From Beta to Luna

    “C’mon, Nathan, quit being such a p***y, and follow through with your punches,” I snarled, as I expertly dodged the swinging fist that was aimed straight for my face.     Raising my left arm to block his swing and knock his arm out of the way, I brought my right hand to brace against his shoulder and used the momentum of his own weight against him as I swung his body around my back and across my shoulders and threw him straight on the ground. He landed on the ground at my feet with a loud thud, a pained groan escaping from his lips as he just laid there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. I smirked as I stared down at him, but of course he couldn’t see that since his eyes were still closed as he waited for the pain to subside.     “Goddess, Raina, can’t you go a little easier on me? You really knocked the wind out of me just now,” Nathan said, finally opening his bright blue eyes to look at me.     I laughed and extended a hand to help him up, which he gladly took. “It’s not my fault you’re such a wimp. It’s my job to be training you guys, and from the looks of it, I’ve been too lenient with y’all.”     “You haven’t been too lenient, you’re just so small that we have a hard time landing a punch with you ducking and weaving everywhere,” Nathan teased with a playful smirk on his face.     “I may be small, but I think this small girl just effectively threw you on your ass without even breaking a sweat,” I retorted, sticking my tongue out at him which caused him to laugh.     He threw his arm around my shoulder and nudged my side playfully before starting to walk back towards the packhouse, pulling me alongside him. “Yeah, yeah, you got me good this time, I’ll give you that. But we should probably wrap this training up and head in to take a shower. Don’t we leave for Crystal Moon’s territory tonight?”     “Oh f**k, I totally forgot about that. f**k, Xander’s gonna kill me, I haven’t packed anything yet!” I exclaimed, as Nathan’s words sunk in and the realization that we were supposed to leave in two hours and I haven’t packed a single thing yet set in all at once.     Nathan roared with laughter before flicking me on the forehead, which caused me to yelp in surprise and glare at him.     This caused him to laugh even more as he sighed, “Same old Raina. You would’ve thought becoming Beta would give you an extra sense of responsibility, but here you are, still forgetting important trips and duties. That’s not very Beta of you, you know.”     I smiled at his lighthearted laughter and teasing as we continued on towards the packhouse. Nathan Davis, the Gamma—or third in command—of our pack, the Silver Moon Pack, and my best and closest friend. I love him like a brother and truly viewed him as family. Ever since we were younger, he’d always look out for me, not that I needed it much since my feistiness has always been the most prevalent aspect of my personality that only matured with me as I grew up. I looked up at Nathan, his 6’3” frame towering over my tiny 5’3” one.     Although I never saw him in that light, I can’t help but to admit that Nathan was handsome, extremely so. With his sandy blonde hair that fell just above his bright blue eyes that always held a mischievous light, his lightly tanned skin from all the outdoor training we did in the hot sun, his well built frame and toned and muscular body, it was no wonder all the girls growing up would practically throw themselves at his feet. I can’t count the number of times I’d have to literally fight girls off because they were either jealous or threatened by our relationship, which only fed into his ego.     Despite the number of girls that pined over him through the years, Nathan never had a girlfriend, never even had his first kiss.     “Saving myself for my mate, for whenever she decides to show up in my life,” he’d always say whenever asked.     That was the one thing I always admired about him. His unwavering faith in his mate, whoever she may be, and his complete trust that the Moon Goddess knew what she was doing in making him wait.     “You know, if you keep staring at me, I’m gonna think you’re starting to fall in love with me,” Nathan teased, his voice bringing me back from my own thoughts.     I scoffed, faking a gagging sound as I rolled my eyes at him with a smile. “As if I’d ever fall in love with the guy who cried for twenty minutes when he got too close to a goose and got chased around the pond.”     “Hey! You promised you’d never bring that up again!” he cried indignantly, ripping his arm from around my shoulder and pouting at me.     I laughed again as I reached up and tweaked his nose, which caused him to slap my hand away and his frown to deepen. “I’m just kidding, Nathan. Of course I love you. You’re the only family I’ve got left.”     He smiled at my words and cupped my face in his hands, squishing my cheeks and giving me a soft and loving look. “You’re like the little sister I never wanted but got stuck with anyways.”     I rolled my eyes and smacked his hands away just as the heavy wooden doors of the packhouse opened to reveal the intimidating presence of a man who I knew and loved.     Xander Bancroft, Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack. With his towering 6’4” frame, muscular arms and sculpted body, jet black hair and sharp hazel eyes, he was a beautiful sight to see. But again, I didn’t view him in that light. While Nathan was like my soft and caring older brother, Xander was like my extremely overprotective and strict older brother. After losing my family about a year ago, Xander stepped up to take me under his wing and protect me at all costs, making sure I never had to worry about anything in life.     The best thing about Xander, though, was his complete faith in me and my strengths. He trusted me enough to name me his Beta—his second in command—to his pack after his previous Beta was killed. A female Beta in our world was completely unheard of, and there was a lot of unrest within the pack when Xander had announced his decision. Most of the pack members feared that as a woman, I’d be incapable of carrying out the Beta duties—that should anything ever happen to him, I’d be unfit to lead in his place until a new Alpha was decided.     I smiled to myself at the memory of how he had put those fears to rest.     “You think she’s unable to be this pack’s Beta because she’s a woman?” he had asked, directing his question to the voices of protest. “Well then, all those who oppose, step into the sparring ring, and let’s have her show you just what she’s capable of.”     I fought tooth and nail that night to prove that while I was small, I was anything but weak. I had earned a newfound respect from my fellow pack members that night and have led this pack with pride—alongside Xander—ever since.     “Raina, Nathan,” Xander called in his deep and rumbling voice, snapping me back from my own thoughts.     “Alpha,” Nathan replied with a smile.     “Xander,” I quickly added, looking directly into his eyes.     “We leave for Crystal Moon in less than two hours… so tell me why both of you are still a sweaty, stinking mess?” Xander inquired, his eyebrow c****d in question.     Nathan threw his hands up in mock surrender with a slight smirk on my face. “Raina insisted on getting a few extra rounds of training in. But at least all I have to do is shower, and I’m ready to go. Raina, on the other hand, hasn’t even packed yet.”     My mouth dropped in shock as I smacked him on the chest which earned a loud yelp from him.     “You f*****g traitor!” I shouted, shoving him away by the head.     Nathan only laughed as he ducked his head to avoid my swatting hands, but I immediately gulped and stilled when Xander growled lowly in our direction.     “Raina… You mean to tell me that we leave in less than two hours for an important event to strengthen our alliance with the Crystal Moon Pack, and you haven’t even packed yet?” Xander asked in a low voice, his normally lively voice, steely and cool.     I gulped again. There aren’t many men in the world who can strike fear in my heart, but Xander? Xander was one of them. Even though I knew he would never actually harm me, he had other ways of punishing me. Like forcing me to run laps until I puked for instance, or sticking me on patrol duty for a month straight with no breaks. I fidgeted slightly under his piercing gaze while he simply stared, waiting for my response.     “Well you see…” I trailed off, unsure of how to answer without getting my ass handed to me.     He held up a hand to stop my feeble attempt at an excuse and sighed deeply.     “Upstairs. Now,” he commanded, leaving no room for argument. “I want you showered, packed, and downstairs ready to go within the hour so you have time to make sure everyone else is also ready to go on time. If even one person is late… you’re on patrol duty for two months straight.”     I groaned but didn’t respond, knowing I would just make it worse for myself. I silently glared at Nathan who was snickering behind me and angrily stuck my tongue out at him before walking up the rest of the steps, past Xander, and into the packhouse. Making my way past the common floor, I quickly bounded up the three flights of stairs to my own floor, and entered my room. Ever since I became Beta, I had been moved from my room on the second floor that housed the rest of the pack up to my own private floor, and while it’s sometimes lonely, I have to admit that it’s nice not to be woken up in the middle of the night by someone’s loud s*x in the next room over.     Double checking to make sure my door was locked, I quickly stripped out of my sweat-stained clothes from training and made my way to my adjoining bathroom. Tossing my clothes into the hamper, I turned the shower on and waited until the water was the perfect temperature before stepping in under the waterfall showerhead. I groaned quietly in content as the hot water soothed away the aches in my sore muscles but remembered that I was on a time crunch and made haste to finish my shower.     Quickly washing away the remnants of my shampoo and cucumber scented body wash, I shut the shower off and stepped out into the steamy bathroom. I grabbed the nearest towel and quickly dried myself before wrapping the towel around my body and grabbing another towel to wrap my hair in. I pondered for a moment what all I needed to take with me for the week and a half we’d be spending in Crystal Moon territory before making haste to throw all the necessities in the biggest duffle bag I owned.     When satisfied that I wasn’t forgetting anything, I pulled the towel off my body and slipped on a new and comfortable pair of black panties and matching sports bra. I threw on some black leggings so I’d be comfortable during the drive and a loose, grey, off the shoulder shirt. Pulling my hair from the confines of my towel, I ran my fingers through the jet black waves before pulling out a brush and my hair dryer.     With 5 minutes left to spare in the time limit that Xander had given me, I quickly pulled on some socks and my black Nike tennis shoes before running down the stairs, cursing quietly when I almost tripped over my own feet.     Once I hit the second floor, I mindlinked those who would be accompanying Xander and me on the trip, “You guys have 45 minutes to be downstairs and ready to go! If anybody is late, I’m gonna come up here, kick your ass, then drag you down by the ear. Don’t be late!”     There were few “Yes, Beta”s in response, but there was one “Now that is a lot more Beta of you” from Nathan that made me smile. Reaching the common ground, I threw my duffle bag onto one of the couches in the entertainment room before plopping down beside it. Checking my phone to see that I was right on time in the hour that Xander had given me, I smiled and set an alarm for 30 minutes so I could take a quick nap and wake up to make sure the rest of the crew would be down here in time.     While I was excited for the trip to the neighboring pack’s territory, I was also nervous as all hell. This would be the first time I’d be formally introduced as the Silver Moon’s Beta to an ally pack, and to a pack as well known and as formidable as Crystal Moon, it was enough to make even the most confident wolf nervous. While I knew my pack had accepted me as their Beta, I also knew that I’d have to prove myself all over again when faced by a new pack who had never fathomed the idea of a female Beta. I frowned slightly at my nerves before blowing out a breath and curling up on the couch to find a comfortable position to nap in.     I may be nervous, and this next week and a half may be a challenge, but there wasn’t a challenge that Raina Sterling would ever back down from.     I just had no idea the extent of the challenge awaiting me the moment we’d be leaving our own packlands.