Rafe
“Ahh, here she comes,” at Melanie’s words, my eyes darted through the crowd looking for Raven. It takes only a moment for the crowd to part, and there she is. I want to laugh, but I hold it in. Only Raven would wear the color of her namesake. White or pastel colors are traditional for mating ceremonies, like my white suit, but I chose to add a black tie in honor of my mate, which I’m pleased to see, goes well with her black lace dress and the white shawl she’s added.
My eyes track her every movement. I watch as she takes in the surrounding crowd, consisting mostly of my pack, with a few from hers.
As she gets closer, tears are glistening on her lashes as she shares a soft smile with Melanie. Then, at last, she looks at me, and her smile lights up the darkening sky, making my pounding heart stutter in my chest.
I take the step to the edge of the dais and help her up, and keep her hands tight in mine. She can’t run now.
“You look dashing, Rafe,” she whispers, as her eyes devour me.
“And I have no words to describe how beautiful you look. You stole my breath away.”
“Okay, love birds, shall we begin?” Melanie asks making everyone laugh. Raven nods eagerly for both of us.
“Every fated mate is sacred and is to be treasured. The Moon goddess deemed you two to be two halves of a whole. Your souls are meant only for each other. There is no bond greater than that of fated mates.”
Melanie steps back and gently picks up the Moonstone from the pillar it sat upon next to her. “Please hold out your hands,” she places the stone in Raven’s hands, then she closes mine around it. “You will say the vows to each other, then once it lights up with the Moon goddess’ blessing, you may seal the bond.” She takes a step back out of the circle, leaving only me and Raven.
“Rafe, if you would like to begin,” Melanie says.
“Under this New Moon, I accept you, Raven, as my mate, the other half of my soul. To live our lives as the Moon goddess deems us worthy.”
Her eyes sparkle as she smiles. I watch her throat work as she swallows back her emotions to say her part.
“Under this New Moon, I accept you, Rafe, as my mate, the other half of my soul. To live our lives as the Moon goddess deems us worthy.” Her voice quivers with her words.
She gasps as the stone in our hands warms and softly glows. The light intensifies over time until we are all forced to look away. I hear gasps and awws as the crowd shuffles and avoids looking at the light. After the light dims, I can see Raven across from me, and the tears of joy streaming down her face and her bright smile equaling that light of the Moonstone.
Our hands drop apart, the Moonstone remaining in hers, as we surge toward each other. Our kiss is passionate and raw until we break apart. Cupping her face in my hands, I slowly tilt her head and push her hair aside, exposing her long neck. I greedily inhale the scent of my mate as I lean down and my wolf purrs like a pup. Placing a small kiss, I then sink my teeth into her neck. Marking her as mine. After a lick to seal the bite, I pull back for her to repeat to me.
“Hello my love,” I hear her voice in my head. And my smile is one of pride and overwhelming joy. We are one.
The wolves howl as we enter the reception area, congratulating us as mates. I spin her right out onto the dance floor and pull her in close as we sway to the music. With a deep inhale, I take in her new scent, a scent now a mix of both of us, and I am addicted. “Have I mentioned how gorgeous you look tonight?” I murmur into her neck, causing her body to shiver as my breath whispers across her new mark.
Tilting her head, her silver eyes meet mine with mischief, “you may have mentioned it, but I don’t mind you repeating it as often as you would like,” her eyelashes flutter at me. I lean down and capture her lips in a sensual kiss, ignoring the hoots and hollers coming from the wolves watching our first dance. A pretty blush graces her cheeks as we part and she looks away.
We exit the dance floor and walk over to the buffet table, and start the procession of food. As we sit down, many take this chance to come and congratulate us and wish me well in my new pack. Somehow, between eating and all the well-wishers, we find time to talk and kiss and soak in each other’s feelings that come through the new mate bond.
“I can not wait to get back to the pack and start our new home. The council told me our house should be ready by the time we return.” She beams up at me with excitement, and my stomach clenches in fear. I know next to nothing about the Black Moon pack and what life will be like there.
Pasting on a smile, “Yeah, I can’t wait either,” and even though I’m filled with fear, I’m excited. I get to start my life with this amazing she-wolf who, in such a short time, has come to mean everything to me. I nuzzle into her neck and my wolf purrs in delight. We finally have our mate and he’s begging for the chance to get out and run with her.
“After this, would you like to go for a run and let our wolves get acquainted?”
“That sounds wonderful. She’s dying to meet her mate.” Her grin is wolfish, and I can see that her wolf is indeed eager.
I keep her tucked into my side for the rest of the evening. We dance and talk with others and thoroughly enjoy our mating ceremony. We’re back out on the dance floor dancing to a fast song when it changes to a slow melody that has me pulling her in close. After a moment, I see Duncan come up behind her, giving me a smirk. “Do you think I could cut in and dance with your lovely mate, Rafe?”
If it were anyone else, I would refuse, but since he’s my best friend, I don’t mind. Raven straightens in my arms as she searches my face. With a wink and a smile, I step back, allowing Duncan my spot. I kiss her lightly on her forehead before walking to the edge of the dance floor to observe. With an eye on her, I half-listen to those who come and talk with me. I watch as she stands stiffly in his arms. Is it because she’s uncomfortable in another male’s arms or something more? I catch the array of emotions crossing her face, before settling on what I interpret as unease. Instantly, I focus on our bond link and find that’s exactly what she’s feeling.
Before I can mind link her and make a move, she catches my eye. “Please cut in. I don’t want to be out here with him any longer.” Her eyes plead with mine, “please Rafe.” Her words spur me into action as I approach. Unfortunately, I don’t make it in time to rescue her before the song ends and she’s able to excuse herself, walking right past me.
“I told you she’s not my biggest fan,” Duncan says as he stops next to me, watching Raven walk away. I just grunt because I didn’t believe it before, but I felt her unease while she danced, and even though I don’t understand why, she is my first concern. With a pat on his shoulder, I stride away in search of my mate.
Her scent leads me to the restroom, and I don’t bother knocking before entering. She’s standing in front of the sink, looking into the mirror. The clink of the lock echoes in the room as I stride up to her. “Are you alright, love? I’m sorry I didn’t pick up on your unease sooner.” My arms wrap around her waist, pleased when she relaxes into my hold.
“It’s okay. I don’t blame you, you came when I asked. Thank you.” Twisting in my arms, she leans up and kisses me lightly. I refuse to let her pull away, so I draw her in closer and deepen the kiss. “I can’t wait to get you alone,” I whisper as I kiss up to her ear. Her giggle is everything as I stand in awe of my new mate.
“Shall we break out of here and enjoy the rest of our night, just us?” I ask.
Her eyes shine with desire as she bites her lip, nodding her head. Offering her hand, I take it and lead us away from the party.
Raven - 8 years later The thundering of my paws hitting the dry dead land is the only sound echoing around me. My tongue is hanging out of my mouth and all I can think about is how desperately I want water, as the sun blazes down on me. I swear the forest on the horizon keeps moving further out of reach, despite the distance and time I’ve been running toward it. ‘I can’t,’ I gripe at my wolf. ‘Shut up, yes you can, because I can and am,’ my wolf sends back to me. ‘yeah yeah, I know, we can do this, hip hip hooray, but damn, how long have we been running?’ ‘Too long. Stopping is not an option. We have to make it there.’ I cut off my thoughts
Raven“What do you mean, Raven?” His voice quivers with emotion.“I mean, you need to come home with me now.” I straighten my shoulders and prepare to be harsh with him. “I’ve indulged this long enough. This is turning into an actual war. There will be a war, Rafe. I can not have you standing across from me when it begins. When you mated me and joined my pack, you knew what that entailed and all that we stand for. You don’t get to change sides now.”He steps back, confusion, betrayal, and finally, rage flits across his face. “Indulge? You’ve indulged me with this? You make it seem as if I have no rights at all? Being mated to the great Raven Hale, and brought into the Black Moon pack has stripped me of my freedom to think? To decide what I believe is right and wrong? To
The return to my pack feels like it takes forever. Thankfully, most of my return is done with a setting sun. No longer is it blazing down on me.The instant I cross into pack territory, my wolf is at ease, knowing we are safe and so close to our babes.As I pass by, I don't stop or acknowledge anyone. The back of my house is where I keep my chest of spare clothes, so I run straight there. Shifting to take out a set and get dressed. As I look down at the set that belongs to Rafe, I pause for a moment. I shake it off as my enhanced hearing picks up on the kids inside, laughing and playing upstairs.“You were told not to go,” Haylee says as soon as I step inside my kitchen. “It pissed the council off.” The aroma of tomatoes and spices fills my nose, making my stomach growl as I close the d
“Gentlemen,” I nod to Phil and Denton as I walk into the conference room.“Look who decided to return. What secrets did you spill while you were away, Raven?” Phil laughs.“Only that you have a hard time getting it up Phil,” I stop in front of him and narrow my eyes, “crap, that’s not a secret though. Everyone here knows that.” Pursing my lips to the side, I shrug, “guess I spilled nothing new then.” I walk to my seat at the council table, placing my coffee down and I sit waiting for Jules, Robert, and Serena so that we can start.The Black Moon pack is the original wolf pack. The original wolves created it, and it received the blessing of the Moon goddess and still does to this day. While there are about 10 other outside packs, that are control
“Hey. Hey. Stop the fighting. What has gotten into you two?” I say exasperatedly as I pull Jade off Jasper. It has been nonstop fighting since they got home from school. They are driving me crazy.“He was being mean to me mama, he called me a dork.”Oh, goddess.“Jasper, you know we don’t call names. Why are you picking on your sister?” I crouch down to their level. Looking into his eyes, I see tears well up and his nostrils flare. Oh, my emotional child.He says nothing as he shrugs his shoulders.“You don’t know? Did she do something first?”“No, I didn’t,” Jade yells in my ear. I turn to look at her,
“I thought we could come to an arrangement, you and I, and stop this war altogether. You have something I want, and I have someone you want.”What is this fruitcake talking about?“You’re trying to tell me that this whole declaration of war could end with a simple exchange between us?” I scoff out a dry laugh. “Hell Duncan, we’re still not sure what this war is about.”“There is a lot you do not understand, Raven. Just know this, right now, the fate of this war is in your hands.” Pretentious jackass.Since I met him 8 years ago, I knew there was something wrong with him. My wolf took an instant dislike to him. I don’t believe I can see auroras, but what I can see coming off of him is not right. It’s
My mind is racing with so many thoughts and none of them are good. I don’t need to talk with the other council members to know what their answer will be, hell it would be mine too if only this were someone else. Right now, my battered and bruised heart is only calling out for its mate that it now knows didn’t leave us by choice. A giggle escapes as I let myself in my back door. The Rafe I know and love is still there. He didn’t leave me. I feel my cheeks push up into my eyes as I can’t hold in my happiness any longer.“Mama?” I stop, startled that Jade is awake, sitting on the bottom stair of our staircase.“Baby, why are you up so late? You should be sleeping.” I walk towards her after toeing off my shoes at the door and pick her up. She places her hands on my cheeks and forces me to look at her.Unease settles in my stomach at the furrow of her brow and the seriousness in her
I skip heading home as the sun is making its grand entrance on this day. After going round and round with no answers or ideas, we finally called it a night or morning, I guess. My thoughts wander to the Moonstone that I have locked away at home. To do with as I see fit. My mate would be worth it. But first I want to know more about the stone.I haul my tired legs up the large stone staircase to the library, pushing through the heavy wood doors. Once inside, the stale, still air assaults my nose as I glance around, trying to remember where everything is. This wasn’t my scene, whereas for Rafe, if he wasn’t at home, he was here, buried in books and learning everything he could. A sigh escapes as I give up and go look at the directory board. Of course, there is no section specific to our origins or creation, so I take a guess and go to the oldest section I know of.Stars dance across my eyes as I press the heels of my palms in