Julie POV

I took a deep breath, and his scent was strong. I opened my eyes, and I was back in our room. He was sitting on the sofa watching me like last time. This time he looked casual and relaxed. Max wore dark jeans and a light blue button-down shirt with folded sleeves. His dark hair was impeccable, like always.

The curtains were open and bright outside, but it was not very late in the day. I sat down quickly and said. "I am sorry if I am late, Alpha." Max got up from the sofa and looked at me. "That is all right. You needed to rest. Why don't you change and meet me at my office?"

The last time I was at his office did not end well. Will he reject me now? I nodded quickly, and he left the room. "Good Morning, A. My mate wants to talk. Please help me. He will reject me, I am sure of it." With a sleepy voice, she said. "Oh, Jules, don't be silly, sweetie. Now put on something nice and meet him. I am tired and need my beauty sleep."

I cannot believe she will not help me. Ok, something nice, she said. After having my shower, I checked the dressing room and wore a lovely polka dot light pink dress that stopped on my knees and white sandals. My hair was pulling down on my left shoulder, and I took slow steps to his office like I had been sentenced to the guillotine.

Everybody was smiling at me and seemed pleased to see me this morning. I was not feeling well about going to see him. Aphrodite did not see it as her priority this time to help me. I knocked on the door and entered.

From the three-seater sofa by the window, Max said softly. "Please come in, Julie, have a seat." There was a notepad and a pen on the glass coffee table. I did not sit too close to him as I did not want Max to be upset like last time. "You wanted to talk to me, Alpha." He smiled. That was the first time I had seen him smile.

"You don't have to call me Alpha, Julie. You can call me Max." I nodded, and he got the notepad and pen. "What is your favourite colour, Julie?" What? Does he need to know my favourite colour to reject me? "Please, A. Can you help me feel better to get through it?" The silence was all I got from her. I looked at him and said. "It is pink." He scribbled it down and asked another question. "Your favourite season?" I did not want to answer questions. I wanted him to tell me if he was sending me back to uncle Michael. "Autumn."

He looked at me and frowned. Max put the notepad down and ran a hand through his hair. "Julie. I can feel you are uncomfortable here. Am I making you?" Of course, he could sense my feelings. How can I be so stupid? He looked at me with his beautiful green eyes. "I want you to know I am incredibly sorry for what happened to you here. What I put you through while you were under my protection. I didn't protect you as I should have. Can you feel I am sincere? Can you not?"

I shook my head. "No." He looked confused. "I mean, I can't feel anything. You are a high-rank wolf, and Alpha Michael diminished me to an Omega. Can I leave now, please? I am not feeling well." I tried to stand, and he grabbed my hand, moving me back to the sofa. I gasped, feeling the sparks again. It was overwhelming.

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Max POV

"What is happening here, Ares? Her emotions are all over the place. Why can't she feel us?"

"I am not sure, Buddy. Try to comfort her." Lately, Ares was not helping at all. I held her other hand and entwined our fingers together. And I could feel fear coming in waves. Was she afraid I would hurt her? "I will never hurt you, Julie. You don't need to be scared." Julie closed her eyes, tears ran down her face, and I was too confused. Did Aphrodite control her emotions before? If yes, why is she not helping her now? I felt the need to make it go away and was unsure if it was my feelings or Ares'.

I pulled her to me and hugged her tight, giving her warmth. I made small circles on her back, comforting Julie and holding her exposed arm firmly. She cried like a pup in my arms, and the dagger went deep into my soul with each whimper.

"I am so sorry, Julie, for what you are feeling. I really am. I want to make things right and promise to do it." I closed my eyes and concentrated on the mate bond, stretching it more, accepting it. And I could feel all her emotions and thoughts like they were mine. She was scared I did not want her, that I had called her there to reject and send her back to Michael. She was afraid of Michael. I stopped searching inside her. I did not want to pry about what happened at the Woodland Pack. She needed to tell me when she was ready.

"I promise you will not feel like that anymore, Julie. I will do everything to fix what I did." We stayed like that for a while, and she stopped crying. I got up and grabbed a glass of water. She accepted it but did not look at me. In a low voice, she said. "I am sorry. I don't know what happened."

I sat again beside her. "That is quite all right. Don't worry about it. I know what happened and will ensure it won't happen again."

I looked at the notepad. "Those questions were for your Luna Ceremony. Here we do the important ceremonies at the crescent moon, and the pack is putting everything together for you." She looked at me, confused, and I knew she was not getting why now she was becoming my Luna.

"Look, Julie. I don't know why you can't feel my emotions. But I am being sincere here. I didn't want to see what was in front of me and the perfect gift the Moon Goddess gave me on my birth. I know only words will not fix what I did, and I am willing to do anything for your forgiveness. But we can't start our journey if you aren't officially my Luna."

Her thoughts were still loud in my mind. It felt like she was screaming in the room. "You are accepting me as the Luna of the Blue Moon pack. Is that what you are saying?"

I stared down at her. She had every right to be confused and scared. But there is no other way the moon was crescent and would soon be a full moon. "We were always supposed to be together, Julie. But because of my prejudice, I didn't want to accept it. You are the only one for my pack. It wasn't supposed to be another she-wolf."

I held her hands, letting her feel how intense the sparks were. My hands were much warmer than hers, and I hoped she could feel I was trying to let the mate bond dominate my feelings. "I am not only welcoming you as a Luna of the Blue Moon Pack. I am accepting you as my mate. I am truly sorry I have not done that sooner as Ares did."

Julie was looking down at our hands together, and fresh tears dropped on my hands. I was unsure why Aphrodite was not helping her and what she was feeling overwhelmed me. I pulled her onto my lap and cradled her like a little pup. "Shhhhhh. Everything will be all right. You are safe here. I will never let you go back to the Woodland Pack." I rocked her for a while till she fell asleep.

Julie felt drained. I did not mean to make her feel that way. I wanted to deliver my message, get on with the preparations for the ceremony, and try to put my feelings where they belonged. I moved her onto the sofa and covered her with a blanket. I glanced at Julie's face and gave myself a pep talk. Julie White is not weak and belongs to the Blue Moon Pack. Always remember it, Max.

Her intoxicating scent put all my worries at ease, and I moved to my desk, opening the ancient book. I wanted to read it further to understand everything. But I knew before I read anything that I needed to talk to my mother. I was not sure what Aphrodite meant last night that I had to accept Julie fast, but I had let my prejudice lead me to a place that could erase my pack from history, and I could no longer let my bad judgment lead me to failure.

Grabbing the ancient book, I mindlinked Conor to guard the door. He was pretty excited about the Luna's tournament, Conor and Julie had a bond, and he wanted to be her official guard. He would indeed fight as he had never before to win the title.

I did not see my father's car when I got to my parent's cabin. I was alone, and the man would not be here to help. Not that he would be a big help, he was pretty upset with me. If I was going to accept Julie into my life, I knew my mother would be the best person to clarify my worries.

Ares was quiet, just enjoying the view from the lake. "Ares, I can see I am pretty alone in it as you will not help me out here." The bag of black fur snorted at me. "I told you, you would have to deal with your mother yourself, kid. Now go on because I can't wait to have our little one back in our arms. She is soft, Max."

I got inside the house, and my mum sat on the sofa watching the peaceful lake. I knew she sensed my presence but did not move from her position. "Hi, mum. You said I could come back and am here to talk." I put the book on the coffee table, and she looked at it.

"I know you are angry at me, but why have you not said anything before? I could not have another mate, mum. You were hiding this book from me." She looked at me, and I could feel her anger. "I always encouraged you to look for your true mate, Max. Since you got Ares, that was all I wanted for you."

I took a deep breath. Pointing fingers would not get me anywhere, and I needed answers. "I know, mum. I am not saying it is your fault. Considering Tania was my decision. She was the best choice for my pack. She was trained and my equal. Julie was an Omega when I found her, and I thought she would not be suitable to lead this pack with me." I sat before her and opened the book on Aphrodite's page. "I was wrong, and I know it. But please explain things to me. Julie is not well, and I want to help her."

My mum walked to the kitchen and brought back two cups of tea. I guess she sensed how lost I was and was waving the white flag, not as I deserved it in her eyes. "When I was carrying you. Your father was called by Ferdinand, the peacemaker and could not refuse. The wolf council needed enforcers against a dispute between two packs. Things were ugly, and they needed the Blue Moon's help."

"It was weeks before you were due, and your father's only choice was to bring me with him as he did not know how long he would be there, and the detachment could make me feel unwell. Your father had an idea and called Julie's father. We did not know the Alpha very well but knew that the Woodland was a peaceful pack and not too far from the war, I would be safe there, and they were kind enough to let me stay. It was easy for your father to come and go visit me."

"The war broke, and we were there for weeks, leaving me to delivery you at the Woodland." I looked at her, surprised we never talked about my birth, but I assumed I was born at our pack house or the hospital. "You meant to say I was born in the same place as Julie?" My mum just nodded and kept going with her story.

"Your birth was complicated. It was stormy out, and with the war, your father could not reach me when my wolf called for him. Julie's grandmother and the doctors helped me, I was exhausted when you came to life, and I passed out. When I woke up in the middle of the night, a beautiful lady with purple eyes was looking at you in your crib."

"She smiled at me, and I thought she was someone from the pack helping me. As if it was today, I remember she said in a melodic voice, "The young Alpha is destined to do great things for our world. I pared him with someone special." You cried, and she sang a lullaby that made you and I asleep. When I woke again, it was already day, and your father was smiling near your crib. I thought everything was a dream, but." She put a hand over the book.

"The lady left the book on my bedside table." My mum turned the book's first page, and there it was, the beautiful, purple-eyed lady. It was Selene, the Moon Goddess. "As I knew I was not dreaming, I looked everywhere in the Woodland for the purple eyes but never found it."

"You think Selene has visited me on my birth?" I was shocked. We had heard stories before that Selene had appeared on Earth. But that seemed too surreal. "Yes, Max. Because of the book left to me, I know it was not a dream. And because of what she said, I always encourage you to find the she-wolf she said she had pared you to."

"I prayed for her every night to appear even in my dreams and help me understand everything. But she not even for once manifested again. You were already destined, and she did her work. It was you that had to find your gift."

I knew what happened was not a coincidence I was born in the same place as Julie, and our destinies were entangled, as the book stated.

I felt someone crossing the border, and a panicked Terry came on the mindlink. "The wolf council is here, Max." I was on my feet, ready to leave in two seconds. My mum looked at me. "What is it?"

"The wolf council in here. I need to go, mum." I ran to the door, ripping my clothes and leaving my car and the book behind. I would be faster in wolf form.

What do you think is the reason for the wolf council's arrival? If you enjoy the story and have yet to give it a like, please do it. 😉😉