Okay babes! Chapter 19 is now ready for you! So, I give you a 2,000+ word chappie and a few virtual cookies :)

~DA2014

Meet Me In The Moonlight

Chapter 19

Since Alberta's return, and scolding, Abe's efforts to find his daughter had been strengthened and renewed. He was determined that they wouldn't stop, unless his daughter was found. Olena had also asked for his help in finding her oldest son, Dimitri, who had gone missing about a month after Rose. And, to top it all off, Janine had stopped eating anything and was rapidly losing weight, which wasn't good at all, since Yeva had just confirmed his suspicions of her second pregnancy. His boys, Stan, Mason, and Eddie, had all picked a mate, and were happily settling in to their first mating season with their chosen loves.

Stan had fallen in love with the second oldest Belikova girl, Sonya. They wouldn't be mating this year, since Sonya had just given birth for the first time last night. Of all the pups she birthed, Sonya suffered a tragedy when only one was born breathing. The little pup, a girl she decided to name Kenna, was born with the brightest brown eyes anyone in the pack had ever seen, and a mocha colored coat, with a single patch of red around her left eye. All through Sonya's labor, Stan stayed by her side, reminding her to breathe, and that it wouldn't be long before she could see the precious babes she had carried. Sonya, of course, heard none of it and cried out in pain continuously.

Mason fell in adoration to Amelia "Mia" Rinaldi. The she-wolf's bright blond hair struck Mason as odd, but he had always had an eye for the odd things in life. He had always loved them, so it was only natural that he would spot Mia. Her blue eyes had entranced Mason, from the first time he had gathered the nerve to talk to her, and his heart had been claimed by the girl ever since. They had found their own den, a little farther up the mountain, and claimed it for their own. As far as was known by the pack, they had already mated multiple times, and a pregnancy was ensured for the pair.

Eddie was smitten with the youngest Dragomir girl, Jillian. Both were sweet young wolves, growing into their own. But, by their own choice, they had decided to wait another year until mating. Jillian was still nervous about it all, and she was continually intimidated by Mia and Sonya, as well as any other female near her. She was still a small thing, and insecure. She always worried that Eddie would come to his senses, seeing that she was nothing but a small girl with nothing to offer him, and leave her. But, Eddie was always fast to reassure Jill that he wanted nothing more than her. So, every night, the duo retreated to their little alcove in the large den and lay curled together. Jill, settled into it all nicely at the end of the day, and often fell asleep to Eddie whispering sweet nothings to her, or telling her the story of his parent's love, and how he wanted their to be like theirs, if not better.

Alberta silently sat back and watched as life went on. Her reckless grandson's had calmed down considerably since finding their mate. Abe was under pressure to find the missing pack members, get Janine to eat and care for herself for the sake of her pregnancy, help the pack with internal matters, and overnight, a new threat from Aleksandor had appeared. In the form of a dead pack member, left at the mouth of their den. Olena had spent every night and day searching for her son, because after suffering so many miscarriages, she couldn't handle losing another.

Christian had settled into the new pack, and it wasn't long before he began to harbor feelings for the angelic Dragomir girl. Christian was absolutely smitten with Vasilisa, or Lissa as she insisted he call her, and he was oblivious to the fact that she felt the same way. They spent most of their days watching each other from opposite sides of the den, wishing that the other would come say something. Christian had taken the merging of his family into the pack with an unsettled feeling, like something was wrong. He often felt as if someone was watching him, glaring daggers into his flanks. Every time he turned to see who it could be, he found Andre. With Christian's dark looks, combined with the fact that he was Aleksandor's son, Andre would have no problem getting rid of Christian. Lissa was coming of age, at almost a year old, to mate, and many suitors had shown an interest. Christian was interested in courting Lissa, and eventually mating with her too, but he wouldn't say anything. Lissa's parents didn't like the dark boy because of his paternity, and neither did Andre. Except, Andre was a bit more vocal about it than Eric and Rhea were. They mostly kept to themselves, but Andre was often found causing trouble and blaming Christian. So, in short, Andre did not approve the least bit of Christian and Lissa bonding and mating.

Lissa was the kind of girl that would only accept one mate for her entire life. And, she was determined that if the mate wasn't Christian, then there would never be one.

Rose had spent a quiet night at the Sage house. The next day, she returned to work and ignored every look that came her way. She went about business as normal, serving customers and cleaning tables. Rose also made sure to pay the tab from last night that Alberta, Dimitri, and herself had racked up. When the time came to clock out and head home, she didn't know if she should return to her apartment or stay with the Sage's another night. The whole point of her having the apartment was so she wouldn't be imposing on the Sage family, which she never wanted to do in the first place. And, Rose was sure that Dimitri didn't know how to cook anything. Had he eaten at all today? Well, she was about to find out. In the midday sun, she walked back to her apartment building and made her way up the stairs. When she came to her door, she found that it was cracked open. A bad feeling crept into her gut, so she slowly pushed the door open to peak inside. What she found worried her.

The living room was a mess. The furniture had been pushed around and out of place. The lamps that normally rested on the end tables had been pushed to the floor and now lay in a shattered mess. The window blinds had been torn down, and the curtains ripped to shreds. She quickly turned to the kitchen, finding that all the dishes lay in a mess, scattered around the floor. In that moment, Rose was thankful she had decided to invest in dishes that wouldn't break. The table was turned over, the legs broken off. The chairs lay flipped, so the legs stuck out in the air. Continuing to slowly make her way in to her apartment, Rose could see deep claw marks on all the walls. After seeing them, she followed them to the end of the hall, towards her room. When she opened the door, her heart broke. There lay Dimitri, on her bed. He had somehow found a way to nestle himself into her blankets, and his head rested on her pillow. He was in his wolf form, which would explain the claw marks that decorated her walls. The rest of her apartment had been a mess, every single room... Except her own. Dimitri was asleep, and she didn't want to wake him, but she had to find out what happened.

She made her way over to the bed, and gently sat herself on the edge. She didn't know what Dimitri would do, so she cautiously reached her hand out and began to stroke Dimitri's fur coat. It was soft, she knew. She had known that since they were little pups that would rest together at night in the moonlight by their river. But, being a wolf herself, she never imagined it would feel like fleece. Dimitri's head moved a bit, but he didn't wake. Rose had had a long day at work, but she knew the apartment wouldn't clean itself. So, instead of waking Dimitri like she had originally planned, she rose from the bed and left the room, silently closing the door. From there, she went to the little closet in the hall and grabbed the broom and dust pan, before making her way to the living room. It seemed to be the epicenter of all the destruction and looked as though it was going to take the most work. Upon closer inspection, she found shreds of cloth, that had they been pieced together would have made up the clothes that Dimitri had worn yesterday.

Eventually, Rose got to work, sweeping up the torn clothes and broken glass, before putting it in a small grocery bag, tying it off, and then throwing it away. Then, she took down what remained of her curtains and blinds and set those next to the trash can, so they too could make the journey down to the apartment complex's dumpster. Next came picking up all the dishes, and arranging them around the counters so they could be washed, then put away. That ended up taking hours, and by the time Rose was done with them, it was time to make dinner. So, Rose got the necessary ingredients to make a vegetable stew with homemade garlic bread.

Then she set to work cooking. This was the first time Rose was attempting to cook without Alberta there to help her. Rose started with chopping and peeling the vegetables while the butter melted in the microwave. When the butter melted, Rose mixed in a bit of freshly crushed garlic, and stirred it together. She then brushed it onto slices of bread, set it on a pan, and put it in the oven to bake. Next, the vegetables went into the pot of pasta, and the stove was turned on to a high temperature to boil. As Rose began to clean the dishes she used for dinner, she heard a loud crashing sound, as if something had fallen to the floor. That alerted Rose to Dimitri now being awake. She went about her business, cooking and preparing dinner for the two.

Rose then heard doors opening and closing, then the shower turned on. By the time Dimitri made an appearance, Rose had pulled the garlic bread out of the oven and the stew was done cooking. Dimitri entered the room, wearing some black sweat pants and a white tank top. Rose was still in her work uniform, and her feet hurt. After working her shift that morning, she hadn't had time to sit down and rest her feet since her apartment had been a mess. So, she now walked in the direction of the living room, grabbing Dimitri by the ear and pulling him along with her.

"Help me fix the furniture." She tensely commanded.

They then worked together, moving the cough and coffee table back into position in front of the television. The end tables were next, set upright and one at each end of the couch. The love seat was moved back into it's place, turned perpendicular from the couch, but connected by the end table to the left of the couch. Rose had already pushed Alberta's favorite reclining chair back into it's place. Then, she turned and walked to the kitchen, served herself dinner, and returned to the living room. She had found the remote to the television under the entertainment center, but now she grabbed it off the coffee table and changed the channel to watch Criminal Minds.

"I'm sorry."

Dimitri's soft-spoken voice broke through the noise from the television.

"Why?"

And it's done! Up next, Rose confronts Dimitri about the messy apartment she came home to and.. Will Alberta return?

Let me know what you think!

~DA2014