"Can you tell me what happened to you two?" Colleen asked Nick and I. I explained my side of the story to her first and then Nick.

"Well when I woke up, I found myself wrapped in silver chains and they had chained me to the wall. I was pumped with wolfsbane so I was so numb with pain that I nearly couldn't feel it anymore. Then Stephan came and tried to get me to spill about who else was helping us but he got angry when I wouldn't tell him anything. So then he started beating me up and said that's what I deserved for betraying the Luna. I was pretty much floating in and out of conscious the entire time really. I guess my Protector training really paid off." he joked in attempt to lighten the mood.

Colleen seemed to be deep in thought now.

I must have had a concerned expression on my face when Nick looked at me.

'Don't be sad doll face. I'm ok now. Back to my usual handsomeness.' he winked as he mind linked me.

Any concern now leaving me and I replaced my face with annoyance.

And you're usual cocky self. I said to myself but I couldn't help but feel giddy inside.

"How you holding up now Nick? You look like you've nearly completely healed which is good." Rick asked Nick, making sure he was ok.

Nick stretched his arms as if warming up for a workout. "Oh yeah, I'm defenetly feeling much better. The Wolfsbane's out of my system and I believe that Colleen's spelled tea's are to thank for that. What is it with you and your tea's Colleen?" he said skeptically.

She poked a finger at him narrowing her eyes on him. "If I must tell you, my tea's are most secret secrecy a witch may never reveal. Just be thankful for its healing powers." She then went back to sipping her own mysterious tea which I had no idea where she had gotten it from. Nick held up his hands in defeat, not bothering to find out anymore.

"Even if I were to reveal I don't believe you would want to know what is in it." She admitted, her eyes two slits as she looked at him sideways. I stifled a laugh at the sight at them.

I walked towards the large window which gave me a view of the pack house's front garden. I could make out members from both packs making their way to the grand balcony, revealing the soon to commence coronation and mating ceremony.

"It's about to start, we should start leaving." I said as I slid my black cloak on which Colleen had brought me.

"Yes I agree." Rick said as Colleen nodded in agreement.

Rick looked at his watch. "It's nearly 2:00pm. It will be staring in about 10 minutes. I have a couple pack members who have agreed to help up out. We can trust them."

"That's alright, I believe you Rick. If you trust them, I trust them." He smiled in appreciation.

Together we made our way down to the ceremony.

~~~~~~~~

The cool autumn breeze blew against my face, as we weaved our way through the already forming crowed. I had my hood over my head as I followed behind Rick, with Nick and Colleen tailing behind me. Colleen was wearing her cloak which disguised her scent so other wolves wouldn't smell her out.

I could hear the excited murmurs of the people around me. I could also feel the pack's mixed emotions though the pack bond. We were like strings all connected to one another. I searched for Jades link through my mind. With Colleen's help I was able to block out Martha's darkness. Martha has yet to be in sight.

Jade..Jade..Jade... I repeated in my mind, more for the sake of finding her bond rather than mind linking her.

There she was, I could feel her, she was feeling nervous and tense but also determined.

"There she is." Rick called out to us as he found Jade standing next to two men from our pack. I recognized them as some of the Warriors Rick would hang out with.

These must be the people Rick had mentioned would help us .

As Jade's eyes landed on us, her face was replaced with a large ear to ear smile. She looked relieved and glad to see us and I could tell she was fighting the urge to run up to me and tackle me with a hug, just as I was. But we couldn't risk catching people's attention.

"You're here! Oh Lara I was so worried about you. When we broke off and I couldn't mind link you I was so scared." She whispered in my ear as she as she gave me a hug and I felt her body relax a bit.

I hugged her tightly inhaling that familiar strawberry scent. "I was worried about you too. It's OK Nick and I are fine now. Kian helped us escape."

"Kian?!" She said pulling away as she looked at me surprised. I could tell she was trying to read my face. Her hands now on my shoulders as she studied me.

"Yeah that was my same reaction when I saw him."

"But how- what-why...Kian?"

"He agreed to help me if I promised I would explain everything to him?"

"Everything as in he still doesn't know about the whole.." she looked around to make sure no one was listening. Rick, Colleen and Nick where talking to the other two pack warriors. "..plan?"

"No he doesn't know yet, but he is suspicious of me and he knows something is up."

Jade seemed to be thinking this over. "He also made me promise to not interrupt the ceremony."

Her eyes widened. "Wait but you're still gonna go through with this right?"

"Yes I have to."

We where interrupted as a group of little kids who seemed to be from the other pack, playing around, ran past us and nearly bumped into us. My eyes followed them as one of them ran into one of the higher ranking pack members from the other pack.

The boy rebounded backwards, landing on his butt as he shook his head. The older looking man turned around annoyed looking for the culprit and then looked down at the boy- who's friends had now disappeared-, in a menacingly way. This caused the little boy to scramble backwards into my leg. The man growled lowly in response.

"I'm sorry" the boy squeaked.

"Watch where you're going you little-" the man started as he took a couple steps towards him.

No one seemed to have taken notice of what was happening in the busy crowd,

"Lara wait-" Jade warned hushly, already guessing what I was going to do, but without thinking I quickly jumped in.

"Hey! That is no way to treat a little one. I suggest you quit being rude, he already apologized." I stood in front of the little boy protectively.

The man narrowed his eyes at me as he looked me over. He gave me a dirty look as he grunted. I noticed how a couple of people had now turned around to look at him. I made sure to keep my face shadowed as I had my hood over my head, luckily all the attention was on him now. I guess the man didn't want to cause a scene so he gave me one more look and dismissively turned around, disappearing further into the crowd.

I turned around to face the little boy who looked relieved now and squatted in front of him so we were eye level as he stood up .

"Lara what are-" Nick came up behind me oblivious to what had just happen. I held my index finger up at him.

"It's OK just give me a sec." I looked into the boy's big eyes, who looked at Nick and then me, I noticed a small flicker of confusion crossed his face. "Are you alright?" I smiled politely at him.

"Yes I am, thank you."

I gently brushed the dirt off his clothes, making sure he was OK.

"Well that's good to hear. Now you go run along and find your friends." He nodded eagerly. "And don't go running into more trouble!" I joked as he started walking away. He turned around and gave me a big cheek to cheek smile. "I won't" and with that he too disappeared into the crowd.

"I see your protective True Luna instincts are already kicking in." Colleen said pleased, I looked at her a bit confused, and she continued, closing her eyes and held a finger up, reciting something. "A True Luna will protect all wolves. No matter the pack they belong to." She recalled what seemed was a fact about True Luna's.

"I couldn't just let him be treated like that, even if he's from the other pack." I shrugged and Colleen just smiled and laughed to herself.

"Look at you saving kids from big bad wolves." Jade joked, causing me to chuckle.

"Lara, there you are." Rick said appearing out of no where. "I want you to meet John and Alec." He said as he waved at the two men. They both smiled and waved as I said hi to them.

"They are good guys, I've pretty much trained with them my whole life so I trust them with my life. They know about you and our plan. They agreed to help us out in anyway means."

Alec stepped forward as he put an arm over his chest and gave me a small polite bow. He seemed to be a bit younger than Rick, probably around 35. He had dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He also had this soft and friendly demeanor that surrounded him.

"It's an honor to finally meet the True Luna, my loyalty belongs to you." he said very hushly so others around us wouldn't over hear. It was the first time someone had addressed me so formally, it felt strange but also nice.

I gave him a warm smile in appreciation. "Oh there is no need to be so formal, please call me Lara, and I appreciate your kindness. Thank you for agreeing to help us."

"Oh boy. Careful there Alec you're going to overwhelm the poor girl." said John jokingly from behind Alec patting him on his shoulder.

"It's nice to meet you Lara. Let me tell you it was a surprise to hear from our pal, Rick over here about the whole situation. It came to a shock to us that Mark's daughter was.. " he looked around to make sure no one was listening before continuing. "...well, you know who. But the spirits couldn't have chosen a better person. As John already said we are here for you. Mark was a good person, Helen too and I'm sorry for what happen. I wish I had known sooner. "

"Thank you John." I said as I smiled sadly. It felt nice hearing others say nice things about my parents, I knew that many people loved them.

John had short, wavy, chocolate brown hair that was a bit messy but it made his appearance look more rough, compared to Alec's soft demeanor, but I wasn't sure if it was because he was slightly older than Alec. He also had blue eyes which almost seemed light Gray and a stubble which covered the lower half of his face.

"If anything happens today, we just want to let you know we are on your side Lara, all of us." said Alec. I looked at the others and they all nodded in agreement. I felt relived that at least I had them on my side. I wasn't sure how everyone else in my pack would take this. Even though I knew I had the right to challenge Eleanor, a small part of me was afraid my pack members wouldn't accept me as their Luna.

"We are in this together now." Nick said stepping forward.

I still hadn't has the chance to talk to Nick about the kiss and what this would mean for us. It was obvious we both still had deep feelings for each other which had resurface with the kiss. But where did that put us. Where we still friends? Friends with benefits? No, definitely not. I was not that kind of person. But another part of me me thought. Was I ready to to go back to dating Nick?

Just as I was about to speak, I was interrupted by the sound of the bell tower signalling the beginning of the ceremony. The whole crowd when eerily silent as we watch Luna Eleanor walk to the entrance of the pack hall and stand above the stairs. She was accompanied by Alpha Jessen. Behind them Kian and Sabrina followed. Sabrina wore white singlet top and leggings and her ash- blonde hair, was neatly curled, while Kian wore only black Levi jeans which hung low on his hips, exposing his well defined chest and abs. He stood there casually but he still looked powerful and dangerous. He looked like an Alpha.

I tried to read the expression he wore, to most his face was stone cold, but when I looked at him closer, it was between seriousness and tense, but I also caught a hint of sadness in his eyes.

His strange words were still floating around in my head. Are you the one I've been searching for? Did he think I was his mate, because if he did he was wrong. I couldn't be his mate. Colleen had said True Luna's don't have mates. This meant that his mate was still possibly out there.

As his eyes swept over the crowd and in my direction. I pulled my hood sideways to conceal my face and ducked slightly. I couldn't risk him seeing me. Not yet. I knew I was going to betray his trust by breaking his promise, but this had to be done.

"Welcome everybody to the coronation and mating ceremony of Kian and Sabrina." Luna Eleanor's voice boomed out, loud and clear with authority. "Today is an important day, as from today the Sliver Moon pack will unite with the DarkNight pack, with Kian and Sabrina as Alpha and Luna of the new pack." A low, worried murmur could be heard from the crowd, mostly from my pack. "I know my people are worried about breaking the tradition of our pack by having an Alpha as our leader, but let me tell you, there is no need to be afraid. We must not fear the mistake of our ancestors. Just because once long ago we had a male alpha and our pack fell does not mean it will happen again. Just because the bloodline of the first born female leader's is the one to inherit special ability's, does not mean we must always have a first born female leader as Luna." There was a spiteful emotion in her voice. I knew this was personal for her now. "Just because hundreds of years ago, the supposed spirits and moon goddess cursed our pack and said we could not have an Alpha lead does not mean we will never have an Alpha. Together we will watch as our pack grows in numbers and strength. This will allow our pack to defend our lands from the vampires and stop the attacks. With the help of the DarkNight pack we will once again rise and become one of the strongest pack's in the country. " I knew she was trying to give my pack hope. Trying to give some sort of reassurance, so that people would accept this. Even though they had no choice and they knew this.

I caught Sabrina smirk as she looked down at the crowd. She laced her right arm thought Kian's as she looked at him smiling, but he kept his gaze forward as if he hadn't of noticed. I caught her smile falter slightly but she quickly recomposed herself. This made me smile internally.

"Now, I will allow Paul to take over and proceed with the ceremony." Eleanor said as she waved at Paul. Paul was part of the Werewolf Council. He was known as the werewolf who mated wolves together, for humans that person was known as the officiant. He was going to officially mate Kian and Sabrina. Only an outsider of the pack could officially mate two wolves and Paul was a well known officiant in the werewolf community for binding couples together through ceremony, whether with wolves who were mates or wolves who had fallen in love but where not official mates.

I had to move now, I needed to get to the front.

'We have to act now.' I mind linked the others as I weaved my way forward through the crowd not waiting for their response.

I could sense Nick hesitating but he didn't say anything.

'We are right behind you kiddo'

'Martha is no were in sight.' Jade was right. I hadn't seen Martha yet.

I weaved my way through the crowd muttering an apology as I did. My short figure didn't really help this situation but I to get to the front.

"Today is the coronation and mating ceremony of Kian Lockwood and Sabrina Everson. We will start by first officially crowning Kian as new Alpha of the DarkNight Pack and Sabrina as the new Luna of the SliverMoon pack. Then, by the name of the spirits, we will unite the SilverMoon and DarkNight Pack as one!" He cheered. The crowd clapped and hooted. Paul turned to the side so Kian and Sabrina where both facing him.

"Kian we will begin with you." Paul announced.

Kian steped forward, towards Paul. Alpha Jessen came to stand beside him as well and together they preformed the Alpha ritual. Alpha Jessen pulled out a small knife from his pocket and made a deep cut to his left palm, letting blood seep though his wound. Kian followed his actions.

I found my self three rows from the front.

'Are you going to stop them?' Nick mind linked me, confused as to why I had stopped.

'Not yet. I'll wait for his Alpha ritual to finish.'

'Why?'

'If Kian becomes Alpha of his pack it will be easier to negotiate with his pack about other things later on. We still will need his help and I'm not sure if I trust Alpha Jessen completely yet.'

'But you trust Kian?' he said coldly.

I turned my head around to look at Nick who was a couple feet behind me.

'Don't you' It wasn't really a question, because I knew he did. After Kian helped us we both trusted him. I knew Kian would make a fair Alpha and he deserved this. If he couldn't be Alpha of both packs, at least he could be Alpha of his. Nick didn't argue as he looked away annoyed, silently agreeing. A muscle in his jaw twitched. I knew Nick didn't like Kian, and I sensed a hint of jealousy coming from him.

I turned back to watch the ceremony. 'Plus, it's the least we owe him after helping us escape.' Nick didn't say anything.

I watched as Kian and Jessen held hands, as if they were greeting each other, the same ones where they'd made the deep cut. Paul took a step back to let Kian and Alpha Jessen preform their ritual.

Jessen's loud voice boomed around the air, confidently and strong. "With the blood that flows through my body and the members of my pack, I, Jessen Lockwood, now pass down my title as Alpha of the DarkNight pack to my son Kian Lockwood." I watched in fascination as both eyes of the two males glowed brightly, their werewolves obviously close to the surface. Both males shared a deep blue eye color which seemed to run in the family.

"I, Kian Lockwood, accept your title as Alpha of the BlackNight pack."

The grip on both of their hands tightened and what seemed like dark black veins which started off at Jessen's neck, made its way down to his arm which was holding onto Kian's. I could hear the heavy breathing of both males, it almost seemed as if they where in pain. Jessen let out a low growl as he clench his jaw and tilted his head back and closed his eyes. I had never seen an Alpha ritual before but I had heard and learnt all about it in werewolf school. I found myself deeply fascinated and in a trance like, along with all the other spectators. Once the dark vein made it's way to Jessen's palm it disappeared from his body only to reappear, but this time on Kian's hand and it made its way up his arm. Jessen let out a sigh of relief and lent forward breathing heavily hand still gripping Kian's. But now it was Kian's turn to go through whatever pain Jessen had felt as the black veins made their way up his arm and the side of his neck. His eyes continued to glow brightly.