The Lost Alpha

Lunar Eclipse Pack

10 YEARS LATER

“Mariam! You need to get up or you will never be ready for your brother’s ceremony!” her mother called from the other side of her bedroom door.

Mariam groaned into her pillow. She wasn’t ready to wake up as she’d been out late the night before with her best friend, Carmela, who also happened to be the Gamma’s daughter. Today was her brother Corbin’s Alpha ceremony. Their father waited until Corbin found his mate before retiring and handing over the title to his eldest son.

Mariam had gone out with Carmela and a few other friends for Carmela’s 18th birthday. They had gone to a dance club and didn’t get home until after midnight.

Get up sleepy head, its Corbin’s big day, her wolf, Lena, said in her head. She’d started hearing Lena shortly after her 13th birthday, but she couldn’t wait until she turned 18 so she could finally shift and get to see her wolf, or at least her reflection.

I know, I know. I’m just so exhausted. Mariam could feel Lena rolling her eyes. Mariam just shook her head and got up to go take a shower. When she walked back into her bedroom, Carmela was sitting on her bed waiting.

“Hey, Car, what’s up?”

“I figured we could get ready for your brother’s ceremony together,” Carmela replied.

“You mean you want me to do your hair and makeup for the ceremony,” Mariam retorted, laughing.

“But Mare, you do such a great job making me look beautiful!” Carmela said, batting her eyelashes at her friend.

“As long as you help me with my makeup,” Mariam said.

“Deal!” Both girls laughed before they started to get ready.

Mariam did her hair and then Carmela’s before doing Carmela’s makeup. When she was done, Carmela did Mariam’s makeup. Both girls admired their reflections in the mirror before taking their garment bags out of Mariam’s closet, which contained their dresses and shoes.

Mariam’s dress was a long light purple dress, which accentuated her green eyes. The dress was tight-fitted at the top and then the skirt flowed down from her waist. It had spaghetti straps and the top cut right across her chest, hiding her cleavage. She chose silver open-toed, strappy heals.

Carmela wore a caramel colored dress to compliment her skin tone. Her heels were gold colored to match the dress. Carmela also had deep brown eyes and light brown hair, which was naturally wavy. Mariam had curly blond hair, which she tended to wear in an up-do most of the time.

When the girls were done dressing, they took some pictures before heading downstairs. The ceremony was being held in the pack house ballroom, the only place big enough to hold all of the pack members with plenty of room for more. The stage was set up for the Alpha ceremony. Her parents were mingling with the pack, waiting for everyone to arrive. When an Alpha transfers the title to his first born son, he invites wolves from neighboring packs and ally packs. It’s a chance for the Alphas to catch up and discuss any business, possibly form new alliances. It’s also a chance for older wolves to find mates from neighboring packs. The Goddess doesn’t always mate wolves within the same pack and sometimes traveling is required for wolves to be able to find their mates.

Mariam looked around for her brothers before spotting them off to the side of the stage. They were with Sonny and Jackson, who were Corbin’s best friends and would be taking their places as his Beta and Gamma. Sonny hadn’t found his mate yet. Corbin and Jackson had both found their mates in an ally’s pack, when they went for an Alpha ceremony. Corbin was mated to the new Alpha’s sister, Katelyn, and Jackson was mated to the new Gamma’s sister, Jillian. Alpha Brent Reynolds and his Luna, Alexandria, had decided to hold the Luna ceremony at the same time so Corbin and Katelyn could take over together.

Mariam and Carmela started walking over to the men when Carmela froze. Mariam looked at her and saw that her friend was sniffing the air with an odd look on her face. All of a sudden, Carmela’s eyes widened in surprise and Mariam could just hear her whisper, “Mate,” next to her. Mariam looked up to see who could be mated to her friend and saw the same expression on her brother, Michael’s face.

She squealed out delightedly. What luck! Her best friend was mated to one of her brothers, which would make her Mariam’s new sister. She couldn’t have been any happier.

Michael and Carmela made their way to each other. They’d known each other all of their lives and never would have thought this possible. Since Carmela had just turned 18, Michael’s wolf was finally able to recognize his mate.

“Get a room!” the other guys started shouting after Michael and Carmela started making out. They pulled apart, Michael laughing and Carmela blushing.

Mariam hugged Carmela. “Welcome to the family, sis,” she said before hugging her brother. “I’m so happy for both of you.” The other guys made their way over to congratulate the new couple. Jillian and Katelyn walked up as everyone was hugging.

“Did we miss something?” Katelyn asked.

“Michael and Carmela just realized they are mates,” Corbin answered before kissing her forehead.

“Really? Congratulations!” Jillian squealed, as she too started to hug the couple. Katelyn also hugged them and welcomed Carmela to the family. When Corbin and Jackson brought their mates home, they worried about how Mariam and Carmela would get along with them. But their worry was for nothing because all four girls became instant friends, and they only continued to grow closer every day.

Before long, they had to take their places for the ceremony to begin. Alpha Brent and Luna Alexandria were already sitting in their seats on the stage. Next to them were Beta Ryan Hader, with his mate Ruby, and Gamma Roger Jones, with his mate, Olivia. Corbin and Katelyn took their seats on the other side of the stage, with Sonny, Jackson and Jillian sitting at his side.

Mariam joined Michael and Carmela at a table up front. Once everyone was seated, the Elder, Jeremy, walked up to the microphone. “Good afternoon Lunar Eclipse Pack. As you know, we are here to welcome a new line of leadership in our pack. Alpha Brent has patiently waited for his eldest son, Corbin, to find his mate, so that he may retire and pass the title down. A month ago, Corbin finally found his mate while attending the Alpha ceremony at Sunrise Valley Pack. Even more surprising, Jackson, our future Beta, was also able to find his mate.” Jeremy paused while the crowd cheered at this news. Only a few had known the boys had found their mates.

Once the crowd settled down, Elder Jeremy continued with the ceremony by calling the current Alpha and Luna up as well as Corbin. Corbin took his vows before his father passed his power down to his son. Corbin could feel his bond with the pack becoming stronger with the new position.

Next, the Beta and Gamma were called up, along with Sonny and Jackson. They took their vows and received their titles as well. Once that was finished, it was time for the Luna ceremony. Katelyn and Jillian walked up, Katelyn taking her Luna vows, then Jillian taking her Beta vows.

When the ceremony ended, the festivities began. Luna Alexandria had gone all out on food and decorations. The pack and the guests went up to congratulate the newly ranked members. Mariam made her way over to her parents’ table to speak with her family. After everyone congratulated her brother and his friends, they made their way to the buffet tables to get food. Omegas were walking around handing out drinks.

One of the last guests to come up to her family was a woman. She had two she-wolfs, a young male, and what appeared to be several warriors with her. She approached Brent and Alexandria first. “Good evening Alpha Brent, Luna Alexandria. I am Luna Daphne Storm of the Solar Eclipse Pack,” she introduced herself. “These are my Beta and Gamma females, Jacklyn Hill and Marlene Strong, and this is my son and our next Alpha, Adam.” She introduced her main entourage.

“Alpha Brent, we wanted to thank you personally for the invitation to your son’s ceremony. We are so very honored to be here,” Beta Jackie said.

“Alpha Corbin, congratulations on your new title. I’m sure you and your chain of command will do great things for your pack,” Gamma Marlene said to Corbin and his friends.

Alpha Brent stood up and shook Luna Daphne’s outstretched hand. “Thank you for accepting our invite. This is my daughter, Mariam, and our other son, Michael and his new mate, Carmela,” Alpha Brent said as he introduced the rest of his family.

“It is a pleasure to meet all of you,” Luna Daphne said warmly, smiling.

Alpha Brent cleared his throat to get the Luna’s attention. “I want-no, I need to be honest with you. I had another reason for inviting you to our home.”

Luna Daphne looked confused. “And what would that reason be?”

“Well, to be honest, no one really knows what happened to your pack,” Alpha Brent started. “The Solar Eclipse Pack disappeared years ago and no one knows why. When a close friend of ours told me about you, I couldn’t help being intrigued, as it was the first I’d heard of your pack since it disappeared. I can’t help being curious about you,” he finished.

He immediately regretted his statement when Luna Daphne turned pale. Her ranked females were also looking white around the gills.

Luna Alexandria stood up to comfort the visiting Luna. “Oh dear, please forgive my mate. He doesn’t always think before he talks,” she said.

“Its fine, Luna Alexandria,” Daphne said quietly.

“Please, call me Lexia,” Lexia replied. “And it is not fine. Obviously, what my mate said upset you very badly, and for that I apologize.”

“Thank you Lexia. It’s just, it brought up some bad memories,” Daphne explained.

“We won’t pressure you if it’s too hard for you to talk about it,” Brent assured Daphne.

“Actually, Alpha Brent-“

“Please, just Brent,” he interrupted.

Daphne smiled softly. “Brent, I think it’s time I confide in someone outside of our pack besides our close friends. It’s been years now and I believe we’ve been hiding long enough.”

“I’m so glad to hear that,” Brent responded. “Are you and your members staying with us for the night?”

“If it would be alright. We traveled from Kentucky. It’s about a five-hour drive from here,” Daphne replied.

“Wonderful! Why don’t we meet in my office tomorrow morning after breakfast?” Brent suggested.

“Would you mind if I ask a couple of friends meet us here for the meeting? They are the only people outside of my pack who know our history. They were the ones who helped us in our time of need.”

“Of course! I just need their names and descriptions so I can alert my border patrol to let them through upon arrival,” Brent said.

Daphne smiled gratefully. “Their names are Shawn and Daniella Calloway. He is also our lawyer.”

Lexia’s head popped up hearing those names. “Calloway? As in Gamma Calloway’s brother at Blue Moon pack?”

“Maybe. To be honest, we don’t know much about his pack as he never talks about them. All he’s told me is that he asked his Alpha for permission to live away from the pack after his mate rejected him,” Daphne explained.

Lexia smiled brightly. “It is definitely the same Shawn. He is actually the one who told us about you and your pack. Now I understand why he wouldn’t give us much information.”

“Shawn has been very faithful and loyal. My mate couldn’t have chosen a better wolf to settle his final affairs,” Daphne said fondly of her friend.

“It’s settled then,” Brent said. “I will call Shawn myself and inform him of the meeting. In the meantime, why don’t you and your pack get some food and just enjoy yourselves, and we will see you all at breakfast in the morning.” Brent stood and kissed Lexia before heading off to make his call.

While his mother was speaking with the former Alpha and Luna, Adam was trying hard not to stare at their daughter. He didn’t know what it was about her, but he felt drawn to her. His wolf, Ryker, was pacing around in his head, whimpering.

What’s wrong Ryker?

I’m not sure, but I feel drawn to the she-wolf.

Is she our mate?

I can’t tell; she hasn’t turned 18 yet.

Well, I can find out when her birthday is and we can travel back and maybe by then we will know if we feel the bond or not.

I guess we’ll have to settle for that, Ryker responded before receding to the back of his head.

The party went on until moonrise, when the whole pack gets together and shifts for a pack run with their new Alpha. It helps to strengthen his bond with his pack. When the Lunar Eclipse Pack went for their run, the omegas helped the guests who were staying the night to their rooms and made sure they had everything they needed.

The rest of the guests started to trickle out until everyone was gone. The only people left were those who were not old enough to shift, along with the omegas and some warriors for protection.

Mariam was one of the few left behind, due to being underage. She felt left out, especially since now her best friend could shift AND found her mate quickly. She decided to go to her room and get ready for bed as it had been a long and eventful day. On her way back to the pack house, her eyes caught sight of Adam, the young man whom she’d met earlier. He’d been the one from the pack with no ranked males, she couldn't remember the pack's name.

She felt drawn to him and couldn’t help being curious. Her wolf, Lena, was entranced by the newcomer as well. When Adam turned towards her though, she quickly turned her head and walked faster until she reached the pack house.

Oh no! I hope he didn’t catch me eye-f*cking him, she thought to herself. That was so embarrassing.