#2 When the Moon Turns Red

Noah

Even with my werewolf senses, I wasn’t sure I heard Evie correctly. There was no way she said what I thought she said. I held her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. One second she was filled with questions and the next she was on the verge of tears.

“I didn’t remember before, it happened a few days before I was attacked. But, I was rejected by an Alpha before.” She said again. I dropped my hands from her face in shock.

“Tell me exactly what happened.” I clenched and unclenched my jaw as Remi howled in my head.

“I had just graduated from Harvord. I was leaving the building, trying to find my parents in the courtyard, when someone came up to me,” She squinted her eyes together like she was struggling to remember,

“I remember that he was huge. He towered over me and was like a brick wall blocking my path. He put his hands on my arms, holding me so tightly that it hurt but I could never forget the fire his touch left on my skin,” I couldn’t help but feel the ping of jealousy in my chest. I recalled the bonfire last weekend when she told me that she had felt the sparks between us once before. I already wanted to rip this guy apart. I clenched my fists and waited for Evie to continue,

“He glared at me. I remember thinking, ‘what did I do to piss this guy off?’ because he looked at me with so much anger. He just stood like that for what seemed like forever before he asked me for my name. For whatever reason, I was compelled to tell him. Then, he said, ‘I, Alpha Russell Winters, reject you, Evie Bellamy, as my mate.’ His voice was so cold and it felt like he had just punched me in the stomach,

“He just vanished then. I was in a complete daze when I went on to find my parents. I remember feeling dizzy and sick for a couple days afterwards, I thought I had the flu. That’s why I was home from work that day when the wolf came out of the woods and attacked me.”

By the time Evie was finished I was absolutely seething with anger. I pushed myself away from her and crawled out of the teepee. I started walking across the clearing, struggling to keep Remi at bay.

“Noah?” Her sweet voice pushed waves of soothing calmness over my body as she reached out towards me. I heard her follow me out of the teepee and felt her eyes on me as I paced. I turned around to walk back towards the teepee but ran into my mate.

“Evie…” I warned her but she didn’t listen. She put her hands on my forearms, her fingers brushing against my bare skin.

“It never felt like this,” She said out of the blue. Before I could ask her what she meant, she explained,

“The sparks were the same but the feelings that followed were different. I was afraid of him, I had no idea why but I was. I knew I had to get away from him,” I had to admit, it felt good to hear that she was repulsed by him,

“When you touch me, I feel at peace and safe. I don’t want it to ever stop.” Her voice got quiet as she admitted her feelings to me for the first time. I melted at her feet right then and there, I was completely hers.

“Please don’t be mad at me.” She begged. I held her face again,

“I could never be mad at you. I’m furious with Russell.” I growled. Evie looked surprised,

“You say his name like you know him.”

“I do know him.” I admitted, running my hands down her arms to claim her hands in mine,

“Come on, let’s sit down.” I led Evie back to the teepee and we sat down, leaving no space between us.

“How do you know him?” She asked, eager for information.

“Our pack is the largest and most well renowned on the East Coast. We’re often called upon to solve other pack disputes nearby and across the country,” I began to explain as Evie hung off my every word,

“Russell Winters is a pig headed coward. He craves power but doesn’t have the abilities or the skills to obtain it. He starts fights that he can’t finish all the time. I can’t tell you how often I’ve gone to his territory to keep an all out war from starting. He treats his pack members horribly. All the omegas are assigned to hard labor and pathetic living conditions. He’s forbidden his pack members to take mates who aren’t wolves or for wolves to mate down in rank.” I tried to explain it to her the best I could without losing control.

“Why don’t you do anything about it?” Evie asked me.

“I can’t unless pack members lodge a formal complaint against their Alpha, and nobody has. They’re too scared to speak out, but there’s nothing I can do about it.” I admitted, frustrated.

“That’s messed up.” Evie said plainly.

“I agree, but werewolves tend to stay out of other pack’s business unless they are threatening to expose us to the humans, create a war, or enough pack members speak out.”

Werewolves were proud creatures who didn’t often want to ask for help. Most of the time, I involved my pack only when someone was making so much noise they might get noticed by the humans or by the Council who oversees the wolves. Our help was not usually requested.

“So, he rejected me because I was human and he’s, what, racists against humans?” Evie tried to understand.

“Basically. He thinks Alpha’s should only mate with she-wolves from a ranked bloodline, so the daughter of an Alpha, Beta, or Gamma.” I had my hand resting on Evie’s back, running my thumb soothingly across her shirt.

“He attacked me.” She said matter-of-factly.

“Yes, that would make sense.” Wrong choice of words.

“Make sense? How does any of this make sense?” Evie snapped at me. I winced at her harsh tone.

“Evie,” I sighed at her,

“I just meant that the connection makes sense. I know Russell’s wolf is black and, as an Alpha, he would be as tall as me. It also makes sense that he would attack you after the rejection.”

“Why? You keep telling me that you would never hurt me, that your wolf would never let you hurt me.” I felt her struggling to understand.

“Russell isn’t like me. Even his wolf is a psychopath. Most of the time when mates are rejected, it’s against the wolf’s wishes which is why they both end up suffering and, sometimes, dying. If they don’t die, then usually the wolf abandons their soul and body,”

“Russell and his wolf likely both agreed on rejecting you in favor of a ranked bloodline. But, that doesn’t mean that it didn’t hurt like hell. They likely felt the pain of the mate bond and acted out against it.” I said softly, keeping my voice light so I wouldn’t scare her. I had to set aside my own anger to protect my mate.

“So, they tried to kill me so they wouldn’t feel hurt anymore?” It sounded ridiculous when she said it so plainly, but she was exactly right. I nodded, not sure what to say to comfort her.

“Is this normal?” She asked me.

“Is what normal?”

“For a human to be mated to two Alphas?” I thought about her question for a minute before I replied. The truth was, I hadn’t thought about it like that. I was just so thankful that she ended up being mine.

“Wolves do get second chance mates. Sometimes their first mate doesn’t work out or dies, and the Moon Goddess gives them a second chance mate. I guess I’m like your second chance mate.” I explained it in the only way I knew how.

“But, I’m not a wolf.” She said, like it was obvious.

“That’s true. But, clearly, the Moon Goddess needed you to be mated to an Alpha.”

“Why?” I knew Evie was struggling with the concept of the Moon Goddess and how strongly I believed in her, and I was struggling to explain it in a way that didn’t make me sound like a crazy cult member.

“She needed your spirit and compassion to settle down an Alpha wolf. She put you with the most lost Alpha she could find, hoping that he would accept you and benefit from your presence. But, Russell is an idiot. So, she went with the second best option and I will forever be grateful for that.” I replied. Evie just stared at me, slowly shaking her head.

“Tell me what’s going on that head of yours, little mate.” I asked her softly.

“I just never believed in an almighty being that controlled my destiny, I was never religious. Now you’re telling me that you believe in a Moon Goddess who basically whored me out to not one but two Alpha werewolves.” she said.

“Evie!” I stared at her in shock. She started laughing and the tension between us slowly began to lift.

“I’m sorry! That’s just what it seems like.” She admitted. I laughed with her, able to see it from her point of view.

“I wish that you didn’t have to go through everything that you did. I wish that you were sent straight to me. I hate that you had to feel that pain but I’m happy that you ended up here.” I brushed her hair from her face.