Chapter 2
Landon
As we stroll into the annual alpha conference, we are greeted by many friendly faces. It feels like it has been too long since I’ve seen the alphas and betas of North America. We normally get together with the regional alpha’s a couple of times a year and then we send a rep to meet with the council. Today is a big day. It’s the three-year anniversary of the final battle of the great war.
My pack, Full Moon, suffered greatly. We lost many amazing members, my parents being among our casualties. But even through our darkest of times we came together as a community, as a pack and have rebuilt. Our pack member numbers are up, our homes, buildings and our little town look better than ever. We finally feel complete again.
I walk around the room, shaking some hands and making small talk with our neighboring pack officials while Sam finds our seats. I catch Alpha Greg striding to the front of the room with his sons not far behind. He’s a strong man in his mid-fifties, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s getting ready to step down in the next year or two. His eldest son Ben’s coming of age soon. He’s a good kid, and will make a damn fine alpha.
Alpha Greg motions for his son to stand next to him. “Gentlemen, I want to thank you so much for accepting my late night calls with grace. Also, thank you for allowing me to hijack the meeting a bit.” Everyone moves about the room and settles into their seats. “What I’m about to tell you is unprecedented and kind of threw us for a loop last night. My son Ben,” he claps his son on the shoulder, “celebrated his eighteenth birthday yesterday. The timing is quite special as he has gained his wolf in time for this meeting. Though we are extremely excited for Ben, and the amazing things he will do in his life, we are faced with a situation that I’ve never seen before. After Ben’s first shift last night his wolf requested a meeting with me.”
Gasps emit from the crowd, followed by a lot of confused faces. “Just like all of you, I was extremely confused as to why. But I can’t lie, I was intrigued. In all my years as a ranked pack member I have never had the wolf side of a man want to talk to me." He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck, "and this is where it gets even more interesting. His wolf informed us that... well, he is a newborn wolf.”
Silence and pure dumbfounded shock comes over the room. It’s almost unheard of for an alpha to get linked with a newborn wolf. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just more common to get a wolf who has years of knowledge behind them. A newborn wolf is just that, a newborn. This means that it’s their first time being paired with a human counterpart. This news does not seem to bother Ben. He only has pride etched into his features, and standing to his full height and his head is held high.
“Gentlemen, please, quiet down. We have some important things to discuss regarding this. Ben’s wolf has informed us that he is a former alpha." Alpha Greg announces, "also, explains why his wolf is so f*****g huge,” Alpha Greg says to no one in particular.
"Excuse me, but who does your wolf claim to be?" The alpha of Crystal River, questions. Alpha Greg motions for his son, Ben, and he steps forward to address the room.
"My wolf is the late Jared Knight of the Stone Mountain Pack.”
“What?” Sam, my beta shouts from beside me. He stands so quickly his chair hits the wall behind us. The whole room is startled by his reaction and all eyes are now on him. Sam was cousins with Jared. Growing up, they did not get to see each other often. Downfall to being in different packs and the war, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t close. It killed Sam that we couldn’t make it to Jared’s mating ceremony. I never had the honor of meeting him in person, but we did correspond during the war. The whirlwind of emotions Sam is feeling right now are so strong, I can almost feel them. Now, I need to be here for my best friend. I stand, placing my hand on his shoulder, and swallow hard past the lump of emotions in my throat as the tears threaten to spill over the edge of Sam’s eyes.
“It’s okay man, breathe,” I whisper to him. Sam nods and takes a cleansing breath.
“Ben–” Sam takes a moment to clear his throat. “Can you bring him forward?” Sam asks with a sniffle, and not one alpha or beta grunts at his weak moment.
Alpha Greg gives a nod toward his son, “We need to tell them.”
Ben stands in the front of the room. “Gentleman, I’ve only had my wolf for twenty-four hours so, please, bear with me.” Everyone smiles and nods. Bringing a wolf forward to speak on its own is not easy for a first-time shifter. s**t, it’s not easy for anyone.
He shakes out his arms then rolls his neck. Ben takes a couple of deep breaths, then his eyes begin to change color from blue to black. Ben lifts his chin to sniff the air and locks eyes with Sam. At wolf speed Ben jumps over a table and grabs Sam, pulling him into a big bear hug. Sam cries into his shoulder as they hold onto each other tight. We all just take in the moment playing out in front of us. Jared’s whole family had been wiped out during the war and after, there are only a few cousins left today. I notice a few men wiping away their own tears. A few luna's that are present silently sob into their alpha's chests, all of us acknowledging that this moment is rare and a gift from the goddess above.
Sam is the first to finally speak. “How is this possible?”
“The moon goddess said, I proved myself during my time on earth and now I must guide Ben. I have informed Alpha Greg of what Ben’s true destiny is. We must protect the queen.” Everyone's jaws are on the table. We haven’t had a queen in hundreds of years.
“Yes Jared, you mentioned this last night, but who is the queen?” Alpha Greg questions.
Ben walks back to the front of the room so Jared can address everyone.
“The queen is my luna…” he now has the room's full attention. You could practically hear a pin drop. “My Luna was my best friend, but we never mated. It never felt right. We had been best friends since we were pups, but when we found out we were mates we didn’t get the same feelings all of you get from your mates. Please don’t worry about that though. It’s not that important. What we need to worry about is that the moon goddess says that my Luna is in danger and we must find her.” I’m stunned by what I’m hearing. “I asked the moon goddess, what happened to my warrior luna? She told me that she is hurt somewhere, and we need to save her and restore her.”
Jared just told the whole room that his mate was not his true mate. I’m legitimately stuck on the fact that he and his mate were bonded to each other but were not true mates. This is totally unheard of and I’ve got questions. I stand up to address Jared. “Did the moon goddess say why she paired you two together if you’re not each other's true mates?” I don’t know why I felt compelled to ask this question, but now everyone is looking from me to Jared and waiting with bated breath.
“The moon goddess said that my true mate had died by accident before her first shift. The goddess said that she could see the war coming and could not interfere.The goddess knew that the obstacles that laid ahead of us were going to prevent her from meeting her fated mate. The goddess panicked that she was not going to stop the war and paired me with my luna so I could protect her. But she did anyway.”
“Did? She did what? Did she find her true mate?” A small woman asks from next to me.
“No, ma'am, she stopped the war.”
The whispers can be heard around the room. We were all at the last battle of the war. We all experienced what is best described as a huge explosion. It wiped out all of the evil and dark souled creatures that stood on that field that night.
“How did she stop the war? The goddess never interferes.” A man from the back of the room calls out.
“My Luna stopped it. She is special.”
"Jared, where is she now?" I question.
“That is something the moon goddess cannot interfere with. We must find her on our own, but I can sense her, and she is hu—hurting.”
You can see Ben and Jared struggling to focus now. Beads of sweat are rolling down Ben's face. He sways a bit and loses his footing. Alpha Greg catches him before he falls over. “Sorry gentleman, it doesn’t matter how strong of a wolf you are, that’s just hard in general.” Alpha Greg claps his son's back and helps him sit down. Ben wipes his face off and brushes his fathers arm off of him so he can stand to face him. As he begins to speak you can sense his aura getting stronger. “Dad, I cannot take over as alpha. I’m meant to protect the queen. Give Lex a year and he will be fully ready. Lex will make an amazing alpha and he will lead Silver Lake with honor and protect our people with his life.” Lex, Alpha Greg’s youngest son who has been sitting quietly in the corner watching everything going on, stands and the two brothers hug. “Make us proud Lex,” Ben says as he ruffles his younger brother's hair.
There’s a bit of commotion with everyone talking and speculating on what needs to happen next. “How are we meant to find her?” An older alpha yells over the chatter.
"Let me call Stone Mountain and see if they know where the former Luna is." Alpha Greg states while pulling out his cell phone and starts dialing. “Alpha John, I’m sorry that you couldn’t make the meeting. How is the new pup?” Greg nods his head at the unheard response. “Oh, good— that’s good. Whelp, let me cut to the chase. We need to know as much info on Alpha Jared’s luna.” Greg places his hand over the phone and lets us know that we’re all dismissed for today and that we will reconvene tomorrow.
Sam looks at me, his emotions on his sleeve. “s**t, I wish I could help but I never even got a chance to meet her. I think I may have at one time seen a picture of her, but I have no idea if I was ever in the same room as her.” He pushes himself up from his chair, and rubs his face in his hands. “f**k, Landon let’s go to the gym. After all of this s**t I need to beat the crap out of something. Want to spar with me?”
Laughing and shaking my head. “Yeah, I’ll let you get a few punches in but then I’m going to kick your ass.” Sam heads toward the door flipping me off. I look over to Ben who is standing next to his father. “Hey Ben, do you want to join us?” Ben looks up and shakes his head.
"Not today sir, but I will tomorrow, thank you."
"Wait!" I yell out to everyone who is heading out the door. "I need to know about second chance mates."
A tall beta comes walking over. "Alpha, I'm Beta Zack from Half Moon.” He says as he extends his hand for me to shake. “So a second chance mate? Welcome to the club.”
“ I don’t know if I have one. Therein lies my problem.”
“I can probably answer a lot of your questions. But I have to warn you it’s not the same experience for everyone."
"Great! We are heading over to the gym, do you want to meet up later?”
“Nah, I’ll come, I won’t have another chance today to get some training in.”
“Awesome.” I shake his hand and we head out.
Malinda
Austin, my physical therapist and I have just finished strength training for my legs. Now, we’re leaving his office to head to the gym. He has a deal with the gym owner, who allows him to utilize his facility to help get wounded warriors back to tip top shape. He really is good at what he does. When I first met him, I thought he was a bit much, but I have grown to enjoy the days he tortures me. Just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean I still can’t hold my own in the ring. Sparring is one of my favorite things. I was the top warrior in my old pack, being the daughter of my pack's beta definitely rubbed off. Being in a wheelchair just means I’ve got to think outside the box when it comes to fighting.
This will be the first time sparring during the day, in public… in my chair. Normally we do my training after the facility is closed. Austin gets special permission from the owner to use the arena after hours. I hate feeling like a circus attraction. Unfortunately, today and tomorrow we will have to come in the afternoon. While the facility is open to the public. I mean, yes my old pack has seen what I can do despite my disability, but I just don’t like dealing with people staring. The best is one time when a few people stayed after closing at the gym. Five minutes in some asshats could not stop with the comments. “Oh Austin, don’t hurt her.” It drove me crazy, after that I swore it would only be the two of us after that point. I’m shy, and the cat calling drives me nuts, but I’m not weak. I might not be able to beat an Alpha in a fight but I sure as hell can give one a run for his money!
“You bet your ass we can.”
“Sahara, I am not going to lie… I am a little nervous to spar at the gym. People will be gawking at me, I hate being a spectacle. Our pack never once looked at us and said “awww look at her.” They just let us be.”
“Of course, they will. They might even pity us… but then you will punch Austin in the f*****g face and show everyone who’s boss.”
“Damn girl! We are still a luna… well kind of. I can’t go around f*****g people up to prove a point.”
“Oh yes, we can! We are so much more, we’re f*****g royalty.”
“What the hell was in that tea this morning? You’re wound a little too tight.” I scoff at her insane amount of energy.
Austin holds the door for me, and we head towards the sparring rings. The space is like a huge warehouse. They have five octagon fighting rings set up in this big room and of course today of all days, the place is freaking packed. There are several people working out and fighting, only a few glance our way as we head toward the empty ring that is in the far back corner. I shoot Austin a look that could kill and with a raise of my brow all the bastard can do is laugh. The second Austin reaches up to pull the reserved marker from the rope is when I feel all eyes are on me. “I kind of forgot about the alpha meeting taking place down the street. The annual meeting draws a lot of attention for the area.” Austin says with a small smirk.
“Sure ya did.” This whole thing is going to be a s**t show. Sahara sensing my unease, pushes her confidence through our bond, giving me a small boost. Taking a deep breath, I roll up to the edge with my head held high, even if I hate drawing attention to myself.
“You listen good, missy pooh pants, do not go easy on him! Do not hide who you are.” Sahara demands.
“It’s okay Austin, let me get situated and then I’ll let you know when I am ready for you to help me in.” I give him a tight-lipped smile to let him know I’m a little pissed. I gather my long hair up into a high messy bun, pull my t-shirt over my head leaving myself in my sports bra and leggings.
I still have very tight core muscles, because my injury is lower in my spine. Thankfully, I still have full function of my abs and that allows me to keep in good fighting shape. As I throw my shirt on the bench, I can hear the whispers. I know they are checking out my tattoo. You can't miss it, it’s huge. And since the back of my wheelchair only comes up to the swell of my back you can see the whole thing.
“Breathe Mal.”
I position my chair close to the edge of the ring. I reach up and grab the middle rope. I see Austin lean in to help me. I snarl at him playfully…
“Dude, I got this.”
“I know you do, Mal, but it’s literally my job. Just in case you forgot— you know make sure you are safe. Plus, what kind of man doesn’t show assistance to a female in front of all of these alphas?” he questions with a smirk trying to act all chivalrous. “I really don’t want one of them to kick my ass.”
Realization sets in that I’m a rogue surrounded by a gym full of alphas. I nervously look around a little panicked that they will notice I’m a rogue. But as I take in the room, no one is looking at me at all. Trying to let it go, I roll my eyes at him. “By whom? Them or me?” I growl. Anger suddenly ripples off of me. As I apparently crash and burn in the “letting it go” department.
My emotions are all over the place today and I need to pull my s**t together. I bite my tongue from saying anything that I’ll end up regretting and swallow my frustration. Austin regards me a bit but moves over so I can pull myself up on the ropes. I lift my whole lower half up, wiggling my butt, so it slides onto the canvas floor of the ring. Austin jumps in, bringing my chair with him. I get back into my chair, take the seat belt and strap myself in. Did you know that a lot of wheelchairs have seat belts? Ha! I didn’t either until I was in one. It definitely comes in handy when fighting. I strap my legs together and attach the strap to the footrest bars. It prevents them from flying around on their own. That's the last thing I need, my legs flying around while I’m trying to kick his ass. I pull my tank top off, tossing it on the rope. Leaving me in my sports bra and leggings.
Once I’m all settled, we get down to business and after a little pad work, we go to our respective corners and Austin yells, “FIGHT!”