The Alpha's Powerful Luna

Chapter 8

**Emma POV**

I couldn’t believe this s**t. I seriously couldn’t believe it! I was in an actual car and I was on my way to a better life away from that shithole. As I watched Jade fall asleep, I decided the best plan of action was to be as quiet and unnoticeable as I possibly could for the rest of this ride. After all, Jade was the one they wanted and I just happened to be connected to her. If these guys had a choice, they wouldn’t have complicated the trip with some random she wolf, but I was so glad they did. I would find work as an omega at their pack and start my life on a better note than ever before. I just hoped the omegas at silver moon were treated better at their pack than we were at River Bed.

“So, Emma,” Alpha Elliot— wait just Elliot, wow that’s weird— craned his neck to look at me. “I’m really sorry about interrupting your breakfast by the way. If we had more time we wouldn’t have been so rude, we just really needed to get you out of there while we still could. I hope you understand.” He looked at me as if genuinely apologizing. I wasn’t sure if this was some sort of mind game or if he was just trying to get on my good side because I’m Jade’s friend. Either way, I’d play along so I didn’t say the wrong thing and get left for dead somewhere. That was something Victor would do and I just couldn’t take any chances on believing this alpha was any different.

“It’s alright, al-Elliott. I’m used to skipping meals.” I tried to reassure him that I wouldn’t be a bother.

“About that,” Elliott seemed like he was angry but not wanting to show it. It was kind of odd, I never knew alphas—or ranked wolves in general— to keep from expressing anger, usually aimed at me. “Emma, the way you were treated was not right. It’s not how I treat omegas in my pack. You’ll have the option to continue your education and work a job that actually appeals to you or you can be one of the she wolves that will help Jade and our beta female run things and you’ll live in the pack house with us unless you’d like your own living space, but I just wanted you to know that the way you were treated is not acceptable in my pack, and you should be able to count on us to treat you with dignity and respect. I also just wanted to say—since I’m sure your alpha never will— that I’m sorry about the way you were degraded. It’s not right.”

I couldn’t hide my shock. My mouth dropped open and I couldn’t find words for a moment. He had to be joking. “Y-you’re offering me a place to live and an actual j-job??” I asked, my hand on my chest as I tried to understand.

“It’s nothing special, all omegas in my pack are offered the opportunity to learn a trade or work where they feel most comfortable. We have a ton of small omega-run businesses on our pack lands and in the surrounding human town.” Elliott said as if it was just the most run of the mill thing ever and not the most heavenly sounding thing I’ve ever heard in my life.

“You let your omegas leave your pack?”

“I guess ‘let’ is the wrong word. Omegas are their own individuals, and they’re the back bone of any pack. They deserve freedom and appreciation.” Elliott was majorly winning me over with what he was saying, but I worried he was just saying all the right things. Almost as if sensing my doubt, he smirked at me and said; “I know, this probably doesn’t sound believable and we just met. You don’t have to trust me. Just keep an open mind and you can see for yourself when we get there, how about that?”

“That’s fair.” I smiled, liking him maybe a bit too much already. About an hour of comfortable silence passed, but just under the surface was an anxiety that hung in the air about whether we could be followed.

“Enough with the heavy!” The blonde guy shouted. He turned around to look at me. “Hi, I’m Cameron, Elliott’s gamma.” He fake saluted to me, earning him an eye roll from the ridiculously large guy in the driver’s seat.

“I’m Emma, I’m Jade’s best friend.” I smiled sheepishly at him.

“Emma, what’s your favorite type of music?” Cameron grinned ear to ear and held up his phone as if that was supposed to do something.

“I’m not sure, we don’t really get to listen to music much at river bed.” I shrugged and giggled at Cameron’s shocked expression. He reminded me of a cartoon character, he was so animated and funny.

“That’s crazy, Jasper isn’t that crazy?” He nudged the guy next to him to get his attention.

“I mean, given the conditions of the pack house and the treatment of everyone inside I would think it would stand to r-“ Jasper tried to answer, but Cameron immediately cut him off.

“I didn’t need you to debrief me on the subject, I was asking a rhetorical question you colossal kill joy!” Cameron shouted seemingly playfully but I stiffened, wondering what that big scary guy would do for retribution.

“Oh, I’m a kill joy? Really?! Well, if I were a kill joy would I do THIS-“ I noticed the car skirting a million miles an hour down the highway, pulling off an exit and into a parking lot where I was certain he’d be ripping Cameron out of his seat and beating him for insubordination. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Elliott sort of chuckling, which threw me off.

“I guess he sure showed you, Cameron.” Elliott teased. “Who would’ve thought the group bummer would’ve been the one to bring the girls to Dairy Queen for the first time. Honestly you should be embarrassed this wasn’t your idea as the resident oversized child. You’re slipping dude.”

Cameron fake pouted and I laughed maybe a bit too loud out of relief. Elliott gently opened his door and stepped out. I was getting ready to climb over the seat in front of me when he pulled a lever that would lay it down flat so I could just step over and out. He offered me his hand to help me get out steadily, and I took it. As I lowered myself to the ground I realized he hadn’t gotten Jade out of the car yet. “We’re leaving her in the car?” I asked, afraid to just leave my little sister by herself.

Elliott ran one of his massive hands through his long dark hair. “Actually, I was going ask you for a quick favor if it’s not too much trouble. See, I had to carry Jade out of the pack clinic as quickly as I could and she’s still in her hospital gown under all these blankets,” he looked at me as if apologizing. “I was going to see if you’d help me by grabbing a pair of her pants out of her bag that you packed and maybe you could help her get dressed if I block people from seeing? I just don’t want her to be embarrassed.”

I didn’t even hesitate, I was completely touched by his thoughtfulness toward her. I went to the trunk, and he lifted the giant door up for me. I went through the small plastic bag I’d filled with out joint belongings to find a pair of clean pants for Jade. She only had 3 to choose from, so at least it was quick and easy. I realized that I didn’t have a clean shirt for her to put on. As I was looking through the side of the bag with my things to give her one of mine, I noticed Elliott going through his own bag and pulling out an oversized tshirt. He held it up to me. “I think it’ll be way too big on her but at least it’ll be comfortable to sleep in for the rest of the drive home. We still have a few hours.”

I smiled at him and took the shirt. I discretely grabbed a pair of underwear and a sports bra and motioned for him to come with me to the side of the car Jade was in. I gently brushed the hair out of her face and ran the back of my hand down one of her cheeks. I realized just then that only 24 hours ago I was watching her be chained up to a post and fearing for her life, and now she had a mate and was headed to the life I always knew she deserved. And even in all the chaos of this great new life, she’d thought of me. She’d saved my life. I quickly wiped away a tear and spoke softly to Jade. “Hey, sweetie we’re stopping to get something to eat, can you wake up for me please?”

**Jade POV**

I opened my eyes to see Emma and Elliott standing over me and I was excited to find that it wasn’t a dream, this was all really happening. Elliott’s dark eyes seemed to twinkle as he looked into mine. I couldn’t help but smile shyly at him.

“Sorry to wake you, love, but we’ve been on the road a little over an hour and a half and we figured now would be a good time to stop for lunch since you haven’t eaten and poor Emma missed breakfast because of us.” Emma smiled hearing her name acknowledged and I realized that by falling asleep I’d left her alone with a car full of strangers. I hoped she wasn’t too upset with me.

“Elliott thought you might want to change before we go in,” Emma said cheerfully and held up clothes for me.

“I’ll hold up this blanket so no one can see you guys.” Elliott said, turning around behind Emma and spreading a large fluffy blanket as far as his arms could stretch, forming a semi circle of coverage for us, the open door to the car covering us on the other side.

Emma gently guided my legs into my underwear and pants for me and helped me stand up as painlessly as possible to pull them up. She then untied the back of my hospital gown and offered me a sports bra. I put my head in and she guided my arms through carefully, pulling it down softly and trying not to let the band touch any of my bruises. She handed me a large tshirt with a lovely pine scent that let me know it was Elliott’s and I eagerly threw it over my head. It was so soft and it didn’t have any holes in it, it felt amazing to be wearing something of his.

Astrid practically purred in my head as she smelled Elliott’s scent all over us. Emma let him know we were finished and he lowered the blanket, turning around to look at us. He smiled brightly at me and I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. “Let’s get you both inside. You both have to be starving.” As he said that I felt my stomach growl.

Elliott ushered Emma and I into the restaurant and I noticed the pack doctor his family occupying a table next to Elliott’s beta and gamma. They all already had their food, so the three of us headed to the front of the restaurant by ourselves. I never caught the doctor’s name, but the rare times we saw him in the packhouse, he was always so polite and kind to the omegas. He’d always order lunch in the dining hall and then wait until he was alone in it to sneak the food back in for those of us working the kitchen to get a chance at a warm meal.

Elliott motioned for us to stand with him a little ways back from the line and pointed up to this light up sign with pictures of delicious looking food just above our heads. “Alright, ladies. Here’s the menu. Pick anything you like, as much food as you want.” He stood back and watched us read the menu, patiently waiting for us to seem ready before joining the line with us, and answering our multiple questions about what to order before guiding us up to the counter where he said we were supposed to place our order.

“Hello, what can I get for you?” A nice looking young boy asked from behind the counter. Elliott motioned for us to go ahead.

“We’d both like an order of chicken tenders and fries, please.” I spoke for Emma and I.

“Do you want any ice cream?” The boy asked, looking surprised at us.

“Oh, yes, they’d love a large of whatever flavor they both want!” Elliott spoke over our heads and then looked down at us “this place is sort of known for its ice cream, you have to get some or you’ll regret it!”

I studied the menu before deciding on the m&m mixer with vanilla ice cream, and Emma asked for just plain chocolate ice cream. Elliott told us to go sit down and he’d bring us the food when it was ready so we could stay off our feet. We chose a small table a few feet away from the others, not wanting to disturb them.

I was slightly startled by a loud scooting sound before realizing that Cameron was moving his and Jasper’s entire table toward us with a broad smile on his face. “Oh no, you guys aren’t getting away from us that easily! This is a road trip lunch and road trip lunches are how you get to know your travel companions!”

“Or they could want just 5 minutes of peace, a thing I can heavily relate to.” Jasper grumbled and I chuckled. He looked over at me with surprise and I suddenly couldn’t stop laughing at the look on his face. He cracked a small smile at me, and said “most people don’t think I’m funny.” Which made me laugh even harder. I was wiping a tear away from my face when Elliott came over with a tray of food and set it down on our table with a puzzled look on his face.

“Someone finally laughed at one of Jasper’s jokes,” Cameron offered and Elliott snorted. He passed Emma her chicken tenders and then a separate basket for me and we both stared at them.

“Is something wrong?” Elliott looked concerned.

“It’s just that, we don’t usually get this much food. We thought we’d just share one order.” I almost whispered, afraid of making him mad.

“Oh,” Elliott looked relieved and then sad. He sat down and set a tray with a rather impressive amount of food on it in front of him before continuing. “Well, eat whatever you’re hungry for. If there’s some left over, I’m sure Cameron, Jasper or myself will be able to finish it off for you. You may be surprised by how hungry you are since neither of you have eaten in quite a while though.” He said, handing us both our ice cream as well.

Emma shrugged and took a bite out of her chicken tender, immediately taking another giant bite. This sparked my curiosity so I tried a bite myself. This chicken was delicious. It was warm, it was crisp and freshly seasoned, nothing like reheated leftovers from hours before. I almost moaned out loud. I tried one of the fries and couldn’t stop myself from eating all of them within a minute or two. I looked over to Emma and realized she was doing the exact same thing. Not long after, we’d both eaten all of our chicken too.

“Good?” Elliott smiled at us and we both nodded. “Try your ice cream now!” He said offering us both spoons without saying another word. I’d thought he would’ve rubbed it in that he was right, Victor loved a chance to make us feel stupid, but instead Elliott just watched us with an expectant smile, as if he was excited for us to eat, a thing Victor felt the opposite of excitement for. Omegas were nothing but a glorified bill to him. Freeloaders, drains on the pack’s resources, useless underlings. Elliott was impressing me more and more in such a short period of time just by being nothing like Victor.

I scooped out a small bite from the large cup of ice cream. I made sure the bite had a few m&ms on it so I’d get the full effect. As soon as the ice cream touched my lips, I smiled. It was the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted. It was sweet, it was light, it was somehow comforting. I found myself savoring the next few bites as if this was my first and last time to eat something so incredible. I looked over at Emma and she’d eaten almost half of her ice cream already. She seemed to be enjoying it, even though she had a puzzled look on her face.

“Not so fast or you’ll get brain freeze!” Cameron chuckled at Emma’s enthusiasm.

“What’s brain freeze?” Emma asked through a full mouth of chocolate ice cream.

“It’s like a really bad headache behind your eyeballs for a full minute if you eat ice cream too fast,” Jasper stated as if this was common knowledge. “Genius over here only knows to warn you about it because he gets it every time he eats ice cream.”

“I didn’t get it today!” Cameron said, feigning offense.

“You haven’t even started on your ice cream yet!” Jasper retorted.

“Okay well if I don’t get brain freeze you owe me fifty bucks,”

“Sounds like incredibly easy money to me. You’re on.” Jasper said seeming to feign disinterest.

They both shook hands and Elliott rolled his eyes. Clearly this was the norm for these two, but I had to say it was pretty entertaining.

“So, how far is your pack from here?” I asked between bites of ice cream.

“We’re about another 4 hours away,” Elliott answered. “We’re just a bit north of here, in the mountains.”

I’d never been to the mountains before, but I’d seen pictures and they looked breathtaking. I was brimming with excitement and suddenly couldn’t wait to get there. All anxieties about meeting Elliott’s pack and whether or not they’d like me had almost disappeared. Almost.

“That reminds me, Jasper could you please call Cleo and ask her if she could go shopping for some clothes for the girls? Just the basics for now, they can go shopping for their own specific wardrobes once they’ve settled in some more.” Elliott was already the most thoughtful ranked member I’d ever met, maybe the most thoughtful person period. He wanted to buy me AND Emma clothes! Everything about him felt too good to be true.

“Who’s Cleo?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer. Was this the first flaw I’d learn about? Was Cleo some live in girlfriend of his?

“She’s my mate,” Jasper said proudly and to my intense relief. “She’ll be working under you as soon as you’re ready to start taking over your Luna duties.” He stood to his feet and walked outside, dialing his phone as he went. He looked like he couldn’t get outside to call his mate fast enough, which made him seem just a little bit more normal and a bit less of an imposing, scary figure to me.

“Oh,” I said, afraid to meet her already. What would happen when she found out I was just some lowly omega and she— a ranked female— had to work not just with me every day but under me? She’d hate me.

“I keep telling you, we’re not an omega.” Astrid chastised in my head bit it didn’t bring me much comfort.

Almost as if noticing my discomfort, Elliott put a hand on my leg under the table and leaned in to whisper to me “you’ll love cleo, she’s the ying to Jasper’s yang. She’s very friendly and outgoing, but just like Jasper she’s also very loyal. She’s been waiting for me to find my luna for years so I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to finally meet you.” His scent and his touch calmed me with ease and I somehow trusted everything he was saying to me. I couldn’t tell if it was the mate bond or something else, but I already felt like I knew Elliott really well. I put my hand on top of his and rested my head on his shoulder. I silently prayed to the moon goddess that Elliott was the real deal, not just too good to be true.