The Next Luna

2

Jack

My wolf was restless. I didn't know why. Nothing was going on. Hell, there hadn't been anything going on for the past year. I tried going for a run, which normally calmed my wolf down when he got like this. But that didn't help one bit. Today was my day off, which normally meant being alone. Today though, I chose to spend the day in the pack's gym. The run didn't work, so maybe going a few rounds with the punching bag would. But so far, that was proving to be a failure as well. It was like nothing was helping. My wolf was on edge. 

After an hour or so of working out, not working, I decided to try another run. I gathered up my things and headed to the door but was stopped by the alpha's son, Troy. He was a good kid and will make a great alpha one day. When it comes time for him to take over for his father, I would be more than happy to follow the kid. I don't know anyone in the pack that felt otherwise. "Jack, my father is requesting your presence. When you're done getting cleaned up, he is waiting for you in his office." I lowered my head, "I will be right there, alpha." He nodded and turned to head back down the hall. I headed up to my room, taking a quick shower before heading back down. The alpha only ever asked for me when something was wrong. I was the pack's best tracker. He only asked for me personally when he felt the pack might be in trouble if whoever or whatever wasn't found quickly. I knocked on the alpha's office door and waited for him to allow me entrance. 

Inside stood not only Alpha Grayson but his son and his beta, Noah, but also two human sheriff's officers. We have done business with both men before. Helped them in finding missing people all the time. They knew what we were but kept our secret in exchange for our help every now and then. My wolf grew more agitated at the sight of them. I had to push him back so that I could focus. Something was seriously wrong. Alpha Grayson looked up from the file he was holding. He was leaning on the front of his desk with the others standing around him. "Jack, thank you for joining us." He closed the file he had, and I lowered my head, showing him the respect he deserves. "Alpha, what can I help you with?" A pained look crossed his face. It was quick, but it was there, then it was gone. "I'm afraid this mission may be a personal one for you, Jack." He handed me the file and kept talking as I opened it. I froze on the image of the two women attached to the front page. One was older than the other, and I knew her once upon a time. We were together for a time in high school. I was a few years older than June. We had been together a few times in ways that never should have happened. But I was young and horny, and she was more than willing. I broke it off before graduation and shortly after my first shift. I never looked her up again. She didn't know what I was, only that I was part of a group that held a lot of speculation in the area. I told her it wasn't safe for us to be together. Which it wasn't. She was human. She would have been powerless to protect herself if the pack had ever been attacked. I couldn't be the reason for her death. So I broke things off with her and never looked back. The younger woman in the picture looked so much like her. They shared the same olive skin, heart-shaped face, full lips, and copper-red hair. They shared everything but the eyes. The younger one's eyes were the same forest green as mine. I tore my eyes from the picture and looked down at the police report it was attached to. June Blackmore was found dead in her home. Her seventeen-year-old daughter Zoey Blackmore was missing. 

"JACK." Alpha Grayson had been talking. I hadn't heard a word he said. My head shot up from the file. My attention pulled away from reading the report. "June never tried to reach out to you over the years?" I shook my head. "No, sir, I didn't even know she was ever pregnant." He nodded, "from the signs left behind, someone found out there was a connection between them and you. This was done by someone that wished to get our attention." He motioned to the file. My attention moved back to it as I continued to read through the reports. June's cause of death was due to her neck being broken. But only after whoever did this violated her. My heart broke as I read through the details of the trauma to her body. She hadn't been my true mate, but I had loved her once. If I had known, I could have offered her some kind of protection with the pack. We could have tried to figure things out. I flipped through pictures that had been taken on the scene. It was hard to look at. She had been covered in blood, sprawled out on the floor. From the looks of it, there had been a good struggle. A message written in blood on the wall of a bedroom had my wolf growling. June may not have been my mate, but she had given birth to my pup. And whoever did this made sure to let us know they knew she was mine. 'She is ours now, Jack. We will take good care of her.' Covered in blood under it was Zoey's birth certificate. It had my name listed as her father. All it was missing was my signature. My wolf paced in my head, plotting the death of whoever thought they could harm my little girl. Who did they think they were to take her mother from her. She was ours to protect, and we had already failed her. Yeah, we didn't know she was even out there, but that was still on us. We should have known. I will rip them apart. I focused back on my alpha, my wolf trying to push for control. "I am sending you with Troy and a handful of others. Find her, find out who is responsible for this." I nodded my head. "The sheriffs will take you all to the house so you can start your search." With that, we were dismissed everyone left the room. I was the last to move, heading to the door "Jack?" I stopped and looked back at my alpha. "Are you going to be able to do this? I know June meant a lot to you when we were kids." I nodded, "I have to. I have already failed them both. I need to try and make it right." He nodded, letting me go. I followed Troy outside with the officers. The men going with us were already waiting, and we wasted no time in climbing into the cars and heading out.