Bear Moon

Momma Dee's POV (Sneak Peek chapter!) It was dark the night they came. The screams and smell of blood were terrifying to the senses. I was running the chaos trying to find my sister. I was not a warrior. My sister was. She ran into a battle enjoying the idea of a good fight. That was where we were different. I caught her fighting three of the men who came with their group to wipe us out. I looked down the field to see Mato fighting hard to get to her. I ran at her, slamming into one of the three men. I wrestled with him trying to buy time for her to get the others handled. It didn't work. I could feel tears staining my cheeks as she launched to save me from the man who held a knife ready to strike. He plunged it several times into her as she draped across my body. Mato slammed into him with such force that I hear my ears pop. His roar of pain and anguish ripping my heart to pieces. His rage managed to kill the last of the men who had attacked. I cradled her in my arms crying as he came back dropping to his knees he stared silently at her body. You could see this broke him. His pain, cascading across his features and body language. He did not hide the tears. It was his mate, any one of us shifters would have done the same. She was my sister. Everything we had done spilling into my chest and tearing at my insides. We had no idea these men had come in retaliation for what we had been doing the last several years. We had started saving the stolen kids. The ones that got sold as slaves or in s*x trafficking. Human or supernatural we were trying to stop it. I am sitting at my sister, Sarah's grave. Charity is right next to her. Two women lost their lives to save others. I paid my respects as often as I could being the stand-in Luna for Mato. It didn't matter that it had been 300 years since she passed. It still felt like a knife to the chest every time. Mato and I both continued forward as Sarah would have wanted. We had saved many since she left us. Mato was not the same man he had been. He was older in a way that broke your heart when you saw it. Amber, Cacodemon's mate had a huge hand in helping him heal. Her pain and horrors she faced. The people who had hurt her had been destroyed. It gave him something to cling to that showed the world was not bad. Her mate, the most terrifying creature in existence was a man to her with the biggest heart. I knew it gave both Mato and I hope that things would change. I knew Mato needed a second chance mate. One that would put his heart back together. I just didn't think it would take 300 years before he was given that chance again. It happened on her 18th birthday. Amber and Cacodemon were here watching. They had seen it in Mato before I did. Kayla had just turned 18 and was getting her first shift. Amber had had someone run to grab some sheets. When we had never done it that way before. It hit me how odd it was. Looking back to Mato I noticed his tight and aggressive position. Then it occurred once he changed and bumped heads with her. Kayla the first female werebear born in a century was his mate. She was young, freshly shifted but had been learning to fight since she was 6 years old (secretly with me). Mato and I both had made sure each of our pack members was fully versed in fight and defense. We were not going to have the same slaughter that happened when we lost Sarah. I was here now telling Sarah that Mato finally had found his second chance. The dilemma now was getting her parents to accept the pairing the Moon Goddess had chosen for him. She was 18 he was well over 900. He would always age and remain young part of the first generation curse that matched his parents. If he marked Kayla it would pass on to her as well. That was a portion of why they had bulked at the pairing with Mato added to the age gap. I had pointed out the age gap with Amber and Cacodemon and how well it still worked out. They were not convinced. I was not sure what would help them allow their daughter to get to know Mato in the sense of a man vs. just her Alpha. I did not want Mato broken-hearted and I no longer wanted to remain the acting Luna. It was daunting and tiring. I knew lots of people and had lots of connections but, it was not my cup of tea. I watched Kayla grow, I have seen similar things that reminded me of my sister but I saw a bold fierceness in Kayla that was stronger than my sister. Kayla always acted older than the other children. She handled stress better than most her age. I knew the goddess had been getting her ready to be Mato's mate after he had said it. It was like you realized how things clicked in place. That old phrase of "hindsight is 20/20." I needed to find a way to help him claim Kayla as his. Her family was werebears the 3rd and 4th generations I believed. They were a strong close-knit family. I needed to find a way to get through to them that this was a good thing. How happy Kayla and Mato would be. I just didn't know how to get to that point. Her father was stubborn set in his ways while her mother was devoted to the protection of her only little girl. I wondered if I could find a way to ask Kayla what her thought of Mato was. Maybe then I could have her help me get her parent's minds changed. ********** Greetings Readers! This is the spin off story of Mato and gmhis quest to win Kayla his second chance mate! I love comments, questions and feedback! If you want update information please feel free to check my F.B. page at Marion Merrill. Much Love and Thanks, M. Merrill ************