LIAM

I waited long enough. Maddox and Langston brought back plenty of information to help us form an attack strategy. It was time to get all our allies on the same page and prepare to take the fight to Warwick. We had enough time to train leading warriors from all the packs, and they had time to take that training back to their packs to ready their people. This war needed to end so we could all get on with our lives.

I called a conference with everyone. Sean, Damien, Austin, Jacob, and Gentry sat around our conference room with the phone speaker in the middle. All of the Alphas of the allied packs were dialed in to listen to my plan and the forthcoming steps we would take to enact it. After I was done briefing all the packs as a whole, I planned to have a separate call with a handful of them about some finer details.

“We should all plan to arrive on Alpha Jett’s territory in seven days, and we will move the next once we can get organized,” I instructed. I was not thrilled about assembling on the pack land of the man who tried to kidnap my mate, but he was the closest to Warwick.

I looked around the room at my trusted group. Everyone had even expressions on their faces, mentally preparing themselves for what we had to do. “Alright,” I said. “I appreciate all of your time. I will see you all in seven days.”

Jacob jumped up to end the call and work on getting Alpha Langston, Alpha Michael, Alpha Andris, and Beta Meadow back on the line.

“Alpha, are you sure attacking them head-on like this is the answer?” Sean questioned. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I still have reservations.”

“I understand your reservations, Sean, but I don’t think waiting is in our interest any longer. We have trained our packs, and now, Warwick knows we are onto him. It’s only a matter of time before he pulls the trigger himself,” I explained. He nodded his head with a solemn look on his face.

Jacob nodded to me to tell me we were ready once again. “Gentleman?” I prompted. Everyone grunted to signify their presence. “Before we discuss anything, are there any questions you have of me?”

“Can we not wait for the B***d Moon to return?” Alpha Michael asked. “It was effective in your pack’s strategy during the first conflict.”

“I don’t think we have the time to wait. The next B***d Moon is almost two months away,” I said, bracing my weight against the table with my palms.

“Too bad we have not seen a Harvest Moon in, what, 28 years?” Langston said.

“Harvest Moon?” I asked.

“Alpha Liam, do you not know of the Legend of the Harvest Moon?” Alpha Michael asked me.

“I guess I don’t,” I said. “Would someone like to enlighten me?”

Damien sat forward in his chair. “Gentlemen, please stop me if I am wrong. The Harvest Moon is said to appear in the year of an exceptional child born of the Moon Goddess.”

“Yes,” said Alpha Michael. “Those wolves are special to our Goddess, it is said. They are stronger and have a special purpose, the legends explain. If they live to see another Harvest Moon, it is rumored that the Moon Goddess will lend a hand to their destined purpose.”

I let out a sharp breath. “Unfortunately, gentleman, we cannot rely on rumored legendary powers or strength gifted to us by our Goddess. We simply do not have the time to wait for a new Harvest Moon.”

I looked around the room; everyone seemed to understand my reasoning. “If we can be a united front, I know we can stop this Sire from attacking our race. If we all fight him, there is no way we can lose. We will show our vampire enemy that they will not step on us so easily and expect us to roll over and take it. Warwick is in this for vendetta, but we are here for something far more important. We are fighting for survival and pride.”

DAMIEN

I left the conference room, headed to Luna’s office, where Felix was. I offered to fill him in on the details from our meeting as Luna could not sit in. I had another motive for speaking with Felix anyway.

When I got to Luna’s office, Felix was sitting right inside the door while she looked over a set of spreadsheets at her desk. “Felix,” I said, entering the room. He looked up at me, and I c****d my head to indicate we should speak outside.

We stepped outside, and Felix looked at me expectantly. I quietly pulled Lea’s door closed and checked that no one else was in the hall before I spoke. “I need your help,” I started. Felix raised an eyebrow.

“Alpha wants to move on Warwick in eight days,” I told him. “I am not going to be ready to fight with Cage in that time.”

“And?” he asked. I could never tell if he was impatient or just liked getting to the point quickly, but he was the only one in the pack I knew had enough knowledge to help.

“I have an idea on how I can still be useful in this fight, but I will need your help to pull it off,” I said. He nodded his head, telling me to continue.

“I can’t reliably shift to my wolf to fight. Cage has no idea what is going on. But I can fight on two legs. If I had a couple of weapons to help me, then I could hold my own against the vampires and be of use in this fight,” I concluded.

Felix mulled over my words for a minute. “What did you have in mind?” he asked. He crossed his arms over his chest, now interested in what I had to say.

–

“This is everything we have kept,” Sean said, handing the large bin to Felix and me. “They weren’t destroyed in the fires, but we hadn’t figured out what to do with all of it yet.”

“Thanks,” I told him. “I think I have the perfect use for them.” Felix nodded, both of us thinking about the same thing.

We headed back to my office with the box. “I may be able to give you a basic knowledge, but there is someone else we can call,” Felix said.

“Who?” I questioned.

“Did you read the dossier on Alpha Michael of Stary Pack?” Felix asked as we stepped inside my messy office. I went over to a table in the corner and started removing papers and folders to have a spot to work.

“Yes, he’s a combat expert,” I said. Felix nodded.

“He is more than an expert. Did you read the report on how he came to power of his pack? He is a hand-to-hand specialist with a particular set of skills in this area,” Felix further explained.

I didn’t remember all of the details as I had done a lot of studying on our allies since waking up. Some of the details were bleeding together. “I am not sure we have time to get his help,” I said.

“You will not know if you do not ask,” Felix said.

MISSY

That was truly one of the best days of my life. I climbed over the center console and snuggled into Maddox’s chest. It was reckless and dumb, but I couldn’t stand the space between us in the front of the car on the way home. He just laughed, setting his chair back enough to make space for me. He drove with one arm around me and one the steering wheel, letting me contentedly lay against him while giving me occasional k****s atop my head.

The entire thing was just bliss after all the stressful things going on. Maddox jostled my dozing form to tell me we had a visitor when we got back. When I looked at the front steps, Liam was sitting on them. I swallowed the lump in my throat; the last time I saw him, I was screaming my head off, blaming him for getting my mate hurt.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

“Maybe you should go talk to him. I need to take the car back to the packhouse anyway,” Maddox said softly in my ear. I nodded and turned back to get a k**s from him.

He opened the door, and I awkwardly climbed out of it. I slowly headed over to Liam, who had a bemused expression. “Should I talk to your mate about safety in a vehicle?” he joked.

“No,” I said. “I did that.” I sat down on the step next to him. Crickets could be heard in the nearby woods.

“I thought it was time we talked,” he said gently.

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I was out of line.” I grimaced, thinking about the awful things I shouted at him.

To my surprise, Liam wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “I probably deserved them. I know you were hurting and worried.” I laid my head on his shoulder. “Even if he did a good job and got them both back here alive, I shouldn’t have asked your mate to do that.”

“It’s okay. He’s back, and we’re getting past it,” I said, accepting his remorse.

“You should know that no matter how many times you scream it at me, you’re still my pup,” he said softly. I sniffled, letting out a small laugh.

“Keep him out of the fighting, please?” I pleaded with him, my voice cracking ever so slightly.

“I want you both out of it,” he agreed.

The grass crunched under Maddox’s feet as he joined us. “Alpha,” he greeted Liam. Liam kissed the side of my head, squeezing me to him momentarily. Then he stood, pulling me with him.

“Keep a good eye on my girl,” Liam said, smiling at Maddox. I moved to Maddox’s side and his arm wrapped around my waist.

“Wouldn’t dream of anything less,” Maddox smiled at me.

We watched Liam casually walk away, back toward the packhouse. I realized that nothing was ever going to be entirely perfect. There would always be conflicts around us and ones that we may be involved in. There would be good days, though, just like today. With Maddox by my side, I knew we would be able to face it all head-on and come out the other side.

“Let’s go to bed,” I said, squeezing Maddox. We climbed the steps to our little house and headed to bed to end our perfect day in each other’s arms.