Arise

The pack house had a daycare for the little kid. When parents would go to work they would drop off their kids here and CeCe, along with a few others, would watch over them. Today, Val decided to give them the day off. Only CeCe stayed behind.

“I overheard Shaw on the phone. The Blood Moon pack has been getting a lot of hits from rogues recently.” CeCe handed a teddy bear to Lily. Lily was Shaw’s niece and though she was two years old, she talked a lot.

Val handed a boy named Edison some snacks. She grabbed a box of Jenga and tossed the blocks on the floor. Two other boys sat down next to her and began assembling them. “Cal told me they might potentially go to war over the territory.”

“Although I’m quite interested in this discussion, I would really like to know how you got close enough to Shaw to hear that information,” I said, taking a seat on the green bean bag.

A blush rose to CeCe’s cheeks. She had dyed her hair another color this morning. It was emerald green and wrapped up in a braided bun. With her hair up, I could see that the scar she had was much longer, running down her neck and hiding under her white hoodie. I was surprised to see her not wearing her signature leather jacket. She switched her leggings for jeans, and boots for converse. “I stayed over last night.”

Upon hearing this, Val dropped a block onto the Jenga tower, and the whole thing fell down. The boys groaned. “Luna!”

“Sorry, boys!” She helped reassemble it and spoke again. “How did you manage to do that?”

CeCe nervously chuckled. “I sort of got really drunk and happened to stumble onto his porch.”

“Cece!” I laughed, shaking my head. CeCe sure was something.

“It’s embarrassing I know, but he should be used to my antics by now!” She dusted off her jeans before picking up Lily and placing her on her lap. Lily wrapped her arms around CeCe and giggled. “His window was opened, and I heard the heated conversation he was having.”

Another girl named Emily ran up to me, tugging on my jacket, before I could ask another question. “Beta Female?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Chester bit me!” Tears welled up in her eyes as she showed me her arm. Sure enough, there were faded bite marks on her forearm, surrounded by redness.

Chester ran up to me and yelled, “She pulled my hair!”

Emily stuck her tongue out. “You don’t have any hair to pull, Chestnut!” Somewhere in the back of my mind, I could hear the mayor saying my name incorrectly. I grimaced. That was another lifetime ago.

“Don’t call me that!” He stomped on the ground and then looked at me. “Beta Female!” His bottom lip jutted out as he gave me his best puppy dog eyes. I couldn’t stop myself from awing.

I hid my laughter and looked at the two of them. Emily was almost a foot taller than Chester and a year older, at seven years old. Emily and Chester were the most reckless little siblings I had ever set my eyes on. The two of them shared similar features. Both blondes, with slightly pale skin and almond-shaped blue eyes.

“Alright you two. I have heard enough. Say sorry to each other and go back to finishing that puzzle. You two promised me last week that it would be done, remember?”

Emily and Chester looked at each other and apologized begrudgingly.

I placed my hands on my hips. “See, was that so hard? Now, you two can either finish that puzzle or I’ll make sure Beta Miller will come for a visit.” Both, wide-eyed, turned around and shuffled to the table to finish their puzzle.

I shook my head and looked over at CeCe. Back to the matter at hand. “And how did you end up inside his house?”

She shrugged. “That idiot keeps a spare key under his mat.” She rolled her eyes and continued. “I got inside and before I could hear more, he saw me and hung up. That’s when I started yelling.”

Val raised her eyebrows in question. “Define yelling.”

“Drunk CeCe is a vocal CeCe,” she said thoughtfully. “But I embrace it. I told him that I was having a much more fun time with Travis than with him. Then I told him that I hated him and wished Travis was my mate instead of him.”

My jaw dropped. This was taking a downward spiral. “What did he do?”

She shrugged. “Beats me. I passed out as soon as those words came out of my mouth.” She patted Lily’s sleeping form, soothingly. “Woke up in his bed, wearing his clothes, next to him.”

My only reaction was a nod of approval. “Impressive.”

Val, on the other hand, showed concern. “You guys can’t keep going on like this. It’s not good for mates.”

“You don’t think I know that,” she snapped. Valerie dropped her head, but CeCe was quick to apologize. She bowed her head in submission. “Forgive me, Luna. I know it’s not good for us. For the past couple days, I’ve been hanging out with Travis more. We’re just friends. Nothing more.”

I leaned forward. “What happened in the morning?”

“This might not surprise you, but this happens occasionally, when I’m drunk by myself. Usually, I’ll sneak out, and we pretend it never happened. But today, I wanted different. He was already downstairs when I woke up the second time. He made coffee just the way I liked, and we ate breakfast. I apologized to him, but he brushed it off. And, then I told him.”

Val quirked an eyebrow. “Told him what?”

CeCe closed her eyes and ran her hand over Lily’s hair. She took a huge breath before starting, “I said, ‘I don’t care what happens or however many times you push me away. It will always be you. I don’t want it to be anyone else. I want it to be you.’ Then, I got up and made sure to make it dramatic. I opened the door, turned around and said, ‘I’m not going anywhere. Your family has accepted me, why can’t you?’ And I left him speechless.” She smiled wide. “Then I dyed my hair.”

I hadn’t known CeCe long, but I knew she was the independent type. She was the type of person to be persistent and go after what she wanted. She was very mature for being so young, even if her game plan was a little immature.

“I’ve been spending time with his parents and his brother and his wife. I babysit Lily whenever they ask me. His parents love having me around, and I love spending time with them. I’m trying to be mature about the situation.”

Val smiled. “You are. You are doing the best you can.”

CeCe nodded in appreciation. She and Shaw had a complicated relationship that no one understood. Even Caleb and Logan had their doubts, but they knew that if there was one person that could handle Shaw it would be CeCe. It had reminded me of how Logan and I started. We had pushed each other away, me more than him, and it took a lot of trust from the both of us to come back to each other.

I quirked an eyebrow. “So, what about the rogue attack?”

Val spoke, “The Blood Moon pack had a corrupt alpha. The beta fought him for his title and won. The new alpha had to kill the old alpha, but they were childhood friends, so he banished him and declared him a rogue. The old alpha recruited as many rogues and lone wolves as he could and has since been trying to claim the land as his.”

I nodded, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the situation. Rogues? Attacks? Territory? This was all still new to me, even if it has been a couple months since I moved here.

I eyed the room. All the kids, except Lily, were either watching tv, or playing games. None paid much heed to us, but the thought that they knew what we were talking about laid heavy on me. “Should we be worried that the kids heard everything we were saying?”

CeCe and Val shook their heads. “They wouldn’t tell a peep. They know not to mess with me. Messing with me, means messing with Luna, and that means messing with Caleb. Besides, they don’t remember what they overhear.”

Lily picked up her head and cooed before clapping her hands. CeCe kissed her forehead and tickled her. “Lily probably tells her parents and Shaw everything, but none of them speak baby.” She looked at me. “How’s your relationship?”

“Kind of rocky. He finally told me about his parents, but I practically had to get it out of him.” I dropped my head back. “I’m such a horrible person.”

“You were going to find out eventually. Sooner is better than later.” Val picked up a Jenga piece and placed in on top of the tower.

“Have you guys,” CeCe eyed the kids. “Done it yet?”

I dropped my shoulders. “No.”

CeCe laughed. “You guys are moving as slow as humanly possible.

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you kidding me? Val has only ever been with Caleb.” Val blushed. “And CeCe, you have yet to be deflowered.”

CeCe threw a stuffed animal at my face. “I hate you but you’re right.”

I played with the loose thread handing from my sleeve. “The last relationship I was in, I had a scare,” I said in barely a whisper.

Val’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“It was two months into the relationship. My first time and I was late.”

“This was in college?”

“I was a sophomore. We got too close too fast and the next thing I knew, I missed a month.” I saw the looks on their faced and waved them off. “Relax, I don’t have a secret kid back home. We dated for another year and it happened again.”

“Rosetta!”

I cringed. “I know I’m reckless!” I bit my lip nervously. “He was scared but supportive the first time around. But when it happened the second time, he was not the same. I got my period and broke up with him.”

“You didn’t tell anyone?” CeCe tied Lily’s hair into a ponytail.

“You guys are the first to know.”

“Rosie. . .” Pity. Pity was in their eyes and I hated it.

“I don’t want that to happen again. It can’t happen again.”

I looked up, but they weren’t looking at me anymore. They were looking above me. I slowly turned around, hoping it wasn’t who I thought it was.

Logan and Shaw were standing under the doorframe. Shaw perplexed and Logan devoid of any emotions. I faltered. I was not ready for another unresolved argument.

Shaw had come to take Lily home, but Lily wouldn’t leave CeCe unless she went home with them, so CeCe left quietly with them. Val went to the office where Caleb was, and Logan walked me back home.

I kicked a branch as I walked down the familiar path home. “How much of that did you hear?”

“You were intimate with your human boyfriend.” He was stoic as usual.

“How many girls were you with before you met me?”

He didn’t balk at my question. “I’m not mad.” He scratched his neck. “How about we just not make a big deal about it?”

I nodded and he wrapped his arm over my shoulder as we walked the rest of the way back.

I grabbed the mail on the way in and rummaged through it lazily. I stopped short when I noticed a small envelope addressed to my name. Confused, I turned it over. No return addresses. Just my name written in cursive. With narrowed eyes, I ripped open the flap and pulled out a white card.

In dark ink, it was written: Your mate has three days.

Fear creeped up my neck, and the kitchen seemed to close in on itself. Who would right this? “Logan!” I made my way towards the sound of the tv.

I walked into the living room where he was watching a movie and flashed the envelope in his face. “What is this?”

His eyes ran over the note, widening a fraction before a chuckle bubbled from his mouth.

“Do you think this is funny?”

“As a matter a fact, I do.” He got up and left the room, quickly returning with an envelope of the same size in his hand. “Open it.” He smiled at me, but it wasn’t genuine. Something felt very wrong about this.

I lifted the flap and pulled out a piece of paper.

You will never see them again.

I looked up at him in shock. Someone was targeting us. “We have to tell Caleb.”

He shook his head. “No, we don’t”

“Logan—”

“Travis and I promised the fighters that we would have a real fight to give them a break from training. It’s in three days and I’m going to send this to him. I’m trying to scare him enough that he’ll lose.”

“Who’s them?” I asked referring to his note.

“His favorite pair of shoes.” There was something about the way he was holding himself and how fast his words were coming out. His words were unbelievable. He was keeping something from me, and I couldn’t figure out was it was.

His eyes pleaded me not to continue asking questions. He kissed my forehead. “It’s been a long day. I’m going to sleep.”

I watched the way he walked away, and the moment he thought he was out of my sight, his body sagged in relief. Something was wrong. He was hiding something, I could feel it in my bones. This couldn’t have been Travis.

My stomach clenched in fear. Someone was coming after us. And I intended to find out.