CHAPTER 6

　　THREE WEEKS LATER 　　CONRI'S POV. 　　These three weeks were packed with pieces of training upon training; I watched her grow into a beautiful woman and a beautiful soldier. Her confidence had increased from the last time I saw her, probably because the last time I saw her, she was a shy, timid girl, and when she came back, I met her completely battered and bruised. 　　She was strong and fit to be the Luna she should have been, but I was selfishly grateful for Howard's stupidity that made him reject her and push her into my laps, but that doesn't mean I won't make them all pay for what they did to her. 　　The fact that her father was also in support of her execution annoyed me greatly. 　　Our relationship wasn't what I was expecting it would be. We weren't all lovey-dovey like I expected, but she trusted me immensely and trust, they say, is the foundation of every relationship. 　　I'd promised that I would take her back to the pack, and now I was fulfilling my promise to her. Jared, the camp make-up artist, was with her in the room presently, making her look like a completely different person. 　　I'd given him a heads up of what I wanted, and I hoped he would deliver the best. 　　When Daciana walked out of the room, she was almost recognisable to him because he knew who she was but to others, they would have a hard time figuring it out. 　　She looked entirely different. Her blonde sun-like hair was not dyed red, the exact colour of blood. Her baby face was pulled back, making her cheeks look sharp and her jaw a bit pointed. Her evergreen eyes were replaced with black contacts, and her lips were clad in red lipstick. 　　She looked beautiful but not like Daciana-beautiful but beautiful all the same. The makeover had taken not less than four hours to make. 　　“How do I look?” She asked, and I realized that her voice had reduced in its frequency. It was a bit lower now. I hoped it wasn't a permanent change or anything. 　　“Different. Not like the real Daciana.” I smiled. 　　She grinned. “ So it's believable, right? I was a bit worried that they would see the real me.” 　　“Have you looked in the mirror?” I asked. 　　“No, I was a bit worried about what I would see.” She looked down at her hands as she fidgeted with them. 　　“Come on.” I placed my hands on her lower back, ushered her into her room, and showed her the mirror. 　　Her eyes widened in shock. “Wow! I look so different.” 　　“I did tell you that I had the camp's greatest makeover artist.” I smiled. 　　“I hope he isn't just good at making people. I'd like to have him do my makeup when all this is over.” She grinned at the mirror. 　　She said it so innocently that it would be weird if I got angry about it, but it did make me frown in anger. The thought of a man making her look pretty every day bothered me. 　　“I'll think about it and see what I can do,” I said. My voice had gone lower, and my eyes had turned darker. All of these she would have noticed if she paid attention, but she was busy admiring the masterpiece on her face. 　　“It's a good thing he had the thought of making me wear a mask; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to make the makeup look as perfect as this.” She said with relief, and I also felt a bit of relief from that statement as well because that would mean that he wouldn't be privileged to touch or see her daily. 　　My eyes looked down at her back. Her dress had a little opening at the back, showing me her flawless, milky skin. It was so tempting that I had to resist touching it in order not to send the wrong message across. 　　“Are you ready?” I asked her, my eyes glazing into hers through the mirror. 　　“I am unless you want me to wear something else.” She asked. 　　My wolf growled within me. 　　Hell, yes, I did want her to wear something else. Her back was too exposed for my liking, and her cleavage was right outside for the world to see, which was crazy because it was similar to what she wore in the pack before she left. 　　“Not really, but hold on.” I quickly went to my room, pulled out a royal blue coat with a mockingbird golden pin, and went to her room to see that she hadn't left her position. “Wear this cape to protect yourself from the weather. ” 　　I half expected her to tell me that there was nothing wrong with the weather, but she said nothing and wore it, pinning the edges of the cape with the mockingbird at her cleavage, and I smiled with satisfaction. 　　I held her hand and pulled her out of the room. 　　“Wait for me here, okay? I need to address my men before we move.” 　　“Okay, I'll be waiting.” She smiled, and I jogged off to my men. 　　They were lined up in the clear field of the forest, their hands at their back and their legs spread out. 　　“We've spent days and weeks and months staying out in the camp; we've lost a lot of men trying to protect our pack from external attacks, and I'm sure by now, a lot of us, if not all of us, are much stronger and powerful than we were when we left the pack. We've come to trust each other more than we trust ourselves because we know that the person standing beside us will have our backs in war, and I would like us to continue with that.” My eyes scanned through the rows and rows of men who trained in the hardships of war. 　　“Don't let anything you hear in the pack make your trust and faith in your fellow soldiers waver. Am I clear?” 　　“Yes, sir.” The sounds of men thundered in the air, and I gave them a hard smile. 　　“Now we return to our families and friends, and we also silently grieve for the families of our lost men. Now we return with pride and honour.” I yelled, and they screamed with a war cry, “With pride and honour.” 　　The journey back home started, and all through the l soldiers sang songs of war, songs of celebration, songs of mourning, songs of victory. The air was filled with mixed feelings, but it was mainly of joy. 　　Our horses were in a separate hidden stable, the fastest means of transportation through these woods. Looking back at the stress and arguments I went through just to get the Alpha to give each soldier a horse, I didn't share the opinion that only men with status could have a horse in the military. I didn't want my men to have to walk miles on foot to fight a war when their energies would easily drain. 　　Howard was a stingy ruler, and it is not like buying a thousand horses would dent the packs' riches. These men deserved every bit of VIP treatment they could get because they worked for it. They were the ones that put the pack in the place it is now. Not Howard. 　　Daciana didn't have a horse of her own, so she had to ride with me and did I mention how much of a torture it was? 　　Having her so close to me that the rose scent of her bathing soap invaded my nose whenever the wind blew or the honey scent of her hair shampoo when the breeze danced with her hair. 　　A day had almost gone, and most of my men were tired, so we had to rest for the night. Daciana offered to get our horse to the camping ground and told me, more like she ordered me, to hold on to her waist as she led the horse and our men to the open space. 　　I pulled her to the stream that was just meters away from where we were based while the men worked on making a quick tent for us. 　　“What are we doing here?” She asked as she stared at the bag in my hands. 　　“I thought you'd want to go for a swim,” I said, remembering how she loved swimming back at our campground. “But we can go back if…” 　　She leaned in and pecked my cheeks. “Thank you.” 　　She went behind a tree and pulled off her clothes while I busied myself with bringing out her nightwear with a very thick sweater because of how cold the night and the water were. 　　The sound of the water splash told me it was safe to look, but instead, I moved away, giving her her personal space while I stood guard meters away from where she bathed. 　　Everywhere was silent except the sound of water until I didn't hear anything. I strained my ears, trying to hear if she was on land wearing her clothes, but nothing. It was quiet. 　　Out of curiosity, I turned, and there it was, the lake as still and calm as the night until I saw air bubbles come up.