Rogue Luna

Chapter 5: Ryder

    Evelyn and I got to know each other over the next couple of weeks while she settled in. I was actually glad I had let my father and Beta run the business and pack while I was busy. I let her set the pace for our relationship which had both of us ready to constantly explode. I had to resume my duties as Alpha and let my father go back to being a mostly silent business partner. Running a pack and a successful multibillion dollar business took up quite a bit more of my time that I had wanted, but Evelyn was never far away. She was also slowly taking on some pack responsibilities as well, which relieved some pressure off of me and showed me she wasn't starting to accept her role as the future Luna.   

    Jayson was less than thrilled about my having a rogue (his words) as a mate. He quickly shut his mouth when both myself and his own mate sided against him. I kept him away from the packhouse as often as I could by sending him to deal with pack business elsewhere. I didn't want his dark anger at rogues threaten Evelyn in anyway. 

    Evelyn, I discovered, was a college graduate. She had taken to online courses because she was bounced around so much between packs. She had a fascinating degree set. Her major was in fashion design and she had a minor in criminology. My mate was not only a goddess in my eyes but also a talented badass that could probably get away with murder.

    When I was in my office, Evelyn was too. She had taken up the one couch to work on her sketches. She would sketch clothing designs, rooms in the packhouse she thought could use 'updating' (her wording, not mine) or just about anything else. She could draw anything and it would look like it could jump right off the page.

    Since we've gotten to know each other pretty well, she's become more openly affectionate. She will kiss me, or touch me, or tease the ever-loving s**t out of me. She's one to initiate affection more than I do some days. I love every minute of it. 

    We've also been doing a lot of research on her heritage. The Elders keep documents of all packs, their members and so on, so finding rogues when they were a problem has made it a bit easier to try and narrow down who could potentially be Evelyn's parents. Elder Douglas, who helps with inter-pack issues, has been digging up everything he can as well in the Elder archives. So far, we've identified several leads, but only one that has the outlook of being a good match. 

    This is the information I was given by Elder Douglas:

    Almost three decades ago, the packs of Bloody Hunters Moon and Silver Fog were quietly at war. The Silver Fog pack, which is no longer known as such, had a daughter who was the only child, born to the Alpha and his Luna. While she was growing up, the daughter, named Eloise, was trained to take over as Alpha, learning to fight, learning the pack and learning how to be a true Alpha. The day Eloise turned 18, she had expected (like many other wolves) to find her mate. When a visiting Alpha from the Bloody Hunters Moon pack and his son, aged 19 and named Atlan, went to try and make peace with each other. When Atlan and Eloise laid eyes on each other, they immediately knew they were destined mates. The pull they felt was undeniable. 

    When the two Alphas realized what had happened, they decided to try and be amicable. The two packs had set aside their differences to allow their children to be together. When the Alpha of the Bloody Hunters Moon pack wanted to unite and merge with Silver Fog, the two Alphas disagreed on how to properly proceed. One Alpha wanted to rule over them all while the other wanted to jointly run both packs. 

    When Eloise amd Atlan learned what was going on in the packs, several months after discovering they were mates, they had to decide whether to reject one another or run away so they could be together. Little did they both know that Eloise was pregnant. They had mated and marked each other and didn't want their parents to know. 

    The Alphas of Bloody Hunters Moon and Silver Fog had been at war for 11 months at this point when Atlan and Eloise decided to leave their packs. Doing so would free them of the bonds and controlling nature of their packs. They would have to run to an in-between (land not pack oriented and free to rogues and lone wolves alike) before their packs realized they were no longer bound to them. 

    The young couple managed to stay well hidden from their ex-packs while Eloise grew large with their pup. As the due date neared, they were close to being cornered by their former packs. The end for Eloise and Atlan was fast approaching. When Eloise and Atlan's pup was finally born, rumored to be a female, had been born on the Summer Solstice, during the witching hour. When the young pup was just a week old, her parents had made one mistake. Eloise and Atlan had gotten too close to the Grey Mist Lake pack border, making the border guards wary. 

    When Eloise, with her newborn pup strapped on her back, and Atlan crossed the Grey Mist Lake pack border by pure accident, the border guards killed the young parents, having no pack and being rogue, on sight. With the wailing newborn about the be killed, the young Alpha and Luna of the Grey Mist Lake pack showed up to prevent the murder of an innocent child. That was the day everything changed for rogues. 

    Elder Douglas was making a trip to what was formerly part of pack lands that used to be Silver Fog pack. He planned to do in-depth research on Evelyn's more than likely parents, but he needed to be there personally to make sure nothing was hidden or tampered with. It would take weeks, if not months to do more research. This allowed me and Evelyn to have more time together, which thrilled me to no end.

    She spent most nights in my bed, which is where I preferred her. I enjoyed having her next to me every night and waking up tangled in each others arms. I loved having her scent all over me and couldn't wait until I could mark her. 

    "Ryder?" Evelyn's voice pulled my attention from my computer where I was dealing with a very high maintenance client who needed coddling every step of the way.

    "Hmm?" I looked over to where she was sitting on the couch with a sketch pad. 

    Her hair was piled high on her head in a messy bun that showed off her gorgeous neck where my mark would shine. She was wearing a pair of coral colored jeans and a black cold shoulder top. She was stunning with no makeup and bare feet. I could stare at her all day if I didn't have to work.

    "I asked you a question," she rolled her eyes and gave me a half smile while she pulled her pencil across the page.

    "I'm sorry sweetheart," I stood and walked over to where she sat, "what was the question Evie?"

    She turned her sketch pad to show me an breathtakingly stunning dress. It was lacy and a pale violet covered in silver glitter, showing off the back and neck of whoever wore the dress. 

    "Evie, this is absolutely amazing. Who is it for?" I kissed the side of her neck as she beamed with pride.

    "Me. It will be my Luna ceremony dress." She pressed into my side, my arm automatically wrapping around her.

    Those were not the words I thought she would say. I was stunned into silence. She hadn't mentioned anything about being a Luna since I gave her control over our relationship. 

    "I'm not saying it is happening now, or even in a month," she clarified after seeing my reaction, "but I want to be prepared and I know it will happen at some point in our future."

    I kissed her temple, wanting to show her how proud I am and she settled against me as she sketched some lines around the bottom.

    "Evie, it is absolutely amazing," I told her in all honestly. 

    She beamed with pride as she showed me more of her clothing designs. She was talented, even if I were biased, I would hire her as a design artist in a heartbeat.

    This was one of the things that made it seem as if we were a simple, normal couple. We did a lot of things as normal as possible. We had regular date nights, movie nights and some nights we didn't do anything at all. We were very much a couple, much to several she-wolves dismay. Diedre in particular had been harassing Evelyn to the point I had been considering finding her another pack. Melissa and Evelyn have developed a friendship that allowed both of them to enjoy female company that both were lacking previously.

    "You need to start creating them amour," I nipped her ear lobe.

    "But where? There's not enough room in my room or yours." She scrunched up her nose and I swear she was even more beautiful.

    A thought popped in my head but all I said out loud was, "I'll figure something out chérie."

    'Mom? Melissa?'

    Their replies were almost immediate.

    'Yes Alpha?' Melissa spoke while my mom said 'What is it Ryder?'

    'I need your help with something for Evelyn. I need you to use your skills to turn the office next door into a workspace for her designs. Buy everything you think she would need and decorate how you think she would.' 

    'Oh wonderful Ryder, I cannot wait. Melissa, let's get together immediately.' My mother spoke before she and Melissa cut the mind-link with me and more than likely went to find each other to plot.

    "I'm almost done work for the day if you want to go get ready for dinner. Remember we're having dinner with my parents," I inwardly cringed because mom had been badgering me for days to have dinner with them.

    "I remember Ryder," she huffed in annoyance at my reminder.

    "Sorry Evie," I gave her another kiss and got up to go back to my desk.    

    "I'm going to go shower Ry," I heard Evelyn say as I typed up a reply to an Alpha from Australia.

    "Alright chérie," I hit send and felt her lips on my cheek.

    Her scent wrapped around me as she pressed her lips against mine in a very aggressive kiss. My formerly timid mate was becoming bolder thanks to all of the s****l tension we were building.

    "See you in a bit," she spoke in a husky voice as she sauntered, swaying hips and all, out of my office.

    After approving several designs for contracts for what felt like hours, I glanced at the clock and stretched. Time to go find my sexy mate and head down to meet my parents for dinner.

    My mom and dad no longer lived in the packhouse. They had a house built near the lake a few years ago and have been enjoying their alone time without pups or Alpha duties. I often thought of having a house built for me and Evelyn, but it would be years before we could enjoy it.

    I walked into Evelyn's room after announcing my presence and found her staring out the window biting her lip in concentration. I quietly took out of my phone and snapped several pictures of her.

    "Chérie?" I spoke softly, not wanting to alarm her.

    She turned her head and her face morphed into a smile. She launched herself at me and I caught her easily. Her arms wrapped around my neck and she fused her mouth to mine. We kissed for several minutes before my brain reactivated itself and reminded me of dinner. 

    I pulled away and leaned my forehead against hers, "We have dinner with my parents dearest. Otherwise I would not be stopping."

    "I know, I just missed you Ry," her eyes were staring directly into mine and all I saw, all I could think of, was that I was looking at my entire world.

    After arriving in the private dining room where my parents were waiting, I noticed my mother staring intently at Evelyn like she knew her.

    "Sorry to keep you waiting mom," I kissed my mom's cheek, "dad."

    "It's quite alright son. I know how busy you are." My father spoke waving off any apologies.

    "Nonsense Ryder. An Alpha is never late," my mom smiled while giving Evelyn a hug.

    "It was my fault," Evelyn spoke as I helped her sit down.

    My parents exchanged a knowing look that made Evelyn blush. I kissed her hand as I sat beside her. We exchanged idle chat for several minutes while we waited for the Omegas to bring out the food.

    "Mom, can I ask you something?" I asked, unable to shake the look I saw on her face earlier.

    "Of course," my mother gave me her full attention.

    "When we came in earlier, you were looking at Evelyn like you've seen her before." I spoke, noticing my mom's eyes dilate and her expression turn to panic.

    "Lauren," my father's voice was unusually quiet, "we cannot keep our theories to ourselves any longer."

    My mother sighed, a sure signal that she was hiding something, "It's just we wanted to be sure of which packs your parents were born into Evelyn."    

    Evelyn was statue still and pale. I could smell her unease and panic and heard her heart beating faster than race horse.         

    "Mom, what are you saying?"

    "I, well we, knew your parents Evelyn. Your mother was my best friend. Your father was like a brother. Your parents were like my family Evelyn." My mom was squeezing Evelyn's hand.

    "Wh... wha... what?" Evelyn stuttered.

    "I know this is quite a shock, but when I saw you the first time it was like looking at your mother. You are the spitting image of her. I kept trying to be sure before saying anything, but when we were told you had a possible connection to two rival packs that were at war, that was when I knew." My mom explained in a rush.

    "You... knew my... real parents?" Evelyn whispered in a choked voice from trying to hold back tears.

    "I will tell you everything you wish to know. I'm sorry Evelyn, for keeping this from you," my mom was crying and even my dad was upset.

    Evelyn gently pulled her hand from my mother's and stood up. I immediately stood up with her. Her eyes stared into mine with tears in her eyes and pain written on her face. I wanted to take away her hurt and pain. I hated that my parents were the cause of it.

    "I need to be along," she whispered and gave me a kiss so quick it didn't even register.        

    She was gone from the dining room so fast I couldn't even blink. I turned to look at my parents with a cold fury simmering under my skin. I had never felt such rage, but this concerned my mate, my future Luna and the fact that my parents caused her hurt.

    "You had better start talking," I all but growled.

    They may have been my parents, but what they did was unforgivable due to the secrets. I wanted to be able to better understand what had happened so I could help Evelyn.

    I would do whatever it took to make sure that no one would hurt Evelyn ever again. Even my parents. I would not let her life be torn apart by lies and secrets people who were supposed to protect her had kept. That woman was my life, my Luna and I would walk through Hell and back if she asked me to.