The Forgotten Luna

1 - The Alpha Summit

[Atlas P.O.V.]

The wind was sharp this far north, a cruel blade that sliced through the heavy wool of my coat as the SUV climbed the last stretch of mountain road. Pines stood tall and silent on either side, weighed down by early snow. The world here was harsher, wilder, and it suited the Dark Moon Pack.

I didn’t trust them.

“Are we really doing this?” Michael muttered from beside me. Michael’s dark eyes scanned the towering trees with suspicion. “You know Lucas isn’t the type to hold summits out of good will.”

“He is hosting because the Elders asked him to,” I said, though the words tasted foul. “Refusing to come would have made us look weak.”

Michael grunted, crossing his arms. “It’s not us I’m worried about.”

Neither of us said aloud that we’d brought half of our warriors with us, stationed at the northern border of the packlands, just in case.

The wrought-iron gates of the Dark Moon estate loomed ahead, flanked by stone pillars etched with old runes. The SUV passed through them in silence. The estate itself was massive: a dark stone fortress nestled in a mountain hollow. It had high towers, narrow windows, and thick, heavy-looking doors. It looked more like a prison than a home.

A servant met us outside, a young man whose eyes were downcast, his posture submissive.

“Welcome, Alpha Atlas,” he said quietly. “You and your Beta have been given rooms in the east wing. The summit begins at sundown.”

I gave him a curt nod before brushing past the boy with Michael at my side. Snow crunched beneath my boots as we made our way to the front door. The air reeked of suppressed dominance and too much magic. This place had secrets, and the shadows seemed to breathe around me.

Inside the halls were dimly lit by wall sconces. The main foyer had polished floors and a long staircase that split into two curving arms. Voices echoed faintly, alphas already gathering, asserting presence through posture, tone, and scent. It was a political pissing contest.

I hated this, and them.

Halfway up the stairs, it happened. A scent drifted toward me, so faint it could have been caught on the breeze.

Wild honey mixed with the scent of ash. It struck me like a boulder, and I stopped mid-stride. My breath caught in my throat, and it seemed like time stopped around me.

Mine.

Bane’s voice was feral and sure, a deep growl rising from within me at the back of my mind. She’s here. She’s so close. Find her, Atlas.

I scanned the hall. No one was near us except a few passing servants. I didn’t see her, whoever she was, but something was shifting. It was something ancient and permanent, and without a doubt, I knew it was the mate bond.

But instead of feeling joy or clarity, all I felt was confusion. The world tilted, and Bane roared in my head. My mind tried to catch up to reality.

“Atlas?” Michael frowned, hand on my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” I blinked hard, and I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I forced myself to keep walking after a moment. “I don’t know.”

This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. I always thought that the moment I could see my mate, it would be like the sunlight reaching me through the clouds. It would be a moment of peace and a feeling of purpose. But this felt like a storm brewing, violent and relentless.

I didn’t have time to linger in my room, and I knew that I had to go to the summit. It was against the rules for Betas to be in the chamber, though we were expected to bring them.

I made my way to the summit hall. It was warm and too loud. Alphas from nearly two dozen packs had gathered around a curved obsidian table that formed a broken circle, leaving space at the center for whomever was called to speak. Elders sat at the head, silent, perched to spectate the summit.

I tried to focus on the discussion, territorial disputes in Maine, border patrol cooperation with rogue activity spiking, but I keep feeling it.

A pulse, or tether. The pull of her.

I couldn’t explain it. I couldn’t find her, but my instincts were sharpening, fraying on my nerves with every passing hour that she remained hidden.

Why is she hiding? I thought. Or being hidden.

She is afraid. I can smell it.

I inhaled slowly, trying to isolate the scent in the crowded hall. I caught a wisp of it now and then, a flicker that I almost mistook for a memory as it faded too quickly.

They’re keeping her from us. Bane snarled in my mind.

Then we will find out who.

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

I stood on the balcony of my guest quarters, overlooking the snow-draped forest that curled around the estate. The sky was clouded, but moonlight still slipped through in faint beams.

“You’re restless,” Michael said from behind me. I turned around to face him, seeing his breath visible in the cold.

“She’s here,” I said softly, knowing I didn’t need to say more than that.

Michael blinked, confusion in his expression. “She?”

“My mate.”

My Beta stared, then let out a low whistle. “Damn. You sure?”

“Bane is, and so am I. I felt her the second we arrived here.”

Michael looked around. “Then why haven’t we met her?”

I shook my head. “I think… someone’s hiding her.”

“That’s a bold accusation, even for Alpha Lucas.”

I didn’t respond, but I didn’t need to. The feeling gnawed at my gut. “She’s scared, and I can feel that too.”

Michael stepped forward, his hand landing on my shoulder as a gesture of comfort. “We could start asking questions, quietly.”

I nodded. “We will find her. One way or another. Let’s get some sleep.”

Michael nodded his agreement, and we headed inside, slipping into our beds where sleep came, but hours later.

The next day, I kept my senses open. I listened, and watched for anything about my mate.

The servants flinched more here. They walked like shadows, spoke like ghosts. I noticed bruises, downcast eyes, and the occasional limp. The pack house was polished on the outside, but I was sensing something rotten beneath the surface.

Lucas, of course, was all smiles. “Alpha Atlas,” he greeted, lifting a goblet during the summit's midday break. “North Carolina treating you well?”

I met his gaze with a practiced neutral expression. “The Moon Stone Pack thrives, and we keep our borders safe.”

Lucas smirked. “Good. Good. Rogue activity’s been…. Problematic these days.”

When I said nothing, Lucas leaned in, his voice dropping to a tone that only I could hear. “I hear you’re unmated. Is that still true?”

I stiffened at his words, the sense and scent of my mate lingering around us in his pack house. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason. It is just that alliances often benefit from strong bonds. I’ve heard whispers that Alpha Kayn is looking again.”

A chill crawled up my spine at his words. “I am not interested in Kayn’s leftovers.” I sneered, knowing that his leftovers were left dead rather than alive to be leftovers.

Lucas’s grin thinned. “Of course not.”

It was then that I noticed something flickering in the man’s expression, calculation. It was a predator planning a trap.

That night, I caught the scent again. I was walking down the side corridor after dinner, trying to avoid the stifling press of the summit, when it hit me, only this time it was stronger than before.

The scent of wild honey and ash was now mixed with the scent of fear.

I turned the corner and glimpsed a girl, not more than eighteen or nineteen, disappearing into a stairwell with a tray of dishes balanced in her hands. Her dark brown hair was tied back, but I saw a glint in her eyes as she passed.

It wasn’t enough, I wanted more of her. I moved towards the stairwell. “Hey-!” I called out after her, but she was gone.

The scent of her lingered like a ghost.

Bane was pacing in my mind. That was her. I know it.

She is a servant? Why didn’t she stop?

Because she is terrified. Something’s wrong.

I pressed my hand into the wall, breathing deep as the mat bond sizzled under my skin like wildfire. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight.

Without my sleep, the next day’s summit discussions blurred together. The trade routes, ritual disputes, land negotiations. It didn’t matter.

All I could think about was her, and now that I knew she was here, so close. She was hidden in plain sight, and afraid.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

The scrapping of my chair echoed around the summit hall chamber as I stood up mid-discussion of what I don’t even know. I ignored the Elder who frowned in my direction and stalked from the hall with Bane pacing furiously in my mind.

We find her tonight. No more waiting.

Agreed.

I didn’t see her again for the rest of the day, but I heard whispers.

A servant girl who never spoke unless ordered.

One who bore no rank, no family.

She was taken in as a ward, but never treated as one.

Rumors. No one dared to say her name, and those who did fell silent when he asked for more. I knew what that meant, they were protecting her… or themselves.

That night, under the sky of storm clouds gathering above. I sat on the balcony again. My hands were braced on the railing, and I could feel my muscles coiling in frustration at how tightly I was gripping it.

“Why would they hide her?” I asked aloud, not expecting an answer.

Michael’s voice from behind me startled me. “Maybe they don’t know. Or maybe they do, and they just don’t care.”

“She’s not just a servant. She’s someone. And Lucas, he’s hiding something bigger than a girl doing dishes.”

I turned to face Michael, catching him nodding in agreement with my words. “He mentioned Kayne again today. He told the Elders he was preparing for a special union for the good of his pack, and refused to say who.”

My chest tightened.

“She’s the one,” I said after a moment of silence.

Michael went still. “You think he’s giving your mate to Kayn?”

I shared a look with my Beta. I didn’t answer, and I didn’t need to. Michael and I both knew what he said was likely.

The storm broke over us, coming over the mountain just after midnight. I stood at the window after Michael went to bed as the thunder rolled across the sky.

The bond hummed under my skin, giving me goosebumps and making the hair on my arms stand up.

She was afraid, trapped, and I wasn’t leaving this mountain without her.