Chapter 34

**Cole**



“So, Byron, are you going to tell me what brought about the downfall of the Moon Stone pack?” I ask.

“Yes, I will. However, I wanted to wait to say anything until I had a moment with you and Winter together. I'm sure she would like to know as well. After all they were her pack, and she has been living without any answers about their destruction for the last five years.”

“Sure, let me go to see if she is feeling up to coming into the office. Is it all right if I leave you here for a bit?”

Byron nods and I go to check on Winter. When I enter our room, she isn’t there though. I immediately call to her through the mind link. Thankfully, she doesn’t ignore me, or block me out this time. She has gone down to the kitchen. Since she has been resting in bed all day, she hasn’t had anything to eat. She makes it a point to let me know she is starving. I let her know that Byron has something he would like to share with both of us about her old pack, and she agrees to come up. I head back to the office, and she arrives shortly after with big a plate of fried chicken.



**Winter**

I am getting a mind link from Cole. He has been talking with Byron about my old pack. He’s saying that Byron has information on what caused the fire that destroyed them all. I agree to come talk with them, but I'm still hungry. So, I bring my fried chicken with me.

“Winter are you all healed?” Cole asks as I walk in.

“Uhm... yeah, weird huh. Athena told me to focus on the pain while I was asleep. As I did my head and the bruises on my body all started to feel better. Maybe you should try focusing on the pain in your face and it will heal too.”

“I don’t think I work that way.” Cole says with a chuckle. He repeats to me everything Byron has told him. I know all about our traditions including us not mating outside of our pack. I didn’t know I had gifts though, or that I have my own on DNA separate from my parents. I guess that makes sense since we only shared the same eyes.

Byron then tells us about the destruction of my people. “I told you before that I knew your family. Many years ago, I visited your pack. I wanted to learn about your gifts and traditions. My interest was purely a longing for knowledge. I knew many others who wanted to learn as well. Among them there were some who wanted to take your gifts if they could, and others who wanted to replicate them to make their own packs stronger.”

“Now, the ones who wanted to replicate what they learned from you could not. They tried but the pups never shifted as young as, well you, or any others in your pack, and they were not gifted with healing, speed, or strength. I am unsure if it was because they were practicing false devotion to the Moon Goddess or if she just found them to be unworthy in other ways. Whatever the reason though, they wanted what your pack had, and they weren’t getting it. After replicating your traditions did not work, they decided to try gaining them through breading, but none were ever able to find a mate in the Moon Stone Pack.”

“Given the belief and conviction of the Moon Stone Pack none of them were going to allow anyone to force a union between two werewolves not destined to be together. When you father told them this they were enraged. They thought if they couldn’t have your gifts then the whole Moon Stone pack was a threat. You all never wanted to fight or gain new territory, you seemed perfectly content, but the Moon Stone were too powerful. Despite the fact your pack had never fought with another pack. It was well known that everyone in the pack was trained to fight, and it was rumored that your pack had mighty warriors.”

“One rival pack grew so jealous of your gifts and scared of your strength that they sought out any opportunity to destroy your pack. They figured if they couldn’t have what you had no one could. When they learned that your father had called a meeting of the whole pack, they took the opportunity to wipe them out. They knew even though you were not a huge pack that they couldn’t win in a fight, so they trapped them and burned them.”

What the fuck?! Who is this rival pack? I need to know. They want to see a threat; I will give them a threat. I take a deep breath before I ask, “Byron, who was the rival pack?”

“I don’t think you should know. If I tell you I think you will seek revenge, and that may only lead to your death. Also, the Alpha who order the slaughter is no longer alive.”

“Byron, I'm not going to ask again. Which pack did this?”

Byron sits quietly for a moment before he finally says, “The Blue Moon Pack.”

I run from the room. I fly out of the Pack house and shift. I need to be alone to think for a bit. I run until I am alone outside of the pack territory and shift back. I lay down and close my eyes as I begin to think through what I’ve learned. When I open my eyes again the stars are shining brightly. I have been out here a long time.

Gerard's intentions with me make perfect sense now. He must have known what his previous Alpha wanted. I am not sure exactly what he knows about my old pack, or the gifts I have. I do not have a clue, but I know that when he saw my eyes, I could read his face. He thought that I could bring me power.

I wonder if the current Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack, Alpha Ryan, thinks that I can be just some kind of tool for his gain. He saw my eyes at the mating gathering. I came and welcomed him in. Goddess I'm a moron he is probably the son of the man responsible for killing everyone I loved.

I lay for a while lost in my thoughts. Then I smell something. It is Pine and Pepper, Cole. His wolf Dante trots up to me, and I sit up to pet him for a bit. Eventually Dante shifts into Cole, and I encourage him to lay down and look at the starts with me. He lays down next to me as we quietly ponder the night sky.