*The day after the events of the previous chapter*

*5/19/90*

The group was silent for a few minutes after their initial gathering. Coraline sat next to Rose, wiping trace tears from her cheeks. Hunter sat between Flint and Ellora. Garrett, Jade, Mason, and Brianna were absent.

Hunter had already informed everyone about their soon-to-come trip to London, which only managed to dampen the already depressing mood.

Ellora counted the seconds until the humans returned, tugging fitfully at the tunic Rose had given her. A few days ago, she would have said that there was no way for Ember to know the location of the drop site. Of course, she hadn't thought Ember would find out about them so soon, either. “What if she had her pack scouring the woods? What if Mason and the others got captured or killed?” Ellora didn't think she could live with herself if any of her new friends were hurt.

Hunter glanced at her, noticing the worry on her face. "They'll be fine," he assured her, touching her shoulder. "Remember, Brianna went right into Scar's territory and came out just fine. And Mason's the toughest fighter I know."

"Hey!" Rose looked up. Her eyes were angry, but the playful smirk on her face showed that she wasn't actually mad.

"Uh, I mean tied with you, of course," Hunter said, grinning as he shielded his face. "Please don't hurt me!"

The tension in the air faded a little as the others started laughing.

Coraline giggled, wiping away the last of her tears. She glanced at Rose. Her sister seemed a bit more troubled than the others. Her jaw clenched as her nerves turned to jelly. “Is it because she still isn’t comfortable with me being a werewolf?” she thought. “Are you okay, Rose?" she asked.

Rose blinked, then shook her head. "I don't think any of us are right now. I just…had a talk with Kevin before coming here.”

"Oh,” Coraline's nose wrinkled. "What about?"

"He lost three of his group in the last werewolf hunt and got completely wasted in the town's pub.” Everyone in the clearing turned and gaped at what Rose said. Coraline made an involuntary noise in the back of her throat.

Flint snorted. “Well, hopefully, some of them have been captured as well. Maybe you can rescue them?”

"Well, good. I'll have a chance to personally drag Ember and maybe even Scar out of the woods and beat their hollow skulls before leaving for London.” Rose lightly punched Coraline's arm. "Don't worry, Coraline. We’ll find a way to make Uncle Joey see that werewolves can be good. Help him see what you showed us.”

"Thank you, Rose,” a pang went through Coraline's chest. A little while ago, that would have been her dream: living with her whole family and building a life without the worry of danger from werewolves and Shadows. Now, they only had a few days left together. The small pack would likely leave either during or right after the next full moon, which was rapidly approaching. Her arm tightened around Rose, though she didn't realize it until she felt her sister snuggling closer into her side.

Ellora watched Coraline and Rose silently. It didn't take an omega to see the sadness, loss, and wish that things were different dominating the two women. Before, Ellora had been content to quietly encourage Rose to fully accept her sister’s new nature. Now, however, there was no time. Part of her wondered if it would be best if Rose never forced herself out of her toxic mindset.

“No,” she thought as soon as the idea surfaced. “If I were in their stead, I'd want closure. Even if they move on in the future, they should have one moment of peace. That way, they won't regret anything further down the road or cling to their never answered questions or what if they had done what they should.”

With that decided, Ellora spoke up. "Rose, I was wondering if I could speak with you."

Rose blinked in surprise. "Oh. Yeah. Sure," she stood up, glancing quickly at Coraline before following Ellora into the woods.

Ellora felt the puzzled glances of the others as well as Rose. She walked a good distance away, then turned to look at the human. "Rose, I wanted to talk to you about Coraline.”

Rose's face darkened, and her heart thumped loudly. Her blood began to boil, and her fingers twitched for her weapon. Was Ellora planning to make a move on a vulnerable Coraline once she’s permanently separated from her clan?

"I know you’ve been good to Coraline ever since you saved her from Scar’s clutches," Rose said quickly. "I know Hunter and the others trust you, but if you even try to take advantage of my sweet, innocent little sister, I will track you down and tear you limb from limb.”

"Taking advantage…" Ellora stared at her for a long moment. Then, she realized what Rose was talking about. She couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Rose immediately switched from angry to indignant. "What’s so funny?"

"I-I'm sorry," Ellora chuckled, shaking her head as she thought back. “It's just that you're very mistaken. Coraline and I aren't mates. First, she's a whelp, and I would never approach a whelp during the spring. Second, there are no romantic feelings between us. I am not attracted to girls."

"You…huh?" Rose blinked a few times, her mouth hanging open in a way that invited birds to make a nest. "You're not…?"

"Coraline is a dear friend," Ellora explained. "I'd even go so far as to say she's become like a sister to me, even though we haven't known each other for very long. I knew of your protective feelings towards her and how much she looks up to you."

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"But…I thought…" Rose was still having trouble forming coherent sentences.

Ellora smiled gently. "Coraline loves you every bit as much as you love her, and I think you should finally completely look past her new nature and fully accept her for who she is. Today, even."

"I…" Rose shook her head to clear it. "I don’t think I can do that," she finally managed. "You're leaving. It'll just be easier if we just leave things alone. Time heals all wounds."

"Rose," Ellora urged. "You've both done and endured so much these past few weeks. I think you can afford to be strong just one more time. Wouldn't you be happier knowing that everything has been said between you rather than wondering what you should have said before parting ways?"

"I don't know," Rose murmured.

"Think of it this way: If one or both of you were to die tomorrow, what would you regret the most?"

For a minute or two, Rose was silent. “So, maybe I was being overprotective as usual,” she shook her head, angry tears threatening to spill out. “All that time, I couldn’t get past that stupid werewolf-hating mindset. So many final memories were wasted!” She thought about Ellora's words. She knew very well what she would regret if something happened to Coraline. After the raid, she cursed herself day after day for being unable to protect her little sister from harm. Now, she was on the cusp of losing her again.

"You're right," she finally said. "I'll talk to her before we leave today."

Ellora pulled Rose into a hug. "I know this can't be easy for you. Now, more than ever, I want to see my dream of an alliance become a reality."

Rose hesitantly returned the hug, surprised at how warm Ellora's arms were. "Well, my dad always said to take things one step at a time."

Ellora led Rose back toward the group. "Speaking of which, do you know of anyone in your village with white hair sparing a werewolf before any of us were born?"

"No!" Rose exclaimed. "The Hvit family hates werewolves more than anyone alive. Even if a Hvit did do something like that, they'd never admit it." She tilted her head. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Ellora sighed. "I was just curious."

They returned to the group, relieved to see Mason and the others waiting for them. The trip to the drop site had gone without a hitch. Hopefully, Summer would see the note and come find them. If she needed help, she was to put a scratch on the tree that was the drop site.

"Hey, Ellora," said Coraline. "You said you'd tell the story of how werewolves were made once the others got here. Can you?"

Hunter nodded. "Yeah. I've never heard of werewolf mythology before. Maidens, I don't think anyone has."

Ellora smiled. "Okay, then. It's an old story, passed verbally through generations. It's said that the first werewolf was a young girl whose name had been lost in the sands of time. She lived alone with her family in the woods and learned to fight Shadows at an early age. One night, when the full moon was high, a pack of Shadow Hounds overran her home and slaughtered almost everyone. The girl was left with several injuries. Her baby brother lay in his cradle, miraculously untouched but in danger of dying of starvation. She lay on the ground, bleeding and helpless. She crawled into a shaft of moonlight, wanting to die with some form of light touching her. As she lay there, she lamented that the Shadows were so powerful and wished she could have some of that power to protect her little brother.

At that moment, her little brother cried out, and she crawled toward him. Despite her pain, she dragged herself across the snow, calling out to him. The moon saw all of this and took pity on the girl. Hearing her wish for strength, the moon's light seeped into her wounds and changed her. By the time she reached her brother's cradle, she was a mighty creature, like and unlike the Hounds that had killed her parents. She picked up her brother and carried him into the woods. While in her arms, the boy's mouth opened, and some blood from her moon-touched injuries went in. After that, he grew stronger, able to eat the chewed meat that his sister provided. When the moon became full again, it went into him and turned him into a wolf pup.

There was a moment of silence as everyone digested the story. The only thing that could be heard in that short moment was Brianna scribbling down notes of Ellora’s story. Then, Jade spoke up. "It's interesting. Humans are convinced that werewolves are people cursed by the Shadows. I guess that's true, in a way. The girl definitely was cursed by those Shadow Mutts. I wonder how the story became so warped and how the barrier between us and werewolves came about."

"Fear of the unknown, I suppose," Ellora sighed.

"Are there more stories like that?" Hunter wondered. "If so, we should have Brianna write them down. Maybe a book could be made eventually."

"That would be banned by the Temples," Jade pointed out.

"Yeah, and people will be even more tempted to read it," Mason said with a grin as he pointed his thumb at Brianna. "The Temples don't exactly like Brianna's special novels either."

Jade sniffed loudly. "Well, at least the reason for that is obvious."

"I refuse to believe you didn't read the ones Brianna got from William,” Rose smirked.

"I'll let you know that I never looked at one word!" Jade snapped.

“She has,” Brianna said quickly.

“Silence!”

“Sweet Maidens, help me,” Garrett whispered under his breath.

Coraline covered her mouth to hide a giggle. "They're really not so bad."

Rose jumped up from her seating position faster than anyone could have imagined. She took hold of Brianna’s and Jade’s collars, looking them dead in the eye. "I'll never forgive the two of you for exposing Coraline to that filth."

Brianna and Jade looked at each other, chuckling nervously, and swallowed loudly.

“So,” Garrett said, trying to change the subject. “What is a Shadow Hound, Ellora?”

“Oh, yes. It is the word we use for that kind of Shadow instead of the word Mutt like you humans use. Coraline was confused at first during her first days with the pack as well. Nobody knew what she was talking about.”

Brianna perked up and rushed over to Ellora with journal in hand. “Really!? What other names do you have for Shadows? What do you call the Chargers? Teddys? Tombstalkers? Watchers?”

“Deer, Bears, Centipedes, and Owls,” Ellora answered quickly.

“Any other juicy details I should know about?”

Ellora looked to the others for help, who were either pinching the bridges of their noses or facepalming.

Another hour passed, and it was drawing close to when the humans would have to leave. It was then that Rose took a deep breath and turned to Coraline. "Coraline, can we talk alone for a moment?"

"Everyone wants to have private conversations today, huh?" Coraline said lightly. She followed Rose silently until they reached a clearing. She waited for her sister to talk when they stopped, trying not to look too worried.

Rose closed her eyes, steeling herself, and then looked fully at Coraline. "Coraline, there's something I've been meaning to tell you…” Even though Ellora said she had to be strong just as always, Rose still struggled to get the next few words out.

She rushed into Coraline, wrapping her arms tightly around her dear little sister. "I…I accept you for who you are, Coraline. I love you and don’t care if you are a werewolf. You are my little sister; that is all I need to know!"

Coraline stared at her, too stunned to cry. She cherished the silence between them and the feeling of safety of being locked in her sister's embrace. She desperately wanted things to be different. Both sisters shook as their bodies were rocked with emotions of joy, relief, frustration, sadness, and regret. No hatred. Not anymore. They looked at each other for a few minutes as if to permanently imprint each other's faces into their memory, wiping away each other's tears.

She didn’t even complain about the amount of strength Rose used in her embrace. She would miss almost being snapped in half by her sister's powerful hugs.

Rose gripped Coraline’'s torn clothes in an unconscious way of wanting to keep her from leaving. Her other hand moved in soothing circles on her sister's back.

Coraline whimpered at the pure, wonderful happiness and joy running through her. She had never been so happy! Rose finally managed to see past her new wolfish nature. She couldn't get enough. She thought of how much strength Rose must have put in to force her view past their incorrect teachings. She clings to her sister’s shoulder, not wanting to leave more than ever before. She didn't want this to ever, ever end.

Coraline started crying first. She sniffled loudly and even hiccupped a little. She buried her face in Rose’s shoulder and sobbed.

Rose rested her head on Coraline's, crying just as hard. Never before had the temptation to leave Castell Henllys been so prevalent and all-encompassing. If Coraline had asked her then, she would have run away immediately without even bothering to go home to pack.

Once their tears were spent, they simply held each other for a few minutes. Then, Coraline spoke in a choked voice: "I love you too, in case that wasn't obvious,” she forced a joking smile.

Despite the sadness and regret that dominated Rose's mind at that moment, she found herself laughing.

They shared a drink from her flask as a toast for such a wonderful Moment.