#2 When the Moon Turns Red

Noah

Ever since Molly mindlinked me, I couldn’t get Remi to sit still in my head. He was constantly pacing and whimpering, begging us to go to our mate. I was grateful for Molly, she took it upon herself to go and check on Evie. She mindlinked me when she was at Evie’s house and let me know that everything was okay. I hadn’t heard from her since.

I was pacing in the kitchen of the packhouse, trying to keep myself together, when Greyson and Jack walked in along with my 16-year-old sister, Lucy.

“What are you doing, buddy?” Lucy asked, laughing at my stress. I growled at her and I saw my siblings exchange a look.

“You know, it usually helps if you turn on the stove when boiling water.” Jack noted, turning the dial on the stove top.

“What are you making?” Greyson asked me.

“Nothing, obviously.” I snapped, motioning towards the cold pot of water.

“Aren’t you in a good mood?” Lucy muttered.

“I thought you would be better after telling Evie the truth yesterday.” Greyson said, grabbing a box of macaroni.

“This might be worse.” I said.

“What’s worse?” Jack asked as he dug through cabinets for something to eat.

“That she knows but having no idea how she feels about it.” I grumbled.

“Why don’t you go to her, then?” Greyson shrugged, dumping the box of noodles into the now boiling pot.

“Because I’m giving her time to think.” I told him.

“Why?” Jack asked with his mouth full of potato chips.

“You’re an idiot.” Lucy said from her seat at the kitchen table.

“What?” Greyson and Jack asked at the same time.

“She’s a human, you can’t treat her like a she-wolf. She needs time and space. Noah’s the only one with a brain around here.” She said, rolling her eyes.

“Is that true….Noah?!” Jack started yelling at me, waving his hand in my face but I wasn’t focused on him. I felt my eyes darken as Remi fought for control.

“Go to mate!” Remi ordered me.

Evie was in trouble.

I tore out of the kitchen and through the packhouse. I exploded into Remi and followed his lead towards our mate. He sensed her back at the beach. I mindlinked Molly,

“What the hell is going on?” I barked at her.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her.” I was surprised when Kira answered me back.

“Kira?”

“She wanted to see me, so we took her to the beach to shift. As soon as we shifted, she started freaking out.” Kira explained. Remi pumped his legs even faster, desperate to get to our mate.

“Is she safe?” I growled.

“Yes, yes. She’s just crying and screaming and won’t move.” Kira showed me a picture of my mate. She was standing just inches from Kira having a complete meltdown. She was trying to get away but couldn’t get her feet to move.

“Kira shift back into Molly, NOW!” I ordered her, recognizing a panic attack when I saw one.

I pushed Remi faster than I ever have before, but he wasn’t complaining. We had to get to our mate. Luckily, the packhouse was only a few minutes drive from the beach, and we made it in half the time on all fours.

Kira was still in control when we arrived. Her sense of duty to Evie as her Luna must be overriding my Alpha command. I plowed into the side of her white wolf, shoving her into the forest. She was half the size of Remi and was no match for us. Kira immediately submitted, bowing her head to the ground.

“Shift. NOW.” I showed Kira my teeth and she quickly gave control back to Molly and shifted.

“Go inside and get me some clothes.” I told Molly. She nodded and quickly ran off.

Remi turned his back on the woods and looked for our mate. She had stopped screaming but was still frozen in place, tears streaming down her face. I was torn between not wanting to traumatize her more by watching me shift and being naked, and not wanting to scare her more by approaching her as Remi.

Her blue eyes were so clouded with tears I could hardly see their color when she turned them on me. I forced Remi to relinquish some control and I felt my eyes change from black to green. Evie’s eyes widened and her mouth formed a little O as she realized the large, brown wolf was me.

She dropped down to her knees in complete defeat. I couldn’t keep myself away any longer. We crouched as close to the ground as possible and slowly moved towards Evie. We crawled across the yard towards her, careful not to startle her. Her eyes followed our every move. We stopped a few feet away and Remi’s entire body dropped to the ground. Remi folded his ears back and looked up at her with my eyes.

Remi purred and whimpered for her attention, begging her to see that we weren’t a threat. She sniffed and blinked away her tears. She pulled herself up onto her knees and clasped her hands against her chest, watching us closely. She shimmied closer to us and I sucked in a breath, not wanting to move and scare her away. She hesitantly reached out her hand, rubbing her fingers together as if she was testing the air around her.

After a painfully long time, her fingers finally brushed against Remi’s fur. She immediately pulled back, scaring herself, before pushing her hand against Remi’s head and tangling her fingers in his hair. Remi started purring, his tail wagging slightly in excitement.

“Settle down, don’t scare her.” I warned him.

Evie ran her hand between Remi’s ears and a slow smile spread across her lips. Remi and I both melted into a puddle of bliss. Oh this woman already had us wrapped around her little finger.

“You’re not so scary.” Evie’s sweet voice sang. Remi gently shook his head back and forth. I relished in the sound of her innocent giggles.

“You’re really pretty, Remi.”

“Mate said my name! Mate thinks I’m pretty!” Remi purred, absolutely beside himself with pride.

“Is that okay to say? Can a werewolf be pretty?” She blushed, unsure of herself. Remi gently nuzzled her knee with his nose in approval.

“I guess that’s a yes.” She giggled again, running her finger down Remi’s snout. He plopped his head down in our mate’s lap. It’s official, we were her puppy.

“I’m sorry I scared Kira. She just got so close and was so big.” Evie whimpered. Remi snuggled against her legs, trying to comfort her.

“Do you think I could see Noah now?” Her request was barely audible, like she was nervous to offend us. Remi lifted his head slightly off her lap and bounced it up and down in a nod. He kept his body low as he scoots back from Evie. She watches us intensely as Remi trotted off towards the woods.

“Evie!” Molly came running across the yard then with my clothes in her hands. Remi yipped at her and she immediately rerouted towards Remi. She tossed my clothes down on the ground and ran back towards Evie.

“I’m so sorry, Kira got overly excited and then she was so afraid for you she wouldn’t give me back control. She wanted to protect the Luna and it was overriding everything else.” I heard Molly say to Evie as she hugged her tightly.

I quickly shifted back and threw on my clothes, desperate to be near my mate.

“It’s okay, Molly. It wasn’t your fault, I was just triggered. It’s okay, promise.” I heard Evie trying to convince Molly that everything was alright. In general, I didn’t have a problem with Molly. But, at this moment, I could care less about her feelings.

“Everleigh!” I called to my mate as I jogged up to her side. Molly moved out of the way quickly and bowed her head to me.

“Noah.” The sigh of relief was all the approval I needed. I grabbed Evie’s face in my hands and ran my thumbs across her cheeks, drying her tears.

“You’re okay.” I cooed.

“Molly, you can go.” I dismissed her without looking away from Evie’s eyes.

“Yes, Alpha.” Molly didn’t argue as she left Evie and I alone.

“Don’t be mad at her.” Evie whispered.

“I’m trying not to be, but she caused you harm and that’s not something that I can just ignore.” I told her, pushing her hair back from her face.

“She didn’t mean to.” Evie said.

“Shh, let’s not talk about that right now.” I smiled at her softly,

“Did you like Remi?” I asked her. She bit her bottom lip and nodded,

“He was sweet.” She said, I ran my thumb across her bottom lip, pulling it from her teeth. She blushed at that, ducking her head.

“You’re sending him into a frenzy by saying that.” I smirked.

“I didn’t mean to…” She started,

“That’s a good thing, love.” I chuckled at her. I ran my hands down her arms and gathered her hands in mine.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” I asked her.

“Can we go down to the beach? The woods are freaking me out.” She said, nodding behind me.

“Of course.” I smiled at her reassuringly and put my hand on the small of her back, leading her down to the beach.

“Can I help you over the wall?” I asked for her permission this time.

She placed her hands on my shoulders and nodded, giving me permission to help her. I gripped her hips in my hands and lifted her down from the wall. I felt her arms snake around my neck as I picked her up. When I sat her down on the sand I was surprised that her hands didn’t immediately release me. Instead, she steadied herself in front of me and ran her hand across the back of my neck. I gripped her hips tighter and growled in approval.

“What’s going through that pretty little head of yours?” I asked her, ducking my head so I could look into her eyes.

“I’m trying to decide if I want to fight this or not.” She admitted, focusing on me.

“Why would you want to fight it?” I searched her expression, afraid she was going to leave me.

“It’s all just so overwhelming. It’s moving so fast.” Evie said.

“I’m sorry, Everleigh, I’m trying to do whatever I can to make you comfortable. But, I need you to help me out here. Moving fast is what werewolves do.” I begged her to help me understand what she needs,

“I need you to believe me when I say that I will literally do anything for you, wherever you need.” I said. Evie sighed and dropped her arms from my neck.

I held back my protest as she moved away from me, letting my hands fall from her waist. She looked back and held out her hand for me to take. I greedily snatched it up and allowed myself to be led down the beach.