Rejection on the Full Moon (Rejection Series) Chapter 63

Warm arms wake me from my apparent slumber. The cold air meeting my skin causes me to shrink into the warmth caressing me.

"We're home, Amberle. You can go back to sleep." I nod, taking in the familiar scent of my house around me. The sweet embrace of sleep mixed with the familiarity of home relaxes my sore body, lulling me into dreamland once again.

Morning light shines on my face and in my eyes, waking me from my dreams as I meet the gaze of ice-blue eyes. Dominic smiles at me, placing a kiss on my forehead as I let out a yawn. My warm bed felt like heaven under me, with the familiar smell of lavender and vanilla from the fabric softener I use reminding me that I'm safe in Blood Moon.

"Good morning," I mumble through another yawn, snuggling into Dominic's arms and resting my head on his chest, finding comfort in his steady heartbeat.

"Good morning, beautiful." Warm hands run through my hair, my eyes closing with content when a light kiss is placed on the top of my head. We spent the morning in bed, deciding that cuddling is needed. I ask about the wolves from Forest Paw, wondering if they have been settled in yet. Sidney, Avery and Camile were asked to organize housing for the many wolves, with some planned to settle into the dormitories, while others were moved into vacant houses around the pack and the rest inside our own guest cabin. I sigh, realizing we will have to expand our pack in order to accommodate our new members, and that we will have to call in some witches to reinforce and extend our territory protection to help hide our pack's presence from the human world. There will be a lot of work and ceremonies in the next few days for our pack, and over the next month of getting the new members up to par with the rest of Blood Moon.

"We should go to lunch at the pack house today and see everyone," Dominic suggests, my stomach growling in agreement at the thought of food. My mate chuckles at me, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before climbing out of bed and disappearing into the closet. He returns dressed with a handful of clothes for me: cotton undergarments, leggings, and a baggy sweater I stole from him a while ago.

"I've been looking for this." He laughs as he hands me the bundle of clothes. I smirk, quickly changing my clothes. The blue sweater engulfs my body, the hemline falling to my knees.

"Yeah, I think I have four more somewhere in the house that belong to you," I admit, taking Dominic's outstretched hand. He just laughs at me, shaking his head as we head down the stairs and into the garage. Dominic climbs into the driver's seat as he'll take us to the pack house.

I felt like a pup on Christmas Day, full of excitement to see my pack mates after a good month away from everyone. The drive feels like an eternity, but when the four-story building finally came into view, a grin spreads across my face. I rush out just as Dominic turns off the car, spotting Avery and tackling her in a tight hug. I missed my best friend, and I hear her chuckle as we land in the snow. A very worried and overprotective Dominic hovers over me.

"Amberle, you're pregnant and have a concussion, so don't throw yourself at people!" He cries out in frustration, helping me up and dusting the snow off of me.

"Wait, what?" A look of confusion and shock is plastered on my friend's face, making me giggle and wink at her as I help her to her feet.

"Call everyone into the dining hall. Dominic and I have a lot to explain." I retort instead of answering her question and walk away from Avery as Dominic leads me out of the cold and into the pack house. I spy Zack and Blue speaking with Christian just inside the pack house, the three of them sitting on the stairs laughing away.

"Think you can link the wolves from Forest Paw and tell them to come to the dining hall?" I ask my brother, getting a nod as my reply.

Wolves begin filing into the pack house, many welcoming Dominic and I back home while giving questioning gazes to the multiple new wolves. They will get their answers later when everyone is here. Christian and Blue excuse themselves, wanting to take a headcount on all the wolves and make sure everyone is here, not before I notice Christian slip something into Dominic's hand. Our dining hall is also our meeting hall, the room having been expanded earlier this year to accommodate our growing pack. I had no worries with wolves not being able to squeeze in, since we even added a stage on which to make announcements that has come in handy as it made it a lot easier to address the pack.

After twenty minutes of waiting and chatting with Zack, Camile exits the dining hall, explaining that everyone is situated and we can enter. Zack excuses himself to find his mate as Dominic and I make our way through the crowd and onto the stage. Camile, our Beta Female, stands beside Christian, giving her mate a peck on the cheek right before Dominic begins our announcement.

"Yesterday, we didn't have the chance to explain what happened at Forest Paw, since it was already too late at night." Dominic begins, motioning for me to take the lead as I was the main trainer. I sigh, stepping up to the podium and look over at the crowd.

"The trip was a success, to a degree." I start, wincing slightly when I accidentally bump my stomach into the wooden structure before me. Some of my pack mates send me a concerned look and I smile, trying my best to reassure them.

"We trained the wolves as promised and even defeated an army of Soulless. But there seems to be trouble brewing. If our suspicions are correct, there is a Soulless working on building a bigger army. For what, we have no idea. Everyone will be training, even the pups, to learn some measures of self-defence, and we will have monthly meetings to update you on any leads. You may see leaders of ally packs coming here every so often, but other than that I believe our pack is one-hundred percent safe." I can see the questions in each and every member's gaze, and some wolves were pulling their pups closer. I learned that, unlike most Alphas who prefer to hide things from their pack, Dominic informed everyone of any threats or concerns, wanting his pack members to be safe and prepared for anything. The respect I felt for the pack increased as I continued to work with and get to know everyone, being privy to information and also giving the power to speak about these concerns on many occasions to the pack.

Dominic steps up beside me, his eyes gleaming as he wraps his arm around my waist, careful not to move too quickly while taking a spot in front of the microphone.

"Many of you have noticed at least two hundred new wolves. They will be initiated into the pack this Saturday as new members. As of yesterday, Blood Moon and Forest Paw are no longer allies." A collective gasp sounds in the room, with the Forest Paw wolves receiving glares from the Blood Moon wolves. I growl as a warning to my pack mates. Technically, these two hundred wolves are Rogues right now. It isn't their fault their Alpha is a piece of shit. My growl silences the crowd, some wolves hanging their heads in shame at their behaviour. I motion for Dominic to continue.

"As many of you may know, my mate rejected me after betraying our pack when I turned nineteen. Well, the Moon Goddess blessed me on my birthday, and Amberle and I became each other's second-chance mate." He continues as many hoots, cheers, and a few "final-fucking-lees" were heard throughout the crowd. This time, Dominic was the one to growl to silence everyone before we can continue.

"Leo decided that yesterday, he would attempt to rape Amberle, wanting to claim the mate bond that is already broken. The worst part of this is that he was drunk on moonshine, and Amberle is pregnant with my pup. This is why we are no longer allies." More shocked gasps follow suit, along with growls of anger towards Leo being directed at the innocent wolves from Forest Paw. Anger swells inside me at how disrespectfully everyone is behaving, and I release a growl that promised hell to those who continued. I can already see Avery and Silver writing a list of all those who will be punished. They had no right to treat innocents this way, especially when there are pups in the crowd.