Run towards the moon

Chapter 2

Alia closed the door of her niece's room and walked downstairs. She entered the kitchen and grabbed two cups of tea. She made some water boil and took a tea box out of the cupboard. Inside were several bocals, each labelled. She took the one with 'lavender' written on it and opened it. She brought it to her nose and enjoyed the relaxing aroma. 

When the water came to a boil, she took a spoon of the dried herbs and put it in the cups along with some hot water. The liquid quickly took a purple collor and smelled even beter. She took the two cups and walked into the living room. The TV was still on but most of the audience had gone to sleep. All that was left was the two exhausted bodies of two young parents. 

"Here, you should drink it and go rest, Ben", she said as she gave a cup to her brother. He was seating on the sofa, his mate lying beside him, her head on his leg, sleeping. 

Benjamin Maxwell was the middle child of the Maxwell's family. He was a year younger than Alia. He was born as a proud alpha, both in body and in mind. She used to fight a lot with him. From an early age, he displayed all the traits she hated in a male. Arrogant. Prideful. Selfish. A coward. A liar. Things only got worse as he grew older and more powerful. They started to fight in their wolf form, blood was spilled almost every three days. Neither of them would ever accept defeat. The only way to stop them was to mobilize warriors and to keep them away from each other. Their relationship had hit rock-bottom when they were both drafted for the annual mating ceremony. But everything changed when, by the end of the third night, Benjamin brought back a small blond haired omega with him. 

Alia still remebered it clearly, the sight of her naked brother running through the woods carrying the poor girl in his arms. She almost didn't recognize him, he was covered in blood and tears were streaming down his face. When he noticed her presence, Benjamin turned towards her and started to scream her name. He was begging for help. 

"Alia !! Help me, Alia !! I fucked up, there is so much blood. Alia !"

 She examined the girl from afar. Her neck was bloody and she was unconscious. Alia immediatly understood the situation and ran to her brother.  

"Alia, she can be saved, right ? Alia ?"

She took the girl out of his arms and lay her on the ground. Judging by her scent, she was a young omega. This was bad, the bite marks were too deep. An omega like her couldn't heal fast enough to stop the blood from flowing out. She needed to receive a transfusion and to be kept warm but first they had to stop the blood loss. 

"Alia, answer me !! Say something !!". 

She stood up and slapped Benjamin in the face before grabbing both of his shoulders. She forced him to look her straight in the eyes. 

"You, shift and run as fast as you can towards the center of the forest. Go to the camp, ask for a medic. Tell them to prepare for a patient suffering from severe blood loss and that she will require stitches. Bring them all back with you".  

Alia had spoken with a commanding tone she normally never used with her brother. The boy faltered a bit, he was still crying.

"I ... I can't leave her alone... I'm the reason she ...". 

"Now is not the time ! There are some cotton plants not so far from here. I'm going to carry her there and do everything I can to stop the bleeding. Then I will take her to you. Benjamin, you need to be the one to go ask for help. Those people would never believe me. But they trust you. You need to go before it's too late. Just go !"

... Looking back, Alia realised how things had changed. After that night, Benjamin became the best version of himself. He became loving. He learned to be careful and patient. For the first time, he thought about the hapiness of another person before his. 

Obviously, at first, his relationship looked like a train wreck. The young omega, Eris, ended up traumatized. She would scream and tremble every time she saw him. Benjamin couldn't talk to her, let alone touch her. He tried for three years to earn her trust back. Some nights, Alia could hear him howling in his room. He couldn't bear the guilt, so he screamed and cried as if it was the end of the world. Alia loved the man he had become, even though he was still flawed. But this was something she could never understand, the despair coming from a mate's rejection. 

It took a long time, but Eris eventually opened her heart to him. Step by step, she let him get closer. Until eventually, Eris gave birth to a cute little pup called Eliza.

"Is my daughter asleep ?" Benjamin asked, taking the tea cup. 

Alia nodded and took a sip from her tea. The lavender taste was making her sleepy. 

"How do you even get her to lie down ? Eliza never listens when I'm the one putting her to sleep", Benjamin grumbled. 

"That's because you treat her like a child. You can't just put her in her room and expect her to go to sleep. You need to negociate. Anyway, she and I made a deal. If she behaves like a good kid, I put her to bed by telling her a story". 

Benjamin frowned. 

"That's it, you just tell her a sto_ Wait, what kind of story ? Not something related to the mating ceremony, I hope ?"

Alia looked away for a secund, then she took another sip and shrug her shoulders. 

"Those stories are not appropriate for someone her age ! What went through your mind ?", Benjamin exclaimed. 

She chuckled. "Relax, I'm taking out all the +18 parts out of my stories. More importantly, you should really go to sleep. You have so much bags under your eyes, you look like a panda". 

Benjamin hummed, he put off the TV and gulped the rest of the lavender tea. He gave her the cup back before he took Eris in his arms and carried her to their room. 

"Thank you. I really appreciate your help", he said before leaving.

"No worries. We are family after all", she responded. 

Alia took the cups back to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. She yawned and went up the stairs. As she walked through the hallway, she noticed the lights coming from her father's desk were still on. Surprised, she slightly opened the door and called her father with a small voice, hoping to not wake anyone up. Seeing no one answered, she went in to put the lights off. Her father's desk was covered with letters and documents. Some were the annual reports made by her father's beta, others were formal complains or letters coming from the neighbouring clans. However, a specific letter caught her attention. It was a red enveloppe with a golden stamp representing a wolf. 

"The Royal Family ? Why would they contact the alpha of a minor clan like oures ?"

Alia had a bad feeling about this letter. She couldn't help but read its content. It was a formal invitation, sent to all the alpha's families, asking them to reunite and celebrate the prince's birthday together at the Royal's clan. 

Alia was shocked. She re - read the invitation and realised by the tense's formulation that there was no way around it. All the alpha families needed to be present. She included.

She calmly put the invitation back on the desk, took a big cushion and a stapler and proceeded to staple the cushion on the nearest wall. She put the stapler back on the desk and then smashed her head into the cashion. She repeated the action a few times before letting out a long sigh and wobbling towards the door. She couldn't remember how she reached her room that night, but she remebered she fell asleep very quickly.