The Waning Moon Of Pain

Chapter Nine:

After a few hours of waiting for Ulric. Diana took that time to relax and get some food in her. She had to recover from everything that happened and the huge embarrassment of Ulric doing that in front of everyone. She sparked up conversations with Freya about the pack to figure out what she is to expect for the Luna side of it. It also helped keep her mind off Ulric, being very close to each other like that and officially accepting him as her second chance mate, the bond is driving her hormones crazy for him.

The next thing she knows she is in the back of her father's car, with Ulric in the passenger seat. She sat back looking out the window nibbling on her lower lip deep in thought about how to break this news to her Brother and Alpha that she has a second chance mate, that happens to be Ulric and she is to become his second Luna and Alpha of the Twin Moon pack. All her father told her brother when he called him is that Ulric and them, with a small ten man team of Ulric's are heading to the pack and help get rid of the rogues for good.

Freki wouldn't dare turn down Ulric's offer to help being such a bigger Alpha than him, and not just by size. Ulric glances back at her and growls,

"Angel, stop doing that unless you want me to come back there and do it for you." He growls in a deep husky voice trying to fight his urge not to finish the mating process and seeing her biting on her lip like that is not helping him stay calm.

Her eyes widen looking over at him, her face turns instantly red, glaring at him. "Ulric, don't talk like that around my father!" She groans embarrassed.

" Then stop gnawing on that lip of yours, it's very distracting and it's not easy having to hold back like this." He warns her

She was about to bite her lip again, but quickly stopped herself. She can't help it, it's what she does when she is thinking or nervous.

"I can't help it. I'm just nervous about telling my brother all about this, he can get a little over protective of me at times. It took my dad a lot of convincing to let him bring me to your pack."

" Our pack Angel and it will be fine. Your Alpha wouldn't dare stand against me."

" It's not my pack yet and he might not stand up to you as Alpha, but as my big brother. If Darius wasn't his best friend and future beta, he would have beat the crap out of him. My brother doesn't think straight when it comes to me sometimes." She says honestly and sighs leaning on her hand looking back out her window.

" It will be fine Princess. I'm sure he will be overjoyed and proud of you as I am. " Her father reassures her.

" If that's true, you would have told him over the phone. Don't give me that father, you're just as nervous about it as I am."

Her father smiles loving how well her daughter knows him, he shrugs, " I feel it is still better you tell him yourself. This is something that deserves to be told to him in person."

" It will be fine. No need to be nervous Angel." Ulric says confidently.

She looks over at him with her emerald eyes, looking over his strong arms, remembering how amazing it felt having him hold her up against that door, her body fitting just perfectly against his large build, his hands gripping her thighs completely, his lips making her numb, uh she has missed that physical connection the most.

Suddenly getting lost in that deep thought of them, Ulric instantly tenses, smelling her arousal in the car. Maybe riding in the same car as her wasn't a good idea, they won't last three hours doing this.

"Damn it Diana!" He growls, making her jump and squirm in her seat. Looking away from him turning red.

" Pull over." He growls at Jack, rolling his window down and signals his men following them to pull over as well.

Jack quickly moves over to the side of the road, stopping. The car following them stops behind them. Ulric jumps out of the car, slamming the door behind him frustrated. He wants to stay close to her, but doesn't have the strength to hold back his urges. He has no idea how he's going to last waiting until after they have taken care of the wolf that ended her last mate.

Diana pouts watching him walk to the car, opening the passenger door ordering the guy to get out and go to the other car. The guy quickly stumbles out, Ulric hops in the other car slamming the door. The other guy hurries to their car, jumping into the passenger seat.

She sighs annoyed and disappointed they have to drive separately. Her father chuckles at her pouting in the back seat, looking at her in the rearview mirror as he pulls back out onto the road.

"Don't pout Princess, you know better to provoke him like that and it's much worse for us Alpha's then it was for Darius."

She rolls her eyes, " Trust me I know, I've been around enough Alphas for a lifetime dad. I am one myself, you think it's easy for me to control my urges as much as him? He's the one that jumped me in the entryway making our bonding much worse." She grumbles.

" I doubt you two are going to make it while waiting after we get this wolf. It would probably be best if you did it before that way you are both focused and with him being connected with you will make each other stronger."

She knows her father is right, but her and Rin still felt kind of awkward giving themselves to a new mate. It felt kind of wrong to them still, that's why they want to wait until after they kill this wolf for taking her first mate, but with them both being alphas, her a future alpha, they are not going to last one minute alone in a room now. She is not even sure separate rooms will save them.

"I know..." She huffs leaving it there.

The next three hours were the longest three hours of her life. She couldn't even get herself to sleep through it because she hated not being next to Ulric. It has her on edge for some reason not being able to connect with him in anyway, she didn't even give him her number so that they could at least text each other while he was in the other car, but maybe that's a good thing, the last thing she needs to do is send him a dirty text out of impulse.

Pulling up to her family's pack house, nostalgia hit her harder than she expected it too. Stepping out of the car, leaning on the car from her legs being stiff from sitting so long. She looks up at the pack house, her mind drifts looking around her pack's lands. Memories of playing with her brother and Darius come to her.

Ulric gets out of the other car looking around. It has been a long time since he has been here, it really hasn't changed much besides a few updates to the pack house, looks like they added more to it. He smiles looking over at his dear Diana and his smile fades, seeing her staring off in the distance.

Walking over to her, he gently takes her hand into his to break her from her thoughts. She gasps blinking looking up at Ulric from the sudden shock of his touch,

"You okay Angel?" He softly asks her.

She smiles and quickly wipes her eyes not realizing she was tearing up. "Uh yeah. I guess the memories will always be difficult to handle. I will be okay." She says, folding her fingers through his.

He nods, kissing the back of her hand and has her join her father while her brother and his Luna steps out of the pack house to greet them.

Her brother looked a lot like her father, black hair, hazel eyes, and a strong big build, but Ulric is at least twice his size. Her brother never grew as big as his dad, but he never lets his size get the better of him. He's proven that enough to others. Walking up to greet Ulric first, he slows his steps looking at his hand interlocked with his sister. He gives her a questioning look, but holds back his questions for now. Holding out his hand to Ulric.

"Alpha Ulric, it's been a long time man. Thank you for coming." Freki says in his booming deep voice.

Ulric smirks, shaking his hand, " It's always a pleasure. Thank you for having me help."

"Of course, I would be stupid to turn down your help. Let's head in. Your guys may go to the guest house down the road to rest if they want, food is prepared for them."

Ulric nods looking over at his men stretching from the long car ride,

"Head down to the guest's house and rest for the day. We will start bright and early in the morning, be ready." He orders them.

" Yes Alpha." They say to him and bow their heads. Climbing back in the car, they drive down to the guest house.

Diana sees Freki give her a warning look, while mind linking her when Ulric turns to his men,

'You going to explain why you are so close to Alpha Ulric?'

'Yes of course, but inside. It's a long story.'

'How can it be a long story, you have only been gone two weeks?!'

She rolls her eyes at him, 'A lot can happen in two weeks Big brother.'

Ulric turns back to Freki seeing him eyeing his sister, he glances over at her at his side and smirks seeing the cute annoyed look on her face. He can tell they are arguing through a mind link. Looking over at Freki's side stood a sweet looking little woman, with big curly brown hair and bright brown eyes, wearing a pink summer dress.

She is shaking her head at the siblings seeing she knows they are arguing as well to each other through a mind link and turns her attention to Ulric feeling his eyes on her. She gives him a sweet nervous smile,

"Sorry about them. It's nice to meet you Alpha Ulric, I'm Luna Amber Rose, Freki's mate." She says introducing herself to him, he kindly shakes her hand.

"Nice to meet you Luna Amber." He kindly greets her back and eyes Freki seeing them break eye contact and he turns his attention back to Ulric.

"Let's go in shall we." He quickly says, taking in a breath to calm himself from his talk with Diana.

Ulric continues to hold onto Diana's hand, walking with her, he glances over at her seeing her annoyed look still there,

"Everything okay Angel?" He softly asks not wanting her to be in a sour mood.

She lifts her brows looking over at Ulric, she then quickly smiles and nods, "Uh yeah, just nothing new with big brother. Like I said, over protective." She grumbles.

He gives her a charming smirk, running his thumbs over her fingers, feeling the sparks strong between them. Her cheeks flush pink, looking away from him. The last thing they need is her getting aroused in front of her brother.

They head into the pack house. It's definitely not as large as Ulric's mansion size pack house, but it worked for their little pack. It has three stories, three bedrooms on the top floor, four on the second, and the first floor is a nursery, office, kitchen and living room.

The five of them huddle into the living room. With three large Alphas and two women, Ulric himself could take up one couch, he had an idea to make sure everyone was comfortable taking the signal sofa chair, and pulled Diana into his lap, locking his arms around her waist.

Diana turns red, not expecting to sit in his lap when she has to explain this situation to her brother, but she can tell by his grip around her waist, he isn't letting her go. Not being near each other for the last three hours must have been frustrating to him as well. Not fighting him on it, she relaxes in his lap. Her brother is eyeing them both suspiciously, sitting with his Luna at his side and their father takes the other empty couch.

Resting her hands on Ulric's arms, she takes a breath to relax her nerves and tries not to think too much about being in Ulric's lap right now, his body being so close to hers. She looks over at his brother, still not liking what he is seeing.

"Well there is not an easy way to say all this, so I am just going to say it. Ulric is my second chance mate and I'm his second mate, he still is with Freya, she is happy and healthy. I am to be Ulric's second Luna and Alpha for his pack once we finish taking care of things here." She says a bit quickly, laying it out to her brother.

Freki looked at her then at Ulric, then back at her, and then at their father not believing this,

"Is this really true?"

"Yes. When we arrived and these two first saw each other, a mating bond was triggered. Diana even fainted from it, but she is doing much better now as you can see from Ulric's help." Their father says proudly looking at the new lovely couple.

Furrowing his brows at his father, he points at them annoyed,

"You are okay with all this?"

Jack lifts a brow at his son not liking his tone, " Yes, completely. It's not that I really have a say in the matter anyways son. The moon goddess brought them together and in doing so she saved your sister and helped give Ulric's pack their second Luna and Alpha."

Her brother shakes his head, looking back at his sister. She's never seen her brother look at her with disgust before, "So you really plan to be with him?"

She looks at her brother annoyed and confused, "Yes big brother I am. Why is that such a problem to you?"

" Diana, you were withering away for the past year from losing Darius. You leave for two weeks and just like that you're over Darius seducing another woman's man?" His voice was laced with anger and disgust, his hands going into fists.

Diana's mouth drops open, feeling a sharp pain to her heart. Is that how her brother really thinks of her, to be that type of person. Clenching her teeth, she glares at him and growls,

"Excuse me!? I didn't just get over Darius, Freki! How dare you think of me as that low of a person! It wasn't easy making this choice and it's still not easy!"

Ulric holds her down, not wanting her to start anything with his brother even if he is out of line. Freki growls at her, standing, and points a finger at her.

"That's Alpha Freki to you Diana. I am still your Alpha, you will respect me! If you really cared about Darius you wouldn't have thought this stupid notion over. You would have rejected him right on the spot!"

" If I did that I would've killed myself! I was in no shape to handle the pain of rejection when Rin and I weren't speaking to each other. Rin is speaking and connecting with me again big brother! I thought you would have been happy to see me doing better?"

" It's not always about you Diana! You are not the only one that lost Darius that day!" Her brother roars through the house, everyone falls silent.

Everyone but Amber looked at him shocked. Amber knows the pain her mate had to indur on his own. Freki's fists shake, looking down at the ground trying to control his rage and pain. Diana's eyes soften looking at her brother worried, she's never seen him like this.

"Damn it, I wasn't going to say anything. I know it was worse for you Diana with his passing, but you were not the only one in pain this whole time. You had everyone checking on you, making sure you were okay. No one seemed to care how I was feeling. How do you think it felt being handed the title of Alpha, but to be taking care of the pack alone, for only getting the title after losing my best friend and beta. Dad gave you all of his attention, I had to push down my pain and be strong for the pack. If I didn't find my mate, I would have gone crazy. You two still haven't noticed that I have yet to assign a new Beta." Freki spoke with deep pain in his words, angry tears in his eyes looking at his sister and father.

Diana and Jack looked at each other. She felt horrible now, how could she not think of the pain her brother was in. Darius was his best friend and his future beta, they had so many plans for the pack to make it better and stronger. Ulric releases Diana as she hops up running to her brother, wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him tight.

"I'm sorry big brother. I'm so sorry!" She cries into his shoulder, standing on her toes.

Freki sighs, wrapping his arms around his sister, hugging her tightly back. Hiding his face into the nook of her neck and shoulder, silently crying. It's very rare for her brother to cry, she hasn't seen him cry like this since they lost their mother. She feels horrible for not being here for him, for thinking she was then only grieving for the loss of her mate.

"I promise you, I'm not trying to replace him, I could never do that. What I have with Ulric is not the same as I had with Darius. I didn't just come back here to tell you about me and him, I also came back here to get closure. We aren't just going to get rid of the rogues for good, we are going to hunt down the one that took Darius from us. Rin wants his head and I am happy to give it to her." Diana says, rubbing his back to comfort him and hope he understands.

Freki leans back a little, but keeps his face hidden behind Diana a moment wiping his tears. It's not right for an Alpha to show weakness in front of another, but he knows Ulric won't hold it against him. Diana leans back giving him a worry smile, he gives a small smile back,

"You should have started out with that little sister."

They laugh, he wipes her tears for her, and kisses her forehead. "I am sorry for what I said, I was just upset, I shouldn't have taken it out on you. It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known in your state of mind."

Jack stands putting a hand on his son's shoulder. Freki looks at him, seeing the guilt in his eyes, "I am sorry as well son. I didn't mean to leave you alone with your pain. I should have checked in with you."

Freki smiles and turns to give his dad a hug. " It's okay dad, you were just trying to keep our little sister safe. Don't worry about it, I am just glad to finally get it off my chest."

Diana smiles and joins in with the hugs, hugging them both the best she can with her small arms. They smile and laugh wrapping they big arms around her,

"I love you guys. Thank you for everything, for never giving up on me."

"We love you too Little Luna. Oh and just because you are becoming a true Luna now, I am still calling you Little Luna." Freki teases.

She laughs looking up at her brother, " I wouldn't want it any other way big brother."

Releasing each other from the family hug, Diana turns back to Ulric and holds back from laughing seeing that annoyed look on his handsome face looking at the ground, drumming his fingers, trying his best to not be jealous of his brother hugging her and getting her attention. Stepping over to him, he looks up at her seeing that smug smirk on her lips at him pouting. He gives a low growl pulling her back into his lap, hugging his arms tight around her, baring his face in her neck and hair, letting her sweet lavender and strawberry scent sooth him.

She giggles at his possessiveness, giving his cheek a peck and snuggles into him. Freki looks at his sister, seeing the new love she has for Ulric in her eyes and the deep care Ulric has for her,

"Now I must say this as her big brother, not as Alpha to Alpha, so don't take offense, but you better treat her right or I will kick your ass." Freki says to Ulric, his blue eyes looking up at him.

Ulric smirks and chuckles, " I think she would kick my ass if I did anything to upset her."

She smirks and lifts a brow at Ulric. She boops his nose and giggles, " That's right."

They all laugh, filling the room with love and warmth of the new family bonding. Freki sits back with his Luna, embracing her into his arms taking in her scent. Her cheeks flush cuddling into him and give him a sweet kiss. Proud of him for bringing up what has been holding back with his family.

"Do you have a plan on how you are going to find the rogues?" Freki asks them, wanting to know more about this mission of his sister's.

" Well I just started reconnecting with Rin this morning. I'm going to need a couple of days to get back to full strength with her. Ulric suggested while I'm recovering, his men and any you wish to join them, go and scout out the rogues. They have recently been here, so hopefully their scent and tracks are still fresh enough to follow or get a general direction of where they are located. Once we find them and hopefully confirm the one that took Darius is there, we will all ambush them together. Brother, If the rogue wolf is there, I was going to take him on myself, but I think you and I should take him down together for Darius."

She smiles seeing this light up Freki's mood even more, he nods loving the plan, "Sounds perfect. You sure will be able to handle doing this Diana? You haven't shifted in over a year."

" I plan to shift once before we go, to help get warmed up and back in the groove again. Maybe make it less painful, I know it's going to hurt not shifting after so long."

" I will help you through it Angel." Ulric reassures her, knowing having a mate close helps ease the pain of shifting until her body is once used to it again.

"Thank you."

"So why haven't you two finished the mating process?" Freki asks curiously, looking at them.

Diana feels her cheeks burn at her brother asking such a question, "Uh well I didn't really accept Ulric as my mate until today and then we came straight here after. I want to wait until after we find the rogue wolf and Rin and I don't feel comfortable doing it just yet."

" I understand, but wouldn't it be better if you did it before we go after the wolf? You know how distracting the mating bond can be when it's not fulfilled, you both do. Finishing it might help recover your strength fast as well." Freki says, looking at them both.

" I have already mentioned it to Her in the car. If it's not the right time for her, we won't push her into it." Their father says.

" They do have a point though Angel. I would feel more comfortable about you going after that wolf if we were connected." Ulric softly says to her.

Her cheeks flush more, turning to look into those enchanting blue eyes. "I know. I would too, but it just doesn't feel like the right time yet. I think Rin and I just need a little more time to ourselves now that we are working together again. "

Ulric nods understanding as much as he hates it, he will continue to be patient with her and wait until she is ready, but after getting closer to her and tasting her sweet lips for the first time today. His desire and need for her has gotten much stronger and it's not going to be easy for him to hold back Blake much longer.

Diana sees the struggle in his eyes, knowing Blake must be going crazy, wanting to finish the bond, to be with his second mate. She rests her forehead against his, smiling at the warmth it gives her,

"Soon, I promise. Just hang in there for me a little longer Blake." She says softly to him. Ulric smiles, nuzzling her and gives her a gentle kiss on the lips. Her words helped settle Blake down some.