Before the pack run, Lisa heard Stephanie say how Elders might spoil the mood because Damon didn't accept the Luna of their choice. Elders didn't approve of Talia as their Luna, yet now everyone was excited and no one whispered a word of displeasure. Even the mighty Generals were squirming feverishly and Lisa couldn't believe that the whole pack turned ga-ga just because Damon announced he found his Luna.
Lisa gritted her teeth. Was this how Kalina was accepted in the Lightclaw pack?
'Waaaah! Isn't she beautiful!', Ester gushed next to Lisa. 'Our Luna's fur is glowing under the moonlight like she is the blessing from the Moon Goddess herself!'
Lisa needed a moment to collect herself. 'Why are you so excited?'
'How can you not be excited? Didn't you see Alpha doting on her? She is so lucky!', Ester spoke breathily, and her tail was waggling wildly just like many others. 'It proves they are fated mates!'
'Do you expect me to be happy because Alpha is doting on a random she-wolf?'
Ester paused. 'Random? Don't tell me you have a thing for our Alpha?'
Lisa rolled her eyes. 'Of course, not. Alpha Damon is like my brother.'
Actually, he was like Lisa's brother while she called him Damon, but then Talia appeared and Lisa was kicked out of the packhouse, and Damon ordered Lisa to use his title when addressing him, and she even ended up with the duty to clean the dungeon!
How can Lisa not hate Talia?
Her life turned bad when Tony found his mate, and it all became worse when Talia appeared!
Lisa thought that she will see Talia fail and that will make Lisa feel better, but now Talia stood there like a shiny wolf and Damon was rubbing himself on her while everyone gushed how amazing their Luna was, and warriors were chattering that this was the first time for any wolf to get close to their Alpha in wolf form, and Lisa was on the verge of exploding!
'It is time!', Damon's voice sounded through the mind-link for the whole pack to hear. 'Prove your loyalty to your Alpha and Luna by following us and marking the territory of the Dark Howlers pack with our presence!'
"AWOOOOO!", the whole forest shook with the howls of agreement, and then two wolves moved away from the river to disappear into the nearby bushes.
Caden and Maya were quick to climb the rock where Talia was sitting previously and they used it to jump over the river cleanly and land on the other side. A few high-ranking warriors followed them, and then the mass of wolves raced to cross the river and go after Damon and Talia and their Betas.
'Lisa?', Stephanie's concerned voice sounded in Lisa's head, and she looked around, but she couldn't see her mother.
'Yes?'
'Where are you?', Stephanie asked.
'I'm here.', Lisa responded dryly as she guessed that probably Ester ratted on her that she was lagging behind. Lisa was still among wolves, but Ester and other enthusiastic wolves were far ahead now as Lisa didn't care about the crowd that was milling much faster than she was.
Lisa was not in the mood for this socializing, but she knew that her mother will give her a hard time if she just bailed on the pack run, so she decided to make a quiet exit.
'Don't worry about me, mom. I'm not used to being so close to other wolves and staying in my wolf form this long is making me uncomfortable. I'm thinking of heading back. I will see you at home!'
Stephanie knew that Lisa rarely shifted in her wolf form, so she didn't want to pressure her to stick around. The fact that Lisa stayed this much was progress.
'Are you sure?', Stephanie asked with concern in her voice.
'Yes. I am fine, I promise. Enjoy, mom. I know you were looking forward to this. Who knows, maybe you find your second chance mate?'
With that, Lisa took a right turn and got out of the crowd.
Lisa felt relief when the noise from the wolves disappeared into the night, because she didn't need to pretend to be excited about this. But the truth was that she also didn't feel like going home.
Lisa found a hollowed tree trunk with clothes. They were all over the place as the Dark Howlers pack had these stashes of clothes for werewolves to put on so that humans don't see them wandering around naked like exhibitionists.
Lisa shifted in her human form and pulled one oversized dark gray t-shirt over her head before finding a spot on the grass to sit.
The forest around Lisa was quiet as the full moon was hanging low on the starry sky without a single cloud, but Lisa was not in the mood to appreciate the scenery. She stared in front of her blankly while wondering if this is how her life will be from now on. People looked at her like she was an Omega and expected her to do menial work, and that was such a difference from what she had before Tony found Kalina, that Lisa couldn't shake off the feeling how things shouldn't be this way. Why was she the inadequate one? Why was a skinny no-name wolf-less she-wolf like Talia getting all attention while Lisa was invisible?
A rustling sound from Lisa's left got her attention. She groaned. Now what? Did her mom come to check on her? Or was it Ester? Or a patrol? Or… why didn't they mind-link her?
Lisa raised her head to look in that direction and she saw three shadows emerging from there, humanoid figures, definitely not Ester or Stephanie.
'I'm resting here.', she spoke to them through the mind-link, but there was no response.
"It's just a she-wolf.", one of the guys said. "Was there a need for us to reveal our presence?"
Lisa's eyes scanned three figures, and then her gaze stuck to the one in the middle. He was tall and muscular and even through the darkness she could see that his intense gaze was trained on her behind dark brown strands of hair that partially covered his eyes.
He moved toward Lisa stealthily, and her throat went dry. The strangest thing was that her wolf was stirring, as if she was trying to say something and this didn't happen even with Tony around.
"We need to leave before we are found out.", one of the guys from the back said. "Do you hear…?" His question was cut short when the middle guy raised his hand to shut him up as he continued walking toward Lisa and he crouched when he was only one step away from her.
From this distance, Lisa could see his face. He had a strong jaw covered in stubble, and a straight nose; she would place his appearance in his late twenties.
His musky scent made her dizzy, and she heard a voice in her head, 'Mate!'
