Page 36 of Rejection on the Full Moon

Dominic is handed a silver whip, his eyes glowing with hatred as he unwinds the silver rope. He flicks his wrist just right to inflict damage on all three wolves. Cries of pain sound out as the whip connects with flesh, the drunken wolves soon cowering in fear, giving up on begging for forgiveness. Just when I think Dominic is going to kill them, he stops, leaving the three barely breathing while Miles takes the whip and walks away.

"I will let them live with this shame, but our alliance ends here. From now on, the Forest Paw pack is our enemy. Those of you who wish to stay will become my pack's enemy as well. If you wish to leave, we welcome new, loyal members with open arms. We leave in two hours.” My mate walks towards me, kissing my forehead and ordering Lease and Concra to guard me before heading inside. Blood is splattered along his arm from the whip he held just moments ago. Christian helps me inside as the wolves from Forest Paw do their best to scrape the three nearly dead wolves from the cold ground. This is the last I see of Leo. My phone is handed to me, the screen cracked from earlier, and I sigh. I would have to get a new one when I return home. My friends try their best to keep me company, with Abby coming to sit with us while her pups play quietly in the living room.

“So, I’m going to be an aunt,” Abby states, sending me a playful wink as I nod, wincing when the pain from my head causes my vision to blur.

“Careful now, how about you take these?” Serena walks in just in time to hand me some Advil and a glass of water. The headache eases slightly within a few minutes, but I’m not in the mood for talking, deciding that resting on the couch, for now, is the best thing I can do as the hustle and bustle of wolves preparing to either leave, or challenge for the right as the newest Alpha fill the building.

Blue surprises me when he comes to inform me that Axel and a few Omegas have helped him pack up his house, deciding to give up on Forest Paw and his son and join Blood Moon. I can see the tiredness in his eyes, the man ready to retire with Maria and live out his days peacefully.

“There’s a cottage you can move into. It’s close to Amberle’s house,” Dominic states, appearing behind Blue and smiling at my adoptive father. Blue thanks him, letting us know that he’s ready to go when we are before he and Maria leave the pack house. Dominic scoops me into his arms, a smile on his face as he plants a kiss on my sore head.

“I think it’s time to head home. I’m driving, so all you have to do is rest, okay?”

“Okay, Ice. Can we stop for food on the way home?” I ask, getting a chuckle from my mate.

“Yes, we can.” With that, everyone is given a ten-minute heads-up. Dominic has a Forest Paw member join a car with a Blood Moon member so that we all can communicate. With everyone ready to leave, we say goodbye to Forest Paw for good and make the journey home.

Chapter 22 – Home Sweet Home

Warm arms wake me from my apparent slumber. The cold air meeting my skin causes me to shrink into the warmth caressing me.

“We’re home, Amberle. You can go back to sleep.” I nod, taking in the familiar scent of my house around me. The sweet embrace of sleep mixed with the familiarity of home relaxes my sore body, lulling me into dreamland once again.

???

Morning light shines on my face and in my eyes, waking me from my dreams as I meet the gaze of ice-blue eyes. Dominic smiles at me, placing a kiss on my forehead as I let out a yawn. My warm bed felt like heaven under me, with the familiar smell of lavender and vanilla from the fabric softener I use reminding me that I’m safe in Blood Moon.

“Good morning,” I mumble through another yawn, snuggling into Dominic’s arms and resting my head on his chest, finding comfort in his steady heartbeat.

“Good morning, beautiful.” Warm hands run through my hair, my eyes closing with content when a light kiss is placed on the top of my head. We spent the morning in bed, deciding that cuddling is needed. I ask about the wolves from Forest Paw, wondering if they have been settled in yet. Sidney, Avery and Camile were asked to organize housing for the many wolves, with some planned to settle into the dormitories, while others were moved into vacant houses around the pack and the rest inside our own guest cabin. I sigh, realizing we will have to expand our pack in order to accommodate our new members, and that we will have to call in some witches to reinforce and extend our territory protection to help hide our pack’s presence from the human world. There will be a lot of work and ceremonies in the next few days for our pack, and over the next month of getting the new members up to par with the rest of Blood Moon.

“We should go to lunch at the pack house today and see everyone,” Dominic suggests, my stomach growling in agreement at the thought of food. My mate chuckles at me, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before climbing out of bed and disappearing into the closet. He returns dressed with a handful of clothes for me: cotton undergarments, leggings, and a baggy sweater I stole from him a while ago.

“I’ve been looking for this.” He laughs as he hands me the bundle of clothes. I smirk, quickly changing my clothes. The blue sweater engulfs my body, the hemline falling to my knees.

“Yeah, I think I have four more somewhere in the house that belong to you,” I admit, taking Dominic’s outstretched hand. He just laughs at me, shaking his head as we head down the stairs and into the garage. Dominic climbs into the driver’s seat as he’ll take us to the pack house.

I felt like a pup on Christmas Day, full of excitement to see my pack mates after a good month away from everyone. The drive feels like an eternity, but when the four-story building finally came into view, a grin spreads across my face. I rush out just as Dominic turns off the car, spotting Avery and tackling her in a tight hug. I missed my best friend, and I hear her chuckle as we land in the snow. A very worried and overprotective Dominic hovers over me.

“Amberle, you’re pregnant and have a concussion, so don’t throw yourself at people!” He cries out in frustration, helping me up and dusting the snow off of me.

“Wait, what?” A look of confusion and shock is plastered on my friend’s face, making me giggle and wink at her as I help her to her feet.

“Call everyone into the dining hall. Dominic and I have a lot to explain.” I retort instead of answering her question and walk away from Avery as Dominic leads me out of the cold and into the pack house. I spy Zack and Blue speaking with Christian just inside the pack house, the three of them sitting on the stairs laughing away.

“Think you can link the wolves from Forest Paw and tell them to come to the dining hall?” I ask my brother, getting a nod as my reply.

Wolves begin filing into the pack house, many welcoming Dominic and I back home while giving questioning gazes to the multiple new wolves. They will get their answers later when everyone is here. Christian and Blue excuse themselves, wanting to take a headcount on all the wolves and make sure everyone is here, not before I notice Christian slip something into Dominic’s hand. Our dining hall is also our meeting hall, the room having been expanded earlier this year to accommodate our growing pack. I had no worries with wolves not being able to squeeze in, since we even added a stage on which to make announcements that has come in handy as it made it a lot easier to address the pack.

After twenty minutes of waiting and chatting with Zack, Camile exits the dining hall, explaining that everyone is situated and we can enter. Zack excuses himself to find his mate as Dominic and I make our way through the crowd and onto the stage. Camile, our Beta Female, stands beside Christian, giving her mate a peck on the cheek right before Dominic begins our announcement.

“Yesterday, we didn’t have the chance to explain what happened at Forest Paw, since it was already too late at night.” Dominic begins, motioning for me to take the lead as I was the main trainer. I sigh, stepping up to the podium and look over at the crowd.

“The trip was a success, to a degree.” I start, wincing slightly when I accidentally bump my stomach into the wooden structure before me. Some of my pack mates send me a concerned look and I smile, trying my best to reassure them.

“We trained the wolves as promised and even defeated an army of Soulless. But there seems to be trouble brewing. If our suspicions are correct, there is a Soulless working on building a bigger army. For what, we have no idea. Everyone will be training, even the pups, to learn some measures of self-defence, and we will have monthly meetings to update you on any leads. You may see leaders of ally packs coming here every so often, but other than that I believe our pack is one-hundred percent safe.” I can see the questions in each and every member’s gaze, and some wolves were pulling their pups closer. I learned that, unlike most Alphas who prefer to hide things from their pack, Dominic informed everyone of any threats or concerns, wanting his pack members to be safe and prepared for anything. The respect I felt for the pack increased as I continued to work with and get to know everyone, being privy to information and also giving the power to speak about these concerns on many occasions to the pack.

Dominic steps up beside me, his eyes gleaming as he wraps his arm around my waist, careful not to move too quickly while taking a spot in front of the microphone.

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