Eclipse Child |✔|

|48|

Can you remember who you were

before the world told you

who you should be?

-k.w.

***

There is a sighting of Vincent.

A distant pack, almost a day run away from Alba Rosa. He was closer than I thought him to be, but not close enough that led me to pursue.

"He's not our concern."

Henry nods his head absentmindedly, no longer as vocal as he once was. I don't question the change that has come over him. He has no need to say much anymore. My time becomes consumed in nothing but work. Work to help the pack. Work to make it better, more efficient. More.

Work to forget.

As long as there is work in front of me, I can focus on what my goal is.

"Alpha Theon will be arriving shortly. The border patrol is escorting him here now."

"How many did he bring?" I ask the question out of curiosity, wondering what numbers of warriors the tough male would let accompany him into 'enemy land'

"None."

I smile at the bold move.

"Are the females ready?"

Henry nods, "they have been informed to come to the pack house between the allotted times. We have a list laid out of all the names- if one doesn't come forward we will know."

I nod, but doubt such an account would be needed.

The unmated females were clawing for a chance to be a Luna. To hold something close to power. The ones who did not want such a thing were not destined to be in place of it. They were too weak to even have the drive in stepping forward.

Henry inhales deeply, a nervous sound, "here we go."

We both straighten as the sound of the approaching vehicle.

Voices soon are heard. I watch as Henry moves nervously from foot to foot, uneasy that we are not out to immediately greet him. It's a gesture though. A sign that though he has come to us, the same cannot be said back.

"Come."

Henry's face paints back into its picture of nothing. We both have perfected keeping it emotionless and blank for the viewing of others.

Within these past few weeks, as I stared down the pack, they saw nothing of my cracking resolve. Just my unending drive to maintain order.

Alpha Theon has not changed. He still holds the same wild around him as-

Green eyes stare down at me, a scowl twisting his lips when Henry and I finally emerge from the front door to greet him. Just as the door opens though, another look enters his face.

I stop short, bewildered by the sudden change that has come over him.

He is blinded. Like a male who has lost his sight and now stood fumbling in darkness. He looked captivated by such a thing though. As if he had hated the sun his whole life and now found relief in the beauty of night.

"Goddess," he inhales, eyes closing to complete the sight of the image he carries.

Henry and I both stare in silence as a single tear falls into his beard, tangling into the wild curls upon his face.