Chapter 51-Amara

I watched as everyone dispersed, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel all warm and fuzzy. I definitely expected there to be outrage that I was the reason the pack was under imminent attack, but not one single word of defiance came. Everyone was on high alert, yet no one even looked worried. I knew Roman’s pack was powerful, but standing here now, watching his pack-our pack-move about the territory, I realized, I have no idea what numbers he has. Honestly, I don’t know the first thing about how this works beyond we kill them, they kill us. But, I suppose I’ll find out pretty fucking quick.

I didn’t realize I’m still staring out at them as Roman wraps his arms around me and pulls me to him.

“What are you thinking?” he says

“I’m thinking I don’t know the first thing about war, or even what your army looks like, and everything feels so real now you know? Before I was only your Luna in theory, we only had to worry about this attack in theory…” I say and trail off. He squeezes me, I lean further into him, needing the comfort and peace only he can offer me.

“You were made for this, you were made to be a leader. Everything has already come to you so easily, this will too. And, you won’t be alone. You will never be alone again, you have me” he says.

You will never be alone again.

The utter truth in those words makes tears spring to my eyes. Even if he doesn’t know the answers, he won’t ever leave me to figure them out all by myself. Never again. Never again will I feel lonely while I fall asleep in the arms of a man, never again will I dread my mate’s presence, never again will my life be empty.

I don’t respond to him, I simply revel in the realization that I’ve known this since I woke up next to him with the sparks only he can bring me buzzing through my body. Maybe that self destructive part of me refused to let me really believe it, but there’s no denying it. I have a real mate that I love with the same ferocity he loves me, I have a family again, I still have Sophie and Seth.

I’m pulled out of my thoughts as the door opens and Aston walks in with my sister behind him.

“Sorry to interrupt your moment lovebirds, but I have this scarier, angrier version of Amara following me around asking for an update” he says as Aylin, who is clearly unamused by him, gives him a cold glare.

“Be nice to my sister, Aston, or I’ll look the other way when she hangs you by your balls from the balcony” I tell him and he just shrugs. I turn back to my sister, ready to fill her in but she puts a hand up

“I already gathered there’s an impending attack based on the whispers of your pack. And if I might I add, you raised a bunch of brutes. You know most are excited to fight?” she says with distaste. Roman rubs the back of his neck with his hand

“That’s wolves for you. They’re heavily trained but rarely see action these days” he says

“Fucking brutes, the lot of you. Anyways, I have an army on standby should you need it. They can portal on my command at a moment’s notice.” she says looking at me now. I nod.

“Thank you, Aylin” I say and she waves a hand looking around.

“Amara or myself would be happy to show you around if you’re interested” Roman says politely to her and she nods.

“Why don’t you show her around? I’m going to head out to the training grounds for a little while.” I say, looking at Aston who nods his head, confirming he’ll train with me. “I’ll find you in about an hour or two, Aylin?” I say

I hope she doesn’t think I’m brushing her off, but it would be nice for her and Roman to be a little more casual with each other, since I plan on making frequent visits. She only nods and steps to the side as I head for the door, Aston right behind me.

“So, that’s your sister?” he says after a few moments of silence

“Yeah, that’s her. Turns out I have a brother too, I’m sure you’ll meet him eventually. He’s more like me, less serious than her” I say and Seth laughs

“Great, just what we need, a male version of you running around pack lands” he says and I punch his shoulder. He winces as I realize I didn’t exactly hold back any strength. Well, being physically stronger than everyone is something that will take some getting used to

“Oops, sorry” I say as we exit the packhouse

“Well, I guess you took your training there pretty seriously” he says

“Didn’t have a choice. Oh wait until you see me and Aylin in action with our blades. We’re pretty badass.”

“Since when do wolves need weapons?” he responds mockingly

“Since we look like badasses using them, as I just said, and for the record, Aylin isn’t a wolf”

“No shit Sherlock, if she was she would have this entire pack on their knees in front of her.”

“Well, she is the Queen so I would hope so.”

Our mindless chatter comes to a halt as we reach the training grounds and he stops in front of me, going into a defensive crouch. Without wasting a beat, I pounce. I act like I’m aiming for his left side, but at the last second I juke right and land a blow on his shoulder. Cursing, he lunges back at me, but just as he reaches me, I twist out of the way and bring an elbow to his back. He hits the ground, but doesn’t waste a breath as he rolls to his hands and knees and lunges for me again. This time I stand my ground, and grab his fist, twisting it so it forces his entire arm behind him as I swing myself with it. Now positioned at his back, I throw a kick right in between his shoulder blades and pounce on his back as he hits the ground.

I get up, and offer him a hand as he rolls over and groans

“Damn, next time warn me. Did you even sleep or did you just train 24/7?” he says grabbing my hand

“Lots and lots of training. Almost 7 hours a day” I say proudly

“I can see. Well done, Luna.” he says

I shrug, getting into another crouching stance. He stops holding back, and I don’t know how long we spar for but by the end we’ve both landed a fair amount of blows on the other and we’re covered in dirt and sweat. I look around, panting, realizing we’ve drawn a crowd. I immediately blush, but he just shakes my hand.

“Seems your pack is quite impressed, Luna. It’s not everyday someone is evenly matched with the Beta” he says, noting my flush and making it deepen. “Own it. You’re a warrior, and they’re curious” he says and I nod my head and walk off to grab a drink of water.

I take a couple sips and then, I see Aylin saunter over with a grin on her face. The elegant gown she was wearing before is now replaced with a skin tight tank top and shorts. Ah, fuck, I already know where this is going.

“Since you already have a crowd, let’s show these wolves how to use some blades, shall we?” she says. I internally groan again but nod anyway. I down some more water before I follow her back out to the training grounds, noting that even more pack members have joined to watch. I shake my head and turn my complete attention to Aylin.

I don’t even have a minute to get in my defensive position before she’s on me. She lands a blow to my jaw right as I kick her in the side. Given that she’s elegance personified, she doesn’t even stumble, just jumps to the side, using the blow I landed as leverage. She lands almost out of my line of sight but I whirl to meet her. This time when she aims a punch I duck, and sweet my legs under her feet and jump on her as she hits the ground. She goes to use her own feet to throw me off over her head, but I push them to the ground with my own legs and raise my fist for a punch. Right before I land it, she manages to start rolling us. Realizing what she’s doing, I roll off of her first and jump to my feet, calling my twin blades to my hands. She gets to her feet and calls her own single blade forth. I charge at her, her blade meeting mine with a loud crack. We keep going, neither one of us getting the advantage before she leans to her left, getting ready to charge again, leaving her right open. I immediately take the opening and throw a kick, causing her to lose her footing for a fraction of a second. That’s all I need before I smash her wrist holding her blade with the pommel of my own, disarming her and I jump on her and tackle her to the ground, both blades at her neck.

My pack starts cheering and whooping as I climb off of her and pull her up. I give her a long look, when I realize that she has never left either of her sides open during training. She’s always been the picture of perfect defense. She meets my gaze and shrugs

“Your whole pack was watching, and you deserved a win. Don’t expect me to ever go easy on you, again” she whispers and I have half a mind to tell her off, but she’s right. I don’t particularly want my whole pack to see me get my ass whooped, as she has done almost every other time we sparred.

Thoroughly sore now, I go back over to where Roman and Aston are standing, and take the water Roman offers me, as he hands the other bottle to Aylin. I down the entire bottle as I watch the rest of the pack pair up and start their own sparring matches. We stand there for a few minutes, Aylin watching them as well, her eyes on the group of shifted wolves. I wonder if she’s ever actually seen a shifted wolf with never having been to Earth before.

“So, what do you think of Earth?” I say nudging her with my elbow. She takes a moment before answering

“Not as bad as I thought, but I could do without the brightness of the sun” she says, looking back out at the shifted wolves and then at Roman “you have trained your pack well. I’m impressed. Even though you all fight like animals”. All three of us laugh, and I know that’s as good of a compliment as we’ll get from her.

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We stay on the training grounds until the sun starts to set, since those initial fights, no one, including us, has gone all out, saving our energy incase we need it overnight. We’re about to head in for dinner when we’re stopped by a man. I recognize him as Lake, one of the stronger warriors who always spars with Seth.

“Alpha! Luna! Wait” he says as we all turn around “We know given the circumstances, you can’t hold your Luna ceremony yet, but we would still like to honor you with a pack cookout” he says. I’m stunned for a second before I realize everyone is waiting on me to answer

“Thank you…of course. A pack cookout, that’s a great idea!” I say, mentally facepalming myself. What everyone should have given me instead of sparring lessons, was socializing lessons. Lake, however, only smiles

“Great! Come then, we already have some pack members starting on the grills” he says, and on cue, my stomach grows and the aroma of grilled meat hits my nostrils.

With my mouth watering, I follow him to the other side of the packhouse where it seems every single pack member who wasn’t sparring is hanging out. There’s music playing, a huge bonfire in the center with logs surrounding it, everyone has a plate in one hand, and some type of alcohol in the other. Those who notice us, greet our group with warm smiles and waves, and I return them. Lake leads us over to where all the food is sitting out, and tells us to dig in. I immediately fill my plate, Roman, Aylin, and Aston, not wasting a breath either.

We head over into the crowd, I fall into step with Aylin not wanting her to be isolated, just as a few people approach Roman and Aston and pull them into conversation. Aylin and I fall into a comfortable silence as we eat. I’m too hungry to hold a conversation, and it seems like she’s in the same boat as we both inhale our food, in a very un-royalty-like manner. When we’re done, I offer to take her empty plate and toss them in the bin as I head towards the table with alcohol. I grab each of us a small glass of wine, not wanting to overdo it, and a bottle of water.

“Thank you” Aylin says as I take my spot next to her, we both watch as a couple pack members start dancing. “You can go mingle with your pack, you don’t have to sit here with me.” she says after a few minutes

“I know, I will eventually. I’m not much more of a social butterfly than you are.” I tell her

“You fit in just fine with the wolves you brought to the castle with you” she says, turning her head to me

“Yes, aside from them and the beta, they’re the only ones I really know. I’ve talked with pack members here and there since I’ve been here, but I haven’t grown close with any aside from those you met.”

“I see. Well, if my kingdom has come to accept me, then this pack will accept you as you are.” she says “although, it appears as though they already have. They wouldn’t be doing this for you if they hadn’t”

“I think it’s more out of respect for Roman than it is a welcome party for me” I say

“It’s both. It’s out of respect for their Alpha, and it gives you a chance to socialize with them” she says, standing up. “I’m going to head to my room now, I’ll head back to the underworld sometime tomorrow. Goodnight, Amara.” she finishes, and I go to grab her, not wanting her to leave me but darkness swallows her as she portals away.

Cursing, I get up to find Roman and cling to him until this is over. I walk past the crowd of pack members dancing when I feel someone grab my hand and pull me into the crowd. I damn near call my dagger to me as I’m met with laughing

“Luna! Dance with us!” A little girl, no older than 10, yells as she pulls me further into the crowd. I blank on what to respond for a second, before I start laughing and shake my head

“Alright, alright. What’s your name?” I say to her as she clasps my arm and I feel someone else hook onto my other, before we’re pulled along with them, swaying and jumping around the fire. I never heard her answer, and just as that song ends and another begins, I’m grabbed by another pair of hands and I’m thrown into the dance of the next song. I mutter a fuck it to myself and let myself go. I lose myself in the music and I dance with a bunch of different pack members, sometimes one on one, and other times getting pulled into another string of clasped arms.

I have no idea how long I’ve been dancing when I feel a strong hand grab my own, sending sparks up my arm. I turn to Roman, and pull him into the dance with me. We’re both laughing, the heat from the fire making us sweat as we dance together. After another handful of songs, he pulls me to a log and sits down next to me.

I watch as everyone continues to dance amongst themselves as Roman does the same. He’s just as sweaty as I am, so I assume he was dancing amongst them before he found me as well. I spot Aston with CiCi, dancing amongst the crowd, Violet and Gemma behind them. I go to look for the rest of my friends before Roman speaks

“Having fun?” he asks

“Obviously. I was a little nervous about having to mingle when Aylin left, but one of the kids pulled me into the dancing crowd” I say and laugh

“You don’t need to be nervous about talking to your pack, Amara” he says in response

“I know, but it doesn’t mean I won’t be. I’m not exactly Sophie or Violet when it comes to making friends”

He opens his mouth to respond, when horns start blaring and my mindlink to the pack opens up wide.

‘Vampires on the west border!’ a female voice yells through the link

‘I’ve got a group coming up on the north border!’ someone else yells

Without missing a beat, Roman stands, pulling me with him. The crowd silences as they look to him…to us, for instruction.

‘Everyone who cannot fight, get to the safehouses now, those who can fight, cover all borders. Stay alert, stay alive. We fight until this threat is neutralized. Use your mindlink at all times’ he booms through the link and everyone moves as chaos is unleashed.

I spot Violet and Gemma herding a group of small children towards the packhouse, while Aston runs in the direction of the Western border, shifting into his wolf as soon as he clears the crowd. I’m frozen for a moment before Roman grabs my shoulders

“What are the chances of me convincing you to go to the safe house?” he says as I raise my eyebrow. Any hope that was in his eyes is replaced by worry and even a hint of fear and he scrubs a hand down his face. “I thought as much. Stay by me, don’t drop your shields, and keep your link to me open.” he says, and I nod.

We’re about to run to the Northern border just as Aylin materializes next to me. I jump, not expecting her but her eyes meet mine and she gives a nod. Roman shifts into Adonis and takes off into a run. I opt to stay in my human form for now as I break into a run, following him while Aylin runs next to me.

I’ve seen battle before, so I’m not completely taken aback when I reach the border shortly after Roman. Roman breaks the treeline and jumps headfirst into battle, ripping the heads off three vampires easily before I can even draw a breath, and I stagger for a second. Aylin grabs my arm, steadying me. I look at her, and give a nod. She returns my nod before we follow Roman, breaking the treeline and jumping straight into the carnage.