ENTER VERA

STACY

I can't contain my smile when I see Venus since it only took a little while before I saw her. I turn to Maurice with joy and he's also smiling at me.

However, Venus doesn't look too happy, but instead, she looks perplexed, anxious and troubled. She also shows her wolf.

“Wendy.” She utters and my eyes widen. If she can recognize me and she knows me, why does she look so conflicted?

“Venus, is it really you?” I ask, my voice laced with concern. I'm starting to get worried since she doesn't look too well. I'm about to speak again when tears start making their way down her pretty face, making my heart to break for her.

She must've had a hard time.... I'm sure that it isn't easy being a rogue.

No one speaks, instead, they just watch us.

“I know it must've been hard, but if you allow me, I will explain everything to you. You don't have to be--” I don't finish what I'm saying because she slowly collapses but before hitting the floor, Alpha Joseph catches her.

“Rose!” He calls her, his face laced with concern.

Rose,...mmmmh...So that's her name!

I hold Maurice's hand and I'm glad when he holds it back, comforting me a bit.

One of the Alpha's men stands closer to us, maybe the Beta. “I'm sorry Alpha Maurice, it seems we will have to leave for now.” He says and my mate nods.

“No problem, let's communicate again soon.” Maurice says formally. The man merely nods and the projection disappears. For a while, we all just stand there, processing the events which have just unravelled.

The shock must've been tough.

I understand... I sincerely understand her....I really do. I also went through the same thing.

****

After the meeting with Alpha Joseph's Pack, Maurice decides to take me out on a stroll. I comply because if I stay inside the Pack House, I will just be worrying nonstop about Rose.

He holds my hand as he helps me skip over the rocks of the stream and when I think I've successfully crossed through all of them, my ankle gives out and I almost fall into the coursing river.

“Geez, so clumsy.” Maurice retorts as he carries me off to land.

“Well, that's the reason you're here, isn't it?” I answer him and this makes him to shake his head.

We walk along the pack territory and talk about anything. About the stray wolves, about Rose, about travelling to the west... about everything.

Maurice decides to stop and sit at the banks of the river. He takes off his jacket and spreads it down the ground so that our clothes won't get dirty when we sit.

Eventually, we end up talking about us. It's rather weird because we've never really talked about us like this before.

“Well, you were a complete jerk when we first met and I genuinely hated you.” I say.

“And what made you change your mind?” He asks.

His question takes me by surprise for a second. I think about it for a while trying to remember, and I give out a smile....a bittersweet smile.

“I don't know when exactly, but one thing is for sure, I did it for me, not for you. See, I've lived my life as an Omega and to be obvious, it wasn't easy. I lived in anger and hate for the longest time. When I met you, I was filled with hope but you were so easy to crush those hopes.” I chuckle lightly when I recall the events that occurred months ago.

“But then one day I realized that I had to be thankful enough to have gotten my wolf, I was thankful enough to have been given another chance to live. It'd be a waste if I lived it in anger and hate because of you.” I smile towards him.

He stares at the river and puts his head down. I can feel through the mate bond his hurt and regret.

“But all that is in the past now, Maurice. We're here now, aren't we?” I say, taking his face into my palms. He lifts his eyes, the blue in them deepening as he stares back into my eyes.

“Why are you like that?" He asks again, making me to tilt my head towards him, not really understanding his question. “I mean, why are you so forgiving? The Maurice from months ago thought that that's weakness, but now I don't really know what it is.” He says and laughs nervously.

Upon hearing that, my heart kind of breaks for him. I rest my head on his shoulder and he naturally puts his arms around me.

“That's because you've been too hard on yourself. You were so obsessed with being strong to protect your Pack after your dad passed that you didn't realize that strength can be found in the wind, at the simple crashing of the water against the rocks.” I explain thoughtlessly.

I mean, that's how I understand him and his craze for power.

He wants power and strength to make sure that no one will ever dare hurt his Pack again, to make sure that no one will ever hurt anyone who's close to him again.

The trauma of his father's passing created the strong Alpha persona that he's working so hard to maintain.

Maurice doesn't answer and I know he finds comfort in our silence. He holds me closer to him, planting kisses on my head as we stare at the water.

If only... if only this can last forever.

Flashbacks of a dream I had sometimes ago comes to mind and I can't help but smile bitterly.

“So, what are you scared of now?” I ask.

He breathes in deeply and hugs me tighter as if he's scared that I'm going to disappear into thin air.

“I'm scared of not being with you. I'm afraid it will kill me not having you by my side.”

Listening to it, it seems like any other cheesy line from a movie, but Maurice says it with so much honesty... it's how he truly feels.

My heart grips tighter at that and I turn my head so as to look towards him.

“You fool, don't say things like that.” I reprimand him. “Promise me that no matter what, you will keep on living."

This time, my heart is pounding hard. Somehow, the words seem ominous, but I have to know that if anything bad happens, Maurice will still live on.

Maurice stares at me but then, he smiles.

“Don't say things like that, we will both live.”

I force a smile and nod.

“Right.”

Yet again, the silence settles.

I breath deeply. I have a feeling that the coming days will be hard, but I guess I will be fine as long as Maurice is beside me.

As I'm about to close my eyes, I feel something weird. I feel something familiar and my wolf suddenly gets alert too.

Immediately, Maurice and I receive a mind link from Dwayne.

'Alpha and Luna, you need to come to the Pack borders right away. There's a woman at the border...' Dwayne says through the mind link.

My heartbeat speeds up and my wolf shows herself and I suddenly know that this time, I'm moving as Wendy.

Maurice notices this and he decides not to say anything. Instead, we pick our stuff up and race to the borders as soon as we can. I have a very strong guess on who the girl is. Well, at least I don't have to look for her since she has willingly come.

It takes us less than half an hour to arrive at the Pack Borders considering how far we were initially.

As soon as I catch a whiff of her scent, my suspicions are confirmed even more.

I see Dwayne and a group of guards standing defensively at the edge of the Pack Border. I notice that the barrier is still glowing and it's still strong, but then, I notice the girl standing right at the edge just enough so that she won't be considered trespassing the Pack lands.

She's wearing a cape so I can't see her face very well, but when she senses that I'm near, she lifts her head and looks around.

She stops when our eyes meet and I see the familiar glowing crescent mark in her eyes and that's when I confirm for sure, that she's Vera...the third moon goddess' warrior!

Wow! If this isn't luck, I don't know what it is!