Her Unexpected Luna

Chapter 2

Tasia

"Alpha, a few of the other southern pack alphas are in your study requesting for your immediate presence" Jackson said hesitantly to his already irritated alpha.

Tasia threw her head back with her eyes closed to take in a deep breath. She pressed against her temples with her hands to relieve a little pressure on the migraine that was growing stronger in her head.

"Immediately huh?" she chuckled with disbelief.

"yes alpha" Jackson responded with a sincere tone.

He knew this wasn't something she had wanted to deal with today. Especially with it being the anniversary of the former Alpha and Luna's death. This time of year was always hard for Tasia and the older members of the pack.

"They barge in unannounced and make themselves comfortable in my office with no regards of what today means to us and demand my presence at their own terms?" She said through a sickening tone, her eyes flashing black in anger.

She paused and took a deep breath not wanting to take her anger out on her beta who was just relaying the message.

"Would you like me to send them away? I'll just tell them you're dealing with private pack matters." He asked.

Tasia shook her head

"No, that will just give them another reason to believe that I will always be beneath them as a neighboring pack leader" she said.

"But that doesn't mean I'm not going to take my time, have the kitchen prepare them some beverages and snacks and I'll be in there in just a little bit. Thank you Jackson" She said in a softer tone and gave him a smile of appreciation.

Jackson nodded his head and scampered off to do what she had asked.

Tasia turned her attention back to the memorial that was built for her parents. There had already been flowers, cards and small gifts placed at the feet of the statues that were created in their honor. The statues were of two wolves that sat opposite of each other with their backs and heads touching one another while their muzzles pointed twords the sky as if they were howling. Behind the pair of wolves was a couple that stood facing one another with their foreheads touching and their hands united together between their bodies. The male statue that represented her father towered over her mothers, resembling them perfectly as they were together when they were alive. Tasia smiled to herself with a single tear falling down her cheek. The memorial was built on a small circular island in the middle of a pond that was surrounded by a huge flower garden that was flourishing with different flowers and plants of various colors. This very spot was the spot her parents had gotten married and had been crowned Alpha and Luna of the Fiorire Moon pack, which made it the only rightful place they be laid to rest in.

Making her way back to the pack house she took in a deep breath before opening the door to her study. She could already hear their irritated bickering amongst themselves that hadn't even seem to stop as she entered the room and made her way to her chair behind her desk. Alpha Zack of Lamia Moon and Alpha Marcus of River Moon continued to bicker amongst themselves while Alpha Vincent of Lotus moon sat quietly, clearly annoyed by the other two alphas and the only one that acknowledged Tasia's presence. She let out a sigh and cleared her throat loudly to gain the attention of the other two. Of course that didn't work so she tried it again louder the second time. Again, nothing.

They continued to bicker as if there was no one else in the room. Vincent was getting ready to speak up but Tasia shook her head at him and stood up grabbing a pile of books off her desk, lifting them up and letting them fall with a loud thud that echoed across the room. This time gaining the two alphas attention causing them to jerk their heads twords her.

"You know it's not polite to interrupt a conversation between alphas" Marcus spat coldly, narrowing his eyes at Tasia.

"And neither is inviting yourself onto my lands without a courtesy call, and on a day of mourning for my people none the less!" Tasia growled with black eyes as she slammed both of her hands down on her desk.

Vincent remained silent but showed remorse in his facial expressions. Marcus had kept his silence knowing he had been a bit rash but kept an aggressive composure.

"Our apologies Luna.." Zack began but was interrupted.

"Alpha" Tasia corrected sternly, the black still in her eyes.

Zack huffed in annoyance but started to continue until he was cut off again by Vincent who had finally decided to speak up

"This has been dragged out enough thanks to two stubborn headed alphas" Vincent said glaring at the two who both responded with short warning growls.

"Alpha Tasia, we apologize for barging in on you like this today. I'm aware of the date today and wanted to start off by giving you and your pack my condolences. On behalf of myself and my pack I'd personally like to tell you that you've come along way since your gain over the pack. Rebuilding it from the bottom and making it strong again. Your mother was originally from my pack and very close friends of my parents, and from the things I've heard I'm sure they would be proud with what you have accomplished." Vincent said.

Tasia raised her eyes in surprise to his statement. This was the first time another alpha had shown her any kind of respect, let alone compassion. The mention of her mother being from his pack almost came as a shock to her. She hadn't realized how much she didn't know about her parent's past, but of course they weren't around during the important years of Tasia's educational period of her life to tell her about stuff like that. She picked up bits and pieces from letters and few pack members that were still around that knew her parents but it was never enough. She had many questions but would save those for a later date when she could talk with him privately.

"I appreciate your sentiment Alpha Vincent, and thank you for your compliments." She said bowing her head in respect to him.

He nodded and smiled at her approvingly and looked at the other two who seemed to be getting more irritated by the second. Noticing this she rolled her eyes to herself and addressed the two alphas in the same tone.

"Alpha Zack, Alpha Marcus, I apologize for my outburst earlier. I've just been under a lot of stress lately" She said but kept it at that.

She didn't want to go to much into her troubles. The two of them seemed to relax a little and nodded their head.

"We apologize as well, Alpha Tasia" Marcus said.

This brought a satisfying smile to Tasia's lips as Zack followed suite with an apology of his own.

"That's actually why we have come to see you by the way. We weren't sure if you had been made aware and thought it be better to converse in person about this instead of over the phone" Zack said.

Tasia sat back in her chair giving them her full attention.

"Okay, what is it?" She questioned.

There was a knock at the door as it slowly opened at Tasia's prompting knowing it was one of her kitchen staff bringing in a tray of drinks and snacks at her request. She handed each alpha a drink of their choosing and sat the tray of snacks on the coffee table and scurried out.

"We understand that you've been struggling with the expansions of your pack from the rapid growth of it's development this past year. And considering the land that was lost from being targeted by those rogue packs and the other surrounding area packs." Marcus had started.

"Not to mention the land that was sold off by Louis right before his fall" Thalia added in.

Marcus nodded holding back his tongue from being interrupted again. Thalia smirked to herself enjoying this little game of hers.

"Which is a good point to bring up because the alpha that those lands were sold to, was removed from his position and the whole pack has been disbanded." Vincent said.

Tasia's eyes widened at this new found information causing her to sit up straight to think.

"So all of his lands are up for "Auction"? " She questioned as she did the finger movements for air quotes on the word auction.

"Not quite" Zack said.

"Unfortunately for us.. Marcus won the auction for all of the land" Zack said hesitantly.

Tasia's blood began to boil at that. Her face clearly showed her anger as she gathered her words before speaking, not wanting to let herself blow up completely.

"You guys held a land auction with all of the surrounding pack members that are qualified for that land.." she trailed off as she pushed herself up and out of her chair to pace back and forth behind her desk, daring herself not to make eye contact with the other alphas.

"But not include the FOURTH! surrounding pack in that auction? The pack that obviously everyone knows who needs it the most and would have done ANYTHING to get that land for the benefit of her PACK" she said in a raised tone.

It was obvious to the three she was seething but they remained in silence for a moment to let her take it in. Marcus and Zack looked to Vincent and motioned towards Tasia knowing he would have the better luck at speaking to her then the other two.

"Tasia, to be completely frank, you are already aware of the other packs, and the council's views on you. They wouldn't even acknowledge your existence when we brought it up" he said.

Tasia studied him and could tell he was telling her the truth. Which also meant there was an alpha meeting she hadn't been invited to. Again. Vincent seemed to have read her mind by the apologetic look he was giving her.

"Marcus ended up paying more then what that land was worth just to get it." Zack said confidently.

Tasia looked to Marcus for his confirmation. He nodded his head and finally spoke up.

"I didn't really even need it, but I knew that you did so I came to offer you a deal" he said calmly.

Tasia stopped her pacing and turned to him with her arms folded in front of her with narrowed eyes.

"Okay, what's your deal?" she questioned.

"I'm going to sell you the land back that was originally sold by Louis for less then it was originally bought for. Because we all know it wasn't worth what it was sold for" Marcus said as he chuckled through those words.

Zack elbowed him in the rib earning him a death glare from Marcus. Tasia rolled her eyes even though she knew he wasn't wrong.

"What's the catch?" She asked him knowing there was more to it.

Marcus leaned back in his chair with a suspicious grin on his face.

"There's no catch to that deal" He said.

"That deal?" Tasia repeated

"There's another?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

He was definitely up to something. The other two alphas also seemed to be surprised by this other deal which made Tasia believe Marcus had kept this to himself. Marcus grinned to himself before he spoke.

"I will give you all of the land for free with some extra added benefits if you combine your pack and lands with mine. Form a union with me" He said confidently.

Tasia snorted

"A union?" she questioned as she let out a laugh.

"You mean marriage. You want me to marry you" She confirmed.

The other two had definitely not been informed of this proposal from the looks of shock they had on their face.

"Marcus.." Zack started but couldn't make any more words come out of his mouth as he just let his head shake and look to the ground in disbelief.

Tasia couldn't help but find humor in his proposal. Was he insane? She known he had yet to find his mate and had become worried that something must have happened to her, maybe she had died or gave up on finding her mate and let someone else mark her. So even if Marcus were to stumble upon her, he would never know who it was due to someone else's mark that blocked the true fated mate bond. He was becoming desperate to find a Luna to rule along side him. Tasia was no Luna, and even if she was to never find her own mate she would never stoop low enough to marry outside her fated mate. Tasia was already hesitant on finding her mate as it was, considering she didn't want to lose her position in her pack.

"If you reject that offer my first offer still stands. You have my word on that. In fact I will throw in3200 more acres to the land that was once yours" He said.

Tasia studied him closely, listening to all of the heart beats in the room. He was being serious. What was he up to?

"If you accept my second offer our packs will be one, but you get full control over your original pack as you do now. I will have no say, and you will remain...their Alpha" He said straining to say those last few words.

"What if we find our mates?" Tasia questioned.

"How do you think they would feel about this arrangement? how far is this arrangement supposed to go? what do you want out of all of this?" She asked.

He thought carefully before he answered, his eyes trailing Tasia's long and slim figure.

"We won't find our mates if you give yourself to me, and let me mark you" He said with his eyes flashing black with lust but quickly returned to their normal sky blue color.

Tasia's cheeks burned red at his comment but quickly pushed those thoughts aside almost disgusted with herself even thinking about that.

"And of course I want pups. Think about the heirs we could make to take over our packs. Think about how strong we would be as a couple." He stated.

Tasia glanced over at Vincent who had been very quiet. He seemed to be seething at Marcus's unsuspected offer. Zack and Vincent both had Luna's of their own so she knew they weren't upset about not thinking up of the idea for themselves.

If Marcus was right about one thing it was about the strength they would have together. They could probably rival the strength and numbers of the packs in the north and the west. And it's not like Marcus wasn't attractive. He was your typical 6'7ft tall alpha with strong broad shoulders and a very toned chest and stomach that was clear through the shirts he wore. He had dark mahogany ear length hair that he kept slicked back with a clean cut beard that stretched up to connect with his sideburns. His dark hazel eyes studied her as she thought about it.

Even though she wasn't thrilled about having a mate she'd be lying if she said the offer wasn't tempting. Her pack members would have more room to expand and breathe. She could gain more income through Marcus's business if she partnered with him through that as well. Her head turned to look at a picture that hung on the wall. It was of her parents, holding each other close with Tasia cuddled between the both of them. Tasia could feel the love they felt for each other just by looking at that photo.

She knew that if she accepted a mate that wasn't her fated, it wouldn't feel the same. It wouldn't feel true. But what if Marcus was lying about letting her keep her position as Alpha? There was too many grey areas for her to accept that.

"Out of all due respect Alpha Marcus.." She began but was now being interrupted by him.

"Don't decide right now. Take a few days, think it over. And meet with me at the next alpha meeting" He said.

Tasia raised her eyebrows

"You're going to invite me to the next meeting?" she scoffed.

"It's not right that you've been left out of them. Regardless of...you.. being you. You still have a right to be involved. You've proved yourself time and time again that you can handle it. The three of us have decided that we would make a better effort to treat you equally, and hope that the others would follow suite" Vincent said.

Tasia liked the sound of that. She even felt a bit relieved. She decided to meet Marcus in the middle and agree to think about his offer but decided to throw in a counter offer.

"Since I'm agreeing to think about this offer... and even if I don't accept you still want to offer me the first deal. Would you be open to me buying the land off of you anyway? You don't have to include the 3200 acres. The original land would be enough" she stated.

Marcus thought about her counter offer for awhile and then finally nodded his head in agreement.

"You can keep the extra 3200. I always keep my word" he said and stuck out his hand.

She shook it firmly and they signed a written contract with Vincent and Zack as witnesses, both taking a copy of the document and prepping one to be mailed into the council to be approved.

The three Alphas ended up staying for the special memorial feast that was thrown every year for the former Alpha and Luna of Fiorire Moon. Turns out Alpha Vincent had brought an offering to represent the Lotus moon pack and present it to the memorial that was even more beautiful at night then it was during the day. There were lights all around the memorial and inside the water of the pond that allowed you to see all the koi fish that swam about around the memorial. The lights even reflected off some of the plants making it look like they glowed. The three alphas were at a loss of words as they hadn't actually been to the Fiorire pack lands since Tasia had taken it over. Louis wasn't good on maintaining the maintenance around the pack lands so it became an unwelcoming environment that everyone avoided. But with the effort Tasia dedicated herself into making the pack lands feel like a home again, her work did not go unnoticed. She gave them a tour of the area and even talked about her plans to expand on their newly added land. They even pitched in their own ideas to help her out.

Once it got late, Tasia saw the alphas out to their vehicles and sent leftover food and drinks with them for their long trips back home. It had been an exhausting day, but instead of going to bed like a normal person, she found herself back out at the memorial. Sitting in silence, she allowed herself to think more about Marcus's offer. She couldn't help but to wonder about her fated mate, what it would be like if she ever found him and how he would react to her being Alpha. Would he accept the position as just her mate and partner to running the pack? or would he expect the full title of Alpha by himself?