75

Aurora

My time since hunting had been spent accepting the fact that It seemed that I was accepted here, and my anxiety had eased. The humanity of this pack of wolf people far exceeded the humanity I knew in the world I had known. My emotions and trauma were not seen as weaknesses just strengths to overcome whatever was going on in my life, no one pried. They all insisted even more these days to call me their Luna.

Tonight I will be getting my tattoo. Dusk was coming upon us as Millie and I weaved through the trees. I was back in my hippie dress, Amy’s wreath upon my head. The sun was setting and Millie was beside me as we moved through the woods to the hots spring. “So,” I asked. Has Dominic been behaving or does he need another lesson?” I asked, ducking under a low bough. Millie blushed a little. Her steps paused looking for words. “There is progress for sure, but,” her lips kicked up in a smirk. “I’m making him prove himself, we will see if he has what it takes. He has a lot to make up for, it will be harder for him once he returns to his pack.” A new gleam twinkled in her eyes, she radiated hope, yet I sensed the distant forlorn inkle of apprehension. I hoped he one day saw the worth of her. “So Mills, what’s the plan here?” I asked as we reached the hot springs.


“Well, if you wanted this anywhere, where would it be?” she asked. “My back,” I said simply. You are in luck that we are in modern days and we can use a battery-powered machine, it will be much faster and much prettier this way.” She said grinning holding up the device. I rolled my eyes at her. Millie chuckled. “You will have to stretch out over one of those boulders near the water so you will stay warm because you are gonna have to lose the dress," she said, giving me a mock leer of a look and doing the suggestive eyebrow waggle. I chuckled, rolling my eyes again. I liked this playful side of Millie. Just having hope seemed to pull all the parts she buried down deep to keep safe out of the darkness where she kept them.

I dropped the dress to my waist sliding the long sleeves off my arms when I looked up I found Millie watching me. She wasn’t leering or making me feel uncomfortable. “What?” I asked, pulling my hair over one shoulder as I leaned against the boulder I picked. “If Evander does anything stupid before tomorrow night I propose we leave our mates and elope,” she teased. “I told my alpha he better treat you well or I’d steal you.” she tried to sound serious. What has Dominic’s muscles lost their appeal?” I joked back. “No I like his dick, he has just got to learn not to stick it where it doesn't belong, however, I can appreciate a gorgeous female,” she added with a wink. I chucked a little at the crude way she put it. “We need so much girl time, but for the record, I think he can figure it out,” I told her. Millie nodded, looking thoughtful.

I kneeled next to the boulder using the top of the dress to cushion my knees. Millie knelt behind me, I stretched over it gripping the stone beneath my palms and my new senses dipped into the stone older than any of our origins, felling deep into the land and I felt the power there, the magic older than our existence my body hummed and called out a song to the land. Pulling Millie with me to the choruses of paws to the earth, the thunder of hooves through trees, chirps and caws of birds, the flutters of feathers, the rush of rapids cutting through stone over centuries. The place claimed me as part of it as much as it was a part of me. An ache seared into the skin of my back as Millie poured out and whipped a tincture over my shoulders and back. I hissed, eyes fluttering open as I assessed the early dawn. We had been here for at least 12 hours.

“I just came out of it too,” Millie confessed, my heightened sense of smell picked up the scent she was about to put on me. I snatched her hand twisting around suppressing a snarl. I coughed to clear my throat. “It’s stupid I know but Im allergic to aloe. I’ll find something else if I need it. Otherwise, that shit will burn like the devil,” She had startled but as she understood she took my hands helping my aching body rise. I had spent my entire night on my knees and my body protested. She grunted a little at the effort she was taller than me yet slighter, more narrow in the hips and chest. Obviously, not beta or alpha stock it seemed. Her strength lay elsewhere, and I smiled.

“What?” she asked. I shook my head “My friend you have no idea how strong you are.” I said. “What's that supposed to mean?” she scoffed, pulling the dress gently up and tenderly helping me to slip my arms in. I left it loose exposing the few tendrils of ink that ran down my shoulders. Faint traces of foreign sting etched along my ribs and arms and my back burned like devil’s fire. My body began to sag and she caught me barely. Something passed across her features and I felt a Hulk of a man throw my arm over his broad shoulders, Millie nestled in close to the other gripping my opposite hip as they weaved me home. I knew the male was not my mate, it wasn’t Evan or Elijah, the faint scent of sulfur. Dominic. He radiated no animosity or hatred. “I’ve got you Sis,” he said as he took most of my weight and then darkness fell. I just remembered being alert enough to smell the scent of pine and earth and I drifted back off.