* * *

Hera Mystic had been living the absolute dream, while she was treated like an Alpha's daughter—she was also treated as a guest. Enjoying the combination of the three packs within the Arctic Crest union, and goddess, she felt absolutely free.

Did she bend her father's rules a bit and travel off pack ground?
Of course, she was an adolescent with an Alpha male to fuel her hormones. And Elenor only confirmed Hera's suspicions on it, and while this didn't happen often, Hera had found a potential bond.

Meaning that she found a male that her wolf would be comfortable in starting a life with.
Xavier, the Alpha of Arctic Crest, teased that Hera's father was not going to tolerate the fact that Hera was smelling more like her boyfriend than her own individual scent.

But it only made Maverick beam with pride, his wolf adored Hera, perhaps a little too much for the way they were headed.

"All I'm saying son, is that it's not wise to get so attached to a she-wolf. Even if your wolf accepted her, you have a mate waiting for you and she has—" A growl escaped Maverick before his father could finish his sentence, and Xavier sighed further.

They were concerned about him, especially when Hera had told her father she wanted to stay longer, pushing it to another month's stay.

Hayes had called and asked if it was alright with the Alpha family, and to be honest—Hera became a regular at their dinner table.

She was terribly witty and sassy all mixed in one. Luna Irene thought of her as a little sister, and it was nice to have a younger Luna that wasn't considered family to ask the right questions with.

Better yet, she was starting to make the trends in pushing the Rogue Reformation. So the next time she returned to the council, she'd be better prepared for what was to come.

Hera's days were filled with learning a new method of fighting—Which her wolf was obsessed with mastering, one of the biggest reasons she wanted to stay on Arctic Crest territory. And it held up to her father's wish of his youngest always being able to defend herself.

The Alaskan packs hardly ever taught outsiders their specific way of fighting, so it was a blessing that they even accepted her.
Without knowing it, Hera was building up the relationship between Mystic and Arctic Crest.

And Harlow was surely thankful for that, they were a very strong pack and had an abundance of resources. And better yet, Hera was much closer to her sister in White Paw if she truly needed anything.

Meaning they created a triangle, the Mystic siblings—Or Haylee White in this case.

"You're thinking pretty loudly, something on your mind?" Maverick mumbled in his sleep, his eyes flickered open and it caused Hera to pop her eyes closed.

But he was smarter than that.

"Heeraaa—"
"I swear to the goddess above if you tickle me, Arctic, I will castrate you." He shivered at the loss of the appendage, and thus he retracted his first plan and instead snaked his hand underneath the blanket and gripped it firmly.

Causing her to smirk.

"We're not doing that great in 'staying away from each other,' huh?"
"I thought we agreed that we're going to shower before heading to Florida?"
"You think that's enough? Your little wolfie imprinted on me. Dad's going to feel it and—"
"Little?" She grinned wildly at the male and nodded.

"Absolutely tiny. Could squash you with my paw." He knew she was teasing him, she always did. But it always went the same way, he'd pounce as he accepted how her words affected him easily.

"Careful Mav, my wolf get the wrong idea." She grinned up to him, and while their necks were off-limits to one another—Maverick had gone to another weakness Hera had.

After going through the trials of their warriors, one would receive brands marking their tiers essentially tattoos. The males and females had their separate markings, and when they jumped in tiers, another layer would be added.

The skin was beyond sensitive, as Hera thought it a vulnerable place—Which was why the tattoo was placed there to begin with, the pain made a physical connection with the moon goddess.

Maverick readily abused his knowledge on how it'd feel and hardly ever let her forget what it felt to kiss that very spot. It also helped that a female's mark was on her thigh like a bracelet while a males could be found on their forearm.

A wolf's Achilles heel.

He loved when her back arched up, wanting him to continue his advances—Hera wasn't a shy she-wolf, no, she reeked of authority and dominance.

And he surely remembered that when she flipped them both over, her legs straddling him in one failed swoop. Maverick groaned, he never understood how she did that so fluently, but he supposed that was how she was getting through their training so quickly.

Both Hera and her wolf were a conjoined beast, that reminder caused her to growl down to the young Alpha. Who smirked in triumph, the scent of her arousal was filling the room easily. And to taunt her further, he simply tilted up his nose and embraced it.

Just as she leaned down to embrace him.

The next morning, however, she found her bed empty.
Maverick always had early call times but besides that, he didn't want his parents thinking he was disrespecting Alpha Hayes' orders in protecting his daughter from harm.

But realistically, the imprint was making his mind foggy.
In a recent conversation, he would be going with Hera back to Mystic Grimm just to finalize the last bit of her training.

That was just a fantasy at the moment, though.

Yet the time passed by so quickly, as the group from Arctic Crest collectively boarded the plane and were off towards Flordia for another council meeting.

This time with many updated plans on the Rogue Recruitment and Reformation.

Maverick's father sat beside Hera that flight, as he could still faintly smell his son on her—He was just hoping that Hayes would be a little lenient and enjoy the bond the two pups were having.

Hayes of course was already stationed at the tarmac awaiting for his daughter, Alpha Shawn just a foot behind him, were both ready to greet Hera and the rest of Arctic Crest.

Considering this flight would be joining Mystic Grimm for their own service of training from another pack and Hayden wanted to meet them as they arrived. It was Hera's claim that this would end up being a great bonding tool, Harlow couldn't deny that his little sister was right.

Though that didn't stop Hera from wearing leggings on the flight and on the tarmac so her father wouldn't yell at her for being foolish within the first five minutes of reunited.

However, when he caught the first sight of her, his heart ripped a cord for a different reason.
She looked older, sweet goddess above, she looked mature.

"Careful, she might hop back on the plane." Shawn teased, but that didn't stop Hayes from walking past the rest of the group to tackle his daughter.

"Hera." He breathed, his nose instantly going to her neck—A traditional way of checking for a mark. Smelling her would ensure that he hadn't lost her to a male yet.
In truth he was dreading the day to see her with anyone's mark.

For now, he could relish in the fact that his youngest was still not mated, though...No longer pure.
Course, he didn't allow himself to think that far, or tried to at least. But in looking to see Maverick ridged stance, it was clear what happened.

"I made you something, it's in my suitcase though." She segwayed, and either male was thankful for it. Hayes wrapped his arm around his daughter and walked her off to the car. Taking her suitcase and backpack and shutting the door before Maverick could even think about riding with them.

"Dad, that was mean."
"I could be meaner. Did your mother talk to you about...dating?"
"Yes, and she also is readying a physical list on rules you want Maverick and I to follow." Hayes hummed in approval as the car rode off towards the main building.

He didn't wait at all before bringing her off towards their cabin, as the days of Maverick sneaking into her bed were over. But the room was filled with her dad's scent, and she couldn't help but be reminded of a warm blanket.

"I brought some jerky, all different kinds. Elk, moose, bear, and even some rams."
"Sounds like you were hunting a lot more than I thought." She grinned up wildly, but unfortunately for her, the scar was clear from there. It was a slight nick above the brow, her eyebrow not fully connected.

How did he miss that?

"Promise that the other guy looks worse dad, hope his mate can still love him with a little scar here." She said, her finger tapping the upper lip.

At least she made her father laugh.

However, the moment was cut short as he came up to her again, his hands coming to cup her cheeks as he smiled down to her. It was hard for her not to return it, she was excited to come back to Mystic Grimm, excited to share her solutions.

She wanted to get started on the program.

"I'm so proud of you, you know that sweetheart?"
"Yes, and if you keep telling me it might all go to my head." She was thankful that he rolled his eyes, especially when he hadn't smelled the imprint.

She was hoping that perhaps her father would be okay with it, it was just a further step to dating...Wasn't it?

"How big was the bear?"
"He's in another suitcase, I had him made into a blanket," Hera said trying to find a picture of the dead beast, and of course, she was holding up the massive head with a smile on her face.

"I don't remember you telling me about a bear hunt." Hayes started, his voice impending his means of disappointment. But she just grinned up further to her father, "I said I went hunting, I didn't know I had to list all the bunnies and squirrels I ate."
"Goddess, your brother is going to love your sass." It earned him another grin, but alas—They were scheduled for a meeting.

Then another. And then another.

Hayes watched in pure pride to see Hera and those she worked with propose the idea of pack wide aid to Rogues. The packs were starting to understand what the gist of the situation was, but the newfound respect for the young Mystic Grimm Heir had earned the forerunner for this project.

And while the council suggested that she remain at their base here in Florida, Hayes wasn't having it—And for once she was glad that her father was there to put his foot down, nobody was about to protest on the fact that Hayes hadn't seen her in over two months.

Until a she-wolf found their mate, they were their father's responsibility—Even if she was hardly a pup anymore.

If anything happened to Harlow, since Haylee was already Luna of another pack, the title of Alpha would pass to her and her cousin, Hudson. As he had Alpha blood in him just the same.

When the night finally ended and Hera returned from a little get-together with her friends, she found her dad going over the folder that she had supplied for the presentation.
It was clear she slaved over the works, the projections, that she called packs and discussed with them their Rogues issues and if there was any chance that they had contact with Rogue populations near them.

And there were a few that surprised her, Grey Hallow for instance. Though the topic of Rogues was a bit daunting considering what happened to their Luna.

But Mary was happy to answer any questions, and Hera had even got offered to visit the pack. Though she was going to ease her dad into that.

"How did you do all this in two months?"
"I made a lot of calls, and those college courses mama had me take? I learned how to make projections with a few business formulas. It wasn't that hard, daddyo." It was clear he had questions, and so she sat beside him and went through everything he wrote down.

He had a feeling she wouldn't appreciate asking in front of the crowd, but image-wise—It would look as though he was questioning her entire plan.

That night however, she was feeling how damning sleeping alone really felt. It ended with her tossing and turning every other minute trying to get comfortable and warm.

Hayes, feeling her distress from the other room, came prancing in his wolf and jumped onto her bed. Course it caused his daughter to freak for a moment, her breath taken away as nothing was scarier than her dad's wolf.

Even if he was channeling a puppy at the moment.

"Hey pops...Did you miss me that much?" She said, filled with exhaustion that she wished would translate to actually allow her to fall asleep. But rather high-pitched whine from her father sounded desperate for him to join her, so she opened up her arms and he snuggled right on into her neck.

Licking her face and essentially, claiming her back as his daughter. He realized that she didn't smell so strongly of Mystic when they were in a room surrounded by other packs, and he'd be damned if people forgot that.

His wolf was obsessed with her scent, it still was that of a pup in his nose. Either Harlow or Haylee no longer smelled like they once did, but it was an obvious notion to follow.

Harlow grew into his Alpha persona, and Haylee grew into her conjoined mated and Luna persona.

"You know, this empty nesting—Maybe I should invest in a pet goldfish or something." She teased, petting his big wolfie head before settling his small huffing growl with a kiss.

"G'night daddyo." She mumbled, though her hand told him she was still awake. Yet it wasn't long until her repetitive scratching came to an end.

He was just happy he could help at all, but his alternate motive was to make sure Maverick didn't get any funny ideas on his watch.

Sweet goddess, he wouldn't know how to act if a male found their way into bed with his youngest. His wolf already wanted to rip off her future mate's head for taking his last pup away.

But he settled with the prospect that she was only eighteen, he didn't have to worry until twenty—Hopefully.

______

Date: 01/21/2022

Time: 5:08

Words:2501