Song: Cradles by Sub Urban
I see the world through eyes covered in ink and bleach

"I hate you," I say to Thane as I blink my eyes open, seeing him sit in the chair next to my bed. Judging by the light pouring in through the windows, a day has gone by. A day that he has sedated me for.

"No you don't," Thane smirks. "You hate that I'm smarter than you."

I snort. "You took advantage of my trust. I'm hurt, Thane." I pout disingenuously.

Thane rolled his eyes. "Save the theatrics for Cain. We both know you were going to bolt as soon as I left. Don't you feel much better now after your rest?"

I did, not that I would ever admit it. I tore off the new bandage, and although the wound was still a nasty gash, the green ooze had subsided.

"Stop doing that," Thane said irately.

Rolling my eyes, I reach for the gauze on the table, re-bandaging the wound that still had blood seeping out slightly.

"You're good at that," Thane says in surprise.

"I've done it enough times," I mutter, getting off the bed, my legs wobbling slightly, but I'm able to support myself.

"Here," Thane said, holding out my cloak, which I pull on, concealing the wound. "I- um, washed it. It was... soaked in your blood." Thane winced and swallowed loudly.

I shrug indifferently. "It happens."

"I... didn't like seeing you like that. Helpless," Thane whispered, looking down. I was surprised by the emotion on his face, usually he wore a mask of apathetic boredom.

"Don't tell me you're getting soft too," I warn Thane. "One overly protective Alpha is bad enough."

Thane rolled his eyes and muttered as we walked out of the care center, "I liked you better when you couldn't talk."

I snort. "I liked you better when you didn't care about me."

Thane halts. "Don't say that, Ares. You know you're one of my closest friends, of course I've always cared for you."

"Relax, dude. It was a joke. That's what we do, remember?" I roll my eyes, surprised that out of all things I tease him for, was what got a rise out of him.

We walked back to the pack house in silence. As we step through the doorway, I see Onyx sitting on the couch, clutching a pillow, and Lucas sitting on the floor, his hair braided down the middle.

I'm about to tease him when Onyx's eyes pop out of her head and she exhales, "You've got to be kidding me."

She throws the pillow to the side, heading for the stairs. I'm surprised by the jealousy radiating from her body. "Onyx," Thane starts to say as he takes a step towards her, but she avoids him.

I take a step in front of her. "Onyx, please don't be upset. Thane and I were just-"

Onyx's cruel tone makes me freeze in shock, I barely recognize it as her voice. "No offense, Luna, but you are the last person in the world I want to talk about my mate with."

My mouth drops open as she walks around me, going upstairs. Thane gives me an apologetic look before following after her.

"What the hell was that about?" I ask Lucas, who didn't seem nearly surprised as me.

He shrugs. "She thinks there's something going on between you and Thane."

I laugh. "That's insane. That's actually insane. She does know I have a mate, right? A mate who would literally disembowel anyone who looks at me in slightly the wrong way."

Lucas sighed. "You two just spend a lot of time together, that's all. Anyone would be jealous. I'm sure she knows nothing would ever happen between you two, she's just hurt. I... I see where she's coming from, Luna."

"If she wants me gone so badly, then let's just leave," I say in exasperation. "I hadn't realized I was causing such a rift between them."

"Luna, you know that's not what she wants," Lucas argues. "Don't be hasty."

"I'm not being hasty," I say as Lucas follows me into the bedroom. I begin to throw my belongings into my suitcase. "She clearly is upset with me being here, and if I'm not wanted, then I have no issue returning to my mate."

"Luna," Lucas calmly says, but I keep going.

"No, she has no right to talk to me like that. To assume something is going on between Thane and I, when I'm literally only here because he asked me to train her. I have been fighting with my mate just so I could stay her, for her. This last week has been absolute fucking hell for me, to go through the transformation without my mate. And instead of being grateful, she just assumes I'm fucking Thane? I'm so out of here," I hiss, and a flash of anger overtakes my body. I punch the brick wall, sending dust flying everywhere.

"Fuck," I swear under my breath, realizing my actions caused my wound to tear open. I clutch at my chest, staunching the blood.

Lucas is by my side in an instant. "Luna, why the fuck do you have a bandage on your chest, and why can I smell your blood?"

"Training accident," I grunt, blowing him off.

Lucas is not deterred so easily. He rips the bloodied bandage off and swears. "Did Thane do that to you? I'll murder him."

I roll my eyes. "Obviously not. Just a rogue accident. It's fine. But also, don't tell Cain about it." I throw in the last sentence.

"You've got to be kidding me," Lucas mutters. "So I'm assuming since you don't want me to tell Cain, it's because you aren't actually going to go back to Blood Lake because of this little disagreement?"

I sigh, rummaging through my bag until I find extra gauze. "No," I mutter. "Onyx can hate me all she wants, but she has to be alive to hate me, and she'll only live if I keep training her."

"You're not a bad person, Luna," Lucas says softly. "And Onyx doesn't hate you. She's just going through a lot."

"So am I," I bitterly say. "But does anyone cut me slack? No. You know why that is, Lucas?" He doesn't answer me, not that I was looking for him to. "Because everyone needs someone to blame. I don't mind being the villain in everyone's eyes because everything I do, every violent act I perpetuate is to keep them safe. I'm the one who makes the hard fucking choices, because they're all too pussy to do what needs to be done."

Lucas looks surprised by my outburst. "Luna, I-"

I cut him off. "I just want to be alone for now. When you see Onyx, tell her that we're going to start training in wolf form."

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The next few days went by without any more clashes. Onyx apologized for her words, and I let it go, because me staying mad would do no good to either of us.

Onyx's training in her wolf had been brutal, most days we spent from dawn til dusk training her. The Challenge was tomorrow, and I felt confident that Onyx would tear the shewolf apart. Maybe this wasn't fair of me, but I observed the shewolf train with the rest of the pack, and she looked fairly similar in skill level to Onyx.

"Goodnight," I mutter to Onyx, Thane, Lucas, and Leo after we ate dinner. "Try to get some sleep, Onyx."

Onyx nodded, and I went upstairs to my room. After I took a bath, I redressed my wound. I never had such a deep laceration, one that took so long to heal. It would be harder to conceal from Cain than I had originally thought.

I heard a knock at the door, and was surprised to see Onyx standing in the doorway. "Yes?" I ask.

"I..." She started, her voice quiet and nervous. "I just wanted to say thank you for everything. I know you've given up a lot to be here with me, to train me, and I... I don't know how to express how grateful I am for it, for you."

I shrug. "Just try not to die tomorrow and we'll consider it even. Goodnight, Onyx," I say as I close the door.

I felt completely exhausted as I flopped on the bed. The wound had been completely depleting my energy, although I was thankful that it seemed to ease some of the transformation pain.

I accepted sleep thankfully that night.

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"Do you like it?" He asked, laying me down on the blanket he had laid out. The stars and moon were bright in the sky, so bright I could see every curve, every indent in his muscular chest.

"It's so quiet out tonight. So peaceful," I say as he snuggles closer to me as we watch the stars.

"We won't have many more quiet moments to ourselves in a few months," He says, and our gaze shifts to my swollen stomach.

"Don't tell me you're backing out now," I say with a laugh. "It's a little late for that."

He growls softly, playfully nipping at my ear. "It will be a welcome chaos."

"Oh, you want chaos, Alpha?" I tease, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I'll show you chaos."

I lean in for a kiss. He growls lowly, his lips parting slightly. Suddenly, I'm on top of him, straddling his waist.

"I can't think of a finer sight," He says, his eyes soft, but so intense when he looks at me.

We continue kissing, and he removes his mouth from mine. Just as soon as he had put me on top of him, he flipped us so I was underneath him. He places soft kisses along my jawline, leading down to his mark. I moan when he finally reaches the mark, electricity reverberating through my body at his touch.

"That is the most beautiful sound," He says matter-of-factly, like he knows that he is right about that. One of his hands runs along my bare thigh, eliciting goosebumps from me. "And you are the most beautiful creature on this planet."

I can't help mewling from pleasure, writing underneath his delicate touch as his hands continue to roam my body as he places gentle kisses from my collarbone, leading down lower, until he reaches my protruding stomach.

His hands are gentle as he places both hands around the bump. "There... are no words for how lucky I am, to have the other two pieces of my soul right here in my grasp."

He places his hands around my face, forcing me to stare into his glowing emerald eyes. Eyes that I hoped he would pass along to our pup.

The night is silent, and even the leaves on the nearby trees stop shaking as I speak. "I love you, Thane."