Hadley's POV

Devin, Jillian, Morgan, and I were all gathered on the chairs of the study sitting around the warm fire from the fireplace. A wave of relaxation had overcome a little while after Nolan had left. Tate had mind linked with me to tell me they were now in rogue territory. There was still so much to consider. But having Nolan gone and out of the picture for now took a huge weight off of my shoulders. I hadn't realized how tense I had been this whole time until I finally allowed myself this moment to relax. To laugh, and just be with my friends.

Growing up I had never had a group of girl friends like this. Devin and Jillian had slowly become my family. Devin and Morgan seemed to finally be warming up to one another. I had no doubt that if she stuck around she would fall right into place with the rest of us.

"Hello" Jillian said to me, drawing me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry. What was that?" I asked with a laugh.

"I asked if you wanted to have the official luna ceremony with Tate. Now that you've claimed. Your scents are all over each other. One sniff and the whole pack will know," Jillian said. My cheeks flushed at the mention of our merged scents.

"Plus Nolan knows so there's no need to keep it a secret anymore," Devin added.

My mind flashed back to the luna ceremony with Nolan. How I had hurt all his pack members. The cold killing calm. The lethal rage that I had allowed to take over me. How I had come so close to slitting his throat. How I would have enjoyed every moment of it. I still had nightmares that I had been successful in that. That I had done it. That my friends showed up only moments to late and saw me as a true monster.

I shook the thought and forced a smile on my face. "I would like that". I really did want to be with Tate officially as the pack luna. I had grown to care for these people so much. It wasn't that part of it. The ceremony itself just brought up so many unwanted memories. I didn't know if I would be able to get through it without being forced back into that place with Nolan. Devin noticed my face and quickly changed the subject.

"Morgan will you be sticking around?" She asked, with surprisingly no bitterness to her voice. She really was warming up to her.

"I would like to. There's still so much with Jade. Until we figure that out, I want to stay," Morgan said while braiding a small piece of her strawberry blonde hair.

"Careful witchy before you know it you'll have gone full wolf with us," Jillian winked playfully.

"Gods by the next full moon I'll probably be howling at it," Morgan said rolling her eyes.

Jillian grabbed the pillow next to her chucking it at Morgan. "We do not howl at the moon".

We all cracked up and laughed when Morgan picked up the pillow and threw it back at Jillian hitting her with a thud.

"I'm just excited for things to get back to normal around here," Devin said. She leaned back further into the couch getting comfortable.

"What is normal anyways?" I asked.

"We train. Oversee the pack. As luna you'll help with the more political/business side of things. It is usually much more civil, with the occasional rogue or witch thrown in the mix. No offense Morgan," Devin winked.

Morgan gave a small scowl but she couldn't hide the corner of her mouth as it tugged upwards.

"Wait Jillian what does this mean for you?" I asked. "Are you going to Blood Bane?"

"I haven't fully decided yet. Braxton's the beta so it makes sense to go there. But I'm the head tracker here and I have worked damn hard to earn this spot. I'm not going to throw it all away over some boy. Whether he's my mate or not," Jillian said.

"Preach it," Morgan said. Devin chuckled.

"I think we'll try to balance being between both. I travel so much anyways as a tracker. I think I could split my time," Jilian pondered.

"Good. Because I'm selfish and I would thoroughly miss having you around to put West into place," I said with a genuine smile.

We sat talking for hours. We planned part of the ceremony. Devin promised it would be much less formal than what I had experienced at Fenris Moon Pack. In Atlas Pack the ceremony was much more small and intimate, with a large party under the stars with the rest of the pack. The ceremony itself would only have our immediate family and friends. I was grateful for this. Jillian and Morgan would be dragging me to the stores this week to pick out the perfect dress. I had never been one to get super excited over shopping but I was looking forward to finding something special for Tate.

Morgan at some point had fallen asleep in the chair. She looked a lot less threatening when she was sleeping. Devin, Jillian, and I had let a comfortable quiet form around us as we waited for the boys to return. The way Devin was checking the clock told me she had expected them back already.

Tate, West, and Scott came through the doors. Their expressions were pale. Their eyes had a ghostliness to them. Like they could still see whatever was tormenting them all. Morgan woke up at them coming in.

Scott practically ran to Devin as he scooped her up wrapping his arms around her. Breathing her in. Devin held on tight to Scott. I jumped up and made my way to Tate. His arms wrapped around my waist and I brought my hands to his face. Having his eyes meet mine.

"What happened? Are you ok?" I asked.

"We're ok. We are all ok. But Nolan..." Tate said. Before West caught him off.

"Nolan's dead," West said flatly. His eyes were focused on the floor.

"What!? How?" I asked.

"Jade was there. She was waiting for us. Hadley, Jade snapped his neck so fast. Like it was nothing. He didn't have a chance," Tate rambled pulling me in tighter.

"Where is she now?" Morgan asked standing up on the defense.

"She's taking his place... as alpha," West said.

"That's not possible," Devin said.

"She had another wolf with her. Cassia," Tate explained. My mouth dropped at the name. It had to be her. The same Cassia I had thought was my friend or at least ally.

"You know her?" Tate said reading my face.

"She. She was there. With me at the pack house. She helped me escape. She worked for Nolan. She was a rogue forced to be in his pack," I said trying to piece it all together. What was she doing with Jade?

"They're claiming the pack as their own. She practically threatened us. We just left. Who knows what she's doing now to those wolves. But I didn't know what to do. After Nolan.. I just," Tate said. I had never seen him look so defeated it broke my heart. He was usually so determined. Always had a plan.

"Why would she want to be an alpha?" West asked Morgan.

"I have one idea... but it's not good," Morgan said.