Chapter Four

Drawing Closer

The sun had slipped below the endless expanse of fields an hour before Serena and Mina finally stepped from the warm confines of the great hall and into the waiting night. Most of the mated pairs had already stolen away to get in a quick hunt and run before the Full Moon Gathering officially began.

The long grass was cold beneath their bare feet but both girls were used to it and didn't flinch away from the night noises around them. Their noses accurately pin-pointed the cause of each disturbance and the girls dismissed them respectively: a rabbit, a mouse, a fox tracking the mouse…

An enormous bonfire had been built hours before and wolves in their human forms milled around, dressed in their finest. As they approached, Mina cheerfully grasped Serena's hand. The pack stilled and quieted when they broke the circle of dancing light and Serena felt a flush of discomfort begin in her stomach. She shouldn't have worn the dress. It was blatantly more beautiful than anything anyone else in the pack owned. She felt as if she was disregarding their care of her by wearing the dress but she hadn't been able to resist the silken fabric or the carefully stitched detail.

Barbra stepped forward, a warm smile creasing her gentle features. "Oh Serena! You are a sight to behold!" She enveloped Serena in a motherly hug, and when she pulled away, Serena was surprised to see tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "Henry! Look at our girl!"

Henry smiled, but his expression was slightly pinched. "You look lovely, Serena. But then, you always are." He looked at the dress and shook his head. "Don't need some fancy dress to show that."

Serena was hot with embarrassment and pleasure from their genuine praise. "Mina brought it for me and I thought I would wear it tonight." She explained, but Barbra shooed away her insecurities casually.

"Silly girl! It is beautiful!" She turned to Mina, dressed in her own silken gown. "That was kind of you to bring it for her. It has been years since she has been clothed in such finery."

Mina smiled. "A friend of ours made it for her. She sent it with me as a gift."

Serena turned in surprise, intent on asking who made such a beautiful dress for her but Mina had already fluttered away to talk excitedly with Molly about her upcoming Claiming. Melvin was standing nearby, awkward as ever, but his face was suffused with such adoration for Molly that Serena couldn't begrudge him his ungainly form.

"Melvin."

His eyes bugged out a little behind his thick glasses. Serena and her cool, collected beauty had always made him more than a little nervous. Not only that but dominance oozed out of her very pores and for a less dominant wolf like Melvin, being in the company of an alpha was never a very comfortable experience. Serena, too naïve to recognize her own affect on other wolves, was blithely unaware of this fact.

"Serena…" Melvin muttered, tilting his head to the side unconsciously and showing her his neck.

Serena was oblivious to his submissive gestures and blundered on, determined to set the tall scarecrow of a guy straight about treating her best friend well. "You will treat her like a precious gem, won't you?"

Little did she know that her voice, already underwritten with power, didn't need the extra push she gave it. Poor Melvin was sweating and Serena took his discomfort completely wrong. Instead of realizing she was the source of his nervous energy, she took it to mean that he wasn't sure that he could treat Molly like a gem.

Serena bristled, ready to come to the defense. "Melvin, you will treat her like a queen, won't you?"

"Of course—" Melvin managed to choke out but his nervous fidgeting was negating his words as far as Serena was concerned.

She was ready to pounce on him and force him to say he would treat Molly perfectly when Mina quickly stepped in, taking the blunt force of Serena's aura. She winced imperceptibly, and smiled gaily at Melvin. "Melvin, Molly is waiting for you!"

Melvin took the opportunity and escaped to the side of Molly, who was dressed in a light green dress, ribbons and flowers decorating her curly red locks. Making sure no one was paying attention, Mina lowered her voice and whirled on Serena.

"What are you doing? Trying to cow that boy into submission? He was already submitting to you completely! You were virtually terrorizing him!"

Serena stepped back, embarrassed and confused. "I was only trying to ensure that he would treat Molly well, that's all. I wasn't being dominant or anything."

Mina snorted and shook off her alpha's denial. "You were trying and if you aren't aware of it already, you don't even need to try." She ran a hand absently through her long wheat blonde hair and studied her confused alpha. "Serena, you are constantly exuding your alpha aura. That's not an issue for me, or even Molly but for wolves like Melvin…" She glanced over her shoulder at the couple who were giggling together next to the bonfire. "Melvin is as submissive as they come. You can't use any extra force with them because all it does it make them nervous, or edgy. He wouldn't lash out at you, most wolves like that won't but if you tried that with someone older, stronger, and male…they would retaliate."

Serena felt her embarrassment deepen. "I thought he was just being evasive because he didn't plan on treating Molly well. I didn't know he was being submissive to me."

Mina sighed thoughtfully. "You have been so far removed from pack politics, it is a wonder you haven't gotten into any fights here. You have much you need to learn, although the majority will come from listening to your wolf inside." She peered at Serena, her blue eyes perceptive in the firelight. "You don't listen to her enough, I think. That's your main problem."

Serena knew that was true but she also knew if she listened to everything her wolf wanted, she would have struck out on her own years ago to take revenge on Virtus (and probably would have gotten herself killed in the process), she would have sought out Darien and proclaimed her undying love and devotion (and had her heart shattered when he rejected her), and gotten into more territorial and dominance-driven fights than she could have counted. Listening to her wolf to survive was one thing, but listening and acting upon her baser instincts were another matter entirely.

Mina's demeanor shifted and she smiled brightly. "Well, don't worry about it for now. What's done is done. The Claiming is about to begin and Molly would be devastated if you missed out." She linked arms with Serena and pulled her to the gathering. "Besides, I think you have ensured that Molly will have the best mate in the history of our kind." They both relaxed and giggled, and watched as the Claiming ceremony began.

Darien and his generals were only a few miles from Henry's hold when he caught his first whiff of the other wolves. In his human form, Darien paused and waited as Malachite stopped a few feet to his left, a brilliant white wolf that made Darien feel petite standing next to him in his human form. Malachite tasted the breeze carefully and then his long, plumed tail began to wag back and forth slowly, his lips curling in a wolfish smile.

Jadeite stepped from the underbrush to the edge of the sparse woods. "It's Mina. She passed this way when she came here."

Darien smiled at Malachite's uncharacteristic display of excitement but then, it was always harder for them to hide their true emotions while in wolf form. "So we are nearly there."

"In time for the Full Moon Ceremony." Nephlite pointed out, having shifted back into his human form; he took his pack of clothes from Jadeite's shoulder and dressed quickly.

"Duck." Jadeite grumbled and dropped to the leaf-littered ground. Darien followed suit without hesitation and a honey-colored blur sailed over him, dropping exactly where Darien's exposed back had been.

Zoisite rolled energetically around in the dead leaves, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, and happiness coming off of him in joyful waves. One of his favorite games, since childhood, was to attempt to pounce on them when they were least expecting it. However, he employed this game so frequently that they expected his attacks and he rarely ever caught them.

Not that it seemed to stifle his puppy-like energy.

Malachite sniffed in Zoisite's direction disdainfully and was about to shift when Zoisite pounced on him, making playful nips at the beta's neck and shoulders. Malachite growled and spun, attempting to buck off the younger, smaller wolf, but Zoisite yipped happily and clung on.

Darien smiled and stood, brushing a stray leaf from his dark locks. Jadeite was itching to join the tussle but Nephlite shook his head. They still had more ground to cover and the sooner they arrived, the sooner their mission could be accomplished and the sooner they could return to the Valterre castle.

When the play fight continued with no signs of abating, Darien strode over and easily snagged Zoisite by the scruff, giving Malachite enough time to shift into his human form. Zoisite dangled helplessly, but was still yipping and yowling playfully, attempting to turn his head and nip at his alpha's hand. Darien laughed and shoved the wolf away from him, and Zoisite shifted to his human form, laughing and sweating.

"At least I got one of you!" He chuckled and shrugged on a blue tunic.

Malachite grunted. "I was distracted."

Zoisite's grin widened. "I thought I caught a passing scent trail of the lovely and fair Mina!" He teased, darting out of the way when Malachite half-heartedly swiped at him. Darien watched the exchange with fond tolerance. Each of his generals possessed his own personality and qualities than made them unique and irreplaceable. Malachite was the stoic, Nephlite was the mediator, Jadeite was the youngest and often lacked a filter between his brain and his mouth, and Zoisite would never lose his playful puppy side.

"If the two of you are done…?" He asked pleasantly, and Zoisite ambled to his side.

"Never done but always at your service."

Darien knocked him on the top of his head affectionately. "Let's go."

This took much longer than anticipated but a lot has happened in my life! I am now married and expecting my first baby. SO, the next chapters will come as my life allows! But thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and are waiting for the next chapters! I really am writing this because I know you guys are out there waiting patiently.