Chapter 3 Emmett.

"So, it's final? You're moving to Oxford?" Daeya inquired for the millionth time as she took a bite on her salad.

Mariah just rolled her eyes as she took her plate and sauntered out of the kitchen. Daeya took hers as she scurried from the island and slowly followed suit, "Ah, come ooon!!" she whined.

She found her friend had already made herself comfortable on a couch in the living room with a remote in her hand. "It looks like I can't persuade you any longer!"

Mariah shook her head as determination sparkled in her eyes.

"You could at least wait until you're married. It's only a month away!"

"My mind is already made up! Ugh!" Mariah announced with clear annoyance.

"Okay... okay! Jeesh!" She quietly sat at the opposite couch and took another fork-full of her food into her mouth as her eyes zeroed at the TV.

"I'm not planning on hitting middle age alone," Mariah commented.

"At least you'd live stress-free with zero drama," Daeya responded.

"I'm not like you, Daeya. I want to have a family of my own and a warm home. A man to share my life with and kids to fight for." Mariah explained.

Daeya sighed. "I don't know, Mariah. I've never experienced 'a warm home' " She air-quoted. "So I don't really know how even to provide it."

"You can do it if you really decide to. And the first step is letting yourself fall in love."

Daeya giggled, "Me? Fall in love?"

Mariah raised a brow at her.

"I think that will only lead to chaos. I'm too controlling. In fact, I fall out of love too fast."

"That's because you've never truly loved someone before," Mariah concluded.

Daeya shrugged. "Maybe it runs in my family. My dad was probably an asshole, and my mom must be Medusa's distant cousin. I lived with witches all my life, and the only father figure I had was a pea-brain. It's only natural that I turned out the way I am."

"Nice try. You're only a big softie that's afraid to be exploited." Mariah uttered.

"In other words, it's called self-protection." Daeya pinpointed.

"You can't say you've reached the highest peak of happiness while you've never fallen in love before. Loneliness is a bad feeling; it can drive you to bitterness."

"Some people are just not meant for that. Look at what love did to Martin. I'm afraid for you." Daeya mumbled.

"Love is a very vast subject. It is not only about happiness but also about taking risks. You really don't care where it's going to take you as long as you enjoy the ride." Mariah explained.

"Damn complications, that's what. I'm not ready for that. I don't know if I truly ever will." Daeya confessed.

Mariah smiled, "Well, that's life. We don't know about the surprises that are in store for us in the future. Only time tells and reveals."

Daeya nodded.

"I still can't believe you're getting married."

Mariah giggled.

"And I'll have to board a train or drive for more than an hour just to see you!" She complained.

"Who knows? Maybe you'll meet your future husband on that same train, " Mariah taunted her friend, earning a cold glare that could freeze hell itself. She laughed, "Trust me though, you're going to love it there."

Daeya merely shrugged and continued to dig in.

******

Silver Moon Pack.

A high pitch screech echoed inside the packhouse before a pregnant brunette bolted through the front double doors towards the challenge circle where the duel just ended.

Inside, now stood the champion, the black wolf over the defeated grey wolf who laid in a pool of his own blood. The brunette rushed to the badly injured grey wolf's side, who looked to be struggling to breathe and cried hard as she tried to apply pressure with both her hands on what was left of his neck.

"Don't leave me, Tristan, please!" Her broken voice was the only sound that could be heard all over the area. Everyone else was dead silent; the fight stopped the moment their Alpha fell. Other than quiet sniffles from the women who just lost their mates back in the saferoom, there wasn't any other sound around the packhouse but the Luna's loud cries.

"I love you, Milly", Alpha Tristan sent through their mind link before finally letting go. The Luna stared dumbfounded at her mate's clouding orbs as his soul slowly dispatched, leaving them lifeless and void. After a few minutes of shock, she finally recovered and loudly wailed as she violently shook her mate.

Behind her, the black wolf shifted back to his human form, revealing a very tall, bulky man with toned muscles, shoulder-length light brown hair and a pair of cold forest green eyes. His eyes zeroed at the scene before him with pure boredom as a warrior quickly ran to his side to hand over a pair of jeans.

He hurriedly slid in as his Gamma made his way towards him and finally halted by his side. He briefly looked at the Alpha and was given an approving nod before he proceeded. "Submit to your new Alpha, or die." He coldly announced.

It's easy really, if one failed to submit at the exact moment, then they'd automatically become rogues in the middle of a pack land. And by pack laws, once a rogue steps into pack lands without authorisation from the host Alpha, is to be killed on sight.

Every present werewolf exposed their necks as they slightly tilted their heads to a side, except the Luna, who currently buried her face into her mate's fur. He then continued, "Bring out the ones in the saferoom."

Suddenly, the Luna jumped up and charged at the Alpha with all her might, only to be kicked on her belly, sending her crashing to the ground. Milly's hands shot up to her belly as she painfully whimpered on the floor whilst blood started pooling from between her legs.

She was human; she did not have any special powers other than a tad strength acquired from mating an Alpha. She couldn't heal herself like everyone else around her. She knew that, but rage clouded her judgement. The ripped mate bond demanded blood and her pregnancy hormones weren't of any help.

She continued to whimper on the floor as the Alpha slowly paced towards her. When he finally stood over her, his eyes took her in before he spoke up. "I wonder why a werewolf or, rather, Alpha would take such a weak creature as a mate!" He spat on the sand beside the crying Luna before squatting down to meet her gaze.

Milly was in another world of pain as strong contractions hit her with no remorse. She was losing her baby, and the Alpha only dipped his index finger into the pool of blood between her legs and examined it. He was too busy satisfying his curiosities to care about the woman before him. Not even a spec of mercy or pity sparked on his cold eyes. He never liked humans though it was in his nature to protect them. He saw them as lesser beings not worthy of his time nor attention.

The pain became unbearable, that she screamed in agony, but not even once did she ask for help. She didn't want it. She wanted to die along with her loved ones. She didn't have the will to move on. And the Alpha knew it. That's why he never wanted a mate. They were a weakness he couldn't afford to have. He had expectations on whoever was destined to be his; if they were anything like the creature before him, he'd kill her himself.

And with that, he finally ended her misery by breaking her fragile neck.

He stood up to meet the new group that arrived from the saferoom. "I am Alpha Emmett Stuart of the Moonstone pack." He introduced himself as he paced a tad closer to them before he halted and crossed his hands over his chest.

"Now, bring forward the old parasites!" He instructed.