AN; So I passed my goal of  12 votes with 19 votes! Didn't meet my goal of 100 reads but 88 reads are not too bad! I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter! Thank you for all that are reading this story! I feel like I'm back in my old days of Wattpad. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading!  -Sam
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By the time they reached me, I already had the young girl cradled in my arms. She was still breathing, but her breaths were coming in swallow gulps and her body was cold to the touch. Whoever had left her here, had left her in nothing but a thin pink dress, black stockings, and a black fur-lined coat that was more suitable to late fall than late winter. Clearly, they hadn't been too worried about her survival.

The snow fell from the sky in clumps now, like it was trying to burry us. The pine trees that lined the dirt road, and stretch across the whole of Pine Ridge, didn't look real anymore. Instead, they looked more like imitations of trees made out of white frosting.

Benedick took off the coat he was wearing and used it to wrap up the girl. His black hair was almost completely white from all the snow that had fallen onto it.

I brushed some more snowflakes off her cheeks, her lips had begun to turn blue. Despite being on death's door, the girl I held in my arm was beautiful. She had the longest lashes I have seen, her skin was the color of warm earth, and her black hair hung in tight ringlets around her face. Her lips were full and her nose was perfectly shaped.

"How... how long do you think she was out here for?" Beatrice asked she was clutching her red duffle bag close to her chest.

"Whoever left her, their tracks were almost gone but the snow is falling pretty hard. I would say no more than 20 minutes," Benedick replied.

Tears began to pool in my eyes while the room began to spin. "They only had to walk a little bit longer to leave her in the box, instead of just leaving her in the snow..."

"I'm not sure," Beatrice replied solemnly and stared off into the swirling snow. "Some people are just not that kind. Or someone wasn't kind to them at some point in their life."

Just a little ways away from the house, hidden by a cluster of trees, sat a dark blue painted box with a white crescent moon, big enough to place a child in. Our land wasn't technically in pack land, so members of other packs could come onto the land without notifying Alpha Luka of their presence.

The rules of the box were simple, to follow for us Lunera. First thing in the morning, one of us would check to see if the box had a child inside it. The box was usually lined with blankets that we changed regularly during the day, especially when it got cold outside, so the child had some kind of warmth. At night, we weren't allowed near the box at, nor did we risk it. If we were spotted a family discarding their  Lunera kids, there was a really real chance we could be killed.

Tears were now sliding down my face and I squeezed the girl closer to my chest. And again I asked"Why didn't they just put her in the box where she would be safe. Why did my family do the same to me?"

"Caesar," Beatrice said softly, "I think you should take Aurelia home. Benedick can carry the kid to The Barn."

I shook my head at their words "I can carry her," I tried to stand with the little girl in my arms but my legs instantly folded under me.

"Aurelia, just let Benedick carry her. We need to get her inside the house quickly."

"But I don't want to let her go. She'll be cold again if I do..."

I felt strong arms go around me and pull me up off the ground to my feet. Unable to take the weight of the little girl, I was forced to let her slide out of my arms. Benedick caught her before she could slump back onto the snow and cradled her in his lanky, yet powerful arms.

"Hurry take her to the house! I got Aurelia," Caesar called over his shoulder, he still had me trapped in his tight grip.

"Let me go! She needs me!" I struggled against the prison of Caesar's arms, but in my intoxicated state, I could not break free of him. The sound of Beatrice's and Benedick's retreating footsteps filled my ears.

He held me while I continued to struggle. "Relax and let them take her to The Barn," he said calmly. "Aurelia, I'm not sure what is going on with you tonight. Just please talk to me, and tell me what is wrong!

He let go of me and I jumped away from him. Without looking back at him or saying anything, I stormed after Beatrice and Benedick, who were already a couple of yards on the snowy road. Despite how close I should be to them, I could barely make out their shapes through the swirling snow.  But no matter how fast I walked, I could not seem to catch up to them.

Behind me, I could hear the sound of snow crunching under Caesar's feet. The sound only urged me to quicken my pace.

It wasn't long before I finally came to the red-painted house we called The Barn. The snowstorm had begun to die down, and now only lazy snowflakes were drifting from the sky. The Barn was three stories high with three witch's towers at the top. It had a silver, slanted, tin roof that on occasions leaked when it rained heavily. 

The glow coming from eight of the ten windows that adorn the front of the house beaconed me in with their light. Smoke curled out of one of the Barn's two chimneys at the top, and swirled high into the bright winter sky.

I swung open the old green chipped door and was greeted by a roaring fire in the big stone fireplace in the common room.  Serval eyes glanced up at me upon my entrance, but no one said anything. Almost everyone was crowded around Beatrice. She was perched in one for the many mismatched chairs that were placed around the fire, and cradle in her lap was the girl. 

In total, 15, of us all lived in the house, and if the girl made it, there would be sixteen. I could hear mumbles of concern coming from the crowd, and some of the older children were pushing their way towards the front of the group.

Cold air from the front door hit me back, and I heard Caesar's footsteps behind me. Not wanting to face him right now, and sure the little girl was in good hands, I threw my parka on one of the hooks lining the wall, and raced over to the spiral staircase directly in front of me. From the bottom of the stairs, I heard Caesar called after me once, but I didn't stop. My feet pounded against the twisting stairs to the third floor.

The third floor was the smallest of the floor in the entire house. It was composed of a narrow hallway and two bedrooms that sat opposite of each other. The bedroom to the left was the one I shared with Beatrice, while the one on the right belonged to both. Benedick and Caesar. At the end of the short hallway was a tiny bathroom that sat in-between the two bedrooms that the four of us all used.

The four of us had all come to Pine Ridge around the same time. Caesar and I had shown up only days apart, while Beatrice had shown up a month later and Benedick had come only two months after her. It was the most Lunera children that had arrived in Pine Ridge in such a short amount of time ever.

I ran to my bed and threw my self onto the soft mattress and quickly slipped off my shoes and dove under the warm covers. I felt safe under them, and after the events of tonight, I needed to feel safe. It wasn't long before I was drifting off into a restless sleep.

I was standing in the doorway to Grayson's room with no memory of how I had gotten there. Everything around me was cast in a bright golden glow, including Grayson who was sitting on the edge red canopy bed, and Alpha Grayson who was standing over him in the room.

Grayson had his head bowed and his face was tense. 

Was this a dream? Why was everything cast in golden light? 

Something in my gut though told me this wasn't a dream.

The Alpha's face jerked towards me abruptly. I could see that his eyes where completely yellow and full of rage. Suddenly, he was charging toward me from across the room.

I cowered against the doorframe. How on earth was I going to explain why I was here? The Alpha stopped right in front of me and his hand glided towards me.

"I'm so sorry Alpha," my words came out in frightened gasps, "I have no idea why I'm here, I'm..."

His hand passed right through my middle and he closed the door behind me.

Without a word, Alpha Luka turned away from me and walked across the room to the two large armoires. He opened it and began rummaging through its contents.

Dumbfounded, by what was going on, I slowly crossed the room to where Grayson was sitting.

I knelt in front of him, "Grayson?" I said softly, "Can you see me?"

Grayson did not lift his head.

"Can you hear me?"

Still no response. I was here but neither of the men in the room could see me or hear me.

I got to my feet when I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. The Alpha stopped right in front of Grayson.

I turned my head to look at him, and my body went cold with fear at the sight of the short whip in his hand.

Wait why was I afraid of that whip? I glanced over at Grayson and saw his eyes filled with the fear I was experiencing. Was I somehow feeling what he was feeling?

"What the hell was that in my office!?" he roared.

Grayson flinched at the sound of his voice, "I told you I lost control for a second..."

Grayson didn't get to finish his sentence when Alpha Luka's fist smashed hard Grayson's stomach.

Grayson's clutched at his stomach and fell back onto the red sheets bed.

I winced, that had to have been painful.

"Stop lying and take off your shirt now...!" Alpha Luka order.

Grayson slowly sat up on the bed. With shaking hands he took off his jacket until he was sitting there in just his pants and his white dress shirt. With steady hands, he undid the buttons of the silk shirt and slipped it off, until his well-defined chest was exposed.

"Turn around and lay down!"

Grayson did as he was told and I was horrified to see that his back was covered in scars. The scars had long healed, but I knew how painful it must have been to have gotten them.

I had been whipped once,  by a maid at the Alpha's house because I had given her "backtalk". Although the "backtalk" I had given her was that I had already cleaned the bathroom so I should probably clean something else. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life.

The Aphla leaned over  Grayson and raised the whip and brought it down hard against his son's bare back. Grayson's let out a groan of pain.

"You embarrassed this whole pack with your actions!"

No stop!" I yelled while he raised the whip again. I threw myself in front of Grayson but it was no use. The whip passed through me and connected with its intended target.

Grayson let out another moan of pain.

I hurried over to the other side of the bed. My stress level was now through the roof. My mate was being hurt repeatedly and there was nothing I could do about it.

I leaned over the bed gazed into Grayson's eyes. They were so full of pain and seemed to be fixed on something off in the distance. His fingers gripped tightly onto the red fabric of his sheets.

I reached over and touched the top of his hand just as the whip came down to hit him a third time. The second I touch him Grayson's eyes met mine.

My eyes drifted open just a slither. I was back at The Barn in my bed and a light was shinning on my face. From somewhere in the room, Beatrice snored softly.

Baffled by where the light was coming from, I sat up in my bed and came face to face with a glowing, shirtless, confused-looking Grayson.
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True confessions, the idea in this chapter was a little inspired by Freaking Romance. Go check it out on Webtoons, it's so good!