“So, when Alyce met her first mate, Alpha Tristan of Red Moon. I put myself between them, refusing to let Tristan near her while she processed the information and got her wits about her. She is generally very well put together and quick on her feet, but every once in a while something throws her for a loop and she needs a minute to process it.”

“You’re a brave soul to get between a male and his mate, especially an Alpha.” Darius whispered, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Yeah, well when it comes to Aly, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her. I went so far as to threaten Tristan the same day I met him over her. She’s been my best friend and my sister since we were about 8, when she came to our pack as an Omega.”

“Brave soul is right.” Felix echoed Darius’ statement, “Alpha Tristan is one of the most powerful Alphas alive. The most powerful of our generation.”

“So, about these black eyes?” Arya prodded.

“Many of you have heard the rumors of Red Moon. Many of them are true, but Alyce was the only one to suffer the ones that are true. When we were about 15 they used wolfsbane on her for the first time. I reacted with pity, rather than sympathy and she clocked me. Hard enough I had a black eye for a day.”

They were stunned silent for a moment, then cracked up laughing about Mat’s black eye, “Ok, that’s funny. You’re trying to be nice to her and you get a black eye for your trouble.” Arya snickered.

“How many black eyes has she given you in total?” Killian asked, chuckling and now curious.

“Mmm, two for sure. Maybe three.” Mat answered.

“Maybe three?” Morgan quirked an eyebrow at him.

“The third happened during a training session, so while we’re pretty sure it was her, it could have been my father also.” Mat grinned.

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“So how did you end up with the second one?” Felix asked.

“I called her Red. She hated it. I refused to stop. She clocked me again, broke my nose and gave me a black eye. I really did earn that one.”

Arya was holding her sides, she was laughing so hard. “You’re right. You absolutely earned that one.”

“I still call her Red to get her riled up. She still hates it. I know where the line is these days though. Most of the time anyway.” Mat gave a sheepish grin and a shrug.

“In fact, his calling her Red was what led to the pair inadvertently torturing me briefly.” I smirked.

“Oooh yeah! After Aly kicked Tristan’s ass in the spar!” Mat laughed, “I had nearly forgotten about that!”

“Wait, wait, wait… Alyce, tiny little Alyce, beat Tristan in a spar?” Killian asked, blinking in disbelief.

“She sure did. In about 10 minutes at that.” I laughed.

“Alyce is not someone who should ever be underestimated. She is wicked fast, agile and can assess an opponent in under 30 seconds in most cases. Her observation skills are better than most wolves. She also knows most people are going to assume she’s an easy opponent based on her size, and she uses that to her advantage.” Mat added.

“Well then… Consider me schooled and remind me to never get on her bad side.” Killian murmured, the others echoing his sentiments.

Mat and I were laughing at them now. “So, after the spar I might have riled her up and run off before she could react, but as I mentioned she is fast and agile. She caught up to me near the pack house and by the time the others, Mom, Dad, Cedric, Tristan and Kami, caught up to the two of us we were scuffling on the ground and she was winning. She was tapping on the center of my collar bone repeatedly, which really does start to hurt after awhile, trying to get me to give in and say ‘Uncle’. Which of course, I was not going to do.”

“I was torn by my instinct to protect Mat, and the common sense of not messing with your future Luna. I was antsy and Tristan saw it. Thankfully he showed some mercy and scooped Alyce off Mat. It took me a little while to adjust to their antics without Atlas wanting to act.” I finished the brief story.

“Sounds like you and your sister are quite the pair.” Morgan giggled.

“I’m not sure how my parents haven’t gone gray having to deal with the both of us, honestly.” Mat laughed.

“Good genes I’m sure.” Killian smirked.

“Let’s hope we’re all so lucky.” Arya snickered.

“I’m sure we’ll all look fabulous when we’re old…er.” Darius laughed.

“Who are you calling old?” Morgan raised an eyebrow, shooting him a stern look.

“Not you Luna, of course. I was referring to Alpha Killian.” Darius responded quickly.

“Mmm, I thought so.” She grinned.

“Hey! I’m not that old!” Killian huffed, pretending to be insulted.

Morgan leaned over and kissed his cheek, “Of course not my love. Just old..er.”

Killian chuckled, the rest of us joining in. “I can feel the love in this group, thanks so much.” He grumbled, but we all knew it was just some good fun.

“Don’t worry Alpha Killian, it’s not just you. Tristan gets the same crap from his circle at home too.” Mat snickered.

“Well that does make me feel a little better.”

I grinned and stretched a bit. We had been here for several hours at this point and things were starting to wind down, which I was secretly grateful for. Some of the younger wolves would likely keep the fun going into the early hours of the morning, but most of us would be looking to head home soon.

“Well ladies and gents, I think it is time Mat and I get back. We leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow and it’s a 12 hour drive back to Moonlight. We should probably get some rest.”

The group stood and handshakes and hugs were passed around the group.

“You both are always welcome here. Mat, it was wonderful to meet you.” Morgan said as she hugged us both tightly.

“Thank you Luna Morgan.” Mat grinned.

“We’ll visit when we can. Maybe bring Alyce and Tristan along, or perhaps Kami.” I smiled.

“Of course, they’re always welcome here as well.” Killian chuckled.

“Thank you all, for everything. For the pre-packing and the pack get together. It was wonderful.” I shook Killian’s hand as did Mat before we waved at them and headed back towards my place together.

“I told you I’d get us out of there at a reasonable hour.” I grinned at Mat who laughed in response.

“Yes, yes you did.”

“We really should try and get some sleep tonight though.”

“Yeah, probably, but we don’t have to go straight to sleep.”

“This is true, we don’t.” I leaned over to him and nipped his ear playfully as we approached the house. “Do you want to go for a run before we head inside?”

“Oh, that might be a good idea, let Xavier and Atlas out before we shove ourselves into a tin can for 12 hours tomorrow.”

I grinned with a nod and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the edge of the woods near the house. We stripped down, leaving our clothes in a pile on a stump. I gave him an appreciative once over before we shifted. His wolf was gorgeous, with his thick, sandy blonde fur that had some wave to it, just like his own hair did in human form.

I rubbed against him, my own wolf, Atlas, was slightly larger than Xavier. Atlas’ fur was thick and silver in color, his eyes were a cool steel gray. I nuzzled into Xavier before nipping him playfully, sending him running into the woods.

I took off after him, chasing him through the trees. We were pretty evenly matched in speed and I had to really work my muscles to catch up to him. When I did I nipped at his back leg, and he turned on me, tugging my ear playfully. The sudden direction change and the momentum of the tugging sent us tumbling into a clearing.

We came to a stop, a tangle of limbs and fur. With some wolfish laughing we untangled and laid down in the meadow that filled the clearing. It was filled with various wildflowers and the sunlight streamed down through the treetops. It looked like something out of a movie scene.

*Wow, it’s beautiful here.* Mat opened our link and I grinned at him.

*It’s one of my favorite places to come when I need some quiet time.*

*How did you find it?*

*Aimless running after the death of my parents.*

*Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up sad memories.*

*It’s ok. It was several years ago. I was sixteen when they died.*

*Can I ask what happened?*

*Yes, but not now. We can have this conversation when we get back to Moonlight. Let’s just enjoy our time together for now.*

*Alright. That sounds like a good plan.*

I laid my head over his as he tucked his head into my chest, resting it on my front paws. We rested like this, just enjoying each other's company for a little while before we got up and headed back towards the house.