The Luna’s Past

Chapter 1: The Crack’s Reckoning

The sharp cracking of the crystal shattered the silence in David's office as it he looked up from behind his polished oak desk. The glass that once held aged whiskey, a special import from the Wheatley Falls pack, famous for their ale and spirits, now in pieces in David's hand.

Flashback: Same Day, Earlier

"Alpha David," came Beta Chasen through the mind link. "There's a disturbance reported at the southern border. Movement, multiple wolves. Possibly rogues."

David tensed from where he stood, in the meadow that housed the Enforcer Corps barracks, he'd been catching up with the Enforcer Corps building crew on the dam maintenance when he'd felt the familiar tap at his temple, indicative of an incoming mind link connection. Tension knotting in his chest. "How close?" The Alpha answered.

"Less than an 20 clicks out by the crows. But ... there's something else. Looks like some in the party may be pups or injured."

"Keep me posted."

"Yes, Alpha" came the reply before the link closed. Only for Chasen to come back less than a minute later.

"The enforcer patrol has made contact and confirmed the identities. A lone omega. Three pups. Minor injuries."

Not a threat at least, the Alpha was relieved, until the response came.

"Wait David, it's ... it's Chris."

David's breath hitched. The name was a ghost from a past he'd tried to bury. But the constant, familiar ache in his chest always let him know that would be impossible.

Flashback: A Decade Earlier

The night was cold, but the firelight and heating inside the pack house kept them all toasty. Chris sat stiffly on a worn bench in the entryway, eyes fixed on the ceiling as others laughed and celebrated. Tonight was his sixteenth birthday. And with all the s**t he'd gone through in his young life, he thought this had to be the worst.

His best friend David had been away furthering his Alpha training under the tutelage of the Diamond Falls pack, a militant pack to the North of them. Alpha training could take decades and David had been at it practically since he was born, under the guidance of his father Alpha Tanner.

David had been away for five seasons in a row, the longest they'd ever been apart. But David had pulled strings to make sure they stayed in touch, having arranged a schedule, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at nineteen hundred hours Chris would report to the pack house where he'd wait in the Omega Corps wing. He'd sit and wait behind one of their heavy desks to twiddle his thumbs until David called on the satellite phone. This arrangement, much to the chagrin of the omega staff, kept them in touch and made the distance between them as bearable as possible. So a staff omega, eyes narrowed and lips pursed would listen in as the boys chirped back and forth on the phone. It was suppose to be for emergencies, for pack hierarchy and personnel to call out to packs in the event a call was deemed necessary. David talked about his training, wolves he'd met at the Diamond Falls pack, the noose-tightening strictness of the pack and its militant regimen. David congratulated Chris on his wolf finally waking and his phasing. They planned a race to see who was faster.

Chris tried to find interesting things to talk about, to keep David interested. He talked about schooling, about the market and its new goods, about a trader who passed through No Man's Land bartering cages of exotic birds. But the truth was, Chris was miserable without David. David was his only real friend, the rough crowd he usually hung with had laughed in his face when he mentioned he and the Alpha's son where friends. Chris tried to keep as much of his world separate from David as possible. But his reputation preceded him.

To the pack he was foul-mouthed, nasty-tempered, promiscuous, lowborn Chris, the problem-child of some lap chasing Omega dad. Scandal must've run in the family because his dad had quite the reputation as well. Known as a homewrecker who'd ruined a high-ranked Delta's marriage with his Chosen Mate, Chris's dad Sam was neurotic, socially awkward and could only be described best as a hopeless romantic. Sam, a lowborn omega, grew up in the Crescent Hollow Pack, his mother, an unmated female, left him alone once he was old enough to fend for himself. She'd left with a packless merchant and had not been seen since. Sam finished his required schooling and got on with the Farming Corps, where he met Ted, the Delta leader of the Corps. It was instant attraction, not Fated but strong. It wasn't long before Ted was visiting Sam's home, on the far eastern border of the pack, closest to No Man's Land, for private time and intimate moments. Sam didn't know those intimate moments were never meant to be shared. Sam, always a loner, always having had a problem with clamming up and stuttering when around people he didn't know. He had not retained many of his friends from his schooling. So when other members of the Farming Corps began to invite him to gatherings, he was actually excited to tried to talk to new people. He'd proudly but casually mentioned his relationship with Ted.

Then, the air seemed to change at the gathering, held at the commonly used bar, The Pit, in No Man's Land, whispers simmered through the patrons, soon groups were gawking at Sam, concerned, judging and embarrassed looks thrown his way. Lisa, one of the girls on the irrigation crew pulled him aside.

"I know you're new here but you can't talk like that around here," she'd started, confusing Sam.

"What do you mean?"

"Boss is mated, if y'all have something going on you need to keep it to yourself, but I figure it's already out now, best to stop talking about it while you can," she said before heading back to the party.

Sam was crushed, this couldn't be true, Ted would never. He'd get to the bottom of it when he saw Ted next. That didn't have to wait long, as the next day at work he was summoned to the barracks, Ted awaited in the now empty space, filled with lockers, personal items and cots. Before he could speak, Ted grabbed Sam by the collar of his shirt,

"What the f**k, do you think you're doing pup!?" Ted sneered.

Sam went to respond, Ted cut him off, "If you know what's good for you you will never mention my name to anyone again, do I make myself clear boy?" Ted asked in his face, spittle flying.

Sam was a mess by this point, tears spilled from his eyes along with his words "It's true isn't it? You're mated?" But he didn't need to ask, he already knew the answer.

Ted didn't bother giving him an answer, leaving him crumpled on the boot worn floor.

Sam picked himself up, still shaky, splashing some water on his face in the communal bathroom he left to go back to work only for him to be told to take the rest of the day, everyone looking on at his crimson face and red-rimmed eyes.

Only to then be told when he went back the next day that he'd been relieved of his duties and to report to Omega Corps for assignment.

Very soon, the chatter and whispers became rumor. Especially when Ted was replaced, his chosen mate bond dissolved and his transfer to another pack accepted. And definitely when Sam's belly started to grow.

So those were Chris's origins in this pack, he didn't need his dad to tell him, the pack gossip mill filled him in about his own life in schooling with the constant, "I heard your dad ..." jokes. But Chris rolled with the punches, after all, he had David. Whom he'd met during the Pup Swim Games. At just 6 years old, his omega dad took him far out to the large lake that bordered one side of the pack. On the banks of the lake he saw almost all of his schooling mates, and some other pups he didn't know. One of those pups was David. Since Alpha Tanner insisted his son learn and train with the pack, not just with private tutors, David was here along with his friend Chasen, his sister Colleen, and some other high ranked pups to attend the Swim Pup Games.

No one is sure who came up with the games, probably an astute omega tasked to provide a solution to a dangerous problem, they were started over 600 years ago, when unfortunately the pack lost 6 pups in one day in what could have been a preventable drowning. Pups were essential to a pack's growth. As wolves were practically immortal their only real death sentence was conflict, war, famine, evolved viruses and the elements. They aged but slowly, and no one had ever heard of or met a wolf who'd died of old age.

After the fall of humankind, the small number of those with the gene lived, survived, multiplied slowly and their descendants went on to found the packs of today. Now man was not human, man was something else. Half man, half wolf, ruled both, by the instincts of human nature and that of the tactile, apex predator of the wolf. No one knew exactly how or why the wolf gene emerged in some of the species, older wolves reminisced about stories of wolf packs who remained hidden even in the days of humankind, one of the packs in the north east region, the La Push pack, claim to be descended from the Quileute tribe, they brag at pack gatherings that they are descendants of the original shifters. That's taken with a grain of salt.

Rebuilding after the fall was slow, arduous, as survivors realized that pregnancies were scarce and live births, even scarcer, and females pups, impossibly scarcer. It seemed that nature was trying to correct itself when many millennia ago, the first male become pregnant, and eventually one had a live birth. These rare males were always omegas. Presently, females and omegas were still considered rare though most civilized packs had their share of both, but compared to the global wolf population, females were outnumbered 10 to 1 and omegas outnumbered 50 to 1. Losing live pups was a travesty for any pack. Packs needed new blood, new life, without it, old ideologies and strategies stayed too long and stalled progress. Packs needed new leaders and new ideas and new innovations to survive. They had to be industrial, agricultural and militaristic to adapt and survive takeovers and collapse.

That's why the Crescent Hollow pack would hold a Swim Pup Games event anytime the pack had enough pups around the same age. The pups were taught to swim by experts that visited from coastal packs. Once the pups' dormant wolves woke up, probably in a decade or so, swimming would be instinctual, but for now, they needed safety training. And the pup with the best swim time won savory treats, old world toys and a cake with their name written on it by the lady who bakes in the pack house; with real chocolate on top, made with cacao beans from the southern continent packs. It was a fun day for the pups and their families filled with training, praise for the pups and grilled homemade hot dogs like they had in the Cenozoic era.

The boy, Chasen, was the winner of the day. Chris had finished 8th place out of 17 pups, not bad. All the pups from his schooling played games and had contests; he tried to join, but they weren't too receptive, Chris knew it'd make his dad sad to see he wasn't included so he still tried to hover close to the schooling mates to make it seem like he belonged, but he knew and they knew, he didn't. Chris was sitting on the bank of the big lake they swam in, taking a minute to himself, sick of pretending to talk and laugh with the others. His dad was doing pretty much the same and he knew it must be torture with his shyness. He hoped they'd leave soon. A shadow fell over him, he looked up and was greeted with the site of a fellow pup standing in his shiny red swimming trunks, holding out a saucer to him.

"Here," the Alpha's son said, "you didn't get any cake and Chasen's mom wants him to give everybody some." Chris watched a bit taken aback as David sat down next to him holding out the plate and a spoon.

"Wanna share?" the boy said, still holding out the plate.

"Yeah ... sure," Chris said, leaning into the boy, intrigued and a bit cautious.

"I'll go first," David said, digging into cake with gusto and eating a big piece. "Here!"

Chris studied David, cross legged, in front of him, his dark hair cut in a bowl shape, a big grin on his face, showing the chocolate remnants of the cake still stuck to his gums that framed the large gap, a placeholder for not one but two of the pup's front teeth. As Chris leaned in, opened his mouth and let David feed him the cake, what little caution he had became extinct. Chris was in love.

Pretty soon the other pups gravitated over to the Alpha's young son. To Chris. And when his dad came over, anxious, asking if he wanted to leave, he said no, he was playing with his new friend.

Present Day

He wasn't sure how David had gotten all these people to come to the party. They probably came just to get props from the Alpha's son. None of Chris's 'real' friends were here anyways, they all said they didn't wanna party with some stiff high borns. Which is why he'd regulated himself to the entryway, just off the foyer, he'd sit on this bench until David arrived, that's all he wanted for his birthday anyways.

So when he smelled an intoxicating scent coming from somewhere in the pack house he froze; not willing to leave his trusty perch but wanting, needing, to find it. He stood, following the trail through gyrating party goers, it led him to the kitchen.

"There he is!" Chasen said loudly gesturing towards him. But Chris's eyes were locked on the wide back in front of Chasen, the dark hair shown short, a severe, almost enforcer style hair cut, broad shoulders and ample biceps led the way to a strong waist encased in dark pants. One of his arms was wrapped around someone also turned around that Chris couldn't see. He turned around, their eyes locked.

Mate.

Fated Mate.

Bond.

It was David.

Chris froze, trapped in David's dark eyes. The bond snapping into place making him dizzy, he felt high and could sense a strumming rhythm coming from the new tether, one end attached to David, the other connected somewhere in the depths of his soul.

His eyes flickering over to his companion, an unknown dark haired guy, David's free arm hanging around the shoulders of this mystery man.

"Chris," David said, his name sounding like a whisper.

The sound of his name on his fated's lips sent a strumming vibration up his spine, his c**k twitched. Then horror set in.

Flashback: Chris is 10

As Chris's behavior shifts, his dad doesn't know what to do. The coming in late, the skipping his schooling, the drinking, the rough friends, the slammed doors and disrespectful words. To say Chris began to push everyone away was an understatement. The bright but shy boy was now the class clown, the instigator, the disrespecter, educators hated to see him coming. He quickly garnered a reputation for being a 'throat goat', a moniker he was actually proud of, once his trysts with all the boys were shared during training and beyond.

He drank, he partied, he f****d, he sucked, he hurt. He just wished he could tell him the truth without his dad losing the only thing he'd ever wanted. To be loved.

He did his best to shield his antics from David, he could, mostly, as they didn't attend schooling together, didn't have the same circle of friends. Well, Chris had no circle, he knew deep down his other 'friendships' were the product of their collective location on the fringes of acceptability in the pack. All he really had was Miss Longbow, the lady who kept him sometimes when his dad was working late, he had David, his dad, and his molester, that's it.

But word got around, he was able to rework bedroom rumors as a relationship attempt gone sour, having to stop David from pummeling a big mouth once or twice who got slick with the insults. It had David sitting him down trying to have a heart to heart with him about being more selective with dating.

As he stood there now, looking at his best friend in the world, his future Alpha, his fated mate, his gift from the Goddess, he felt small. He suddenly regretted all the booze and all the boys and waiting until he was 14 to put his foot down with Tom. Finally having the courage to threaten to tell if the nights continued. Courage given to him by a case of strong ale courtesy of the Wheatley Falls pack. Famous for their ale and spirits in the werewolf world.

He'd known he loved David the moment he saw his gapped-tooth grin when they were just pups. David, who had included and accepted him. David who railed against him so may times when he heard him disrespecting his dad, just trying to keep him honest, because he sought to just understand Chris's hostility. David who remained steadfast when Chris tested their friendship, just to continue to have to put up with his passive aggressive bullshit.

A sickening feeling of inadequacy chilled Chris to his bones. He was not good enough for David. He'd always known it, anytime he'd thought of confessing his feelings to David he'd laugh at himself. A lowborn boy putting on a façade, nothing to give to his mate, as all his goodness and innocence stolen, and later given away freely.

Chris turned, bolted for the pack house door, pushing and shoving in his desperate attempt to flee. The cool night air of the courtyard hit him as he ran. Then a voice.

"Chris!"

He stopped short, turned, David stood there, chest-heaving having chased Chris out of the pack house, matching his break neck speed. "Chris," he said slightly flustered and amused. "Where you goin'?" He asked utterly confused, bewildered, at Chris's antics.

Shaking his head side to side, backing away, "I can't" Chris choked out.

"You can't what?" A slight tremor of dread crossed David's narrowing eyes. Taking a deep breath, as if talking to a wounded doe, David said, "what's going on here Chris? Why'd you run? After ... after that?" David took a step forward, Chris took one back. "Look at me," Chris's eyes snapped up, a skittish look in them. "We are exactly right for each other, I mean... doesn't this kinda make sense? We've been best friends so long."

Tears now streaming freely down Chris's face, he took another tentative step back, further alarming David.

"Chris" he said reaching out his hand, "come on, let's ... let's just go talk. There's nothing wrong, it's ok to be scared, this is a good thing ... right? Come back with me." David gave him a small heart-breaking smile, hand still empty, waiting for Chris to take it.

A choked sob escaped from Chris as he took off, running, then phasing, his clothes flying cattywampus.

"Chris!" David called after him, following, until he heard Chasen's voice.

"Aye man, what's going on? What happened?" he asked, confused.

"I dunno", David said, still looking in Chris's direction, "he just ran."

"Well this is some heavy s**t", Chasen chuckled, "fated mates, damn! It's alot. Let him cool off, give him some time.

David thought that might be a good idea, taking one last glance at the direction Chris went in and then turning to follow back to the pack house, an uneasy feeling following him.

The next morning David picked up breakfast from Maggie's, Chris favorites, a large sweet cake with blood sausage and venison bacon, heading to Chris house, to talk. He knocked on the door, Sam answered, disheveled, in a panic.

"Oh thank the Goddess, David, where's Chris?"

"I haven't seen him since last night" David said letting himself in.

"Me neither, he came home last night, upset. He went to his room, came out with a bag saying he was leaving. I thought he was just throwing another tantrum, he usually just stays out all night and is home in the morning but he hasn't come back. I know something is wrong, I can feel it! I should have known, he was so upset, he was actually crying, I haven't seen my boy cry in so long. Something terrible must've happened!" His dad weeped.

"Calm down Mr. Fenwick, nothing bad happened, I'll tell you later, let's go look for him, we'll start at the shearers, he likes to watch the sheep."

Finally having a plan, Sam throws in hopefully, "And I know the Thorne boy he hangs with lives out by waste management, we can check there too!"

They searched all day, by night David has his dad assign a team of enforcers, deltas and gammas to help with the search.

For weeks, David and the pack scoured the nearby territories, Diamond Falls, Ridge Falls, River Run, and Oden's Den, a not so friendly pack to the west.

But Chris was gone.

And everyday since his disappearance, David wished he'd gone after Chris after he'd run that second time. And everyday since, Chris wished that he'd taken David's hand.