#1 The Rise of the Crescent Moon

Josephine

When I woke up in bed alone, I was worried at first. I didn’t sense August anywhere. When I reached out with the mindlink he was eagerly waiting to respond.

I knew he was frustrated at our lack of answers, more than that, he was frustrated at my father. He didn’t know how to say it outloud or to talk to me about it, I figured he just didn’t want to upset me anymore.

The truth was, I was angry at my father too. He left me, my brother, the Alpha, and the pack unprepared and unable to protect ourselves. I was pissed.

I needed to work off some of my frustrations, so I decided to take a walk around the grounds. I ended up on the training grounds, watching Wyatt, Logan, and Ethan train some young warriors. I stepped up on the viewing deck that hovered over the practice arena. I leaned against the railing, watching intently.

“Reminiscing, Luna?” Wyatt’s voice made me jump.

“Remembering all the times I whooped your ass.” I laughed at him. Wyatt stepped up beside me, smirking.

“Care for a rematch?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“Pretty sure your brother would kill you.” I laughed.

“That’s true, but what’s life without a little risk?” He shrugged. I looked at him from the corner of my eye, trying to decide if he was serious or not.

“Come on.” He nodded his head towards the arena and stepped aside.

“What the hell?” I grinned, jumping down the steps and heaving myself up onto the arena mat.

“Luna on deck!” Logan yelled. Everyone stopped moving and stood to attention, bowing their heads in respect.

“What are you training them for, Logan, the ballet?” I teased him, walking across the mat. Logan smiled,

“No, ma’am.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“Back to work.” I waved my hand, dismissing their formalities. Logan nodded and the trainees returned to their sparring.

“Did you need something, Luna?” Beta Ethan approached our small group. I shook my head,

“Just watching.”

“Luna is all talk and no bite.” Wyatt shoved his shoulder against mine. I grabbed his hand and flipped him through the air, laughing as he spun head over ass before slamming onto the floor. Everyone stilled again, staring at the Alpha’s brother sprawled out on the mat.

“Daaaaamn.” Ethan cried, doubling over with laughter. Logan held his hand up towards me and I smacked it with a grin.

“My brother, the genius.” Logan said, shaking his head. Wyatt grumbled and groaned as he stood up,

“Not fair, I wasn’t ready.”

“Lesson one,” I yelled so everyone could hear,

“Always be prepared.”

“Yes, Luna.” The warriors responded in unison, returning to their training.

“It’s okay Wyatt, you know what they say? Those who can’t do, teach.” I motioned around to the trainees he was in charge of. Wyatt rolled his eyes and walked away.

“Care to join us?” Logan offered. I shook my head,

“You guys are doing just fine. I think I’m going to go for a run. Let Hayden know if you see him, will you?” I said, retreating from the arena. I had grown use to Hayden being my personal bodyguard, he was always around, but I was able to skip out on him this morning.

I knew August was in the woods so I decided to start running in that direction and see if I could run into him. I jogged through the thicket of the trees, slipping into the cooling shadow of the woods. I always loved running in this forest, it trained you in more than just stamina. You learned how to be observant and agile, gaining a better sense of direction and how to think quickly on your feet. You had to dodge rocks and tree roots, avoiding trees, all while attempting not to get lost.

As I was enjoying the sounds and sights of the woods, an unusual smell assaulted my nose. I slowed my pace and looked around. I may not have wolfie senses, but they were still good enough to pick out an unwanted presence.

“We meet again, young Valentine.” I recognized the greasy sound of Elm’s voice, the rogue wolf. I gritted my teeth and kept my back towards the vile smell rolling off the rogue.

“Good to see you keeping up with your health.” Elm’s compliment made me sick. I spun around and growled at him.

“What do you want?” I said through my teeth.

“I needed to see you again, my lovely.” I could practically feel my eyes twitching with disgust at his words,

“I am not your anything.”

“You will be.” Elm stalked towards me like a predator after it’s prey. I stumbled backwards, bumping up against a tree.

“Not going to happen.” I snarled.

“It’s okay, lovely, you can play hard to get for as long as you want. I find it very attractive.” I was going to vomit.

“What do you want with me anyway?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Your Alpha blood in my children.” Yep, definitely didn’t want to know.

“You are insane.” I snapped. I was running out of room as the rogue wolf continued on the prowl.

“You shouldn’t be scared. I’m not a bad guy.” He said with a disturb smile.

“No, you’re just a guy who will kidnap a woman and force her to have your babies.” I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me.” He hissed, grabbing a hold of my chin. I narrowed my eyes at him and struggled to free my face.

“Is this you being a good guy?” I said against his grip. Elm sighed and released me.

“I have a temper.” He said plainly.

“Wonderful.” I stretched out my jaw to avoid cramping.

“You liked me once.” I froze at his words,

“What are you talking about?”

“When we were children. You were happy to play with me then.” Elm smirked.

“You’re crazy. I never knew you.” I snarled.

“No?” I shook my head ferociously at him,

“How did you get that scar in your belly?” He asked, pointing towards my belly button. I rubbed the scar through my shirt, the one I got from a rogue pup stabbing me with a knife. I looked back up at him in shock.

“Mother sent me to find out if you were human. I wasn’t prepared to like you so much then. I got distracted and almost failed my mission.” Elm explained. I grabbed a fist full of my shirt, disgusted.

“Don’t worry, I outgrew it.” I snapped,

“You will be mine.” This guy was full of it. I stared at him, deciding which road I wanted to take.

“August, August…..” I mindlinked my mate,

“I’m in the woods with that psycho rogue and I’m pretty sure I’m about ready to piss him off so I could use some back up.”

August’s link was open but I was getting nothing which meant he was either dead or distracted….I’m going to go with distracted. I sighed and reached out to my inner circle: Ethan, Hayden, Wyatt, Logan, and my 6 patrol wolves.

“Guys I could use some back up.” I showed them my location and heard their howls as a response.

“Get this through your thick skull, rogue, I will never be yours. I will never have your children. I will never go anywhere with you.” I yelled at him, shoving myself off the tree and walking towards him with purpose.

“You bitch….” He tried to sound threatening.

“Oh yes.” I interrupted him, shoving my hands against his chest and throwing him against the tree. He growled at me, his wolf shining through his eyes and threatening to come through. I was standing too close to him and his wolf. I started to step away but Elm latched onto my wrist.

“You’re coming with me, now!” Elm howled, his wolf ripping through his greasy exterior as he shifted right in front of me.

I screamed at his claws sliced down on my shoulder and across my chest. I dropped to the ground, feeling the weight of his paws on my wounded chest. Just as I began to gasp for air, the weight was removed.

I rolled onto my side, clutching the shredded remains of my shirt to my chest. I pulled my hand away to see it covered in blood. I groaned and looked around to see seven wolves attacking Elm. I blinked in surprise, I didn’t expect them all to show up. I suspect the three on patrol at my cabin would have been here too if it were not for Jared.

“Hayden.” I cried out to the Gamma’s brown hair wolf, Brooks. Brooks’ ears perked up and he jogged over to me. He pushed his head against mine and whined.

“Where’s August?” I murmured.

“He’s coming, Luna, he’s coming. I’m going to shift.”

Brooks jogged away and came back as Hayden. He knelt down beside me and pushed my hair away,

“You’re going to be okay.” The pain in my head cleared away and that’s when I heard him yelling,

“Josie, Josie! I’m coming, I swear, hold on. I love you.”

I didn’t have the strength to respond to my mate, I just held on to Hayden’s hand and watched as a human Ethan and Wyatt looked over the other wolves who were restraining Elm.

“Alpha will need to make him shift.” Hayden said, following my gaze.

August came bursting through the woods, tugging a shirt over his head as he dropped down beside me. He grabbed my face in his hands and pressed his lips gently to mine. When he pulled back, he observed my wounds.

“I’m going to kill him.” He growled, looking at the grungy wolf behind him. I grabbed onto August’s arm, not letting him go.

“Don’t leave me.” I begged him. His eyes cleared of anger and all I saw was love.

“I’m never going to leave you, love. Let’s get you to the infirmary.” He picked me up, cradling me against his chest. He paused at Elm,

“Shift.” His word was absolute and didn’t need repeating.

August kept walking as I watched the wolf shift back into Elm from behind August’s back. I focused on the blurry trees passing us by, the smell of my mate, and the drumming of my body against his as he walked. Somewhere around the edge of the forest, I lost consciousness.