautiously step back, assessing her and what threat she could pose to myself and my pack. “I’m Evelyn Rose Jones, Alpha of the New Moon pack. I go by Alpha Eve. Who are you?” I ask her. “My dear, I’m a friend of Katie’s. I’m the Alpha of Katie’s pack. I received your letter from Alpha Paul, and I just knew I had to come. That you have been found. I’m your Grandmother Tabitha and the
* * * Max’s POV * * * I hold Eve as soon as I enter our home, and despite the calming influence of the mate bond, her emotions are still erratic. I cradle her to my chest, as her mother and grandmother sit in an embrace. It has been a lot for them all to take in. Eve has fallen to sleep, clutching my shirt, it won’t hurt to let her have a few hours of sleep. It’s still very early, and she certainly deserves it. Perhaps it will help her mind to process her family reunion. “How about you ladies, take the spare room for a few hours and I’ll let Eve rest in bed for a while before we begin our day. I’ll have breakfast brought for us,” I tell the ladies.“Thank you, Alpha Max, I like you. I’ll take you up on your offer, I’m beat from the journey here,” Tabby answers me.“We’ll make sure that you have your own accommodation, we are in the process of building more cabins, to enable all pack members to have a home,” I say as I stand from the chair with Eve in my arms. Carrying her up the s
* * * Eve’s POV * * * The cage doors continue to rise, while the wolves inside snap and snarl at the bars, while frothing at the mouth. This isn’t as we had planned, we were meant to kill them off one at a time while they were held within their cages. This will be a fight to the death. We have to make sure that we send them home to the Moon Goddess, no matter the cost. They can’t be allowed to leave this sanctuary. I see the moment they realise we’re there, their eyes lock onto us and their hackles rise as their snapping and snarling intensifies.“OK, everyone. This isn’t as planned, but I have an idea. Keep them distracted and hold their attention. Joe can strike them with lightning, and I will use my fire against them. If you’re able to get a clean kill shot, move in and straight back out. Work together and do not play the hero,” I instruct my group, while also mind-linking the other groups. There have to be at least 30 rabid wolves, just as Arthur had said, kept within cages so
* * * Max’s POV * * *The silent strength I receive just from her holding my hand, is all that’s going to keep me going now.Send me to war, send me to fight genetically modified crazed wolves and I’m fine. Nerves of steel. But ask me to walk towards where my mother is potentially buried. I could curl up and cry. I could sit in a corner rocking while repeatedly hitting my head against a wall. What if she’s not there? What if she’s there? What if she’s really dead? I need Eve’s strength more than I can express. And I greedily take every ounce of strength she offers me. We walk at a steady pace away from the nature reserve, the pack discussing the fight and the challenges they had faced within their quadrant. The rabid wolves had been extremely difficult to kill, and it had taken teamwork to take them down. “Will we be holding a funeral for our fallen pack members?” Keith asks.“Of course. It’s the least we can do for any pack member. Any fallen pack member will be honoured in their
* * * Eve’s POV * * * The walk home is slow, and a sadness fills the air around us. Not only have we lost two of our pack members, but Max has also lost his mother. Despite it being years ago, finding her now makes it fresh and raw for him. He doesn’t say it, but I know that he was hoping that she would be alive after all these years, just as my mother had been.Five of our pack members have volunteered to help Max carry the makeshift coffin, while the wizards work continuously to maintain the illusion that they’re carrying a sofa. I walk beside Max, quietly loaning him some strength to get through this walk. I can feel his swirling emotions through the bond, rage, sadness, anxiety, anger, sorrow, loneliness and grief. I feel powerless and useless, all I can do is to be there for him. The beauty of the nature around us has lost its majestic appeal. We’re just going through the motions. Each of us wondering how a world so beautiful can be so messed up. Are living beings just programm
* * * Max’s POV * * *I wish I can say that over the years I have gotten used to people dying. I never have. I don’t want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I care for dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don’t want it to “not matter” either. I don’t want it to be something that just passes. My pain and my scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even burned or lacerated, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can’t see the beauty of what once was. It has been years since I had seen my mother, and yet I have always hoped that she was alive and well. I had loved her deeply, the way a boy does. The way a mummy’
* * * Eve’s POV * * *The last ten days have been beyond difficult, watching the man I love disappear within himself. His body is there, but his mind has been clouded from me. All I’m able to feel through the mate bond is a swirling torrent of emotions, that I can’t begin to describe or understand. I can only imagine what he’s feeling, I know that Nate has tried to close off, to reduce the intensity of emotion I will feel. But I still find it debilitating at times. All I can do is be here for him, I feed him small bites of food when he will allow and will place a straw at his mouth, and he will drink. But there’s no recognition in his eyes. Max isn’t there. I have begun to feel fear for my mate and have mind-linked Dr Marshall for advice, but all she has been able to tell me is that he has to process his emotions, he has to feel what he’s feeling. He has spent most of his life wondering what had happened to his mother, and now he knows that she’s gone. Forever gone. He needs time and
* * * Max’s POV * * * Lucas is sitting there, his shaggy brown hair blowing in the wind. He looks as though the wind will blow him over if he were to stand. The poor guy is petrified. Damian has checked the cameras that were triggered by the motion detection, the guy has come alone. As far as we can see, the camera’s and detector’s only cover a 300m range around the boundary wall. I arrange for a patrol to scout the area and make sure he hasn’t brought any surprises with him. Poor guy. Sent like a lamb to the slaughterhouse by his Alpha. Only, I won’t prove his Alpha right. As long as he does as he is asked and poses no threat, I won’t kill this young man. I wait for the patrol to finish their lap. ‘He's definitely alone, Alpha. We have run a mile radius and can only detect one scent’. Jessica informs me. I will speak with this Lucas, now. Lucas stands as I exit through the gates and walk towards him. His legs are trembling as his fear takes over him, and I can tell that his wolf