Her Promise

Her Promise | Chapter Ten

MADDOX

Missy left with her mom and Lemon. Only a minute later, Sadie came sprinting down the hall with clothes for Sloan, promising to go to the kitchen as well. Axel shook his head, not having been fully introduced to her yet. I just chuckled as I headed toward my office, where I would hopefully meet with Langston.

When I got there, there was a covered plate of breakfast waiting for me, and I was silently thankful for our packhouse staff. It felt weird having other people do all the cooking and cleaning, but it did give us plenty of time to tend to everything else. Missy said that growing up, they had some help in the packhouse, and of course, there was Miss Marcy, but Azalea still made them do chores. Living on our own for so long now, we were just used to cleaning after ourselves.

I flopped down in my chair and started digging in, figuring I would find Langston after some food was in my stomach. “I don’t like the rogue,” Tom grumbled.

“I do,” I contradicted him. “I think she’s reasonably distrustful, but maybe if we offer her to join the pack, we could turn things around for her.”

“Meh,” Tom huffed.

“Well, we can argue about this later,” I said, shoveling eggs and sausage into my mouth. “We have an Alpha Ceremony today.”

“Yea, and swimming….” Tom grumbled. He was not a fan of the water. I wasn’t a particularly strong swimmer, but where I grew up, only a few small streams ran down into the valley below us. We would play in the streams on hot summer days, but it was always shallow enough to walk through.

“I hear you’ve had quite the eventful morning,” Langston said, rolling into the office with Liam behind him.

“Yea,” I agreed. “Wasn’t expecting any of that.” Liam probably already brought him up to date with what was going on.

“Unfortunately, we won’t have many options to watch the girl during the ceremony. We may need to take her to the cells so everyone can be present at the ceremony,” Langston frowned.

“Is that really necessary?” I cringed. I recognized the necessity for prisons within packs, but not everyone deserved that level of punishment. There was more going on with Sloan, and she hadn’t done anything wrong other than trespassing.

“Do you have any other ideas?” Langston asked. I didn’t. If all our warriors were otherwise occupied or unwilling, then the most we could do would be to lock her inside her room, which felt about the same as taking her to a cell.

“I might be able to lend a hand for today,” Liam said. He pulled out his phone and started to send a message.

“That is much appreciated, friend,” Langston smiled at Liam. “Maddox, I will caution you on how you handle this from here on out. Don’t let this particular girl’s situation disillusion you. Not all rogues are deserving of your kindness. Rogues are a true threat to packs.”

I nodded. I knew what he meant, but I knew in my gut this wasn’t something we needed to be worried about.

“Alright, I have someone on the way. I assume they won’t see any problems upon crossing the border?” Liam said.

“No, there won’t be any issues with Blood Eclipse pack members coming into Serenity Waters,” I promised him.

“I’m going to try and get the kids before they can mess with the girls too much,” Liam said, heading out of my office.

“Alright, should we take care of our final item then?” Langston said, parking himself on the other side of the desk. I pushed aside my plate and nodded. I grabbed the folder from the top of the little paper tray and pulled it in front of me. “You can have Missy sign all the important parts tomorrow, but this should give you access to the pack account until we can figure out the legalities with the trust.”

“You never explained how this was supposed to work,” I reminded him.

“Oh, that’s right,” he chuckled. “Apologies. So Serenity Waters is a very old pack, and my family has been in the Alpha position for just as long. Our heritage coincides with the conception of this country. The first Byrnolf Alpha was granted this parcel of land at the time. Thankfully, we have had some savvy businessmen leading for a long time, and the investments have funded the pack.”

“I guess that isn’t that different from the Blackfur businesses,” I noted.

“No, just much older money. The trust has named the next successor as they were born, so my lawyer is currently working on remedying that situation to pass it to you. A retirement account has already been funded for Emma and myself; the same will be done when it is time for you to step down. You will meet quarterly with the accountant to work through fund disbursements from the trust to the pack accounts,” Langston explained.

I skimmed over the documents in front of me. They were straightforward authorization papers. I signed all the necessary spots and then passed them to Langston with a pen. It felt a little odd inheriting money like this.

“Emma will have already gone over some of this stuff with Missy, too,” Langston said as he handed the folder back to me. “I think that is officially the last thing other than the formalities.” He smiled at me, the look of tired relief was evident.

“I don’t think I can ever appropriately thank you for this opportunity,” I told him honestly.

“All you need to do is treat the pack well. That is all the thanks I need. Don’t forget you saved my life,” he said. I just nodded. We still disagreed about this. Had I stayed and fought with him, things might have been different.

“Alright, we should head outside and make sure everything is going smoothly. The girls will still be getting ready,” he said.

“There is probably a miniature future Alpha around here that is waiting to see me, too,” I smiled, thinking about Little Liam. He made me promise he could come to stay at our packhouse after my ceremony before we left. I intended to let him, but only after we were settled in and got Liam and Azalea’s approval.

“Emma is probably hogging Azly all to herself,” Langston.

MISSY

“Do we really need to do my hair and makeup?” I groaned. “I’ll be jumping in the water later.”

“You should still look like the mature Luna you are,” Lea said. She and Lemon both had curling irons in their hands and had already reminded me no less than five times that I needed a haircut to “clean things up.”

“We used to play dress up all the time when you were younger,” Lemon said.

“Because I was a kid,” I said. “I will be soaked when I get back to the packhouse. This will all be for nothing.”

“Is your pack worth making an effort for?” Azalea asked.

“Well, yea,” I started.

“Then caring about your appearance can show them that you respect them enough to represent them well,” she continued.

“Fine,” I sighed. Sadie chose that moment to join us.

“I brought snacks!” she said as she came in. Lea and Lemon laughed; I think they liked her, at least. Sadie plopped down in a chair, already eating. “So that rogue girl is cool. Kinda edgy. I think that’s the right word. Anyway, she threatened to skin me if I wouldn’t stop asking her questions and leave, so here I am.”

That made me laugh. “Like I said, feisty,” Lemon said. “So you guys never explained the rogue part.”

“That means she doesn’t belong to any pack. Wolves are pack animals; just like our animal counterparts, we live and die for each other. Werewolves don’t tend to do very well on their own. It’s theorized that is also the reason we have mates. You know about mates, right?” Sadie explained quickly.

“Yes, that part I do know about,” Lemon answered.

“You aren’t that other wolf’s mate, though,” Sadie pointed out.

“He chose her,” Lea answered for Lemon.

“Did you guys know the chosen mate is the result of territory wars and is really only a social norm that has been around for a couple hundred years? Traditionalists like to argue that isn’t what the Goddess intended, but we only have one scripture that is supposed to be from the Goddess herself that says nothing about mates in it. Everything we know about mates has been passed down from generation to generation, and modernists are trying to change the conversation-”

“Sadie!” I stopped her.

“Sorry,” she said, taking a breath.

“You really know a lot about our kind, don’t you?” Lea asked her, impressed.

“Human history got boring after a while. I started studying our influences on their history more deeply. Then I got into some other species. We were the easiest, honestly,” Sadie explained.

“Well, it’s never bad to be well-read,” Lea told her. Sadie would disagree, claiming that boys didn’t like know-it-alls.

Lemon and Lea finished my hair then it was time for makeup. Sadie started to get herself ready, so Lemon asked if she could do her hair as well, which Sadie excitedly accepted. The rest of our time went by too fast as we all talked about everything that had been happening in Blood Eclipse and at the Inn since I moved to Serenity Waters.

As Lea finished up my makeup, there was anxious knocking at the door. She let me answer it because we all knew who it was. When I opened the door, Leo was holding up a pink flower. When he saw it was me, he frowned and dropped the flower.

“This isn’t for you. Where is Miss Sol?” he demanded.

“I missed you too,” I said, surprised.

“Sissy, I thought Miss Sol was with you!” he whined. I kneeled down and pulled him into a hug.

“She couldn’t come today. She’s at college. But I am glad you’re here,” I told him. Little Liam was coming down the hall toward us.

“Maddox says I can come stay next month!” he excitedly announced.

“He did?” I questioned, looking back at Lea.

“We have some Alpha business to handle. No girls,” he informed me. Sadie and Lemon started giggling. They were pretty cute.

“Where’s your father?” Lea asked.

“With Maddox. Miss Emma is playing with Azly,” Little Liam reported. He and Leo were wearing matching outfits that included vests and bow ties for the occasion. Little Liam was the spitting image of his father.

“Can we call Miss Sol on your phone, sissy?” Leo asked, pulling on my hand.

“How about we do that later?” Lea suggested. “It’s almost time for Missy to become Luna!”

-

I stood facing Maddox at the foot of the stage steps. Emma and Langston were welcoming the pack. Everyone was gathered out front, including our family from Blood Eclipse; I could feel my hands getting clammy.

“Last chance to back out,” Maddox joked.

I rolled my eyes. “Only if you aren’t sure about it,” I replied.

“I’m almost as sure about this as I am about you,” he smiled.

“Stop being perfect,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him. He smiled, leaning in to nip at me. I pulled my tongue in quickly, so his attack ended in a sweet kiss. My heartbeat started to pick up, and I wasn’t sure if it was Maddox or because our names were called.

We ascended the stairs and joined Emma and Langston on the stage. The pack did their stomp and howl call, then fell silent. Maddox stood tall next to me, his chest slightly out as he surveyed the crowd. I tried to do the same, but everyone’s eyes on me made me nervous.

“Maddox Amarok, do you swear to honor the title of Alpha by protecting and serving this pack?” Langston asked.

“I do swear,” Maddox answered in a practiced manner.

“Maddox Amarok, do you swear to always act in good faith of your pack and the Goddess?” Langston continued.

“I do swear,” Maddox said again.

“And lastly, do you swear to ensure your pack’s continued prosperity by training and appointing a qualified successor?”

Maddox looked briefly at me, something dancing in his eyes. “I do swear,” he smiled.

“Missy Blackfur, do you swear to cherish and support your Alpha?” Emma asked.

“I do swear,” I answered, my tongue feeling thick in my mouth.

“Do you swear to treat each and every pack member as your own family?” she continued.

“I do swear,” I agreed.

“And finally, do you swear to carry out the responsibilities of your Alpha should he be unable to do so?” she concluded.

“I do swear,” I said, looking at Maddox. The wind blew his hair around and pushed his scent into my lungs. We let go of our intertwined fingers and turned Maddox to Langston and me to Emma. Emma smiled sweetly as she handed me the moon dagger. She held out her hand, and as we practiced, I made a small puncture to the tip of her finger, then mine. We held our hands up to face each other.

“I, Alpha Langston Byrnolf, of Serenity Waters Pack,” Langston began. He and Maddox were in the same position as Emma and I.

“And I, Luna Emma Byrnolf,” she said.

“Bestow unto thee the power and responsibility of Alpha and Luna,” they ended in unison. We brought our hands together as they spoke the last word, sealing the transition.

I inhaled sharply as my body felt like I had just plunged into ice water. “s**t,” Maddox hissed under his breath as he experienced the same sensation. Emma pulled her hand away, and I looked at mine. The small puncture closed before my eyes. I turned to Maddox. As our gazes locked, I felt more drawn to him than I ever had before. He felt it too, because he grabbed me and pulled me in for a hungry kiss.

The pack before us stomped and howled as they accepted their new leaders. Maddox let me go as we both gasped for air.

“Serenity Waters, time to run!” Maddox called loudly. Everyone started stripping and shifting, some calmly, others rushed. Maddox yanked at the strings of my dress, sweetly turning us, so his back was to the crowd. I felt fractionally relieved as my dress slipped down my body. Maddox was quickly following me, and we shifted right there on the stage.

Maddox faced our pack, so many voices floating through our heads, making a united call. Run. Maddox let loose a howl, and I joined him, feeling that cold, tidal feeling again. The crowd parted, and we took off.

Langston warned us that we would be feeling a rush from the transfer of power, and it would be important to remember not to outrun the pack too much. Maddox had conveniently forgotten that as he took off ahead. I barked and snapped at him, but it didn’t work. Everyone was behind me still as we got closer to the lake when Maddox came circling back to rejoin us.

“Sorry,” he linked.

“Save it for later,” I teased him. The excitement in our bond grew a little more sultry.

“Ready for the water?” he asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” I said as we neared the jump point. Maddox broke off ahead again, leading us as he sped up and launched himself into the water. I did the same, making my legs move as fast as I could. The faster we moved, the farther we would jump.

Maddox hit the water as I jumped. I felt weightless for a moment as my wolf body soared through the air and arched down to the water. Pack members jumped after me, howling as they took to the air. Just as quickly as I had become airborne, my body dropped into the arctic water. I kicked my legs and surfaced near Maddox. Instead of worrying about the wolves following our lead, we kicked and padded our way to the opposite shore.

Holland was shaking us out as soon as our paws hit land again. “I don’t know. I think I kinda like that,” Maddox laughed as Tom did the same.

“He’s crazy,” Holland griped.

“And I’m crazy for him,” I admitted.

“Race you home?” Maddox said. I didn’t reply, just took off back to the packhouse. I wasn’t going to make it easy for him to win.