-:Cecelia's PoV:-

I barely ate my lunch. My stomach was in knots. 

People were so much into socializing, it was nauseating. I forced smiles and niceties every time they attempted to interact with me, trying to not look like a suffocated lobster. It was like my first day back all over again.

Just worse.

Callie was sitting not far from where I'd situated myself. She ignored my existence. I'll admit it stung. When you can count all your friends on one hand, everyone is important. I never had a lot of friends. I was either too whiny, too dominant, too arrogant, too bossy, or too different. I never fit in and I made peace with it. Being at the top of the social hierarchy in Evergreen was solely because I was Julian's best friend. And because I was a warrior in training. Not many fourteen-year-old kids earned that privilege. 

Also, most people found me unapproachable.

I wondered why.

The pups, on the other hand, swarmed me like bees. Even when I'd stand up and walk away, they'd follow, occasionally chattering my ears off. Despite everything, I found them cute. My tension eased.

'Hey. How's everything?' I mind-linked Ashton.

'Great. We're almost there.'

'Okay, be careful.'

'I will be. Stop worrying.'

'I will. Eventually.'

He sighed in defeat through the link.

"What 'cha doing?" Julian asked from behind me.

'Don't die.' I told Ashton.

'I'll try my best,' he snorted and closed the link.

"I was talking to Ash but he had to go," I said. "What about you?"

"Just checked whether we were all settled or not," he responded. "The perimeter is secure."

I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Aren't you mad you didn't get to join the action?" I kicked a pebble.

"No," he said, surprising me. He seemed to sense that because he continued, a little hesitantly, "I know that's what I came for. But with Liana pregnant, I can't. I want to meet those pups of mine."

"I understand," I hugged him in reassurance. "I'd never ask you to do something that would jeopardize your family's happiness."

"I know," he hugged me back. "And that's why I was able to stay back easily."

"Good. When are you flying back?"

"Hun?"

"When are you flying back, doofus?" I pulled back.

"I . . . didn't think about that," he admitted sheepishly. I gave him a pointed look.

"In my defense, I was busy!"

"Boys," I muttered under my breath. He faked an offended look. "Julian. Liana is pregnant. With twins. Do you have any idea what that does to a woman?"

"Do you?"

"Not the point."

He deflated, looking lost for once.

"Boy," I smacked his head in exasperation, "She needs you!"

He mock glared at me.

"Fine!" He exclaimed, "I'll go back . . . soon."

"Soon?" I cocked a questioning eyebrow. He scowled. I noted how his posture was defensive. Arms across his broad chest, legs too widely spaced, and the tendency to avoid eye contact.

"Are you scared?" I asked gently.

"What?" He scoffed. "No!"

"Julian." I deadpanned. He still didn't meet my eye. "Fine. Be that way. Just know that it's not you who is carrying two lives inside of them. It's not you dealing with the morning sickness. It's not you who has mood swings and weird cravings. It's not you who has to give birth. If anything, Liana should be scared," which she is, but I didn't say that. What he didn't know couldn't hurt him. "And you should be there to help her through it."

He sighed.

"Things are going to change so much," he exhaled deeply.

"I'm aware."

"Really?"

"Nope. Ain't got a clue." I grinned. That made him smile.

"Thanks. I needed that. I'll book my tickets as soon as this is over."

"Liana will be elated."

"What would I do without you?"

"Probably keep being the uncultured swines most boys are known to be," I laughed.

"Really?" He asked flatly.

"It's not you, Jules. It's your boy brain," I chortled.

"Ha ha ha," he said emotionlessly, flipping me off.

"Oh, come on!" I laughed. "You know you love me."

"Keep telling yourself that," he scoffed. I laughed harder.

"And Ashton told me you were worried," someone remarked, clicking their tongue in disappointment.

"Noel?" I blinked in surprise, my laughter ceasing. "Bree? Riles? What are you guys doing here?"

"You mate hounded us to get here and cheer you up," Bree smirked.

"But it doesn't look like you need it," Riley continued with a mischievous smile.

"And to think we had to run and swim here," Noel shook his wet hair, droplets of water falling around.

Julian and I shared a glance. 

Shouldn't have done that.

We ended up guffawing.

"You're welcome, by the way," Noel grumbled.

"Thanks, you guys," I impulsively hugged them all, getting myself a little wet in the process since they were still damp from all the swimming.

"Anytime," Riley grinned. "Besides, we got to wear bikinis, show off our figures, and now we get to have a picnic in the Crescent Moon territory. Who's complaining? Not me."

I chuckled.

"Guys," I said, "Meet my best friend, Julian. Julian, you've already met Noel. This is Brianna and Riley."

"Pleasure to meet you," he said politely, donning a charming smile. 

"Likewise," the girls replied with smiles.

"Are we going to eat or not?" Riley complained, putting on her cover-up.

"I'm starving," Bree agreed.

"Me too!" Noel exclaimed. "Julian, help me set this up."

In the next ten minutes, we had their tents up near mine and Julian's. We spread more blankets and set up a picnic. I hadn't eaten before so I still had space to eat. In no time, we were laughing and eating together. We had put up music to entertain for more camping vibes.

It was in the middle of that when my nose perked up. I sniffed and almost gagged. Julian noticed that.

"Are you okay?" He asked, bringing everyone's attention to me.

"Yeah," I scrunched up my nose, trying to place the scent. "But do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" Noel frowned.

"That . . . that smell," I said. It was familiar. I just couldn't place my finger on it.

"What are you talking about?" Bree asked, sniffing and trying to catch what I was talking about.

"I don't smell anything, Lia," Julian stated.

"Are you sure it's actually something and not the hormones?" Riley teased.

"What hormones?" I scowled.

"Oh, you know," she waved a hand in the air, "You mated and all. Are you sure you aren't hiding something from us? You can talk to us. We understand you have to give us an h-"

I colored up in embarrassment.

"Are you serious?" I protested while the rest laughed at my expense. "I'm not kidding! It's so strong and foul, almost as if-"

"Miss me?" A voice sneered. I felt something smooth, cold, and sharp pressed into my neck.

Julian, Noel, Riley, and Brianna jumped up to their feet and let out loud growls. Alertness flooded my veins.

My elbow whipped up in retaliation to the unwanted hold on me. My captor, however, was prepared and caught it, not loosening his grip. I flung my other elbow, but he caught it too, shifting his grip and keeping my slender wrists trapped in one of his arms. The other still held a knife to my throat. I tried to ram my head back to hit him but he was prepared for that too.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Vincent clicked his tongue. "You're losing your touch, Cecelia Rivers."

"Let me go!" I hissed, trying to pull my hands out of his iron grasp. The guy had strength.

"Still got the same spirit, I see," he said, sounding amused.

"How the fuck did you breach the borders?" Julian demanded with another growl, his eyes assessing how we were surrounded by ten rogues excluding Vincent.

"And why would I tell you that?" Vincent mocked.

"Let her go and leave, rogue scum," Bree hissed.

"Not very creative," Vincent chided. "Also, that was rude."

"Do I look like I wanted to be polite?" She retorted.

"Well, you should," Vincent snapped. "I hold the life of your future Luna in my hands."

She gritted her teeth.

"That's what I thought," he continued in a smug tone. "Now let us leave or I will not hesitate to kill her."

"Right. Like after years of wanting to get your hands on her, you'll kill her just like that." Julian scoffed with convincing confidence. But I saw through it because of years of knowing him.

"Try me," Vincent challenged. Julian took a step forward and in reprisal Vincent dug his knife in my throat, eliciting a small gasp of pain from me. I felt the warm blood trickled down my neck. Julian instantly froze, huffing in frustration.

By now we had gained the attention of almost everyone. Many warning growls resounded in the forest.

"Let her go," Noel hissed.

"No can do," Vincent snapped.

"You are outnumbered," Riley pointed out.

"So?" He responded like he was waiting for that fact to be brought to light. "I have a witch. Do you?"

Gasps echoed.

"Meet Andromeda," Vincent said, "My right hand."

"More like all your limbs," I mumbled. "You'd be useless without her."

He pressed the blade deeper into my skin and I winced at the discomfort.

"You'll keep quiet if you know what's good for you," he jeered in my ear. His warm breath hit my ears and I shivered in disgust.

"St-"

"We're leaving," he stated. "No funny business or you can kiss your precious Cecelia goodbye. Andromeda, cover us."

"Sure, Vince," a robotic voice replied. I froze when all my pack members looked around frantically, searching for us. It was like we'd disappeared. 

Realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

"You used magic to get in undetected!" I screeched, stating the obvious.

"If this is an attempt to alert your friends of my presence, don't bother. The cloaking spell will drown your cries," he sneered. "Now, move!" He pulled me to my feet roughly, pulling me in front of him, keeping my hands locked in his behind my back.

'Ash!' I anxiously tried to reach him.

"Your mind-links won't work beyond this spell, either," he gloated, catching on to what I was doing pretty quickly. "I've got you now, Cecelia. And I'll make you pay for fooling me."

With that, he stuck a huge needle in me. I cried at the sudden impact, not anticipating it. Then screamed loudly as he emptied its contents in me. My body burned and my consciousness slipped from me.

Wolfsbane. Again.

"Sweet dreams."

***********************

"What about her mark?" An agitated voice demanded.

"I can remove it, but it needs to happen on a full moon," another voice said.

"But that is still two days away!"

"She is fully mated. It can't happen anytime else."

"I don't give a fuck! Get it off her!"

"Patience is fruitful."

"I can't have this go wrong, Andromeda. I'm warning you."

"Rest assured, it will be fine. I advise you to sedate her before she wakes up. She seems to be coming around."

A string of curses before another needle pinched into my skin.

"I will win this time. Those packs are going down." Was the last thing I heard before I went out again.

**************************

A/N:-

Here's the update. I apologize for taking so long. I swear I was blocked. And overloaded with a lot of assignments. I'll be back soon, hopefully. Till then, enjoy!

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(7.7.21.)