The Lost Luna

Chapter 15 - The Mystery continues

**TRIGGER WARNING**

***Ryder’s POV***

After teasing Amber in the hallway, I made my way to the pack hospital. Something isn’t adding up regarding beta Jacob’s wife's death. I’ve mind-linked my father and Dr. Miller about my suspicions. They’ve agreed to meet with me after the autopsy results are available. After arriving at the hospital, I went directly to Dr. Miller’s office. When I got there, I noticed he wasn’t there. It was then that I realized the time. It was past 5 o’clock, which meant he had gone home for the day. As I was leaving there, I felt Jake become restless, and he was pacing in circles in my head.

“Our mate is sad. I can feel Jade's pain.” My body became tense when I realized the dull ache in my chest. I turned around and took off, sprinting towards the packhouse. I arrived at the packhouse in what felt like minutes, desperately searching for Amber. I followed her scent until I saw her sitting on a bench with my mom. The way she was sitting, I couldn’t tell if she was crying or not. My mom mind-linked me.

“Ryder, stay back. She’s very vulnerable right now. Please don’t listen in on our conversation, and she probably wants to tell you on her own when she’s comfortable.” I knew she was right; I had to let Amber come to me. It’s one thing to know what you should do. What matters is if you do it. I know I shouldn’t listen in, but my curiosity got the best of me. The longer I stood there and listened to her, the more furious I grew. How could some b**terd touch a child like that?

“She needs you right now.” I didn’t recognize the voice. It wasn’t Jake or my mom.

“Stupid, I assume he didn’t tell you. But it’s Jade, Amber’s wolf. I only have partial control.” she was gone before I knew it, but how could she share control with her wolf? I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. There are more important matters to handle. I started to remember the story she had just recalled. I was seething with rage again. It felt like my body was on autopilot. Before I knew it, I was standing behind Amber. I felt Jake coming to the surface, but when she turned around, he went into the back of my mind.

“I assume you guys have a lot to talk about now. I’ll leave you two alone. Amber, I’m always here if you need anyone to talk to.” She said before she pulled Amber into a motherly hug when the flood gates opened. Amber's rocked her chest with sobs. She slowly released her, and I instantly took her place and held her in my arms. I didn’t ask any questions. Instead, I held her while rubbing soothing circles on her back and let her cry. Looking at her in my arms hurt me because I knew I could heal her. Her body eventually got limp, indicating that she cried herself to sleep. I walked upstairs to lay her down with a sigh because I needed to see those test results.

After placing Amber in bed and tucking her in, I head toward Alpha Blake’s office. Upon entering, I see both men sitting there talking in hushed tones. Dr. Miller politely bowed to me before taking a seat in front of the large wooden desk that belonged to our alpha. Dr. Miller was the first one to speak.

“I found some suspicious things. First, the type of wolfsbane that was in her system. It was laced with dark magic if my assumptions are correct. It means someone close to her had to drug her. This strain of wolfsbane was made to force her to shift but stop her from shifting back, weakening her.” He paused and studied our faces. Once he could see that we were still fully attentive, he resumed speaking.

“Also, she was stabbed with the silver pole, but that was after she died. Whoever did it probably wanted to make it look like hunters or vampires killed her.” Everything he was saying was only confirming my theory. I looked at alpha Blake, and I could tell he was in deep thought.

“May I say something?” I didn’t want to cut them off, especially when I was about to make a significant accusation. Once I knew that I had their attention, I took a deep breath.

“If there’s really a second traitor in our pack, I think I know who it could be. Please hear me out before rejecting my theory.” I shifted my gaze between the two men as I was saying this. “Beta Jacob, I saw him holding his wife’s dead body. He lunged at me, assuming I was her attacker. But after he noticed it was me, he started to act funny, and his story about what happened to his wife didn’t add up to her autopsy results. He stated that she was attacked by a rogue wolf, and he was covered in her blood. He let out a pain-filled howl. But there wasn’t blood on the ground, and from what I could see, she didn’t have any defensive wombs.” The room became eerily silent, so silent you could barely hear a fly fart.

“Are you sure, Ryder? This is a severe accusation.” The irritation was evident in his voice when he spoke, and it was understandable. He has known his beta since they were pups. As soon as it was official that my dad would be the next alpha, everyone knew Jacob was going to be his beta. It could reflect poorly on him if his beta is a traitor. Not only that, but the punishment for traitors is death. I couldn’t imagine having to kill my childhood friend.

“I understand the severity of what I said. We all know that I wouldn’t say anything if I wasn’t sure.” I swear I could see the gears in his head-turning.

“I will consider what you said, but I have a question, Ryder.” Nervousness overtook my body; why was I nervous? “We’ve all seen Amber’s wolf, but do you know why her wolf walks on all fours?” He arched his eyebrow at me towards the end of the sentence. No longer was I nervous. Instead, I was confused. I c*cked my head to the side. My dad let out a genuine laugh. I’m not sure how long it has been since I’ve heard him laugh like that. When he saw that I was actually confused, he composed himself. “Ryder, what do you know about lycans?” I was caught off guard by his question. Now that I think about it, I know little about lycans.

“The only thing I can remember about lycans is that they’re stronger and bigger than most wolves. Oh, and they walk on their hind legs like we do in our human form.” I said the last part in a whisper as it dawned on me. The knowing look in his eyes told me he knew what was going through my mind. “Wait, dad, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

I am. Amber is a hybrid. It’s not common for lycans to be mated to werewolves, but it’s not impossible. Typically they’re mated to other lycans.

“So what you’re saying is my mate could possibly be stronger than me?” A low growl erupted from me. In one swift motion, he had me by the throat pinned to the wall.

“You better watch that f***ing attitude. I’m your father first and your alpha, and you will respect me!” I could tell that his wolf, Daniel, was trying to take over. His wolf is a killing machine. I once saw him kill 3 rogues in under a minute. I fear very few things in the world, but alpha Blake’s wolf terrifies me. Jake was in the back of my head with his tail tucked. I turn my head towards the ground and expose my neck in submission. As much as I hate doing that, I know it’s for the better. He released me and returned to his seat at his desk.

When he calmed down, I began to speak. “I thought lycans only get mated to a wolf every 50 years. Even if they’re mated together, isn’t it nearly impossible for them to produce offspring? It seems there are things we don’t know about Amber’s parents.” I could tell he was in deep thought by the look on his face.

“Amber’s parents weren’t fated mates. They were chosen mates. That’s why her parents aren’t mentioned among the lycans mated to wolves. Honestly, there’s a lot about Amber’s mother that we don’t know. Her father never said any specifics about her when he introduced her to us.” My eyebrows shot up in shock and confusion.

“Excuse me, but why would a Lycan reject their fated mate for a wolf? Don’t lycans dislike us?” I inwardly rolled my eyes at myself.

“That has been on my mind this entire time. Lycans look down on us, so the odds of her mother rejecting her fated Lycan mate and taking a wolf as their mate.” We sat there in silence; both of us were deep in thought.

“Well, for now, I suggest you be there for Amber because her life will only get more complicated. Especially if or when people find out that she’s a hybrid.” I nodded my head before exiting his office and going towards my room.

***Alpha Blake’s POV***

After Ryder left my office, I tried to finish some more work, but I couldn’t focus. There was this rumor that I couldn’t get out of my mind. It is about the Lycan princess who was banished from the family and fled the Lycan realm. She’s believed to be dead, but they never found her body.