Finally Finding My Luna

Chapter 2

{Enslee’s POV}

I hated everything about this damn pack. I hated that they killed my parents and everyone who stood against them. I hate that he threatened me every single day with my life and the lives of the few people left that I still cared about. I hate that I have been held as a slave in my own pack for ten years. I hate my life. Mostly, I hated Alpha Slade of the Red Moon Pack, the pack I used to call home and family.

I looked up as Slade continued to kick me in the gut. I hated him most of all. This was the man that took everything from me out of pure jealousy. He was the beta of my pack, but that wasn’t good enough for him. He wanted everything my dad had. An Alpha title, a beautiful wife and children who loved him.

When he realized that, he decided to take it by force. He killed my dad in hopes that my mom and I would automatically just flock to him, but that didn’t happen. My mom and dad were true mates, which meant there was no one else for my mom. If it weren’t for me, then she probably would have chosen to join him in death. Most mates do once their true mate dies.

Six months after my dad died, my mom was trying to hold our pack together as a Luna and single mother. She figured out the truth of my dad’s death and who killed him. 

Flashback

“Luna Joslyn, we really need to appease the Elders with a plan for the pack’s future.” 

I was underneath my mother’s desk playing with my toys. That was my new favorite place to play since my father had died. I liked being close to my mother. 

“Slade, I told you that I am working on it. I have a daughter to think about, and I am still healing from the pain of losing my true mate. My wolf is still timid, and she hasn’t come forth much. Please give me time to heal.” My mother said with a sigh of impatience. 

“Well I do have a suggestion if you don’t mind me by saying so?” Slade said. He didn’t know I was underneath the desk, since it was solid on the one side. You couldn’t see underneath unless you were sitting where my mother was. 

“Well, I suppose a suggestion couldn’t hurt. You were my husband’s Beta and now mine.” She took her glasses off and laid down her pen to give him her full attention. 

“Thank you Luna. I am honored to serve you and the pack. I believe that what is needed is a new Alpha. I think you should take a chosen mate. That way you’d have a man to do the leading and a father for Enslee.”

I watched as my mother’s face shifted from respectful listening to one of shock and slight anger. 

“How could you even suggest I take a chosen mate, and only six months after Kaine was taken from me?!?!? Are you insane? Did you really think I would just turn my back on my true mate and love of my life? And what makes you think that a female can’t lead a pack? I have been the Luna of this pack for fifteen years! I know damn well what it takes to run a pack without a husband or man by my side.” 

I could tell my mother’s wolf was starting to surface as her eyes grew darker by the second. Even at 11 years old, I knew what an angry werewolf looked like. 

“Joslyn, you cannot lead this pack. You are a hormonal she-wolf that has a broken heart and weak wolf. You need a mate, and I should be that mate. I deserved you, not Kaine! He was a poor excuse of an Alpha and a shitty mate. I should have been your mate, not him!” 

My mother stood up from her chair sending it flying back into the wall behind her. She stormed around the desk to where I couldn’t see her anymore, and I heard a sharp slap.

“How dare you insult your former Alpha?!?! He was the best leader that this pack could have asked for. You’re bold to assume that you deserved me as a true mate, and if I would have been matched with you I would have rejected you! You don’t know anything about what it takes to be a strong wolf--”

She was cut off by Slade who started to yell angrily, and I heard strangeling noises coming from my mother. 

“You b***h! I should have been Alpha! I should have been the mate you pined for and f****d all those years! He didn’t deserve any of it! I am glad I got rid of him!! He didn’t even see it coming. His blind trust in his friend is what killed him. He never dreamed I would poison his food with wolfsbane.”

I started to cry underneath the desk knowing that the man my parents were so close to was the reason why my dad is dead. And now he was choking my mother only feet away. 

I started to move from my hiding spot to try and stop him from killing her too, but my mother saw me peeking my head around the corner of the desk. She immediately mind links me. 

No! Stay hidden no matter what you hear. You know the truth about your father, and if I die here today then you must live on to tell our stories! You have to live, because you are the one and only heir to our pack. No matter what happens, I love you. Your father and I both loved you, and we will be watching over you.

I obeyed my mother and crawled back to the desk, where I listened to her take her last breaths as Slade choked her to death. After a few more moments, her limp body hit the floor with a thud. I could hear Slade walking around the room. 

“f**k, f**k, f**k. What the hell did I just do? How will I explain this to the Elders and the rest of the pack?” he muttered to himself. After several minutes of silence, he finally walked out of the room shutting the door behind him. 

I waited a few moments to make sure he was gone and scrambled to my mother’s dead body on the floor in the middle of the room. I crawled to her chest and cried over losing the only other family member I had in the world. I knew my life would never be the same.

End Flashback

“You are a stupid little b***h, just like your mother was. She was weak, and so are you. Why can’t you do anything right?” Slade screamed as he finally decided to stop kicking me in the ribs and back. 

I had been tasked to bring his wife a plate of food to the head table of the dining hall, but her daughter decided to trip me and caused me to spill my food all over the Luna. 

Slade decided that my accident was actually something I did on purpose to embarrass the Luna in front of pack members. I knew it wouldn’t do any good to speak up about that fact that it was his step daughter who actually tripped me. I was always beat worse when that happened. 

He had grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the room behind the dining hall before starting the beating. Pack members knew that I was beaten and tortured regularly, but watching it happen was a whole different thing. 

Slade knew he couldn’t get away with beating me out in the open, so he often did it in this room, his office, or the Alpha and Luna quarters of the pack house. 

“Now, you will clean up that mess and bring the Luna a fresh plate of food! You will also go apologize to her immediately!” Slade screamed in my face. I wiped the spit off of my cheek, and slowly stood to my feet.

“Yes Alpha.” I said through gritted teeth. The pain was excruciating, and I could barely breathe. I was fairly certain my ribs were broken or fractured at the very least. 

I turned on my heel and tried to carry myself upright to avoid any staring from pack members. Luckily, most people were too busy eating their meals or talking with friends and family members to notice me. Slade was also very smart to never hit me in the face, so that my wounds and bruises were easy to cover. 

I quickly made my way to the head table where the Luna sat still trying to wipe the spaghetti from her clothing. Melani was a shitty person. She couldn’t find it in her heart to be nice to anyone other than her own evil spawn. 

Melani was a Beta Female from a small nearby pack called the White Lake Pack, and she was widowed at a young age. Her mate mysteriously died when she was pregnant with her daughter, Alisha. She met Slade, and he took her as his chosen mate and Luna. 

“Luna, I apologize for this incident.” I said as I bowed in her direction. As expected, she only scoffed at me. 

“You should be sorry! This is an expensive blouse, and it will have to be replaced because of your clumsiness. There is no way for the laundry Omegas to get these stains out you little b***h! You will go to bed without any dinner tonight!!! Now clean this mess up and get me more food!” she screamed loud enough for the entire room to hear. 

I nodded and walked to the supply closet at the front of the dining hall. I grabbed old wash clothes, Windex, a mop and bucket. After filling up the bucket with water and soap, I toted all of the supplies to the head table and began to clean up as Slade, Melani and Alisha moved away practically shunning me. 

That didn’t really bother me all that much, since it gave me room to work. I was used to public humiliation. I didn’t care anymore, as long as I could avoid a beating or worse. I quickly wiped down the table top and stowed the dirty plates in my apron. I picked up the meatballs and noodles from the table and floor and threw it away in the trash. 

I mopped up the sauce and cleaned all three thrones for the Alpha, Luna and her daughter. I placed all of the cleaning supplies back in the closet and briskly walked to the back of the dining hall where the kitchens were located. 

I walked through the door of the kitchen and saw Audrey in the back directing other Omegas. Audrey was my best friend, well my only friend in the entire pack. When I was first taken captive in my own pack, she was the first kid to befriend me. 

“Audrey! I need a plate of food pronto please.” I yelled over the chatter of the kitchen staff. She whipped around and smiled when she saw me. 

“Sure thing!” 

She grabbed a plate and stopped by the spaghetti pot. She scooped out a couple of spoonfuls and laid a piece of garlic bread on the side. 

“I am glad you’re finally getting to eat! I didn’t think you were coming back to get your own food.” she said with a smile. It quickly faded when she got closer to me and saw through the facade that other pack members dismissed. 

“What the hell happened to you? I can tell you’re in pain.” she growled involuntary. I placed a hand on her shoulder, and I sighed. 

“It’s nothing to concern yourself with. You know what will happen if anyone overhears you comforting the pack slave. Don’t get caught up in this mess that I am in. You have a decent life, and it shouldn’t get ruined because you’re friends with me.” 

I hoped she would listen to me and keep her voice down or better yet not say anything. I hated it when she drew attention to my problems, since it usually meant I was going to be punished even more. I certainly didn’t want her to be punished for standing up for me. 

“Well, at least tell me what happened. I promise to stay quiet.” she said. 

“Alisha tripped me as I was carrying the plate of food for Melanie. The spaghetti spilled all over Melanie and made a huge mess in front of everyone. Of course I was punished severely for ‘purposely humiliating my Luna in front of pack members’. So after my beating, I had to give her a public apology, clean up the mess and deliver a new plate of food to her.” I said nodding to the plate that Audrey was still holding. 

Her eyes widened, and I heard a small but distinct growl come from her. 

“Are you hurt badly?” she asked. 

“I think I have some broken ribs, but I don’t think there’s any internal damage.” I whispered as a few of the kitchen Omegas slipped by us to refill the buffet line. 

Her frown deepened and she handed the food over to me. 

“Here. You better take this to her before they get even more pissed.” she quickly turned away from me to continue her work behind the counter. I knew she wasn’t trying to push me away or be rude, she was simply trying to control her anger by focusing on something else. 

I took her advice and rushed out of the kitchen towards the head table. I walked to the back of the table to serve the Luna her food. This time I paid closer attention to where I was walking, and sure enough Alisha had her foot stuck out again. I simply stepped over her and served her mother’s food. 

“Is there anything else I can get you Alpha, Luna or Young Luna?” I asked. Slade looked over at me and sneered. 

“No, go away until you are needed further. The Luna told me that she banned you from eating dinner, so man your post until clean up begins. Then you will accompany us to our quarters for your nightly duties.”

“Yes Alpha.” I bowed and walked to the far right side of the room where I was still within eyesight of the high ranking wolves in case I was needed for service.

I hated that family with all my heart. Each person was evil in their own way and didn’t deserve to be seated at the head table, but Slade was the worst of all three. He had no kindness or love in his heart for anyone other than himself. 

On top of killing my parents in cold blood, he lied to the entire pack about it. He covered up my mom’s death by telling the pack that she had accepted his offer to be her chosen mate, but that I had somehow found out about it before it could be announced. 

He convinced everyone that I was so angry with my mother for taking a chosen mate, so I poisoned her. That is how he got away with treating me so horribly in front of all the pack members. He also killed off the Gamma and Gamma Female claiming that rogues attacked them. 

He never reinstated a new Beta or Gamma, and I knew why. He didn’t want to take the chance of being challenged and overtaken as Alpha. I was the only true high ranking member of our pack left since the Gammas only had one son who died from a disease when he was little. 

He knows that there a few pack members who don’t believe his story and want to see me restored as the rightful heir of this pack, but he would simply kill them if they ever tried to fight back. I had no way out of this. I have thought about running away multiple times, but I didn’t want to abandon my pack. 

I wiped away any thought of living a happy life and paid attention to Slade as he stood up behind the head table. 

“Attention! I have an announcement to make for everyone. The Elder Council has selected our region to be the host region for the annual Christmas Ball for the high ranking pack members across the country. They have agreed that we should be the representative pack for our region to host the event.”

I gasped at the news, and many of the pack members did as well. The whole room was silent, and I watched as several people looked confused. Normally, Slade would never invite that many guests on our land, but it seemed that this honor was too great for him to refuse. 

“I want all pack members to be on your best behavior when visiting Alphas, Lunas, Betas and Gammas arrive and throughout the duration of their visit. We will be an example of what a powerful pack can be, so I want everything to be perfect! Luna Melanie will be in charge of all event planning and major details, so please follow her direction in the coming weeks.” 

The room responded with a loud and simultaneous “Yes Alpha!”. 

My wolf started to stir at the back of my mind, and she was very excited. Harley has been with me since I turned 16. All werewolves get their wolf at 16 years old, and she has been the only true friend other than Audrey. 

Do you realize what this means??

Harley, what are you talking about?

We could meet our mate!

No, it doesn’t. You know we aren’t destined to have a mate. The moon goddess turned her back on us when she let both of my parents die. I highly doubt she cares enough to give us a mate. I told you to forget about this!!

Enslee, I know you have had a terrible life, and I am sorry I couldn’t be with you earlier. I have been with you for the last five years and watched everything you’ve had to go through, so I know it’s bad. I understand why you might have lost faith in the mate bond after what happened to your parents, but I don’t think the moon goddess has turned her back on us.

What makes you so sure?

I just have a feeling about this Christmas Ball. We are an Alpha Female, which means we are most likely mated with a high ranking wolf. Most, if not all of the high ranking males will be at this ball. The chances of meeting our mate are very high. 

Well, I won’t get in the way of your excitement and hope, but don’t say I didn’t tell you when we end up alone again. 

You’ll see…

She slowly shrunk to the back of my mind and I was able to think about what she’d said. I wouldn’t admit it to her, although she and I shared a mind, but I was sincerely hoping to find a mate too. That was the only way I would ever leave this pack, and if he was a higher ranking wolf, then he might be able to help me expose the truth.