Fire Moon

Chapter 9

Amos’s POV

Last week, I sent James and another pack member to Louisville to retrieve Katie Sanders. Since we still didn’t know if she was being watched by Jade’s stepbrother, our plan was one of surveillance, then approach to let her know Jade is here. I anticipated James being gone for a couple of weeks.

Jade has settled in better than I thought she would. She is currently working on our cleaning crew and is doing a wonderful job according to the Omega in charge. As I suspected, I had to reprimand a few of the male wolves trying to flirt with her, though when they see her pregnancy, they don’t bother her again. As a precaution, we are letting her stay in the extra room in the packhouse.

I did some further digging into David’s background. While he’s an attorney, he works mainly in finance and real estate with no known ties to organized crime, which was my biggest concern. My source, a private investigator with a cybersecurity background, infiltrated David’s law office and was able to hack into his iCloud. Just as Jade thought, David's been stalking her for the last few years. The sneaky p*rick covered his tracks with a contract for surveillance that Jade’s mother signed with a private investigator 3 years ago. There were no inappropriate pictures, so getting David on that was out. As much as I hate to admit it, David is one shrewd son of a b*tch and it’s going to be difficult to take him down.

Before James left, he let me know of the situation with the Crescent Moon pack. Their Beta is mysteriously ill and expected to die. His daughter was so desperate for answers she asked if she could send her father here for an autopsy. Our pack physician, Dr. Rhodes, is well known throughout the West for his attention to detail and ability to find things other doctors miss. He is often sought out by other packs if there is a suspicious death of a member. One of the ways our pack makes money is charging a fee for autopsies if the family requests it, or if the deceased is from a pack with no doctor on staff qualified to do the work.

I got a text from James that Beta DeLucca's daughter called him and informed him that the Beta passed away this morning. I sent an email to the Crescent Moon elder giving my approval to conduct an autopsy here at Fire Moon. Since Dr. Rhodes knew Beta Tom DeLucca, he was giving him top priority.

With how busy things are getting and how much our pack has grown, I cannot put off appointing a Gamma any longer. I already have a young man in mind. In fact, he’s from Crescent Moon. When he joined last month, he told me he was banished for a false accusation. We have a database only accessible to other Alpha’s throughout the country that keeps records of members that are banished for crimes. It is a wonderful tool that allows us to research and decide if we will admit a formerly banished member or not. Ryan Smith’s name was never entered into the database. I reached out to Crescent Moon a couple of times about it and they never returned my calls. I knew that the Alpha Simon Phillips had just passed away and his daughter was busy taking over, so I decided to accept Ryan on a trial basis. Which I’m glad I did, as he has exceeded my expectations.

“Ryan, come to my office.”

“Be right there Alpha.” Ryan is in my office in a couple of minutes.

“You wanted to see me, Alpha?”

“I’ve been watching you for the last month and am very pleased by what I’m seeing. You have been taking the lead on guard patrols and the men look up to you and trust you. You found that security flaw in our north end that went unnoticed by even me. You have a natural ability to lead, and the pack members all look up to you. I have been talking to James about making you our Gamma.”

Shock registers on Ryan’s face. “Sir I’m honored, but I’m an orphan Omega. Doesn’t a Gamma need to be of ranked blood?”

“Our pack hasn’t had a Gamma for many years so there are no bloodlines that can claim it. As long as the Elder and our Beta is in agreement, which James is, you can be Gamma.”

“Wow….this is….Alpha I don’t know what to say.” Ryan sits down, at a loss for words.

“Ryan, I need you to tell me the circumstances under which you left Crescent Moon. While I can see it is hard for you to talk about, I need to know if there is anything from your past that we need to worry about when you accept this role. If the last 18 months as an Alpha have taught me anything, the past has a way of sneaking up on you and it’s best to try to get in front of it before it can be used against you.” I told him.

“Alpha, the woman who accused me of r*ping her was my mate, and Alpha Simon's daughter, Lena Phillips.”

“WHAT?!” I leaned over my desk. “A Female Alpha was your former mate?!”

“Trust me, I have cursed the Moon Goddess ever since.” Ryan bitterly says, shaking his head. “Wait a second Alpha, you said Female Alpha? Are you telling me…”

“Ryan, Alpha Simon passed away a couple of months ago and his Beta, Tom DeLucca, passed away this morning. He’s on his way here for an autopsy.”

“WHAT!!” Ryan cried out, jumping out of his chair. “Alpha, Beta Tom was the only one who believed me. It’s because of him I am even standing here.” Ryan is distraught.

“According to the guards on the way here with him, his daughter is accompanying the body and has rejected Crescent Moon after a screaming match with the female Alpha.”

“Gemma is coming here now?!”

“I never caught his daughter’s name, but yes, she’s on her way. Is there anything I should know about her?” I asked.

“She’s kind and a good person, nothing like Lena. If Gemma has rejected her birthright, that must mean Lena is running that pack into the ground. I can’t believe Gemma made herself a rogue to get away from her!” Ryan states, shaking his head. “Alpha, it would not surprise me if Lena killed her father and the Beta. She’s psychotic and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She threatened me when I left. She said she was going to make me pay. You know why?” Ryan asks, pain and disgust clear in his voice.

“Go on.”

“We slept together the week we found out we were mates. I kept asking Lena if I could mark her, and she kept making excuses. The last time we were together, I asked her once again and she snapped and rejected me. I called her a rude name and threw her out of my cabin. Thirty minutes later Lena’s crying r*pe. I got tortured for two weeks and banished. She used me, and I know I’m never going to get a second chance. Even if I do, I don’t know if I can ever trust them fully.” Ryan was clearly still disturbed by what all had happened then. I listen, shaken to my core by what I am hearing. Ryan never stood a chance at Crescent Moon and it was becoming clearer why DeLucca’s daughter was bringing him here to get answers.

“Ryan, I don’t know why the Moon Goddess paired you with Lena, any more than I know why I’m 30 years old with no mate. All I can tell you is that your true mate is out there somewhere. You’re a good man, I can’t see our Moon Goddess not letting you have someone to share your life with. Though mating an Omega male with a high-ranking female is almost unheard of. That right there tells me you are not just an Omega. Will you allow Dr. Rhodes to do some blood testing, to check your DNA and see what's in your bloodline?” I asked.

“Sure, I’ve always been curious about that. It will be nice to get some answers about who I am.” Ryan agreed.

“You are going to be Gamma, but if the DNA shows that you are of rank, we can bypass the Elders and just make you Gamma. OK?”

“Sounds good, but I’m not sure what you think you will find.” Ryan laughs. I laughed with him, relieved to see him in better spirits.

Alpha, the guards have returned from Fire Moon. They have a young woman with them. Greg mind linked me.

Have them meet me at the hospital.

“Ryan, Gemma is here. I need you to come with me. It may be helpful for her to see a familiar face.” We leave the office and walk down to the hospital.

As we approach the hospital, I smell a strong scent of strawberries that makes my mouth water. I have never smelled anything this good and Achak is stirred and on alert. It gets stronger the closer we move to the hospital. We turned the corner and I saw the van with my two guards, and the most beautiful girl I have ever seen standing by a casket. She has dark brown hair and a heart-shaped face. She is about 5Ft 9in and her body is something I can only dream of. When she turned her head and looked at me, her bright green eyes glazed over.

“Mate.” She whispers.

MATE! GO GET HER! Achak roars in my head.

Achak…this is not the place or time. Her father has just died.

I approached this beauty carefully, unable to take my eyes off her. The grief is clear in her face, and I must be careful and considerate of my mate’s feelings right now.

“I know this is an awful situation in which to find each other…” I started to say before my mate wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me.