Chapter The Challenge
Julie POV
I saw Tania coming and felt my eyes vibrating and then my body. Aphrodite lifted both hands, and I thought it was to hold Tania in place to avoid the impact, but she said. “This bitch has too much hate inside her. Let’s give her some love, shall we?” Tania stopped moving, and her face was writhing like her wolf was fighting it.
“No need to fight bitch. I am more powerful than you. You wanted to be Luna of this pack, didn’t you? What a shame.” Tania started to move again, fighting it. I could feel the power inside me being poured directly into her, calming Tania. It was not letting her fight. It was nothing like when we healed the wolves and touched the infertile women. The power was much more potent. “It is too strong, Aphrodite. Why?”
“Don’t worry. We can handle it, Jules. She will leave here like the weak, pathetic wolf that she is. She needs to learn her place.” The electricity inside my body increased, and Tania fell to her knees, baring her neck to me in submission. I could hear gasps around the crowd and her father screaming for her to get up and fight, but it was too late. She had already submitted on my feet in less than five minutes.
Aphrodite got near her and grabbed her hair, making her look up. Tania looked pathetic and scared. “Now that you submitted like the weak wolf you are. I will have mercy on you, and I won’t kill you.” She looked at Alpha John and the Shadows Pack. “Get this poor excuse of a she-wolf and leave my territory. If I found your daughter here again trying to claim what is rightful mine, I won’t be so kind.”
The crowd was going crazy, cheering the new Luna, accepting us. When I looked at them, they bowed to me as a sign of acceptance and respect. “I told you, Jules, we would do great here. Look at them. They are so many. And calling us Luna already.” I looked to the side and saw Alpha John leaving with a crying Tania in his arms, followed by his men.
“What now, A?” I felt happiness coming from her. “Now, we resume the work we started and learn our duties as Luna. We have many people to help, Jules. We will give our pack love and make them more extraordinary. That is why we are destined to this pack.”
She walked towards Max and looked into his eyes. My eyes were glowing even more now. “Is that weak wolf you regarded so highly and thought would be strong enough to lead our pack? Selene must be disappointed looking at you right now. What kind of powerful Alpha are you that did not even recognise the powers of his mate?”
She shook her head. “With that weak she-wolf at your side, the Blue Moon would not have survived, and you would have become a weak Alpha.” My mate did not say anything. He looked overwhelmed. His expression was speaking louder than words, and I was sure he did not believe in what transpired today. I was confused, too. I never felt a power like that. I was always too weak, and when Aphrodite showed up, she only had a small amount of strength.
Sometimes, it was not even enough to heal all the beatings. But now that we were healed, I did not even know what we could do. We started walking back to the pack house, and I felt scared for a minute. “Don’t need to be afraid of anything, Jules. I will always be with you. Things will only improve from now on. And Max will love and accept us as it should be.”
When I got to the entrance hall, a beautiful she-wolf in her forties was waiting for me. She had a kind aura and stunning green eyes, the same as my mate, and they had to be related. “Hello, Julie. I am Sarah Black, the former Luna of the Blue Moon Pack.” She smiled at me. “I was very impressed today. Let us get to know each other. I prepared a meal for us at my house. I can wait for you if you would like to change.”
I was overwhelmed. She was my mate’s mother and the former Luna. Was she hoping Tania would win and become Luna? I was wearing leggings and a top for the fight and thought changing would be best. I could use it as an excuse to calm down. “I am Julie White. It is very kind of you to invite me. If you don’t mind waiting, I would like to change. I won’t be long.” I ran upstairs to change into something nicer. “By the Goddess A, what will we do now? What if she doesn’t want us here?”
“Come down, Jules. I am busy thinking about what you should wear.” Aphrodite concentrated, and I felt calm. “After today, Max will not be able to reject us even if he wants to. The whole pack love us, girl. We are it. Don’t be afraid she isn’t the pack’s Alpha. She does not have a saying here if she favours Tania.”
I wore a beautiful long blue linen dress and pink sandals. I fixed my hair in a lovely messy bun and returned to the entrance hall, but she was no longer there. I followed her scent, and it led me to an extensive library. There were many wolves, some climbing the ladders and trying to reach for books on a higher shelf, others with tons of books on a table researching it. I spotted Mrs Black talking to Beta Terry and another wolf.
I strolled in and heard her saying. “Beta Terry, I heard you and Gamma Karl were conducting a scavenger hunt at the library. But I am afraid what you are looking for isn’t here. You could drive us to my house and get what you need, or should I say what my stubborn son needs.”
I was curious. “What are they looking for, A?”
“I am not sure, Jules. But it is something our mate needs.” They walked back and saw me. The other wolf bowed and said. “Luna. I am Gamma Karl. And my wolf Pluto and I are looking forward to working with you.” I smiled, and Mrs Black said. “Well. Our new Luna was not even introduced to her Gamma yet?” She looked at the two men and said. “You two will have more work to do here than I thought.”
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Max POV
I returned to the pack house determined to make that little wolf talk. I had no idea what was happening, and what she did to Tania was unheard of. I tracked her scent, and it was strong on the ground floor. I passed my father in the corridor, knowing he was there for a lecture. I was surprised he had not come to visit after Ares had hurt him when he tried to help subdue him.
I stopped in my tracks when I heard him saying. “Her scent is fresh, but you won’t find her here.” I looked at him, and he raised his eyebrow. “Your mate.” He had a permanent frown, and I knew he was not happy with me. Probably now, my mother already knew everything. He walked to my office and went to the window. I knew I deserved it, but I had to find Aphrodite first. She could not leave. Michael was hunting Julie, and I had to protect her.
“Where is she?” I stepped further into the room. “I warned you, Max. And you did not listen to me. Ares could have killed everybody that day if he wanted to. You drove your mate to suffer, which could have killed you too.”
I ran my hand through my hair for the tenth time today. I needed to know where Julie had gone to. “Father, please.”
“Your mother took her.” Oh God, my mother saw everything. “Does she know everything?” He looked at me, his mouth pressed in a hard line. “I share everything with my mate. That is the definition of mates, Max. I guess we didn’t teach you right. If you had listened to me, your mate wouldn’t have had to endure what she did and had to prove herself good enough for this pack. But the lesson you learned today was that she is more powerful than you.”
I sat on my chair. “Ares, why are you not jumping to help me here? You love to show him you are a tough wolf.”
He was sitting calmly in my mind, just enjoying everything. “Why would I, Max? I wanted her the moment I saw her. You did not. Now you will have to deal with your mother alone.”
“What is she? She told me she wasn’t a hybrid witch.” I looked at my father, hoping he had all the answers I was looking for. “I don’t know, Max. But I think your mother does. What I know is that she is your true mate. You should have accepted her the minute you felt her instead of locking and hiding her from the pack.”
I took a deep breath. I was looking for answers, not lectures. “I don’t think you understand, father. I was trying to decide and thought that was best for the pack.” He banged his fist on my desk. “The problem is, Max. A decision was made the day you were born, and you didn’t have to do anything. You only had to accept it with open arms. You need to get your thoughts straight and stop fighting the mate bond. Let it run its course.”
He patted my shoulder. “You are welcome to come to my house later to collect her. But not before that, your mother had prepared a meal for her. I guess she already knew what was going to happen.” He left the pack house, and Ares came looking all might in his glory. “You should have talked to your mother when we found her.”
“You are happy now, aren’t you? You are getting everything you have wanted since day one, Ares.”
He snorted. “Oh, please, buddy. Like you would have been satisfied mating that she-wolf for the rest of our lives. You realise I would have killed her the minute you put your guard down. Marked or not, I wouldn’t have cared.” He started to jump. “Now, we will be happy for the rest of our lives. I already had a vision about our pups. Thanks to my awesome little wolf.”
I closed my eyes and prayed to the Moon Goddess, and two scents entered my office. “What are you two doing here?” I heard the noise of something hitting my desk and opened my eyes. I looked at it, and it was an illustrated ancient book. Terry and Karl were smiling. “What is this ancient book doing here, Terry? Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I am in the middle of a shit storm right now, and I don’t have time to read you a bedtime story.”
I wanted to rip off the smirk from their faces. Both looked impressed with whatever they had accomplished. Terry pointed at the book. “Well, that is the answer to your shit storm, Max. By the way, you are welcome.”
Karl sat and asked. “Alpha, when will you bump up my strength now that we have a Luna? Oh man, she rocks, and the word on the street is that our Luna is the prettiest and kindest of them all. I had to agree that she was merciful to Tania. Pluto would have killed her.”
I rolled my eyes at him and looked at the book. It was a legendary mate’s book. “How will this storytelling book help me, Terry?” Terry pushed the book near me and said. “We have been looking for this for nearly a month now. It was Noah’s idea. And it turns out your mother had it the whole time. We just came from her house now. Open it, and you will find Ares and Aphrodite there.”
Did you guys enjoy Aphrodite kicking Tania’s ass in less than five minutes without touching her? Next chapter, Max will find out everything about their prophecy.