The engine of the car was already idling with a low vibration that rattled through the soles of my shoes.
The courtyard was a mess of activity this morning, but for a change, I wasn’t the one carrying the loads or getting yelled at to move faster.
In fact no one was.
The Blood Moon Pack members were methodically loading their stuff into the trunks of the black SUVs, their movements disciplined and quiet.
I stood near the rear bumper of the first car, holding a single, small bag that contained my entire life: few clothes, a picture frame I took from our old house, and the little wooden wolf gift someone had left on my window ledge.
That was it.
Eighteen years in the Silver Ridge Pack, and everything I owned could fit into a space no bigger than a loaf of bread.
My mind kept drifting back to last night.
The memory of waking up on the dusty floorboards of my parents’ abandoned house was still fresh, the smell of cedar wood and winter air vivid in my mind.
When Alpha Alexander had found me among the ghosts of my past, he hadn’t yelled.
He hadn’t pulled me up by my hair like Alpha Richard would have.
Instead, he had sat down on the dusty floor right next to me, his huge frame leaning against the old wall.
We had a long conversation in the dark, the longest conversation I had ever had with an Alpha.
“What are you doing here?
Why this house, Ella?” he had asked, his deep baritone unusually soft in the quiet room.
“It was my parents’ house,” I told him, keeping my left ear turned to catch his breath.
“Alpha Richard beat me within an inch of my life when I was eight just for stepping onto the porch.
He said a wolfless freak didn’t deserve to breathe the same air my father did.
He wanted to erase them from my head.”
Alpha Alexander had looked at the shadowed ceiling for a long time before speaking.
“Your father was a respected warrior, Ella.
The High Priest Council has his name carved into the stone of the central Citadel.
Richard didn’t beat you because you were weak.
He beat you because he was a coward who couldn’t deal with reality and needed someone to blame instead of handling things like the Alpha he was.
It’s not like you invited the rogues over to come and kill your parents.
You have no fault in this.”
He had looked straight at me then, his dark eyes holding a steady weight.
“Tomorrow, you get to leave this pack.
You leave the concrete shack, the kitchen sinks, and the people who broke your bones.
In my Blood Moon Pack, you are under my sovereign protection.
No one will ever forbid you from remembering your name.
You get to live as you wish and you want.”
That conversation was the only thing keeping my knees from shaking as the cold morning wind swept across the gravel lot.
“Good morning, Ella!” Hazel’s cheerful voice suddenly cut through my thoughts, shattering the heavy memory.
She marched over to me, her big blue eyes bright as she looked down at my hands.
She stopped dead in her tracks, her brow furrowing in complete confusion.
“Wait…
is that it?”
I blinked, looking down at my small bag.
“Yes.
This is everything.”
“Are you serious?” Hazel asked, her voice rising in shock.
“Where is the rest of your stuff?
Your winter coats?
Your books?
Your extra shoes?
Ella, we are moving to a northern mountain territory, it gets freezing up there!”
“I don’t have any extra shoes, Hazel,” I said simply, keeping my voice flat.
“This is all I own.”
Hazel stared at me for a long moment, a wave of intense sadness flashing through her blue eyes before she quickly masked it with a forced smile.
” That is actually sad…
Well…
that’s fine.
It just means we get to go on a big shopping spree the second we pass the border gates.
I’ll make sure Alex gives us his black card.”
Before I could answer, a shadow fell over us.
Felix, the Gamma, walked up from the garage side, his broad chest stretching the fabric of his dark shirt.
He didn’t say a word to anyone; instead, he stepped right up to Hazel, wrapped a huge arm around her waist, and leaned down to press a firm, lingering kiss straight onto her lips.
Hazel giggled, her cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink as she leaned into his touch.
I stood there, completely frozen, my eyes widening in shock.
I had to look between the two of them twice just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
“Wait…” I stammered, my voice cracking slightly.
“You two…
you are…”
Felix let go of her waist but kept his hand resting casually on her shoulder, a proud, smug grin spreading across his face.
“We are mates, Ella,” he said, chuckling at my reaction.
“I guess you didn’t notice before, huh?”
“You didn’t notice?” Hazel laughed, poking my shoulder gently.
“Ella, Felix has been breathing down my neck and tracking my scent since the moment we left the pack last week.
He’s like a giant, overprotective shadow.”
“I am surprised because…
you two don’t act like the mates in this pack,” I admitted, lowering my voice as I thought about how Alpha Richard and the Luna interacted cold, distant, and full of dominant posturing.
“You are just…
nice to each other.”
“That’s because Silver Ridge is toxic, Ella,” Felix said, his expression turning serious for a fraction of a second as he looked toward the pack house.
“A true mate bond isn’t about submission or ownership.
It’s a partnership.
When we get back to the Blood Moon territory, you’ll see how a real pack operates.”
“Yes!” Hazel chimed in, bouncing slightly on her heels as she took my hand.
“I am so incredibly excited that you are moving into our pack, Ella.
You have no idea.
The pack house there is big, very big, we have a huge library, the kitchens are full of the best food, and everyone is going to like you.
You are going to absolutely love the place, I promise.
You don’t have to worry about a single thing anymore.”
I smiled weakly at her, nodding my head.
Her excitement was catchy, and for a brief second, I actually allowed myself to believe that a new beginning was waiting for me on the other side of those mountains.
I allowed myself to feel a tiny spark of hope.
But my cursed luck was never that kind.
A loud, scrape of leather boots against the gravel echoed from the porch of the pack house.
I turned my head, forcing my good ear forward to see what the noise was about.
Beta Mikko was coming down the wooden steps, his face completely flushed and covered in sweat.
He was groaning, his broad shoulders strained as he carried three huge, glossy boxes in his arms.
But they weren’t anything you would imagine a beta to have or be carrying.
They were bright, neon pink travel boxes with gold zippers and matching designer labels.
And he wasn’t done.
Behind him, two other Blood Moon Pack members were staggering under the weight of even more luggage.
There were pink suitcases, matching vanity cases, garment bags, and velvet boxes stacked so high they completely blocked the view of the porch.
It was like twelve massive pink boxes in total, along with a mountain of other random luxury items.
It looked exactly like the owner was moving to a completely new world and had determined they had to bring every single piece of plastic and fabric they had ever owned in their life.
I stared at the ridiculous mountain of pink luggage, completely baffled.
“What…
what is with all those boxes?” I asked, pointing a finger toward Mikko, who had just dropped a heavy suitcase onto the dirt with a loud gasp.
“Does the Beta always travel with that much stuff?”
Felix let out a loud, booming laugh that echoed through the courtyard, shaking his head.
“Trust me, Ella, if Mikko tried to bring that much pink into the Alpha’s car, Alex would throw him out of the moving vehicle.”
Hazel, however, didn’t laugh.
Her smile completely vanished, replaced by a tight, strained expression as she looked at the mountain of luggage, then turned her eyes back to my face.”
Mikko found his mate in this pack on our first night here, Ella,” Hazel said quietly, her voice dropping into a careful, serious tone.
“The mate bond snapped into place right away.
And…
she is moving back to the Blood Moon Pack with us today.
She is packing her entire life into our transport convoy because she said she wouldn’t be coming back here ever again.”
The words hit my chest like a bucket of freezing ice water, instantly choking the remaining air right out of my lungs.
My skin went completely pale, a deep, paralyzing dread washing through my entire body until my fingers began to shake against my bag.
His mate.
A high-ranking pack member are usually paired with a high-ranking female.
And there was only one female in this entire pack who owned twelve matching neon pink luxury travel boxes.
It was Celia.
Wait what!?
Celia???