The Rise-Book II

Chapter 16: Party Time Part II

Lyanna nodded politely. "I do."

She slapped her palm on top of Thomas', but nothing happened. Not a spark, not a light switch, nothing.

Nada.

My heart froze.

My beast stood up quickly with Ethan's while different options of damage control were floating through my mind.

Shit.

Evan's face paled while Lyanna looked like she was about to shatter from the fear freezing her body.

She let go of Thomas' hands with big eyes that looked like a deer in the headlights. Thomas eyed her a bit, he opened his mouth when Aaron started to laugh.

He laughed hard, causing Ethan, Evan, and I to look at him like he ate his own shit. He winked at Lyanna then rolled his eyes at his dad, this was cocky arrogant Aaron at his finest. "Come on Lyanna, it's not like we're marking you in front of the pack."

Lyanna let out a nervous laugh and nodded, playing into Aaron's lie that probably saved her damn life. Thomas eyed his son then shook his head, like his was over Aaron's bullshit. "Second time's a charm."

She smiled and nodded again. "I get performance anxiety I guess."

Thomas chuckled heartily while Evan's mouth almost hit the ground. I stepped on his foot, scowling at him and causing him to compose himself again.

She slapped her hand in Thomas' again, and this time, the bond took. She felt like a damn lightning bug, zipping through my mind and over the bond with an energy that was both beautiful yet graceful like a Sugar Plum Fairy.

Thomas let her hand go and winked at her. "Welcome to the pack girl."

A wave of relief washed off of me as Lyanna trotted down the steps towards Evan, who was already making his way towards her.

Aaron caught my eye for a brief moment. "You're welcome."

Ethan looked down at me then back at Aaron. "I think you may be right sunshine, there very well could be something there."

"What should we do? What do you think?"

"I don't know yet. We'll think of something, though."

Evan hugged Lyanna to him and walked her back to us. She ran to me and hugged me tightly. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to me.

"It's fine, it's ok. It all worked out," I replied back while she nuzzled my cheek.

"Alright! Next up we need to address some serious issues of a pack member harming not only another member but this pack in itself," Thomas called out. He sat back down next to Miranda as Aaron took his place next to his father.

Lyanna moved next to Evan as Ethan pulled me close to him. A few guards walked Larissa out. Her hair was braided back into a long french braid and her face was almost so tight with lividity that it could have cracked with the slightest poke, like a balloon with too much air.

The five guards stood around her as the pack snarled at her, growled, and hissed out names at the sight of her. Her eyes caught mine; hate and disgust consumed them.

I growled sharply too her, causing her eyes to widen before she flickered them elsewhere.

"Larissa, you have not only attacked a pack member, Charlotte Thorne, without reason and outside the sparring rings, but you endangered Charlotte and Andrea–almost got Andrea killed–" As Thomas said the words, Andrea and Ryder started to push their way to the back of the crowd. Andrea looked back at Larissa with blazing green eyes before nodding back to me as she disappeared around the back of the house. "You lied to not only myself but this pack about rogues infiltrating our borders and attacking our members, and because of such lie, you forced me to collar my own Beta."