The Rejected Warrior and the Huntress

Mates 2

Derek had lived the life of a bachelor for another 30 years, glad that the life of a Werewolf was much longer than that if a Human. They could easily live to be seven and eight hundred years old, and he was barely 70 years. He however had celebrated the night before with yet another woman rejecting him, as he refused to allow any woman to take the Luna position from Brooke. She had been the sole survivor of the Pack when it was destroyed by Rogues, and had only been a baby when they began rebuilding. She was the luckiest kid, as she essentially had 200 dad's that had taught her everything she knew, and protected her with thier lives more than once.

Word of his Oath had spread, as had the rumors of who actually trained the troops at Blue Moon Pack. There had been many challengers who simply misunderstood the difference between an Oath to not kill someone, and an Oath to do no harm. He had gone through 8 rejections now, none of the last 3 even willing to give him a chance. Word had it he was he was a reclusive asshole, and never allowed any of them a chance to be Luna. It wasn't even true, as Brooke had assumed the role when she turned 16. It was a running joke in the Pack that she was the Luna, just because she was the first female that joined the 200 men who had survived. Over the years it had just become second nature to her, as her official position was as the Head Warrior of the Blue Moon Pack. She just liked to throw parties that the entire Pack just happened to show up to.

He had given them plenty of opportunity to show the Pack what they could do, and not one of them had impressed the Pack when they would refuse to honor thier Pack traditions. One point of contention between him and them was his blanket refusal to even go to the Capitol, as he had vowed he never would go to the Capitol again.

Number 9 as he would come to later call her was found when he went to a City 50 miles from the Capitol at the same time the Alpha King happened to be there. She was a waitress in Lane of his restaurants, as he and the Pack had a significant number of them they had opened. He was always listed as a part owner as Alpha of the Pack, so he and the other members were always treated when they visited.

Damien couldn't figure out why she was hanging around so much as they ate lunch and discussed what had gotten Derek the invitation until he got up to leave and the waitress sat right across from him.

"You know the King?" she demanded as he smiled.

"Yes, I do in fact. If you are hoping kt gets you an invite to a bunch of parties, you might as well reject me now." he replied as Damien walked out the door.

"Why would it not, you are an Alpha aren't you?" she demanded to know while he smiled and nodded.

"Indeed I am, however it doesn't come with the perks you think it does. Especially when you learn I am the Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack." he said as her eyes went wide.

"The recluse?" she asked as he smiled.

Derek shrugged his shoulders not caring that was what he was called, as many people had called him that for years. Every year they tried to dance around the fact that he never did anything more than acknowledge that he received the new laws passed the the Kings Council, and always refused to attend no matter how eloquently they tried to persuade his Beta. "If that is what I am called now. They try and change it every few years to whatever is new." he said honestly as her eyes went wide.

"Why did the others reject you?" she asked him as she wanted to talk.

"Depends on which one you wish to discuss. Most of the rumors are likely true, and even if they aren't I do not care to try and correct the record with all of them. 3 of the 8 I barely knew thier names before they rejected me. One or two of them I rejected for what they thought my Pack and I would do." he told her honestly as the new waitress brought another menu for them at his insistence.

"Rumor is the Blue Moon Pack has a Luna already." she said as he looked at it again and decided what he wanted t order.

"Brooke?" he asked and she nodded. "I will repeat what she told the last reporter. She is just a Head Warrior that likes to throw a party. Just because the entire Pack decides to show up is not her fault."

"Why do the Elite Warriors call her Luna?" she asked him bluntly.

"That is a deeply personal story that she herself would have to tell you when younare comfortable. I will tell you what I have told every one of the 5 who wished to try, the reins are yours. You can do almost anything you want as Luna, but the women have not had one in 45 years. They will not allow thier own values to be forgotten because you do not know what they are, and refuse to ask for help. We have rebuilt ourselves from 200 Warriors into a thriving Pack. If you want to try and be a part of it, you've more than welcome. If not, it doesn't hurt half as bad as they sat it does or for as long." he said as she shook her head in shock.

The train ride a few hours later had surprised her, as the furthest he went to make it comfortable for the 2 day journey was buyback first class cabin. Stacy was surprised that he didn't fly, and blatantly refused to buy a jet like a lot of the other Alphas had. She watched as the terrain flew past the window, and wondered how she had been matched to the one Alpha who didn't seem to have any social ambitions.

The arrival couldn't have gone better as she met the Beta and Delta men, and wondered where all the women were. The 4 of them easily fit into the converted SUV, which was the only time Derek had his back to a man. Granted the passenger compartment was isolated from the man by missile resistant glass and shielding, as he was the head of a major security firm.

Her reception on the other hand at the Pack house couldn't have been more cold. Only Brooke was there with a squad of men, as none of the women had come to pay thier respects. They walked in and Derek growled as there were roughly a dozen of them in the living area, and he knew it was an intention slight to her.

The women had the smarts to vacate the Pack House without question, as he watched Stacy nod.

It was a few days later that he walked towards the Luna Office, and he heard Brooke telling Stacy exactly what she had to do to show the women she was prepared to leave them. But that it was not something most of them were willing to bend even a little bit on yet. Stacy had not shown them she was the boss, and they were acting like it. That was the problem when you allowed them to keep thier independence, and they hadn't had a proper Luna in 45 years.

Stacy had come to him to intervene on her behalf, just after Brooke had wa arned him kf what was happening. He knew all it would take was a word from him and the women of the Pack would relent and actually show her a modicum of respect. He however knew it also would make things far worse in the long run in he did it. He even told her as much, that he would demand they do it, but she took his defense of them the wrong way and she flat rejected him as a coward unwilling to take control of his Pack.

He watched her go as the women finally gathered, to show her tonthe door and wave as she left him forever. He knew most Alpha's would be pleased with what they had done, as many did not put much stock in the mating bond. He however did, and as soon as she disappeared down the drive they turned to find him beyond angry. Brooke had taken the brunt of it, as he had told her to ease up on her. However not a single one of them was given it easy, as it wasn't until his men began begging him to end thier punishment that he even relented by a minute. He had them training 6 hours a day, and running patrol another 6 hours, on top of whatever other duties they had to perform for another 6 hours a day. Not even thier Elite Warriors trained that much, until the women had started doing it and they didn't want to be surpassed.

It was than that Derek had performed the ceremony himself, asking the Moon Goddess not give him another Fated Mate, as his heart could no longer take what the rejections were doing to him. He had been away from the War for 45 years, and his Wolf hadn't even woke up to meet his latest Mate. It was another point of contention between them after many months, as he only shifted under the power of the moon, and his Wolf would run for hours. Otherwise Havoc was asleep, and her Wolf had not liked that very much.