Reincarnation

Reminiscence

Alpha Lana Greystone-Silvermayne

It’s been three years.

For the longest time, I had a hard time concentrating on anything I needed to do. You just left me there. Just left. Like it was nothing. Like there was no mate bond to stop you from leaving me in my meltdown. I felt grateful you didn’t reject me then and there, as that would have probably shattered me.

It took a while to battle the need to wallow inside of myself. I couldn’t let myself get to that point. After all, I had responsibilities as the new established territory since revitalizing Silver Moon. I allowed myself a couple weeks to wallow in my grief, before succumbing to my new Alpha duties. It was slow to adjust at first, but then it became second nature. Soon, I was able to focus my attention solely on my work. Forming an economy for the territory was slow, but flourishing. Some territories were eager to work with Silver Moon, others, not so much as they were sympathetic towards the late Alexander La’Valle and his vision.

Can’t win them all over. Neoma reminded me from time to time when I found myself dwelling. It’s natural for there to be some clash of leadership, it’s in our nature to dominate for Alpha. Times were different back then, it’s not any less so now, just placated civility.

Fair enough. I was grateful for Neoma’s constant reassuring presence. She didn’t dare speak of our mate, because for her, the connection was so much stronger. She constantly felt the empty space where he should be. I ended up taking the mindset that there was no helping it right now. It became easier with time, but the pain was still sharp whenever I allowed him to take up my headspace. Dangerous thinking. I will not let it drag me down.

Now, three years later, Silver Moon became one of the powerhouses in pack territories, all thanks to Elijah and Libby’s efforts to help build it all to where it is today. I had everything to thank them for.

They currently live together, freshly married, in the Alpha mansion in Crimson Moon territory. I know that Elijah said I could take control of that territory, but it was still his birthright to be Alpha. Instead, I pushed for a strong alliance between the two areas and named him commander of both our territory’s Guardians.

With that being said, Libby was now the Luna of Crimson Moon, and she had to deal with the repercussions of taking on the role. Not many were willing to accept the fact that Crimson Moon’s new Luna was not only human, but a witch. Being a person already capable of extraordinary magic, she had grown a lot in her skill and power since she first started practicing. Not everyone agreed with it, and a lot of it was fear driven. They were scared of her.

I became the shoulder she leaned on for comfort. There was nothing I could do to change public opinion, but I did help reassure her whenever she had moments of self-doubt. Being an empath, she was already sensitive to how people felt in her presence.

She had begun many philanthropic measures to help aid in the after-war efforts. A lot of it was successful, and many families who were torn apart by the war were now readjusting to current day-to-day life.

Times actually felt truly peaceful but one thing still lingered in the back of my mind at all times… Eli’s words of conflict ahead. The threat of an upcoming war. The vampires were oddly quiet in their own territories. I made sure to put more effort in communicating with Elijah on the training of new Guardians, so that we could always be prepared.

An alarm sounded on my phone, causing me to blink my daydream away. I looked at my phone, tiredly turning off the reminder I had set to break me out of hyperfocus when I worked. Sometimes I get so lost, I don't realize how tired I actually am. Rubbing my eyes, I filed the paperwork I had finished about thirty minutes prior and shut the drawer. I had taken my grandfather’s office as my work space but kept the integrity of everything he had there prior. The only thing that really changed was that I hung up more photos I had found of my mother and pictures of me, Elijah, and Libby. It made me feel closer to the family I never got to meet after all.

Well, officially that is. I had briefly met my uncle, but did it really count if I was in the Spirit Realm at the time? I shuddered, pushing the thought away. There were blank spots in my memory of that time that I really didn’t want to remember.

My phone rang, it was Libby.

“Hey.” I answered, standing up and stretching at my desk. I didn’t realize how sore my muscles were sitting in one spot for so long.

I figured it was about time for you to be done. Did you eat dinner? I know it’s late, but I really just wanted to hang out for a bit. I smiled, hearing the hopeful tone of her voice.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” I looked at the time. It was a little past nine.

I was already planning on kidnapping you if I had to. Sooo, I’m right outside. Of course she was.

“Sounds good, I’ll be right out.” I laughed, hanging up. Neoma growled excitedly in the back of my mind, she was suddenly ravenous.

It felt as if we hadn’t had a chance to see each other for the past couple of months.

“Mrs. Luna Elsbeth Leonida-Forrester.” I greeted her formally with her title before giggling. We hugged each other joyously, giddily clasping each other’s hands before we sped off into the night.

“I figured we could get out into the city, outside of the territories for a bit, to get some breathing room.”

“I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve left the territory.”

“I’m just glad we were able to build a roadway to get here, for real. It was cool riding on you guys’ backs, but…”

“Yeah, no, I get it.” Way more convenient since the war ended. I rolled the window down, reaching out to let the wind fight against my hand. Being on the road again sent me into a breezy whirl. That was exactly what I needed.

The skyline of the city loomed ahead of us, a beacon beckoning to us. I didn’t bother covering my mark anymore, people would probably think it was just a face tattoo anyway.

“What do you think, breakfast for dinner?” Libby eyed a Denny’s that sat at the highway’s exit.

“What wouldn’t I give for an enormous pile of bacon and sausage right now.” My stomach grumbled thinking about it.

We pulled into the parking lot and hopped out. An old couple eyed my forehead and huffed off to themselves about youth and their face decorations now.

We had our food ordered and had time to catch up a bit before it arrived. I had to stop myself from devouring the steaming fragrant pile of food in front of me whole.

“I used to think it was weird how much you could inhale food until I started living with a bunch of wolves.” Libby said, cutting into her pancakes. “I get it now.”

“Has it gotten any easier?” I asked, reaching for more bacon.

“It’s a little bit more quiet, I started secluding myself from people for a while unless I absolutely had to make an appearance as… Luna…” She said it as if saying it out loud felt awkward.

“You’re adjusting to a whole new world. Imagine how it was when I met you, being around a bunch of humans for the first time in my life.”

“It’s crazy how different the culture is.” She agreed thoughtfully. “You must have felt alone for so long, it seems like a wolf’s biggest prejudice is each other.”

“We are naturally territorial… It’s hard enough getting females established in leading rules, considering for hundreds of years there has always been only male Alphas. But, I think things are evolving slowly.

“You are really popular amongst female wolves, I’ve noticed.” She sipped her coffee. “You’re a new beacon, and more females are starting to fight to be equal.”

“The more conservative male wolves are still tied to the old ways.” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed the only alliance’s to Silver Moon aren’t sexist assholes.”

We finished our food in a thoughtful silence and got refills for coffee. I felt like I had a second wind of energy. We got lost in conversation for a couple of hours. I ended up ordering a second helping of bacon and sausage to appease the waitress for taking up space. I didn’t complain, I didn’t have any problems eating more.

My attention was drawn to the front as a new group of people entered and were seated in the booth behind Libby. I idly stirred my coffee, not realizing that I was eavesdropping on their hushed conversation.

It wasn’t until Libby waved her hand in front of my face that I realized she had been trying to get my attention. I blinked, my attention shifting to her.

“Sorry.”

“No, no…” She leaned closer, a weird expression in her eyes. “I just had this weird f*****g feeling. Like a disturbance in the energy around me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

She lowered her gaze, seemingly trying to figure out how to formulate the words.

“I don’t think I ever told you but… I’ve been trying to see if there were more magic sensitive people… You know… Outside me and my mom.”

“I can understand that…” I said slowly.

“I did a spell to try to open up my perception of sensitivity to other magic vibes… Sorry, it’s a lot of information, but I don’t know… I’ve never had this feeling before, and it feels… Just feels like a pull.”

“Is that the reason why you wanted to come out to the city?” I asked. “It would be cool if you found more people who could do what you could do. I mean, I guess you could basically say you were turning yourself into a witchy radar of sorts.”

“Please don’t say s**t like that out loud again.” She cringed, waving her hands at me. I couldn’t help but burst into laughter and she joined in. “Anyways, it felt faint, but I felt that pull somewhere around here just now.”

“So, what you’re saying is that there’s a witch nearby?” I quickly grabbed my wallet, ready to pay for the food. She shook her head.

“I think it will be gone by the time we get there… But, can we do this more? For real, besides it feeling good…” She didn’t even have to finish her sentence before I started shaking my head.

“Honestly, no, you don’t even have to ask. Besides, it’s more of an excuse to see each other plus a side project as a bonus.”

She looked relieved. “I don’t know why I worried you would say no.”

“I’m just glad for an excuse to get out of my box. I miss my bestie, you feel like a sweet release.” I smiled warmly at her.

“Look at us, adulting and such. It’s hard to believe…”

“It almost feels like we were kids dealing with all that stuff.” I noted, reminiscing.

“Two strong independent bitches, right here.” She grinned. I don’t care if we are getting older or not, some things just stay the same. I never wanted our friendship to change.

She stiffened, alarming me slightly.

“What’s wrong?” She examined the windows of the building nervously.

“I’m getting some seriously bad mojo vibes.”

“What do you mean?” Just then a scent filled the space, waking Neoma from her sleepy haze. I shuddered to withhold the echo of a growl that threatened to burst from my ribcage.

Vampires.