12/30/2017

The time for the celebration was near and Kristin headed over to the party with Allison.

"You look so pretty!" Allison squealed from the passenger's seat.

Kristin glanced down at her dress. She really did think it was beautiful. The top and bottom were separate, showing off a sliver of her tanned skin.

The top was elegant with white sparkles and lace while the bottom was a mauvey-pale pink. It came down to the floor and she had some pink flats to go with it.

Allison had done Kristin's hair in loose curls that flowed down her back and she had simple makeup on.

"Thanks, you look great too," Kristin replied, loving her dark red dress that reached mid thigh.

"You okay?" Allison asked when she saw her sigh.

"Just nervous," Kristin muttered.

"You'll do great, Kristin," Allison assured her, "Plus I'm sure Ryder won't be able to take his eyes off of you."

Hearing his name only made Kristin more nervous.

Everything was a blur for her as she arrived at the party.

Many people were introducing theirselves and she hardly had time to look around for Ryder.

After a while, Ethan rescued her and brought her over to the stage.

"Is Ryder here?" Kristin urgently asked, her nerves picking up when she didn't see him.

"Yes, he's on his way over."

"What am I supposed to say?" she whispered.

"The Alpha will do most of the talking. You can just—"

Either he stopped talking when he saw Ryder walking over, or Kristin just tuned him out.

She took in her mate's appearance for the first time in three days. He had the usual annoyed look on his face of course. His hair looked like it had once been combed nicely but was now the aftermath of him running his hands through it.

She knew he did that more when he was stressed so she figured that was why. She hated that it still looked so good, like it was styled that way on purpose.

And of course, this was one of the few times she had seen him in a suit, possibly the first and last time she thought.

She couldn't take her eyes off of him as he walked up to her and Ethan.

"Is everything ready?" he asked, looking at Ethan.

Kristin tried not to look too interested as he talked with Ethan but she did notice his dark blue eyes perfectly matched his suit.

"Yes," Ethan nodded, slowly moving his eyes to Kristin.

"Alright let's go," Kristin's stomach dropped when Ryder locked eyes with her and grabbed her hand in his.

She only nodded as she followed him up on stage, suddenly overwhelmed by his touch and the crowd all staring at them.

She really tried to pay attention but as she focused on the crowd, looking from face to smiling face, she accidentally blocked out everyone's voice. Even her parents who were now joining them on stage.

Everything was slow motion as she turned to see her mother smile at her, then at her father who was speaking to the packs, then at her brother who was nodding at their father's words.

"This treaty will officially unite Nightfall and Spirit Moon as allies," she tuned back in when she heard Ryder speak.

She was then pulled over to a table in the center of the stage where they were to sign the official document.

She quickly scribbled her name across the page, flashing back to when she had signed the arrangement deal and first met Ryder.

It was too much for her.

She sighed in relief as they all finally exited the stage, but was disappointed when she realized Ryder was no longer holding her hand.

"Looked good guys," their beta Jake grinned at her after she had walked down the stairs.

"Thanks," she vaguely heard herself say, hardly remembering who he was as her mind was still going crazy.

She searched for Ryder, panicking when she couldn't find him anywhere.

"Hello Luna! It's so nice to meet you!" A woman with a small child in her arms smiled at Kristin.

"Nice to meet you too," she automatically said, giving the woman a smile.

"My name's Lyla," she grinned down at the baby, "And this is Charlotte."

"She's so cute," Kristin smiled down at the baby, momentarily distracted from her jumbled thoughts.

"Thanks. I hope we'll be able to see you again soon. You can meet my mate, Brandon too!"

"I would love that," she suddenly felt a little better, seeing how happy Lyla was with her family.

After parting ways, Kristin made her way over to the opposite side of the area, hoping to find Ryder there.

She didn't know what she wanted to say to him yet, but she at least wanted to be near him. You couldn't blame her for wanting to be near him after going so long without seeing him at all.

"Kristin," she heard her brother's voice and soon found him in front of her.

"Marcus!" she gave him a hug, "Where have you been? I was at the house earlier."

"I was doing some training," he shrugged, smiling, "But look at you, all grown up and leading a pack."

"I'm older than you, I'm supposed to be the one saying that," she pointed out.

"Soon," Marcus nodded, "Only one more year after next month."

"That's crazy," Kristin shook her head, not believing her brother could be turning eighteen so soon. "You'll be a great Alpha though."

"Thanks," he mocked, slapping her hand away before she could ruffle his hair.

"Hey, have you seen Ryder?"

"I saw him over there about five minutes ago," he pointed behind him to one of the tables of people.

"Okay," Kristin tried squinting through the crowd to catch a glimpse of him, "I'll see you around?"

"I'll be here," Marcus smirked, letting her go squeeze through the crowd of wolves. It was actually pretty hard because once people realized the girl saying 'excuse me' behind them was their Luna, they'd all want to talk to her.

She wouldn't have minded it if she wasn't on a mission to get to her mate.

After politely carrying out small talk with her previous pack and being introduced to some new people from Nightfall, she made a bee line for the direction Marcus had pointed to earlier.

She sighed in relief when she spotted Ryder talking to three or four people next to the table.

She watched as Ryder locked eyes with her while the guy in front of him continued speaking.

Before she could respond to his stare, another group of people started introducing themselves to her.

While talking, she kept looking in his direction to make sure he wasn't going to disappear again. Once the group had started talking amongst themselves she politely excused herself and walked over to Ryder.

Now there was only the one guy left, still talking to him.

Kristin walked all the way up to Ryder's side, smiling at the guy and glancing up at him.

She felt Ryder tense and he looked down at her, meeting her gaze.

Looking into his eyes she saw anger, but hidden behind that was worry. She began to feel so many emotions running through her while looking into his eyes she hardly heard the guy in front of them excuse himself to give them space.

Even with no one interrupting them, she didn't know what to say.

People were still curiously watching their Alphas and she didn't want to say anything they would hear.

Ryder shut his eyes and sighed, "Come with me."

He grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd to the nearest building.

Warmth spread from her hand up her arm and through her entire body from his touch. She really missed his warmth.

Pulling her inside, he shut the door and brought her to the kitchen where the food had been prepared earlier. Now the room was completely empty. And silent.

"Okay," he let go of her hand and leaned his back on the counter.

He was staring hard at the ground, looking like he was trying to find what to say first even though she was the one who had walked up to him.

"Ryder," she spoke, her voice soft.

He clenched his jaw but stayed staring at the ground.

"I've missed you," she said quietly but he heard it, looking back up at her.

He remained silent and she tried thinking of what to say.

"I want you to know that I would never... just thinking about another guy," Kristin shook her head, "I've never even thought about anyone else. I can't."

"I shouldn't have said that," he finally spoke, taking a step forward, "It just pissed me off that you were spending time with them because we were fighting."

"It wasn't because we were fighting. I was trying to be a better Luna."

"I know. Ethan told me everything you've been doing," he nodded, looking slightly less angry.

"I wish I could do more. I wish I could help you with the rogues."

"They're not just rogues," he shook his head, "These rogues are supporters of my father and what he did. They're dangerous."

"I understand that, but I should be able to do more as the Luna. You shouldn't have to deal with this on your own," her voice was still low, she couldn't bring herself to speak any louder, especially when Ryder stayed silent again.

"I want to help, she took a step closer to him.

Ryder sighed, "You said I was overprotecting you, and you were right. I never thought I'd be like that with anyone..."

His voice trailed off and he took a step closer to her so he was right in front of her.

"But then I met you and... I just don't want to lose you," the sound in his voice made her heart ache.

"You won't lose me," she said firmly.

She saw him glance down to her lips.

"Tell me you'll let me help you, even if it's dangerous."

Ryder's eyes met hers again, and she knew he was struggling to agree with her.

"Please," she whispered, "I want to help you and I know you'll keep me safe when I'm with you. I trust you."

"You trust me?" he asked her intently.

"I trust you Ryder."

He looked away shaking his head, "It's about time."

Kristin tried to hide her smile as she watched him smirk at her.

Feeling her pain disappear, she fought the urge to close the distance between them.

"So?"

"Hmm?" he murmured, looking distracted as he grabbed her waist, his thumbs tracing circles over her exposed skin.

His touch almost made her forget what she was going to say.

"So promise me you will let me help you," she breathed.

Ryder looked at her for a long time before finally speaking.

"If that's what you want," he replied and she nodded.

"Okay."

"Really?" she sounded surprised.

"Were you expecting me to say no?"

"I wasn't going to let you leave before saying yes. I just thought it would take longer than that," she said confused.

Ryder leaned down closer to her, "Well what if I don't want to leave now?"

He was so close to her, his eyes slowly trailing down to her lips again.

"Ryder," her voice was full of emotion as she uttered his name.

He leaned down as she reached up and their lips finally met, both of them relaxing at the connection.

It was a heated kiss, they both had been holding so much back that now they were finally letting it all out.

Kristin felt his tongue explore inside her mouth, eagerly moving her lips against his.

She felt herself being lifted and realized Ryder was sitting her on the counter and moving in between her legs, all without breaking the kiss.

Her hands were tangled in his hair and he brought his up to cup her face.

"Alpha?" Kristin faintly heard a voice somewhere outside of the room but couldn't bring herself to pull away from Ryder.

Thankfully, Ryder was the one who pulled away right before Ethan walked into the kitchen.

Seeing Kristin sitting on the counter, with Ryder so close made Ethan's face redden.

"Luna, your parents are asking about you and the Alpha."

"Oh, okay," Kristin replied, her voice sounding breathless as Ryder continued staring at her, not even bothering to glance at Ethan.

Kristin pushed on Ryder's chest to get him to back up so she could hop off the counter.

Surprisingly Ryder stayed silent, but had a small smirk on his face as he pulled Kristin out of the room.

When they passed Ethan, Kristin gave him a smile, noticing behind his pink face was a relieved expression.

Yes, he had walked in on his Alphas in the middle of making up from their fight but he was just glad they weren't fighting anymore.

The party continued for another hour or so, this time Kristin stayed by Ryder's side, and it was much easier to visit with Nightfall and Spirit Moon's wolves.

At around eleven at night, the party had died down quite a bit, some of the wolves starting to head back to Nightfall while others helped clean up the aftermath of the celebration.

Kristin was so relieved it was over, but mostly that she was with Ryder again.

She hadn't realized how much she had missed him until they were together again.

"Let's go over here," Ryder said, pulling Kristin over to the other end of the party.

"Why?" Kristin looked around, "My parents are probably looking for us again."

"I want to show you something," he replied, a teasing smile on his face.

She shook her head, not being able to turn him down.

Once they walked back into the building they had been in before, Kristin raised her eyebrow.

"What exactly are you showing me?"

"It's up here," he started dragging her up the stairs.

"Are we allowed up here?" she whispered, finding all of the lights off.

"No one's up here," was his reply, which didn't answer her question at all.

"Ryder," she pulled on his hand, "What are you doing?"

He started opening the doors down the hallway, until he brought her in one.

She was about to turn on the light switch, but Ryder stopped her, shutting the door behind them and bringing her over to the window.

The room was very small with a table and chairs in the middle. The window on the far side was big however, and she realized it looked directly down at the party.

Although it was dark outside, the twinkling lights lit up the area, making it look beautiful.

The white lights strung around the trees surrounding the area created a light glow on the remaining people below.

"It's pretty," Kristin answered, looking up at Ryder, "How did you know this was here?"

"I didn't," he replied smirking.

Kristin raised an eyebrow at him, faintly seeing his smirk in the darkness.

"I thought we could make up for some lost time," he shrugged, pulling her closer to him.

"What are you talking—"

She was interrupted by Ryder moving his lips against hers once again.

She pulled away, wrapping her arms around his neck giving him a teasing smile.

"What?" he asked, leaning in to brush his lips against hers.

Kristin smiled against him, feeling truly happy for the first time in a long time.

"God I've missed you so much," Ryder mumbled against her lips, lifting her to sit on the table again.

She realized he did this so they were almost the same height so he wouldn't have to bend down to reach her.

After they were both out of breath from kissing, Ryder lowered his mouth to her neck, making her shut her eyes in pleasure.

She was about to warn him about marking her but in that moment realized she wouldn't mind if he did.

The only sound was their heavy breathing in the darkness as she felt Ryder move his hands to he top of her thighs. She could feel his touch through the material of her dress, making her warm all over.

Ryder was sucking on her neck before he let out a growl.

"What is it?" she asked, knowing something was up.

Ryder pulled away for a moment and stared off in the distance, most likely mind linking.

He suddenly let out a string of curse words, tensing up.

"Ryder, what is it?" she asked again, grabbing his hand that was now in a fist.

"We have to go," he quickly pulled her out of the room and down the stairs.

"They won't f*cking give us a break!" he growled loudly, almost making Kristin trip with how fast he was walking.

"Tell me what happened," she demanded, running to keep up with him outside. It was really dark now, the lights having been taken down. The cool night air sent shivers down her body, a bad feeling in her stomach.

"Rogues are attacking Nightfall," was all Ryder said as he brought her to an SUV, making her get inside.

Ethan ran up behind them, "Alpha, Jake is going there now," he seemed almost out of breath, "He took thirty wolves with him."

"Okay, I'm going there now. Stay here and ride back with Kristin," Ryder ordered.

"No—"

Before Kristin could argue

Ryder cut her off, "I'm running there with my wolf, it's the fastest way. I have to go now before it gets worse."

Kristin was frustrated she didn't have a wolf to go with him, but judging by his worry and him saying 'before it gets worse' she knew she had to let him go. The sooner he got back, the better.

"Go," Kristin nodded.

Ryder leaned in and connected their lips before running into the darkness.

"What exactly is happening?" she nervously asked Ethan.

"The rogues have broken into the pack territory. There were more than we've ever encountered and they were able to get through the outer guards."

"Do you know if everyone is okay?" she asked frantically.

"Almost everyone was here when they started attacking. We've ordered the wolves heading back to all meet up and stand by for now. The only wolves who are going back now are the fighters and trackers."

"What do they want?" Kristin tried thinking. There was no one at the pack when they attacked besides the guards at the borders.

"We're not sure, but we need to make sure the territory is safe before letting everyone return home."

"Okay, lets go," Kristin hurried him into the vehicle.

"Please drive fast," she leaned forward to tell the person driving.

He nodded and they began speeding back to Nightfall, Kristin worried for the pack but also for Ryder who was going straight into the war zone.

•. •. •. •. •.

Chapter Fifty Nine.

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