Flashback

Elise startled awake when alarms went off around the pack. I wiped my sleepy eyes, confused. I opened my door a crack and saw my babysitter run out the door shifting. I wondered what was going on. My parents had gone dancing with Sam and Drake McAlister at a club. My dad linked, “Everyone get to safe places. Rogues are attacking.”

I linked my mom, “Are you back yet?”

She answered, “We are here. Get to the safe room, Elise.”

I heard someone coming in through the house. I opened my door and red eyed men greeted me. I screamed and slammed the door shut. They began to pound on it. I linked, “THEY ARE IN THE MAIN HOUSE!”

My baby brothers were in a different part of the house. I had to keep them away from them. I grabbed a dagger off the dresser that EJ’s Aunt Astrid gave me. She said you should always have a weapon nearby, just in case.

My parents screamed, “ELISE, RUN!”

I held the dagger in front of me as the men broke my door down. They circled me. One taunted, “The Alpha pup has a dagger. How adorable.”

I warned, “Stay away from me.” Three more people joined them.

I was confused because Rogues weren’t usually organized like this. The woman lunged for me, and I stabbed her, just like Astrid had shown me. Haley had me practicing too. The she wolf gasped and went down. They all growled at me, but it was nothing compared to the roar my dad let loose. He wasn’t close enough though.

I gripped my dagger and fought as hard as I could. I wished I could link EJ, my mate. He’d kill them all. A large brown and grey wolf jumped into my room through the window snarling. I was impressed by the jump he’d made to get in. He ripped the head right off the wolf closest to me. I whispered, “Ray.”

He had been around since I was little. He did seem to take a special interest in watching out for me, so I’d seen his wolf a lot.

He ripped the rest of them to shreds, easily. He shifted back asking, “Are you hurt?”

He grabbed my shoulders gently and looked me up and down. I whispered, “Just a few cuts.”

He turned me around. He growled, “Those bastards!” I asked, “Is everyone ok?”

He answered, “You are my priority, little Luna.”

Luna? I asked, “Are you from EJ’s pack?”

He answered, “I am.” He took out his phone. He said, “Alpha Eric, Red Run is under attack. I need Princess Luna Haley. They came into Elise’s room. I was too far away in the pack house when the alarms went off. I need a place closer.”

He was guarding me then. Haley popped in with EJ who snarled. Haley said, “Go, EJ. I’ll heal her.”

He shifted into his wolf and howled. Ray said, “That’s still the weirdest, yet coolest, thing I’ve ever seen.”

Haley’s healing light overtook me, and I let myself float away with it.

When I came to, everyone was in my room. EJ was cuddling me in a new room, but all my stuff was here. Haley said, “EJ wanted you in a new room. We can fix the other one if you’d like.”

EJ growled. I shook my head, “No, I don’t want that room anymore.”

My parents rushed over and my dad took me gently from EJ. My dad gripped me tightly before setting me down. My mom checked me over and had silent tears streaming down her face. I asked, “Is Ray guarding me?”

Eric answered, “Yes. He was assigned by me to do so the second it was confirmed you were EJ’s mate. He watched Chelsea first, but I didn’t have him move here. After the near fiasco at Dylan and Lacy’s reception he was moved here.”

I reached out and squeezed his hand, “Thank you.”

Ray smiled at me.

My dad said, “We can never thank you enough, Ray. We’d just crossed the border, and I kept getting cut off.”

My mom gritted her teeth, “The babysitter never should’ve left!”

I asked, “What about Dalton and Dakota?” My dad answered, “They slept through it, and no one went near their room.” They could sleep through a train in their room so that wasn’t surprising.

My dad held out his hand to Ray and shook it. He admitted, “I thought Eric was being overly cautions, but I didn’t care because she’s my little girl. This proves he made the right decision having you here. Whatever you need, let us know.”

He said, “I need a cottage closer to the house.”

Haley said, “I can do that.” My mom nodded, “Please do.” Haley popped out with Ray, and I fell asleep feeling safe in EJ’s arms.