The Phoenix Wolf and his Luna

Fallon’s POV I stared in the mirror for the millionth time. Could it just go away? The scar that ran down from the top of my head down my cheek to my jaw. The worst day of my life would just be forever branded on my face. “Fallon.” I looked into the eyes of my absolute best friend, the only person who could possibly understand what I was going through. Unlike me, Noelani had jet black curls that hung around her heart-shaped face, and beautiful deep brown eyes that reminded me of home. Her delicious pouty lips that I had dreamed about. I just couldn’t. It was hard to be me. The scar was a reminder of it. “It’ll heal, just give it time.” She pulled my auburn hair from my face and up into a bun. “It’s time to go to work, lovely.” No matter what, Noelani always knew how to pull me from my thoughts. 4 years ago on this very day, my mate not only rejected me but decided to remind me of just how ‘disgusting’ I was. It’s not like I asked her to be my mate. I didn’t even realize I was bi until I scented her across the training field. I have always been attracted to men. I had even dated one of the warriors for 3 years before finding out about her. “Stop,” Noe warned me. I sighed and smiled at her. “Come on, let’s get this day over with so I can get crazy drunk.” She giggled, and I hated it, but just the smile on her face sent me into a flurry of s****l hunger. She didn’t know though. She only knew that I was rejected. She was too. It’s how we became friends. We walked down the road to the small diner we worked at. It was nice and cozy and, even better, that no one knew who we were. A few wolves came in here and there, but since Noe and I were considered nonviolent rogues, we were able to stay in the town that bordered our two packs. It wasn’t anything special and we spent more time on our feet than we would have liked, but it paid our bills. The owners were this cute little old, mated couple, Gwen and Harvey, who said they loved to take in ‘strays’. So, me, Noe, Braydon, and Molly, all wolves, were the wait staff. Vlad was a supernatural mystery, but damn it if he couldn’t cook, and then finally our sweet little Raelynn, who was just as big a mystery as our Russian. No one was sure what she was or who. She just showed up at the diner one day. The pack put out flyers and news ads, we reported it to the human police, the shifter community, the vampires, and even the witches. Nothing. She had been living with Gwen and Harvey since. The day went on as most do. The humans would hit on Noe and make disgusting jokes about Molly. I was off-limits due to my scar. Braydon stood behind the counter sending glares at every wolf who walked in. Finally, the last usual thing was to finish up his burger and fries. There was the typical chime of the door. “Sorry kitchen’s closed!” I called out. I could hear the rumble of a growl before turning around and almost falling to the ground. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t our resident Scarface?” Logan sneered. My eyes scanned his body. His muscles seemed to have stayed the same, more of a scraggly 15-year-old boy rather than a warrior, he kept his hair in the same stupid douche cut with his hair swept to the side, even his clothes had stayed the same. What the hell could I have ever seen in him? Then again, I didn’t see what I saw in anyone from the Mercury pack. They were all evil in my eyes. I rolled my eyes at him before locking my eyes with the woman who was supposed to be my world. Her brown eyes caught mine before looking back at something behind me. She had dyed her hair instead of its usual blonde. It was a bright red. She was still beautiful, but my wolf wanted nothing to do with her. I stood taller, knowing that she now held nothing over me. I wasn’t the same 18-year-old I was when I left. I was proud of who I was. Everyone who knew me knew I was bisexual, they just didn’t know about my crush on Noelani. “The kitchen’s closed so you need to leave.” I tried to make myself as confident as I could. “Aw, come on gorgeous, you can’t help us out?” Logan cackled. I flipped him off before turning around to finish cleaning the last table. He gripped my wrist and threw me to the floor. “Look here, you lesbian b***h, I don’t give a flying rat's ass if Alpha let you go rogue and allowed you to stay alive, but don’t ever disrespect me!” He raised his foot to smash next to my face. I kept my eyes locked on him. I wasn’t afraid. I knew his moves. Hell, Dad taught it to us both. No matter what, he wouldn’t hurt me unless I was a true threat. I had kept up my training on my own, with a little help from Braydon, but I wasn’t a real threat alone, not against four of the strongest warriors and an Alpha’s daughter. I was strong, not stupid. “Logan, let her up,” Freddie said, pulling Logan by the arm. Freddie wasn’t like the others from Mercury. He was the one who talked Alpha Lyonel from killing me to just let me leave. You would think it would be my parents or my brother, hell my sister even, but no. They shunned me, and just let me go. My things were thrown on the front porch of the house by the time Alpha Lyonel banished me. Freddie escorted me to the edge of the pack and handed me an envelope that had the numbers of the apartment manager and the owners of the diner and a few hundred dollars in cash. Freddie looked at me, “Sorry, we’ll just go.” He helped me up, before pulling Logan out of the diner. She still stood with her eyes planted on the wall, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have cut your face like that.” I dusted my butt off and went back to cleaning my table, “Just leave Serenity.” “I found a mate.” She whispered. I turned to look at her. Is she serious? The absolute last person who would want to hear about her f*****g happiness is me. The one whose heart she ripped out and stomped on then marred my face, and had me banished. Yes, I could care less about her mate. “Daddy loves him. Approves of him. I love him too, and he loves me even with me being… me.” I moved to the saltshakers. I filled them up one by one, Serenity still standing in the same spot. “He marked and mated me; we even have a pup. His name is Emerson. He’s three months old. He’s the exact replica of his father. Including his heart. Thankfully. A lot has changed since you left, Fallon. A few of the wolves have a hard time accepting it, but we know the Goddess doesn’t make mistakes. Logan is one of those wolves. And for a long time, so was I.” “Is there a point to this? Great, you’ve got your mate and a family. The pack that threw me out on my ass has accepted you. Fantastic. What does that have to do with me?” “Because, Fallon, you gave me that. I was cruel and I shouldn’t have done it, and one day I’m going to have to tell my son about the mate bond and I’m going to look into his eyes and tell him about you. I was given a second chance, but you were my first and I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did. I rejected you and that should have been enough. So. I just wanted to say that I am so very sorry for what I did to you.” “She doesn’t accept your bullshit apology.” I heard Noe scoff. She came and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. Braydon leaned against my side and Molly jumped on my back like the tiny koala she was. “We are her family, and the only pack she needs now. So, you and your homophobic pack can shove it all up where the sun don’t shine and leave us alone.” I smiled at my family. That’s exactly what they were. My little diner family had kept me from the deepest depression. It was hard to get my wolf back after the rejection, but they never let me fall into the despair of it. Serenity turned and walked away. Braydon helped me finish closing the front of the diner. In our typical ‘rogue wolf’ fashion, we drank our weight in liquor. We ordered an entire menu from the pizza place and the Asian place, and they ordered a cake for me. Vlad, being the lightweight, was passed out on the floor. Molly wasn’t a huge drinker, so when she indulged us, she would usually end up trying to mount Braydon in front of Noe and I. Thankfully, we lived across the hall, so we always stumbled home, and made it to our beds. Tonight, my buzz went away a lot quicker than I would have preferred and my thoughts raced back to Mercury. I hadn’t spoken to anyone from home in a while. Not really. A few wolves come in for dinner or a quick lunch, but I would usually just give that table to Molly or Noe. I would take their tables if they didn’t want to talk to someone from their pack. A well-oiled machine. That meant I hadn’t spoken to my family in four years. My parents hadn’t bothered to call and make sure I was still alive. They found out I was different from them, and they just threw me out. The only place I had ever called home left me bleeding and alone in the cold. On my birthday. “Happy 22nd birthday, Fallon.” I muttered before finally falling asleep. ***** The next morning, I had classes at a small university a couple of towns over. Gwen and Harvey allowed us to use their pickup to drive back and forth to classes if we could pick up the supplies for the restaurant and their groceries. None of us really made enough to buy a car. I got dressed in a pair of jeans and a cute pink chiffon blouse that plunged to the tops of my breasts with a tie at the bottom. I grabbed a pair of black ankle boots and put them on. Noe was making breakfast in her work jeans and a sports bra. Goddess, does she know how she affects me? I sat at the small kitchen bar and grabbed a piece of toast. “How are you feeling?” Noe put the omelet she had made in front of me. I didn’t even care that it was hot. She had been learning from Vlad and she was getting really f*****g good at it. I devoured the entire thing in a few seconds before eating the toast. I would grab coffee at the diner and get the keys. We met a very hungover Vlad, Molly and Braydon. Vlad had on his cap and sunglasses downing a huge cup of coffee. Molly had her almost silver hair pulled up in a bun, rubbing her temples. Like me, she had a class today. Looked like I was driving. We all made our way to the diner; Gwen was rushing around the packed little room. I grabbed my apron and went to work for about 10 minutes before Harvey handed me the keys and pushed me out the door. “You and Molly need to get your education more than we need you here, also drop Bitty off.” He pointed to Raelynn that was sitting in front of the diner. “She decided to sleep in instead of catching her bus.” Harvey handed me the list of things I would be picking up today, their grocery list and the diner credit card. “Thank you, Harvey.” I smiled at him. He was the closest thing to a grandfather I had. He made sure we all made it to our classes no matter how busy the diner was. The pickup was always full for us to make it and he gave us a little extra money to get a coffee or lunch on the way home. I had never heard them mention children of their own, but they made sure we were taken care of. “Come on, Bitty. It’s time to get to school.” I grabbed her hand and helped her into the back of the truck. “Fallon, what does s*x feel like?” Molly whipped her head to look at the 15-year-old girl in the backseat and burst into laughter. I grumbled. “Bit, why do you need to know what s*x feels like?” “Well, because we were talking about it in class and they explained what happened, but they don’t talk about what it feels like. So, I want to know. Does it feel good, is it bad? Does it hurt?” I wanted to scream. I had no idea how to answer. My siblings were the same age as me, so I never had a younger sibling ask me the hard questions. Molly was still in the front seat dying from laughter. How was I supposed to answer this? “Uhm, it.. How do you think it feels?” “I want to say good because that’s all the senior guys talk about, but Molly always says men are pigs and they would f**k a fruit if they could get off. So, what does it feel like for a girl?” “It can be good and bad. And yes, it can hurt. It should also be done when you feel ready, not just because some horny teenager says you owe it to them.” I tried to be as vague as possible. “Did it hurt for you?” “At first, but then it was good. I really loved him, or I thought I did.” I wouldn’t lie to her. Logan was sweet and kind, and he made sure I was happy before he came. He was good with his wonder stick, but I always felt like something was missing and I always assumed it was because he wasn’t my mate. I was right, but also because I had no idea who I was. I looked at Molly knowingly. She had a terrible experience her first time. The Alpha’s youngest son claimed she was his mate, slept with her and then lied when he found his mate the next month, he dropped her and told every unmated male in the pack that she was an easy lay. She ran before she turned 18. She had been with us for two years. We made it to Raelynn’s school with the note from Gwen and Harvey. After making sure she was good, we got back on the road. Molly was asleep by the time we got to the university. We made our way to the small coffee shop before going our separate ways. Like always, I sat at the back and pulled my notes out from last class. I was just a few short months away from graduation. I had a few plans for later, but the real idea of leaving my little family bothered me. I was pre-law and I had already been accepted into Harvard, Yale, Brown, Baylor and University of Texas. I hadn’t told anyone; I didn’t even tell them I applied. It was a constant thing in the back of my mind and the closer I got the harder it became to keep the secret. The professor was entering the class when I caught the faint smell of citrus. My wolf ran circles in my head, excited about something. She had really bonded with the other three wolves, but she was never really excited about them. The professor closed the door, and the scent was gone. She wasn’t happy about it, but I reminded her that we had to get through this semester and after we made it through law school we could come home and take care of our family. And that we did.