Harriet
I was glad that Iris had tracked us down. It gave Heather and my precious time with Rose. I would like to think that our presence helped calm her nerves, but I knew it was really the other way around.Iris took the lead; Orion had already left earlier. We silently followed her as she cut away from the sidewalk and slipped down a trail into the woods. The track was well worn; no foliage dared to try and overgrow it. It was clear that paws and feet had carved the path over many years of use.“Why are you guys so quiet? You should be excited?” Iris broke the silence as we came around a corner.“I think it’s just the nerves, and also, I’m wondering if you are leading us to a serial killer this deep in the woods,” I smirked.“Haha, I guess not all packs keep their meeting area this deep in their woods. Orion likes to keep us in touch with nature.” Iris almost had a sing-song quality to her voice when she spoke about Orion.“So, are you cAlastorI decided to take my talk with Rose to heart. During the initiation ceremony, I finally let my only defense line crumble and unmasked my scent. Once I stopped masking my scent, it was like a weight crumbled off of my shoulder.I impatiently waited as the members of the Silver Crescent have their palms slit one by one. The anticipation and nerves were eating me alive. Everything around me turned into static as I sunk into myself. Any confidence I had in this plan was turning into dust.Why was I listening to Rose? She doesn’t even know me; she doesn’t know my story. She was so sheltered. This was stupid; I shouldn’t be doing this right now.Before I could finish talking myself out of it, Orion announced that it was time for the run. I made my way to the back of the clearing. I dropped my clothes in an untidy heap and kicked them towards the underbrush of the forest floor.As soon as I shifted, I would run-up in the front of the pack with Ori
RoseThe run lasted past midnight; the joy of the evening penetrated through everyone. After the run was over, Orion had led the pack back to the clearing to collect their belongings if they wanted. Some people had tapered off as the run progressed.Once I slipped my dress back on, I glanced down on the ground and realized Harriet’s dress was still crumpled on the forest floor. Heather was pulling her dress over her head.“Where did Harriet go?” I questioned Heather as her head popped out of the dress.“I think she disappeared with Alastor.” She sighed. She picked up Harriet’s dress and shook out any debris from the ground.“Aren’t you happy for her?” I cocked my head to the side and ruffled her head.“Of course, I am happy for her. I just feel like everyone is leaving me behind. I know I’m not of age yet, but still.” She offered a smile and shook her head. “Don’t worry about me, Rose.” With that, she hung Harriet’s dress over her arm and wa
OrionThe morning sun snuck through the windows, attempting to coax me out of my comfortable cocoon around my little mate. Her naked body was perfectly entwined with mine.I burrowed my face into the crook of her neck, seeking sanctuary against the sun that was threatening to make me leave my mate. Her body pressed against mine, leaving no space between our bodies.Lazily my fingers brushed a few strands of her silky hair behind her ear. She was perfect. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly.“Creeper.” Her sleepy voice had me wrapped about her finger.“Am not.” I kissed her cheek. She playfully pushed away from me. “Come on, flower, we gotta get out of the bed.”“The bed calls me, though.” She whined and dove deeper into the bedding.“We promised to have breakfast with Brigid.” I pried back the layers of my mate’s blanket fort. “Don’t make me pull you out of bed by the toes.”“Fine, for Brigid, I will get out of the bed.” She threw
Orion“She prayed that her light could reach that child. She took her life immediately.” The words escaped from Brigid, and I felt Rose scan my face. Rose’s hand fell to my thigh, gently offering a wave of warm electricity as some comfort.“For putting her life on the line countless times for my mother and guarding my mother’s memories, she earned her place as a pack elder. I would have known nothing about my mother if it was not for Brigid except for what my father said. If it wasn’t for her, I would have been lost. She was my compass.” I threw in.“Did the pack peacefully transition once Orion took over?” Rose asked nervously. Poor thing. She had no idea what kind of twisted pack she agreed to be in. Part of me still felt like I had tricked her into being a part of this.“No, child, not exactly. Hades had many corrupted high-ranking wolves in our pack. After his demise, they attempted to retaliate and overthrow your mate. As you see, it didn’t work. We
RoseI rolled over in the bed, reaching out my arm towards Orion, but he wasn’t there. My hand searched farther but to no avail. I pried my eyes open, sleepily looking through my eyelashes. He really wasn’t there.I crawled to the edge of the bed, rubbing my eyes. The bathroom door was open, but no light.“Orion?” I called out to the empty room. There was no response. My legs swung over the edge, and I pulled his shirt from the day before over my head. Leather and cardamon wrapped around my body, but it wasn’t as good as the real thing.Yawning, I made my way across the room towards the door. I wasn’t awake enough for this. Slowly I made my way down the hall towards his office. The walk felt so much longer than average. I lazily knocked on the door and slightly pushed the door open a crack, completely dark. I went ahead and opened the door thoroughly before walking into the center of the room, leaning up against his desk. Ugh, where was he?“Instea
MattOnce the sun had disappeared completely, I laid on top of my twin bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleep was not interested in me. I laid awake for hours.After midnight I gave up on the hope of sleep. I silently crept out of the cottage, leaving Hodges oblivious to my absence.I walked towards the lake and sat by the edge. I sighed and tried to lose myself to the reflection of the moon. What was wrong with me these days? I lost my dad, my pack, and apparently a part of myself.I lost Harriet. I completely lost her. Watching her find her mate was something I was not prepared for. It took everything in me not to flip out or run away. There was one person who I didn’t expect to comfort me that night. Her mom, Mrs. Carter, had made sure to find me and say she was sorry. Even after I treated Harriet like dirt, she was there for me when everyone else had forgotten about me. I guess part of me thought Harriet would always be there for me no matter how I
RoseI drifted to sleep with the familiar scent of leather and cardamon slowly began to dissipate, leaving me alone. My eyelids were heavy, like they were weighted. Eventually, the weight disappeared, allowing me to rapidly blink. I roughly rubbed my eyes until they let me focus. I was no longer in my bed, I was no longer with Orion, I was no longer in Black Moon...Where was I?My eyes frantically glanced around; I was in an empty field with a fog blanket covering the ground. I hesitantly took a few steps forward; the fog felt eerily familiar. All of a sudden, a sprout broke through the ground beside me and began to rapidly grow. Before my eyes, it turned into a sapling and then a mature tree. Another tree grew before my eyes and then another. Before I knew it, I was in a thick forest with underbrush breaking through the ground, snaking up between my toes and tickling my ankles.I knew I wasn’t in the ethereal realm, at least. I recognized most of the trees and
Rose“Watch it! Focus!” Iris barked at me as Heather almost connected her fist to my jaw. Sweat streamed down my back as I threw myself to the side to avoid Heather. The summer sun streamed through the trees, roasting us as we sparred against each other. I had been training with Iris for the past couple of days. The fun-loving, bubbly, and laidback shopaholic was almost a faint memory. When it came to the training, she was a hard ass. Part of me kind of wished that Orion was training me, but he made it clear he was scared that he might accidentally hurt me. Iris was who he had entrusted with training me until she felt confident I was better prepared. Today was the first day that Heather joined us, so Iris could watch how much I had progressed. Heather and Harriet had been training daily since we arrived. Both of them had grown so much already and began to train with the pack warriors like it was no big deal. Heather rushed me, her fist making i