AARON
After the meeting ended, the elders, together with the former Beta and Gamma and their mates, left the meeting room, leaving me alone with Alpha Jake and Beta Gavin.
Beta Gavin and I just looked at each other, waiting for the Alpha to break the silence. We dared not voice our opinion when it was not requested since we both knew this was a sour topic for the Alpha.
After a long silence, the Alpha cleared his throat and lifted his gaze, shifting it back and forth between me and his Beta.
"I honestly have nothing to say." He scowled. "Can you fucking find your mates now so I don’t have to deal with this Luna game?"
My lips pursed into a thin line, trying to gauge the weight of his statement before the whole room erupted into a spring of laughter. Alpha Jake was shaking his head while laughing. After a while, Gavin joined in, and in seconds I found myself laughing with them. Relief coursed through me that the Alpha was taking this lightly compared to what I expected.
"You got me there, man! I thought you were giving us an Alpha command to produce a mate at this instant." Gavin pointed out before turning serious. "But seriously, any plans? You are not disregarding this, right?"
I looked at the Alpha, trying to read his face, but as usual, once the playfulness was gone, he would go back to his poker face. "I can’t do that to Marina and Katya. They’re right, I am asking too much from them already. I don’t know how to get a girl and tell her she’ll be the chosen Luna for my pack." He let out a sigh before standing up. "It’s not as easy as picking a random girl for an easy fuck."
The one thing I like about us three is that we can speak our minds without having to filter our words.
"But you should consider as well that the Luna you’ll be choosing is one of those you can actually stomach waking up next to every morning. I hope you get it right, man!" I told him when suddenly the thought of him and my sister hugging by the oval flashed in my memory. The sooner he gets a Luna, the sooner he can stay away from Clair.
"I’m done for the day. I will think it over tonight. You can both go and do what you need to do." He dismissed us before he headed to the window and looked at the view outside.
"Alpha, have you reconsidered your mate? Or is it still out of the question? We can go around the packs within this zone and just spot to see if we can find your mate there. It’s high season now, and most of the packs are throwing balls for that reason. And the Claiming is coming in a couple of months as well, just in case we don’t find her." I added before I stood from my seat.
"Think about it, Jake. Your mate should be the one ruling beside you." Gavin continued, still seated.
The Alpha turned around from looking at the window, his brows furrowing with his hands in his pocket. "I’ll consider the Claiming Ball." He kept his reply short and just ignored mine and Beta Gavin’s statements about his mate.
With a defeated sigh, I looked at Gavin and motioned for him to follow me out.
"We’re leaving Alpha," Gavin confirmed, and we bowed our heads towards him in respect. The Alpha just nodded his head and did not say anything more before we left.
As soon as we left the meeting room, I bid my farewell to Gavin and headed home. As much as I want to think more about the Luna problem, I have other things in mind.
Tomorrow is a full moon, and if all went well, Clair would be shifting. I haven’t discussed what she needs to do tomorrow just yet. That was why I was in a hurry to get home tonight. I needed a word with her.
As soon as I entered our house, I just waved at my father and went directly upstairs towards Clair’s room.
"Come in." My sister answered after a few knocks on her door.
I strode in and closed the door behind me. Clair was plopped down on the floor, painting her toenails red.
"Hey, Clairy! Preparing for tomorrow?" I asked playfully as I sat beside her on the floor.
She beamed at me before putting her attention back on her toenails. "Yes, I was just wondering if my wolf would have red nail polish too once I shifted." She let out a giggle, but it felt like it was forced. She sounded nervous. "Aaron, after I shifted, would I be able to smell my mate then?"
"Not yet. As I told you before, you can only smell your mate once you turn 18. Don’t think about the mate thing, you need to focus on shifting."
She just took a deep breath before nodding her head.
"Are you scared?" I asked as I tried to catch her eyes.
She nodded without looking at me. "Do you think I can make it? That I would have a normal shifting?"
"Of course. Don’t think about it too much. The full moon will be at its peak around 7:55 tomorrow night, but I’m guessing you’ll start to feel the symptoms around 6. Shifting can happen from that time till the moon peaks. But before you know it, you’re running on your paws and it’s the greatest feeling!" I tried to pass on the excitement in my voice to her.
She looked up and beamed at me again. "You’ll be there right?"
I ruffled her hair and pulled her to my side for a hug. "I wouldn’t miss it, Clairy. I have a training to go to till six in the evening, but message me anytime when you start to feel pain. I will pick you up by then. I would rather you shift within the forest grounds. In a way, you’ll be one with the earth."
"Thanks, Aaron." She nodded and applied the nail polish to the last unpainted toenail.
"By the way, what’s with you and Jake?" I asked, trying to mask the irritation in my voice.
She snapped her head suddenly, her nose scrunching up. "What’s with me and Jake? Nothing. What were you thinking?"
I just shrugged my shoulders and stretched my legs, palms on the floor at my back. "I saw you hugging like you were lovers on the tracking oval. It just didn’t sit well with me."
"We didn’t do anything, it was just a welcome home hug." She huffed.
"If you say so. Just be careful Clair. Whatever childhood crush you had for him, just let it go. You’ll just get hurt, especially now."
"What do you mean especially now?" She asked with a raised brow.
I looked at her as she started to collect her pedicure materials from the floor and placed them in her kit. "We just finished off a meeting with the Elders. They wanted him to pick a Luna, knowing he had no intention of finding his mate. I just don’t want you to get all your hopes up and get hurt in the end."
She let out a sigh before tilting her head to look at me, her face smiling. "Awww, so sweet of you, Aaron. But don’t worry, I don’t see Jake that way. He’s just like a brother to me."
I nodded before I rose from my sitting position and pulled her up as well, enveloping her in a hug. "Glad we have that sorted out. Your mate is still out there. No need to rush."
She giggled as she rested her head on my chest. "I hope I find him before I turn out to be as old as you."
"You got me there!" I chuckled as I place a kiss on her forehead. "But enough of the teasing. You need to retire to bed now. You’ll be needing all your energy when you shift tomorrow."
CLAIR I spent the whole day locked up in my room trying to decide whether I should stay or just go away from here and move on with my life. Before I came back here, I already had everything planned out. Come back - shift - leave. But I didn’t expect Jake to consume my mind since I got here. And that hug we shared yesterday had me hoping for something. I actually decided to stay longer to get to know him again. However, the news Aaron brought me last night bothered me so much that I was not able to sleep at all. I spent the whole night turning and tossing. I was confused, and for the first time since I got here, the feeling of being unwanted crept in again. After a constant battle with myself, I finally got the courage to gather all the clothes and things I came home with and tossed them in my duffel bag, not even bothering to fold them. Flashes of my conversation with Aaron last night kept playing in my head. Jake will have a Luna soon and I didn’t want to be here when it happen
CLAIR I kept the pain at bay while panting, waiting for the wolf to emerge from the bushes. It didn’t take long before a big black wolf stepped out of the bushes and towered over me. "Jake..." Relief coursed through me at the sight of his wolf. I didn’t know how I knew it. I haven’t seen his wolf since I was twelve. But I knew it was him when I saw the wolf’s eyes - the darkest shade of blue. If I was not in pain, I would have marveled at the wonderful creature towering over me. Instead, I just let out a weak smile, letting him know I appreciated his presence. After a mere second, screeching pains started to build up again in multiple places - my shoulders, stomach, spine, limbs, knees, elbows, everywhere, and I have no idea which part pained me the most. I just wanted it to end, so I let out another torturous scream like it would help. My entire body was on fire until a cold hand reached out and gently rubbed my back, a thumb wiping sweat from my brow. I looked up and saw Jake a
AARON I paced back and forth at the entrance of the packhouse, waiting for the Alpha and my sister. I was beating myself for not coming home earlier to stop Clair from running away. I almost went mad when I saw all the things she came with gone from her dresser, together with her duffel bag, and her truck was nowhere in sight. I called my dad and he confirmed that they had a fight. He raised his voice at her, but he never thought she would go today because she mentioned she would be leaving tomorrow. I tried reaching her through mindlink, but I couldn’t get through her mind. I blamed myself again for why I didn’t bother to teach her about it. Left with no choice, I alerted the Alpha, and he directed me to send people to look out for her. And I did, reminding everyone that she would be shifting tonight. I was hell-bent on trying to scent her when I received a mindlink from Jake saying that he had found Clair and that she had shifted. I felt relieved for her safety but felt guilty kn
CLAIR "Are you okay, princess?" He stopped at the foot of my bed. The worry in his eyes was gone now and replaced by confusion. On the way he rushed in, he probably wasn’t expecting a grinning female in the bed. "I’m sorry I didn’t knock. I thought I heard you scream, and I got worried. Are you okay?" I just looked at him. My eyes were probably sparkling with happiness. "Yes! I shifted!" I said excitedly, more to myself than to him. "Yes! And you did well." He said before he let out a rare smile and my heart just skipped a beat. "How do you feel now? Muscle pain? Headache? Hungry?" "Yeah, a bit of everything you said. Especially the last one." I giggled softly before I looked around the room. "Where are we?" "Packhouse. You said you didn’t want to go home." He sat on the end of the bed, making it dip against his weight. He sat with his back facing me. It gave me the chance to take a closer look at him, even on just his backside. And I took my time to indulge in his features -
CLAIR It has been two days since I last saw Jake. I missed him, and I knew that I could just as easily go to the pack house and pretend I needed something there to catch a glimpse of him, but I restrained myself. I didn’t want to go that way. So I went with another strategy that I thought would not be too obvious. I went to the afternoon training sessions for two consecutive days, despite attending the sessions in the morning just so I could see him if he was there. But luck wasn’t on my side. I sighed and closed my eyes as I leaned against the walls of the pavilion where I was sitting. Jenny was beside me, lying down on her stomach while reading a book. We decided to chill in one of the pavillions surrounding the territory after the afternoon training session just to pass the time. "That was deep. Something bothering you?" She dropped the book in her hand and pulled herself up to sit beside me. I shook my head and forced a smile. "Nothing. Just bored." "You missed him?" She ask
JAKE I snapped my head towards my Gamma when I felt him freeze in his spot. I launched into a big jump before attacking the wolf about to take his neck with my knife, completely cutting its throat when it landed on my feet. "What the fuck, Aaron! Focus or you’ll be butchered soon! Shift if you can’t fight in this form!" I spat at him, brows furrowing as I continued to keep my guard up, preparing for another attack. "Sorry, Alpha. It won’t happen again." He looked at me, his eyes flitting with a fear that I had never seen in him before. This was not the first time our pack was attacked, and as the commander of my warriors, Aaron was fearless. So this was something new. Something was wrong. "What’s wrong? Don’t lie!" I rolled off an Alpha command right away, not giving him time to lie. I just didn’t have time for it right now. I waited for his response as we continued to move forward on our feet. I heard wolves fighting, but they were far from where we were. "Clair. She’s heading
CLAIR Unfortunately, sleep didn’t come. It was almost three o’clock in the morning, and I was still wide awake. The face of the wolf that almost took my life lingered in every corner of my room. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I stood up from my bed and went to my dresser, and took Jake’s shirt that I had placed in there without even washing it. It was the one I put on after I shifted, hoping his scent would calm me down enough for sleep to take over. And then, for the first time since I came back, I drew the curtains closed, putting the room into total darkness. I wasted no time and lay in my bed, closing my eyes and pulling my blanket over my head, ready to put my mind in the blanks when a mindlink startled me. 'Are you awake?' A voice came into my head. 'Jake? Why are you still awake? It’s three in the morning.' I pulled my blanket down from my head and openly stared at the dark ceiling. I heard him chuckle before answering. 'Do you really expect an Alpha to sleep peacefull
JAKE I held her body close to mine and continued to rub her arm gently. I would have offered her a jacket if only I had had it with me, but in my hurry to get here as soon as I found out she was still awake, I forgot to grab one. "I mean for saving me. Earlier. Thank you. I was scared." Her voice came out soft, almost breaking. I pulled her head into my chest and dipped my mouth into her hair, inhaling her sweet scent as she began sobbing softly. "I was not ready to die yet. I was so stupid..." she continued, and I let out the breath I was holding. She was scared. And I was too. I let her sob in my chest, and all I could do was hold her tightly, letting her know that I would not leave her. When her sobs turned into hiccups, I hooked one arm under her knees, and with my other arm still holding her, I lifted her to sit on my lap. My finger curled under her chin before I tilted her face up and urged her to look at me. "Princess... You’re here, and you’re alive. That’s the most impo