War

-Avery POV-

No, this can’t be! I’ve cried, mourned and I was angry. Pregnant with Adam with no support of my mate. I’ve missed him every day since. Although I’m still feeling, through our bond, that he’s alive, I wasn’t expecting him to be…. this. I’m staring at his face. It’s so familiar, yet so different from what I’m remembering.

“M-my whát?” I hear Adam’s shocked voice. I can’t blame him, *my* head has already troubles keeping up with this situation, I can imagine how confused it must be for his.

“Ethan?” I whisper again, feeling an incredibly painful and sharp pain in my chest. My hand is reaching to my heart, what was that?

I’m not sure what to do. When I look into his eyes, I can see confusement. Does he recognize me? What happened to him? I don’t know what this is all about, but I’m sure of one thing: this isn’t the Ethan I know.

“Who are you, again? I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear you introduce yourself.” he replies.

“Don’t you recognize me? I’m Avery, the Luna of this pack.”

He stays silent for a while and I can see he’s fighting with his inner-self, maybe his wolf? Then he says: “Luna, you better be prepared. I’ve declared war on this kid, we will be back soon.” And he turned around and disappeared into the woods.

“Mom! Do something! What the hell is going on? MOM!?” Adam is yelling at me, but I don’t care. War? Did he just say war? Oh Moon Goddess, is this what you’ve trying to warn us about? Is this why Adam is here? I look over at Adam and say: “I want every detail, every word that is spoken in my absence. I expect everyone in the packhouse within 20 minutes. Clean and with clothes on.”

Damn, that kid is not looking great. “Crissie.. Can you please make a portal for Adam and Morris? He’s badly hurt, I don’t think he can walk back to our village.”

Crissie nods. “Of course, Luna. Adam, are you ready?”

“I want answers, mom, but I’ll try to heal Morris first. I’ll come to the packhouse as soon as I can.” Says Adam, determined.

I sigh. “I know you want them, Adam. Get in line…” and before I can count to ten, they’re gone.

*Aura, he’s alive. He’s alive!*

I can feel my wolf whimpering inside. She’s not happy. I can’t blame her, I feel the same. Ethan is so close, yet so far away. Why am I not feeling the pull? Our bond? It’s like his body is only there, not his mind. Not his soul, not Ethan. I want to cry and yell. I think about the day I met him. Ethan was not the prettiest man around, but he was charming. Just an average looking man, but with the charisma of a true leader. He was a good man too. I don’t understand, what is happening here?

I shapeshift and run back to the packhouse. It’s always good to be on four feet. It only takes me around 5 or 6 minutes to arrive and now I’ve plenty of time to have a quick shower and get myself together before everyone arrives.

My wolf is acting weird. She’s crying, whimpering, almost if she’s grieving. I try to make contact with her.

*Aura? What is going on? Are you OK?*

*He’s really gone, Avery. He’s gone…*

I frown. What does she mean? We saw him, how can he be gone?

*I know you’re having questions, but I can’t feel Ely. The moment I saw Ethan - I felt how my bond broke. My last bit of hope is gone. My mate is gone!*

Her heartbreak is incredibly painful. I’m crying with her. Ely is Ethan’s wolf, making Ely Aura’s mate. She said he’s gone, that’s probably what I felt earlier.

*I’m so sorry, Aura! I’m so sorry…*

I don’t know what I can do or say to make her feel better, but I guess there’s nothing that I can do. She’s mourning, and I understand. I would have done the same. But there’s no time to think about it - In five minutes everyone is downstairs. I have to get dressed.

---

“Please, y’all.. Don’t yell. Listen!”

Everyone is talking, and there’s no way we can have a normal conversation this way. I’m using my Luna voice to calm them down.

“Listen! This is not helping. Yes, I’m confused too. And yes, we need answers. But this is not the way to get them. I want details. Levi: what happened? I need every movement, every detail you can remember. You mindlinked me that you found something at the border. What was it?”

I look at Levi and he starts talking: “Well, just them. They were standing there, like it was nothing. I growled, trying to warn them. But it was like that guy could read my mind. He said that we shouldn’t cross our border and try to attack them, or we will regret it. That was the moment Morris got angry and jumped on him. But with only one hand, he stopped him! Morris was hanging in the air and I couldn’t see what happened exactly. But two seconds later, that guy threw Morris back at us. I was able to catch him, kind of. I broke his fall. But he was terribly bleeding already and it wouldn’t stop! His wolf wasn’t able to heal the damage. A few minutes later Adam arrived.”

Morris is a big wolf, a young one, but promising. Not many warriors can fight him with ease. So how was Ethan able to block his attack and hurt him that bad in only the human-form and with one hand? I don’t understand.

Adam is not here, yet. But Eve’s is filling in the story. She explains what happened next.

“So, he was after you, Eve? Is that correct?” I ask her.

“I’m not sure, Luna. Yes, he looked at me. But I had the feeling it wasn’t just about mé. Well, not only. He also was surprised to hear there are more Chosen Ones out there, with us. In our pack. Maybe it has something to do with the bloodline?”

Fair point. Since the Moon Goddess made the Chosen Bloodline, there have been jealous people. Everyone wanted to share a bit of that power and tried to take it away from us. This can be one of that attempts.

“But he declared war on us. We have to find all the information we can - Joshua: I need you as the Beta. When Adam’s back from the hospital, you’re going to have a talk with Morris. Try to find out how Ethan hurt him. Tomorrow we will have a talk. Bring your mom too. Am I clear?”

Joshua nods affirmative.

“Now, everyone: leave. Go home, take some rest. We need to prepare for war…”