Luna of the Golden Moon

Alpha Victor

Caleb was tense, I was anxious, and the pack was uneasy.

The long convoy of cars is coming up the broad road, leading from the main gate, then driving around the courtyard with the fountain in the center.

The black cars screeched to a halt, making my heart skip a beat. I felt a huff from Caleb, telling me not to be scared, since this was just another visit, another dignitary we had to face as the Alpha and Luna of the pack.

Everyone was on full alert suddenly. Deltas had been running around all day, cleaning, fixing, and scrubbing everywhere. Even Delta Vivian looked exhausted as she stood in the back, her posture as straight as an Alpha's, giving orders to Deltas, trying to catch a glimpse of the oncoming Alpha and his entourage.

The blood moon pack was just as big as the Golden Moon. If the things Caleb told me were true, they were just as ruthless and powerful as our own pack had been under Alpha Terrance, the big difference being that Alpha Victor's father had stepped down, been hurt, before passing two years ago.

The Betas of the Blood Moon were the first to enter, making me take a deep breath, seeing the big men flooding our hall, watching our own Betas, suspicion mixing with recognition, some of them being friends, sparring partners, enemies, our Betas looking just as sharp as the visiting pack's members.

"Did he bring the full company of Betas?" I couldn't really hide the worry in my eyes anymore, since the men were everywhere!

Caleb wasn't answering my attempt to break the tension between us. He was so tense; his posture was stiff and serious, and not only because we were a powerful pack on a visit, no.

It was a serious tall girl walking alongside her mate. Her eyes were green, making me stare at her some more before trying to cover up the fact that I did, because for some reason, I always remembered her looking like Caleb, but she didn't; nothing about her said they were siblings.

"Her mother is from Victor's pack, and when my father divorced her, she stayed here with us…" I made a slight nod to my mate's indifference to the couple's powerful entrance: the beautiful girl with green eyes and freckles, her brown hair in a tight, formal style, and a long black dress, the same as mine.

I was just about to ask where the Alpha was when I saw him, coming in last, looking important, and eyes bored like he really didn't want to be here, almost making me laugh if it wasn't that I wasn't allowed.

Holding my barrier up like Caleb had been training me in, keeping people out of my head, since none of us wanted the Blood moon to have access to our thoughts.

Alpha Vicor was just as tall as Caleb. Just as strong, making Caleb huff again like he disagreed with me, staring openly at the foreign Alpha whose eyes were still empty. I blinked, trying to avert my own gaze, knowing what I was doing was wrong. You didn't match an Alpha into his eyes; you just didn't, and still, oh goddess.

Alpha Victor's eyes caught mine, both our faces changing when he didn't stop staring, and for some reason, neither did I.

"Emilia, stop!" Caleb wasn't even holding back, hearing him bark at me for doing something wrong, too on edge to be polite to me, feeling bad back, knowing he was too harsh the second he said it, he was right, I shouldn't have stared at him.

The whole pack was feeling my confusion and sadness, making everyone around us more on edge. The Betas growled like they didn't know what was wrong, but they were going to attack if someone showed any sign of weakness, like I was doing right now.

"Alpha Caleb…" Alpha Victor had walked right towards us, smiling, big and charming, like he didn't care that both of our packs were agitated, like they didn't know what to expect with the mood just shifting. It was all my fault, wasn't it?

"Alpha… hello Vic…" I almost fainted hearing Caleb calling anyone else but me a nickname, giving the tall man before him a casual handshake that looked friendly and still like they were trying to crush one another, staring silently into each other's eyes. Were they friends??

I was still looking accusingly at the tall Alpha who was my mate, giving me a small smile that didn't mean anything to me. Why didn't he tell me that this man, who was his age, clearly was some kind of friend, or what, rival?

"Both." Caleb was still giving me nothing, his hand letting go of Alpha Victor, who, in his turn, had his eyes on mine again, clearly not caring about Caleb standing right next to me, and I was pregnant!

"Look at you, Luna Emilia… too bad I missed the wedding, it would have been fun taking down Caleb…" I gasped, knowing I was breaking rules again. Did he just say that? Did he?!

"Yes, so please, Luna, stop staring at him like he is the sun, because it will reach that big head of his…" I closed my mouth, hearing Caleb ask me this time, trying to control his jealousy of Alpha Victor, telling me to my face that if he were present at the night we mated, he would have fought Caleb for me, same as the rest of the Alphas that night!

"Alpha," I say back almost angrily, smiling more, like he knows just how much he is provoking me and Caleb, taking a deep breath and putting his hands on his hips with all his betas, looking smug over their Alpha being so damn cocky it is making me wonder why we even took three days to prepare the house for a guy who clearly just didn't care about anything but what he wanted.

"So, there is food, right? Oh, I really missed Delta Vivian's parties. I tried to match my own, but the deltas in my pack are clearly not as perky as the golden moon…" Alpha Victor's eyes were almost silver now, showing his wolf to me, showing mine back, making him laugh, and taking a step back, with Caleb sighing like he couldn't believe I just did that, what? I didn't understand what I did wrong, to be honest.

"You just showed him your wolf, Luna, and now he is really wondering why you are challenging him like you were almost an Alpha…" Caleb had stepped before me, sick of his friend or enemy trying to trick me, showing a stiff smile, having my hands on my baby, displaying off my wolf even more, so what? I was an Alpha, and sometimes, I couldn't hide it, not even when my mate wished for it.

"Yes, we did prepare a modest meal for you and your men..." Caleb made a nod with Delta Vivian moving ahead, all the staff of Deltas starting to move back hastily to the kitchen and serving room in the great hall, where all the betas and I, along with my mate and Alpha Victor, would be served.

"That's great, please, let me escort your lovely Luna to her seat." Alpha Victor made another grin at our betas, who were grumbling, feeling the strong tension the strange Alpha was creating.

Caleb gave him a look like he was going to kill him, but that's not what he said. Still looking stiff and motionless, he gave Alpha Victor a nod, as if he approved, while I stared back at my mate, shocked. Was he really going to let me walk down to the dining hall with this… beast?

"Oh, he is going to f*****g regret this, taking my Luna like it's funny, but I can't say no, Mila, I can't." Caleb was smiling back, talking to me through the bond, with me looking just as stunned as before, taking Alpha Victor's arm hesitantly. My nervous eyes on my mate, not moving, as Alpha Victor gave me a great smile.

I didn't want to leave Caleb. How was this fair anyway? I was pregnant, and I needed him!

"Luna, you are safe. Victor is well aware that you are my mate, and he won't do anything; he is just trying to test us. Trust me." I nodded slowly, still not sure what to believe, seeing Caleb give me a short one back.

Unfamiliar betas closing around us, separating me from my mate and pack, wanting to start to panic if it wasn't for me knowing Caleb would lie, he wouldn't let me get hurt, or the baby, he loved me, loved us.

"Relax, Luna… I just like yanking Caleb's chain… funny to see him sweat for once..." I felt like I was about to throw up. The grunts of his Betas around me, with my own walking right behind, not happy about the situation.

Trust me, I wasn't so pleased either! Walking alongside the tall Alpha who was trying to make me believe he wasn't dangerous when I had seen his wolf, he was!

"Why, isn't he your friend?" We had stopped now, just outside the dining room, with Deltas looking nervous and upbeat, Delta Vivian giving me a short, concerned look before she was commanding another young Delta, with me staring back into the silver eyes who belonged to the man who didn't expect me to fight back, but I would.

"Yes, that's why it's funny, isn't it? The big almighty Caleb of the golden moon falling in love with a Delta girl, making her his Luna… and pregnant…" I didn't grin like the rest of the Betas did around us, like this was funny, me being a Delta, well, I was, and if he thought I was ashamed over my own legacy, he was wrong!

"I am a Delta Alpha Victor, and a proud one, since if we didn't exist, none of your betas would eat tonight, their clothes being washed or bed made!"

My eyes were golden-green and smiling back, just as hostile, trying not to show him just how much he was upsetting me, the baby kicking from my emotions.

I was not backing down against the strange male who looked stunned for a second over my bite back, before bursting out into a big laughter, dragging the rest of his pack along, leading me down to the left side of the table, my seat as Luna next to Caleb at the end of the long table, who was made to perfection.

"I like you, Luna. Nothing like that uptight Katarina Caleb sent over to me when you mated…" Alpha Victor was dragging the chair out when I lost my smile, my courage. He saw it, with me sitting down and suddenly not feeling so strong anymore.

Caleb was escorting his sister, both of them looking tense. Then, lastly, her beta husband was walking with the rest, like he knew he didn't belong, his Alpha acting like he made sure he knew.

I smiled, feeling tears wanting to spill from my eyes, looking up and catching my mate's gaze, giving me a look that said he knew what would happen when he sent me along with Victor, and he still did it.

"A toast, to a great pack, and an even greater Alpha and Luna… and their heir…" Caleb didn't smile when he nodded and raised his glass; the rest of us followed.

Alpha Victor, smiling victoriously, with me drinking the sweet liquid from the glass to my lips too fast, and Caleb looking grim.

What an awful man.