*Arealla*I stared at him as he spoke. I had never once seen his expression so open, it was like I was staring at his heart."I want nothing more than to just keep you here with me," Marcus said again. "I want to keep you safe so that nothing happens to you, so that you are never in need of any of them healing you. I want to give you everything that I have to offer. I want to keep you a part of this pack."Marcus spoke easily, and I could hear the truth of his words."But that would not make either of us happy," he said again, shaking his head. "We would come to regret what we had done. I am Alpha, and you are Luna. Our pack needs us. Both of our packs. They are fractured into two pieces, but they are one. And we have the chance now to fix it, to make it whole again. And if we turn away from this now, then we will blame ourselves and each other for the rest of our lives."I knew that he was speaking the truth, it was just that it was too hard to have to accept right now. Marc
*Arealla*The month passed slowly. But it did pass.The time without Marcus had been nothing less than torture. And what was worse was that it was by my own hand and his decision. But while it made it worse, it was also the only thing that kept me sane. We could go back to each other at any time we wished.I could go back to the Dark Moon. Or he could come here. Well, he probably couldn't come here. They would very likely kill him for setting foot on our land. But there was a great chance that he could just come to the edge of the border and someone would come and tell us that he was there.I trusted that they wouldn't just kill my mate at the border.Though, I had to prepare myself in case it happened. I would go insane, I knew that much. From the countless times Marcus had tried to make me understand everything, back when we thought that I was just a mere human.I would go insane. But I wouldn't allow myself to hurt anyone. Other than the ones that hurt him. And then it w
*Arealla*I never imagined my eighteenth birthday party to end with so much violence.The police were here before the night was even over.Someone that had been stalking me for a few months had finally acted, and had set my stepfather's car on fire. And though the fire had been put out, he looked at me now with a vengeance.I had managed to run away into the forest before he could get to me. But it was just a temporary escape. I would have to go home, sooner or later.Beside me, Jason stood as he held my hand. I had just told him everything that had happened, but there was nothing more that could be done.Jason was my boyfriend of three short months."The police are saying that they can't do anything right now," I complained to him. "They can put a police car outside for maybe a few days, but that's it."Jason growled, and I could see his canines had lengthened just a little, and he took a single step forward.But before he could do anything, I put my hand on his ches
*Arealla*I turned slowly to the wolf that had just spoken.There was still a part of me that didn't want to, that knew that I shouldn't. A part of me was screaming at me to just leave right now, while I still had the choice.But a deeper part of myself knew that I had no more choice. I had lost it the moment I crossed onto this pack territory.And I now belonged to the wolves.It was a little strange to me to think of them as wolves. But I wanted to keep reminding myself of that fact. I never wanted to forget it; I never wanted to become complacent. These were dangerous beings that I was around.The wolf that had just spoken had bright red eyes, and they were focused intently on me.He was looking me over both like his life depended on it, and like he couldn't be more disappointed by what he was seeing. His shoulders heaved, and sweat glistened off of his muscled torso.He was taller than Jason, taller than anyone I had ever met. His muscles were pronounced in the whit
*Arealla*I was shown to a room almost immediately. The wolf that took me introduced herself, but I forgot her name almost as soon as she said it.The only thing I could think about was Marcus. And his burning red eyes.He had been controlling Jason. That was the only answer. He had forced Jason to say all of those things.'But why would he?' a part of me questioned.It was true, he had no reason to do that. Why would Marcus want me, a human girl? Why would he force me away from Jason? It had to be the truth. And a part of me knew that it was, deep down inside.But I didn't want to accept what had happened. I didn't want to accept that this was my life now, and what I had to deal with.The wolf left me alone in the room, and it was clear that I was taken to a room that already belonged to someone.Before I even had a chance to look around, or look at the room properly, the door opened again.And Marcus strode through it."Tomorrow is the mating ceremony," Marcus sai
*Arealla*The Elder's words lingered through the air, and I could tell that every wolf there hung on to her every word.'You have to admit that it does sound like there is truth in her words,' a traitorous part of me whispered.That voice inside my head had started getting louder and louder recently, and I wasn't too sure that I cared for it."This bond will be one that no one can break," the Elder spoke again, her voice carried a note of finality in it. "And with that, I declare that our pack has a Luna!"Everyone erupted in loud cheers, howls filling the air. But I didn't pay much attention to it.Marcus gently pulled on the cloth that held us together. I swore that if he tried to kiss me, I would punch him. I didn't care that it would most likely break my own hand, and it would probably feel like a fly hitting against him to Marcus. I didn't care. If he so much as tried to kiss me, I was going to hit him.But he didn't.He tugged gently on the cloth until it came und
*Arealla*"I would have to hunt you," he said. "My wolf would demand it and allow absolutely nothing less. I would lose myself as a human, I would become the wolf completely. And I would hunt you until I found you. And I would have no control over myself then. Make no mistake," he warned me clearly, "I will do it. My life will not end because of you. I won't allow it."I swallowed hard. His words bore into my mind. I was sure that I would remember this forever.I had no idea what he was going to do next, and I was sure that there was nothing that he couldn't do at that moment."So," Marcus said again, straightening up, he looked like he had more control of himself. "You will sleep on the bed. And for tonight, I will sleep on the floor. But only for tonight. We are mated, and I won't force more than this on you, but this much I will demand."I wasn't sure what to say. I wasn't sure what he would do tonight. So I simply nodded. It was as good as I was going to get tonight, and
*Arealla*The wolves that had burst in very clearly weren't a part of this pack, because Liana and the others all stiffened and bared their teeth. But it was too late for them to shift.It was a flurry of movement; the wolves were on the guards and the guards were trying to throw them off.I was so stunned, I couldn't move. And then there was a wolf in front of me, advancing on me slowly, his fangs bared as he snapped at me. I had no idea what to do, I backed up slowly, but he was huge.He leaped at me, and I braced for the attack, sure that I was going to die.But before he could touch me, another wolf rammed into him and ripped his throat out. The wolf then quickly came to my side, wrapping almost entirely around me. He was huge, with rich, chocolate brown fur, much larger than the other wolf that had attacked me. And even though he looked nothing like the wolf in my dream, I knew that it was Marcus.The fight was over almost as soon as it began, and then Marcus shifte