Chapter 10

Melanie's POV

I just left for the pack meeting, and I sat in our room wondering if things were different from the start where we would be right now. 'Melanie, come to the meeting room.' Jumping up, I questioned why Justin needed me there. Usually, I was never allowed anywhere near the meeting room. 'Okay, I'm coming in now.' As I approached the doors, I hesitated, nerves climbing their way up my body—deep breath. I pushed the doors open; all eyes turned to look at me. I looked around and met Justin's eyes at the front of the table. Walking over to him, I sat down on his lap and turned towards the rest of the men there. "What the hell is this pack slave doing here?" I heard growls across the room, Justin being the main one. Ashton second behind him. "You better watch your tone. She is Luna. No one disrespects my Luna." A warmth spread through my body when Ashton defended me. Justin was still growling, but I leaned back and placed my hand on his leg.

'Breathe, dear mate.' Justin closed his eyes and took three deep breaths before opening them again. "Gentlemen, this beautiful woman right here is my mate. She is the Luna of this pack, and as Ashton stated, no one will disrespect her ever. Got it?" Justin was radiating Alpha power off him, and it made me want to take him to bed right here, right now. All the men nodded and barred their necks, showing submission. "Good, now back to the meeting. We are going to confront Daemon today in one hour. So make sure everyone is ready, be prepared for a battle if necessary." Nodding, they all got up and left, leaving Justin and me alone. "You know when you get mad and go all Alpha. It's hot." Chuckling, Justin grabbed the back of my thighs, lifting me, he wrapped my legs around his torso and stood up. "Come, dear mate, we need to get ready also." My ears perked up when he said we. "We?" Justin nodded and placed me down on the bed. "Yes, you. You are coming with us. Daemon's pack is scared of you, and if anything happens, I need you to be right by my side, not here." Nodding, I ran to the closet and pulled out a black tank top and long black pants. Tying my combat boots, I stood up and looked over at Justin. He got dressed in a tight fit dark grey shirt with black cargo pants. Walking downstairs, I headed towards Aaron's room to check in on him. As I neared the door, I could hear two voices. "Aaron, we are going to get caught." There was some shuffling, "Jona, I do not care if anyone finds us. You are my mate, and that's all that matters." Gasping, I threw open the door, and there stood Jona, the healer in my pack, and Aaron, the newbie that just joined. "What the hell? Jona, you're gay?" Quickly Jona pushed Aaron away, but he kept a hold on Jona's hand, not letting him go. Jona's face got red as a beet while Aaron stood there smiling. "Hi, Luna. Um, I have been gay for a while now. I never told anyone in case I got shunned for it. He is my mate." Nodding, I looked at Aaron and looked him up and down. "Well, damn Jona, you got it well. Aaron, you need to come with us. We are going to confront Daemon, and before you ask yes, Jona is coming with us." Aaron nodded and walked into the bathroom. I looked back to Jona and hugged him. "You could have always told me. I would accept you, no matter what. Doofus." Jona hugged back and laughed into my shoulder. "By the way, my name isn't Jona. Its Calum." I pulled away from him and stared at him wide eye. "What?!"

Surprised is not even the word for how I am feeling right now. I looked up at Jona/Calum, then back at Aaron, who just walked back into the room. "Aaron, you need to be ready soon. Calum, you are coming for two reasons. One, you just met Aaron, and two, we need to have a healer on stand by." They both nodded, and I walked out, heading towards the front door. I happened to run into Justin, and I jumped on his back. "Calum and Aaron are almost ready to go. By the way, Calum is Jona, and he's gay. Aaron is his mate." Justin stopped walking, shook his head, and continued forward. "Since when did he go by Calum?"

Someone cleared their throat, and Justin turned around to face Calum. "I went by Jona because rouges took out my first pack, and my mother told me to hide. I had to change my name and disappear. I was on the run when Justin, you found me." Nodding, I got off Justin, preparing to shift when Justin stopped me. "Get on my back. You can take a nap." Agreeing, I waited till he shifted then got onto his back. Justin double checked to make sure everyone was ready and then took off. Slowly I got pulled into the dark abyss.

I felt myself getting picked up, and I slowly opened my eyes. I got greeted with Justin's handsome face. "Are we here?" Justin nodded and placed my down gently on my feet. Taking a deep breath, we walked up to the pack line and waited. Suddenly I got tackled to the ground, everyone immediately started growling, but Daemon's voice stopped everyone. "Lilac, honey, you can't just tackle people. That's how we start wars." Lilac? Wait, no way. Looking down at the tiny female holding my wait, I saw my Lilac. My one and only friend.

I hugged her tighter, but then looked up at Justin. He was battling his wolf from coming out. "Lilac, my mate is about to attack if you don't let go." Lilac just giggled and let go. Standing up, Lilac held out her hand to me, helping me off the ground. "So, I take the two of you made up?" Lilac pointed between Justin and me, laughing I nodded and hugged Justin. "Well, Justin, even though you used to be my Alpha, I will kick your ass if you ever lay a finger on this beautiful goddess of a woman again." I looked at Lilac, shocked. Wait, Lilac isn't in the pack anymore? "Lilac, what do you mean used to be your Alpha?" She looked over at me and smiled, looking behind her, Daemon walked up and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Well, you see the day you ran to this pack, I followed you, and I found him. I called Justin when you had fully recovered and told him I found my mate in a different pack. He let me go." I turned back to Justin, kind of hurt he didn't tell me. Guilt flashed over Justin's face. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot because you were hurt." Lilac pushed away from Daemon for a moment. "Wait, I was never actually told how you were injured. What happened?"

I look at Daemon and give him a look. He needed to tell her, not me. "Lilac. Before I found you, Melanie had come. Heartbroken and rejected. I didn't believe that I would get another mate. So she tried to leave, and I attacked her." Daemon paused for a moment, then continued. "Also, once I found you when I accidentally tackled you, I had sent some men to go and try to fetch Melanie again. I had forgotten to call them off because you were injured. I'm so sorry." Justin started growling and pushing me out of the way to get to Daemon. I let him. "Justin, if you attack him, I will be sleeping in another house for a week." Justin stopped and turned and looked at me, sadness written all over his face. "Melanie, you wouldn't. You couldn't."

Smirking, I got closer to his face. "Don't tempt me." Nodding, he took a couple of steps back, turning back to Lilac, I noticed that she froze. "Lilac?" Daemon reached out to her, but she ripped her arm away from her. "Don't touch me." Daemon stopped, not knowing what to do. "Lilac, why don't we take a walk?" Nodding, Lilac grabbed my arm, and we headed off to the woods. "You boys talk out your business while we take a breather." Justin tried to protest, but the look I gave him shut him down.

We stopped at a river sitting on the rocks. I glanced over at Lilac. "Hey, I'm okay. Daemon didn't know." Lilac held up her hand, "Please, for right now, can we sing. I want to relax for a moment." Nodding, I started off our favorite song.

*She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette.

She broke his heart. He spent his whole life tryin' to forget.

We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time.

But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind.

Lilac started to join me, but I could hear the pain in her voice. This was hurting her, and I couldn't do anything to help.

*Until the night

He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger.

And finally drank away her memory.

Life is short, but this time it was bigger.

I stopped singing and just listened to Lilac for a moment. Reaching over, I pulled her into a hug and continued to sing along.

*Until the night

She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger.

And finally drank away his memory.

Life is short, but this time it was bigger.

Than the strength, she had to get up off her knees.

We found her with her face down in the pillow.

Clinging to his picture for dear life

We laid her next to him beneath the willow.

While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby*

As we finished the song, we both had tears streaming down our faces. I could feel Justin standing not too far away. Standing up, Lilac turned around and walked over to Daemon, reaching up, she placed her hand on his cheek. "I know you are sorry. This happened before you met me. I understand that." Daemon nodded and pulled her into a hug. I walked over to Justin and placed my head on his chest. Taking a deep breath, I looked up at him. "So what did you two talk about?" Justin cupped my face and placed a small kiss on my nose. "We allied." I pulled back, looking between Daemon and Justin, surprised that they just made up just like that. "We can't separate two people who are best friends and who happen to be the Lunas of both packs." I smiled and kissed Justin on the lips. Things were starting to fall right into place; peace was achieved. Or so I thought.