Midnight Moon's new Luna

Chapter 12 - RUN!

Caleb

I watched her until the door closed and blocked her from my view. Then I gathered the plates and cutlery. Sure, I had staff, but I could clean up after myself sometimes too. Besides, I’d asked the maids to only clean my quarters once a week. I trusted each and every one of them. But it felt like an invasion of privacy to have them in my room every day. They wouldn’t come in here for another three days unless I asked them too.

As I passed the door to Vera's room I inhaled deeply. Goddess, her scent was amazing.

Let’s find her and mark her right now, Raid growled in my head.

“Are you insane?”

Why not? Can’t you smell that? The Goddess herself picked her for us.

“Maybe so,” I said to him. “But although we have been waiting for years to find our mate, she needs more time to get used to the idea.”

He just gave a low growl in response. I dropped off the dirty dishes in the kitchen and thanked Pearl, the head chef, for the food. I assured her several times that Vera had loved it, and she beamed with pride when I left.

I made my way to my office and started to look through all the papers. Lora had dropped off a list of Alphas who'd accepted the invitation to my birthday party, and how many they’d be bringing with them. Those who had a Luna would bring her, of course. Some would bring their Beta or Gamma, others just a couple of warriors.

Goddess… How many were coming to this party? What was Lora doing, inviting people from other packs? When she’d told me - told, not asked - that she was throwing a party for me, I'd asked her to keep it a small matter. But Lora would be Lora, and I should've known better than to expect her to listen to me.

I continued my work, until a knock came at the door.

“Come in.”

“Alpha.” It was Ben. “One of our patrols ran into a group of intruders close to the western border.”

“Cedric’s warriors?” I asked.

“Almost certainly. Unfortunately, they all got away. They still haven’t committed to any attack. They strike quickly, and then flee when things get too dangerous."

“Were any of ours hurt?”

“Nothing more than scrapes and bruises." He shrugged. “But that’s not all. Another patrol reported a similar skirmish on the border to the southwest just fifteen minutes ago. And earlier today, about two hours ago, there was an incident in the north.”

“Why wasn’t I informed?!” I’d been having lunch with Vera two hours ago, but I should’ve been given word.

“I’m sorry, Alpha. They didn’t link me at the time, and only told me when they came back and made their report, half an hour ago. I was on my way here, but was distracted by the other reports coming in over mindlink at that point.”

“They haven’t attacked so frequently before. Increase the patrols and make sure we have warriors on standby at all times,” I told him.

“Already done, Alpha.”

“Good.”

I mindlinked Lora.

Hey, sis. Is Julia with you?

Yeah. If you want me to keep babysitting her, you’re gonna need to start paying me. My hair is turning prematurely gray because of her, she sent.

Fine. We’ll discuss it later. Just don’t let that girl out of your sight. There has been increased hostile activity at the borders, on several fronts.

Oh, s**t! She said in my head. I’ll keep her in the packhouse.

Good. I was about to sever our connection when I remembered something Vera had said. ‘She asked for your help. She’s not a prisoner here.’

Tell her why she needs to stay with you.

Are you sure? Lora asked. So far, we’ve been keeping her pretty much in the dark.

Yes, I’m sure. This all very much includes her. She deserves to know. And she’s old enough to understand what we are risking to keep her safe. Treating her like she’s four rather than fourteen probably just pisses her off more.

We broke the link and I turned my focus back to Ben.

“Set up a new patrol schedule. From now on, I want increased patrols at all times, as well as a group on standby duty. But our warriors also need time to rest. Make sure everyone take turns and are diligent with reports.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Do you know how Jacob’s doing?” I asked Ben.

“He’s coming back to the packhouse tomorrow. Dr. Gonzalez called me to make sure I knew he’s not allowed to work until next week. And nothing physical for at least another two weeks.”

“Some good news, at least,” I muttered. Why did everything always have to happen at once? At least now, maybe I had an excuse to cancel Lora’s party, if these attacks continued being erratic.

Ben was just about to leave, and I was reaching for another paper on my desk, when a sudden pain shot through my leg. I yelled out and looked down, almost expecting to see it impaled by some sharp object, but there was nothing there, of course. It took me a moment before it clicked. It wasn’t my pain I was feeling. Raid howled in my mind, fighting to break out and take over.

Ben had dashed to my side. “Alpha! What’s wrong?!”

“Vera!”

Vera

After leaving the packhouse, I jogged to the edge of the forest before slowing down. I inhaled the smells of pine and moss as I walked. Soon I found some bushes beside a huge, dead oak that I believed I could easily find again. There I took shelter among the bushes as I undressed, and then placed my clothes at the foot of the oak. Nadya was practically pouncing in my head from excitement.

Finally! Let me out!

“Just a moment.”

I inhaled and focused on giving control over to her. It was much easier this time. And although it was still rather painful, it was bearable. I also tried masking the pain from the mate bond. Nadya and I were just going for a short run. No need to worry Caleb.

Nadya took over, and now I sat at the back of her mind, seeing through her golden, amber eyes.

“Nadya,” I said, “don’t forget to keep within the territory. If there are attacks at the borders here sometimes, we don’t want to drift outside without noticing. We don’t know the layout of this territory, and we aren’t familiar enough with the scents here yet.”

Calm down, she huffed. Borders are usually marked by rivers, streams or mountain ranges. We’ll just make sure not to pass by or cross any such landmarks, and we’ll be fine. Now stop worrying and let me run!

I tried my best to relax and let her enjoy herself. Nadya deserved this. Her first shift had been in a basement, after all. This was her first time actually being in a forest. I could tell she was having a great time, stretching out her legs, feeling the wind in her fur and smelling all the surrounding wildlife.

She spent a few minutes chasing after a bunny, before letting it go. She'd done it for fun, but we’d eaten lunch before heading out. Even if I was the one eating it, it strengthened her too, so there was no need to kill the poor animal.

I could tell she was getting thirsty, and she started to look for water. It didn’t take long before she found a pond with water so still it reflected the forest perfectly. She trotted up to the edge of the water, and through her eyes, I saw in the reflection how she looked for the first time. She was gorgeous, with that silver fur, contrasting so sharply with her golden eyes.

“We should head back soon, so we’re not out here when dusk sets in,” I told her. Dark fell faster and faster as winter approached.

Okay, fine. She whined. Just let me have a drink first. And promise me we’ll do this again soon.

“I promise,” I chuckled. “We should ask if Raid wants to come, too.”

I could feel how pleased and happy that suggestion made her. She really wanted to run with Raid. Nadya bent down to drink, and the water was so fresh and cold, it made us freeze inside.

This pond will be covered by ice any day now, I thought.

A sound of breaking branches came from our left and Nadya spun around. A brown, snarling wolf slowly stepped out from the shadows among the trees. Nadya growled. I could feel the vibrations in her chest and throat. It was a warning to the other wolf to stay away. But instead, he leaped forward. Nadya had no training or experience of fighting, so she only had her instincts to go by. She tried to jump away, but the brown wolf tackled her.

Nadya whimpered as she was knocked to the ground, but she managed to get a paw up, and scratched the wolf across the face. He took a step back, shaking his head before growling and baring his teeth.

Nadya was back on her paws, snarling. He launched forward again, and this time Nadya managed to doge.

Then we took off running, fleeing through the forest. We'd been heading east before, so Nadya found the sun in the sky and ran west. Hopefully, the other wolf would give up the chase once we got closer to the packhouse, deeper into the Midnight Moon territory.

Nadya was running at a reckless speed, fueled by adrenaline. Suddenly, the ground disappeared from beneath her paws. We fell. Somewhere in the fall, full of panic and confusion, we shifted. It hadn’t been on purpose, but we were still learning.

And so, I felt it in full when I slammed into the ground. The air was knocked from my lungs and my leg… The pain in my leg nearly knocked me out completely.

Fighting to get air back into my lungs, I looked up. I had fallen off a cliff, maybe 12 feet high. The brown wolf stood at the edge, looking down at my naked body. I tried to get up, but my right leg wouldn’t work. I crawled into the forest and hid under a bush. Nadya was whining and whimpering in my head.

Maybe he wouldn’t get down from the cliff. Maybe he would turn back and leave me alone. I looked down at my leg then, and saw in horror how a broken tree branch was protruding from my thigh. My hip was hurting too. I must've landed on it.

I hoped, by the goddess, that he didn’t follow me down here. There was no way I could run in this state.

I heard footsteps, and moved one of the bush’s branches just enough to see the brown wolf scenting the air. He was following me. My leg was bleeding. He was tracking the smell of my blood. f**k…

Caleb

I dashed out of the packhouse, Ben right behind me. As I was running for the tree line, I mindlinked three warriors on standby to come with us.

As soon as I got outside, I shifted. So did Ben, and as we headed for the forest, a tan she-wolf and a dark gray wolf joined us. Kim and Jonathan. Their wolves were named Tori and Vize.

Raid was snarling as he ran, and I was urging him to move faster. Now that I was actively feeling the matebond, I was not only aware of her pain, but her fear too. She hadn’t just tripped and broken her leg. Something was very wrong.

We followed where the matebond was guiding us. Fear and anger drove us to run faster and faster. What was she thinking, going into the forest all by herself? What had happened to her?

Please, let her not have encountered a group of Cedric’s men. No, that couldn’t be it. I’d told her to stay well within the packlands.

Was that blood that Raid could smell? Goddess, where the f*ck was she?!

She was hurting in several places, but her leg and hip were the worst. Whatever was going on, I doubted she could run. We had to get to her quickly.

Mate! Raid was barely able to think. Well, that was fine, as long as he could run.

Vera

I sat there, under the bush, unable to do anything as the brown wolf came close and closer to me. Any second now, he would see me. Then he stopped and looked straight at me. Even in his wolf form, I could tell he was smiling. It was over.

There was a blur of motion, and suddenly he wasn’t there anymore. Fussy shapes rushed past, and I heard snarling and growling.

I peaked out from my hiding spot and saw two wolves fighting, four others circling them. That black wolf, fighting the brown one, it was Raid. Nadya could feel him. Suddenly, I was no longer afraid for my own life, but for his. I didn’t need to worry for long, though. Raid made quick work of the brown wolf. He soon had his neck between his jaws. With a loud snap, he broke that bastard's spine.