Moon Bound
One

Marisol

Every year as a gift I get to spend one week with my family, and I just can’t help but count down the days until I get to see them. 32 days to be exact. It has been so long since I have seen them, it feels like the excitement is eating me alive!

Maybe this time I’ll be able to replace, and pair another one of my siblings with their mate. It’s been about a year since I helped James replace his mate, and that was by far the best day of my entire life! The way his eyes lit up when I showed him my vision was such a beautiful moment to experience in person. I can only hope to create moments like that with my other siblings!

James and I ended up taking a mini adventure to the South-West pack, and it was by far one of the most fun days of my life. From bonding with my brother to seeing the way that my brother and his mate interacted with one another.

It was nothing short of magical.

Let’s just say that if I ever replace my mate I hope that it is love at first sight like it was for the two of them.

I am not even sure if I have a mate.

Maybe a human would be nice, the ones that live within the pack lands have always been accepting of replaceing love with wolves, and because I doubt that I would be able to keep up with a male wolf in any area.

Usually, wolves are the ones who aren’t open to being with humans.

Most of the wolves that I have paired want to be paired with another wolf. I have had some wolves flat-out reject their mate solely because they weren’t a wolf.

I would never do that.

The moon goddess never makes mistakes. Especially when it comes to pairing.

All I know is that if I am lucky enough to have a mate, he will be perfect for me.

She smiled as she put her pencil down and stared at the words that she had written.

Whenever she journals she usually starts off with all of the things that have happened during the week. She’ll write about the vision that she has received of a wolf and their mate, helping pair them, and sometimes the interesting conversations that she has had with either of the mating pair.

The week that she had was the most eventful one by far.

She had recently begun to have visions of Alpha Kane and his mate, but that pales in comparison to the excitement that she feels knowing that she gets to see her family soon.

A sharp knock on her bedroom door caused her to jump in her chair.

She let out a small laugh before shutting her journal and shoving it into her desk drawer.

“Come in!” Marisol called out.

“Marisol, your food is going to get cold if you don’t come down soon, and you know Ben prefers it when we all eat together,” Izumi said as she swung the door open.

Marisol looked up to see Izumi, Benjamin’s beautiful soulmate standing in the doorway.

Every time Marisol looked at her she was mesmerized by her beauty.

Izumi has caramel brown skin, dark curly hair that came down to her shoulders that almost mimicked corkscrews, a sharp nose, and almond-shaped light brown eyes.

In Marisol and Benjamin’s eyes, she was perfect.

The perfect mate for Benjamin, and the perfect best friend for Marisol.

“Come on now! Ben is excited to hear about the vision that you had today!” Izumi held out her hand as she almost bubbled over with impatience.

Marisol stood from her desk. “Is it Benjamin or you?” Marisol teased before placing her hand in Izumi’s.

“You know it’s me!” Izumi exclaimed before she began to drag Marisol through the small cabin.

Izumi was always excited when the three of them ate together, she loved to hear about the visions they received and the advice that they gave one another when it came to helping fated mates replace and accept one another. To her, it is like hearing different romance novels every other week.

“Will the moon goddess be joining us today?” Marisol asked as she approached the table with Izumi.

Benjamin smiled brightly at Marisol. “It is just the three of us tonight, but she has mentioned stopping by a few times so I am sure she eventually will. She also said that she is very proud of us and how we have been helping these stubborn wolves lately.”

A slight blush coated Marisol’s cheeks at the compliment.

The moon goddess rarely joins them for dinners these days, but whenever she does it is amazing. Marisol can’t help but ask every time.

Izumi let out small giggles as she skipped over to Benjamin, and planted a kiss on his cheek, before sitting next to him.

Marisol smiled at them as she sat across from them.

Benjamin gave Izumi a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to face Marisol. “Alright.” He said before clearing his throat. “Let’s all trade stories about how we spent these last few days apart.”

Before Marisol could even gather her thoughts on her recent journeys Izumi interjected. “Marisol! You go first! I know that you got to help an alpha! Please! Please tell us about it!” Izumi’s eyes shined as she begged. Her palms were placed flat on the table as she leaned forward, practically out of her seat.

Marisol and Benjamin placed their hands against their mouths to stop their laughter, but the noise left their lips anyway. Izumi’s enthusiasm has always been one of her most endearing traits.

Marisol composed herself before slowly nodding her head. “Alright, I guess I’ll go first, but after I’m done I want to hear about what you’ve done in these past few days as well.”

“Yes! Of course.” Izumi quickly agreed.

When Marisol first mentioned that she received a vision of the minor alpha and his mate, Izumi was more excited than Marisol was. She was over the moon that her best friend was helping pair an alpha.

“This is going to be kind of a long one.”

“That’s fine, you know Izumi prefers the long stories,” Benjamin said.

Izumi nodded before laying her head on Benjamin’s shoulder.

“Well you both know that I saw the vision of an alpha a few days ago, he was with a she-wolf dancing at what looked like a wedding. It was Alpha Kane.”

Just as Izumi was about to start cheering, Benjamin wrapped his arm around the back of her neck and cupped her mouth. Effectively silencing and holding her in place.

Marisol smiled at them, somewhat amazed at the fact that Benjamin knew his mate so well.

“Please continue,” Benjamin said as the left corner of his lip tipped up slightly.

“Well five nights ago in a dream I caught the name of his mate, Willow Ives. When I finally got her name I went to the South-West lands as fast as possible.” Marisol never waited until she had the name of both mates, just one name and both faces are usually enough to go by.

There are a lot of ways to tell where the wolves are from. In the visions that she receives, she can see what is in the background. Certain buildings, the weather, or nature around them can give way where they are from.

Yet, this was her first time pairing an alpha.

A certain someone likes to play games when it comes to alphas and their mates so she thought it would be best to go to him once she had everything prepared.

“When I got there they accused me of trying to infiltrate their pack to attempt to kill their alpha.” Marisol continued.

Izumi’s gasp could still be heard even though Benjamin’s hand was over her mouth.

Izumi and Marisol’s eyes traveled down to Benjamin’s other hand which was shaking as he gripped his fork.

Marisol’s eyes widened as the fork started to slowly bend in his grip.

“What did they do?” Benjamin asked as his eyes narrowed. Even though his tone was calm, both of the girls knew better. There was no doubt in their minds that he was going to tell the moon goddess about what happened and the South-West pack might have to face the wrath of an angry goddess.

“Honestly, it wasn’t that big of a deal, I was prepared. They attempted to interrogate me but I held firm until the alpha came.” Marisol tried to reassure him.

“Nonsense!” Benjamin yelled as he slammed his fist on the table as he stood up. “They know what our moon goddess looks like, so they should know that you are one of her children and you were there to help!”

Benjamin rarely gets mad at anything, so seeing him angry startled his mate and Marisol.

Benjamin did have a valid reason to be upset, all members of the pack lands know that they should welcome the children of the moon goddess with open arms.

They are usually ecstatic to see Benjamin and Marisol, they know that they are the ones who help wolves replace their mates. For any of them to be treated that way is unacceptable. Especially Marisol.

However, Marisol could understand why they are hesitant about anyone showing up on their territory unannounced.

Lately, there has been a shift in the air in the pack lands. No one knows exactly why, but the wolves a part of packs have been paranoid. Even about the intentions of wolves a part of other packs.

“Benjamin calm down, they were just trying to keep their pack safe, don’t you want to hear the rest of the story Izumi?” Marisol asked, tilting her head in Benjamin’s direction.

Izumi quickly pulled Benjamin back in his seat and started to run her fingers through his hair and the tension left his body immediately as he melted under her affection. “Yes, please continue.” She said before she began to press light kisses on Benjamin’s cheek.

Marisol smiled at the couple, her older brother and his mate.

Most people wouldn’t like the PDA that they are displaying, but Marisol loved it. She couldn’t help but gush over the love that the two wolves have for one another.

“I sat in the interrogation room for a few hours before they finally let me see the alpha. I decided that I was going to force the vision onto him. If his wolves were acting as paranoid as they were I could only assume that he would be paranoid as well.”

All three of them cringed at her words. Sharing visions between consenting parties rarely hurts, at most, it can cause little pinpricks of pain. Yet, when a vision is forced onto someone, the person receiving the vision is in agony for as long as the vision is. It occasionally has to be done, due to how stubborn wolves can be.

“I felt like I didn’t have a choice. They were all convinced that I was an imposter attempting to gain information to help the rogue wolves.” Marisol explained before placing her face in her hands.

It has been about a day since it happened. Alpha Kane had quickly forgiven her, but it did nothing to absolve her guilt.

“You don’t have to explain, Marisol. I have had to force my visions on a few wolves as well. We do what we have to do.” Benjamin said and then nodded for her to continue.

“Well he obviously was in immense pain and fell to the ground immediately, and his warriors immediately went to attack me-” She tried to rush through that part of the story so they wouldn’t react but Benjamin’s growl pierced the air.

Izumi was able to console her mate quickly with more gentle caresses and soft kisses.

“Right as they were getting ready to probably kill me they were stopped by their alpha. He ordered them to release me and commanded that everyone leave.” Marisol took in a deep breath through her nose, this would have to be her favorite part of what she does. “He looked at me and he smiled. He asked me if I knew where she was.”

Izumi sighed dreamily, she loved hearing the stories of how the wolves react when they replace out that they are going to meet their mate soon.

Marisol had a feeling that Izumi wasn’t going to like this part though. “Well, I told him that while I didn’t know where she was, I did know her name and that I was willing to help him replace her. He agreed with me, but when I told him the name he did a complete one-eighty. Willow Ives.”

“Who is Willow Ives?” Benjamin asked.

“His beta’s daughter, she is about to turn twenty years old,” Marisol answered.

“Wait if she is twenty then why didn’t they feel the mate bond with one another?” Izumi asked.

“Well.” Marisol dragged the word out a little bit. “She left the pack when she was seventeen to join another pack.”

“I do not see the problem, wolves leave packs all the time, it’s in our nature to wander.”

“She didn’t leave because she wanted to wander. She left because Alpha Kane humiliated her in front of the pack.”

Marisol frowned at her food, realizing she was so into telling them her story that she had forgotten to eat it, but when she looked at Benjamin and Izumi’s plates she saw that their food was untouched as well.

“Tell us what happened,” Benjamin demanded.

“Well she loved Alpha Kane before she was even a teenager, and she wanted him to take her feelings seriously or by the very least acknowledge them and have a conversation about it. So on her seventeenth birthday, she threw a party and the whole pack was there to celebrate. She felt like since she had turned seventeen Alpha Kane would see her as an adult and they could see what could be done about her feelings for him. He shut her down the entire night, but she kept pushing until he forced her to submit to him and agree to not talk to him about her feelings again.”

Izumi gasped. She was horrified about what she was hearing. Now Benjamin was the one consoling her as her eyes welled up with tears.

“He did this in front of the whole pack?” Izumi asked as she fanned her eyes in an effort to fight off the tears.

Marisol nodded. “I suspect that she knew that they were mates the entire time.” She slowly shakes her head. “I came here to rest, and to see you guys, but in two days Alpha Kane and I will set off to the North-Western pack.”

“Why is he waiting?”

“First he has to grovel to her parents and get their blessing, and then he needs to figure out how to grovel to his mate.” Marisol with a giggle.

“Enough of talking about that for now, Izumi tell us about your day,” Benjamin said with a wide smile.

All Marisol could do was watch the two of them in awe, seeing them only made her excited for her future when she found her own mate.

Judah

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Alpha King Judah glared at his reflection in the mirror.

He was absolutely disgusted by the way that he looked at the moment. His chocolate brown hair has grown far too long for his liking, his curls falling into his eyes. He hadn’t shaved in five days so the hair that has grown on his jawline is unacceptable.

Yet, he can’t replace it in himself to clean up his looks.

There hasn’t been much time to focus on personal grooming. All of the packs within the pack lands have been on edge. Nobody can explain why, but something hasn’t felt right for a while now. All of the wolves can feel the tension in the air, and their actions are showing it.

Fifty years as Alpha King without a Queen by his side has taken a toll on him. It has taken a toll on all of the wolves a part of the pack lands. No Queen by his side to help him through the trials and tribulations that came with him living the life of a King. No Queen to help guide him through the emotional help that all of the pack members will eventually need. No one has said anything, but they all are craving for him to replace his Luna. He can feel it.

He stepped out of the bathroom and swiftly grabbed his crown off his nightstand before carelessly putting it on his head.

He didn’t care much for his appearance this early in the morning and his pack knew better than to say anything about his obvious lack of care.

They all knew that ten years without a mate after the age of twenty is enough to drive a male wolf mad, let alone the fifty years he has been without one.

“My Alpha, My King.” His beta, Charlie said as he bowed his head to him to show his respect as Judah stepped out of his room.

“Beta Charlie.” Judah nodded his head to show him respect also. “I’m sorry to disturb you at this hour.”

“It’s fine, it’s my job to deal with these kinds of things.”

Without another word they both started to walk in the direction of Judah’s office, and when they finally made it they saw everyone who was waiting for them.

His two gammas, Alexander and Luke. As well as his top warriors, Sofia and Cole.

When they reached the office all four of them stood and bowed their heads before stating, “Alpha King, Beta Charlie.”

Judah nodded his head in respect to them before taking his place at the desk.

“Someone inform me what was so important that we all have to be up at two in the morning?” Judah asked as he leaned back in his chair.

Cole cleared his throat before speaking up. “Rogues have viscously attacked the South-East pack. The pack’s alpha, Wren, has been critically injured.”

It had been over fifty years since the last war with Rogue wolves. Pack wolves and rogue wolves for the most part stayed out of each other’s way. This attack on the South-East pack must have completely blindsided Alpha Wren.

“That isn’t even the worst part.” Sofia sighed in between her statements. “The rogues had witches with them.”

There it was, the real reason why the rogues attacked. Witches. They have been a thorn in Alpha King Judah’s side for the past ten years.

The witches had turned their backs on the wolves a long time ago after attempting to eliminate them from the world, but during the last ten years, the witches have gotten bolder and desperate. Feeling entitled to the resources that grow on the wolf territory in the pack lands and attempting to steal the land right from underneath them. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that they were able to manipulate other wolves to do their bidding.

Judah let out a string of curses before standing up and pacing the room.

To say he was frustrated was an understatement, he is the King. He should have seen this coming.

“Cole, Alexander, and I will personally escort one hundred and fifty of our best warriors to the South-East Pack,” Judah said.

They all nodded in agreement.

“On top of that you should also bring Scarlet along with you. She will be able to survey the damage and see what type of spells these witches were using.” Sofia added in.

Scarlet was one of the few witches that were a part of the wolf packs. Most of the packs had one or two but the South-Eastern pack had no witches.

Scarlet was almost as grumpy as the king and as old as dirt, but she was useful.

“Good thinking Sofia.” He complimented. “We will be parting fifty warriors to each minor pack to help them prepare for any more attacks. No one will be ambushed again.”

“Alpha Wren is in critical condition. Should we bring our doctor as well?” Sofia asked.

“Yes, good thinking Sofia, go alert the doctor. She needs to gather her things now, we leave before the sun rises.” Even though he is sure that the doctors in the South-East pack were more than capable of doing their job, it would not hurt for them to have some extra help.

Sofia nodded before rushing out of the room.

“Gamma Luke, in an hour wake Scarlet and tell her to prepare her items as well.”

Luke nodded before bowing his head and walking out of the room.

Judah slumped back into his chair, he was too stressed to even care about how his pack might look at him right now. It was two in the morning, and they had to leave by five to get the South-East pack if they wanted to get there in a timely fashion just in case the rogues and witches decided to finish off the pack.

He overheard Beta Charlie give Alexander and Cole orders but didn’t pay attention until they both bowed their heads and rushed from the room.

“These damn witches.” Beta Charlie said with a grumble before taking the seat that Luke had occupied. “Sneaky cowards waiting until most of the pack was asleep to attack.”

Judah nodded in agreement. “We need to send word to have at least ten wolves on patrol at all times.”

Beta Charlie nodded in agreement. “You best prepare to leave soon Alpha King, I will try my best to run your kingdom in your absence as smoothly as you do.”

“I know you are capable,” Judah said with a nod before getting up. “Round up the soldiers, a lot of them have long days ahead of them.”

Beta Charlie nodded before walking out of the office.

After his beta left he quickly took his crown off before placing his head on the desk. He was sick of dealing with these damn witches and it only infuriated him more that they had wolves on their side. The same wolves that the witches want to get rid of. He is sure that the watches have given the rogue wolves that joined them false promises, and they will have no problem stabbing them in the back la

He slowly got up before placing his crown on his head.

There is no time for self-pity, especially when there is an alpha fighting for his life.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.