by Nana Adu
They sucked.
"But now looking back, I'm thankful for that." She swallows down her mouth full as I arch an eyebrow at her.
"Why?" I ask, she nods and goes in for another bite.
"I don't think I would've appreciated the taste of this if I had had it before. My wolf wants to eat it in her form so we have to save some." I mind-link Dave to make some more so we can take as much as she wants back.
"Sure." I smile, staring at her some more.
This is where all my decisions in life have led me, and I can't say I'm not satisfied.
"You're a weirdo." Eliana states, blinking at me.
Me?
"How?" I ask her.
"You always stare at me when I eat." She chuckles, sending me a mischievous grin.
She's playing with me.
"So I can't stare at you?" I send her a grin as well. She scoffs.
"I didn't say that either."
And she's trying to be cute.
I smirk.
"I'm glad I got out of that stuffy house, as much as I love your home, I never knew a place so boundless existed. Humans live too freely." Eliana glances around the room.
"They have their own problems." I shrug. She nods.
"Still, we have to come here a lot more. I love the lights here." Her eyes dazzle.
We'll definitely be coming here more.
I'm happy, she's happy.
Eliana POV
That steak hit all of the right spots.
"Where are we going now?" I ask, looking over to Noah. He starts the car and chuckles.
"You don't want to go home yet?" He asks.
When would I get this chance again? I have to learn how to drive.
"No, let's look around some more." I turn towards the window, as we pull out of the parking lot.
"I have the perfect place." Noah whispers, as he turns off into the street, joining the cars in traffic.
If I hadn't met him, where would I be now? Still in that basement, listening to orders from Liam? Or on the streets after running away with no plan?
I don't know, but Noah gave me a place to belong, when I thought I would never find one.
I sit back in my seat as the city lights fade behind us and we drive up a slight hill.
Moonlight shines in through the glass, as the air around us hums from the electricity of it all. The moon is our guide, she is our Goddess.
Noah stares into the road ahead, his curly brown hair falling on his forehead as it bounces with the movement of the car.
Why is he so cute?
The thought of the city background fades from my mind as we reach the top of the hill and big field in revealed.
"You're taking me to a park?" I ask as Noah smirks at me.
"Yeah, hold on. You'll see." He drives further down a path, stopping at a cliff. The city lights from before shine below like a sea of stars. It's beautiful.
"Woah." I say, sitting up in my seat and leaning in against the storage box in front of me.
Green, red, yellow, white, blue, every color shines through the darkness of night, reflecting into my eyes. It's like I'm looking down at all the stars in the night.
"You like it?" Noah asks. I turn back towards him, unable to hold back the smile on my face.
"I love it. You always tend to show me the brighter side of things. This is crazy." I say, throwing myself back into my seat behind me.
"I thought you would want to see this. You were beaming seeing the lights from below. Up here is where it's at." I chuckle. As he shakes his head.
"My family used to come up here all the time. With my little sister too. Since she died, my parents locked us up in isolation and kept up away from everyone. They ran away from everything and told me to move on when i could see they were suffering too." Noah's hands clench at his sides.
They were probably trying to appear strong to him.
"Your parents wanted you to forgive yourself. What they didn't realize, was that they were going way too fast. They love you and they didn't want to see you so hurt." I say, laying my hand down on his. He looks towards me.
"It's hard to think that. They blamed themselves when it was completely my fault and my mother used to run far out into the forest and cry. Just so I wouldn't hear her but I knew what she was doing. She would come back with wet, red eyes and sit beside me at night. I couldn't sleep when she did." He takes a deep breath and I tighten my hold on his hand.
"I'm sorry, Noah." I whisper, looking back out at the lights.
"For what?' He breathes.
"If I had known you then, I couldn't been there for you. I know it's something stupid to say but I wish I had come in your life before the time I did." Fireflies float in front of the car adding to the picture.
"Same here." I scoff.
What good comes from wishing? Regrets and disappoint does.
I thought I had learned to stop wishing a long time ago, but with Noah everything feels possible again. I can do what I want. Even uselessly wishing for a taste of this earlier in my life.
"My parents would love you. If they ever came out of their hut." He turns towards me as I turn towards him.
"I can't wait to meet them." I smile at him as his frown fades away and he grabs hold of my hand on top of his. His warmth seeps through my skin as tingles travel up and down my body.
It's wrong how right this feels.
"Eliana?" My eyebrows furrow as he leans into my side. I lean in as well.
"What?" I ask, as he waits inches from my face. The tips of his ears turn red as usual.
Why can't I get over how cu-
"I love you."
CHAPTER 35
Eliana POV
What did he just say?
I stare wide-eyed and stunned at Noah. He smirks and burst out laughing.
My eyes stay wide as he catches his breath and turns back towards me.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm serious." He sobers up and a chuckle bubbles up inside me as my stomach nearly collapses from the butterflies fluttering around inside.
He loves me? Or was that a joke?
"I love you, Eliana." He leans into me and pecks my lips.
Okay, maybe he was serious.
When your mates with someone the attraction is there. Everything inside of you is begging to be near them. But love isn't that. That's just instinct. The same way it's natural to want to have something.
Love is different. It's personality, chemistry, and everything that makes you, you being accepted by another person.
I think anyway.
He loves me? I love him, but he loves me?
"I love you." The words stumble out of my mouth, clumsy and amateur but true.
His smile brightens, along with his eyes, as his arms wrap around me, pulling my against the arm rest and space between us.
"I didn't know what I would do if you didn't say it back." He whispers near my ear, his breath tickling me.
"Cry?" I say, as he laughs and pulls back slightly, still inches away.
"Maybe." His lips press against mine and I kiss him back, allowing his tongue to enter my mouth as we fight to push closer together.
The space between us hinders our need as I push up my arm rest, feeling a bit of freedom.
"Every time I think of you as innocent, moments like these come to mind." He breaths against my lips, coming back in to kiss me between his words.
"I never said I was." I smirk as he grabs hold of my thigh.
So right, it's wrong.
"I love that." He smashes his mouth back on mine as I itch to jump over on to his lap and do something I might like more than I should.
We tangle in each other's arms, as the tension gets higher and higher in the car.
Is this my wolf?
Noah freezes.
Huh?
He pulls back and turns the key, starting up the car and speeding down the path.
"What's wrong?" I furrow my eyebrows as the panic in Noah's eyes reflects off the mo
onlight.
"Someone's on our territory." He says, going down the hill and on to the human, moving pass cars and weaving through traffic.
What does that mean? Someone's on the-
Liam?
Moonstribe has been sending us warnings and it's late, maybe they came for me.
My hands begin to shake in my lap and we quickly are consumed by the sea of trees, leaving behind the human lights and freedom. Welcomed with problems from our reality.
Why am I surprised? They said they were coming and now they're here.
My chest rises and falls. I suck in air as fast as I exhale it.
I thought I was stronger than this. I thought I wouldn't let them get to me again. I said I wouldn't, I promised myself.
A hand rubs my knee as my head snaps up to Noah. His eyes are still on the road as he strokes my knee.
"Don't worry, I'm right here. They won't touch you as long as I'm around." He says, pulling into our property. My heart beats in my throat.
I believe that.
Noah POV
What the fuck happened? Hurry out here.
Ok.
I mind-link my beta as I park the car and hop out, Eliana leaving from her side. I keep my eyes o her as she walks to my side of the car and we continue on to the entrance.
My eyes dance around, a foul smell lingers in the air. Clenching my fist, I stop. Eliana tenses beside me.
It smells... like those rogues. No way. They aren't shameless enough to come on my land after what they did to us.
I sniff around again.
It smells like them but not completely. Somethings off.
The rage bubbling in my gut, only grows as Kai storms out of the pack house, stopping in front of Eliana and I. I hold her hand.
"This was thrown into your mate's room." He holds up a brick with white marking all across it. Eliana trembles harder as I pull her into my side.
Kai hands me the stone and I take it in my free hand, reading it over.
It's time for my little doll to come back from playtime.
My breathing quickens as I smash the brick on to the blacktop below us. It shatters into pieces as Eliana squeezes my hand tight.
"What the fuck are they thinking? They have no edge on us. For every soldier they have, we have 3. For every weapon, 10! Where are they getting this fucking confidence from?" I try to calm myself as Alyssa and Beth come out the house.
"What the fuck is going on?" Beth asks, as Alyssa races forward, towards Eliana.
I have to protect her. I need her for a little longer.
Wrapping my arms around Eliana's waist, I hold her against me. Her arms embrace me as well, her nails digging into my back as the porch light keeps those around us visible. Alyssa stops a few feet away from me.
"I'm going to take care of this. I'm going to fix all of this. Sleep in my room tonight. I'll have someone come and clean up the mess in your room.
She nods against my chest.
"I'll be back soon." I kiss her on her cheek and pull away, as Alyssa steps back up, grabbing on to Eliana's hand as Kai and I walk towards the entrance of the house. Beth grabs a hold of my shoulder before I pass her.
"What the hell is going on, Noah?" She asks again. I shrug her off.
"It's not my place to tell." I continue on my way, as Beth remains, looking after Eliana.
I'm glad she has some friends she can rely on, because I have to take of this now.
I won't have a couple of dogs barking at me, my pack or my Luna like this. I ignored it for way too long and now, Eliana's shaking, because I haven't acted sooner.
"Did you see who threw this?" Kai shakes his head as we enter the house.
"I want you to up our watch men."
"Yes, Alpha." We enter the room and my warriors stand in a line, waiting for me. I sit at my desk and lean back, adjusting a stack of my work.
"So what kind of attack do you guys suggest we give them?"
No one pisses me off this bad and walks away alive.
CHAPTER 36
Eliana POV
I sit on Alyssa's bed with her pillow pressed against my chest. Beth and her sit around me as I try to calm my heart.
It's ok. I'm still here. They haven't taken me yet. I'm ok. It's ok.
"What's wrong, Eliana?" Alyssa puts a hand on my arm. I sigh out shakily.
I don't respond.
What am I supposed to tell them?
I ran away to your pack, knowing my pack might follow me here and try to take me back, but I still came here anyway, putting your whole pack in danger?
Fuck that.
"We're your friends. We just want to know so we can do something to help you. You're literally trembling right now." Beth chimes in.
Is that how it works? Just because you're friends with someone you dismiss the wrong in their actions?
I don't think so.
I'll tell them and they'll pretend they're okay with what I did, just to spare my feelings. I don't want that either, I'd rather they hate me.
Another sour feeling churns in my stomach.
I stuff my face further into the pillow as Alyssa sighs.
"It's okay if you don't want to tell us."
They're going to see me as weak. I don't want them to start treating me differently because of my past.
"Yeah, cause if it's Noah, I'll just beat his-" I cut Beth off.
"I was my pack's slave for 18 years." I breathe out.
They stare at me, Alyssa tight-lipped and Beth, with wide eyes.
"You were a slave? But I thought that wasn't allowed anymore." Beth says, scooching in closer to me. I shrug.
"I still was made to clean, cook and whatever else they wanted me to do."
"That's why you ran away. I treated you when you first got here and you had cuts and bruises all up and down you. Did they...?" Alyssa asks, letting her hand fall from my shoulder.
"No, that was from my fall." I say, letting my arms, tightly wrapped around the pillow, loosen.
"From what?" Beth asks. I glance over to her.
"A cliff, I'm pretty sure. That night was really hazy, it still is." I let out a deep breath. They both sit in silence across from me.
Maybe I shouldn't have told them. It might be way too much for the both of them.
"That's my bitch!" Beth smacks my arm as she gets up off the bed and hops around on the dark brown carpet.
Huh?
"You were like 'fuck no, I'm not staying here. Yes, I'd rather jump off a cliff!' I didn't expect it from you. Not going to lie." She scrambles back on the bed as I laugh.
I'm glad she took that well.
"I agree. It's great you got out of there. Oh my Goddess." Alyssa speaks up, scoffing.
They both took it better than I thought they would.
I smile. I can trust more people, not everyone is out to tear me down. They're my friends.
"No, Alyssa, she jumped the fuck up out of there. I don't think I couldn't even done that and its on my bucket list." She shakes her head, her smirk beaming on her face. she turns to me, sitting criss-cross applesauce on the bed besides me.
"You guys are clowns. Especially you, Beth." We laugh as she shrugs.
"So you met Noah before then right?" Alyssa perks up and moves in closer.
"Yeah, tell us what happened. Just so I know who the fuck to beat up." Beth chimes in. I've never related more.
If I saw Liam, I'd probably punch him in the face. I want to.
"My old pack is saying that they are going to take me away from here. They threw a brick into my window. That's what happened." I say, putting the pillow behind me.
Why can't I punch him?
"That makes a lot of sense." Alyssa nods.
"This is a good thing. They show up and we can give them a world of 18 years of pain, as revenge." I smirk as she rises her clenched fist.
Beth is such a weirdo. I love it.
I nod.
The door creaks open as Noah leans against the frame.
&nbs
p; "I need Eliana." He says, his mouth pulled into a line as the girls sigh and nod.
"You better take care of her for us." Alyssa states as I shuffle off of the bed and onto my feet. I roll my eyes.
"I'll see you guys later." I reach Noah as he grabs onto my hand and nods towards Alyssa and Beth. Beth gives Noah a thumbs down as we shut the door behind us.
"You seem like you're in a better mood." Noah comments, swinging my hand in his as we travel down the hall.
"They have a way of making my old pack seem like little kids that we can scare off." I chuckle as Noah smiles down at me. The first smile since he arrived at Alyssa's room.
"That's good." He says. His up-turned lips fall back into a frown.
"What's wrong?" I ask, stopping before the ascent upstairs. Noah turns towards me and sighs.
"I can't hide anything for you, can I?" He lifts his chin as I tilt my head at him.
Were you trying to?
"I'll tell you when we get to bed." He tightens his hold on my hand and we continue upstairs.
It's obvious what's wrong, I just don't want him to keep it all inside and stress by himself.
We're supposed to be in this together and after tonight I'm more connected to him than ever. I love him.
The moment the word left me, I knew there would never be a phase able to capture the way I feel about him.
'I love you' is too short, too easy, and not enough to sum up feelings of love. I'm not going to write a letter but that probably wouldn't be enough either.
I don't know when I got this mushy and gross inside but I don't even want to stop. I've never been happier despite everything.
I want to fight for what I've come to know as home. I'll get stronger, like Beth said, and kick Liam's ass.
I won't be able to move on until I confront the devil in my past.
CHAPTER 37
Noah POV
Eliana stares up at me with her big doe brown eyes, curling up against me.
How can I worry when she crowds my mind every second of the day? Times like now are needed for me. I don't think I can sleep without her next to me.
"I know it's hard to deal with this situation. I'm sorry." Eliana whispers on my chest. My heart rate increases.
Why does she have to be so cute again?
"I'm worried more about you than I am about your old pack." I squeeze her closer to me, hugging her sides. She remains quiet, waiting for me to go on.
