The Little Luna

To Challenge?

Vespian POV:

“Vespian, what the hell just happened?” Eli demanded in my mind.

“So you thought that that was weird too?” I asked as I walked to my dresser and grabbed out a pair of faded blue jeans and a grey t-shirt. No use in putting on shoes when we may be shifting later.

“Yes, yes I would say that qualifies as weird.” Eli states not even attempting to hide his sarcasm. “How did he know Luna’s dads name Vespian?”

Shit. Eli had a point. How had my father known Lucien Slade’s name?

“You don’t think your father was the one holding him captive do you?” Eli asked hesitantly.

“No. Of course not.” I stated vehemently. But doubts creeped in the more I thought about the odd conversation with my father. How had he known her fathers name…? “I really hope not Eli, because if my father kept Lucien locked up and tortured, then that means that my Luna, and her siblings, aren’t safe.”

“As long as your father controls the pack, he controls the allies, and as long as he has all of those resources at his back, we will never be able to run so far he won’t find us.” Eli stated, but I knew he wasn’t suggesting I run. He was going to suggest we fight, by challenging my father and winning, we would become the immediate Alpha of Golden Cresent, and there for Luna, our Little Luna, would be safe.

“Just slow down Eli, all we have to go off of is one odd conversation with my father. We need to slow down, tell Alpha Darius my father and mother are on their way and-“

“And start considering who we can and can’t trust with our Luna’s safety. We were going to call your father for reinforcements and now I can’t shake the feeling that we lead the wolves to the rabbits den.” Eli cut me off but brought up the exact same points I was thinking.

I blocked Eli out of my mind, I needed to think without him clouding my judgment. Picking the phone back up I dialed Leo’s number, it took one ring before he answered. “Alpha.” Was the only greeting he gave, but that was normal for Leo.

“Leo. I have a huge favor to ask of you.” I told him.

“Does it have anything to do with your father demanding half the garrison be armed and ready to leave in fifteen minutes?” Leo questioned with a chuckle. I swear he could find a joke in any situation.

“Half the garrison?! Does he think he’s going to war?” Holy, f-ing s**t. My fathers actions were not painting him in the best light at the moment.

“Apparently. Get this, I even heard him mention to my father that the Night Walkers are already on the way. I thought they were a myth!” Leo’s words were laced with excitement but all they caused in my chest was dread. My father commanded the Night Walkers.

“Still want to wait and see pup?!” Eli demanded in my head. He was right, everything pointed at my father having been the one to hold Lucien Slade prisoner. And I had lead him straight to Lucien’s children.

“Leo, has my father ordered you to come as well?”

“No.” Leo sounded disappointed, clearly he wanted to go with the action. “Which is crazy, I’m the best tracker and fighter we have, I even beat my fathers ass yesterday in training sessions.”

“Well you’re in luck, I need my Beta ASAP. Don’t bother stopping to get anything, we’re the same size and you can borrow my clothes until we can get you some. I need you to leave now. Tell Samson to run as fast as possible. I need you here before my fathers warriors.” I knew I sounded crazy, but if anyone would trust me, it was Leo.

“Yes Alpha, me and Samson will be there shortly.” See, no questions asked. The line clicked off and I took a deep shaky breath. I wasn’t sure what the next fews hours would hold. But I was anxious to get to the bottom of this.

Throwing the phone in the bed I raced out my door and down the hall to Alpha Darius’s bedroom. I tapped on the door a few times and a confused Luna April answered the door.

“Good evening Alpha Vespian, is there something we can help you with?” Alpha Darius came into view behind Luna April just as she finished addressing me.

“Yes, Alpha Darius, my father told me to inform you and your Luna that he and my mother will be here in a few hours. Also, I will be heading out to meet them.”

“A few hours? It’s takes at least 7 to drive here from your territory.” Alpha Darius said as he stepped up beside his Luna and placed an arm around her waist.

“They will be traveling by paw.” As the words left my mouth both Luna April and Alpha Darius looked at one another, the same worried look passing between them. “Also, from what my Beta just told me they are bringing half my fathers garrison.”

“But that’s hundreds of warriors? Is he trying to start a war?” Alpha Darius blustered as his Luna’s face paled.

“I don’t believe so. He knew of Luna’s father, I think the warriors are for him.” I didn’t even want to mention the possibility of him also coming for my mate.

“I will have some warriors prepare the outdoor training grounds, I assume they are bringing their own tents to set up, and I’ll have the kitchen Omegas prepare a meal. They will be hungry by time they arrive.” Luna April states before kissing her husband on the cheek and hurrying out the door.

“Alpha Darius, your Gamma, Garrett O’Conaill? His daughter Libby, is she a decent fighter?” I asked once the Luna was out of sight.

“Yes, best in her class. She’s the granddaughter of a great Alpha so it’s not surprising.” Alpha Darius raised his hand to his bearded chin, rubbing it as if in thought. “Why do you ask?”

“I need you to have him tell her to go to Luna’s house. I need someone I trust with her.” I hoped he could see the worry and seriousness in my eyes when he seemed to search them before answering.

“Yes Alpha, of course. Anything else?”

“Not as of now, I’ll be out, I’m going to meet my father and try to figure out what is going on before he brings an army into your territory.” With that I turned towards the stairs, before I started down them Alpha Darius’s voice had me glancing back at him.

“I’ll come with you. No reason to go out alone, and I’d also like to know what is going on.”

“Of course, let’s go, they’ll be on their way soon and I want to meet them at the Georgia boarder.” With that we were gone, down the stairs and in minutes we were in the woods, stripping out of our clothes and tying them to our ankles before racing through the woods.

It took us less then 30 minutes to make it to the Florida/Georgia boarder line. Me and alpha Darius had been sitting here for close to an hour and a half when I heard paws bearing down on us. But it was only one pair so I knew who it had to me.

“Eli, reach out to Samson and direct him to our location please.”

“Already done, he’ll be here in less then 30 seconds.” Eli’s reply was rather smug, but I knew it was because he was proud at the excellent time his Beta had made getting here

I saw Alpha Darius and the few wolfs he brought with him perk up and stand at attention, facing the direction Samson and Leo were coming from. But I shook my head at them and drug my paw across the ground signaling that the approaching wolf was friendly and expected.

Leo’s large brown wolf Samson came into view and after jumping into the air, shifted mid jump and Leo landed on his feet in all his natural glory. The man had no shame.

I shifted from Eli’s form to my own and pulled my blue jeans on, not bothering with my shirt. I saw Alpha Darius do the same and Leo, getting the hint, pulled his pants off his ankle and pulled them on as well.

“Glad to see you get here so fast.” I said as I clasped Leo’s forearm in our packs warrior greeting hand shake.

“Just glad to be of service. When I left your father wasn’t fully packed yet. They were loading trucks to follow them in the morning and packing bags to strap to wolves to run down tonight.” Looking behind me to where Alpha Darius was walking up beside me Leo dipped his head to him in respect. “Alpha Darius. Your son has told me a lot about you in the three days he’s been with us. If you’re half the man he says you are I know I’ll have no problem respecting you.”

“Glad to hear the pup thinks highly of his old man. Thank you for coming down so fast.” Alpha Darius clasped Leo’s forearm in a shake as well before stepping back and looking between the two of us. “So, what is the plan?”

“I’m going to talk to my father and if I don’t get the answers I want. I’m going to challenge him.” Alpha Darius and Leo exchanged a look before nodding in understanding. Alpha Darius walked away towards where his warriors were hunkered down.

“Are you sure you’re ready to challenge your father Vesp?” Leo’s voice was laced with concern. “I’m sure there is another way. Tell me what’s going on and I’m sure we can come up with another solution together.”

“Me and Eli don’t see another way. And to be quite frank, yes, I do think we can defeat him, though it won’t be easy.” I pick a twig off of a nearby branch and start tearing it into tiny pieces, just to give my nervous hands something to do. I look back at Leo and see his green eyes looking out into the night sky. “This is over my Luna, Leo. She’s a Lycan, and I have reason to believe my father wants her, and her siblings, caged up, like he had had her father locked away for years.”

“Why would he want her locked away? Lycans were said to be the best of us, the highest on the rank of shifters, it’s why they were Royal. Why would your father dare to enrage the Moon Goddess by hunting down and encaging her children?”

“I don’t know Leo.” I heard a howl go up in the distance, our outrider letting us know the pack was close. I began to feel the trembles of the earth from hundreds of paws betting down on the forest floor. “I guess we’ll have answers soon.”

I exchanged a look with Alpha Darius, and nodded my head, it was go time. He returned my nod with a curt one of his own before walking into the dense bushes to strip and shift. His warriors also dispersed into the foliage leaving just me and my Beta in the large clearing.

I smelled them before I saw them, Golden Crescent warriors in wolf form beating down on the earth, single minded in the mission to do as their Alpha commanded. When the first came into view I recognized the giant black wolf as my fathers wolf, Owen. He recognized me right away, digging his paws and claws into the forest floor to slow him self to a stop quickly. He must have mind linked the warriors because as they came into view they were simply trotting and came to a stop easy.

“What are you doing here pup? We were to meet you at Blood Moon.” Owens voice flowed through my head, his tone sounded disgruntled. He was not thrilled at the change in his carefully laid plans.

“I need to speak to my father.” I choose to speak aloud for the benefit of my Beta and Alpha Darius, who was somewhere in the woods watching us.

“He is as thrilled about this little hold up about as much as I am.” Owen growled through my mind.

Oh well, the big bad alpha would have to get the hell over it.

Owens black fur disappeared behind a few bushes and soon my father walked out, clothed in a grey jogging suit and looking disgruntled. “What is the meaning of this Vespian! We were to meet you at Blood Moon, what changed?”

“How did you know Lucien Slades name father.” Just rip off the band aid right? I heard a sound behind my father just before my mother walked out. She was wearing a blue jogging suit with her long blonde curls pulled up into a messy bun and her bare feet barely made a sound on the soft forest floor. Was my mother involved in this? What did she know?

“Vespian.” My mother started, but I held a hand up to silence her.

“No mother. I want his answer. How do you know Lucien Slade’s name father?” I was not giving ground. The wrong answers meant my mates life was in danger from my own father, my own pack.

“You don’t know anything boy, it’s best you stay out of this.” My father commanded. His eyebrows were drawn together and creases formed on his forehead, he didn’t want to have this conversation but I was getting to the bottom of this. Tonight.

“No. I will not stay out of anything that concerns my mate. Now answer the question. How do you know Lucien Slade? Were you his capture?” I watched as my mother put her hand on my fathers arm, when their eyes met my mother nodded her head and my father closed his eyes, setting his hand over hers before letting out a deep sigh.

“No, I did not capture Lucien.” I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until I heard that statement, I looked at Leo and we shared a smile before we heard the next words come out of my fathers mouth. “I did not capture him, but I held him for many years.”

“What? Why?!” I growled, taking two menacing steps towards my father before Leo set his hand on my shoulder. “How did you even get him if you didn’t capture him?”

“My great grandfather. He lead the revolt on the Lycans that caused their down fall and extinction.” Father seemed ten years older then he was as he confessed this to me. Clearly this weighed heavy on his conscious. Or maybe he was upset that he’d been the one to lose Lucien.

“Your father didn’t know about his existence until he took over as Alpha.” My mother began, patting her husbands arm in comfort. “We were newly wed, only 20 years old, when your grandfather took us to a secret part of the dungeon that had been converted especially to hold a Lycan of Lucien’s, well, gifts.”

“His gifts?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“All Lycans have special gifts, it’s why they can’t turn until they’re eighteen years old. Lucien had many gifts as the heir to the throne, and his particular gifts made him exceptionally hard to track and capture. One of which was invisibility. Though it wasn’t so much he became invisible as he was able to manipulate his enemies minds into not seeing him.” My father seemed to ramble as he tried to explain, but I had more important answers I needed.

“How did he get out if he had this special prison?” Leo asked from beside me, this had also been my next question.

“That was me.” My mother said softly. My eyes snapped to hers with shock. She’d let a prisoner go?

“Why?” I asked. She took a deep breath and smiled between me and Leo as she wrapped her arms around her abdomen, my father put an arm around her shoulders offering support.

“The Moon Goddess came to me in a dream and told me that I needed to release the prisoner in the dungeons. She said it was time and he had a purpose to fulfill. Her purpose.” She looked up at my father in question and when he gave her a small nod and kissed her forehead she continued. “I was 23 by then, and barren, I had gone into heat every year and yet every time I had not conceived, the pack doctors said that I would not be able to conceive. So when Selene came to me and promised that I would bare all the children I wanted after doing one favor for her, I did it without hesitation. You were my first gift from the moon goddess.”

“We never told anyone about your mothers involvement in his escape that night, because the Night Walkers would not have been okay with it. In fact they were pretty upset we had lost their prisoner. I was worried for your mother’s life, so we told them he escaped and we assisted in the search party until I felt it was safe to back out with the belief he must be dead or long gone.” My father added on after my mother’s story.

“Why rush down here with half your army at the first word that his children are here then?” I demanded, things still didn’t add up. I needed the answers I wanted.

“Because when your mother let Lucien go he didn’t know she was letting him go. She made it look like mistakes. All he knows is our pack held him for almost a century, not to mention his mate and child were killed in order to lure him into the Night Walkers trap all those years ago. He blames us for all of it, and I can guarantee that if he knows you are my son, you are not safe here. The warriors aren’t here capture him, they are here to protect you from him.” I knew by the looks my parents were giving me that every bit of what they said is true. They feared for my safety.

“You said the Night Walkers killed his mate and child? If he had a mate how is Luna’s mom his mate? And speaking of Night Walkers, do you not command them? Leo said he heard you tell his father that the Night Walkers were already on their way. You didn’t send them here?” I wanted to believe my father, with everything in me I needed to believe my father was not an evil monster after my mate, my Little Luna.

“No, of course not! The Night Walkers aren’t governed by anyone but them selves. It’s a corrupt organization that honestly needs to be brought down. And yes, Lucien’s first mate, Arabella Cortez, she was a Siren from the coast of Spain. During the revolt she and Lucien’s first born daughter Lilith, were secreted away to be hidden until the fighting was over, but Night Walkers found them and held them until the war was over. The Lycans had lost but not all were accounted for, including Lucien, but they had the best thing to bring him out of hiding. His mate and his heir. The stories say that it took less than two hours of torture before Lucien showed up and demanded their release for his capture. But after the loss of a mate we’re incredibly weak. They slit his mates throat in front of him and while he crumbled, they killed his small daughter and chained him up in gold chains.” As my father finished his story I found my self sympathizing with Lucien. How would anyone do something so cruel to another. And all over a witches prophecy. My mother had tears in her eyes, more then likely upset over the loss of innocent life. No wonder she’d been more then willing to make the deal with the Moon Goddess. “To answer your question of another mate, Lycans are the Moon Goddess’s favorite children, because they are her direct descendants, the are most like her. So when they lose a mate and risk taking their own lives rather then live with the pain, Selene reincarnates them in another form. Luna’s mother is most likely Arabella Cortez reincarnated. Any idea if she loves the water? Or what her career is? Mermaids have an inherit love of the water and often choose professions where they can heal or teach. She may not be able to take a Sirens form, but she more then likely she still embodies their traits. She’d also look very much like Arabella if she isn’t her doppelgänger.”

I had no idea what her mother’s profession was or if she liked the water, but with her long mahogany and honey hair and wide brown eyes she was as beautiful as any mermaid I had met before.

“Alright. Here’s what we are going to do father. You will leave twenty warriors with me and at my command.” When my father made to argue I simply held up a hand and silenced him. “No, we don’t need an army of hundreds of warriors to protect me from one Lycan. If anything you have told me is true then it doesn’t matter how many guards you have here, Lucien will get in where he wants and do as he pleases.”

“Then why the twenty warriors dear?” My mother asked, she clearly wasn’t happy with my decision either, which now that I had heard her struggle to conceive me I understood a little more her protection of me.

“For Luna. I don’t think her father will harm her if he is the one we have had issues with, but the Night Walkers are another story. If they were willing to kill a mate and heir last time to get their hands on him, they may be willing to do so again. And this time my mate is that heir. I need guards on watch at all times. Ten will need to be young enough to act as seniors in the school. The other ten need to be the best of the best. Preferably all twenty will be volunteers, this mission could easily get them killed and I won’t command anyone to put their life on the line for a girl they don’t know.” I ran a hand through my hair as I tried to decide further in what to do. During this time wolves began shifting to their human forms and stepping forward while they pulled on pants or long shirts in some the case of the females.

“Alpha Vespian, I’d like to volunteer.” Said one young woman as she stepped forward. Her dark auburn hair fell down her back in thick waves and she was on the dainty side, small and almost fragile looking, she reminded me of my Little Luna as she stood so proud amount the tall warriors surrounding her.

“How old are you?” I asked. She couldn’t be more then sixteen from the looks of her.

“Twenty two last month Alpha. I know I look young, which means I can easily infiltrate the school. But also, my mother was a Night Walker. She taught me how they think and how they fight.” She grinned before she added: “I may not look like much sir, but I can kick ass and take names as good as the rest of them. Just ask your Beta there, I’ve taken him down before.”

A few warriors in the clearly chuckled as I side eyed my Beta Leo. “Really now…”. I said with a short laugh.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Leo muttered. “But she’s right, she’s good. Like, scary good.”

“Alright then-“ Weird, I couldn’t bring a name to mind when I looked at her, and I knew most of the warriors in the pack. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name?”

“Arlene, but everyone calls me Arrow.” She said with a secret smile. I had a feeling the nickname Arrow had more to do with her skills then with her name. “I just joined Golden Cresent a few weeks ago when I found my mate among your guard.”

“Arrow! You can’t do this.” Shouted a warrior I recognized as Alex and he came running towards the front of the clearing, to Arrows side.

“I have to Alex, I know more about how the Night Walkers think and strategize then anyone else here. I want to protect our future Luna. You understand that, right?” Her soft eyes were pleasing as she looked up at her mate and I watched as his features melted, he could deny her nothing, much like me with my Little Luna.

“Fine, but I volunteer as well.” Alex’s black eyes turned to me as he stated this and I nodded in approval.

“Who else will help us protect our future Luna?” Leo shouted out at the other warriors gathered. I don’t think I saw a single warrior not howl back a yes.

It took 30 minutes to decide who would stay in Blood Moon with me and who would go back to Golden Cresent and I was thrilled with the amazing warriors we had to protect my mate and her family. Though in the end we agreed on 30 warriors so that Luna’s mother and siblings would have a constant guard as well. Alpha Darius had come out and agreed with us on the selection and offered his home and lands for the warriors to stay on. Arrow was chosen to be Luna’s personally guard with her mate staying close by to lend a hand when needed.

It was around 2 in the morning when we got back home and everyone was assigned to their living space, the first shift of warriors to protect Luna over night were sent out to her home to start their watch and the others were ordered to rest for the coming day. Tomorrow started my personal mission to figure everything out about my mate and her family as I could. And maybe steal another kiss from her sweet lips.

Unknown POV:

The warriors spread out among the tree line standing or sitting at attention as they watched Luna’s house. They didn’t seemed to be attacking but protecting, and that was fine by me. The more eyes on Luna and her family the less likely someone could get to her. It wasn’t as if they knew I was here and they wouldn’t unless I felt the need to share my presence.

“Just five more days until your birthday Luna, then all will be revealed.” I thought as I closed my eyes and allowed my body to rest and recharge for the day ahead.