The Starlit Wolf

The scenery outside the car window passed her by. They had been driving for two hours now.

In a half hour, they would arrive at the territory of the Fire Wolf pack. Sage didn’t know if she should be excited or afraid.

Elijah had said both alphas had agreed with them staying with their uncle for the time being. This was only because their dad had been an ally and they had nowhere else to go.

Her sisters were excited. They had been fast with recovering from the events that had happened to their pack and parents. Now they were back to being their pain-in-the-ass and spoiled selves.

Sage always had found it weird that they were so fast with getting over things, but she always believed it was their own way of dealing with it and that it was just an act to hide their pain.

Of course, they would never admit it.

Elijah was steering the car on a mountain road and went through a long and dark tunnel. Her sisters were in the back, getting their beauty sleep.

“I’m sorry about everything that happened, Sage.”

She turned her head toward Elijah. “It’s not your fault, Elijah. Even if we’d been there, we couldn’t have done anything. We would probably be dead as well. The Moon Gang is too powerful.”

Elijah said with a sigh, “They didn’t deserve this. Hell, no one deserves that! Only the Gang deserves that.”

“They deserve worse,” Sage added.

They exited the tunnel and came up to a roadblock. They were about to enter the territory. Elijah slowed down. She saw the guard give him a small nod and open the gate.

“Only the side roads have a block. Sometimes human tourists would try to get to the mountains this way, just to avoid the main road and traffic,” Elijah explained.

Sage hummed in response and stared out of the window again. It wouldn’t be long before they would reach their new home.

She kept listening to the music and looked at the sky as the stars slowly started to appear.

As it became darker, she quickly found the constellation of Leo and Virgo. Her fingers ran over her tattoo again. The moon was starting to rise and she knew it was a crescent one.

Elijah chuckled a little.

Sage looked at him again.

“You’re still following the lines of your tattoo whenever you look at the stars.”

Sage gave him a small smile.

“Habits die hard.”

Elijah smiled a little too. “We’re here,” he said after a while.

Sage looked forward. They drove through a big village with natural roads. All the buildings were made of the same wood, but the doors and windows were modern.

Wolves looked curiously toward the car, and Sage slid down a little. The attention was something she didn’t need right now. As an alpha’s daughter, she always got lots, and she hated it.

Her sisters had awoken and sat up straighter so the wolves would see them. Of course, they always loved it.

Elijah pulled up in front of three large pack houses. The ones on the right and left were in the same style as the village, and the one in the middle was a little darker and more old-fashioned.

Pups were playing on the grass in front of the houses.

Elijah stopped the car. “Is your jaw stuck?”

Sage immediately closed her mouth and glared at him. He chuckled and got out of the car.

Romeo came running out of the left pack house. He grabbed Elijah and kissed him like he hadn’t seen him in a year. Sage smiled at the sight while her sisters made gagging noises.

“Could you be more immature?” Sage asked. They stuck out their tongues. Sage rolled her eyes and also got out of the car.

She was the youngest, but sometimes she felt like the oldest of them.

She walked up to the kissing males. “Be careful not to choke on each other.”

Romeo pulled away. He glared at her as he walked to her.

Sage chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.

“Hi there, Stargazer.” She smiled at the nickname. He had given it to her when they first met, and she had told him she was learning to become an astronomer.

Romeo had always loved listening to the stories about the stars, and they had bonded quickly.

He was part of the Wolf Moon pack. Romeo and Elijah had met during a training event the packs had held together. Their workout became something else that day…

Soon after, they both came to the Lost Moon pack, so she could meet his mate.

Elijah may be her cousin, but they always treated each other as brother and sister, so when Romeo came into their life, he instantly became her brother as well.

Romeo tightened his hug, and breathing started to become harder for her.

“Ro-meo, A-ir.”

He immediately let her go. “Sorry, forgot you were human.” Sage glared at him. He gave her a wink.

Iliza and Jessica left the car as well.

“Iliza. Jessica. Nice to see you both again.”

Sage had to hold in her laughter at the way he went from his goofy self to his business self. Romeo was the Beta’s son, so he had no trouble with being straight to the point.

“Romeo. Nice to see you too,” Iliza said, rolling her eyes.

“Wow Iliza, could you be more sarcastic?”

Sage turned around and saw the owner of the voice. “Uncle!” She ran toward him.

He caught her and hugged her. “Hello, Sage.” He kissed the top of her head.

She pulled away. “Hi, uncle.”

Rick looked toward Jessica and Iliza. He sighed. “Your rooms have your names on the door and a private bathroom with a bathtub.”

Before he was done talking, the two were already running toward the middle pack house Rick was pointing at.

“Thanks!” they both screamed. Sage rolled her eyes.

“They really haven’t changed, have they?”

Sage snorted. “What do you think?”

He sighed again and shook his head. “Seriously, what went wrong with them that caused them to become spoiled brats?”

“Being an alpha’s daughter?” Romeo answered.

“I’m also an alpha’s daughter,” Sage said, intervening.

“Yeah, exactly.”

Sage punched his shoulder as he laughed.

“Your mate is an asshole,” Sage said to Elijah.

“He is! A dumb one too!”

Sage’s head turned toward a little girl with short brown hair and yellow eyes.

She was an exact copy of Romeo, with yellow eyes, brown hair, muscular, and not bad to look at.

Elijah was also muscular and had blond hair, but with green eyes, while Rick had bright blue ones like her dad and herself. The guys were wearing a T-shirt with jeans and combat boots.

Sage was wearing a T-shirt with sweatpants and was still barefoot due to the fact she had taken off her shoes in the car. Her hair sat in a messy bun.

“Juliet!” Romeo scolded her.

Elijah chuckled. “Sage, meet Juliet, Romeo’s little sister.”

“Sooo, Romeo”—she pointed to him—“and Juliet?” She pointed to the girl.

“Yeah, our parents played a cruel joke,” Romeo stated.

Sage chuckled. “I think that’s the most human thing I’ve ever heard coming from wolves.”

Romeo punched her shoulder, which made her laugh again. He turned his attention toward the fuming Juliet. “Why am I a dumb asshole?”

She tapped the ground with her foot. “We were playing a game! You can’t just walk away from the game!”

Romeo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit, sorry, Jul. Mate bond and all that.”

“Nu-uh, don’t let him get away that easy, Juliet! If I were you, I would punish him,” Sage said.

Romeo gave her a shocked look. “What did I ever do to you?”

She shrugged. “How about you teasing and annoying me for years?”

“Oh, come on!” Romeo threw his hands in the air.

“So, Juliet, what will be his punishment?” Rick asked.

Romeo slapped his own head. “I hate you all.”

“I want you to clean my room!” Juliet said happily. Sage and Rick chuckled at the defeated look on Romeo’s face. “And Elijah has to help you.”

Elijah’s head snapped toward Juliet, and his smile fell. “Why?” His voice was squeaky.

“He ran out because of you.” She shrugged.

“I like you,” Sage said.

Juliet smiled brightly at her. “Juliet Alpine, Beta’s daughter of the Wolf Moon pack, and the next Beta.”

Sage chuckled as she formally introduced herself, and Romeo snorted.

“You wish, little sis.”

Sage crouched down. “Sage Moon, alpha’s daughter of the Lost Moon pack, astronomer-in-training, and human,” Sage said with a small smile.

“You are an alpha’s daughter?” Juliet asked. Sage nodded. “So cool!”

She chuckled at the excitement in Juliet’s voice.

“What is an as-ast-astr—”

Everybody chuckled as she tried to say the word.

“Astronomer?” Sage said.

Juliet nodded.

“It’s someone who knows everything about the stars, moon, planets, and constellations.”

Juliet looked up at the night sky. “You know everything about that?” She pointed to the sky.

Sage chuckled again. “Not everything yet. I’m still learning, but definitely a lot.”

Juliet looked at her again. “So cool!”

Sage smiled.

“Are your mom and dad here too?” Juliet asked innocently.

Sage’s smile fell as she thought about their bodies hanging on the pack house. Rick placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Sweety, her parents passed away recently. That’s why she’s here,” Romeo told his sister. A tear ran down Sage’s cheek.

“I’m so sorry, Sage.” Juliet hugged her.

Sage smiled a little. “That’s okay, sweety. You couldn’t know.”

Juliet tightened her hug.

“Juliet!”

Juliet pulled away and looked in the direction of the left pack house. That must be the Wolf Moon pack house.

A male and female walked over toward them. The female had long brown hair and dark brown eyes, and the male had black hair and yellow eyes like Romeo and Juliet. They must be their parents.

The female picked up Juliet, and the male nodded toward Rick before his eyes landed on her.

“Edward Alpine, Beta’s son and Beta of the Wolf Moon pack. This is my mate, Rachel,” Edward said.

“Sage Moon, alpha’s daughter of the Lost Moon pack, astronomer-in-training, and human,” she said, introducing herself officially as she had done with Juliet.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Rachel said.

Sage saw the compassion in her eyes. Sage gulped and nodded. “Thank you.” Her voice was like a whisper.

Edward stepped toward her. “Welcome to the Fire Wolf pack.”