Layla could barely see or move. Alistar had ripped into her thigh and had only let go to chase after Solomon who was bounding towards her petrified child. All she could do was scream nonsensical guttural cries as she fought to maintain consciousness. She tried to drag herself towards Cassias but she was losing too much blood. Time was at a stand-still, she could barely comprehend anything that was happening. Solomon quickly approached Cassias and bit the back of his shirt and threw the small boy onto his back. He was not used to carrying anyone in this manner, it was awkward and uncomfortable but he wasn't going to complain. He had only one objective and that was to get Layla's child to safety. He only had to get away from Alistar. No other Thundermoon wolf dared to move towards the Moonbane pack or towards Solomon. They were slowly backing away out of fear. Cassias was sobbing hysterically. Layla wanted to shift so bad and defend her son but she was unable to. She had lost too muc

Una stood speechless as she shook her head disapprovingly at her daughter. She slowly placed her hands on her hips as if she was about to scold Layla. This reaction was infuriating to Layla who's anger was reaching a boiling point. "Layla," Una began furiously. "You must reject him-"Layla scoffed, "No, you will not tell me what to do. You have lost that privilege ages ago.""I am your mother," Una's eyes filled with tears but they had no effect on Layla. "Yes, you are my birth giver," Layla corrected. "But you haven't been my mother in a very long time. And also, I am a grown woman. Any parental right that you do not possess would be void due to that simple fact. But I would argue more than anything else in the world, you have not been a mother to me for as long as I can remember, you have lost the right to comment on my life.""I just want what is best for you," Una said sweetly. "My mate is what is best for me," Layla glared. Una sighed, she knew that she would not convin

Layla's heartbeat remained steady throughout the night much to the delight of the healers. As her body warmed up, she regained her color and was slowly losing her sickly pallor. The healers replaced her bandages in the middle of the night, the jostling of her body woke her from her slumber. For a split second, she had convinced herself that it was all a horrible dream and that she had fallen asleep next to Solomon and there was a party to return to. She was brutally brought back to reality when an elderly man with deep set wrinkles, a long gray beard, and very kind eyes greeted her with a warm smile. "Hello, there!" The elderly man said cheerfully. "I am so pleased to see you awake." Layla was confused but did not want to appear to be rude. The man seemed kind and she knew all of Alistar's allies, this man was not one of them which could only mean that she was back at the Moonbane fortress. She didn't understand it but it made her more nervous. There was a certain level of reali

A month went by peacefully. Layla focused on her healing. She was happy to see Cassias thrive in this environment. Layla couldn't tell if it was from the absence of Alistar and the negativity of the Thundermoon pack or if it was that the quality of life was much greater here than anywhere else. Layla wasn't going to complain. Whatever the reason, it looked good on him. Within days from the attack, as they were nestling into a routine, Layla began to learn the Riverwalker's native language. She grew tired of waiting around for Solomon to finish with his tasks for the day to accompany her in the room and read to her. She loved to listen to him and he was more than willing to push aside his obligations but she wouldn't allow him to. Learning it filled the time apart more so than staring at the walls. And besides, she knew if they were to ever have children they, too, would speak it and she didn't want to be the odd one out. Cassias joined her in her studies and took to the language mor

Looking around the table, it became clear to Layla who these men were, the old Alphas from the packs the Riverwalkers conquered. The room was dimly lit by candlelight. The window on the wall behind Balthazar was small and did not do an adequate job in lighting the room so she hadn't realized till that moment that on the wall directly in front of her was an enormous hand drawn map. She was used to seeing maps of Ashford Mountains with the River Reach as a small blurb in the corner. But now she could see it for what it was, she was overwhelmed. She felt stupid to think that there was nothing beyond it. But she could see that there were oceans and lands beyond it. The area was more than twice the size of Ashford. For the first time she recognized the gravity of her situation. She wasn't just the mate to some little Alpha of some little nothing pack. She wasn't worthy. But she wasn't going to let that hit her at that moment. She was representing her father and his pack as well as Thunder