Her heart was made

of liquid sunsets

***

I smooth out my dress.

My hands are shaking.

I don't like it.

Shaking hands cause the painting to come out bad.

Sometimes it works to your advantage and you create something you didn't mean to, but most of the time, it leads to wasted canvas and paint.

I don't like it.

I fold them in my lap, trying desperately to take deep breaths.

And then I smell him.

I can't quite put my finger upon what he smells like.

A mixture of pine wood and honey.

Beautiful.

Intoxicating.

Without even realizing it, my body naturally leans towards the door, a small humming forming in my chest.

The sound is picked up on by the Alpha and Luna. They both straighten up in their chairs, nodding to each other right as the door swings open.

And there he stands.

A girl is behind him.

She is equally as beautiful as the dark storm that stands before me.

A small pain invades my chest as I take in her light brown hair that is pulled back. Her muscled arms and toned legs. She is a warrior. It is obvious for all to tell- from the scars she wears proudly upon her skin, to the gleam within her eyes.

She is a warrior.

She is what I should have been.

What I chose to ignore.

And now it was coming back to bite me as the mirror reflected back. Reflected back to show my own self.

And the paint splattered hands I was so ashamed of.

He walks in, sitting across from us as the woman sits next to him on his right.

"My beta, Lilah."

She nods her head.

I feel the surprise coming in waves off of the Alpha and Luna as they take in the female beta.

It's not often that a female is allowed to become a high rank warrior.

Much less, the second power in command.

His eyes meet mine then, but he quickly looks away as he leans forward, directing his attention to Alpha Brandon.

"I think this is simple enough. I will take my mate back with me. And that is it."

Alpha Brandon leans forward also, "Though Lexie is your mate, I would also like to make you aware of the situation with her father."

Atlas nods.

"I am aware that he is ill. I'm also aware that he will recover."

Alpha Brandon glances at the Luna before nodding to Atlas, "Then you have my permission."

"Should we not ask Lexie what she wants?

It's the Beta who speaks.

Lilah.

Atlas turns and directs the full power of his glare at her, but she shakes it off and instead smiles at me.

"You will be my future Luna after all. I would like to see you have some backbone."

I look to Mark. He is eyeing Lilah, sizing her up, and wondering if he can take her.

"I...I will go."

I smile then. Smile that smile that I am use to.

Atlas gasps.

The room directs their attention to him as he stares at me.

I look at Mark in confusion and see that Lilah is smiling at Atlas.

He shakes his head slowly, as if to cast himself out of a daze before standing.

"Lilah will help you pack your things. And then we will leave."

And with that he departs from the room.

The Luna turns to me, small panic in her eyes as she grabs my shoulders.

"Listen to me Lexie."

I pause and look into her soft brown eyes, taking note of the desperate tone within her voice.

"You have to be strong when you get there. Being Luna...I wish I could have known ahead of time, so I could train you, but I can't. But you need to adapt. Survive. And rely on any allies you can get. But trust only yourself. You are going into a foreign pack, who have different rules and a different lifestyle from us- you need to be strong."

I hear a growl and look up to see Lilah baring her teeth at the Luna. The Alpha returns the threat directed at his mate.

"Kindly stop spewing crap to my Luna," she spits out, "She has an ally in me and she can trust me. I am loyal to her. I will protect her because she is a part of the Alba Rosa pack now."

Lilah stands and walks to the door, looking at me and waiting.

I stand on shaky legs and look at Mark.

"Is this goodbye?"

I don't want it to be.

I don't want to say goodbye to Mark.

He stands and hugs me, crushing me to him.

"No Lex. You're just moving somewhere else, but i'll still be there for you. I'll visit. And we'll call each other. Just...keep it together for me....okay?"

I look down at his shoes. He's had the pair for years. He needs new ones.

He puts a finger under my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes.

"Lex, promise me you'll call. Or so help me I will go over there and drag you out by my teeth."

I laugh at that.

"I promise."

The final hug.

I don't want to think of it like that.

But I wonder if it is true.

If this hug is the last hug i'll ever experience with Mark.

If this is the last time I'll ever smell his scent, and feel his hand smooth over my hair.

Mark turns to Lilah then, "She paints."

Lilah pauses in opening the door. She glances at my hands as if noticing for the first time the color that is splattered upon it.

Mark takes a step closer, but the Alpha cuts him off with his arm, "Excuse him," the Alpha mumbles, before glaring at Mark. Mark continues though, blurting out, "She paints, and she needs to paint and she needs to bring her paint with her so please, please don't make her leave it behind."

The Luna this time grabs my hand and pulls me out the door, shutting it behind us as I still hear Mark inside- fighting for me until the end.

The Luna turns to Lilah and laughs, "It's just a hobby- nothing really serious. She's started her training as a warrior and has already given up painting in pursuit of it."

Lies.

The Luna is a good liar.

Which is why I'm surprised when Lilah laughs and grabs my arm, hissing to the Luna, "If you ever lie to me again, I will not hesitate to rip your throat out."

The Luna growls back, her eyes flashing at the threat, but Lilah ignores it as she leads me down the hall.

The next sentence she says leaves me gasping. Leaves my head spinning as words I've never heard before escape her mouth as she shouts down the hall, letting the Luna hear.

"If she wants to paint, she'll fucking paint."