Amanda paced as she waited anxiously to hear about something, anything. She hadn’t heard anything from anyone since she got back to the pack and it was getting close to the time when she would start to shift. Her body had been aching all day, which she took as a sign that her body was getting ready. She could feel Willow bouncing with excitement inside her as they waited for Hudson to return. She couldn’t wait to show time to her wolf and see his reaction.
But was he going to get there in time?
And what about Vita?
She hadn’t heard from anyone about how the rescue went either and she was getting worried that something had happened, that it didn’t go as planned.
Amanda let out a heavy sigh.
“Amanda, please try to stay calm. He’ll be here,” Luna Cynthia said in a calming tone.
Amanda wrapped her arms around herself as she tried to take calming breaths to soothe her anxiety. “Yes, you’re right. I’m just worried about the rest of them. I hope they were able to rescue Vita and get out of there safely.”
Cynthia nodded. “You have a big heart. You put others before yourself. I’m sure everything went fine.”
Amanda smiled and then turned to look at Tabitha, who was doing the same thing she was. Tabitha hadn’t heard from Marco either and was starting to get worried about her mate. Amanda walked over to Tabitha, hooked her arm into hers, and suggested, “Let’s go take a walk.”
“Don’t go too far, we need to start to prepare for your shift soon,” Luna Cynthia informed them.
“We won’t go far,” Amanda promised as she pulled her friend outside to get some fresh air.
Amanda let out a sigh as she felt the cool air hit her skin. Her temperature had been running higher than normal, but she just chalked it up to the rising of the full moon.
“Do you think they’ll be back in time before the shift?” Amanda asked.
Tabitha shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s not like Marco to not answer me when I link to him. If there was something wrong I’m sure I would feel something. Right?”
Amanda nodded but she didn’t know if that was true. There was still so much that Amanda needed to learn about being a wolf and how the mating bond worked, but they both weren’t fully mated to their mates.
“Tabitha, what if we can’t cause we never fully accepted the mate bond?” Amanda said softly.
Tabitha stopped in her tracks, she thought about it for a moment, and fear started to fill deep inside her but then she shook it off and wouldn’t allow it to take over. “No, there’s more than just the mate bond. We love them, it’s a deeper connection than just the bond. I know it,” Tabitha said with confidence.
Amanda nodded and continued to walk.
They both jumped when they started to hear howling as a bunch of waves passed running toward the pack house.
They started to run back to the house to see the commotion. They were happy to see it was the rest of the pack from campus. Both Amanda and Tabitha looked around to find Hudson and Marco but neither of them was there.
“Where are Hudson and Marco?” Amanda asked the pack.
The pack members looked around confused until one stepped up. “We’re not sure, Luna. alpha told us to head back to the pack to support you tonight. We just assumed that they weren’t far behind us.”
Amanda nodded and smiled, “Thank you for coming back to help support me and trying to shift tonight.”
Luna Cynthia walked out to the front of the house, “Alright, everyone, you need to get changed and help prepare for tonight’s shift.”
The pack bowed to their Luna and went to get ready.
“Any sign of them?” Luna Cynthia asked as she looked around.
Amanda shook her head.
*********
Deak pulled the truck up to the driveway of Vita’s home and shut off the engine. He let out a sigh of relief as he looked at a sleeping Vita on his shoulder. He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to her forehead; her skin was soft against his lips. Vita slowly started to stir.
“We are home,” he told her as he opened up the truck door and stepped out.
Zachary was already out of the truck when Ruby opened the door and came rushing out to meet up with him. Ruby wrapped her arms around him as her wolf Nadia filled their lungs with his scent and made sure that he wasn’t hurt.
Zachary chuckled and lifted Ruby’s chin to stare into her green eyes. “I’m okay, my sweet.” He kissed her on the lips.
Ruby let out a purr. “How’s Vita?” she asked as he tried to look around him back to the truck.
Zachary sighed. “She’s alive. She took quite a beating from them. She’ll need lots of rest to build up her strength.”
Ruby sucked in a breath when she saw Vita with her own eyes. She walked over to the young girl and tried to hug her, but Deak was being difficult and refused to let her go. “Mine,” he growled.
Ruby lifted her eyebrow at Deak as she rested her hands on her hips and glared at him.
Deak sighed. “Sorry, Ruby.”
Ruby shook her head and followed them into the house. “Deak, you’re going to have to let her go at some point. She’s here and safe in her own home,” Ruby chided him.
Deak pulled Vita into him tighter. He knew that Ruby was right, but he wasn’t ready to separate himself from his mate just yet.
Vita looked up at Deak and rubbed his stomach.
Deak purred at the touch of his mate and looked down at her.
“Thank you,” she said to him in a quiet voice, “for coming to my rescue.” She looked around the room. “Where’s Amanda?”
Ruby answered, “She had to go back to the pack, it’s the night of a full moon and hopefully she can shift into her wolf. She wanted to be when you got home, so she asked if I would stay behind care for care of you when you returned.”
Vita smiled. It was nice to have people around taking care of he; she had missed that with her family no longer around. “Thank you,” she the Ruby. She looked up at Deak and asked, “Can you help me to my room, and then Ruby can help me change and take a bath?”
Deak nodded and said, “Igen.” She looked up at him confused. Deak smirked, “Yes. my love.”
Vita blushed. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole mate bond thing. But now wasn’t the time to dive into all that at the moment. No, she would take all the attention that she was getting at the moment because all she cared about was that she was safe and Deak would protect her at all costs.
Fighting for my Mate
Mated to my Bully (Book 1)