Everly woke when the sun hit her face. It had been almost a year since Liam had found her and brought her home. Since then, she had become Luna of the Red Dawn pack. Guiding the pack with her husband. She and Liam had a ceremony two weeks after arriving. It had taken many months to win over the pack. Robbie was excepted. She was excepted. Her life was so much better. Her sister and best friend lived here too. After Payne had attacked her pack and decimated the members, Frankie had found her sister crying in front of their burned out shell of a house. They had hidden for weeks before stumbling open the recently attacked Red Dawn pack. It was the attack that had killed both of Liam's parents and Everly later found out, his little sister Gwen. That name still bounced around in her head.

On that dreamy plane of sleep and wakefulness is where she was when it suddenly hit her. She jackknifed up. Her heart beat wildly. Feet pounded toward her and Liam threw the door open. He scanned the room, eyes black, looking for threats. When their eyes met his immediately returned to that coffee brown she loved so much. She couldn't calm her pounding heart. Gwen.

"Liam." Her voice came out strangled as tears welled in her eyes and fell down her cheeks.
"What is it? What?" He rushed to her and cupped her cheeks.
"Liam. She was there. With me, she was there. Not for very long. We talked to much. We were both so young. He took her away almost immediately and I never heard about her again. I'm so sorry Liam." She cried and through her arms around him sobbing. He pulled her close and placed his hand on the small bump that was starting to show on his mates belly.
"Who baby? Who did you never see again?"
"Gwen!" His mate sobbed out again. Her voice filled with so much anguish he almost buckled. Not just from hearing his sisters name but also from the onslaught of emotion coming from his mate. Every day her aura became larger.

He slowly pulled her back and looked her in the eyes. "When Everly?" He asked very calmly.
"About 3 months after we got there he separated us. We had to be sedated before he could enter the room. And he got tired of fucking unconscious bodies." She said darkly. A far away sound of thunder rumbled. He didn't think there was suppose to be any rain today. He thought absently. He kissed Everly softly on the lips. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear he stood and left the room. "Where are you going?" she called after him. But he didn't respond. She'd follow after him. He had plans to set in motion. Ferguson Payne had roamed free for far too long.

Everly rushed through a shower and quickly dressed. Malcolm's mate, Sarah, would have already gotten Robbie up for the day. It was only a little after seven. She walked into the nursery to find Sarah just finishing up with dressing him. Usually Liam or herself got Robbie up and going but some mornings Sarah beat them to it. Malcolm and Sarah had a son, Bennett Robert Black. He had been born the same day as Robbie. They shared the same middle name as their paternal grandfather. It actually had not been as hard as she thought it would be to have the pack except Robbie and herself as one of their own. Of course, there were still a few that did not feel like she was worthy of the title of Luna or that her son was anything other than a bastard. Sarah and Malcolm and the Gamma Richard, were not those wolves.
"Good morning my sunshine!" Everly sang to her son as he reached for her with his two little teeth in front. His beautiful blue eyes, so much her own, were sparkling with happiness. He really was a happy child. Her eyes flicked to his hair. Raven dark like her own, yet when the light caught it you could see the glints of red. She was worried that she would hate to be reminded of anything to do with the man that helped make this child. She found instead, that she loved it because they were pieces that fit together to make her child.

She was in a happy bubble for the rest of the day. Robbie and Bennett played in the yard while she and Sarah worked on the garden. They were trying their hands at growing vegetables so the pack could be more self reliant. The sun dappled the ground as lazy clouds meandered through the blue sky. Suddenly the lightness she was feeling grew heavy. The dread curled low in her stomach. She placed a protective hand over her small bump. She straighten and turned, looking towards the far side of the yard. A woman stood there staring at her. When she gasped Sarah turned and yelled out. But Everly couldn't hear her. Everything sounded so muffled and far away as she continued to stare at the woman.

She was tall. Not slender, more curvy. She wore black skinny jeans with black boots on her feet. A tight black shirt with her tattoos showing. A necklace hung around her neck. She was too far away for Everly to see what dangled from it. Her hair was a dark blonde that fell well past her shoulders. The thing about her that startled her was the eyes. The same blue eyes that she looked at everyday in the mirror. She watched as the woman walked forward. The world still seemed detached from them. As if they were in a tunnel, alone.
"Who are you?" Everly asked. She didn't feel any danger. She did not think that this woman would harm her. But that feeling of dread was still curled in her stomach.
"We've never formally met because my mother wasn't an a "approved" mate for my father." She smiled and held out her hand. "Rose. Nice to meet you. Our fathers were brothers." Everly reached forward and slide her hand against Rose's. A since of kindred spirit rose up in her, bubbling to the service. A power that she had kept hidden, even from herself, reached out to greet its sister. A laugh burst from both the women as the fantastic feeling of magic greeting an ally.

"We have so much to talk about!" Rose exclaimed as she smiled at Everly. She had the oddest feeling that the war had begun.