After wishing to leave the Deep Fang Pack and join the Moonlight Shifters, Rhae was suddenly struck in the chest by a feeling unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
Caught off guard by the sudden rush of sensation, her hands instinctively clutched at her chest, and that's when she realized her veins were glowing with a vivid blue light, pulsing along with the flow of her blood.
Dominic was blown away by what he saw, yet all of a sudden, everything started to make perfect sense.
The deadline was pushed hard, not just by his alpha, but by the others, too.
"What was happening to her? And where the fuck is everyone at?" Raphael wondered as the thought slipped into his General's mind.
He just smirked, raised his shoulders in response, and then gazed out the window at the Wolf Moon that had revealed itself.
She realized Raphael wasn't happy with her natural pack or the scent it gave her, which made her think they might not be the best group to belong to, so she wished to change it.
As the light began coursing through her, Rhae wondered if she had made a mistake, just as Raphael took her hand.
"It's okay. You're going to be fine. Just breathe, nice and easy."
As she did her best to take his advice, she realized that she wasn't in pain.
Pain wasn't the sensation that struck her, left her chest, and merged with the blue glow flowing through her.
The lights flowing through her veins felt warm and welcoming, just like she imagined home would feel.
For the first time, she felt truly accepted.
After she asked to join, she was warmly welcomed into the pack.
Stella immediately followed suit when she noticed her friend's face relax as the lights flowed over her, longing to finally claim her place in the pack she was born into.
Yet what she felt wasn't quite the same as what Rhae was experiencing.
The sense of acceptance and welcome was present without the bright lights or the inviting sensations Rhae had just experienced.
Stella watched her friend with concern, wondering what had happened to her.
A smile played on Rhae's lips as she melted into the couch cushions, letting the tide of emotions wash over her, still basking in the lingering effects of her decision.
"What's wrong with her?" Stella whispered to the guys, her voice tinged with worry.
Dominic knew there was only one thing she needed to hear: the truth.
"Your Alpha and Luna have agreed to her offer for now, but she'll still need to go through the ceremony to officially join. It seems the Wolf Moon was on your side tonight, helping bring your wishes to life by helping your Luna hear and grant her wish. The Moon Goddess truly works in mysterious ways. Congratulations to both of you on finding your pack!"
A proud smile spread across his face as she glanced back at him.
"Why isn't that happening to me? I did the same things she did and said the same thing," she asked, worried she hadn't been accepted alongside her friend.
"Stella, that's your pack. Why would you ask to switch to your own pack? You don't need to be accepted into something you already belong to. Your Luna and Alpha will be over the moon to have you back home, I'm sure of it."
At that moment, the door swung open.
"Finally, you guys took long enough," Raphael exclaimed.
The emotions the two girls had been feeling had come to an end.
Ayla's arrival caught everyone's attention, and she couldn't help but wonder why she'd been pulled from her bed.
"I heard you both wanted to talk to the guys about some important things, but only if we were present. Why was it so important for me to be here?"
Ayla wasn't fond of being summoned, especially by two strangers, but her curiosity outweighed her irritation.
Stella was the first to get up, raising her hands to show she meant no harm, and she began to speak.
"I don't think you remember us, but we remember you, especially how you always stood up for anyone being treated unfairly, no matter the cost. Thank you. Your bravery made the 'wardens' overlook us, and I know they kept moving you from one orphanage to another because of it, which wasn't fair. It's our turn to look out for you."
It was Stella's way of letting them know she was there as a friend.
Ayla noticed the men exchanging glances and decided she didn't want the girl to go on.
Ayla quickly stopped her, doing her best not to be rude.
"I don't need them hearing my life story, and I don't want anyone knowing my past; it's behind me for a reason. So, what made you call me here tonight?"
Rhae stepped forward next, clearly the kinder of the two.
"Nothing in particular. We just want to repay you for a few things you've done for us. Even if you don't remember helping, we remember when you did. This is about you, but not directly. We saw you earlier, and it's related to that. Julius might be in trouble."
Everyone in the room stared at them like they each had two heads.
Dominic couldn't hold back his shock.
"What?!"
Rhae kept going, her cheeks warm as she did her best to brush off the stares.
"There's nothing you can do tonight, even if you wanted to. So just listen. We needed everyone together. He asked for her earlier, but you all said no. Remember that."
Raphael glanced at Dominic out of the corner of his eye.
For once, the gentlest of the trio was ready to pull a phoenix.
"Handle it myself, you said. Do it without Ayla. If I couldn't, I wouldn't deserve her. Hmm. Tonight's the night you decided to push me to be a man."
Dominic stared at him with a deadly glare, yet remained completely silent.
He let Raphael get his childish rant out, knowing that if he spoke up, he'd lose his cool.
"Oh, go ahead, it's your own fault, ya big dummy. Guess what? You can't even go help him because you're supposed to be dead. You'll just have to trust us. How about that?"
Ayla was starting to get annoyed with the way he was speaking to Dominic at that moment.
"Save the family squabbles for later. Give me the details now, please. Men can be such children, I swear."
The girls tried to hold back a giggle as the men refocused their attention on the group.
"I resent that," Raphael exclaimed.
Alexander gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze.
"Hey, I'm behaving. I just want to know where Julius is," he said, making it clear he had nothing to do with the mess unfolding.
She shot him a sharp look.
"I wonder why," she retorted, glancing briefly at his crotch before shifting her focus back to the girls.
He lowered his hand to cover himself.
"Ugh, nooo. Can we find out what's going on with my best friend now, please? I know you said there's nothing we can do tonight, but you might be wrong. You have no idea what we're capable of."
He was eager to make it clear that his silence was only because he wanted to find out what was wrong with Julius, not because Ayla had him under her thumb.
All the girls burst into laughter after that.
'They really have all turned into one big family, it seems. I kind of like it,' Stella thought, so that her best friend could hear.
'Yeah, it's cute,' Rhae thought back.
Stella figured she should get to the point and explain why she'd gathered them before they ended up staying there all night.
"Long story short, we were walking around town when we saw Julius meeting up with those two creepy guys near Scarlet Fever, the same ones you saw earlier today. For the record, that one guy meets with a lot of people, and one of them is seriously bad news. You really shouldn't have gone off alone with them, Ayla."
Ayla couldn't resist cutting in a bit after they called her out so directly.
"Yeah, I know who you mean. I've been curious about them too, and I still am. There's just something about both of them that makes me want to look closer. That one, though, he used to run with a rough crowd, or maybe still does. That's why I planned on watching him for a few days."
She made sure everyone knew she had no regrets about what she'd done.
After that, Dominic jumped in to help guide the conversation.
"Actually, his pack is apparently close to Rhae's original one, but that's not what we're supposed to be discussing, remember Julius?" he said, pointing at her.
Realizing she was being tied back to the same pack that had made Raphael turn his nose up at her didn't sit right, and it made her wolf growl.
"That's not my pack. I picked a different one," she said, sounding a bit annoyed.
Curious about what was going on, yet eager to steer the topic elsewhere, Ayla did what she did best and smoothly took control of the conversation once more.
"What were you two up to over at the Scarlett Fever while the guys were here?"
Rhae replied without hesitation.
"Actually, we figured they'd be at the club. Ever since we met them, that's where we always seem to run into each other, so we were heading there. On the way, we saw Julius standing in the alley, then spotted the two out-of-towners. We accidentally overheard him, and the three of them were talking about you, Ayla."
All eyes were on her after that, and she could feel the weight of their stares pressing down on her.
Ayla tilted her head, wondering why she paused.
"And…?"
She knew, from her own experience as an orphan, that nothing ever happened by accident.
They were doing what the town's orphans did best, spying the moment they spotted him in the alley.
Stella jumped in, realizing her friend didn't want to say anything more.
"He wanted to learn more about the pack, the alpha, and why they were interested in you. They didn't seem intent on capturing you, at least that's what one of them said. The one who didn't seem so bad, Orion, if I remember right, mentioned that Julius and the rest of you were welcome to visit anytime, as the Moonlight Shifters Pack always welcomes guests. In fact, they left together not long after saying that."
Alexander ran his hands through his hair, certain they were missing the bigger picture.
That sounded like a trap if he'd ever heard one.
What was his best friend thinking, willingly leaving with them?
Hell, what was Ayla thinking when she decided to meet with them in the first place?
She was to blame for setting off all the traps they ended up in.
If she had just stayed in the apartment and looked after Dominic like she was supposed to, instead of provoking the two wolves chasing her, his friend wouldn't have walked straight into a damn trap.
"What were you thinking?" he snapped at Ayla.
"I have no clue what you mean. I didn't do anything," she replied.
Ayla didn't know what Alexander was rambling about, but she was sure it was something that needed to be discussed.
He glanced back at Stella and Rhae, desperation in his eyes, needing to know the truth.
"He didn't. Are you sure you heard the whole story? Please tell me he didn't willingly go to some random, unknown pack with unfamiliar wolves, alone, no less. Given what we've been dealing with and the situation we're in, please tell me he didn't just walk off with them."
Both girls kept quiet, nervous about saying the wrong thing.
Ayla wasn't handling the silence well.
She raised her hands, hoping to get an answer.
Well, has the cat got your tongue?
"He told me not to tell Alexander what happened, like he already knew Alexander would be furious. All he said was, "It's not what you think," before turning away. That was the strange part, like he wanted to go but didn't want anyone to know he had."
Dominic lost his shit.
"You've got to be kidding me. Really. He left with Orion and SHAW. Willingly. Are you sure he went willingly?"
The girls nodded, about ninety percent sure they'd caught the whole story, and Julius willingly went along with them.
"We told you everything we saw, heard, and what he told us."
"I think he said the things he did on purpose as a message, but I can't be sure," Alexander said, rubbing his temple.
"We just argued about not telling each other what we were doing. Why would he tell you to specifically not tell me something after promising not to do that anymore? It isn't adding up."
Dominic had made up his mind as he went to head for the door.
"Looks like my new destination is the Moonlight Shifters Pack".
Ayla quickly stepped in to block his path.
"Not so fast, we have a problem."
"Out of my way, princess. Right now, you are my problem".