Missy

“No way. Nope. I will not,” I repeated.

“Oh, come on, you’re scared of a movie?” Maddox laughed at me.

“That stuff is supposed to be based on true stories!” I argued.

He just continued to laugh, tears starting to leak from his eyes. I scowled at him. “We are not watching scary movies tonight. End of discussion!” I told him defiantly, going back to my ice cream. We were sitting on a bench in the small park that’s a few blocks from the Inn. I showed him around the town today. We mainly had just wandered around and talked, messing around all day. I really enjoyed spending time out here away from the pack, and Maddox just made it more fun.

“It’s not over. I will get you to watch a scary movie with me,” he said confidently with a smirk on his face. He shoveled more ice cream in his mouth.

“It isn’t going to happen,” I told him for the hundredth time.

“What if I held your hand?” he joked. “Or let you sit in my lap?” I rolled my eyes at him. “Joking. I know. Vlad…”

I swallowed. Maddox always said it that way. Vlad… They were both odd at the party. “So, do you still wanna go for a run? It’s starting to get dark, but I don’t think Lea will mind,” I asked him, changing the subject.

“Can we? I haven’t stretched my paws in so long,” he said, excitement in his voice.

“I can text her,” I said, pulling out my phone. “Do you wanna eat in town or head up to the Inn?”

“I don’t care. I am up for anything,” he said. Maddox was so easygoing. I always felt relaxed with him, and I think that is why we were getting along the best so far. However, as I looked down at my phone, I realized it was already the end of the dinner service at the Inn. “We could always go hunting in wolf form.”Belongs to - All rights reserved.

I knitted my eyebrows together. Hunt in wolf form? Like kill and eat Bambi? Maddox must have picked up on my confusion because he chuckled before explaining. “Werewolves, Miss. We can hunt and eat like wolves. You’ve never hunted?”

I shook my head. “No. I’ve never killed anything before,” I admitted.

“Look at that. Alpha’s daughter hasn’t had her first kill,” he teased. I narrowed my eyes at him. He stood up, grabbing my hand to pull me up too. “Come on. Let’s go find some dinner.” I let Maddox pull me back towards the Inn and head towards the forest behind it. All of a sudden, I felt shy with him grasping my hand.

When we were about twenty or so yards into the trees, Maddox stopped and started stripping. I froze, staring at his now exposed back. Flashbacks from this morning floated into my mind, and my wolf actually purred in my head. Traitor. Vlad is my boyfriend, and he will be my mate. Maddox had kicked off his shoes and was undoing his pants when he stopped, realizing I hadn’t moved. His eyebrow went up as he looked at me strangely. “Are you coming?” he asked.

“Oh, um, yea,” I said, turning around quickly. I dashed away from him, finding a tree to hide behind. I covered my warm face in my hands for a minute, trying to get the image of him shirtless out of my head. My phone dinged with a message from Lea.

LEA

| Go ahead. Please be back by midnight. There should be a patrol to follow you.

With a sigh, I slid out of my clothes quickly and shifted. Rustling in the trees nearby told me that the patrol knew exactly where we were. I headed back over to Maddox. Stopping in front of his grey wolf, I realized that we had no way to communicate right now. He wasn’t part of the pack, so we couldn’t link, and in wolf form, we couldn’t talk. He nudged me with his snout and motioned for me to follow him. I wagged my tail, and he took off. As I ran after him, I shook out my fur, happy to feel the wind on my body. My wolf whined at me to take over. I let her, figuring she would be better at hunting anyway.

Azalea

Liam was on edge during the entire meeting. His eyes almost never left Theodore. Felix struggled the entire time as well. His eyes kept fixing themselves on Lacey. When she would look up from her tablet where she was taking notes and meet his eyes, he would avert his gaze quickly. It was sort of cute to watch my large, intimidating bodyguard be embarrassed by a female.

When we finished, Liam forced me into the office with him. Felix followed unwillingly. I could tell he wanted to direct his attention elsewhere.

When the door closed behind us, no one said anything for a minute. We all stood there, the tension palpable in the room. Liam finally broke the silence. “Sit,” he said, pointing at the desk. His eyes wandered down to my stomach. I rolled my eyes but didn’t fight him. Next, he turned to Felix.

“Is the girl your mate?” Felix nodded. “Alright. Go. I won’t keep you from bonding. Azalea will stay with me, but I want all the patrols watching the Inn and us at all times. Can you arrange that with Axel?”

“Yes, Alpha,” Felix said in a tight voice. I smiled at him. I couldn’t imagine Felix with a mate, but it made my heart swell thinking about him getting this gift from the Moon Goddess. He deserved some happiness.

“Go. Let me know when you are ready to return to duty, and we can discuss things moving forward,” Liam told him. A muscle jumped in Felix’s cheek, and for a brief moment, I thought he would smile. Instead, he gave Liam a curt nod before turning and leaving the room. Liam’s shoulders slumped before he turned around to me.

He ran his hands over his face, groaning, “Azalea….” I couldn’t decide how I wanted to play this one out. I wanted him to trust my judgment and not make me hide away because he perceives a minimal threat. “Why are you always like this? Complete disregard for your own safety, always believing the best of people.” Did he sound… tired?

“You never hesitate to put yourself in danger when it comes to protecting the pack or me,” I pointed out.

“That is my job, Azalea. I am Alpha. I need to protect everyone,” he argued.

“It is also my job to take care of this pack, Liam. My role doesn’t change just because….” I trailed off. It was silly all this time later, but I still didn’t like admitting aloud that I am wolf-less. Although I accepted my situation, part of me still felt lacking compared to the others around me.

“But it needs to change, Azalea.” Liam moved towards me, kneeling in front of me as I sat in the chair. He grabbed my hands in his. “Where would the pack be if something were to happen to you? What about the kids? And me? I need you to accept your limitations and stop pushing me so much.” He was begging me. I looked away from him, his words causing tears to threaten my eyelashes.

I didn’t want to be a Luna on the sidelines. I didn’t want anyone to think that Liam has a weak mate or the pack has a soft Luna. Liam’s finger gently pushed my chin so that I was facing him again. “Baby, it’s not because I think you are weak or unworthy. I just can’t fathom you getting hurt because I couldn’t protect you,” he said softly. “I won’t let it happen again.” I leaned forward, resting my forehead against his.

“Can you try to trust my judgment just a bit more?” I whispered. “Liam, you’re always so quick to assume I am too trusting.” His thumb caressed my cheek.

“I guess I can’t deny you are usually right,” he admitted. “The rogue groups’ stories checked out. Damien was able to confirm everything. You were right.” My eyes shot open, and I pulled back from him.

“Then who….”

“I don’t know anything more about who is responsible for all of it. But you were right; those people are no threat to us. We can allow them to join the pack soon, officially.” I gave him a wide smile. “Oh, no, no. That does not mean the same thing for this vampire. Azalea, you don’t understand how dangerous they are. Whether he physically appears to be or not, that man is dangerous. He isn’t here by chance; there is no possible way that him coming to B***d Eclipse is a coincidence.”

I sighed. “You just said that I’m always right. So why can’t I be right about this too?” Liam had a strange look on his face, like he was hesitant to tell me something. “Liam, what? I can’t read your mind.”

His shoulders slumped, and he averted his eyes. “Have you ever heard any rumors about why our pack is called B***d Eclipse?” I shook my head. “Let’s go back to the cottage, and I will explain. Where are the kids?”

“Missy and Maddox are out and about in town. They had coffee and dessert at the cafe a bit ago. Then, the boys ran off to play in the woods,” I told him.

“I’m sure the patrols know where they are. Come on,” he said, pulling me up.

–

I sat at the small table in the cottage. Liam was at the stove, making some tea. He was on edge, and I couldn’t possibly figure out what our pack name had to do with all of this. I always thought it was a little odd, maybe aggressive. B***d Eclipse. It had an ominous tone to it. Surely, if our pack name had something to do with vampires, we would have been taught that as children?

Liam sat down, passing me a mug. I played with the tea bag steeping in hot water absentmindedly while I waited for him to talk. He swirled the spoon in his cup around before his eyes came to mine. “It isn’t something that is talked about anymore. Our pack was once the center of a war with a powerful vampire clan. At the beginning of the war, my great-grandfather was Alpha. He rallied packs around us to fight back against the vampires that were attacking our race. But he was killed only months into the conflict.” Liam paused. “My grandfather took the title and continued in his stead. It was… a dark time. There was a large amount of bloodshed on both sides.”

“But what does that have to do with our pack name?” I asked, not tracking where this was going.

“There are 12 vampire clans; all said to be sired from the original members of their race. My knowledge of their creation and lineage is murky at best. I am aware of eight of the twelve clan names. When my great grandfather took us to war, we were up against three united clans: Warwick, Bloodworth, and Gresham. Warwick was the larger of the three and seemed to be the main aggressor. The things I was told….” he trailed off. “Azalea, those creatures are monsters. They will stop at nothing to kill. Hunters may be relentless and conniving, but vampires…. Coming to the end of the war, my grandfather came up with a plan to end it all. He bided his time until the lunar eclipse. During a lunar eclipse, we are stronger, faster; our senses are heightened. He planned to use that to make a final stand against the vampires. And it worked. In a single night, we almost completely eradicated all three clans. Two of the three clans lost their sire as well. It was never confirmed if Clan Warwick’s sire was killed or not. That battlefield, our packland, was said to be bathed in b***d on the night of the eclipse. That night was dubbed the Battle of the B***d Eclipse, and we soon became known as B***d Eclipse Pack. My grandfather reveled in his victory even though the cost was great on our side. He accepted the name, but it wasn’t long before people wanted to stop talking about the war. The devastation was too great. My grandfather didn’t find his mate until years after the war, so he was much older than normal Alphas when he finally produced his heir. It’s been so long that most people don’t even know about the war because no one wanted to speak about it.”

Liam finished quietly. I could tell this was a complicated topic for him. He was far more empathetic than his father and his grandfather, I was sure. He had no issue proving his strength as Alpha but deep down, he hated conflict. Destroying White Moon had really hurt him, but I think he took some solace in how many he was able to bring back to B***d Eclipse. He looked at me, searching for understanding.

“Liam, I understand why you are wary of Theodore. But he said he no longer associates himself with his clan, and he in no way comes off as a threat,” I said softly.

“I don’t know that we can trust him. I will not risk your safety when I can find you a new contractor to do the renovations,” he argued.

“No, we aren’t going to do that. Instead, let’s have dinner with Theodore. Maybe if you could speak to him in a more private setting, you can make a better judgment,” I tried to persuade him. Liam hung his head.

“You aren’t going to give this up?” I shook my head. “Fine. But after, I get to decide how we proceed. If I am not convinced that he is not a threat to my family and my pack, I will kill him.”

“You will give him the option to leave,” I pressed.

He gave me a small growl. “Fine. If you accept the decision I make on the matter, then I will give him one chance to leave my territory peacefully.”