‘Love is a fever which marriage puts to bed and cures.' -Richard J. Needham Ember It was now time to fully focus on the harvest of the pack’s crops and what we would be taking to trade with the Mirror River Pack. What we weren’t taking on the trip, we were putting in the pack’s storage cellar. I learned that we gave out food once a week to pack members from the cellar and the packhouse kitchen used ingredients from it also. I had just finished looking over how much the harvest was to see how much we could spare as the months were about to grow colder. We would have a good amount of food to trade with the Mirror River Pack and still have plenty for ourselves. I left the cellar with Bastet and went into my office to write down numbers in the ledger. Once I had everything down, I stood up to go into Killian’s office to see what he was doing and if I could help him with anything. I sat in a chair in front of his desk and Bastet jumped up on his desk before lying down on a

‘They may fight with us, but they don’t fight for us.’ -Christopher Paolini Ember Almost a week later, we were packed up and ready to leave with the food supplies to trade with the Mirror River Pack. We would be trading corn and potatoes for steel and wool. The steel would be used to make weapons and other necessities the pack members needed. The wool would be used for clothing and blankets. Killian and I were mounted on our horses while two warriors drove the cart of food supplies. Kit, Otis and Cyrus were mounted on horses to accompany us yet again. Their company was a welcome sight again. It would take us two days of slow moving to get to the Mirror River Pack. Travel during the day was quiet as we all stayed alert for any signs of trouble. Bastet rode in my lap or in Killian’s. They were becoming really close and I loved that. Seeing this big man that could shift into a wolf, love and pet a small cat was sweet to watch. At the first stop of the trip, we pulled

‘You just can’t beat the person that won't give up.’ -Babe Ruth   Ember     Over the next couple of days, Killian and I planned out what places we would go in search of our next alliances. We would be heading to Scarlet Moon next, followed by the Midnight Meadows Coven after that. From that coven, I wanted to acquire a chaos witch friend so we could speed up the alliance work by portaling to each place after that. I should have thought of this before and gotten help from High Priest Corbin while we were there.      I agreed to swallow my fear and even approach the last three vampire clans. I'm sure they wanted an end to this too. I just felt creeped out because of the way the vampires that the Mystics used acted and fought. I had never seen a vamp

‘If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan, not the goal.’ -unknown   King Soren    At dinner tonight, I ate with my people in the dining room and talked with Lark, who was seated in her usual spot now after mating with Ulric. He had chosen to go on the mission back to Nightshade for information. This was the first time in a while he had been out on a mission. I could tell that it unsettled Lark by how nervous she looked and how much she picked at her food instead of eating it. I made sure to reassure her that Ulric was smart and would come back.      Ulric wanted to make sure that they got the information we were after and that the scouts came back this time. We had been having bad luck losing people thanks to that fire elemental, so I understood why

‘We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language.’ -Joyce Carol Dates Ember We arrived at the Scarlet Moon Pack gates within hours. Our horses were foaming and smelled of sweat as they breathed hard from running for so long. We pulled them to a stop in front of the guards that were standing at the gates. Bastet padded up beside us and sat down to rest while he panted loudly from running. The guard looked at Demir and me, our horses and then Bastet with wide eyes. “Can I help you?” he asked. “Yes. I’m Luna Ember of the Nightshade pack. I need to speak with Alpha Talon and Luna Lupa,” I said as I breathed heavily. The guard looked me over for a moment before his deep blue eyes went dull as he mind-linked Alpha Talon. Several uneasy moments went by before he came out of his mind-link and looked into my eyes. “You may go through to the stables. Alpha Talon will be with you in a moment,” the guard told me. “Thank you,” I said before pushing my hor