When The Moon Rises

Sienna’s POV.

Jax returns not half an hour later, with a huge grin on his gorgeous face. He walks over with the confidence only an Alpha, or future Alpha, can have. It is undeniably sexy to see him so sure of himself, wearing his tight shirt and dark jeans.

“What’s up?” I ask as sits next to me.

His scent instantly surrounds me, and I feel a shiver of pleasure run through me.

“Dad is going to initiate me as Alpha tonight,” Jax says, and he must notice the alarmed look on my face because he reaches over and squeezes my hand.

“You won’t be initiated as Luna until we’re mated, don’t worry,” he reassures me, and I sigh in relief.

Thank Goddess for that, I am so not ready.

“I bet you’re so excited,” I tell him, he grins and nods.

He looks like a little school kid who has just been awarded a gold star, it is adorable.

“I’ve been waiting for this day my whole life,” he admits.

I pull him in for a kiss, he’s just too tempting when he’s being this cute. I lean back and look at him for a moment, just taking in his beautiful face.

I know he is going to make a great Alpha; he cares so much about his pack; it is obvious he will look after them. But what am I supposed to do? My parents don’t even know I’ve met my mate.

That evening, a large bonfire is alight in the square and the whole pack gathers around it, bathed in the warm golden glow from the flames. I watch from the side as Jax emerges from the house with his father, they stand in front of the fire and his father paints some tribal symbols on Jax’s bare chest and then they say some words to each other.

I don’t really understand it, but this ritual has been practiced from the beginning and wolves are suckers for tradition. A guy Jaxon introduced to me as Colton comes up to stand next to Jax, he gets similar designs painted on him by Jax this time, initiating Colton as his Beta.

The ceremony doesn’t take long, and before I know it, Jax’s father steps out the way and Jax turns to face everyone. We all bow our heads in respect and Jax’s father announces Jaxon as the new Alpha and Colton as his Beta.

Everyone cheers around me and my breath catches in my throat as I see Jax looking directly at me. I grin back at him, unbelievably proud in this moment.

One day it’s going to be me standing there next to him. Help.

As I slide into Jaxon’s bed that night, I wonder whether I should have worn leggings as well, I’m in my underwear and one of his t-shirts but I feel vulnerable. I thought when I met my mate we’d mate straight away, but with Jaxon we seem to be taking things a lot slower than most wolves, and although I like it, I know that soon enough we’re going to be feeling the negative effects from it.

I unhook my bra and slide it off underneath the t-shirt, discarding it on the floor. I roll over and stretch out in the bed, savouring the minutes I have left to take up as much room as I want.

I hear Jax come out of the bathroom and a beam of light lands on me. He quickly turns off the bathroom light, so we are plunged into darkness again. I hear the towel drop to the floor and I hold my breath, knowing that in a few seconds he will be in bed next to me, most likely naked.

My eyes start to adjust to the darkness, and I watch as Jax makes his way towards the bed. He trips and stumbles over something, bracing himself against the bed as he curses and searches for what tripped him up.

“I believe this is yours?” He asks, holding up my red bra which is just visible in the darkness.

“Oops, sorry!” I giggle, finding it hilarious that the big bad Alpha has just tripped on one of my lacey bra straps.

He rolls his eyes and slides into bed next to me, in just his boxers. Thank the lord he put his boxers on. I close my eyes and say a quick prayer to the Moon Goddess to help me through the night.

He pulls me into his arms and savour the feel of his hot skin on mine and the delicious scent of his that always floors me. He leans down and kisses my neck, raising goose bumps on my arms.

“So, how does it feel now you’re an Alpha?” I ask him, gently running my nails up and down his back, causing him to shiver and pull me tight against his hard chest.

“It’s weird, I suddenly feel stronger, I didn’t expect to feel the effects so quickly,” he admits as he presses a kiss to the top of my head. An act so small and simple makes me melt completely.

“Alright, don’t let it get to your head,” I tease, he slaps my bum playfully.

He freezes as he realises I’m wearing a thong so I’m bare and available to him. His hand grazes up my thigh to squeeze my ass and I squeeze my thighs together in anticipation.

Within seconds, I’m flipped onto my back, and he is on top of me between my legs. Before I can say anything, his lips capture mine and I don’t fight him. Who would?

I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him even closer to me, he rolls his hips teasingly, rubbing his erection between my thighs.

He kisses down my neck and scrapes his teeth across the skin, for a moment, I wonder if he’s going to mark me, and I start to panic that he might. But then he kisses along my neck to my shoulder, and I feel relieved.

It’s not that I don’t want him to mark me, it’s just that if he does, then I become Luna and I am not feel ready for that. My parents don’t even know I’m here!

Imagine coming home like “Hey mum, sorry it’s been a while, I’m not part of your pack anymore, actually I’m Luna to that pack you’re terrified of.”

I don’t see that going down very well.

“You have no idea how tempting you are,” he breathes, his voice thick with lust.

This man is testing my resolve.

Stay strong, Sienna.

“Mm, you’re pretty tempting yourself,” I reply, leaning forward to kiss his neck.

I gently bite him and suddenly he is holding my wrists above our heads and his lips are crushed against mine. His tongue teasingly licks across my bottom lip, and I try to hold in my moan.

“It’s taking all my control not to mark you right now, so don’t push me, Sienna,” he warns and for a second I just want to tempt him and let him mark me, I don’t care.

But that thought quickly disappears when he pulls himself off me and my rational thoughts return. Deciding to stop whilst we still can, we say goodnight and turn away from each other, it doesn’t take me long to drift to sleep.

“I need a massive favour from you,” I ask Kayla and she groans in response.

“What is it?” She says and I know immediately that she’s going to help, that’s what friends are for.

I explain to her my situation, how there are rogues attacking the pack and that it’s not safe for me to leave, so I can’t pick up my stuff from my house.

Being the most incredible, amazing friend that she is, Kayla goes round to my house, packs my clothes and toiletries into a bag and tells my parents that I’m going to be staying with her and Cassie for the week.

My parents, of course, don’t even question this and Kayla pretends that I’m currently at Cassie’s house and she was just passing by, hence why she has come to collect my things instead of me.

I get a call from my mum immediately after, annoyed that she won’t be seeing me for a week, but I promise her I’ll call. I lie and tell her that Cass has just been through a bad time with a guy and that Kayla, and I want to stay with her to cheer her up. I laugh at my own lie, Cass never has guy trouble, she is the guy’s trouble.

Kayla arrives with Cade at the pack house only an hour later and I run out to greet her.

“You are the most amazing friend ever,” I tell her, squeezing her in a tight hug.

“Yeah, I know. Don’t you forget it! I hope I got everything you need,” she says, handing me the large bag with all my things in.

“You’re going to stay for a bit right?” I ask as I show her around Jaxon’s house, he’s dealing with some pack issues at the moment, probably to do with the rogues.

“Yeah, if you want. What are we going to do though if you can’t go anywhere?” She asks and I look at her outfit, jeans and top, perfect.

“I was thinking we could go for a run? Jax says it’s fine as long as we stay away from the borders,” I suggest and Kayla nods approvingly.

“That’s fine with me, I haven’t shifted in like a week so it’s a good idea,” she agrees, stretching in anticipation.

“Great, come on.” I lead her to the tree line, and we strip down to nothing, we’ve been naked in front of each other so many times.

I swear Kayla walks around her house naked all the time, her roommates must be used to it as well.

We shift into our wolves, she has a pale grey wolf with white feet, I always tease her that it looks like she’s got socks on. I take off running and she follows close behind me, understanding that I want to play chase.

Kayla’s POV.

I chase after Sienna. I don’t know why she’s bothering to play chase; she knows I’ll win. I’m smaller, but I’m faster. I smirk and push myself harder, so I get close to catching up to her.

I nudge her tail with my head and laugh as she barks in surprise, I don’t think she expected me to catch up that quickly.

We run for nearly half an hour, slowing down at times to catch our breath back before starting up again. I’m closing in on Sienna again when she suddenly cuts right, I hurriedly dig my claws in the ground trying to stop myself.

My eyes widen as I realise why she’s changed direction, we’re near the border, there’s two wolves in front of me, obviously on patrol. My eyes land on the wolf with golden, sandy coloured fur. His grey eyes narrow as he looks at me.

Oh shit, I better go before we get in trouble for being near the border.

I take off in the direction Sienna went, hopefully catching up to her before we get into trouble. I panic as I hear a wolf following me, I risk a glance over my shoulder to see the sandy coloured wolf running after me.

My heart beats wildly in my ears as I push myself harder, so I run faster, creating distance between us. I dodge sporadically between trees, trying to lose him.

I look over my shoulder and squeak in surprise as he flies through the air and lands on my back. We roll together on the ground until he is on top of me, his paws holding my arms down against the ground.

I look up at him anxiously and shift back, unsure what he wants me to do. He shifts back as well, and suddenly it’s hands not paws that are holding my hands above my head on the ground. We both pant heavily as we look into each other’s eyes.

I know as soon as the tingles start flowing down my arms that he is my mate, but he can’t be. He is not exactly what I was expecting. I look at him shock, trying to take this all in. He has tattoos on both sides of his neck and on his shoulders, he has a few piercings in his ear and a small stretcher, I hate those.

I swear my eyes widen further as I notice he has a short bar piercing through the end of his right eyebrow, and his light brown hair is cropped short on the sides and long on the top. My eyes meet his mysterious grey ones, and I can’t look away, they’re mesmerising.

Suddenly he curses and stands up off me, I quickly move my hands over my body to cover myself. He leaps in the air and shifts, when he lands on the ground he is back to his sandy wolf form. I watch as he disappears through the trees.

My heart sinks and I instantly feel sick, he must know we’re mates, does he not want me? Tears threaten to spill out, so I hurriedly shift back and chase after Sienna.

I find her waiting for me at the edge of the treeline, we shift and pull our clothes back on.

“That was fun, wasn’t it!” Sienna says and I force a smile for her.

“Yeah, that was great. I lost you for a bit, well done,” I tease, nudging her.

I’m embarrassed to tell her I’ve met my mate and he doesn’t want me.

“Come on, I want you to meet Jax,” she says excitedly, and I follow after her, forcing myself to forget about my stupid mate.

I’ve been without him for twenty-one years; I don’t suddenly need him now.

Sienna walks into Jax’s house and I walk quietly behind her. Never in my life did I think we would be on the Black Mountain pack’s territory. My mum has warned me about their pack since I was a child. Here I am, in the lion’s den, so to speak.

Jax, or at least I hope it is him, is sat behind a desk in his study. Sienna breezes over and kisses him, I feel an unwelcome stab of pain and I realise I’m going to get reminders of my mate everywhere.

Perhaps I should speak to him?

“Jax, this is Kayla, my best friend.” Sienna grins at me and I awkwardly step towards the desk.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kayla. Sienna’s told me a lot about you,” he says warmly, and I relax a bit, smiling back at him.

“Good things I hope, thank you for making Sienna so happy,” I tell him, and he turns to look lovingly at her. I quickly look away, I’m not sure whether to throw up or be jealous.

As I’m considering which emotion to feel, the study door flies open and none other than my mate storms in. His eyes instantly land on me and I’m frozen to the spot.

He’s huge. He is bulky if he were to hug me I genuinely think I’d be engulfed. I’m only 5"5 and he is at least 6"2/3.

At this moment, with that seething look on his face, I actually feel scared of him. He glares at me before turning his attention to Jax.

“Sorry to intrude Alpha, I didn’t realise you were busy. I’ll speak to you later,” he growls angrily, and his voice sends an involuntary shiver of pleasure through me.

Goddess, why does he have to have such a sexy voice?

“What was that about?” Sienna asks Jax, looking confused as we watch from the window as he marches across the square.

“I don’t know, I’ll talk to him later,” Jax replies, he seems unfazed by my mate’s mood.

“I’m just gonna take a quick shower, do you mind waiting? Then we can go see Cade?” Sienna offers and I nod quickly.

I’m grateful when she leaves the room, leaving me alone with her mate. I take a seat on one of the chairs in front of his desk and Jax eyes me curiously.

“That man who just came in, who is he?” I ask him, the question seems to surprise him.

Now that I’m actually sat looking at him, I can see that Jax is even bigger than my mate, it’s a good thing Sienna is as tall as she is, or she’d be crushed.

“That’s my Beta, Colton,” he explains.

It all makes sense, no wonder he’s so big, I should have realised he has a high rank.

“Why do you want to know?” He asks me and I look at him anxiously for a second before replying.

“He’s my mate,” I say cautiously, watching as Jax’s face lights up in shock.

“Wow, was not expecting that.” He sighs, running his hand through his hair.

“Neither was I. When we were out on the run, he chased me and pinned me down, when we shifted, he swore at me and stormed off. You saw how he acted just then, he hates me,” I mutter.

I will not cry.

I might sound stupid but imagine meeting the one person who is made for you, who is meant to love you forever and complete you, do anything for you, and he swears at you and fucks off. I’m pretty upset.

“Colt is...a difficult person, Kayla. You have to understand, it’s nothing against you, that’s how he is with most people,” Jax explains, and I roll my eyes.

“Honestly, he only opens up to me because we’ve known each other since we were kids. He’s never had a serious relationship and he never talks to anyone about his feelings. Please, don’t take it to heart,” Jax reassures me, and I feel so happy that Sienna found such a good guy.

“How am I not supposed to take it to heart? He doesn’t want me,” I let one tear fall before I quickly wipe it away and take a deep breath, regaining control of myself.

“He’s just confused that’s all, look, forget about him and enjoy your day, I’ll talk to him if you want?” Jax offers and I nod gratefully.

“That would be amazing, thank you, but if he tells you straight out he doesn’t want me, don’t lie to me. Let me know, okay?” I ask him, standing up to leave.

“Yes, but I know he won’t reject you, Kayla,” he replies confidently, I’m not so sure.

“Thank you for everything.” I leave the study and go upstairs to wait for Sienna to come out of the shower.

I wait until we are sat with Cade in Jax’s living room to tell the two of them about my mate, I actually think they were almost as shocked as I was.