How To Survive Your Mate's Rejection

Chapter 14-1: The Luna

Every Luna in the pack has a special task to support their Alpha to thrive. They feed the hungry pup every day, they treat the wounded member after a fierce pack battle and cheer the Alpha in the better or worse condition. It was a heavy burden for one person to carry on her/his shoulder. Luckily for them, Moon Goddess had blessed the Lunas with a special power to enlighten their endeavor.

Curious by Noah’s power, Lea Silvermoon summoned him to the kitchen, to aid her to prepare the meal for the party tonight. She wanted to witness his power directly by her own eyes.

“I am sorry Noah to trouble you, I know you are still adapting to your new house,” Lea said, smiling at Noah while cutting the carrot and lying on the cutting board. “However, I am currently short-handed, so I need your assistance to prepare the meal, I believe your excellent cooking skill is suitable for the job!”

“Sure Mrs. Silvermoon, I-I mean Luna, What do you need me for?” Noah asked politely, his eyes still red from crying.

‘Cooking is always lifting my mood, I need to do something for diversion, to ease my mind,’ said Noah to himself.

“I want you to cook Drake’s favorite food, the lamb roast,” Lea said while pointing at the ingredients that have been neatly prepared on the cabinet table. “If you need the recipe, there are cookbooks on the shelf.”

“I think I can make a lamb roast without the cookbook, it's a standard menu for any chef,” Noah said, forcing to smile politely to the madam of the house. ‘But if you have rat poisons, it would be helpful for me to kill your son,’ Noah thought wickedly.

“Excellent!” Lea cheerfully replied. “By the way Noah, I will show you something special,” she said again. “When Lisa was here, I cannot show this to her, because she is a human, but now she’s not here anymore.”

Lea closed her eyes, green light shimmered through her purple blouse, and suddenly something poking from her ribs as it ripped her blouse. A stem-like figure was coming out, from her left and right, as it grew longer and longer. Noah was surprised to see Lea could grow another pair of hands.

The four arms woman stand in front of Noah now took 3 other knives,

“My Luna’s power is a cell manipulator; I can grow another organ in my body with that power. It’s pretty unusual but we are in a dire situation here, the party will start within 6 hours and we have so many meals to prepare. A pair of hands will come in handy” she chuckled.

“Your power is amazing Luna,” Noah said, looking at her with awe, the other four chefs who were in the kitchen also agreed with him.

‘Her power is much inferior compared to ours,’ Ruiz whispered to Noah’s mind.

‘I see,’ Noah replied Ruiz through the mind link.

“Well, thank you, dear. Hence, I thought it was useless at first, I could only enclose an open wound by enhancing tissue growth. But later I practice again and again to push the potential of my power to its limit.” She said while her three arms chop the different ingredients in synchronize movement, “Finally I could grow another organ, I could also track down my cells that I put on a certain object. But, you seem to acknowledge it already.”

Noah suddenly remembered about the chasing that happened yesterday, “You mean with your handkerchief?” He asked.

“Correct,” she replied and smiled. “You were clever to figure it out so fast”

Noah didn't know how to respond to that, so he chose to be silent and cook.

Lea also decided to do the same; she ended the small talk and concentrated on her work.

Just in a few seconds, the kitchen became so quiet, no one was talking anymore; only the clanking sounds of kitchen utensils could be heard as everyone was busy cooking their dishes.

***

When Noah had finished his cooking, he could smell an enticing flavor coming from his lamb roast. The other chefs were gazing at Noah’s dish, they were drooling about it.

“It smells lovely,” Lea said, as she came closer from behind.

Noah’s gasped, surprised by the sudden approach, “Thank you, Luna.” He simply replied.

“Could I try it? Just to make sure if the taste was correct?” she asked again while taking a table knife and a fork.

“Be my guest,” Noah said while stepping away.

When Lea tasted the dish, her facial expression changed while she munching the meat over and over. “Your cook is amazing, I am sure Drake will be delighted.” Suddenly, another pair of hands was coming through Lea’s ribs. Make her a six-armed lady.

“You should go to change for the party; I will finish up the rest.” Lea suggested and summoned Toby to the kitchen.

‘She was only testing your power Noah, we must be cautious of this woman,’ Ruiz growl. ‘Your power gave her energy to grow another pair of hands, make her look like a freak show.’ 

“Toby could you help Noah to get changed, he must dress up properly for tonight,” Lea ordered.

“Very well Luna,” Toby replied and escorted Noah out of the kitchen. 

***

While on the way to the bedroom with Toby, Noah observed the surrounding for a possible escape route. Unfortunately, the mansion was heavily guarded. There were several men patrolling inside and outside the mansion.   

“By the way Noah, the future alpha has brought all of your belongings to your room. I have neatly organized them all inside your walking closet.” Toby said, breaking out the awkward silence while they were walking through the corridor.

“Thank you, Toby,” Noah replied while looking at his left and right. He found a large window that faced the backyard. There was a huge tree planted nearby that could easily jump off in his wolf form. 

‘That window is not grated and the tree could act as a stair to climb down, probably I could escape at night when no one was patrolling the area.’ 

‘We can shift and escape from here easily.’ Ruiz added.

‘Yeah, but before that, we need to obtain the key card of my room.’ Noah huffed.

***

After they arrived at the front door of Noah’s bedroom, Toby took the card key from his pocket and put it on the card scanner that was attached next to the door. The clicking sound coming out from the scanner as the door unlocked automatically.

“Toby, could I borrow the key sometime?” Noah suddenly asked.

Toby gulped, he became uncomfortable, “I-I am sorry Noah, but Luna gives me strict orders to return the key after I finish using it immediately to her.” He replied, “B-but if you need them, you can ask the Alpha or Luna to give you one. They are the only ones who hold your keycard.”

“So there are only two copies?”

“Y-yes.”

‘Ruiz, it was harder than we thought,’ but Ruiz didn't respond to his mind link. ‘He must be feeling disappointed…’

When they entered the bedroom, Noah decided to take shower while Toby prepared the clothes and the shoes from the closet. Since it was all Noah’s item, he only could find a formal black suit and tie with a white dress shirt, which is not too fancy but still representable for the party.  

After Noah came out from the bathroom, he wore the dress that Toby was selected for him.

After fully dressed, he observed himself in the mirror, “We have the same sense of fashion, Toby.”

Toby just blushed to hear the complement while helping Noah to blow-dry his hair in front of the dresser mirror. “Your hair feels so smooth, Noah,” He said while brushing Noah's silky black hair. 

***

Later that evening, the dining room of Silvermoon mansion was packed. There are probably 50 people who sat at the dining table. All eyes were directed to Noah, the future Luna of their pack. Some people were charmed by Noah’s handsome look, but others glared at him in jealousy, especially from the unmated women in the pack.

Ting… Ting…Ting… 

Lea hit the crystal glass three times with a spoon, asking for attention from the entire guests.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to Noah’s welcome party. He will be our future Luna and I want all of you to give him a warm welcome and treat him with respect.”

All people salute Noah one by one, especially the higher up in the pack.

After all guests greeted Noah politely, Lea summoned the maids to bring the main course to the dining table.

The aroma coming from Noah’s dish mesmerized the entire guests.

“Noah cooked this special for you, my dear,” Lea said to Drake who was seated beside him. 

‘No, I am not,’ Noah quickly muffled.

When Drake ate it, he was fascinated with the flavor, “This is the most delicious Lamb roast I ever eat,” Drake praised Noah and then kissed his cheek, “thanks, babe.”

Noah was surprised, he wasn't used to a public display of affection.

“You’re welcome, Drake.” He replied feeling very uncomfortable at the moment. 

‘Kiss me again and I will punch you on the face in front of your pack, dear Goddess, why must he sit next to me?’ he pouted to himself.  

Ken who sat in front of Noah smiled at him brightly, “Future Luna, the taste of your cook is really delicious and I feel fully energized after eating it.”

“This is Luna's power, it’s called Luna’s blessing, and his power will be useful to aid pack battle,” Lea said to the entire guests.

All guests who heard it looked at Noah with awe. They whispered to each other, praising Noah’s power.

Noah awkwardly smiled from the praising, while looking down at his food.

‘They not only want you to be mated to that jerk but also want to exploit your power for their benefit, I cannot tolerate it!’ Ruiz growled in Noah’s mind.

‘Don't worry Ruiz, we will escape here soon!’ he replied, trying to soothe his inner wolf. ‘Anyway, Ruiz, why do I feel my lamb roast is quite plain? I didn't feel a similar effect like my previous dishes.’

‘This isn’t food that you made, that woman must change it before giving it to us.’ Ruiz growled again.

‘Why did she do that?’

‘To prevent you from running away; perhaps she was afraid that if you were empowered by your own meal, you could break loose from here easily.’

Noah took a long sigh, his facial expression became tense. He was regretting that he didn't listen to Ruiz's advice to run away from New York after the rite of rejection; instead, he was still working in Silverplate restaurant. Now he was in deep trouble.

Suddenly he felt Drake’s hand was groping on his thigh.

“What’s wrong, babe? You seem… distance. Did something bother you?” 

“Drake, handoff, please!”

“Or what?” he said, leaning to Noah’s ear while his hand slowly moved up to Noah’s most sensitive. 

Noah spontaneously responded to Drake’s s****l harassment by grabbing the fork on the dining table and used the fork to stab Drake’s hand until it bled. “Or this!” He said while staring back at Drake's face who was currently in pain. 

“f**k!” Drake muffled in a low voice, trying to hide his pain from other guests.

However, after Noah’s pulled back his fork from Drake’s hand, the wound was quickly healed without a trace.

Drake who realize his hand was healed by the effect of Noah’s power, smiled at Noah while showing his hand, “look, babe, thanks to you, my wound was healed quickly,” he paused and moving his healed hand on Noah’s shoulder, “I couldn't just help myself not to touch you, can’t I, your erotic scent make me wanna f**k you right now.” 

‘Noah, let's just kill this bastard!’ Ruiz was growling inside his mind.    

With Ruiz's anger inside his head and Drake’s unpleasant behavior, it was too much for him to handle, he stood up from his seat. 

His sudden movement invited the curiosity of the hostess. “Noah, is something wrong, dear?” Lea asked.

“I suddenly am not feeling well Luna, probably because the lamb roast is still raw,” Noah showed his fork to Lea, which stained by Drake's blood to support his alibi.

“Impossible, I made it perfectly cooked…” Lea quickly cupped her mouth; she just realized that her plot to sabotage Noah’s power was revealed by herself.   

“I thought you were serving my lamb roast in this diner.” He paused. Noah realized now that everyone stopped chatting and paid attention to him instead. He didn't want to raise suspicion with the Silvermoon pack, so he chose his next sentence carefully, “I think I need to return to my bedroom and take a rest, it was a lovely dinner, good night, everyone.”

“I understand,” Thomas, who sat next to Lea, quickly responded. “Toby, please take Noah back to his chamber,” 

***

When Noah left the party with Toby, Lea and Thomas realized that it would not be easy to persuade Noah to become the next Luna of the Silvermoon pack and Drake’s brash behavior made it worse. 

“I think we should talk with Drake concerning Noah,” Lea suggested Thomas, “He must quickly reconnect his severed bond with his mate, otherwise…” Lea couldn't continue, she became tense all of sudden. 

“Otherwise Noah’s other mate will appear,” her husband completed the unfinished hypothesis. “Any unmated alpha can become Noah’s mate.”

“And we will lose him forever, along with his precious power. We cannot let that happen, Thomas, we just can't…” Lea started to tremble; it seemed that she had lost her coolness. “We cannot let our son mess up this time, Noah will be our Luna soon and his power will benefit greatly to our pack.”

Thomas had a long sigh before he answered his wife; he understood her anxiety and shared mutual feelings with her. “I know, we spoiled him too much, now he grew up becoming a brat…”

***

Terry and Toby Chester were the orphans who joined the Silvermoon Pack since they were young. Unfortunately for Toby, he was an omega who did not possess any fighting ability at all. So he was assigned as a house assistant in Silvermoon Mansion. 

On the other hand, Terry, a delta, became a fighter in the Silvermoon pack. He was training hard to be a good warrior to fill the gap his brother couldn't. Although he was not the strongest fighter in the pack, like Drake or Ken, he was decent enough to deal with a couple of rogues.

While his twin brother Toby and the rest of the Silvermoon pack were having a party, Terry Chester was doing patrolling duty at the Black River, which was the territorial border of Silvermoon pack.

Terry was curious about the new Luna and the party, so he kept pestering Toby for inquiries through the mind link.

‘So Noah was leaving the party early. Do you know why?’ Terry asked curiously. 

‘I think he had a little fight with Drake because he seems to be upset.' Toby paused and observed Noah who was walking beside him, ‘actually, right now, I'm escorting our future Luna to his room.’

‘Oh good, when you arrived inside, you could pry for more juicy gossip.’

Toby rolled his eyes, ‘Terry, aren’t you on patrolling duty at the moment? Please do your job properly brother.’

‘Come on Toby, I'm bored right here, there's nothing but trees and mosquitoes,’ Terry complained, ‘while you and the others enjoying the fancy party, besides there's nothing suspicious… so far.’

‘I won't pry on other people’s problems, Terry!’ Toby replied, 'besides, he's our future Luna, we should respect his privacy.'

‘Listen to your big bro here, Drake and Noah are mates. Don't you think it’s weird for a mate who doesn’t enjoy each other's company? Something must happen!’

‘Terry just drops it ok!’ 

‘If I could, I would, but I can’t so I shan’t, now where were we, Oh right, you must find out why they were fighting, pay attention to the detail, Toby! There must be a clue.’

Toby sighed, his brother starting to irritate him, ‘you’re just being silly. Just do your job properly, while I'm doing mine, ok!’ 

At that moment Terry saw a group of people, consisting of more than fifty people, approaching the border pack. 

They looked like decent normal people for the human eye, but Terry was a werewolf, and he could recognize it when he saw one.    

‘Toby, I got to go; I am seeing a group of werewolves coming over. I am going to check them out.’

‘A group? How many people are they?’

‘About fifty people or so, why?’

‘Terry it's a whole pack, I think they are planning an invasion attack, you gotta run now!’

‘Nah, stop being so negative! They probably just want to have a diplomatic visit. I need to confirm it first.’

Terry then approached the group regardless of his twin’s warning. But halfway there, he stopped; he felt something was not right. 

‘You asked me to pay attention to detail and you can't see it with your eye. If they wanted to have a diplomatic visit, they would make an appointment first with our Alpha and probably only send a few delegates, not a whole pack!’ Toby was trying to reason with his brother. He was hoping that Terry came to his senses. 

Terry froze; he realized that his brother was right. 

‘You were right. But they’ve already seen me. What should I do?’

‘You must run from there, quickly!’ 

Terry spontaneously turned in the opposite direction and ran. 

But three men from the group who had spotted him decided to chase after him, one of them jumped over and landed in front of Terry, blocking his way. 

“Well well well, what do we have here? One of the Silvermoon’s lapdogs is on guard duty.”

Terry became tense; he realized that he was outnumbered so he must act wisely, “what do you want? Why are you crossing our border?” 

“I heard that the Silvermoon pack is having a party tonight. So we decided to give a visit.” Said the one who stood in front of Terry, two people who stood behind Terry were sneering. They all were wearing a black suit and sunglasses. 

“I believe the party is exclusive for pack members only, you guys are not invited, so please leave our territory or...”

“Or what?” the man challenged.

‘Toby was right; they were planning to invade us. Then it's time for me to kick their asses!’

Terry was preparing to charge an attack, he quickly launched his fist at the man who stood in front of him right on the face and broke his sunglasses. The man was unaware of the attack; fell on the ground, his nose was bleeding.

“Or that!” Terry roared.

“Not bad for Silvermoon lapdog,” the man said while cleaning the blood from his broken nose. He stood up, “I am Zack Violet, future alpha of Violet pack. Remember that name, cos it will be the last thing that you’d remember in your grave!” as he sneered, his nails turned violet and grew longer.

Zack gave signals to his men to attack from behind; Terry quickly responded by back kick them with both feet while his hand touched the ground. Both men were flying to the air and fell. They became unconscious since Terry kicked them right on their vital spot. 

As Terry stood up, Zack slashed him with his violet claw. His claw was so sharp that it cut through Terry’s suit, leaving a scratch wound on his chest. Terry quickly spin-kicked Zack, but he hastily dodged the attack. 

“Is that all that you can do?” Terry mocking Zack, “As an alpha wolf, you suck! Your pack must be embarrassed by you! If I were your mother I would unborn you…” Terry stopped his blabbering as the pain started to spread from the wound of his chest; he could see that his blood vein underneath his skin turned violet. Soon, he became paralyzed, unable to talk, unable to move his body. At that moment he fell to the ground. 

Terry felt that it was probably his last moment to breathe on earth. So, he quickly sent a telepathic message to his twin brother to say his final good-bye. 

‘Toby… I’ve been attacked by the Violet pack… my body… turns violet… I am sorry I couldn't protect you anymore…’ 

Toby, who was standing inside Noah’s bedroom, started to panic. His inner wolf also felt distressed.

‘Terry what were you saying… Terry answers me! Please!’ But he received no answer; his mind link with his brother had been broken. 

Toby was starting to cry.

Curious about Toby’s sudden change of emotion, Noah, who stood next to Toby, was patting his shoulder while trying to pry for more clues, before he realized that it would be his first task as the future Luna of Silvermoon Pack. The task, which may put his own life in great danger…

***