Clover

I heaved a breath as I desperately attempted to keep a low profile. It was hard for me to imagine that Colter and Easton were wandering about the neighborhood close to the flat where I reside.

To the best of my knowledge, the Crescent Pack had no dealings whatsoever with the packs that lived in Hungary, which is why I was taken aback when I saw them walking through the streets as if they were the rightful owners of the city.

What the heck are they trying to accomplish in this place?

While ducking and sprinting away from Evander's sight, I asked him a question.

Don't bother asking me about it because I've been right here with you the whole time.

Evander responded with sarcasm, and as much as I wanted to despise her, I had to admit that she was correct. Her assumption was just as plausible as mine.

I hadn't been living here as a she-wolf for the years that had passed. Despite the fact that I was everything but typical, I pretended to be a straightforward normal human being by working a standard nine to five job.

I was in such a desperate need to be able to shift right now so that I could get away from these people more quickly, but I couldn't do it because I was surrounded by them. As a result, picking that path wasn't the best choice.

Because humans were unaware of our existence or thought that we could only be found in stories and films, shifting would not only draw the notice of Colter and Easton, but it would also be a violation of the rules.

Even in Hungary, werewolves followed a set of norms, the most important of which was to avoid drawing attention to themselves at all costs.

Since I got away from the group, I made the decision to leave the nation so that Damian wouldn't be able to figure out where I was hiding.

When he told me that he wanted to exile me, something in me sparked, and that's when I pledged that he would never get the opportunity to get to know our kid, Lennox. I determined that he would never get the chance to get to know our baby.

It makes no difference to me if he lives or dies. Because Evander had been telling me that I was his genuine mate ever since I reached sixteen, he knew for a fact that I was his true mate. Evander had been telling me that I was his true mate ever since I turned sixteen.

That was also the reason why I gave him my virginity card, not that the fact that I was still a virgin made any difference. I mean, for crying out loud, I was a werewolf, which means that sex was an integral part of who I was both as a beast and as a being.

Both he and I shared a unique connection, and it wasn't just the connection that comes from having childhood buddies in common. It went far beyond than that.

However, he picked another woman as his mate and drove me out of the pack as a result. As soon as Lennox was born, I realized that it was my responsibility to safeguard him. It was not only necessary for me to defend him from Damian, but also most importantly against Nyra.

Because only the Moon Goddess knew what she would do to my kid if she ever found out, I had no choice but to take action in order to get them as far away as possible from where I resided.

To my good fortune, Lennox was still with Jude, the buddy in whom I place the most trust. Okay, he was more than a friend; in fact, he was my human fuck buddy next door, and because of this, I knew that my son would be kept out of harm's way.

"I truly apologize. Excuse me, "I hushed a couple that was walking by as I ducked in front of them and whispered something to them while they stared at me like I was a crazy woman, and they were probably right to think that about me.

Before I really started walking, I called Jude to let him know that I was going to be running behind schedule and I looked between the alleyways and the streets as I thought about where I should be heading to avoid them.

"Clover?" He responded while showing signs of yawning.

Listen, I'm in a bit of a jam, so if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on Lennox for a little while longer for me, I'd really appreciate it.

"Not even close... That wouldn't be a problem at all, "Another yawn came out of his mouth.

"I am grateful."

He began his response with "No, probably," but I didn't wait for him to complete because I was obviously in a rush at the time. After that, I gave the area another look, and when I noticed that they were moving in the opposite direction, I quickly started running towards the direction of the park so that I could remain unseen.

I continued to run until I was totally out of sight with the purpose of hiding in the midst of the thickly wooded portion so that in the event that I needed to fight, I would be able to transform without worrying about being discovered by people.

Because I was responsible for Lennox's safety in whatever event, I had to make sure that I was always prepared for any scenario that could arise. But as soon as I arrived, there were already three werewolves there, and they fully blocked my route.

I had no doubt in my mind that these werewolves were members of the Crescent Pack at that very moment. There was no way to refute it because they had that unmistakable odor of a pack.

In case anyone was curious, each pack had a unique odor that distinguished them from those of other packs; however, this odor was not the same as the odor that a werewolf would associate with his or her mate.

It was a bouquet of aromas, much like various types of flowers, even though packs typically do not smell like flowers.

"Who are you, and what do you wish to accomplish?" I inquired as I moved back a few paces. I wasn't planning on escaping; all I needed was to adjust my stance in order to properly protect myself against my attacker.

When Colter suddenly answered from behind me, "The alpha requests for you to come back with us," I gave myself a mental kick in the rear for forgetting that the guys in front of me had alerted them the moment they stepped out of the trees. "The alpha requests for you to come back with us," Colter said.

I gradually shifted my focus to Colter, and as soon as I was fully facing him, the grin on his face grew even broader.

"Hi, Clover. Long time no see, "he mentioned it, and as I was listening, I had a fleeting mental image of the former Colter.

The younger Colter didn't give a damn about anything in the world. He was well aware that Damian was intending to appoint him as a trusted general or commanding chief, as humans referred to such positions.

Even though he didn't have to really battle for the position because it was going to be handed on to him by his gamma parents much like I would've been Damian's beta, he was the proudest he'd ever been of himself. Even though he didn't have to really fight for the job.

Luna, not beta.

Evander objected as I tightly closed my eyes in an effort to block myself from remembering the past. I did not attempt to dispute with her nor did I correct her.

I just wanted them gone as soon as possible, both from this location and the country, so that I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore.

But more importantly, I wanted to make sure that my son was hidden and out of harm's way.

I ventured a guess and pointed first at Colter, then at Easton, but neither of them responded to my question. "Let me guess, beta and gamma," I said.

Easton screamed, "Come with us, Clover," and that angered the living daylights out of me. "Come with us!"

But Easton? Colter was perfectly within his rights to direct my actions. When we were younger, we felt sorry for him and decided to be friends with him even though he was the type of child that no one wanted to hang out with. He was more of a loner than the other kids.

Regardless of whether or not he liked it, this did not alter the reality that he remained lower on our ranks than the rest of us.

I gave him a sneer and said, "Since I am no longer a member of your pack, you no longer have any authority over me," but all that did was make Colter laugh.

"Oh, shit! During all those years, you really believed that Damian had cast you out, didn't you?"

His laugh came from deep in his throat, and it was the most repulsive sound I had ever heard in my entire life. It caused me to clench my teeth in disgust.

Even if Nyra's laugh was the worst of the worst, Colter's laughter at me made me want to unleash Evander on him. Actually, Nyra's laugh was the worst of the worst.

Clover, as Easton put it to her, "you were not expelled." I didn't have to figure that out because it was quite evident that Damian hadn't disowned me as a pack member and that she still considered me to be a part of the pack.

"Yeah, so? I ditched the pack when I fled away, which means I established my own network of allies here. Therefore, I am a member of the White River pack, if nothing else "I gave a casual shrug, which prompted Colter and Easton to burst out laughing.

"No. With all due respect, you're going to have to come along with us whether you like it or not "Colter gave a blank expression.

"You're going to show up whether you like it or not, any way. It depends entirely on your decision, "Easton issued a warning.

I could have gotten away from them in a couple different ways, but swapping positions and immediately assaulting wouldn't have worked.

As a result, I acted as though I was participating in the activity. Nevertheless, whenever I came across a chance, I made it a point to seize it.

Never in a million years would I consider returning to Damian and his group!

"You made the right decision," commended Colter as he signaled to me with an outstretched arm that I should begin to go ahead of them. "Good choice."

I steadied myself by taking a deep breath and observing each of them in the strictest of confidence. It was necessary for me to be with the individuals who were the least capable of the group in order to ensure that we would fall behind.

It would be more difficult to assess the situation if I walked in front of them, so I needed to think quickly.

I said this to him as I had my arms crossed over my chest. "You lead the way, I don't know anything about where we're going," I said to him.

Colter gave Easton and the rest of us a grin and said, "As you wish." Then he started walking ahead of us, followed by the rest of us.

Damian

After sending Colter and Easton off to Hungary three days ago, I still haven't received any word from them as of at this moment.

It would only take a few hours for me to get an update when I sent warriors and one of them in the past, but things had changed recently, and the situation was growing increasingly frustrating.

Why in the hell are they taking so much longer?

Even Murphy was not showing any signs of slowing down. Instead, he kept stirring inside me. It had gotten to the point where he was more impatient than I was, and because of this, it was dangerous for me to be around anyone at this point because I could wind up killing someone.

My mental health was deteriorating in this way as a direct result of Murphy's conduct. I was in a very angry state all the time, and Nyra's presence did nothing to calm me down.

She has evolved into a real pain in the behind these days. She warned me over and over again that reuniting Clover with the pack would be disastrous, but I simply did not have the emotional or physical capacity to deal with her at this time.

I couldn't care less if she went on a rant for as long as she liked since I wouldn't give a damn about it.

What exactly did she know about being in the front of the pack?

The Murphy hissed, and he was absolutely correct. She did nothing but flaunt her rank and used it as an opportunity to draw attention to herself. She was both unqualified and qualified for the role at the same time.

Simply put, I required her to be my luna as part of the terms of our agreement, which demand for us to do more than just become mates. I was obligated to keep this information to myself in order to preserve my position among the pack.

Having said that, she needed to have the understanding that throwing a tantrum was not going to bring her anything she desired, regardless of how much she cried about it.

For us to make progress and have heirs in the future, Nyra only needed to understand that bringing back Clover was essential to our success.

In addition, if she wanted to earn my mark for us to become genuine mates, she was going to have to enroll in the program.

Another hour passed, and I was still in the dark about what was going on, so I began walking back and forth across my office floor. Even though they haven't been able to locate her just yet, I instructed Colter to check in with me periodically and give me a call.

Even though I had no reason to be anxious, I was feeling it anyhow. They had to perform a miracle in order to bring her back to us because there wasn't much time left and we were running out of it.

We were given a maximum of five days to look for Clover by the pack that was in command of the region, and they made it very clear that they would not assist us in our search efforts in any way.

Although I believed that they could have been more flexible, the situation was what it was.

When the phone finally rang, I was so annoyed that I was about to toss it out of frustration. However, I didn't hesitate to answer it right away in the hopes that it would be the news I had been anticipating all along.

"Yeah?" I quickly responded out of impatience.

Colter heaved a sigh as he said, "We have an issue."

"You have a problem?! What do you mean by that?!!"

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, the anger spread throughout my entire body and caused me to shake. I had to take a few deep breaths in order to stop myself from moving and going insane several times.

After injuring one of our soldiers, she was able to evade capture and make her escape. After Colter had finished explaining, I completely lost it.

"You had one job! There was only ever going to be one of her, but there were five of you. What the hell is going on, Colter?" I yelled out a few commands after giving a roaring roar.

We were werewolves, for screaming out loud; therefore, even if she managed to get away, it shouldn't be too difficult to track her down and bring her back.

"Text me your precise fucking location and don't leave until I tell you to!" "Don't leave until I tell you to!"

I did not want an answer from him, so I simply hung up the phone, and without giving anything else much thought, I went straight to find my father.

I had never gone more than a short distance away from the pack, with the exception of times when I was abroad on official business; even then, it was only in the regions that were close by.

However, if this continued, it seemed like I would have no choice except to fly to Hungary and handle things on my own.

As I entered their home, the first thing I said was, "Father."

"Damian, what brings you to this place?" My dad questioned me as he set the book he was reading down on the table beside him. "What do you think?"

"I'll be going to Hungary at the same time as Colter and Easton. They were not successful in dealing with Clover "I proceeded to explain without missing a beat.

It wasn't because Colter and Easton were unable to do it; if that were the case, I wouldn't have chosen them to be my beta and gamma, would I?

It's possible that Richard Moore was just too much for everyone to handle, especially considering that, whether or not any of us admitted it, she was a formidable warrior. She did not rely just on her physical prowess but instead utilized her intelligence far more than anything else.

It's possible that another factor, namely the fact that Colter used to get along well with her, prevented him from inflicting pain on her just for the sake of bringing her back with them.

Do you know of any other people that shared her circle of friends with her? You!

The screams and taunts from Murphy caused me to take a few deep breaths and repeat the process so that I could concentrate on my father and the words I was about to say.

My father cast a thoughtful glance in my direction, most likely to ascertain whether or not I was being serious. He was aware that I was dealing with a lot of pressure and a sufficient amount of troubles already.

He was aware of what Murphy had been up to ever since Clover had left, and despite how much I detested it, I was starting to feel like a major failure as a result of it.

"Do you seriously believe that reintroducing her to the mix would improve things for you?" Finally, my father put in the request.

"No, but it's definitely something worth trying."

As soon as he heard these comments, he gave a shake of the head and stood to come closer to me. Even though he was one inch shorter than me, my father was just as strong as any other alpha that had ever lived.

Even though he no longer possessed the obligations of the alpha position or the position itself, he was still seen to be just as authoritative within the pack as I was.

"I can empathize with how difficult things are for you right now, and I wish I could go back in time and change some things. Nevertheless, for what it's worth, I hope everything works out for the best in the end "Before he left me alone to think about what he had said, he stated in a collected manner.

He was aware that something was about to take place, but in the manner of a parent who had taught me how to become self-reliant and how to think creatively, he wanted me to sort things out on my own.

"What on earth does that even imply?" I attempted to question him, but he had already disappeared from view.

I was aware that we had reached the conclusion of our conversation, and as a result, I rushed straight back to my house to get the things I required before going to see Clover's parents.

Despite the fact that they were unaware of Clover's precise whereabouts, it was clear that they maintained communication with her. That didn't even cross my mind because I'm not nearly as barbaric as some people are.

Clover would not provide any information, not even in response to my threats to murder them or expel them from the premises.

She was fully aware of the fact that doing something like that to her parents would put me in an awkward situation with my own parents, and by awkward situation, I mean that I would be expelled myself.

Since Clover wasn't actually expelled, I lacked the authority to issue similar directives to her parents unless they had seriously violated an established policy. In that case, I would have been justified.

I guess all I wanted to know was whether or not Clover had gotten in touch with them today, and that was the reason I was headed there in the first place.

I didn't give a damn about the possibility that they might tell her that I was on my way to see her. Even if she made an effort to cover up her odor, I would still be able to pick it up readily as long as we were in the same nation, city, or general vicinity.

"What the devil do you think you're doing?" Before I could make it out the door, Nyra let out a screech.

I responded without looking at her and said, "Hungary, for business."

"Business? And you didn't even thought to tell me about it or extend an invitation for me to accompany you?" She inquired with a snide tone.

The answer that I gave in a low voice was, "If I needed you to come, then I would've invited you already."

She let out an acerbic chuckle as she asked, "Oh, I'm sorry, but since when is alpha allowed to make choices without his luna?"

As soon as I realized what she was doing, I spun around and got in her face. My nose began to itch. Right then and there, I had the strong want to suffocate her.

In point of fact, I've had the want to suffocate her for some time now, but it's not because of some sort of sexual fetish. I have seriously been debating whether or not I should disconnect her breathing apparatus in order to get her to be quiet.

"I want to make sure you understand this, Nyra. You may be the luna, but I hadn't marked you as my mate just yet, so please just sit here and look nice while I take care of the business that needs to be taken care of "I growled at her before turning my back on her and walked away.

She teased me by saying, "I won't be here when you come back," and in response, I let out a frightening laugh.

"Nyra, does this constitute yet another danger? Be sure that you can back up what you say with actions, you fearless luna "I responded with taunts of my own just because I couldn't help myself.

Because of the fact that she has always been a whiny and needy bitch, I didn't feel the need to sugarcoat whatever it was that it was that I wanted to say at this point.

If she had been sufficiently intelligent, then she would have realized that I was doing this for the benefit of us and the pack as a whole.

"Oh, I will, Damian. If I'm still here when you get back, I'll definitely come up with something even more intricate to make you furious, just in case I haven't already!"

I didn't bother answering; instead, I jumped into my truck, slammed the door, and drove off without turning around. I didn't even bother to look back.

Clover

I barely escaped in time before they caught me. One of the warriors that Colter and Easton were with gave me the opportunity to take him down so that I could escape his hands and run as fast as I could. That is the only reason why.

I couldn't say that I was surprised that he fell for my trap. Because he was so young, I had a feeling he was a rookie. He couldn't have been older than eighteen.

The problem was that if you were a male wolf that had recently turned eighteen, your hormones would be roaring out of control. Therefore, the need to have sex was always going to be there, even if it wasn't the task you were intended to handle. This was the case regardless of whether or not you were supposed to handle it. Consider the case of Damian.

Because, in all honesty, I had no chance of defeating all five of them through combat, I can only attribute my escape from the predicament to sheer good fortune.

I just murmured some filthy words to the little wolf, and now here I am, running for my life once more and making my way back to the apartment after being apart from it for a number of hours so that I can quickly get my child and from Hungary as soon as possible.

They wouldn't look any further than this point.

I mused as I made sure that everything was in order before moving up to the second level of my building to enter my flat and get dressed in preparation for going to Jude's place.

Because I had been absent for six hours, I had a good reason to believe that Easton or Colter, along with the other people, had moved on to another location. They most likely went to the next city over, mistaking it for the location where I had supposedly fled to.

My odor wouldn't betray me since not only was I an expert at masking it, but I also used scents that interfered with a werewolf's ability to smell properly. This ensured that my true identity would never be discovered.

As a preventative measure, I sprayed them on both myself and Lennox each and every day. It wasn't nice to do that, especially since it screwed with my sense of smell on occasion as well, but it was necessary in order for the two of us to remain concealed.

"Jude, Lennox?" As soon as I stepped foot inside Jude's flat, I immediately gave a call.

Things were rather peaceful, despite the fact that I could tell from the flickering lights coming from the living room that the television was on. I was in the living room.

"Guys?" I yelled more forcefully.

As I made my way around the corridor, the lack of a response from anyone caused my heart rate to quicken. Despite the fact that I could smell both Jude and my kid in the living room, neither of them were there.

I crept into the kitchen on my tiptoes while mulling through the several reasons that no one was answering my knocks on the door.

It was getting close to midnight, so it's likely that they were sound sleeping by this point. There was also the possibility that they wanted to pull a trick on me because that was the only thing they ever did, which was play jokes on other individuals.

After confirming that there was nobody in the kitchen, I moved discretely in the direction of the guest room. Even though I hated to admit it, I was starting to grow nervous about the possibility that the pack had finally located Lennox and had decided to use him as leverage against Damian by bringing him back to him.

My parents were the only ones who knew about my pregnancy, but they had kept it a secret from everyone else for the past many years. No one else knew about it.

At one time, they attempted to convince me to divulge the information to Damian; nevertheless, I maintained my stance, and as a result, they were forced to keep their tongues shut as well.

I was aware that it was a lot for them to handle and that they were missing their grandchild, whom they had never met or seen, but despite the fact that it broke my heart to do so, it was an undesirable but necessary task that I had to complete.

I took a long, deep breath in and pricked up the hairs on the back of my neck in order to raise my sense of smell above all the other odors and zero in on the specific odor that didn't come from Jude or Lennox.

I cautiously opened the door to the guest room after I realized there was nothing unusual that I could hear or smell. I almost fell over when I saw Lennox asleep on the bed.

I was startled when I recognized Jude's voice and said, "Hey."

"Jesus! You should probably give that girl a heads-up, don't you think? "As I turned to face Jude, who was trying very hard not to laugh, I let out a gasp.

After that, he demonstrated to me that he was not a threat by raising both palms above his head and smiling even bigger at me.

"What's up with him?" I asked in a hushed voice so as not to wake up my sleeping son.

"In all honesty, it's pretty good. Despite the fact that he had a lot of energy, he was really well behaved "He let out a snort.

"Is there anything you need?"

Even though I maintained a smile the entire time, Jude must have been able to tell that I was uncomfortable. Because I wasn't being as talkative as I normally am, he was able to deduce that something was strange about the situation.

"I really need you to pay attention and refrain from asking any questions, okay?" I finally broke the news to Jude, and as soon as he acknowledged that it was true, I informed him that Lennox and I would be traveling to visit my parents because of an unexpected circumstance.

I didn't have to make up too many lies about it, but I did have to say that there was an emergency back home when there wasn't one.

However, when I reminded him to remember not to tell anyone about Lennox if and when someone actually came looking for us, he started having doubts about the narrative that I was providing.

"Why?" He questioned me, and because I was in a rush, I sighed in response because I didn't want to bring up my history in front of him.

"Don't you remember that it's for his own safety? There is no reason for his father to be aware that he exists, as it would put me in danger of losing custody of Lennox "I was eventually able to explain, and to my relief, he acknowledged that as the true reason.

"It's time for me to start packing. We definitely need to get moving here. I'll take him up in a few minutes if that's good with you." Before giving Jude a peck on the cheek, I shared my thoughts with him.

After that, I returned to my flat where I hurriedly gathered a few of the things that we would require, including our passports.

I had no idea where we were going to hide just yet, but I knew it had to be a long distance away from here, and if I had to travel to a different nation once more just to escape, I would do it.

I wasn't in a desperate financial situation. That is to say, I have the financial means to support an extravagant way of life.

My family was able to amass human riches as a result of the numerous business facades that the pack held all throughout Georgia State as a result of our membership in the pack.

And when I first arrived here, I decided to study finance in order to prepare myself for a career as a financial analyst, which turned out to be a good decision in terms of the amount of money I get paid. To cut the story short, money wasn't a problem for us.

Since I had an abundance, it would not be difficult for me to go from one spot to another as long as I could maintain an appropriate distance from all of the other packs.

After I had finished packing, I proceeded toward the front door, and as I did so, my heart was on the verge of stopping.

Clover was greeted by Damian, who had a stern expression as he said, "It's been a while."

I instantly looked around rather than replying him for two reasons that should have been evident. Two things were going through my mind at the same time: first, I was trying to come up with a plan to get out of there, and second, I was hoping to the moon goddess that Lennox or Jude wouldn't emerge from his apartment any time soon.

It wasn't really an option for me to get into a fight with him because doing so would wake up everyone else, and it also wouldn't be the appropriate thing to do in this circumstance.

When I dealt with things, I needed to maintain my composure so that Damian wouldn't get the wrong idea.

"What exactly are you doing in this room? In addition, I don't see why your group won't just leave me alone." I asked him several questions in an even tone.

"Oh, No more small talk, huh?" I couldn't help but nMurphy my eyes as I looked at him since he was laughing.

What do we do?

I queried Evander, who was, by the way, behaving in a very bizarre manner inside of me.

I was already feeling quite agitated since Damian was here, and the fact that he may find out about our son at any time made me feel more worse, but Evander wasn't helping me in the least.

Since she was not in the mood to cooperate at the moment, I knew that if I did nothing to change the circumstance, we were going to find ourselves in a very difficult scenario.

"Since we are no longer friends, there will be no more chats of a friendly nature between us, Damian; or should I now refer to you as alpha?" I said as I started moving toward the hallway to leave the room.

I had progressed approximately two steps when Damian seized hold of my elbows and jerked me around to face him. We were only a breath apart from one another when suddenly we both began to breathe rapidly.

We brought turmoil into each other's lives as much as we brought peace to our own, but after all these years, it wasn't until I saw him face to face that I realized how much I loathe him now more than I did before.

But do I, anyway?

I jerked my arm away from his and scowled at him as I lifted the tip of my chin. For the past forty-eight hours, he has invaded not just my private space but also virtually every aspect of my existence, and as a result, I am quite justified in acting all petty and rude toward him.

Even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I told him, "You want to cause a problem with my neighbors, it's up to you," despite the fact that it was your choice to do so. "Since you wanted to talk, then let's go somewhere more private," I added.

I simply needed to keep him away from Lennox and from this location, and as a result, I had no alternative but to give him the impression that I was going to give in to his demands and give up.

He proposed, "Then let's go inside your home if you want to keep things private," but I immediately shot him a look of disapproval and shook my head at him.

"Because our walls are so thin, everything you say will quickly become the topic of conversation in the surrounding area within minutes. In addition, you should only invite close pals "After explaining, I walked away with my duffle bag slung over one shoulder.

"Are you going someplace?" As we down the stairs together, he inquired about several things.

I did not respond, and I avoided looking at him at any point during the conversation. Simply coming up with a plan quickly enough to get him out of here and away from our son was the only thing I needed to do.

If returning voluntarily to Georgia with him was the only option to achieve that goal, then it was a choice that I was required to make in order to meet my needs.

My deepest condolences, dear son. I assure you that I will be back as soon as I am able to.