Second Chances

Chapter 9: Four years later

Ember:

Four years later:

My body froze. I can’t seem to look away. My thoughts run wild. I can’t believe it. The goddess has blessed us again. How can she give us so many blessings? We are so lucky already. She had given us so much already and now we have something new, something wonderful.

Standing in the bathroom, looking over the herb, I just did my business on. The color comes back clear that we are pregnant again. I smile, knowing that my mate will be happy with the new addition to our family. I know he already knows, he always knows. He can hear the pup in my womb before I’m even showing any signs of pregnancy. This news wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. I know it will delight him when I confirm the news. He loves our two other pups dearly. Over the last four years Damien and I have been growing our family. After having our first pup, Harris, we spent two years trying for our little girl, Alia, and now we have a third pup on the way.

I wonder who this pup will be. Will it be a little girl or little boy? Will it be a little witch or another werewolf pup? Could they be sweet, like my Harris? Or will they be a little diva like my Alia? Either way, I know we will be happy. We will love this child, like we love our others. Harris will be over protective like he is with his sister. He will want to take care of this new baby like he does his sister already. Feeding it, holding it, playing with it.

I don’t know how Alia would react. She probably is too young to understand. Last month she turned a year old. She barely knows how to talk yet. I’m sure that the little diva won’t be happy at first, but maybe she would surprise us.

Hearing a knock at the bathroom door, I’m drawn away from my thoughts.

“Mommy, daddy wanted me to tell you breakfast is ready,” Harris called from the other-side of the door. His little voice, giggling as he kept knocking at the door.

“I'll be out in a moment, moonbeam,” I called back, before gripping the herbs and heading to the door. Upon opening it, I find Harris still standing there, giggling, mid knock. He was still wearing his pjs from the night before. I roll my eyes, knowing his father forgot to get him dressed before breakfast.

“Mommy, what's that?” Harris questioned, seeing the herbs in my hand. I smile and keep walking to the kitchen. He will know soon enough. Damien is sitting at the table with the letter in his hands, tears streaming down his face.

“My father….. My father…. He is gone,” Damien muttered, crumbling the letter in his hands. I drop the herbs, running to my mate's side, holding him close as he sobbed.

****

Damien stopped crying a few hours later. I didn’t let him go, allowing him to cry in my arms. Mother watched over the children, neither of them understanding what was happening. Harris wanted to know why his daddy was crying, but mother just took him away. She understood we needed space. Damien needed room to grieve.

“Ember, I’m sorry,” Damien muttered, pulling away from my hug. His eyes met mine and knew. I knew what he was going to say next. Our life here is over. We were going to have to leave the forest behind.

“I know..” I whispered back. We had talked about this before. I knew once his father passed away that our family would have to leave our home. He was his father’s heir, the future Alpha of his pack. His father had taken over the pack when his mate and son died. He left to be a rogue, but he knew one day he would have to return. I had accepted this ‌a long time ago. I wouldn’t fight him. This was both of our duties. The moon goddess made us with the idea of us being Luna and Alpha one day.

Now that day had come. We would need to prepare to leave our old life behind. I wasn’t sure what would happen next, but we had each other.

***

Mother, the children and I have been traveling for a few days. Damien left a few weeks ago to deal with his father’s funeral and to return to his pack. Before he left, we talked about everything and decided it would be best for me to come in a few weeks once he had control over the pack. He made all the arrangements. He left a car in the forest's edge for us to use, leaving money and phone inside the car. We have been texting and talking on the phone during the road trip. Mother is driving while teaching me how. The children are in their car seats in the back. The truck of the car is full of all our most important belongings. Mother wanted to bring more, but not everything could fit. We had to make some hard decisions. But Damien ensured us that everything we needed would be provided to us. So we exchanged some clothing for rare magical supplies, mostly seeds and plant cuttings, so we could start a garden at the packhouse.

Damien was happy to hear about my pregnancy. I didn’t feel right not to share the news. He didn’t like the idea of being apart from us for so long. But, told him that two witches could keep his children safe. He wanted to send someone to look after us. That wasn’t possible. We could make it on our own. And now we are so close. We passed in the pack lands just a few moments ago. No warriors in sight, which I thought was odd. They should guard the entrance, waiting for their Luna to arrive.

I called Damien, and he told me they got pulled away with a couple of rouges; he said that he would have met us at a local diner and to stop for lunch.

Mother stopped, and we gathered the children walking into the diner, sitting at a booth. The diner was mostly empty with a few older wolves eating. They stared at us as we entered before returning to their food. The diner was old, a little rundown compared to others we had stopped at over the last few days. The outside parking lot is overgrown with weeds. And the sign out front is broken. I could hardly read the name “Howlers Diner”.

The inside was no better. The booth we sat in seemed to be falling apart, held together with duct tape. White walls seemed dull, dirty, like they could use cleaning. The floor was no better, covered in a thin layer of filth. We wouldn’t stop here if Damien didn’t tell us to.

A young she-wolf came over, wearing a uniform. Her brown hair pulled too tight. The uniform was unbutton, showing way too much. She had no curves to speak of. I wasn't sure what she was trying to show off. She didn’t look happy. Before she spoke, she forced a smile.

“Hi, I’m Hannah, I'll be your server. What can I y’all?” Hannah asked with her forced smile.

“Three orders of burgers with fries, four waters, and an order of chicken strips for the little one,” I ordered quickly, not wanting to take up much time with her. She seemed to be the only one working here. She wrote ‌the order and left us, returning shortly with our waters. Then leaving without a word.

“She doesn’t seem happy to be serving our kind,” mother whispered.

“Werewolves are distrustful of witches, mother. I doubt she knows who we are,” I whispered to mother.

“Surely they knew their Luna was coming and that she would be a witch. She should have known it was you,” Mother whispered back. She wasn’t wrong. My mate clarified that their Luna was coming soon. He would have told them who I was. She should have guessed that I was her Luna. I pushed this thought back of my mind, as Alia became unsettled. She cried and wanted me to hold her. I took her from my mother, who had been holding her. Soon, Alia settled down and started drinking from her glass. Harris was standing on the seat of the booth, looking out the window. He was waiting for his father. He knew he was coming soon.

“I bet they aren’t gonna respect you, you're gonna have to put them in their place,” Mother stated, as I shook my head. She would not let this go.

“We cross that bridge when we get to it,” I said back, just as the server returned with our food in hand.

“There aren’t any bridges nearby? Where are you guys headed?” Hannah asked with another forced smile. I sighed, not wanting to explain.

“We are heading to the Blood Moon pack. My daughter here is the Alpha’s mate and the Luna of the pack,” mother answered, as I could not stop her. I looked at the server, whose face contorted, the color draining away.

“What, you aren’t happy to meet your new Luna?” my mother asked. Just then I heard Harris call out.

“Mommy, bad guys,” Harris yelled. I glanced out the window to see our car surrounded by black SUVs, a few dozen pack warriors heading for the door. Before I could react, the diner flooded with warriors, bearing their canines, claws extended.

“Stop, she..” Hannah said before being pushed away, falling on the counter and passing out as blood leaked from her head.

“What the hell do you think you're doing here?” the warrior who was leading the rest screamed out as I threw a protection bubble around the booth.

“I could ask the same, you disrespectful pups,” my mother yelled. As Harris hid behind her. Alia cried out in my arms, hearing all the yelling..

“Disrespectful pups? How dare you? This is Blood Moon land. Witches aren’t welcome here. And you dare enter? The Blood Alpha will rip you limb from limb, and kill those little bastards,” the warrior stated, his words seething with malice. Anger rose inside of me, filling my magic coursing through my veins, as I wanted nothing more than to teach them a lesson they would never forget.. But I held back, knowing that my children would see whatever I did next. I didn’t want them seeing me like this.

Soon I heard them talking and watched as another car arrived, hoping that it would be my mate. But it wasn’t. It was just more pack warriors. Mother took my phone and called Damien, placing the phone on speaker phone. I hope ‌he will get the message and come here. Surely the warriors were here without his knowledge. Surely they didn’t realize I was their Luna, and these are the children of their Alpha. I couldn’t hear what Damien was saying on the phone. I was too focused on the warrior who was yelling, trying to find a way through the protective bubble. They burned their hands and arms as they touched it. Someone from the other car and pushed to the front of the group. His eyes meeting mine, a look of pain on his face.

“Kristen!” he screamed, running towards the barrier, burning his flesh as he threw himself against it.