~Ellie’s Point of View~ We were all seated and I was between Skyler and Hunter, feeling very small since they both easily were a foot and a half taller. But … I loved it, I loved that they made me feel so small and like they could just completely fit all of me in their big arms. Also, sitting down next to them we were at eye level and I didn’t feel like I was struggling so hard to look at them. River sat directly in front of me and I had the perfect view of him. I had to imagine that they had this effect on all girls. My heart fell thinking about other girls gawking at them. “Ellie I have great news, I wanted to wait until I could tell you in person,” Hunter said. “What news,” I said, a little too hasty. “We confirmed that Valerie and Thomas were okay in the fight, it took a little while to know for sure, the pack kind of closed ranks and kept to themselves for a bit, wanting to properly mourn,” Hunter said. I didn’t respond, I just became so overwhelmed with emotion. Every night
~Hunter’s Point of View~ I took the stairs two at a time and bolted to Ellie’s room. She was staying in River’s old room since it had its own bathroom. Skyler and I had to share one growing up and we always hated it. I knocked, “Ellie it’s Hunter, can I come in?” The door opened instantly, and my poor little mate stood there with puffy eyes. “I’m … I’m sorry,” she said, looking ashamed. I moved past the door and couldn’t help myself, I wrapped her in my arms. She rested her head on my chest and my wolf purred. I felt so awful that she was upset, but I also felt so content. Before I even registered what I was doing I sniffed her hair, I could never get enough of it … of her. These past ten days away from her was torture. Mom absolutely insisted we give her time to adjust and learn about being a woman, well a she-wolf essentially. This sweet, sweet mate of mine, How could I possibly let her go? She made my stomach flutter, she made my heart race and she didn’t even have to try.
~River’s Point Of View~ It had been a couple days since we’d last seen Ellie and the pain of being away from her was almost unbearable. We’d gotten a little house not too far from my parents, but far enough to not catch her scent. If our wolves smelled her while we were out for a run, they’d have to go to her. I dreamed about my sweet little Ellie every day, every night. I’d be out on patrol and just get lost in my thoughts, sometimes I’d have to wander off and relieve my pent up energy. I wondered if she’s been feeling the same way. I constantly thought about her touching herself, dreaming of me. In between my wet dreams I was frantically trying to do everything to help our situation. I was currently in a meeting that council member Isaac had called about Gunner, and my father was even present. “What do we know about the girl’s past, anything,” my dad inquired. “She’s just some orphan that Gunner took in, no one knows anything else and the girl was too young to remember much, Gu
~Skyler's Point of View~ A few nights after finding Ellie, we had a full moon. Now, we were about to have another. It was basically unheard of to let this much time pass without marking your mate. If you knew where they were, you just had the compulsion to do it and it was too great to fight. My brothers and I were going to spend another two nights chained up in the fucking dungeons and I was sick thinking about it. The first time it had damn near killed us, and I honestly don't know how we got through it. To do it a second time, was willful torture. Our wolves were still furious with us, and we were truly at a breaking point. Our wolves didn’t give a shit about human rules, about how old Ellie was … she had to be over 17, we just all knew it. My wolf, Dusk yelled at me all the time, furious he couldn’t communicate with her wolf. He did everything possible, and blamed us stupid humans. “Sunset is in a few, you guys ready,” River said. “Can’t Angel just put on Mars for a couple n
~River’s Point of View~ We were all sitting around, waiting to see if Angel would come back, but there was something else bothering me, more pressing. I watched my sexy little mate jumping up and down with excitement and I knew my brothers had to be struggling with their hard-ons like I was at the moment. “Sunny, a word please,” I said. I grabbed her arm and dragged her into the backyard where no one would be able to hear us. I mind-linked my brothers to sneak away without drawing attention to themselves. “What the hell River, what’s your problem,” she said, in her bratty little voice. My brothers showed up and I could tell they were thinking the same thing. “What the FUCK is Ellie wearing Sunny,” Skyler said, irate and getting in her face. She laughed and crossed her arms, being defiant. “What, that dress, she looks hot. Shows off her best assets don’t you think,” she said, grinning. “Are you out of your mind, what if someone sees her, she’s not even wearing a bra, she’s boun
~Hunter’s Point of View~ My mind was that of a warrior, first and foremost. I was always ready for a fight but tried to avoid it if possible. There was no way Gunner was doing this just to get his warrant dropped. It was a reason for him to leave his house, a reason for him to get out. A reason … to look for Ellie? Skyler was the impulsive one, he would just storm in there and try to kill everyone without a real plan. River was pensive, he would mull over all the possibilities and drive himself mad weighing all the pros and cons, asking people a million questions. My warrior mentality roamed all over the place in mere seconds, trying to think like Gunner. Other than Ellie, what did Gunner want? She was really Tyson’s to find, and bring back, not his … right? Why the hell would he want her SO bad if he wasn’t planning to step down as Alpha? What was he willing to go out for, and risk possible arrest? Did he not trust Tyson to become Alpha and follow the tradition of passing the t
~Ellie's Point of View~ Once I woke up everyone was pretty quiet, nobody wanted to tell me anything. What else is new, I thought. I was really getting to my breaking point with all the secrets. The guys said they needed a bit of time to talk to each other and I should watch TV. I looked at them like they all had two heads. Okay, Ellie … pick and choose your battles here. Either I have a fit and show my childish side or I just let them do what they are going to do anyhow. I sighed. By the time I had this whole internal dialogue they’d all already gone off to Ash’s office anyhow, basically ignoring me. I was half asleep on the couch sometime later when I heard Daisy and Sunny come in. Before I could even ask where they had been all the guys filed out, with Ash in tow, looking rushed. “Mom, we are taking Ellie with us tonight, she can’t stay here anymore,” River said. I looked at Daisy and she opened her mouth to argue but then sat down in confusion. “What happened, what’s going
~Hunter’s Point of View~ I knew we were on dangerous ground bringing Ellie home, but none of us were letting her out of our sight. My brothers and I discussed on the ride that we would come clean to Ellie about everything … except that we were her mates. I didn’t know how to delicately dance around it but, we’d have to figure it out. My younger brothers of course, nominated me to get the ball rolling and I had to resist smacking them both. Cowards. We were going to tell her we were just doing all this for her because it was part of our jobs. I had no idea how we were all going to be able to control our wolves, having her so close and under our roof. We decided that two of us would be with her, at all times. Whether we needed food or had to be back at the packhouse for patrols, we would always have two of us with her, no matter what. I finished explaining a few things we had yet to tell her and some bits about how we wanted things to be now that were all together. Then, I moved on