Chapter 36: Noelle.
Yara.
I finished stitching Laney up while Charlie talked to her and Noelle about who was worth saving from their previous pack. In the end, Laney gave him a list, but it wasn’t a very long list.
“They’ve collected some she-wolves from other packs when we’ve attacked. Some were forced into mate bonds that they didn’t want. They won’t be unhappy that you’re killing their mates, but it will make them weak,” she says.
“You didn’t help them?” I ask her. I don’t mean for it to sound judgmental, but she’s obviously a strong warrior and a woman. She could have stood up for them.
“You underestimate the menace in our pack, Luna,” Noelle says kindly.
“My sister has always put my life ahead of others, including her own.
Even after I became an adult. They would have killed her, or worse, used me against her, if she’d stood up
to them,” she says, smiling at Laney.
“Everyone wanted you. You’re sweet, you’re smart, and you’re beautiful,” Laney says to her.
‘I think our Beta is a bit smitten with this young woman,’ Annika says in my head. I look over and see him smiling at Noelle in a way that’s very similar to how Warren smiles at me.
‘Do you think…’ I begin.
‘Yes, she’s his mate.”
‘That will make Warren happy,’ I say, knowing that he’s been feeling grumpier about Gregor’s attention to me and Annika.
‘It makes me happy too. I like Gregor, but I would never choose him over Arric,’ she says, making me
curious.
‘Because Arric is an Alpha wolf?’
‘Because he’s our mate and he’s a good wolf. He’s good for this pack and he’s good for us, Yara. So is Warren. I know you agree with me or you wouldn’t be seriously considering letting him mark us.’
It’s true. I’ve never wanted to bind myself to someone, never wanted to give something so permanent because I never trusted anyone enough to agree to share my life with them. But Warren…he’s different. “You’l need to be prepared to look over those women when they come in, Luna. They’ll need your help,” Laney says, redirecting my attention back to them.
“How many are we talking about?” I ask, looking over the list that Charlie is creating.
“Fifteen to twenty, Luna, and that doesn’t include any omegas we come across.”
“How many warriors are you taking?” I ask him.
“I was planning on a hundred, if you clear them.”
“Savannah, let Anna finish up here. You and I need to clear these warriors and then we need to prep the hospital for an influx of people.”
“Yes, Luna,” she says, walking out to go speak to Anna, Erica, and Katie.
“Luna, when’s the last time you slept?” Charlie asks me.
“I don’t know, Charlie, what time is it?” I ask, smiling at him. I watch Noelle tense at our casual interaction and the gesture doesn’t go unnoticed by her sister.
“It’s close to midnight,” he tells me. I sigh. Sleep is a hot commodity around here that barely anyone gets. “I’ll sleep when everyone is taken care of,” I tell him.
I watch his eyes go unfocused before he looks back at me. “Alpha will be here soon.”
I narrow my eyes at him, putting my hands on my hips. “Are you telling on me, Charlie?”
“Who puts you on downtime, Luna? After what I heard you said to me about following me into the Moon
Goddess’ realm, it won’t be me. But if you want to go toe to toe against our Alpha, that’s up to you. I’ll just be sorry that I missed it,” he says, smirking at me and making my eyes narrow even more. “Why would she have to follow you to the Moon Goddess’ realm?”
Noelle asks, and now it’s my turn to smirk.
“Because he nearly died. He came into this hospital without a pulse, isn’t that right, Beta?” I ask him, casually sarcastic. Two can play this game. I’m not the only one with a mate in the pack now.
Charlie’s lips press tightly together as Noelle sucks in a breath. Charlie turns to her. “I’m okay. Trust me,
our Luna won’t let anyone fight if they aren’t strong enough,” he tells her, taking hold of her arms as he holds her gaze.
“How long ago was that?” Laney asks, looking from them to me.
“Two days.”
Both sisters suck in air.
“You almost died two days ago?” Noelle says.
At the same time, Laney says, “You got him healthy in two days?”
“Yes,” both Charlie and I answer at the same time.
“I have to go, but when I return…I’d like to talk to you more about…
everything,” Charlie says to Noelle.
She nods, blushing softly, as Anna walks in.
“Okay, I’m going to go get the hospital ready. Charlie…”
“The warriors are outside, Luna.”
I nod.
“I can help you, Luna. I’m not well educated, but I’m not squeamish at all,” Noelle says.
“How are you at following directions?” I ask her.
“T’ll do whatever you tell me to do,” she says.
“It will help the others to see that she’s alive, Luna,” Laney says. “They’ll trust you if they see her helping you.”
“Okay. You stay at my side and you do everything I tell you to do,” I tell her.
“Yes, Luna!” she says excitedly.
I watch Charlie hide his smile as we walk out of the room. Noelle very quickly becomes my shadow, staying right at my side.
“You warriors know the drill. If you were on the injury list, get in my line. If you were on downtime, get in Savannah’s,” I say.
For once, my line is extremely short and I work through my line quickly.
“The key is to make sure their wolves are strong,” I say to Noelle, educating her as I go. “If they say their wolves are strong, but their wolf doesn’t say it, you can’t trust it. You have to hear it from their wolves. Since they all consider me their Luna and I’ve told them that if they give any of my nurses a problem, they’ll answer you, they won’t lie to you about it.”
“You are our Luna,” the warrior in front of me says.
“Just because you aren’t wearing our Alpha’s mark yet doesn’t mean we haven’t accepted you as our Luna,” another warrior says.
I watch Noelle’s eyes go wide as the other warriors all murmur in agreement. I’ve gotten used to it, but apparently the pack’s devotion to me is something unusual for her to see.
Once Charlie calls them to attack, I turn back to the hospital. “Okay, let’s get this place cleaned up. How many crash kits do we have?” I ask, starting to take inventory and plan for the group coming in.