The party was in full swing and we were all enjoying ourselves. Harlow was relaxing and enjoying her time with not only us but with the rest of the pack. It was the first time she really had the chance to mingle with the pack members and thank them for stepping up when she was taken. Every once in a while I noticed that she would zone out and I assumed it was her trying to adjust to the mindlink.
Her skin was also on fire the entire night and her hazel eyes were alive with fiery embers. She was positively the most beautiful creature on the face of the planet. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her and she noticed, blushing everytime she caught me staring.
"Stop it, Godric." She whined, playfully pushing me away.
"Dance with me, precious?" I asked, offering her my hand.
She blushed again and took it, allowing me to pull her onto the dance floor. Everyone disappeared and the music changed to something slow and romantic. I wrapped my arm around her waist and took her hand in mine, taking the lead.
"You really are beautiful." I said, leaning down to whisper in her ear. She shivered as my nose grazed against my mark on her neck.
"You're handsome yourself, Alpha." She killed me whenever she called me by my title.
I knew she didn't do it as a show of respect, she didn't have to, she did it to plow through my control and send me barreling right over the edge of sanity.
Griffin and Gabriel appeared on the dance floor with Maggie and Tulley in their arms. Canyon was dancing around us, completely out of beat with the music, but it didn't matter.
"I feel hot, Godric." She said after a few moments.
"You are hot, precious." I chuckled and she shook her head.
"No, I feel really hot. I feel like something's wrong." I focused on her gaze and realized that she was slightly worried.
"Do you think you're sick?" I gripped her tightly.
"No, it doesn't feel like that. It doesn't feel.....human." She mumbled.
"Come on." I pulled her away from the dance floor in the middle of the song and away from the crowd. Gabe and Griff quickly followed after us without the kids.
"What's wrong?" Gabe asked, immediately looking over Harlow.
"I feel like something's wrong. I feel very hot." She repeated. Gabe and Griff both ran their hands over her arms.
"You've felt hot to us since you mated with Gabe." Griff said,
"I know but I never felt hot until now." She gulped, "And I have this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach."
"It's probably just nerves, baby, from the ceremony." Gabe tried to calm her down, taking her against his chest in a huge.
"I don't...." before she could respond, all hell broke loose.
"Rogues!" Someone shouted and then dozens of rogue wolves were on us.
I let out a viscous growl as I planted myself in front of my mate defensively. All around us were rogues. Our pack members were already beginning to shift, the guard and warrior wolves stalking out of the forest and surrounding our backyard. Waylon, Callie, Ambrose, and Cambridge appeared around us in a defensive circle with Harlow in the center of my brothers and myself.
"Where are my kids?" Harlie gasped, wrestling against our grips.
"I have the kids. They're safe." Nova mindlinked us immediately and Harlie relaxed slightly.
Strolling out of the woods came the ring leader, Cairo Emerald, our disgraced cousin. I snarled at him in warning and so did Gabe and Griff.
"I'm hurt, cousins, to not be invited to your wedding or the Luan ceremony." Cairo shouted across the yard, pretending to be offended.
"Go to hell, Cairo!" Gabe spat.
"You don't deserve the Emerald name." Griff snapped.
I was too pissed off to form any words.
"I don't want the Emerald name, I have never gone by that. The first thing I will do as Alpha will be to change the name of this wretched pack." Cairo's mocking tone was gone and his true anger was revealed.
"Look around you. You honestly think you can take this pack from us?" I laughed humorlessly.
"Never underestimate a good underdog." He cackled and then the rogues began their attack.
"We need to get you to safety." I heard Gabe say to our mate.
"No! I'm the Luna and your wife, I will not run and hide!" She shouted, planting her feet firmly on the ground. I noticed her eyes began to burn even brighter.
"Harlow...." Griff started to argue.
"She's right," Gabe said with a stern expression, "Help the woman and children get inside the packhouse and lock them in."
"Gabe...." I looked at him hesitantly, but then we were surrounded by our wolves, the Luna's Guard.
"No one will touch our Luna." Waylon said, stepping up in front of the Guard and taking his command post.
"I'm staying with you." I said, looking at anyone to argue. No one dared.
"We'll take the rogues." Gabe nodded once before kissing Harlow and shifting into Lewy.
"Be careful." She ordered Lewy who snorted before taking off.
"You too." She said to Griff, pulling him towards her for a kiss before he shifted into Frost and ran after Lewy.
"I'm going to shift." I told Harlow who nodded, giving me a quick kiss before stepping back. I shifted into Quill and went with the other members of her Guard to form a perimeter.
Fearlessly, Harlow kicked off her high heels and ran around the yard, directing the women, children, and elderly into the packhouse. She ordered our wolves to create a perimeter around the house and they obeyed without question. She went to Nova first to check on Maggie, Canyon, and Tulley. She gathered up all of her girls and made sure that they agreed to stay near the kids for protection.
"They're safe with us, Luna, don't worry." Annie said, putting her hand on Harlie's arm.
"Those are my kids, Annie." She said, forcing back tears.
"I know." Annie nodded and Harlie seemed satisfied with whatever she saw in Annie's eyes because she let them go.
We heard a loud howl and Harlow whipped around, and Quill was immediately at her side. Looking around, I saw that Frost and Lewy had started to approach Cairo's wolf. I looked around him and saw the bodies of our men at the feet of his guards and I let out an earth shattering growl. Before I could move, Harlow took off running across the yard.
"Harlie!" Waylon shouted and we all ran off after her.
"Enough!" Harlow cried out, her hands balled into shaking fists at her side.
Lewy and Frost showed their teeth as they moved to stand between her and Cairo. I joined them and Waylon stood by her side.
"Oh, look at the newly marked little human Luna taking a stand." Cairo shifted back into human form and chuckled teasingly at my mate.
"I am not a human." She stated and Cairo's eyes widened in mild interest, "I'm the daughter of the House of Nyx."
She opened up her hands and a glowing orange and red mist seeped from her palms. The mist crawled forward and wrapped itself around Cairo before snaking across the entire yard. It hugged each of the rogue wolves in a cloak of wispy fire. Her eyes were like two bright embers and she was radiating power, so much power that I felt compelled to bow at her feet.
She closed her fists again and the mist turned into a solid flame, choking and consuming the poor souls who were trapped inside. They fell victim to her flame and fell to the grass as nothing but ash.
Silence fell over the backyard, stretching out for what seemed like forever. Our wolves shifted into their human forms and gapped openly at their Luna, not even caring that they were naked. I shifted, followed by my brothers, and we surrounded our mate slowly. Her hands were still sparking and her eyes were glowing, but she seemed to have stopped shaking and the mist had receded back into her hands.
"Harlow, are you okay?" I asked, stepping forward.
"I....I...." Her voice was trembling. Gabe stepped up and took her in his arms,
"How do you feel?"
"On fire. But, in a good way." She whispered.
"You just kicked some serious rogue ass, Harlow." Griffin smirked and I shook my head at him, resisting the urge to slap him in the back of his stupid head.
"I did, didn't I?" She began to smile and I started silently thanking Griff.
"What happened?" I wondered.
"I don't know. I just felt really hot and then I was furious when I saw all of our fallen pack members. When you two started approaching him, I was terrified that something bad was going to happen and I knew I had to do something. For the first time since I came here, I actually felt like I could do something, so I just went with my instincts." Tears were brimming in her eyes which were returning to their usual warm hazel color.
"You're our mate and Luna, there's always something that you can do. Now, there's just more." I said, pulling her against my chest, "I love you so much, my strong, precious, Luna." I purred, kissing the top of her head.
"I love you." Her voice was muffled by my chest.
"Luna! Luna! Luna!" The pack members started pouring out of the house and chanting for our precious mate.
She pulled away from me and grinned, running towards them to make sure there were no injuries. Once she was sure everyone was safe and tended to, she made her way around the yard to honor each of the ten fallen wolves. She closed their eyes and placed a kiss on their forehead. She had no idea what the tradition was, and it didn't matter, she created a ritual all her own.
We gathered up the rogues who were killed prior to Harlow's dragon fire, and piled their bodies up.
"Wait," Harlow said, hurrying over to our side before we could light the match, "Let me try something."
Her eyes started to glow again and she reached out her hand. Sparks shot from her fingers and glittered down over the pile of rogue bodies. She snapped her fingers and the sparks ignited, the bodies catching fire and turning into a roaring bonfire. In seconds, the rogues were ash and the fire was put out.
"That was efficient." I said and she smiled proudly at me.
"No need to let their bodies exist any longer than necessary." She smirked.
"You are absolutely right, my angel." Griff grinned, kissing her cheek loudly.
I ran my hands down her arms and gripped her tightly, leaning my forehead against hers. I locked eyes with hers and spoke in a husky tone,
"You're the fire to our heart and now you get to show that fire to the rest of the world and use it to protect our pack."
"You, all of you," She said, looking around at my brothers, "Light my fire."
I growled and the boys echoed me.
"That's sexy as hell, angel." Griff said.
"Parties over." Gabe said, scoping her up in his arms and running towards the packhouse with her.
"What are you doing?" She laughed, kicking her legs.
"You can't say shit like that and not expect me to take you right then and there, little Luna." I heard him say in a seductive voice. We all followed him up the steps and into the room that was now ours.