The Howling Heart's Forgiveness

Waking up sore and disoriented, I look around the familiar room and smile. Last night I had turned eighteen. I had been welcomed by the pack as a grown adult and told my Beta training will begin soon. Taking a deep breath I breathe in Rune’s scent – vanilla and mint – and grab the pillow he slept on.

Rune.

My friend.

My play mate growing up.

And now my Goddess given Mate.

I have known him my whole life with our parents being friends and Betas. We ran around the pack as wild children, always getting into trouble and then partnered up during training when we came of age. Lucas is one of two people that I could train with and be an even match, sometimes even leaving him bruised and battered by the time training came to an end.

I never thought that we would be each other’s Mates. Never thought that we would spend the night of my eighteenth birthday lost in our own world as I gave myself to him even though he has a girlfriend waiting. A girlfriend he will be breaking up with so that we can mark and mate each other and become the Alpha and Luna of our pack. He has already promised me as much last night before we fell asleep in each other’s arms.

My smile turns into a wide grin. Last year I became an orphan when my parents saved Alpha Valor and Rune from a pack of Rogues that snuck into Pine Moon during the early morning. Now I will be the future Luna of Pine Moon, gaining a bigger family in the process with Alpha Valor as my father-in-law and Gale and Miss Asteria as my Uncle and Aunt.

Speaking of my Mate, I look to the side of the bed Rune slept on and wonder where he has gone. Nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and a t-shirt remains, the clothes smelling like his scent of mint and vanilla. Curious to learn where he went, I reach out through our mind link but come up empty. Shocked, I try again, hoping to reach my mate to see if his father knows we are fated by the Goddess, but I get the same results – nothing. Something is blocking me.

Deciding I need to find my Mate and talk to him face to face about what the next step will be, I grab the clothes he left for me and quickly dress. It is just as I am about to stand from the comfortable bed that the door is slammed open and in walks Tanya Cross and her minions. The four girls glare at me as they block the door and a feeling of unease settles inside me. If Tanya is here with her goons, then something bad is about to happen.

“If it isn’t the little home wrecker.” Tanya sneers as she takes a step towards me. I bristle at her words and glare at the brunette, hazel eyed she-wolf with the fakest tan I have ever seen and scoff. If anyone is the home wrecker, it is her.

“Show some respect for the future Luna of Pine Moon. I am Rune’s Mate.” I shoot back, watching as shock and then anger cross her face. Tanya has always hated me ever since the day she arrived at our pack ten years ago and immediately clung to Rune without any rhyme or reason for it. Tanya is not a true member of Pine Moon, but the daughter of the Alpha to the largest pack in the area, Blood Claws. Alpha Valor made some sort of deal with her father ten years ago after visiting Blood Claws and shortly after returning to the pack, Tanya came to live in Pine Moon when she was nine. When she turned fourteen, Rune and her began dating. Power went to her head and she took this opportunity to begin bulling me for no other reason than me being a she-wolf that was friends with her boyfriend as well as his future Beta.

“You will never be Luna of Pine Moon. That position is mine and will always be mine.” She screeches at me. I open my mouth to ask what she means by this but before I can, her minions are rushing towards me. The strawberry blonde she-wolf called Paisley grabs my hair, yanking it hard and pulling me off the bed, catching me off guard as I fall onto the floor. I can smell the scent of wolfsbane on her fingers and I snarl at her as I avoid her claws aiming for my face. Wolfsbane is poison to us wolves, how dare they try to use it on a high-ranking member of the pack.

Kicking out at Paisley, I manage to connect the heel of my foot into her stomach. She releases me as she is sent flying towards Tanya, crashing into the spiteful bitch and falling to the ground on top of her. Unfortunately for me, I leave myself open for another attack and the two remaining she-wolves, a red head named Scarlet and a blonde name Ashley, take this chance to claw at me, their nails cutting into my exposed skin. I wince as the wolfsbane on their nails seep in through the wounds they’ve made, feeling it begin to work through my veins. Doing my best to fight back, I send an S.O.S. into the pack link hoping that someone can reach me in time, but I am met with another block.

It is then that I realize something is wrong. The only reason for my pack link not to work is if the Alpha blocked me from mind linking with the pack. Scarlet makes a swipe for my face, but I dodge her just in time and she grazes my shoulder, ripping through Rune’s shirt that I am wearing. I wince, my energy slowly being zapped by the wolfsbane slowly poisoning my body and find myself stepping back to avoid the girls and prepare for their next attack.