“Just a few bruised ribs. Nothing too bad.”
Sage pulled her tank top down and sighed in relief. Thankfully, there were no broken ribs.
“Thanks, Doc.” She smiled and wrote something on her notepad.
“No problem. Here are some painkillers. Take them three times a day for four days.” Doc handed her the painkillers. Sage gave her a small smile and got off the table.
Walking out of the infirmary, she saw Elijah and Romeo waiting for her. When they saw her, they walked over.
“I’m fine, just some bruised ribs and an emotional mess,” she said.
Elijah gave her a small smile. “I’m sorry my dad did this.”
“It’s fine,” she said while sighing. They started walking back to the house. “I understand why he did it and he was right. I need to go through it. I just don’t know how.”
Elijah placed his arm over her shoulders. “We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry, you’re not alone.”
Sage kissed his cheek, which earned a small growl from Romeo. She rolled her eyes and also kissed his cheek. “Happy now?”
Romeo snorted. “Very.”
They all chuckled.
As they walked into the house, they heard Juliet scream. They all ran to the back porch. Rachel ran after her daughter as she was holding a bucket with water.
Sage shook her head and snorted. “I’m gonna take a quick shower.” She patted Romeo on his back.
After she got out of the shower, she dressed in black panties and a black bra, then grabbed a green maxi dress.
It had a circle skirt and a split which started just below her right hip and showed her leg as she walked. It had a sweetheart neckline and short off-shoulder sleeves.
If the dress wasn’t made from simple material, it had been an evening dress instead of a summer dress. She grabbed a brown belt and put it around her waist to accent the dress.
The dress was a little too long so it rested on the ground. She let her hair hang loose.
She grabbed some slippers and walked to the back porch where the water fight was still in full action.
Romeo and Elijah had removed their shirts and were running after the soaking Juliet.
Edward had Rachel in his grasp as she was laughing and trying to get free. Rick sat on the porch and was looking at them with a smile on his face. Sage sat down next to him.
“How are you doing?” He looked at her.
“Just a few bruised ribs.” He nodded and gave her an apologetic look.
“I understand why you did it, uncle. Don’t feel sorry. Besides, you’ve done worse than just bruising my ribs. Remember when you broke my arm and leg?”
Rick scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I can’t forget that… Still feel bad about it,” he said, snorting at the same time.
“Don’t worry about it,” she bumped his shoulder with hers. “If I might ask, where are the alphas? I mean, shouldn’t they meet the ones they allowed to stay in their pack?”
Rick nodded. “They had to go to another pack. Something to do with the Gang. They should be back tomorrow.”
“I always thought that one of them stayed behind,” Sage said.
“Normally they do, but when they found out about the Lost Moon, one of them went to the pack that had asked for their help and the other went to the pack next to the Lost Moon to aid them in case they needed it,” Rick answered.
“I’ve never heard of an alpha going himself to aid a pack.”
Rick smiled. “The alphas are different. They know who the leaders of the Gang are, and they know that if one of them is with an allying pack, the Gang won’t dare to attack.”
Sage nodded.
“Star! Help me!” Juliet ran toward her with Elijah and Romeo close behind. Before Juliet could reach her, Romeo jumped in front of her and threw an entire bucket of water over her head.
When the bucket was empty, he placed it over her head. She quickly took it off and threw it at him. “Not fair, your legs are longer than mine!”
“Too bad, little girl,” Romeo commented. A tear rolled down her cheek. Sage got up and walked over to her.
“You are just a big bully!” Juliet screamed at him and ran toward the tree line.
“Wait, Juliet!” he yelled after her.
Sage didn’t wait and ran after her.
“Sage!” Elijah yelled.
Juliet disappeared into the trees as Sage soon followed. Even though she had small legs, Juliet was still faster than her, thanks to her werewolf speed.
With every step Sage took, she felt the pain in her ribs, but she pushed through. If there was one thing she’d learned, it was to go on, even if the pain was unbearable.
If you give in, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Juliet kept on running and Sage could hear her sobs, so she spurred herself to go faster.
When she evaded a large tree, an arm appeared out of nowhere and knocked her down. Sage fell hard on her back and groaned. A hand grabbed her neck and pulled her up.
She was pushed against a tree and heard a low growl. Her vision started to become clear again and she saw one of the most handsome males she had ever seen.
He had black hair, light blue eyes, so light they were almost silver, and had just the right amount of muscle to make him burly, but not too much. He was only wearing pants and was barefoot.
He had a tattoo that covered a portion of his right upper arm and chest. They were markings she hadn’t seen before but were still familiar, as if she knew what they meant.
His eyes turned amber, the color of the wolf’s eyes, and he tightened his grip around her neck.
Sage grabbed his wrist and struggled to breathe. She threw her leg up and kicked him in his junk.
He groaned and his grip loosened.
Seriously, this was the most fighting she had ever done in such a short period.
She pulled his hand off of her neck and turned his arm on his back. He elbowed her in her ribs, and she clenched her jaw to avoid screaming.
He pulled himself free before tackling her, and as she fell, he grabbed her neck again and pushed her even harder on the ground.
Sage screamed at the pain of her bruised ribs.
She threw her legs up and kicked him against his head. He groaned and fell to the side. She quickly got up and wanted to run when she saw another male in front of her.
He was also just wearing pants and the same amount of muscle, but he had ginger-colored hair and green eyes.
He attacked, and she blocked his arm. She managed to punch him in his abdomen, but he quickly grabbed her arm and turned it onto her back. He quickly grabbed her other arm as well.
When she was turned around and he stood behind her with both her arms against her back, the other one grabbed her neck again. She couldn’t believe this was how she was going to die.
“No!” Juliet’s voice forced the males to look at her. Sage could see two more males appearing behind her.
“Juliet!”
They knew her.
Sage cursed herself. She had been fighting with two wolves from the pack where she was allowed to stay. If the alphas found out, she would be kicked out for sure.
The two other males crouched down next to Juliet.
“Please let her go!”
“She was chasing you, Juliet!” the black-haired one stated.
“No! Well, she was, but it’s not what you think, Alpha!”
Sage felt the ground disappear from underneath her. She had been fighting one of the alphas!
Of course, she had been fighting with one of the alphas. As if her life wasn’t fucked up enough yet!
“What do you mean, Juliet?” the ginger-haired one asked her. The grip on her neck became a little looser, and she breathed in a bit more air.
“Romeo bullied me and I ran away. She just came after me to stop me, Alpha,” Juliet said.
Sage froze, which caused the black-haired one to look at her. She had been fighting with both of the alphas…
Yep, she was going to be exiled or die.
“Please, let her go.”
The two alphas looked at each other, and almost simultaneously, they let her go. Sage fell to the ground, breathing hard. Sage reached for her ribs.
Juliet ran toward her and threw her arms around her.
“I’m so sorry, Star!” Juliet buried her face in the crook of her neck and sobbed.
Sage rubbed her back soothingly. “Just don’t run off into the woods again when you can’t win.”
Juliet pulled away and looked at her with a shocked face.
“He didn’t bully you, Juliet. Just because you couldn’t win from him isn’t a reason to run away.”
She let her head hang and nodded. “I’m sorry. Do you still want to be friends with me?” Juliet’s voice was like a whisper.
Sage placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head. “Of course, I still want to be friends with you. As long as your alphas don’t kick me out,” Sage said it with a chuckle, but the fear was real.
“Who are you?” the ginger-haired one asked.
Sage stood up and bowed her head. “Sage Moon, alpha’s daughter of the Lost Moon pack, astronomer-in-training, and human,” she said with a sigh.
“You’re one of the daughters of Max,” he stated.
Sage nodded.
“My apologies.”
Sage turned around to look at the black-haired one.
“I didn’t know who you were and saw you as a threat to one of the pack's members.”
She had a shocked expression on her face.
“What?” he asked.
She shook the expression off of her face. “Never has an alpha apologized to me before.”
He smiled a little. “Aries Astrofengiá, alpha’s son, alpha of the Fire Moon pack and Fire Wolf pack.”
The shocked expression reappeared on her face. “You are named after a constellation?”
He gave her a small smile. “You weren’t lying when you said you were an astronomer-in-training,” he said.
“Leo Asteri, alpha’s son, alpha of the Wolf Moon pack and Fire Wolf pack.”
Sage turned around to the ginger-haired one. “You too?”
He chuckled. “I am.”
She repeated the names in her head. “And your last names mean star, Asteri, and starlight, Astrofengiá.”
The two alphas wore proud looks on their faces.
“I can honestly say I’m jealous of your names.” She locked eyes with Aries.
“Don’t be,” he said. “You don’t know what it means to have them.”
