Finally Finding My Luna

Chapter 17 pt. 2

{Enslee POV}

I woke up in the bedroom alone. I flopped my hand out to grab the alarm clock on the nightstand to figure what time it was. 11:39 am. I rolled my eyes and snorted. I had slept really late again. I guess my body was still soaking up all of the sleep I had missed out on for the last ten years.

I sat up in bed and stretched to wake myself up. My stomach started growling, and I knew that I better get lunch or I would sound like a whale for the rest of the day. I got up and went to my closet. Luckily, it was stocked with everything that we’d bought last night. 

I slipped on some sweats and a hoodie to keep myself warm. I put on some tennis shoes and went down to the dining hall. I was right on time for the lunch rush, and I filed in line behind the pack members. It felt really odd to be in line to be served, rather than being the person serving people. 

There were several large male wolves in front of me, and they turned around to look at me. I kept my eyes on the ground, since direct eye contact could be considered a challenge. I knew better than to look at a male, especially one that was unmated. That had earned me so many beatings over the years, and I had been broken of that. 

“Who the f**k are you, omega?” one of the boys said. It was clear that they were younger than me, but not by much. 

“I’m not--” I was cut off by cruel laughter as they grabbed a pitcher of water from the table. Before I could react, they poured it over my head. I gasped while the water ran down my body and chilled me to the bone. 

The big guy that spoke earlier shoved me to the ground in the puddle of ice water. I landed with a hard thud, and I knew my hip was going to be sore from it. All of a sudden a loud growl sounded over the room, and the chatter ceased immediately. The boys whipped their head in the direction of the noise. 

They started backing away from me when they saw who was growling. Brett stalked towards them with Davian hot on his heels. “What the f**k is going on here?”

Brett was enraged at the male wolves, and he stepped in front of me. His legs shielded my view of them. Davian offered me a hand and lifted me from the ground. He whispered lowly to me. “Are you okay Luna? Did they hurt you?” 

I barely moved my head to indicate that I was alright.

“SPEAK NOW.” Brett had become even angrier when the three boys had stood there shocked not answering his earlier question. They all started shaking and looked down to the floor. 

“Uh, we were just giving the new omega a hard time. We weren’t going to hurt her.” the ring leader spoke very quietly. 

Brett grabbed the kid’s arm and twisted it to an awkward angle that would surely break it if he didn’t relent. “You are an i***t! That ‘omega’ is your FUTURE LUNA. You just humiliated her in front of the entire PACK. Do you know what the punishment for that is??” 

I shivered at the thought of what Brett was planning on doing to the poor kid. “NO! Please Gamma, we didn’t know she was the future Luna. Please I’m only 20 years old, I don’t want to die!!!”

I felt sorry for the kid. “Brett, let him go.”

Brett turned around and looked at me with a shocked expression, but he complied with my order. “Luna, this kid just insulted you and humiliated you. He should suffer for what he did.”

“Brett, he made a mistake. He didn’t know who I was. I forgive him, so please give him a break. And not his arm.” Davian snickered at my poorly timed joke, but Brett wasn’t so amused. He stepped away from the young wolf and growled at all three of them to drive home his point. 

He angrily stalked past them to grab his own plate of food. I caught a glimpse of Renley and Carina standing against the nearby wall watching with skeptical looks on their faces. 

I looked at them sternly to tell them to stop lurking, but of course they didn’t. Davian looked at me with raised brows, and I just patted his arm. The young wolf who was previously restrained kept glancing between me and Davian unsure of what was going to happen next. 

“Hello, I am Enslee Ashford. I am Zader’s mate. What’s your name?”

His eyes went wide and he stood there motionless. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you, you can tell me your name.”

He cleared his throat and finally spoke up. “Um...uh...my name is Asher Wilson.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Asher. I have to go change, but when I come back down, would you join me for lunch?”

If it was possible, his eyes went even wider. “Uh, yes Luna, I would be happy too.” He shocked his head incredulously. 

“Would you mind saving me a seat?”

Asher nodded and slowly backed away to go back in line. I quickly ran upstairs and changed clothes. When I came back down, I grabbed a plate of food and found Asher in the middle of the room. 

Renley and Brett were eating at the head table where I normally would eat. I didn’t see Analia or Rylan, which concerned me. I would have to ask about that later. Davian and Carina were at a table close to the front of the room as well. 

I sat down with my plate next to Asher and the other two boys that had harassed me earlier. “Hello Asher. Thank you for agreeing to let me sit with you.”

“Good afternoon, Luna. I am honored that you wanted to sit with us, especially after what I did.”

“No, worries Asher. So much worse has happened to me, so I will forgive and forget. Now, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself?”

Asher swallowed his bite of food and started timidly talking to me. Eventually, he settled into a comfort with me and started talking normally. “Well, I have lived here all my life. I was born in Black Mountain and haven’t lived anywhere else. I am training to be a pack warrior, and I work with my dad in construction. We build a lot of the houses that pack members live in.”

“That’s awesome! So have you found your mate?”

His eyes dropped to the table and his expression became solemn. “No, not yet.”

I could tell he was disappointed. “Hey, it’s alright Asher. I only just found my mate, and I’m 21. I am sure your mate is out there. Now, why don’t you give me a tour of the pack territory? I have been here for a few days now, and all I’ve seen is the packhouse.”

“Sure Luna! We can go into town first.”

After we said our goodbyes to his friends and took our plates to the return bin, we went to the garage. “Alright Luna, which car should we take?”

I looked at the long row of cars in front of us. “I don’t know, which one belongs to Zader?”

Asher looked at me with a funny expression. “Luna, all of these belong to the Alpha.”

There were at least nine cars and trucks in this gigantic garage. “He owns all of these??” Asher nodded and laughed really hard. 

“Well these and the one he drove to work this morning. So, what is your pick?”

I walked over to a Jeep Wrangler and was practically drooling. Asher chuckled behind me and I heard the jingle of keys. I turned just in time to catch them mid air. He had picked them off of the hook on the wall. I had never officially learned how to drive, since my teen years were spent as a slave. Asher was kind enough to patiently teach me on the way.

Thirty minutes later we pulled into the parking lot of a hardware store. “Luna, is it alright if I run in here and get some supplies for my dad?”

“Absolutely Asher! I don’t mind a bit.” 

He gave me a lopsided grin and shut the passenger door to go inside. I didn’t dare try to move the car without his supervision, so instead I got out myself. I locked the door and slipped the key into my pocket. I looked around at the sleepy town center and tried to pick a direction to walk. 

I found a little bakery down the road and went to investigate further. As I walked through the front door, my senses were flooded with the smell of bread, pastries and other delectable delights. I breathed in deeply and exhaled satisfied. I opened my eyes to see a young girl standing behind the counter with a smile on her face.

“Hi there! Can I help you with something?” 

I glanced at her nametag. “Hi there Olivia. Yes, I would love to grab a snack. What do you recommend?”

I concentrated on the girl’s scent trying to determine what species she was. Humans didn’t know about the existence of werewolves, well only a few select ones did anyway. Usually it was against the law to reveal our kind to a human except for two instances. The first was the human was near death and wanted to be bitten to turn into a wolf or if they simply wanted the change just because. The second instance was if a wolf was mated to a human. 

Neither of those things happened very often, but the mating possibility was even rarer than a human asking to be turned. The moon goddess used to pair humans and werewolves as mates quite often back when humans knew of our existence, but that all changed after one evil man decided to enslave our kind.

Olivia was indeed a werewolf, so I instantly relaxed around her. “Well, I think our cinnamon rolls are one of our more popular menu items. Would you like one of those?”

“Sure!” 

My stomach was already growling again since lunch was over two hours ago. I wasn’t used to eating so much, but my body was starting to get there. She yelled through the small window that opened in the wall to th back part of the store. I assumed that was the kitchen area, and she turned back to face me. 

“So, are you new here?”

I nodded my head and took a seat at one of the empty tables. I was the only patron in the place, so it was just me and Olivia. “Yeah, my name is Enslee. I originally came from the Red Moon Pack of Maine.” I saw a visible shiver go through the girl, and my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. 

“Oh, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you or your home pack. I’ve just heard so many stories…” She let her voice trail off, but I only became more curious. 

“What stories?”

Olivia chewed on her inner lip and glanced through the window behind her nervously. “It’s alright Olivia. You can tell me. I won’t say anything to anyone.”

She came around the counter and sat down in a chair across from me. “Well, honestly I don’t know if they are true, but I heard that the current Alpha is really cruel and mean.” She looked up at me with a childlike fascination, and I realized she was waiting on me to confirm or deny the rumor. I also suddenly realized that she couldn’t be very old. 

“Well, that’s true. It’s one of the reasons I left.” Olivia’s mouth dropped and she gasped loudly. 

“No way! I can’t imagine a cruel alpha. I am only sixteen, so I have only ever lived here. Alpha Zader is so kind and just, and his father before him was the same way. I just don’t understand why alphas can get so mean to their own pack members.”

I smiled at her comments about Zader, and it made my heart fly. She had no clue that I was his mate, so her comments were completely unfiltered. Hearing his pack members say such good things about him made me extremely happy. 

But before I could tell her who I was, a loud crash ripped through the room followed by a menacing growl. “Luna! Are you okay??”

I was facing away from the door, but I knew it was Asher speaking. Olivia’s face contorted with fear, and I put a hand on top of hers to calm her down. I turned to face Asher and stood up. He was fuming and the glass door had been slung open into the wall so hard that the glass had shattered into the floor. 

“Yes, Asher. I am fine. This is Olivia, she works here.”

Asher looked between me and Olivia who had stood up with me and moved to stand behind me. He tried to say something else, but he just stuttered and spluttered. 

“Luna??” Olivia stepped out from behind me and moved to face me. “You’re the luna??? The Alpha is your mate????”

I smiled at her and nodded. “Yes, Zader came to the Christmas Ball that was being hosted by my old pack. That’s where we met.”

Olivia immediately dropped to her knees and bowed down in front of me. I wasn’t sure what to do or say, when a heavyset man in an apron emerged from the kitchen holding a plate with a cinnamon roll. 

“What is going on here?” His eyes darted between me, Olivia on the floor and Asher standing in the doorway by the broken door. 

“Uh, hello sir. My name is Enslee---” Asher cut me off mid sentence. 

“She’s your future Luna.”

I turned to give Asher a look that told him to shut his mouth before I did it for him. I didn’t want everyone to think I was overbearing and pushy as a Luna. 

“You’re the future Luna?”

I nodded and took my cinnamon roll from him. “Yes, I am. As I was saying, my name is Enslee, and I just moved here. My mate is the Alpha. I was just chatting with Olivia, when my friend Asher came in the door a little too roughly. He was just looking for me and worried about me. I will for the damages to your door.”

The man looked at Olivia still on the floor. “Olivia! Get up before you embarrass the Luna! She doesn’t need you bowing on the ground like a goofball.”

Olivia glanced up at me, and I stretched my hand out to help her up. “I’m sorry Luna. I’ve never met a high ranking pack member before. I didn’t know what to do.”

‘That’s alright! We are just like you. No need to bow or act differently around me. You can just call me Enslee.”

She slowly stood to her feet and giggled. “Okay, Enslee. I hope you enjoy your cinnamon roll. By the way, this is my dad.”

“Hello Luna. It’s nice to meet you and see that our pack does have a future after all. My name is Conner.” 

I c****d my head at him in confusion. “Future? I mean not that I’m not stoked to be the future Luna of this amazing pack, why would you say that the pack doesn’t have a future?”

Conner’s eyes widened, and he quickly turned on his heel and rushed back into the kitchen. I turned my attention to Olivia who smiled sweetly at me. “Uh, yeah. There is another rumor floating around about the Alpha.”

“Which is?”

“That if he didn’t find his mate and complete the mating process within the next six months, he would have to forfeit the alpha title.”

My mouth dropped, and I looked at Asher who bowed his head to avoid my gaze. “Are there any other rumors I might need to be aware of?”

Olivia shrugged her shoulders and offered yet another piece of information that I wasn’t aware of. “Well, I was going to ask how Beta Analia is doing. I heard she was in the hospital.”

“WHAT?? From who??”

“My friend is a nurse there, and she said she saw them carrying her in last night.”

I asked Olivia for a to go box for the cinnamon roll and turned to Asher while she was boxing it up for me. “I need to talk to Brett and Davian right now.”

“I will take you straight to him.”

We drove back to the packhouse and I left Asher in the living room while I went up to Brett’s and Renley’s floor. I knocked on the door to their living quarters. Brett opened the door and bowed his head. “Hello Luna, please come in.”

“Brett, you know to just call me Enslee.” I walked through the door and saw Renley laying on the couch in the living room. 

“Sure Enslee. What can we do for you?”

“Well, I have been hearing some things from pack members that are concerning me. I think we need to call Davian and Carina to continue this discussion.”

Thirty minutes later we were all sitting in my office on the seventh floor. “Okay everyone, I need some answers please. I went out today to explore the territory, and I met a few pack members that told me some really startling stuff. Does anyone care to elaborate on the rumor that Zader was given a timeline to find his mate or else he had to give up his Alpha title?”

Carina and Renley whipped their heads to their partners and looked at them expectantly. I had to stifle the laugh that came up. They truly were sisters. Davian and Brett both went on the defensive. 

“I didn’t know!” Davian raised his hands in surrender and backed away from Carina slowly. 

“We weren’t supposed to tell anyone!! We didn’t want to cause a panic.” Brett tried to defend himself the best he could, but Renley wasn’t buying it. 

“Mates don’t hide anything from each other you turd!! I get to know all of your secrets. You don’t get to keep those from me anymore. I wouldn’t have told anyone...except for Carina, but she doesn’t count.”

I stood up behind my desk and looked pointedly at Brett, since he seemed to be the only person in the room who knew something about this. “Alright Gamma. Cough it up.”

He huffed and turned his eyes away from his fuming redheaded mate to look at me. “Luna, I’m sorry no one said anything. We really haven’t found a good time, and Rylan and myself thought it best to leave to Zader.”

“It’s alright, but it’s time to tell me now.”

“Okay, well a few days before Zader, Rylan and Analia went to Maine, we got a call from the Elder council. The Elders called to tell Zader about one of the oldest werewolf laws. According to them, a Luna gives the pack stability and it can’t survive without one. The law states that if an Alpha is unmated, but his Gamma and Beta find their mates, that the Beta could stake a claim on the Alpha title.”

I was shocked. 

“They also said now that Rylan has a pup on the way, his claim would be even stronger. Of course he denied the claim and stuck by Zader’s side, but there’s a second part to the law. They said that if the Beta denies the claim, then the Alpha has six months to find a mate in order to keep his pack together. If he hadn’t found a mate within that time period, then our pack was going to be dismantled and forced to give up our territory.”

At this point, everyone in the room except for Brett was open mouthed and surprised. “Well, that’s a crazy law in my opinion.” Carina spoke up from the corner she was leaning in. 

Brett nodded but elaborated. “Well, that’s what I said when Rylan and Zader told me. They said that the law was put in place in the early days of our kind’s existence because several Alphas either rejected their mates or never found them. Their packs fell apart in a matter of years due to unstable management or rash decisions made by those Alphas.”

I let out a sigh and sat back down in my plush office chair. “Well, we don’t have to worry about that now. He’s found me, so we’re all good there.”

Brett bit his lip and avoided my gaze. “There’s more to this isn’t there?”

He nodded and looked at the floor. “The Alpha must also complete the mating process within that time period.”

There was a heavy silence on the room as Brett finished speaking. I knew they were all avoiding having to look at me. Everyone in this room knew about my attack, and I highly doubted I was able to engage in that intimate behavior right now. I couldn’t even bring myself to let Zader sleep next to me. I was still having nightmares and unconsciously shifting in my sleep. And they all knew I was mentally unable to handle that right now. 

“You’re telling me that I have five and a half months to have s*x with Zader and mark him or your pack will be dismantled?” I could feel bile rising in my throat and pushed it back. 

“Luna, I am sure that once the Elder Council knows about your...situation...they will understand and lift the rule. Surely simply finding you will be enough to satisfy them…” Renley was getting pretty worked up and I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder. 

“Don’t worry about me. I am more worried about your pack and what happens if I can’t mate with Zader.”

Davian stepped forward and spoke up. “Luna, this isn’t just our pack anymore. You’re the future Luna, and it’s your pack too. It’s clear you care about us. Don’t worry, we will figure this out.”

I thanked Davian and stepped back behind my desk. “Now for the next item on the agenda. A young girl told me that Analia is in the hospital?”

This time, Carina, Davian and Brett all hung their heads low. It seemed that Renley and I were left out once again. Renley slapped Brett’s shoulder. “What the hell??? More secrets??”

This time I couldn’t keep the giggle contained. “Well, yes. I hadn’t had a chance to tell you yet. It happened last night while you were in bed. Zader and I were meeting in his office. Rylan had gone to talk to Davian and had Carina with him…”

“What?? What do you mean meeting with Zader? And why was Rylan talking to Davian? This all happened while I was asleep?” Renley took the words right out of my mouth. 

Brett went through the long story of how the prisoner we had captured yesterday committed suicide before he could be questioned. Davian had blamed himself since he was the head pack guard. Rylan had gone to talk to Davian, since Analia was the main one that the wolves had meant to harm. 

Brett and Zader had gone to his office to discuss plans and how to move forward. That’s when Zader had a vision of Analia being choked. They rushed down to her room and found her being attacked and killed the rogue. They had taken her to the hospital, where Davian, Carina and Rylan met them. Rylan had stayed with her of course. She was in a coma. 

“Holy s**t. All of this happened last night? Zader must be exhausted today at work. I will have to talk with him tonight. Don’t tell any pack members what happened. We don’t need everyone freaking out about a rogue slipping past the patrols in the middle of the night. I will send an extra guard to post outside of Analia’s hospital room. Davian, are you familiar with the young pack warrior that pushed me earlier?”

Everyone was staring blankly at me, and I looked at them curiously. “What?”

Renley giggled. “You sound like a Luna.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth and immediately turned red. “Oh! I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to sound bossy. I’m sure that Zader already has a plan in place.”

Brett shook his head and chuckled. “No Luna, he came back to be with you for a few hours before he left to go to work. He didn’t give any orders before he left the hospital. And you aren’t being bossy, you are being a Luna. That’s what you were born to be.”

I smiled at my new friends and continued to put a plan in motion. “Davian? Do you know who I was talking about?”

“Sure Luna. The kid who accosted you at lunch? His name is Asher Wilson.”

“Yes Davian. He’s become a good friend actually. He showed me around the pack territory today. I want him to be the guard that is posted to Analia’s hospital room. I trust him now.” 

Davian nodded and left the room to get Asher taken care of. Brett left to go tend to the new patrol schedule. Myself and the two girls went down to dinner to wait for all of our mates to return to us.