Chapter 23An endless sea of blackness was all that met her eyes. That darkness, broken only by the soft glow of the moon, only that the moon was split in two halves. She watched as the two equal halves, both with jagged edges facing each other, hung in the sky, both maintaining a great distance apart. The two halves drifted slowly towards each other, occasionally even moving together, Laurel imagined their intention was to come together and become whole. She nearly laughed at the irony of that in her own life, come together and become whole? She had come together with a man, yes. But had they become whole? Hell no. Instead she saw clearly now that they were going to be plagued by several things, several people and her new husband’s Earl’s psychic brother was now out to haunt her. And in Earl’s words, he would not rest until he had her. Long after he left, Laurel stood staring into space, she sat nervously on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with the hem of her dress. Her sister stood
Chapter 24Seeing Earl enter the hall, Gregg looked quizzically at him. Earl saw his silly grin and frowned at his friend."And how is our new wife?" Gregg demanded. "Is she burning with impatience for her bonding night?"Earl turned to Gregg with a renewed frown. "She is probably burning with impatience to stick a sword in my heart.""I must admit she might consider it, though she does a good job at hiding it, she sure has the spirit." said Gregg "Spirit and beauty." Earl noted dreamily. "It will take some taming but you will bend her to your will in time, don't fear." Gregg poked him in the ribs, "And stop smiling like a lost sheep! Wait, don't tell me you kissed her!"With a swift move, Earl shrugged his friend's hands off his own shoulders and glanced across the hall to where most of their men stood, there were maids patrolling the hall going about their business too. He glared at Gregg and eyed him cautiously, "I don't appreciate you saying such things! I'm not that… loose, and
Chapter 25By sunrise the following morning, Laurel had been escorted out of Sacred Moon Pack and was already at New Knights Pack, having been escorted by a host of Earl's trusted guards. Last night's hunt had done her a great deal of good, and her last conversation with her sister greatly improved her mood. But somehow, she found herself disappointed that Earl had not come to escort her to her new home himself as was customary. But Laurel told herself not to think much of it, and she looked forward to not expecting too much from her new mate. The maids treated her well, and so did the several guards that followed her about the yard. Even Gregg managed a smile in her direction each time their eyes met. But Laurel found herself looking with longing about the place for any sign of Earl, but he was nowhere to be seen. When it was evening and she had still not seen nor heard anything about Earl, Laurel got tired of being idle and decided to take a stroll around the yard. But the guards
Chapter 26"Where is Earl?" Gregg dropped his cutlery and looked across the table at Laurel, whose eyes were trained on him and he could swear he saw fire in those eyes. What was he to tell her? He had no clue, and Earl had certainly left no explanation as to his whereabouts. How was he to tell her that Earl was simply on a solo trip to get away from his new wife? “Well, he had urgent business he had to attend to. But not to worry, he will be with you soon enough." "And how soon is soon enough?" Gregg shrugged, "I understand your concern and it's certainly not out of place. But trust me…" "Is he avoiding me?" Gregg frowned, he had not expected that she would care so much about his whereabouts considering the events surrounding their union, "I don't suppose he is. But I will surely let him know you worry about him if I… happen to see him?" Laurel's fists landed on the table so violently that the contents of the table went up in the air and came crashing back down with a force th
Chapter 27 Exactly two minutes after he left, Laurel still stood there, too stunned to move. It only took a knock on the door to made her draw her eyes away from the window where she still stood staring into space. When she opened the door, she found Astrid there, watching her with eyes that reflected something, something she could not quite place her hand on. It took her a moment before she stepped away from the door and nodded for Astrid to come in while Laurel continued staring at the window. Astrid said nothing, merely just watching Laurel. "I sent for you well over twenty minutes ago." She said and continued pacing. "Yes. But you had a guest." Laurel stopped and stared at the girl with questioning eyes, but Astrid's eyes held a knowing look, "You knew." She shrugged with a nod, "Yes, I know. What I don't know is what he told you." "Then why didn't you come in to see if I was in danger? Why didn't you alert the guards?" Astrid gave one of those unusually calm smiles, "Lambe
Chapter 28Lambert sank deeper into the pool and let the cold water soak his bare skin. He was thinking about things, a lot of things and almost all of those thoughts centered on Earl Malory. It was one of those thoughts that had shaped him since his childhood, the same thoughts that reminded him everyday why he had to live and to fight. "You are zoning out again." Denise whispered as she came up behind him in the pool, slowly running her hands up his bare back. Lambert drew his eyes from the glass he was holding and turned to meet Denise's gaze since he could feel her eyes on him. But she quickly pushed his head back and whispered lightly, "Relax your mind. You can tell me what you think of if it helps." He laughed lightly, "What I think of does not concern you, woman."Denise paused for a while and looked beyond his tan skin. Somehow, she had expected that answer, but it still hurt like hell each time she heard the indifference towards her in his tone, and it hurt even worse each
Chapter 29Three days later and Earl had still not returned and from his glory travels. The days slipped by slowly for Laurel and she found herself occupied with women's work to keep her from losing her mind. She would spend the days in the courtyard with the pack women, getting to know them and also giving advice over little quarrels as she was now their Luna. Gregg usually watched her from a distance, not wanting to bore her with his presence or to provoke her like he had done that night at dinner. Even though he knew that Earl's absence was unfair, he also knew there was no way of convincing his friend to come back until he was willing. But just maybe his absence was for the best, as he thought it was, it was to give him ample time to see his new bride's true intentions. Astrid had not said anything more about Lambert killing the silver wolf to Laurel, not even when they spent most of the day together. Even when Laurel asked her, she simply avoided the question and only told her
Chapter 30The Rogues had not rode on anything, neither did they carry any weapons like Laurel had imagined. Even Lambert was not with them, and there were only five of them. The spot they met was over forty minutes' ride away from New Knight gates, and it was a vast land with surrounding bushes and a path wide enough to contain a war ground. And yet there were no more than five Rogues here. She looked to Gregg, and she saw clearly that the confusion on his face was the same as hers, the Rogues did not look ready for a fight even, they simply stopped walking and regarded Laurel and the rest of their men until Gregg stepped forward."What do you want?" Gregg asked cautiously, making sure to keep Laurel securely behind him. The man scoffed,"Only to pass a message." "What message?" "We were instructed to give it to either the Alpha or his Luna." Sensing a possible threat, Gregg rode back and threw his word, "The Alpha is not here. I am his Beta and I speak for the lady. Give me your