The Luna's Revenge

Four

Lexi’s POV

Taking a deep breath, I raised my hand to knock on the door.

“Come in, Lexi!” Werewolves have great senses. Hearing, sight, smell - everything was heightened. This was especially the case for Alphas. It was no surprise that Connor could tell I was here.

“Hey, Lex, how’s it going?” He looked up from a pile of papers scattered all over his desk. “My dad mindlinked me and said you were on your way up.”

Oh. Right. Or his dad told him it was me.

“I wanted to ask you about taking some time off. I want to go visit a friend,” I said. “Can I have a few days off from patrol duties?”

Connor’s expression flashed to a serious frown for just a second. He glanced down at his notes and ran a hand through his short, spiky blonde hair. “Well… I really want to say yes, but Griffin’s mate just had a pup and Hugo and Lucas are both out of town, and we had that rogue attack last month so I’m just worried about being down another one of our more experienced fighters…”

His eyebrows were furrowed as he continued to flip through various binders and loose sheets of paper that I assume had warrior scheduling info on them. “Where does your friend live? How many days do you need to visit him?”

“Blue River Pack. And it’s not a him, Connor. I’m going to see a she-wolf friend.”

Connor was absolutely not someone I wanted to discuss my issues with. He had his own trauma from that day, waiting at the airport for a best friend that never arrived. Knowing it could have been avoided if he hadn’t specifically asked Tyler to give him a ride home.

Hearing my response, Connor visibly relaxed. “Sorry, Lexi. I know it’s none of my business if you’re seeing someone. He would want you to be happy. I just feel like I knew him better than anyone and I feel… protective of you. I want to make sure if you do find another mate, it’s someone I think Tyler would find worthy of you.”

He stood up and crossed the room, putting his hands on my shoulders. This was it, the private moment I’d been avoiding since that night. Why couldn’t someone else be in charge of scheduling?

“Lex, I’m so sorry. I wish it was me that night. I wish I had never asked him to pick me up, that I’d just taken a cab. I wish it was different.”

His light blue eyes were now dark with emotion, meaning his wolf was hovering at the surface. “I’ll never stop blaming myself. It’s been two years and I think about him every day.”

I held back a sob before crushing him against me in a hug. “Thanks, Connor. It’s not your fault, though. He’s the one who ran the light. He’s the one who left me.”

Connor pulled back from our embrace and gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers traced down my cheekbone and lightly settled on my marking spot - the place on my neck where Tyler had bitten me the night he claimed me as his mate. I shivered, thinking of the memory. The mark was faded, nearly invisible now.

Noticing my goosebumps, Connor smiled sweetly at me and stepped back, bringing our hug to an end. “Well, I hope you know I’m still here for you. You can always come to me, for anything you need.”

I nodded and gave him small, forced smile in return. “Thanks, Connor.”

He went back to his desk and unlocked the drawer on the upper left, pulling out a tearaway notepad. I recognized the permission slips for travel between packs, and my heart soared.

“I’ll write this for two weeks, any longer and you’ll need to get a new one from Alpha Jacob at Blue River Pack to get back. But either way, check back in with me in a few days with an update so that I can make the patrol schedules accordingly, okay?” Connor handed me my travel pass with his signature scrawled across the bottom.

“Thanks, Alpha!” I said excitedly. I felt my wolf stirring for the first time in a while at the thought of leaving the pack boundaries.

“Lex, you can just call me Connor, especially when we’re alone,” he said, for the millionth time in my life. “Please be safe and check in occasionally so I know you’re alright.”

I nodded and after another quick thank you, I scurried out of his office, leaving the packhouse and heading straight home to pack.

* * * * * * *

“Are you sure you don’t have anyone to accompany you?” my mother asked for the millionth time.

“Yes, Mom. I’m one of our best warriors, I can handle a trip to the next pack over without a conflict.”

I inwardly rolled my eyes, but I smiled and patted her arm reassuringly. I know she didn’t like Ellie and I being warriors.

“Plus, I’ll call Ellie if I change my mind and decide I need a travel companion. I’ll see you in a couple weeks?” I gave her a hug before slinging my black leather backpack over my shoulder. I tucked my travel pass safely into the front pocket of my white denim shorts.

“Be safe, sweetheart. Call Ellie when you get there.”

I promised that I would try to remember to call and headed off towards the woods. Connor was just returning from the forest, wearing only a pair of low-slung gym shorts. He must have been out for a run.

“Hey Lexi!” He greeted me exuberantly. “Headed out to Blue River?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yup! I was just about to shift and head over.”

“Want some company? I’d be glad to go with you,” he offered.

“Actually, I’m looking forward to the solitude, but thanks, Connor.”

He frowned and put his hands on my shoulders, as if he was talking down to a small child. “Are you sure? I’ve got a slow schedule today, and it’s dangerous to travel alone.”

Oh god, not this, I thought. Connor and my mom should start a travel support group.

“Yup, I’m sure!” I pulled him in for a goodbye hug. “Hopefully it will be an uneventful trip, but if not, I’ll get a chance to practice my warrior training on any bad guys I meet. See you in a couple weeks!”

Before he could argue further, I ducked behind the treeline where I could shift in peace. I tucked my clothes in my bag, tied the bag to my leg, and shifted.

Finally! My wolf, Sasha, rolled her eyes at me. I thought we were going to have to talk to everyone in the pack before we could leave.

Sasha broke into a trot, gliding through the forest and hopping over fallen logs, rocks, and streams with ease. Sasha was a gorgeous red color, with black ear tips and black paws. She looked like a large fox.

After an hour or so, we approached the boundary where our territory met Blue River’s pack lands, as well as the Red Ridge Pack’s territory. Alpha Oliver and Alpha Jacob were both on good terms with Alpha Zach, so we were generally free to go to either pack, as long as we had permission.

I’ve got a weird feeling about this, Sasha told me. Where is their guard shack? Let’s go there.

Sasha, we’d have to run all the way around the territory. We have a pass, we can just show it to the patrol officers after we shift. If they even stop us.

Sasha still seemed nervous, but acknowledged I was technically right. We crossed the boundary line into Blue River territory in our wolf form. I planned to shift as soon as I ran into patrollers, but I wasn’t about to walk the whole distance to the packhouse in my human form.

We hadn’t gone more than fifty feet when two extremely-fit patrolers appeared.

Maybe this pack took security a bit more seriously than I thought, Sasha.

Girl, you better shift right now and talk your way out of this before we end up in their dungeon.

Before I could do that, the raven-haired guy spoke up to give me the same command. “Shift now and explain what you’re doing sneaking onto our territory.”

His brown-haired female companion tossed me a t-shirt and shorts, which I quickly pulled on. Easier than digging out my own clothes, anyway.

“My name is Alexis Knight, and I have permission to travel here from my Alpha, Connor Graham of the Black Moon Pack. I have a travel pass, so I didn’t think there would be any issue with crossing through the closest border.”

The man narrowed his grey eyes at me. “Alexis, I don’t know how Black Moon conducts their business, but I imagine a female traveling alone would know enough to realize we have a front gate where visitors should check in. Never mind that though. Show me your pass.”

I opened my backpack to retrieve it from the pockets of the shorts I’d had on this morning. Weirdly, The pockets were empty. I dug through it for the pass. Wait. f**k. Where was the pass?! I’d had it in my pocket, I know it.

We are royally f****d, girl, my wolf said worriedly.

Tell me something I don’t know, Sash.

“So…” I lowered my head, flicking my gaze up to meet not one but two pairs of grey eyes, as it seemed the raven-haired guy’s twin had appeared along with a couple of other warriors. “I’m really sorry, but it appears that I’ve lost the pass.”

The brown-haired girl rolled her green eyes at me, but it was the newly arrived twin that spoke. “Why are you on our territory? Do you have family or friends here? Someone that can vouch for you?”

“Well, no, not exactly. I was coming to see Estelle, the witch rumored to live here, but I had not yet communicated my visit to her.”

An extremely muscular guy with messy blonde hair and bright blue eyes took a step closer to me. He had a look of contempt on his face at my response. Guess that warrior doesn’t care for witches, I noted.

Blondie and the twins seemed to be mindlinking while the others kept watch on me. After a minute, Grey-Eyes the First nodded and turned back to me.

“Alexis, until this is all sorted out, I’m going to escort you to one of our holding rooms. It’s not the dungeon, so don’t feel like this is a punishment. But from our perspective, you’ve crossed territory lines with no way for us to verify why you’re here or if you’re legitimate. So we just need to run it by your pack.”

“I understand, sir. I’m a warrior who’s on our patrol team myself, and my wolf tried to convince me it was a bad idea to cross here. I shouldn’t have overruled her.”

Ugh! This trip had not started off well.

“Not a great start to your trip, huh? I’m Austin,” the late-arriving grey-eyed twin spoke up.

“And I’m Ethan,” said his counterpart.

“Chloe,” muttered the female warrior. She offered me a small smile. “If we clear things up, I can take you to Estelle. She’s a good friend.”

“Wow, thanks, Chloe,” I said appreciatively. “It’s nice to meet all of you.

Blondie shook his head. “If y’all are about done with introductions, let’s head back to the packhouse.”

“Yes, Beta,” they responded. And off we went.

Cameron’s POV

Ethan and Chloe had caught someone sneaking into our territory at the Red Ridge border, but the she-wolf had identified as a member of Black Moon pack instead. Technically, Black Moon’s border was right there, too, but I don’t believe in coincidences, so I wanted run down all possibilities.

She seemed nice enough. I couldn’t figure out her angle. The twins, Chloe and I escorted her back to the packhouse into a holding room, and I headed up to Jake’s office to fill him in.

“So, I think the best course of action is to just call Black Moon,” I finished.

“Yeah, I agree with you there,” Jake said. He dialed Alpha Zach’s number.

“Good morning, Alpha Jacob, what do we owe the pleasure to?” boomed Zach’s voice across the line.

“Hi, Alpha Zach. I wanted to ask about a pack member’s travel status, actually.”

“Oh, absolutely! Let me just transfer you over to my son, Connor. You know how it is, I’m sure. I’m trying to slowly transfer the responsibilities over to him, since he’ll be Alpha by the end of the year. He’ll answer your questions.”

“Thank you, take care,” Jake muted the speaker. “What’s her name?”

“Alexis Knight,” I told him. “She’s a warrior.”

“Alpha Connor speaking,” The voice on the other side of the line was much more serious and measured than Alpha Zach’s.

“Hi, Alpha Connor. I’m trying to inquire about Alexis Knight. Is she one of your pack members, and did she have permission to travel to my pack?”

“Alexis Knight? That doesn’t sound familiar… who was she there to see?”

Jake looked at me, pressing the mute button again. “She said she’s here to see Estelle. Estelle doesn’t know she’s coming.”

He unmuted. “She told my warriors she was here to see one of our pack members.”

“Well which one? Maybe that can help me remember her.”

“Alpha Connor, with all due respect, if you don’t know your own pack members, I doubt you’ll know mine.” Jake’s voice was growing less patient. He didn’t like disclosing unnecessary information to other packs, especially when it concerned something controversial like a witch pack member.

Connor was being incredibly nosy.

“You’re right, my apologies, Alpha Jacob,” Connor said. We exchanged glances. An apology? “I just wanted to help get to the bottom of this. But it seems like whoever it is, they are lying about where they’re from.”

“Thanks for your help. You should know she claimed to be a warrior from your pack, too. Have a good day, Connor.”

Jake hung up and looked at me. “I’ll be down in a little bit. Hunter is restless and I need to go for a quick run. Can you go work on getting a real identity?”

I nodded. “Oh trust me, I’d love to.”