Keeping promises

Chapter 9: Black-moon

“This is where I belong!”

(This Is Where I Belong - Bryan Adams)

………5 ½ months later………Late March………

I looked at the paperwork I had just filed as I sat in the small office of my little cabin. Our little pack had grown from the original 15 to 27. We had 12 more wolves join us through the winter, two families and two lone wolves. The families that joined had left their old pack after their Alpha was killed by a rival. Both of the adult men worked in construction, the children were still pretty young, two toddlers, a tween, and one infant. One of the women previously worked as an electrician, while the other ran a daycare. With their help we were able to build a couple of small cabins, one for each family. I decided to stay with my family until we could afford to build proper homes, saving us a little bit of money.

My small room doubled as my office when I needed to work. I was able to get us teens enrolled into a home schooling program. Monday of each week our school work from the prior week was brought in so the teachers could discuss and grade our papers. We would receive feedback the following monday so we knew what to improve on. I looked at the paper, I ran my fingers over the words.

I had sent out an application to the werewolf council, and a man named Samuel came and assessed our little pack. We told him the story of how we came to be, I told him about the death of our previous Alpha and how everyone from our pack rejected Christian and why. He was appalled to say the least. I was asked to show him my wolf, which I did and he inspected me carefully. He left without giving us a definitive answer, but it had come officially by courier a week later.

The werewolf council hereby recognizes Finn Dalton as the Alpha of the newly formed Black-Moon pack.

I felt my eyes sting lightly as I read the words over and over and over again. (We did it guys!) I linked the rest of the pack. (Black-moon is now an official pack!) I could feel the excitement coming from everyone and Tanner burst into my room, happy tears falling down her cheeks. We held each other for a long time, our parents came in and joined us along with aunt Paige and Rose, who continued to stay with us.

“Congrats, Alpha.” Rose said into the group hug. “You deserve this.”

…………...4 months later………..

“Oh come on!!” Rose yelled at Dawson. I opened one eye and watched her try and grab the sun lotion bottle from his hand. “She’s my mate!”

“She’s my bestie!” Dawson argued. Mia took the tube from him and handed it to Ella, one of the wolves who had joined us during the winter. Dawson and Rose both looked heartbroken, I laughed looking at them.

“You know Mia won’t tolerate the arguing.” I said as I sat up, the water around me ripping. Everyone was home seeing as it was the fourth of July. The man made pond was filled with colored tubes, wolves relaxing in them. The sandy beach held a few wolves who were trying to sunbathe. The pups were playing on the jungle gym, chasing each other around with sticks and the occasional frog.

I sighed as the summer heat warmed me from my head to my toes. I let my loose hair fall into the water as I leaned back in my tube. The smell of smoke reached my nose and I heard Ella’s brother and my father talking about grilling strategies. Everything seemed perfect, but in my heart I knew something was missing. I could see it weighing on Dawson too, Will had been gone for far too long. Dawson had written him a letter explaining where we were, two months later it was returned. We called the apartment complex and they said Will hadn’t renewed his lease and the payments stopped coming. Oliver, Ella’s brother, and Tyson, one of our other new pack members went and collected his stuff for us seeing as nobody would recognize them.

When they got back Dawson and I met them outside seeing as it was only 2’ o clock in the morning. I had grabbed a box and the most enticing scent I had ever come across was pouring out of it. I had set it down and opened it only to find some of Will’s clothes. I was confused for a moment, but Ember cleared that up real quick.

(Mate) She had whimpered. I had looked up at Dawson, his eyes were as wide as saucers. I hadn’t realized I had said the word out loud until he pulled me into a hug and began crying softly.

“I’m sorry Finn.” He whimpered. “I should have gone with him.” I just sighed and shook my head, I pushed him back slightly so I could look at his face.

“Will left because he trusted us to look after you, and you to look after us,” I said before I closed the box. I hauled it to my bedroom where it sat in my closet. Sometimes if the night is cold or especially lonely I’ll put one of his shirts on, but I usually leave them alone.

I had asked Dawson and the others to keep the fact that I knew who my mate was a secret. They were confused at first, but when I explained that we couldn’t afford to send out a search party they understood. I wanted to, and I explained that to Dawson, but we didn’t have the numbers, nor did we know where Will actually was. We didn’t know if he found his sister, we didn’t know if they were purposefully hiding somewhere and didn’t want to be found. We had no information that we could actually use to successfully find him even if we went looking.

Dawson turned 18 and discovered Oliver was his mate, just like Rose and Mia realized they were mates once Rose turned 18. I kept the picture of us from the previous summer on the mantle of the house that was built for me.

We added another 7 members from March to June, and they helped us build better homes faster. We finally got electricity and running water, our sewer tank was installed, and we even built a nice garage for the cars while we weren’t using them.

The day was nice and the vibes were great. We were having a good time, eating expertly grilled food and drinking fresh lemonade. The party lasted well into the dark when the neighbor began setting off fireworks. We all sat on the grass and watched as the sky filled with bright colors. The noise bothered the kids at first, but soon they settled realizing that there was no danger, it was just the pretty sparkles in the sky.

We all went to bed around 10, the kids were carried home, seeing as they had fallen asleep earlier. I felt myself get sucked into slumber the minute my head hit the pillow.

I woke up and found myself in the field where we had just watched the fireworks, I smiled as I saw the familiar shape of Will standing by the remnants of the bonfire.

“Will!” He spun around and looked at me, his icy blue eyes filled with confusion. I felt my heart skip as I took him in, he was thin. His facial bones were prominent and the rags he had on were hanging loosely on his frame. His hair was greasy and matted, his face which was usually clean shaven, was sporting a patchy beard.

“Finn?” His deep voice was gravely, like he hadn’t talked in weeks.

“What happened? Where have you been?” I asked as I walked toward him, my body itching to be close to him.

“Why are you here?” He asked. “How did you get in?” I tilted my head as confusion washed over me.

“What do you mean, we’re at home.” I told him, his eyes narrowed slightly as he took me in.

“No, we’re in the cage.” I felt my heart break for him.

“Will.” I said reaching out, my hand going through his arm like he was a ghost. I felt tears prick my eyes as I realized I was dreaming. “This isn’t real.” I whimpered, he clenched his jaw and looked down at the floor. “You don’t know.”

“Know what?” He asked.

“We left Fallen-woods, we made our own pack” I said before I took a deep breath and looked in his eyes again. “We’re mates.” His eyes widened again, this time his irises expanded too. “We got your things from your old apartment. Ember recognized you as our mate when your things arrived carrying your scent.” He chuckled darkly, as tears began rolling down his face.

“It was a trap, my sister Robyn was here, but she was never held against her will. They lured me back to this place so they could lock me up. Robyn was promised the luna position in return for my capture, so she lured me here using that poor girl who actually was locked up. I know they plan on killing me soon, I just don’t know when.” I shook my head as rage flooded my veins.

“They won't have the chance.” I snarled, Ember joining me, her fury feeding mine. “We’re going to come get you, I will have that pack exterminated.” His hand reached out, he tried touching my cheek, but his hand didn’t make contact.

“Don’t come here Finn.” He said lightly, a small smile on his lips. “It’ll be a waste of your time.” Blood began spilling from his mouth and I looked down to see a hole in his chest where his heart used to be. Ember began howling as hot tears ran down my face. “I love you Finn.” He fell onto his knees and his head slumped forward, his chin resting on his chest. I fell with him, and I watched as the light left his blue eyes. My heart shattered into a billion tiny pieces, I felt the world around me begin to spin.

“William.” I heard myself beg softly. “Please don’t go.” My vision started fading and I could feel my breath coming faster. “William!” The scream sounded foreign as the last of my strength evaporated, leaving me completely hollow.

I woke up in my bedroom alone, I looked at the small clock on my night stand. The time said 6:26. I sighed and pulled myself out of my bed. I pulled on my beige fully robe and walked out to the field. The fire pit was no longer smoldering, the smell of my pack danced around me. I looked at the spot where he had been standing, the grass was straight, no evidence that he had even been there. No blood was on the ground and his scent was absent. I closed my eyes and tilted my head toward the sky. I was searching myself to find something, anything to tell myself if what I had seen was true, to see if he was really dead.

I sobbed softly as I realized there was absolutely nothing, no mate link, no invisible thread that could lead me to him. Ember was whimpering, she could feel nothing from his wolf. Before she could feel that our mate was out there in the world, waiting to unite. Now emptiness was all there was.

(Dawson, Mia, Rose, Oliver. Could you please come to the field? I have something I need to share with you urgently.) I heard them all agree, though it was reluctant. I let myself cry silently for them, how blindsided they were going to be. I felt Rose and Mia arrive first, I didn’t face them, I waited for Dawson and Oliver, who came along a few minutes later.

When I turned toward them I saw Rose and Mia squeeze each other's hands while Dawson stood a bit straighter. Oliver clenched his jaw as he put his hand on Dawson’s lower back.

“Will came to me in my dream last night.” I told them, before I took a deep breath. They all looked eager, and afraid, wanting to hear more, but not sure if they really did want to. “He was being held captive at his old pack.” Dawson sucked in a hissing breath while Mia growled softly. “I guess Robyn laid a trap for him, she was promised the luna position if she could get him there. She betrayed her own brother.” I felt tears prick at my eyes. “He asked me not to look for him.” I took a deep shaking breath as the tears came faster. “Then I watched him die.” The shock of my words hit them all, their hearts broke at the same moment. “The goddess allowed me to be there for him in his last moments.” I said lightly, the words coming without thought.

“How are you so sure it wasn’t just a dream?” Oliver asked.

“Ember can’t feel him anymore. She used to be able to feel that he was out there somewhere, but now there is nothing.” Dawson clutched his chest as he started sobbing loudly. He fell to his knees and he howled in pain and loss. Mia and Rose did the same, their wolves coming forward to amplify the sound. Ember quickly joined, her howl sounding the saddest, at least to me it did.

Oliver knelt down as he comforted Dawson, using the mate bond to help soothe him. I looked at Mia and Rose who were holding each other tightly as they sobbed. I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked at the grey pile of ash.

“We’re going to hold a service, even if his remains are elsewhere his memory and family are here. We deserve to mourn him properly.” I said looking at the ashes, I then turned to face them, their tears were still coming as they nodded. Dawson just stared blankly at the ground in front of him, tears falling down his face. “I won’t stop you if you feel the need to go.” He looked at me then, surprise filling his eyes. “I can’t risk leaving, but if you want to go find him and bring him home I will send you out with our best warriors.” He nodded and took a breath.

“Did he say anything else?” I nodded, and sucked in a breath.

“He told me not to go,” I said lightly. “He said it would be a waste of our time.”

“I’ll honor his wishes.” He said softly, his grief evident. “He would have honored ours.” I nodded in agreement.

Later that day I called for a pack meeting, everyone had heard the howls, they knew something was wrong. I started by telling them about our road trip to the Adirondacks the previous summer, I told them about my discovery of our bond. I told them about the hollowness that would live within me forever. My mom cried for me while my dad went on a tirade, he was yelling at the goddess, asking her what I had done to deserve such shitty luck. Aunt Paige removed him from the room while Tanner mourned with our mom.

We held a small service, everyone came and offered prayers, some leaving flowers. Brooke and Ryan told a few stories that they could remember. Then Rose came and placed a picture in my hand. It was a printed photograph from the disposable camera. Will and I were looking at each other, huge smiles on our faces, while sitting on a log, it was from the hike we went on the day before we went to Blue Mountain lake. We had been picking on Mia for needing to take so many breaks.

I cried lightly, wishing I had known sooner. I regretted letting him go on his own, I hated the fact that we let him go at all. I held the picture to my chest and sobbed for all of the things we would never get to do. I knew deep in my soul that even if the goddess were to pair me with another I wouldn’t accept it. I would live, for my pack’s sake, but I would never mate, have pups, or even experience a deep love for another like Will. He was supposed to be the one I had forever, but I didn’t even have him for a moment.