Graeme was trying to quietly get ready to leave without waking August. Greta told him she would stay behind with her in case she woke while he was gone.
"Don't you think she'll want to see the fire lit?" Greta raised an eyebrow toward him.
"I… I want her to get some sleep," he turned back hesitantly to look at Greta. Should he be waking her? "Do you think she'll be mad?"
She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
"Would you be mad?"
"Yep," she replied, making a popping sound with her lips like she could foresee the coming fight between him and his mate. She raised the tea cup to her lips with a smirk when Graeme groaned and looked down undecidedly at his feet.
"Ready brother?" Sam called after he descended the steps. "What is it?" he asked after seeing Graeme run a hand through his hair.
"Should I wake August?" he asked his Beta, wanting a second opinion.
"Nah. She can hang here with Greta. All the fun stuff is later."
Graeme grunted his approval of the perspective and avoided the way his sister's eyes rolled when he passed her.
Once the males were out the door, Greta groaned and went to knock on her parents' old bedroom door.
"August?" she called before opening the door a crack. "Hey, sis. Do you want to go watch the pups light the pure fire this morning?"
August groaned under the covers, causing Greta to laugh as she came to sit on the end of the bed.
"Hey, Luna," Greta rubbed her over the blanket.
August shot up, clutching the sheet against her. "Oh no, did I sleep in?" Her blonde hair was sticking up every which way, making Greta giggle. She squinted her eyes toward the window that was still dark.
"No no, no worries. But the ritual lighting of the fire will be happening shortly. Would you like to be there?"
"Yes, of course," she rubbed her eyes so she could focus better. "Where's Graeme?"
————————
"Graeme Hallowell!" the reprimand from his mate rumbled through the trees, and he and Sam both stopped and turned. It sounded like a mom scolding a pup.
August and Greta were jogging to catch up to them. His mate's hair was loose and wild, bouncing around her shoulders against the long red ruana she had quickly thrown on with her other clothes. His heart stuttered at the singular beauty of her—and out here in the woods, emitting the soft glow of her unique promise to them all.
By her expression, he could tell she was angry with him. But he still stood there, grinning like a damn fool as she approached. If it meant seeing her chase after him like this—fierce and wild and beautiful—he wouldn't mind making her angry.
"Why didn't you wake me?" she accused as she drew up on him, chin tilting to keep his gaze. He was so much taller than her.
"I'm sorry, Little Red," he reached up to touch the hood that had blown onto one shoulder. "Are you warm enough?"
She scoffed, rolling her eyes at how he wouldn't engage in the argument and then moved on to yet another concern for her.
"I don't need you to worry for me so much. If I'm not warm enough, I'll deal with it," she snapped and starting walking past him. He stood there as his sister passed with a smug look on her face.
'Told ya so,' she laughed wordlessly as she grazed him walking by.
Finally, his gaze turned to Sam who was clearly amused. His Beta shrugged, chuckling as he ran a hand over his beard. Apparently he gave Graeme the wrong advice.
"You're fired, Beta," Graeme laughed and then began walking after the females.
"Sorry, sire," Sam chuckled and went to follow him.
The night before, Greta and some of the other females had filled August in on what to expect during festival day. It was hard for her to imagine the fire churn they were describing and how to operate it—much less how pups were supposed to operate it.
Then again, the pups were impressively strong. She had learned her lesson about that when little Lily almost plowed into her the first day she was introduced to the group she was teaching now.
Graeme almost didn't let her out of his sight again after that. Why was he always overreacting about everything? She sighed and shook her head as they clomped through wet underbrush toward the pack house.
"You know he just worries because he's crazy about you," Greta said out of the side of her mouth. "It's his job to take care of you just like it's your job to take care of him."
August sighed again and then allowed herself to chuckle. "Yes, I know."
"The only reason Sam isn't like that is because he knows I'm stronger than him," Greta giggled.
"What was that?" Sam called from behind them.
"Nothing!" she called back, and both of her and August giggled together.
As they came up to the side of the pack house and turned to walk around back, August heard her crow friend cawing somewhere above her. Apparently he was interested in the rituals today, too. She hadn't seen him since he led her to the pack house last time to speak with Zoe.
Zoe… Now the alyko-turned-Vampire was up being treated for bite injuries. August reminded herself to visit the girl at some point during the day to see how she was healing and check on how her mental state was after what happened with Andreas.
When the area behind the pack house came into view, August gasped softly. White lights were strung up around the whole area, illuminating the dark pre-dawn lawn. She could make out garlands of ribbon and flower adorning the trees and wooden poles where the lights were anchored. And pack members were gathered in small groups chattering with excitement for the upcoming events of the day.
Graeme came up next to August and put an arm around her waist.
"Are you ready to greet our people, Luna?" his warm breath feathered her way as he pulled her in closer, tugging her playfully against him.
She tilted her chin up as a small smile bloomed on her face. "Let's do it, Alpha."
******
Dear readers, I'm not sure we're going to make our goal of avg. power stones a day for the 8 chapter mass release at the end of the month. So I'm adding a second way to gain it!
For every 25 Golden Tickets the book gets between now and February 25th, 1 chapter will be added to the February 28th daily update (with a total of 10 chapters possible)! I'll also be adding privilege chapters next month, which makes it possible to read 20 brand new chapters within 2 days time. Say whaaat?
We're coming up fast on V2. Can't wait to share the next arc in this story with you all! <3
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