At that, some others join the chuckling, until one young woman raises her hand. “I have a question, Luna.”
I smile at her and nod. “Go ahead.”
She anxiously tugs at her sleeves. “The former luna sucked ass,” she says bluntly, blushing when some pack members around her laugh. “I mean, she was terrible. And you already did so much for the infirmary.”
“You are one of the nurses,” I say.
She nods. “You are not leaving, are you?”
Her question immediately raises concerns, voices around us becoming louder again. “You can’t be leaving,” Nina blurts out.
“You are not going back to your old pack, are you?” one of the warriors asks.
“Yeah, we need you here. Please don’t leave!”
As more and more of them voice their concern, I feel tears burning in my eyes. I don’t remember the last time I felt this appreciated. My former pack tossed me aside for Jordan, but these people here appreciate me forme. They don’t mind that I am more reserved and not a sweet, bubbly person. They want me forme!
They might even want me as much as they want Forest.
“I won’t go anywhere,” I tell them promptly. “Forest and I are very much committed to each other.”
“Obviously I’m crazy about her,” Forest adds with a smirk. “In case some of you didn’t notice.”
“Forest and I have accepted each other as chosen mates,” I say. “He is responsible for me having faith in other shifters again. I’m very confident in my love for him and the chosen bond betweenus. Jordan broke a fated bond, so I know a thing or two about fake bonds. What I have with Forest is real. I will never leave his side or this pack’s. This place became my home and safe space when I had nowhere else to go,” I declare. “So, yes, I am staying. Of course, I am. I love this pack and all of you.”
Cheers erupt until Griffin turns to us. “Can we have something to eat now?” he asks in his usual deadpan. “I am hungry, and this took longer than expected.”
“Us, too, Gamma,” some of the warriors that he usually trains cheer him on.
“Alright then,” Forest agrees. “If any of you still have questions, you can always come by our office.”
The last major point Forest and I have on our agenda is relevant to me more than it is him. Not that his announcement to the pack didn’t concern me, as their approval is of the utmost importance to me. But it was still Forest’s major task. It was his family who betrayed the pack, his father who was involved in terrible crimes, and his parents who almost ruined the pack financially as well as its reputation.
It went better than we’d both anticipated, much better.
One day later, we are in the car, on the way to the place I dread the most. It’s not so much that I am scared for my new home, my friends and my mate, but more so for my mental health.
“Are you okay, love? You have been so quiet for the whole drive,” Forest asks me. “We don’t need to do this today.”
“I’d rather get it over with,” I admit.
“There is always the option to turn around and leave at any time,” he tells me. “You’re not a prisoner there. They have no power over you.”
“You’re right.” I nod tentatively. “I know you are.”
“And I’m here with you.”
“Me too,” Martin adds. He is driving us, while Griffin and Rory are in the second car. “And we all know what Rory would do if someone even looks at you the wrong way.”
At that, Forest and I both chuckle.
“It’s not so much that I’m afraid of the pack itself. I know you’re all there with me… It’s more this suffocating feeling, you know?”
“Yes,” Forest says quietly. “I know that feeling too well. When you feel like it’s too much, give me a sign, and I will get you out of there.”
I nod, just as we pass the borders of my old pack. The guards there have been replaced by prison guards. I even spot some of Leonard’s warriors, and I know some of our own are there, too. Once we arrive at the packhouse, however, it’s even more obvious that things are not as they were. There are a whole bunch of elders roaming around and even more guards.
In the times when my mother mentored me, she made sure I learned as much as I could about the elders around the prison. We sayprison, but what it actually is more like a fortress with dungeons, and a whole council of elders to judge the prisoners. These elders don’t belong to any pack; they have no ties to any alpha or luna, and no personal relationships outside of the fortress. It’s a commitment to make sure things stay secure and independent. Unbiased. It’s similar for the guards and other workers there. In a way, it maybe is like its own pack.
