The Summer Moon
Chapter 35 -

Tyrese

"What?" I looked over to them confused, folding my arms over my chest.

"Come," My mother waved her hand, encouraging me to follow her into the dining room. I watched as she pulled an old photo album out of the cabinet, then flipped through a few pages. As she stopped on one, she looked it over slowly then turned the book to my hands. I stared down at the image, I saw a younger version of myself smiling a toothy grin with my arms wrapped around a blonde-haired girl with beautiful green eyes.

"What is this?" I stared at the photo in awe, immediately recognizing the younger version of the girl in my arms. "I don't remember this," I looked up at my mom. She looked at me, her eyes soft and gave me a sad smile.

"You met Malia at a camp a couple of weeks before this photo was taken. You were only 6 but you were obsessed with her. The two of you were inseparable. Then Malia and Joanna left town. You were so heartbroken honey, I didn't know how to help you. You didn't want to see your friends, your father threw you into endless training sessions and you learned to love that instead. Eventually, I think you just forgot about Malia, because it hurt you so much and you were so young, I never imagined you'd grow up to claim her as your mate." My mother explained.

I traced my fingers over the photo, my heart aching for these moments that I'd forgotten. "There are more photos in this album, look through them. Maybe it'll come back to you," my mom kissed my forehead and left me with the album in hand.

Could it be possible that I knew Malia before? I flipped through each of the photos, taking time to look each of them over, admiring the bright smiles that always displayed on our faces, admiring those unchanged green eyes. One by one, the memories flooded back to me, all the love I once held at such a young age.

As I turned the last page my eyes rested on a photo of Malia and I coming down at the bottom of a water slide. I had my arms wrapped around her as we slid towards the water. She had her eyes squinted closed but a smile on her face and I looked to be laughing. I remembered this moment so clearly. I remembered standing at the top of the slide with her as she squirmed. "It's too tall!" She had said, but I held her hand tightly in mine.

"We'll go down together, I'll keep you safe," I told her, then we climbed onto the slide together.

"Promise we'll be best friends forever," she turned and smiled at me as I held onto the edge to prevent us from sliding down yet. I wrapped my pinky around hers.

"Pinky promise," I whispered back, then let go and held onto her tight as we slid down the twisting slide together.

My heart pounded in my chest as the memory of Malia leaving ached in my chest. I remembered knocking on John's door with no answer every day for a week, and finally, when he did answer, he told me Malia wasn't home and he didn't know when she would be home again. No one would tell me where she'd gone. I remembered wanting to look for her. I remembered crying when my dad told me she wasn't coming back.

The ache only grew when I thought about what was happening in my life now. I couldn't live through this again. I had to make things right with Malia. I wouldn't lose her again. Suddenly, so much became clear to me, as I realized why I had never been interested in other girls growing up. While all of my friends were always seeking hookups, I was never interested. Other girls irritated me, because they weren't Malia. I had already bonded with her and no one could ever compare. I turned back to the kitchen to face my parents again. "I need her," I whispered, and my mom looked up at me with teary eyes.

"Oh honey I know," she came to wrap her arms around me.

"Stop coddling him Diana! Son, you are an alpha, for goddess sake act like it!" My father growled, anger bubbling at the surface again. "You are an alpha Tyrese and she is your Luna, you cannot allow her to leave. Stop being pathetic and letting her walk all over you. Act like an alpha!" His voice shook the house and I could feel myself losing control.

"Maybe I'm not," I growled and left the room, storming outside the house and heading out for another run in the woods.

"Where the hell are you, Jordan? Please just come back, I don't want this," I called out in my head towards him, but as usual I only felt the same emptiness. His presence was nowhere to be found, I couldn't sense him in even the slightest. The link between us had been severed the night he disappeared, a haunting indication that he wouldn't be returning.

I wasn't sure if I meant what I said. I liked being an alpha. I enjoyed protecting my people and fighting by their side. I loved the feeling of standing up for my pack. But maybe I just wasn't cut out for it. My dad second guessed every move I took and it felt like I was hitting endless barricades to stop me from being a true alpha.

I wouldn't fully complete my transition into an alpha werewolf until the next full moon, which was still a week away, but goddess, maybe it would be better if I just backed out now. Maybe Jared would be better cut out for all of this. As I approached the pack house, I shifted back into my human form and pulled on some clothes. As soon as I was inside, I began making phone calls to the surrounding packs once again. This fight with the rogues was getting too dangerous. The attacks were getting more violent, more frequent, and I'm sure we weren't the only pack being targeted. It was bigger than just our pack now.

I increased the security at the borders and discussed instituting a curfew in town, but it seemed too early for that. I kept it in the back of my mind for future steps though. I also encouraged the pack members to attend training classes at the arena if they were able to. The more people who were trained in self-defence the better. I couldn't protect everyone, I'd be a fool to think that, but I could help them protect themselves.

Now I just had to figure out how I was going to protect Malia. She knew about the wolves now, so I could keep some warriors in the forest area just outside of her house. I'd ask them to try to stay hidden so they didn't freak her out too much, but at least now she could sort of understand. She was my mate, I would give anything to protect her.

When I returned back home, my mother was waiting for me, sitting on the bench outside of our house. "I wanted to make sure you got home okay," My mother whispered as I approached her. I sighed, I knew she was still hurting over Jordan and I felt bad making her worry. I gave her a kiss on the cheek, then headed into the house.

"Tyrese," she called after me as I climbed the stairs to my room. I paused and turned to her. "You will make a good alpha, I'm certain of it. You are kind, compassionate, you're a strong warrior, and you've worked so hard your entire life. You are not Jordan, but you will be a good alpha in your own way. You will be a good alpha and a good mate because you are not afraid to love, and I know you love Malia, and you're hurting because she is hurting. I know she will forgive you and this will work out. But no matter what comes, you are my son and I love you," my mother's voice was strong as she spoke and I climbed back down the stairs and pulled her into my arms. I held her tightly in a hug and a tear slid down my cheek. That was exactly what I needed to hear.