by SJ Hayslett
"I didn't show mercy. The mercy was granted because of your Beta, not me." Reed came up behind her and wrapped her into him. Evony's back rested and relaxed against his front as his arms held her close. She felt his mouth on her neck and his warm breath clashed with the cold shudder that racked her body when they touched.
"I know Garrett, I know how he operates. He gave you advice and let you make the choice. He deferred to you as his alpha, and you made the choice based on his advice. You didn't have to let them take their dead you could have ordered the death of everyone that came against you. But you didn't. And believe me, there is nobody in our pack that blames you for the sins of your father."
Evony heard what he was telling her, and on some basic level, she knew and understood that he was right. It was illogical of her to think that she was the reason that her father attacked Blood Moon, she did after all tell him to let it go. And it was him who betrayed the promise. The death of nameless wolf was not her fault. Georgia's death was not her fault. She doubted though that the pack back home would see it that way.
"Look," Reed turned her so that he could look into her eyes. "Being a leader isn't about hearing what you want to hear. It's about the actions you take when things aren't going your way. And from what I hear from Garrett, my enforcers, and the ones you protected yesterday, you showed yourself a leader. And I'm so proud to have you as my helpmate and alpha female." Evony melted with Reed's words of affirmation as they meant more to her than any praise that she had received from her father. Reed touched his forehead to hers, hoping that the mate bond was strong enough for Evony to feel the love that he already had for her. He marveled that they'd only known each other for three days, barely an entire weekend, and he could know beyond a shadow of doubt that he was in love with who the goddess had matched him with.
"Reed, we just received word from the council," Garrett's voice came through in the mind link and Reed was hesitant to leave Evony. However, even if the council hadn't contacted his pack, there was still other pack business that he needed to oversee.
"You have to go don't you?" Evony noticed when he had pulled out of the moment and realized that someone had contacted him via the mind link.
"Yeah, unfortunately. Why don't you stay here today? You can talk with some of the pack, start making friends here." Reed hoped that she would take him up on the offer. Amnesty transfers were allowed on pack grounds as long as they weren't there to discuss business. It was purely for social purposes since wolves were social creatures. But his ulterior motive was that the sooner she know who she could trust as friends, the sooner he could claim her in front of the entire pack.
"I can't, I need to go over my books since classes start tomorrow." Evony really wished she could stay, but she really wanted to do well her first semester. Can I keep your shirt?"
Reed kissed her forehead before pulling away. "You don't even have to ask." He smirked as he started to walk away from her. She looked down and saw that he was only wearing snug boxer briefs. She felt her face heating up from the blood rush to her cheeks as she realized he was mostly naked while holding her moments earlier. "Like what you see love?" Reed was sitting on the bed holding the jeans that he was wearing the day before. Evony watched as he started stuffing one leg at a time in the denim.
"Meh." She couldn't help but feel embarrassed at her naivety when it came to the opposite sex. The price of being and alpha's daughter she guessed.
She searched for her clothes and then remembered that they were smeared with blood. She found the basketball shorts that Garrett had given her the previous night and rolled up the elastic band until they stayed on her hips.
"Go do your alpha duties and call me later." She smiled and hoped that the smile gave off the appearance that she was okay with leaving him. It was a pleasant surprise to wake up in his arms and she couldn't wait until moments like that happened more often. Just the thought of it had her rethinking her position on waiting to be claimed. Even just the fact she would be able to mind link with Reed throughout the day would be a nice consolation if she had to bear not being by his side. Was it really necessary to have relationships with people she was meant to lead?
"Okay. Have a good day Evy." He left her with one more sweet and delicate kiss before reluctantly leaving the room.
Evony blew out some air in her lungs before gathering what was left of her things and slipped out of the room moments behind Reed. She had hoped to catch one more glimpse of him before leaving the pack house, but by the time she even reached the front doors, he had already disappeared behind his office.
~*~
Evony just finished going over the first chapter of all of her course books so that she was ready when classes began, when her phone started ringing. She started groaning when she realized that her phone was in her bag by the door.
"But I was so comfortable," she exasperated when she made a move to get out of bed. Only the thought that it might be Reed was enough to quicken her steps. Unfortunately, the name on the screen wasn't her mate.
"Hey Arthur. How's it going?" She sighed, but tried to disguise it as a yawn. Evony had no desire to turn away the first human friend she made since she'd been in Boston, but she knew that ultimately she had to keep him at arm's length.
"Nothing much. I just wanted to check on you since I didn't see you leave the other night. I would have called yesterday, but I was pretty messed up." Evony smiled at his sentiment and that he was thoughtful enough to call and see how she was doing.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I kinda ducked out after the fight, it was a long day for me."
"I kind of figured that. Sorry to drag you out there. Which fight did you leave after?"
"There was more than one?"
"Yeah there were about three that I can remember. There might have been more, it's not too clear right now." Arthur chuckled nervously and Evony couldn't figure out why he was nervous.
"Oh I guess it was the first one that happened after we got there then."
"Yeah I remember that one. Come to think of it, I think that was the last time I saw you that night." It almost felt like he was fishing for something and suddenly Evony didn't have a too good feeling anymore.
"Hey Arthur? I need to finish some of this reading before tomorrow. You wanna get together later this week for coffee? That way we can catch-up on how classes are going?" Evony tried to keep her voice light so that he wouldn't get suspicious that she was actually rushing him from the phone.
"That sounds perfect. I guess I should get started looking at my books as well, huh? I'll talk to you later." Evony barely got a chance to say bye when he hung up the phone. She shook off her bad vibes and decided it was time for a shower before meeting up with the campus wolves for a run. Evony was really excited to meet up with some of the wolves that she had a chance to meet at the mixer the day before. Some of the wolves didn't even go to Harvard, but also MIT, as it was a joint club between the schools.
Shower caddy, towel, and a change of clothes in hand, Evony was about to walk out of her room when she instead walked into a solid wall of muscle.
"What are you doing here?" She got her bearings and smelled Reed's scent before she looked up at him.
"I needed to be with you."
The towel and shower caddy were long forgotten as Evony placed them on the floor and dragged him into the room and sat him down on the bed. "Is everything okay? You look stressed."
"I'm fine. Were you going somewhere?" Reed reached up for her by grabbing her waist and walked her in front of him so that she was standing in between his legs.
"Just for a shower. I was going to meet up with some wolves from the pack for a run." Evony's arms naturally rested on his shoulders and she started playing with the hair that was at his nape. Reed's eyes closed with the tingling sensation of her nails playing in his hair and across his scalp.
"Stay here with me," he pleaded.
"How are you here anyway? Don't you have guards on me twenty-four seven?" Evony tried not to complain,
since it was a part of their compromise to her going around unmarked. But it didn't mean she was entirely happy with the ordeal.
"I sent them home. As soon as they were out of the area, I came up. They won't be back at their post until tomorrow morning." Evony smiled at how proud he seemed to come up with the time to spend the entire night together. "I just need to hold you tonight."
Evony could tell there was something bothering Reed, but with the terms of the amnesty in place, she wasn't sure if she should ask. If he told her that what was so disturbing was in any way related to pack business, the Pack Council would have grounds to send witches swooping in her head. The process of having a witch in a wolf's head was painful, often resulting in the wolf passing out. Having anyone access your mind when they are not related to your pack was excruciating.
Harvard had only provided the dorms with twin size beds, not that there was any room for anything bigger; so getting comfortable was a bit of a challenge for Reed and Evony. They struggled for a bit until Reed flipped on his back and held Evony on top of him with their legs entwined with each others. Evony rested her head on his chest and started drawing her fingers in circles on his muscled body while Reed began rubbing circles into her back. The alpha pair both felt the inaudible sigh of relief when they relaxed in their position.
"The council will be in here on Friday. They plan on staying through at least the weekend," Reed finally opened up after a few minutes of contented silence between them. Evony shifted her head so that her chin rested on his chest and she could see her mate's face clearly.
"My father called them. Didn't he?"
"We're not sure but we think so. After his failed attempt of taking you back, he's trying to cover his ass. The Council representative that I spoke to on the phone didn't give a reason for the visit, only the basic details of their stay. It's all speculation at this point."
"Well, what else could it be?"
"The Council has gotten on my case before about not choosing my mate yet. I've dodged them for so long against the matter. If they're here for that, my time as Alpha could soon be up."
"Why would your time be up? You have me, I'm right here."
"Evony, don't you realize you come before my pack? I will always choose you. And if you're not ready to be Luna, then so be it. Any pack can't run for too long without a Luna, so for the greater good of the pack, I'll step down as Alpha. Then it wouldn't matter if you make any real friendships, we'll be free to mate and mark each other as much as we wanted to."
"Don't be stupid Reed. As much as that dream sounds lovely. No alpha would be comfortable with the former alpha in his pack, especially when he didn't fight for the title. If he didn't kill you, he'd banish you from the pack and where would that leave me? I'd be forced to stay here because of the amnesty and school. I wouldn't even be able to go home. "
A part of Reed could see the logic but he knew that if he was forced to step down, Garrett would take over as Alpha of the Blood Moon pack. His best friend would never kill or banish him. All he knew was that he didn't want to pressure Evony into the mating process, even now he was regretting informing her of the visit; even though she would have to be present anyway.
Chapter 11
Sitting in the library after her Friday morning class, Evony sipped a hot cup of coffee while she did some studying for her ethics class. The first week of classes, so far went really well for her. Paul and Connor kept their distance, but remained in sight in case she needed them, though nothing ever happened. She was especially pleased that they hadn't followed her into the lecture halls but stayed outside and covered the exits instead. Evony preferred no one actually picking up that she had bodyguards following her around.
Though she missed the meeting on Sunday thanks to Reed's unexpected visit to her dorm, she was able to meet up with the Reservoir Club on Wednesday for the first time. And like her experience on Saturday, she found a relief in shifting to her wolf. The night class that she added to her schedule prevented her from meeting up with them on Thursday evenings, but she could definitely see herself meeting with them the other meet days.
Other than the last time she saw Reed, late Tuesday night when he made another appearance at her door, she hadn't seen her handsome mate. Though there was a lack of a physical relationship between them, Evony was confident that the phone calls and text messages between them was enough temporarily.
Not to mention the fact that a small part of her hoped that he'd claim her in front of his pack that evening. And the council. Just thinking of the council visit was enough to distract Evony from the work that was staring at her from the oak table. All she knew was that, for Silver Fang's sake, she hoped the council visit had nothing to do with anything going on between her father and Blood Moon.
"It's a shame that you're letting good coffee go to waste," Evony looked up from her thoughts to see Arthur plop into a chair across from her. "I saw you earlier and it looks like you haven't moved in a while."
Evony was embarrassed that she was caught mooning over her thoughts the way she was. Even more so when she took a sip of her coffee and cringed that the once hot drink was lukewarm. "Hey what's up? I haven't seen much of you this week."
"I've been around. I kind of had it in my head to load up my schedule and I'm currently rethinking my strategy," Arthur laughed but with everything on Evony's mind she could only manage a smile. "Anyways, I gotta head off to my afternoon class but some buddies of mine are hosting a fight party tomorrow night. Wanted to see if you wanted to come through."
"Umm, can I let you know? I might be off campus tomorrow, I'm not sure yet."
"Yeah that's cool. Give me a call." Arthur knocked his knuckles against the wood table twice before throwing Evony a smile and walked away. Evony knew she told Arthur that she was involved with someone, but she couldn't tell if he was still holding out hope for her, or if he just genuinely wanted to be friends. She wasn't quite sure how to proceed since she never had a friend who was entirely human. What would they even talk about?
Evony groaned, knowing there was no way her mind was going to let her focus on her studies. She was too keyed up for the council, so with that decided, Evony packed up her books and strolled out of the library.
Reed had explained that all werewolves that didn't live on pack territory were expected to remain on the pack grounds for at least the first night, so she set about packing a small duffle bag full of clothes and toiletries that she'd need. Once that was done, Evony began to feel restless and decided to head over to the grounds extra early. At the very least, she could see Reed or just go for a run. Either way, it seemed like a better way to waste time than just sitting in her dorm.
The guard let her pass through the gates once she arrived and she parked out front of the pack house. Like the other times before, she was amazed at the vastness of the house. She briefly wondered how Blood Moon could afford to host such a big house, let alone continue to buy up land for the pack. Back at Silver Fang, her father owned a number of businesses; though most of his money was from a tech company that Evony had no interest in. Though, her father's dealings were no longer her concern, as she was sure that her position during last week's fight sealed her fate as being disowned from her father.
"You're here early. None of the off-campus wolves will be here until later," Blair was lounged in a chair and a too small bikini, catching sun. Evony looked at the sky and wondered why she didn't do this in the backyard. As if she knew what Evony was thinking, Blair preemptively countered with, "there's better sun out front."
Evony took a deep, deep calming breath before she answered Blair. "Yeah, good afternoon Luna Blair. I was kind of bored in my dorm. So I thought I'd come early and go for a run. Would you like to join me?"
There was no mistaking the scoff that Blair released. "I heard about your heroics last week. You think you're so smart don't you?"
"I'm sorry, Luna. I don't know what you're talking about." Evony detested playing to Blair's ego but she also was still clinging
to keeping her identity a secret until at the very least, the council meeting. Evony turned her back on Blair, which had Blair been the true alpha female, would have been a sign of disrespect to her and the pack. Evony retrieved her bag from the backseat of her Jeep, only to find that Blair had risen from her lounger to glare harder at Evony.
"You dare disrespect me?"
"Caught that did ya? Let me ask you something," Evony stepped forward into Blair's personal space. She cursed the fact that Blair had about six inches to her. "Why are you talking like you're stuck in 1600's England? 'You dare disrespect me?'" She added mockingly. "I don't know what you think you know, nor do I care. The only thing I'm focused on is ending this semester on the Dean's list. So if you'll excuse me, Luna, I'd like to claim a bed now." Evony could feel her wolf rising to the surface and used the distraction of shifting her bag from her left and to the right to calm down.
As she began walking past Blair, the she-wolf grabbed and squeezed her upper-arm and drew her close. "As long as you remember that I'm the true Luna of Blood Moon, we won't have any problems," she whispered in Evony's ear.
Evony was never one to back down from a challenge. Her blood wouldn't allow it.
She dropped her duffle bag and struck Blair's throat with her own tight grip. Evony's slender fingers glided over the pale skin of Blair's neck. Immediately, Blair's grip on Evony's arm loosened before dropping altogether so that she could try to claw Evony's hand away.
"No, as long as you remember that I was born an alpha female. I don't need to be marked like a bitch in heat to claim that title. So why don't you just stay out of my way," A little bit of her alpha command voice snuck through and Evony's wolf was proud that Blair was finally put in her place.
'How dare she think what's mine is hers,' she said to Evony before settling down.
As soon as Evony released her from her hand, Blair dropped to the ground in a crumpled heap. Evony gathered her bag back up and made her way to the door of the pack house. She snuck upstairs and claimed the same room that Garrett had stuck her in the last time she had to stay over.