Wild Forest Pack
Chapter 18, date night!

Conall

When Lyna said she wanted to go on a date and I had a perfect idea but I needed some help!

“Hey, guys can you guys meet me near the community center.” I didn’t want Lyna to get suspicious, so I needed to talk to everyone in person so it doesn’t get spoiled.

“Hey, what’s up dude? Why aren’t ya celebrating Lyna’s freedom?” Lyall was confused about what I was doing here, and I can tell others felt the same. Our pack showed up, some Crescent Pack came even Lucy showed up somehow maybe Lyall asked her to come.

“So Lyna had an idea to go on a date since we haven’t gone in a while. So that’s where I need your help. I wanna shower her with love from all of us like a wedding present from all of us. I got to thinking, why don’t we combine our bachelor/bachelorette party and just have a big bonfire. We all know she’s not a party person, and I think she’d like this idea. So how about the she-wolves do what they originally planned and doll her up, have a good time, and we guys can get the bonfire set up along with food.”

“That actually doesn’t sound like a bad idea!” Calla speaks up and looks at me with shock along with some of the others.

“Yeah, I think we guys can do that.” Lyall slaps my back lightly and goes off to get some dry wood from our woodpile.

“Alright, I’ll go hunt for food, the rest of the guys set up the fire and the pit, you girls have a good time, but have her back in time for the party.” Everyone nodded in agreement and scurried off to do what I asked. I smiled proudly at myself knowing this was going to be a fun night. Probably not what she expected, but at least we can spend time together.

Lyna

I hear knocking on my door and wondered where Conall went. I didn’t hear any other mindlinks besides for the group meeting near the community center. I obviously didn’t go since I figured it was supposed to be a surprise for me and I wanted him to have his fun. I open the door to see all my girls even Lucy which I thought she went back into town!

“What are you all doing here?!” I hugged everyone as they came in. I had some hot chocolate made earlier luckily it was still warm and offered some to everyone, and Reika explained what was going on.

“We’re here to start your bachelorette party! We know that you’re not a party person, but Lucy went into town and got somethings to glam you up. Some bath oils, nail polish, some light makeup, hair accessories, and some cute wintery accessories that you may like, all the fun stuff. We’ve all missed you and wanted to spend time with you before the big day!” Everyone smiled at me as they held their hot chocolates. I had made some for myself, but luckily I made extra.

“This is so nice everyone, thank you! Come on let’s get this party started!” This was more my speed and I’m glad I get to spend it with them. Even though I was curious about what Conall was up to at least the ladies could take my mind off of it for a little while. They let me have a nice bath for a little while and enjoy the bath oils they had given me. When I was finished and got dried off, Reika and Lucy came in with some new clothes for me and they did my hair for me. It’s a cute outfit. A gray sweater, dark jeans, a brown fur hooded vest, some snowflake earrings, and some brown boots. I saw a new crocheted hat and mittens along with some new white fluffy earmuffs in my room.

“You guys the clothes, the accessories, doing my hair. This is all so sweet! Thank you all so much!” I actually started to get teary-eyed with tears of joy. I never realized how much my she-wolves appreciated me. They all engulfed me in a group hug and laughed.

“We all love you, and we’re all happy for you and Conall. Personally, I honestly thought it was going to be you and Lyall for a while, but I’m glad Conall makes you happy.” Reika smiles at me, but I look at Lucy with a surprised look on her face and almost hear a growl from her. Maybe there’s something that she may be hiding. Could she be a wolf and not know it? I know Reika didn’t mean any harm, but I could see the hurt on Lucy’s face. I’ll have to talk to her later about my relationship with Lyall.

While we were all caught up in the fun, we get a mind link from Raff who was the unfortunate one who got stuck on patrol duty. He and a couple of guys from Crescent pack were on duty, but he’s not into parties anyway and asked to do it so we could have our fun.

“Sorry, to interrupt the fun but there’s a young woman here to see Conall. Says it’s urgent.” Really!? A young woman for Conall!? Who the heck had the nerve to ruin our bachelor/bachelorette party!?

“Let her through, we will meet with her.” Conall and I meet this mysterious woman and Conall looks like he had seen a ghost. His eyes were the size of a tea saucer and he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Conall? You ok?” I was getting worried, who the heck would make him react like this?

“Tala…I thought you were dead…” I could see tears coming from his eyes…was she an ex-mate? A family member? As far as I knew his whole family died in an attack…

“Conall who the heck is this??” I finally get the question out and he’s still speechless.

“My sister…” He runs to her and hugs her the warmest and tightest hug I had ever seen him give.

“Oh…but your family died in that attack-“

“I’m sorry but I’m Tala, you must be my sister-in-law.” She reaches out her hand for a handshake, but I smile and hug her too. She was almost exactly what I pictured Conall to look like as a woman. 5ft 10, same sleek black hair as Conall except hers is just past her jawline. Same copper skin just like Conall, and milk chocolate brown eyes, but no pack tattoo…has she been living as a rogue all these years!?

“What happened to you?! I tried to look for you but you were gone…”

“I thought you were dead. I found you, mom and dad, dead near each other.” I could tell that Conall was having a hard time reliving this memory…I had remembered him telling me what happened to his former pack back when I was recovering from the fight. I had never seen him so sad before. The pain of reliving that awful memory made me want to hug him tightly and comfort him.

“I was playing dead when that pack attacked us. I guess you were too, but when I woke up you were already gone. Sadly mom and dad are really dead…I buried them back at our old packhouse or what was left of it…the attackers burned it to the ground…once I figured the coast was clear I ran for miles hoping that they wouldn’t replace me alive. I stayed in my wolf form for so many years, but then a werewolf family, by the name of Lucian Lonan and his wife, Freya, and son, Connor took me in. They originally thought I was some wolf who was separated from my pack, but when I shifted they knew the truth…they had been living alone from a pack and we’ve been living as our own sort of pack all these years. I would’ve tried to replace you but I thought you got captured and killed…” Tala looked almost as sad as Conall telling him what happened to them all these years.

“Oh, I did run. I ran until I couldn’t…I had just shifted for the first time and then I found the alpha and luna of Wild Forest…well here…they took me in, got me medical care, food, shelter everything I needed, and more.” As he turns to me with a loving look… “Sadly we lost our alpha and luna…Lyna has had to take over since she was 16…it took years to replace out who did it, but eventually, we took care of that killer.” I growl as I think of that fight with Adolfo…

“Forgive me for asking, but what was the name of your former pack, maybe my parents knew them.” I didn’t remember if Conall had told me the name or not, but unlikely. Probably too painful to even mention it.

“It was called the Full Moon Pack. It was small. Just our family of four and ten other followers that had wanted us to be the alpha family.” Now it was my turn to have tea saucer eyes. Conall had alpha blood and did not tell me!? Why am I just replaceing this out now!?

“You’re an alpha family, um I’m sorry but why am I just being told this now!?” I could hear some birds scramble from the trees as I scream at him.

“I’m sorry Lyna…I didn’t want my bloodline to influence your choice of a mate.” I can see the regret in his eyes for not telling me and I know the pressure of being the alpha family, but that is still a huge detail not to tell me!

“I don’t care if you were an omega in your former pack, I still love you, Conall.” I grab his hand lovingly and reassured him that I love him and he squeezed mine to reassure me.

“I’m sorry, but you’re alpha?!” Tala looks at me in shock. I smirk with pride and I proudly confirm her question. I’m used to people underestimating me since female alphas were not really common and only in rare cases.

“Yes, I am. When my parents died the position fell into my lap. I’ve been alpha for six years, but when we get married Conall becomes the new alpha and I become luna.” I look at my husband to be with pride while Tala looks shocked.

“You’re going to be an alpha?!”

“Yes, I am. I am not that little boy that needs protection anymore. I finally made a life for myself. This wonderful woman is my mate. We found each other when I turned 18 and she was 17 but we were focused on…other things at the time so we didn’t really accept each other until we caught her parent’s killer. When we finally did, he was stupid enough to challenge her…luckily we had been training for something like that and she won. Now that we had solved our…issues with the other pack who challenged us we can finally relax and focus on our wedding. You’re just in time for the bachelor/bachelorette party. Come let me introduce you to the rest of the pack.” He guides her to the others. The other she-wolves gawking from the window that faced near us and the guys sneaking a peek from wherever they were to see who this mysterious woman was.

“Everybody, you can come out we know you’re already watching us.” I knew them all too well when it came to unsuspecting visitors. They slowly came out and greeted Tala, treating her as one of us.

“Everyone, this is my sister Tala. Let us go back to our festivities and have a good time.” Conall smiled proudly at her, glad to have her back in his life again. At least one of us was going to have some family at the wedding. I’m happy for him…just made me wish my parents would just show up and tell me the past six years were just a dream, but sadly I don’t think that’s going to happen…

The she-wolves grabbed me back to my house when they realized that it was almost sunset and we finished getting ready for whatever Conall had planned for tonight. I honestly thought hanging out with my she-wolves was the bachelorette party, but by the way, they’re acting, I’m guessing that there’s more.

“Alright, ladies let’s not bombard Tala with questions. I may have my fair share but I only have two for now. One why did it take so long for you to replace us and two do you have a mate?” I was more focused on my first question. I had seen Conall suffer and was saddened that he didn’t have a family for so long and now she just happens to appear after so long?! Either she’s telling the truth or something’s up.

“Well to answer your questions…it took me so long because I seriously thought Conall was dead, so I tried to live my life with my new family. They were great and treated me well, but it didn’t feel the same as my blood family…I just felt empty inside. And two I honestly thought Connar Lonan was my mate, but when I got my wolf at eighteen I realized that he was not my mate…so no, for now, I do not have one, but I hope to meet him someday.” I could tell she was sad about the wasted years of not being with Conall and not replaceing her mate that could’ve filled her void of wanting a family.

Soon it was dark and snow was starting to fall again. As I was about to have another cup of hot chocolate I can feel Reika putting a blindfold over my face. I’m hoping they filled in Tala on what was going on but at least then I wouldn’t be the only one confused.

“Reika, I don’t do well with blindfolds…” Shivering at the thought when Sterling did the same to me. Luckily this time is a lot more fun than that.

“Don’t worry this is for a good reason. We’re taking you to Conall.” I hear more shuffling around the room by the other ladies I’m guessing grabbing some other stuff.

“Can I at least grab my shoes before we go somewhere? Can’t go anywhere without shoes…too cold.” I hear someone scurry to grab my new boots on my feet and tied them up for me, and they grabbed my new hat, mittens, and earmuffs. So it’s somewhere outside. I hear someone grabbing other things no idea what it is, but I let them take me to whatever it is they have planned.

“Alright, we’re all set and ready to go to your secret location. Don’t worry it’s not anything dangerous.” I hear the others laughing at me and my cluelessness. As alpha, I usually know what’s going on here, but at least for today, I have no clue. Today it felt nice not having to worry about anything and just having a good time. I could feel the coldness around me and made me happy for such a heavy vest and cold weather stuff they gave me. The crunching of the snow that has accumulated over the past few days and the fresh snow that was beginning to fall. In the distance, I could smell the distinct smell of wood burning and hot chocolate. I start to smile and realized what they had done.

“Hi, babe…surprise!” Conall takes off my blindfold and I see a firepit, blankets, chairs, food cooking by the other guys, and the ladies laughing at my reaction.

“This is perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better date. Thank you, everyone!” I take a seat next to Conall and enjoy the warmth of the fire and the blanket that was given to me. This was so much better than going to some yucky and boring club in my opinion. People that care for us, good food, lots of wood to keep the fire going for as long as we wanted to, and the snow stopped for now.

“This is the perfect date and I’m glad I get to spend it with my favorite people, but I’m glad for you Conall.” I kiss him gently and everyone cat-called us as we did. I rolled my eyes but I let them have their fun since it is a party. “Alright, enough with the catcalls and let’s enjoy some good food!” I could smell all my favorite foods being cooked. Mom’s venison chili, her shepherd’s pie, her yummy corn chowder, and some of dad’s barbeque ribs. Mostly just my favorite recipes that my parents made to help me have a part of them here. Nights like this made me miss them so much…I know that mom would’ve been all into this surprise and dad would’ve just smirked and gone along with the guys.

“We’re sorry that we can’t be with you physically sweetie, but just know that we love you and I would’ve made a feast for this party!” I can hear my mom’s loving voice and I remember them telling me they were like my spirit guide. I giggle at her comment cause she definitely would’ve made a feast…and as hard as I try to put on a happy face in front of everyone it only made me wish my parents were here more…

“We love you sweetie…we are proud of the woman you have become, the alpha you’ve grown into, and the mate you have grown to love.” Hearing my dad’s voice is what sent me over the edge and made me start crying. I had to get away for a moment…I walk away from the fire, ripping off my blanket, and just start to sob…I was glad that Conall had Tala come back into his life again, but it made me want my family…and as far as I knew I was an only child. Which surprised me since alpha families usually want to try until they have a son so they can pass the alpha position to the son. I never really wondered why they never decided to have more kids, and it wasn’t really a question I wanted to ask. Ew…but even if I wanted to I can’t now…

I shift into Emmy and let out a whimpered howl as I go for a run in the woods for a little while. I could hear Conall behind me, but I guess he didn’t want to follow me. It was like my heart was breaking all over again…stupid Adolfo…why did he have to take the two most important people away from me?! They should be here celebrating with me! I sit on a rock near a stream and have a drink of water…I hear footsteps behind me and I growl at whoever was behind me to just leave me alone.

“It’s ok Lyna it’s just me.” I turn around to see Randon, Conall’s wolf, behind me.

“I’m happy that you have Tala now…but I just wish my parents were here…they should be here! They should be celebrating with us! My dad should be walking me down the aisle instead of Lyall…my mom should be going crazy with me about my dress and how beautiful I’ll be in it!” I let out another wail of a cry as my tears fall into the stream…I sit down on the snow not caring about the coldness and just whimper…and I sit there for a couple of minutes letting the others have a good time before they realize that we’re not there…

“I’m sorry babe…I wish I could bring them back for you but I can’t…they are at peace and not in pain from the wolfsbane anymore…I’m sure they are smiling down at us wishing they could be with you too.” He nuzzles up to me trying to get me to get up from the cold snow I slowly do and nuzzle him back. “Come on let’s go back to the party before the others start to worry. I want you to be a happy blushing bride. Please don’t be sad…there’s a hot chocolate mug with your name on it when we get back.” He always knew mom’s hot chocolate was my weakness…I started walking back to the fire, shifted back to myself, and changed back into the nice outfit the ladies had picked out for me. When we got back, Lyall was the first to come up to us.

“Hey, you ok? You just took off without telling us what was wrong?” Lyall looked worried and I didn’t blame him.

“Yeah, I’m ok…just missing my parents…wishing they were here, but with all of my favorite recipes it’s almost like mom made it.” I tried to smile, but I knew I wasn’t fooling him.

“Come here…” He wraps me in a hug to try and comfort me, but I could see Lucy looking worried.

“You might want to talk to Lucy about us. I think she’s worried that you still have feelings for me.”

“I will talk to her, but right now my friend and alpha is hurting. You’re more important right now.” He didn’t let go of me for a good solid minute until I broke the hug.

“I’ll get something to eat, thanks for the hug.” I left and went over to the food table and when I saw dessert I knew I had the best pack ever. They had a s’more’s bar! I smile over it and look back at my friends who were practically family at this point. They sure knew how to cheer me up when I was down…I grab some food and a little bit of dessert and enjoyed every bite. As the night got colder, and people started going back inside.

I thanked everybody for coming to the party and bid them goodnight. Conall and I put out what was left of the fire with some snow and grabbed whatever we could to bring back inside to get cleaned and warmed up. I changed from my cold snowy outfit to warm and heavy plaid PJs. Just as I’m about to sleep I have this dream/nightmare of what life could’ve been like if my parents were alive…mom making everything absolutely perfect, dad in his tux just nodding and letting mom be in charge while he does the heavy lifting, he and mom walking me down the aisle…

It was all so real that I didn’t realize I was smiling in my sleep…only to wake up and realize that it wasn’t true…I whimper as I realize that it was just a dream one that I had been wishing was true for years…but after everything my pack has done for me…for us…I can’t say the past six years with them have been all awful. I’m grateful for them and all they’ve done…as I realize that I try to get some sleep and go back to cuddling Conall again…