Wendy

"Get them out of here" I begged Dominic, gesturing to Tyson, Ralph, Shane, and Ted. Dominic simply nodded at the door and Ted walked out.

I looked at the others, who were hesitant to leave. It's not that I didn't want them to be with me. I just didn't want them to get in the way. If Asher was to claim the right to kill me, there is no doubt that one of the guys would step in. And Royals have the right to kill anyone who tries to help one with a Royal Mark. It's like how humans have fugitives. If someone helps a fugitive, they get prosecuted because it's illegal to assist someone else in committing a crime.

Asher stayed quiet, observing the rest of the men in the room. He locked eyes with me, but didn't give any of his emotions away. That's one trick I had learned from him. Hide your emotions, but don't turn them off.

Tyson walked towards me before pulling me into a hug. "I'll take care of them. If anything happens to you, I'll make sure they're all okay" he promised, I swallowed back my tears and nodded my head. He released his grip and walked out without looking back.

Ralph looked at me before taking a deep breath. "I love you, Monkey. No matter what happens or happened, I love you" he moved forward, wrapping his arms around me and pressing a kiss to my cheek. As quick as the hug came, it ended. Ralph walked around me and to out the door. I heard a sound erupt from his throat, causing me to turn around. Ralph swung his fist at the wall, creating a hole. Tears stained his face as he stomped down the hall.

Shane was the only one left. He didn't make a move to leave either. "Shane. You don't want to be here" Dominic advised. Shane ignored him as he looked at Asher. It was challenging- threatening even.

Dominic looked at me. "Get him out" I said, monotonously. He nodded his head, walking up to Shane. I knew Dominic was going to knock him out. There would be no way that Shane would get pushed out of this office and not try to get back in. I didn't want me telling Dominic to kick him out being the last words he would hear from me.

"Dominic" He froze. "I'm saying one thing before you knock him out. But after I get this out, don't hesitate, don't wait for him to respond. Just do it" I demanded. He nodded in agreement. I turned to face Shane before pulling him into a kiss. I knew he would try to convince me to stop, so I covered his mouth. "You're too good for me. If something happens, find your second chance. You deserve it" I said honestly.

I took a deep breath, before nodding at Dominic. He advanced towards Shane. "I love you" I blurted. I felt it as Shane opened his mouth to respond, but Dominic restrained him and put pressure on his neck. Shane fell limp in his arms. Dominic dragged him to the door and handed my mate off to some warriors. "Thank you" I told Dominic, wiping my tears. He nodded his head and stood to the side to let Asher deal with everything.

The King looked at me. "Sit" he commanded, motioning to the chair. I plopped down onto the seat as he stood on the other side of the desk. "May I?" Asher asked Dominic. He shrugged, allowing Asher to sit in his chair. "How have you been?" he asked casually.

"We both know that you're not here to catch up. Just do what you have to do"

He put his elbows on the desk and put his weight on his arms. "My daughter is missing" he stated. "For obvious reasons, I came to you first"

I sighed. "I'm sorry about your daughter. And I wish I knew where she was. But I didn't take her. And I don't know who took her" I informed him.

Asher nodded. "I'm aware that you had nothing to do with it. Dominic, Tyson, Ralph, and Shane had all vouched for you. I believe them and I believe you. But I still needed to see you. I need help" he admitted.

Help from me out of everyone? I haven't seen him in a year. He hasn't contacted me- no one from Blue Moon has. And now, he came here for my help. "How'd you even find me?" I questioned.

"You only have one family member alive. It was in your files. This was the first place I checked. Look. I don't have all the time in the world. Will you help me or not?" he asked.

I nodded my head. I wasn't helping for Asher. I used to lust over him. But now, I was looking straight into his eyes and I felt nothing. There was no lust. No hate. No romance. It was like speaking to a stranger. "What do you need me to do?" I inquired.

He let out a sigh of relief. "You were rogue for a year. I bet you came across a few groups" he guessed. I nodded my head. He pulled a picture out of his wallet. "This is my daughter" I grabbed the small picture. She was a beautiful baby. She had blue eyes. Her short strands of hair were the same color as her father's. "Have you seen her?"

I handed him back the photo and shook my head. "I have this" he fished another photo out of his wallet. This one was a teenager. He had similar hair to Asher, but I think Asher's was darker. The guy in the picture had hazel eyes. "He's the one that took Audrey. I don't know who he's working with. But he got kicked out of his pack. And he's a rogue" Asher told me.

"I'm sorry. I haven't seen him either" I stated. Asher frowned and stuck both photos back into his wallet. It was then that I realized how bad he looked. There were dark bags under his eyes. His whole body was slumped forward. He was exhausted. "Is there anything else I could do to help?" I asked.

Asher looked over my shoulder at Dominic. "There is one thing" he said slowly, testing the waters,

I heard Dominic take a few steps closer to us. "I am highly against that plan" he stated. They had a staredown, Dominic looking at Asher as if he was warning the King. I looked back and forth between the two. I was obviously left out of something. "She is part of my pack. I have a say in what she does" Dominic reminded the king.

Asher shook his head. "If I'm not mistaken, there was never a ceremony. So at the moment, she is only a pack member's mate" he corrected Dominic. That is all very true. I know that Dominic filled out all of my paperwork. But there was never a ceremony for me to join the pack. Therefore, I am not part of the pack.

Suddenly they both started shouting at each other. Their voices were so loud, but I couldn't make out a single word of their dialogue. Asher stood up from the chair and stalked towards Dominic while they continued to argue. I got in the middle of them and attempted to push the men apart. "This isn't up to either of you" I snapped. "None of you have control over me"

Asher scoffed, his anger clouding his mind. "You sure about that?" he questioned. I raised my head to look at him and held his stare. With rage controlling his actions, Asher stuck his arm out and put pressure on the Mark. I whimpered, cringing away from him. "The way I see it. You can help willingly. I could force you. Or I could just kill you" he threatened.

Dominic growled, pushing me behind him. "I don't appreciate you threatening my Head Warrior's mate" there was an underlying threat in his statement. But Asher didn't acknowledge it as he kept his eyes locked on mine. "Your daughter was kidnapped; I know you would do anything to find her. But killing innocent people who weren't apart of the kidnapping is just wrong" Dominic said in more gentle tone. Asher looked away from me. I could have sworn I saw his eyes tear up.

"Wendy's Mark may give you the right to kill her. But she doesn't deserve that. She's a good person. Maybe she wasn't when you knew her; but now, she's considerate, compassionate, reliable, sincere. She's a good mate to Shane and an amazing aunt to Clara. People here need her" Dominic persuaded the King.

Asher clenched his jaw. "She can go along with the plan. I won't kill her" Asher argued.

I looked at Dominic's expression as he shook his head; he did not look happy. "Sending her to rogues for information will get her killed" Dominic retorted. My heart stopped beating. Asher's plan was to send me out of this pack to rogues. That's almost the same as throwing a piece of steak into a lion's cage. "Do you think that she deserves being marked as a traitor?" he blurted.

"You can't just give out a Royal Mark. It's only acquired if someone deserves it. The Moon Goddess thought she deserved it"

Dominic shook his head. "That wasn't my question. I don't care if the Moon Goddess thought Wendy deserved it. I'm asking you. Do you think she deserved this?" Dominic questioned, pointing at the branding on my shoulder.

Asher looked away. "I can tell that you've changed. But you did say disrespectful things about my mate. You did try to replace her as the Luna of my pack. You did insult me as an Alpha. But nothing ever got physical. It was just words. You didn't even know that the Princess was my mate" the King spoke to me this time. "To answer your question, Dominic, I don't think that Wendy deserved the Mark or any trouble that came with it" Asher's voice was sincere. He was no longer a father on a mission to find his daughter. He was a man, admitting a wrong. And it caused a weight to be lifted off of my shoulders.

He came closer to me and Dominic reluctantly moved out of his way. Dominic watched with wary eyes as Asher wrapped his arms around me. I let out a breath of relief before hugging him back. "I'm sorry, Wendy. I really am" he mumbled. "I just- I need to find her" I felt moisture on my shoulder. He was crying. Dominic looked away, an attempt at giving us privacy.

I rubbed Asher's back as his tears continued. "You will find her. You're determined and strong. There's no way that you can't find her" I assured him. Of course, I wasn't 100% positive; but I knew that Asher wouldn't give up. He's too hard-headed to give up.

We pulled away and he stared at the Mark. "You shouldn't have this. You're not really a traitor. You just don't have a filter" he confessed, giving me a small smile. His eyes clouded over, and I thought he was mind-linking someone. But his hand came up and covered up the Mark. A bright light filled my eyes, like a camera's flash going off when you take a picture.

When I opened my eyes, there were colorful dots clouding my vision. I blinked them away until my vision turned back to normal. "What'd you do?" I blurted out in a panic. Something was different. I could feel it inside of me, but I didn't know what it was. I turned my neck, trying to see if there was anything different about the Mark. I forgot that it was too far for me to see. I rushed to the bathroom and looked at my shoulder in the mirror. But that was all I was looking at. My bare shoulder.

I ran my hand along the skin. No jagged scars. No Mark. Not even a single piece of evidence that would suggest the Mark was ever there in the first place. It just disappeared. Gone. Like it never existed. I blinked and rubbed my eyes before examining it once again. This was reality. There was nothing on my shoulder. Some time while I was looking at my shoulder, Asher and Dominic appeared next to me. They too were looking at the spot where the Mark used to be.

I locked eyes with Asher. "You made it disappear" I pointed out the obvious.

He shrugged. "It wasn't me. Gavin did it" he informed me. That was actually a major shock to me. I knew his wolf, Gavin, never liked me. Asher always had to block him out when we were together. "You have a good family here, Wendy. Don't let them go" Asher advised. I nodded in agreement and gave him a small smile. "I'll see you around" he gave me a quick hug before shaking hands with Dominic and leaving the bathroom.

"Wendy!" Two pairs of arms wrapped around me as the scents of Tyson and Ralph filled my senses. I got teary-eyed, bringing my arms up to hug them back. Dominic quietly slipped out the bathroom, but shot me a smile on his way out. "It's gone" Tyson muttered in awe as he poked at my shoulder. I nodded, gently swatting his hand away. "You need to stop putting yourself in these situations" he chastised, narrowing his eyes at me.

Ralph nodded in agreement. "We could barely survive when you were comatose. We won't survive if you're gone forever" my cousin told me softly.

I went on my tippytoes and wrapped my arms around the both of them. "Wendy!" his growl shook the whole packhouse.

I couldn't stop myself from shuddering at the fierceness of his voice. "He's either really mad at me for doing this. Or he's..." I trailed off, hoping the guys got the point.

Tyson and Ralph simply laughed at me. "Shane! She's in the bathroom!" Tyson shouted before bolting off. I could hear Shane's footsteps as he got closer and closer.

Ralph pressed a kiss to my cheek. "Good luck" he chirped, walking out of the room. My mate appeared in the doorway right after Ralph disappeared.

I took one look at him and silently thanked Ralph for wishing me luck. I really needed it.  

__________

"Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family"

-Jax Teller

People say that you can count on your family, referring to your relatives, no matter what. But for some of us. That isn't true. For some of us, the only people we count on are ourselves and our friends. Maybe not even our friends.

But I want you guys to know that I'll be loyal to each and every one of you. I'll be here if you need to talk or just rant. My phone is glued to me 24/7. I'll try to respond as soon as possible. Just know that I'm always an option if you need someone.

Kayyyzzz Byeeeezzz

~A.J.