Sleeping With The Moon Goddess

Challenge for a Beta

Alpha Axel agreed to an alliance with Blood Moon and to hold their end of the border against Silver Creek. He may not be thrilled about having an upcoming war, but he does respect protecting one’s mate. After we talked and had everything settled. We went out to their back patio where Calanthe brought us out lunch. I sat next to Calanthe so we could talk, I enjoyed her company so much. We exchanged numbers and she told me to reach out for girl talk anytime.

After we were done with lunch, Kabel came over and crawled up into my lap. He ran his hands along the side of my face and played with my hair.

“I can take him if you want?” Calanthe asked

“Oh no, please. I really don’t mind.” I smiled over at her “Hi Kaleb.”

“You’re pretty” he replied still playing with my hair.

I laughed and couldn’t help but notice that Damien and Ian both heard the little one and looked over at me smiling.

“She certainly is” Damien said smiling at the little boy.

Kabel soon crawled down off my lap and went over to play with his siblings in the grass.

“You’ll make a great mom someday.” Calanthe said catching me off guard.

“Thank you. I hadn’t really thought about it much before today actually.”

“Not to pry but what’s the story here?” She said as she glanced over at Ian and Damien in a whisper

“What do you mean?” I asked, a little nervous where she was going with this

“You know what I mean, they both look at you with so much love and care in their eyes it’s hard to miss. Now Damien I get, but he said that Ian is his Beta? No Alpha alive would allow that, plus not to mention. I’ve never seen a mated male look at another female the way he looks at you, especially one who is mated to his Alpha. So spill!”

I thought for a moment, should I lie? I ultimately decided to tell the truth.

“They are actually both my mates.” I confessed watching her eyes go wide with excitement. “Damien and Aiden were my first mates I guess, and it’s a little confusing but long story short, Ian is mated to the Moon Goddess and I am technically tied to or one with the Moon Goddess so he is also my mate?”

She simply stared at me for a moment with her mouth hung open and her eyes wide. This got Axel’s attention and he came quickly over to her side.

“What is it love? Is it the baby?!” He asked her

She ignored his questions and instead spoke to me, “So you are one with the Moon Goddess herself! That’s incredible! Holy Goddess, multiple mates! How do you deal? I have enough trouble trying keep just this one happy?!”

I laughed, Damien and Ian both looked at me and just shook their heads with a smile, obviously the secret was out.

“Actually, I feel like I’m the lucky one. I think they do more for me to make sure I’m taken care of but speaking of, I know we do have to be going soon but I do have something I need to do before we leave. Alpha Axel, is your Beta nearby?”

I could tell the sudden change in topics gave him whiplash.

“Luke is probably at the office, but why? What do you need to speak to him for?”

I suddenly had a feeling, either from the Moon Goddess or my own gut instinct but when he said his Beta’s name, something felt off.

“Do you trust your Beta?” I now looked up at Alpha Axel a little concerned

“I mean, he’s my Beta, I guess I trust him enough.” Axel says not so convincingly

“You didn’t choose for him to be your Beta, did you?”

“No, I didn’t,” he admits “His father was Beta to my father as so the title fell to him as is tradition.”

“If you could, would you appoint a new Beta?”

“What kind of question is that? I can’t take his title just like that?” He asks almost insulted

“I know it sounds strange but please just answer my question.”

“Oh, tell her dear! If you won’t than I will.” Calanthe looks over at Axel with her arms crossed, “Luke is an entitled ass, and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree if you know what I mean. He’s most certainly not who I would have chosen.”

“I have the power to appoint you a new Beta if you’d like? I only ask because the Moon Goddess would like to give you both a blessing, but she can only give it to your Beta if you are certain of his love and loyalty to you and to your pack.”

“My friend Declan should have been appointed Beta when I took over. He is my best friend and his loyalty to my family and our pack is without question.”

“I am assuming you do not want them both to meet us here. Perhaps we can all meet at your office?”

Axel looks over at Calanthe who scowls at him, “Oh for pete’s sake go, I’ll be fine. This pup isn’t’ coming for a few more days yet.”

“Very well. You can all follow me to my office, it isn’t too far.”

We said our goodbyes to Calanthe and to the kids. Calanthe made me promise to keep in touch, and with that we got back in Damien’s car and followed Axel to his office.

When we arrived, there was a man standing outside the office building. I am assuming this must be Declan because Alpha Axel greeted him as a good friend would. We made our way over and introduced ourselves. I told Declan a little bit about myself and when I asked him if he would be willing to accept the title and responsibility of Beta to Stone Creek, he looked at me like most do, in disbelief.

Before Declan could answer, someone else came out from the building.

“What’s going on out here?” The man looked tall and muscular, definitely had the intimidating factor going for him.

“Beta Luke, this is the Alpha and Beta from Blood Moon I told you about and their Luna.”

“It’s nice to meet you Beta Luke, I’m Damien, Alpha of Blood Moon.” Damien started to say before Luke cut him off

“Why are you guys here?”

Wow, I think Calanthe was being nice when she described him as an entitled ass.

“Do you not speak to my guests this way Luke!” Axel yelled at his Beta to little effect

Luke was definitely the kind of man I couldn’t stand, and I couldn’t wait to put him in his place and get that smirk off of his face.

I spoke up loudly so that everyone could hear me, “Anyways, as I was saying. Declan would you be willing to take over the title and responsibilities as Beta of Stone Creek? To pledge your life for your Alpha and the people of this pack?”

This caused Luke to let out a deep belly laugh, clearly amused.

“HA! I don’t know what you people are getting at but ain’t no one taking my title. This title is my birthright. Plus” he shouts as he raises his hands up causing his arms to flex “there is no one worthy in this pack to challenge me. I’m the best fighter we got!”

That last part I could understand, with his physique he looked like a top-notch fighter and I’m sure there aren’t many here who would be willing to challenge him.

“Hmm, I’ll challenge you” Ian said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

We all looked at him stunned, “Ian what are you doing? You don’t have to challenge him”

“Oh, I know I don’t have to, but it’ll just be so much fun.” Ian said in a menacing voice

“Please Ian, I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Ian just simply scoffed at me, so I turned toward Damien

“Can you stop him?” I pleaded looking up at Damien

“Why would I? This is going to be fun to watch” he replied in an amused tone

For the first time since I met Luke, I saw that shitty smirk on his face falter. He may think he’s tough at Stone Creek, but even he knows that he’s no match for Ian.

“You can’t do that!” Luke yells at Ian causing Ian to only laugh harder.

“I sure can. I, Ian, Beta of Blood Moon challenge you Luke for the title of Beta of Stone Creek.”

Luke glances around, “Axel, tell me this guy isn’t serious?!”

“The challenge has been made, do you accept, or do you forfeit your title willingly?” Alpha Axel shoots back, almost enjoying seeing Luke knocked down a few notches.

After a few moments of silence, Luke finally speaks, “fine, I accept your challenge for the title of Beta of Stone Creek”.

“Alright, lets get on with this. We have plans later.” Ian says antagonizing Luke further.

“So let me guess, are you going to take your Alpha or his b***h as your guard?” Luke spits at Ian

Ian looks at Luke, his eyes so cold it gives me the shivers, “Alpha Axel, your current Beta just signed his death warrant with that comment.” Ian said in a calm manner without taking his eyes off of Luke “May I proceed?”

Alpha Axel looked between Ian and Luke before nodding at Ian.

“Good thing you have another lined up.” Ian said acknowledging Axel’s permission.

Normally only challenges of an Alpha are a fight to the death, challenges for other ranks are usually fought until one concedes, but they can result in death. I know Ian plans to kill Luke, and while it wasn’t necessary, he wanted Axel’s permission since we are on his territory and Luke technically is his acting Beta.

“I don’t need a guard to fight you.”

“Then fine, no guards. Just you and me.”

Ian removed his jacket and his shirt and handed them to me. “Will you hold these please? I don’t want to get blood on them.”

Luke finally got a sight at what he would be fighting, and you could see that he was rethinking his choices, but he had already accepted. They went off to the side of the building where there was a clearing and got ready.

Ian didn’t fully take a fight stance; he knew Luke wasn’t going to be much of a challenge for him. And while I knew that Ian could take on 20 Luke’s at the same time, I was still nervous, I knew that he could still get hurt.

Luke was the first to strike, Ian didn’t even try to block him. He simply took the hit without so much as a recoil. Luke’s eyes couldn’t hide the shock in them as Ian stood unmoving. Ian then brought his fist to Luke’s shoulder, and you could hear the shattering of bones echoing throughout the clearing and the woods beside us. Luke went flying back grabbing onto his shoulder with his other hand.

Ian followed him forward, kicking at his knee and you could hear more snaps as cartilage and tendons tore from bone. Luke cried out and tried to swing back at Ian, his hits landing against Ian’s chest with as much force as child.

I have seen Damien and Ian spar together, and I have seen Ian training at the center hitting the punching bags. I have seen Ian break my own bones before, but nothing could have prepared me for seeing him fight and hit with intent. I’m surprised Luke didn’t just split into two and combust with the amount of force that Ian produced in a single hit. Watching him pummel Luke, I could start to see why people would be frightened of him. He was absolutely ruthless.

Even though he was beyond dangerous, he was still controlled. Strategically striking at Luke to shatter his bones right where he wanted to. Taking out his shoulders, knees, hips, ribs, completely breaking his opponent down to nothing.

Luke was unrecognizable and trying to plead for mercy, that would be if you could even understand what he was saying, his words were garbled with the blood in his throat.

Ian reached down and grabbed him by the throat with one hand and practically picked him up off the ground. He leaned towards Luke ear and whispered, “Now, tell me, what did you call MY mate again?”

Luke struggled to breath, “I’m sorry” he said in a gurgled apology.

“What did you call her?” Ian asked again tightening his grip showing Luke that he isn’t playing around

“A b***h” Luke finally managed to croak out

As soon as those words left his mouth, Ian crushed his throat, snapping his neck one handed. I had never seen anything like it before. People were right to be afraid of this man, and the man sitting next to me was equally as dangerous. This is what they are, what they were trained to do from a young age.

Ian dropped Luke’s lifeless and mangled body and walked back over to where we were standing. “Alpha Axel, I hereby forfeit the title of Beta to Stone Creek and give it freely to Declan, if he accepts.”

You could tell that both Declan and Alpha Axel were just as stunned as I was at Ian’s sheer power. Declan looked at Ian in a way that was both bewildered and slightly afraid.

“I accept” Declan finally said, “As long as I don’t have to fight you as well” he added in a somewhat joking manner that I’m sure held some truth to it.

“Naa, so far I like you Declan.” Ian replied joking with the man but also scaring him a little

Ian walked over to Damien, “Man, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to let loose like that, felt good.”

“I know what you mean, I’m a little jealous.” Damien replied as they both laughed it off

I had so many questions and thoughts going through my head. I know that I have the Moon Goddess on my side, and she has made me stronger and faster than most but how could I ever stand a chance against someone like Ian? Or Damien? It was scary but so powerful at the same time. I found myself being attracted to it, and that scared me. I didn’t know what to do with these thoughts. I need to push them aside and think about this later I told myself, now is not the time.

I shake my head and try to slow my breathing down realizing that everything in me has sped up. I ignore the unsure glances from Damien and Ian and try to focus back as to why we are here.

“Alpha Axel, Beta Declan, would both of you please shift for me?”