The Luna's Revenge

Five

Lexi’s POV

This holding room wasn’t bad. It seemed meant for someone who would be here longer than I would, but that was okay.

The walls were all a stormy grey color, reminiscent of the eyes of the twin warriors who’d brought me here. There was a bed, a small table and set of chairs, and a doorway that I assume led to a bathroom. I placed my bag on the table, and sat down on the bed, sinking into the mattress.

Sasha was pacing restlessly in my head. Lex, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I’m so restless. Lemme out of this room!

Oh sure, let’s get ourselves in even more trouble by breaking out, I replied sarcastically.

She huffed at me, but didn’t argue.

Half an hour later, having investigated every corner of the room, I was now certain this room was meant to drive someone insane. How long could it possibly take to confirm my identity?

Before I finished the thought, Blondie the Beta burst into the room, glaring daggers at me. I assumed Alpha Zach let them know I was here with permission, and it seemed like this man wasn’t pleased to find out they would have to let me go. But his next words floored me.

“Alright, we spoke to your alleged pack, and they have no record of you. Now, I’ll ask you the same question my warriors asked you. Who are you, and why are you on our territory?”

I jumped up from the bed in shock. “What do you mean, no record of me? I was just in Connor’s office yesterday to get my pass. Alpha Zach sent me there. They both knew my plans to come here. I’m one of their top warriors, for goddess’s sake. Who did you talk to?”

“We spoke to Alpha Connor himself. He assured us he’d never heard of you.”

My mind raced as I tried to figure out what was going on. Was this a trick? Sasha didn’t seem to know either, whimpering slightly in my head as the Beta’s aura flooded the room. I took a deep breath. Well, time for Plan B. Groveling.

“I’m sorry, I think we got started off on a bad note. I’m Lexi, and I’m a warrior, as I mentioned. I’m only here to visit Estelle, your pack’s witch, because I’ve heard she can help with a personal issue of mine. I only intended to stay for a day or two, at most. Can I ask your name?” I gave him my most doe-eyed expression. There’s nothing big, dumb, chauvinistic Alphas and Betas love more than doe-eyed women. Blondie towered over me, so he met at least one of those criteria. Based on his attitude, it wasn’t a long shot to think he met the other two as well.

“You can refer to me as Beta Cameron. What specifically do you want with Estelle? What kind of personal issue? She doesn’t help just anyone, especially an outsider. And she’s certainly not going to go against her pack.” He growled the last part.

This was not going well. I didn’t need to justify my whole history to him. And why hadn’t they been able to confirm my identity?

Cameron was right in my face, mere inches away from me. I could see tiny specks of grey in his bright blue eyes, and it was somewhat mesmerizing. He could sure channel a lot of anger into his eyes.

“Earth to Alexis,” he waved a hand in front of my face. “I asked you a question. What do you want from Estelle?”

“I told you! It’s personal. I’m not reliving my personal traumas for your amusement, Beta Cameron. Can you bring Estelle here? I don’t need to traipse all through your pack lands. Just let me talk to her and I’ll leave.”

I meant it. I certainly didn’t want to be stuck in this hell hole of a pack for a minute longer than necessary. This was a major overreaction to minor trespassing. We would never treat a fellow pack wolf like this at Black Moon.

Not that any wolves are dumb enough to wander into our territory, Sasha grumbled.

I get it! I snapped at her, causing her to growl back at me. Great, now even my one ally here was annoyed with me.

I watched this i***t of a Beta mindlink, presumably checking with his Alpha for permission. Taking deep breaths, I tried not to think about how much more deserving of a Beta position my Tyler would’ve been than this guy.

Tyler was always measured, calm, collected. He was the kind of person who had studied pack laws since middle school, prepping for his future role. He never turned down a mission or backed out of a fight, but he preferred the long sleepless nights doing paperwork and running things behind the scenes. Connor was always the one itching for a fight, and Tyler would back him up like any good Beta, but never started conflicts himself.

And then he ran a red light and cost our pack what should have been years of his brilliant work as a ranked member. That f*****g red light. I bit the inside of my cheeks in an effort to keep from crying. I would not let this hulking blonde Beta see me cry; not when he was obviously such an asshole.

Cameron turned back to me, having spent the last few minutes conversing over mindlink in the corner, and stupidly giving me the opportunity to attack if I HAD been an enemy. I guess his wolf didn’t see me as quite as much of a threat as Cameron himself, if he was letting his defenses down.

“We’ll permit you to see Estelle. She’ll be here in two minutes. I’ll wait outside; the room is soundproof. But don’t get any ideas, because Estelle can take care of herself.” He delivered this news like it was disappointing. It probably was to him.

“Thank you, Beta. And please thank your Alpha as well. Again, I’m here peacefully, so there’s no danger to Estelle or your pack, but I appreciate your concern.” I smiled sweetly at him.

Cameron looked agitated at first, but then he smirked. Before I could ask why, a small, cute woman with waist-length curly blonde hair and green eyes popped up behind me. I screamed.

Cameron chuckled. “Intruder, meet Estelle. Estelle, as Jake told you, this she-wolf showed up today claiming to be from Black Moon-“

“I AM from Black Moon! And I’m not an intruder, my name is Lexi and I lost my travel pass on the way here.” I interjected.

“-claiming to be from Black Moon. She wanted to speak to you about a personal issue, but refuses to elaborate and her pack couldn’t identify her. I’ll be outside.”

With that, Cameron left me with the witch.

“I don’t do magic tricks or favors for random wolves, love. What is it that you’re expecting from this interaction?” Estelle got right to the point.

“While I respect that, I don’t know what else to do. My mate died two years ago, and the last six months, I’ve been having horrific nightmares about his death. Not his actual death, but the same nightmare over and over about another version of his death. Do you know of anyone who can help me? I’m desperate for a night of sleep.”

“Hmm,” Estelle looked thoughtful. “It takes a special wolf to survive the death of their mate in the first place. Can I see the nightmare?”

I looked at her with wide eyes.

“Hold out your hands, love.” I did, and she flipped my palms upward before placing her palms directly on top of them. “Eyes closed, concentrate on the dream.”

The scenes of the nightmare flashed through my eyes. Waiting for Tyler, watching him fall, his wounds opening up, the pain of the bond breaking. I shuddered.

“Hmmm. I think I’ll make an exception to my policy. This is intriguing. Let me think over a solution and consult my elders, and I’ll get back to you in a week with a solution.”

“Oh goddess, thank you!” I lunged toward her and wrapped my arms around her for a hug, but found only air. Estelle looked at me warily from the other side of the room. She had teleported.

“Ah, do you hug when you’re excited? I’ll help you, but please don’t hug me.” She offered a little smile, which may have actually been the first bit of kindness anyone had shown me since I crossed the border.

“I’ll let Cam know we’re done talking. Good luck, love.” With that, Estelle was gone.

I was surprised to hear her call him Cam. He struck me as a person who would enforce calling ranked members by their titles. Maybe I’d been too quick to judge him.

“Alright, Little Miss Intruder, I guess you’ll be staying in this room all week until Estelle finishes her research, so get comfy.”

Ah, no, Beta Blondie is still an asshole, I thought.

Sasha snorted. Then she growled. Wait, did he just say a week in this room?

Suddenly, I felt my heart racing. Sasha started pacing and barking, and Cameron was looking at me strangely. I knew this feeling. I knew my eyes were black, as my wolf fought to take over.

I could smell the forest, the fresh, clean pine and dirt scent I loved so much when Sasha and I went for a run.

And then I heard it. Sasha let out a growl: MATE.

Jake’s POV

Hunter had been restless since we woke up, so I had been running and helping with patrols or checking in around the territory ever since my meeting with Cam.

Finally, when I couldn’t put work off any longer, I shoved Hunter to the back of my mind and shifted into my human form. I had some documents to look through and a couple of contracts to review. Our pack generally made money through investments, like real estate. We were a well-off pack, but Cam, Murphy, and I were also pretty cautious and frugal.

I headed into the packhouse and jogged up the stairs to my floor. I had the whole fifth floor, with Cam and and Murphy sharing the fourth floor, guest rooms on the third floor, and pack member rooms on the second floor. The first floor included the dining room, kitchen, rec room, library, and a couple of conference and meetings rooms. There was an entrance to an underground hallway that connected the packhouse to our daycare, preschool, and nursery area. In the event of an attack, pups could be reunited with their families without ever going outside. That had been my mom’s idea, many years ago.

Reaching my room, I took a quick shower and dressed in dark blue jeans and an olive t-shirt. I ruffled my wavy brown hair, which was long enough to hang down over my ears and fall into my eyes at inconvenient times, but short enough that it was almost dry by the time I finished getting dressed. I had just a bit of scruff starting, but I didn’t feel like shaving at the moment.

Hunter was pretty grumbly about having to do paperwork, but sometimes I had to ignore him. Otherwise we’d just run in the woods all day, every day. I headed to my office and settled in at my desk, playing the one missed voicemail on my office phone. No one ever called my office line except other Alphas, so it has to be work-related.

“Hello, Alpha Jacob, this is Alpha Connor of Black Moon. Please give me a call; I’ve made an error. You asked me about Alexis Knight, but I know her as Lexi Rossell. Her mate’s last name was Rossell, and I just assumed she used it too. I apologize. I hope this hasn’t caused an issue. Our pack had some issues earlier today and in the confusion, I completely forgot I spoke with Lexi about her trip. Please let me know if you need anything further.”

I rolled my eyes. How do you forget you authorized a warrior to travel to another pack? i***t.

Hunter snickered. At least you know you’re not the most clueless Alpha now.

Knowing that Cameron had probably been giving her a hard time, I felt compelled to apologize to Lexi personally. Paperwork would have to wait.

As I approached the holding rooms, my wolf got more and more intense, giving me a headache from all his pacing. I stopped suddenly, just outside of the room. Wildflowers. Why did it smell like wildflowers in here? I didn’t mind, but we hadn’t ordered any scented cleaning supplies. I hope the omegas who worked here weren’t buying supplies themselves. I’d have to check with Cam about that.

Hunter howled as I put my hand on the door knob. I pulled it open quickly, worried something was wrong. Instead, I made eye contact with the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.

Hunter’s voice rang clear in my head, even as I was at a loss for words: MATE. MATE. MATE!!!