Episodes
1862 Words
Like every significant pack in the region, the powerful Blood Moon Pack received its invitation to the Crescent Moon Alpha Ceremony. Sending out these engraved envelopes was a time-honored practice, a spectacle meant to introduce the new Alpha, James, to the wider supernatural world and pave the way for strategic alliances. The attendance didn't matter; the courtesy itself was enough to avoid the deadly criticism of disrespect.
Alpha Ethan of the Blood Moon Pack received the invitation out of custom, never respect. Nobody genuinely wanted him there, they simply couldn't afford to have him as an enemy. Though perpetually invited, Ethan had never once attended such a frivolous affair. His gamma, noticing the crisp envelope, had tossed it aside unopened, knowing it would make no difference.
Today was the day of the ceremony, and for some reason, Alpha Ethan had woken up on the wrong side of the world. He was in a foul, unpredictable mood that had curdled since breakfast. Everyone knew that approaching the Alpha during one of his 'episode' was akin to tempting disaster. His mood swings could last mere hours or stretch into days of suffocating tension.
Currently, he was brooding alone in his locked office, while the rest of his inner circle, Beta Micheal, Gamma Nate, and two seasoned warriors were trying to kill time. They were gathered in the lounge, the air thick with the scent of competition and expensive stakes, playing a loud, distracting game of poker.
Micheal, the Beta, was already running on fumes. He kept losing staggering amounts of money and was nursing a heavy boredom. Nate, the Gamma, was performing adequately, not winning big, but not losing Micheal’s massive figures either. The two warriors, however, were having a blast, gleefully raking in the Beta’s cash and teasing him relentlessly to trick him into one more hand.
"Just one more, Mike! You could win it all back!" they chided.
But Micheal was done. He was no fool, and the fun was over. His eyes kept darting toward the Alpha's locked office door. He was less worried about his wallet and more deeply concerned about the silence. He kept wondering what catastrophic thoughts were churning in the Alpha's mind.
"I am done," Micheal said, his deep baritone voice laced with finality. His gaze kept drifting toward the imposing staircase, half-hoping to see the Alpha descend with his usual, sardonic smirk. It had been nearly five hours since Ethan had locked himself away, and the silence was unnerving. Micheal felt a familiar, cold dread, he hadn't checked on the Alpha in a while, and he mentally prayed Ethan wasn't doing something self-destructive. He tried the mind link again, but was met with a thick, impenetrable wall.
The others, whose earlier goofing had turned anxious, followed his gaze, letting out deep, troubled sighs.
"Should we check on him?" Nate asked, his voice barely a whisper, looking doubtfully at the Beta. "I hope he's okay." Ethan was a fiercely protective Alpha to his pack, but he was volatile, easily irritated, and fundamentally antisocial. His closest friends knew that if unchecked, the Alpha had a recent, dangerous tendency toward self-destruction, forcing them all to walk on perpetual eggshells.
"Wouldn't that just piss him off?" Josh, one of the warriors, pointed out, wincing at the memory. "Remember the last time?"
Micheal heaved another heavy sigh. "We have to do something. How about sending Clara? She can usually reach him," Daniel, the second warrior, suggested. Clara was a warrior princess, respected by all, and had established herself as the pack's de facto Luna, a position Ethan allowed but refused to officially acknowledge. In his words, he doesn't deserve to be happy, and he doesn't want to make another suffer the consequences of his actions.
"Did somebody call for me?" Clara’s voice was bright and cheerful as she swept into the hall. She was breathtaking, as always. Her minty perfume was mild and instantly calming, and she carried herself with the flawless grace and elegance of a true Luna.
The four men exchanged frantic glances and scrambled to their feet to greet her.
Just then, the Alpha appeared at the top of the stairs. Ethan looked utterly disheveled, his clothes rumpled, his hair a mess like he desperately needed a bath and a change of skin.
"Oh, hi baby," Clara cooed, bouncing forward with fearless enthusiasm toward his figure.
Ethan stopped her in her tracks, raising a stiff finger before she got within ten feet.
"Who among you threw this in the bin?" he demanded, holding up a wrinkled, yellow envelope with the name CRESCENT MOON boldly emblazoned in gold letters.
Micheal and Nate exchanged a look of pure dread before the Gamma reluctantly stepped forward.
"I did, Alpha," Nate said, his voice shrinking to a small, subservient sound, his head bowed.
"Why was that?" Ethan's voice dropped to a lethally low, dangerous whisper. He squinted, closing the distance to the Gamma, who instinctively hung his head low in submission. "You don't think I am sane enough to attend a function?"
"Ethan..." Micheal attempted to intercede, taking one cautious step forward.
"It's Alpha Ethan to you, wolf," he growled. In an instant, his striking green eyes bled to a terrifying, pitch black, the unmistakable presence of Cole, his volatile wolf, had taken the reins.
"Yes, Alpha," Micheal submitted, quickly baring his neck in a sign of submission. There was no reasoning with Cole; the wolf wouldn't listen, even if the absolute truth stood before him.
"Well?" Ethan prompted, turning his scorching black gaze back to his trembling Gamma.
"Based on all the other invitations, I didn't think you would want to..." Nate began, but was cut off by the Alpha's fury.
"Attend?" Ethan demanded, standing over the Gamma whose head remained bowed. "Are you judging my actions based solely on past experiences, Nate?"
"No, of course not, Alpha," Nate quickly denied.
"Oh, so you concluded entirely on your own that I didn't want to attend?" Ethan's voice was mocking, though the question was clearly rhetorical. It was safer to humor his unstable mood. "Well, guess what?" A cruel smirk flashed across his face. "We are going. Get the car ready. We leave at five."
He turned and marched back toward the stairs.
"What was that all about?" Clara hissed immediately, the moment the Alpha was out of earshot.
"It's a long story," Micheal sighed, already assigning the warriors the task of bringing the car around while he and Nate hurried to change. A cold curiosity settled over them: why the sudden, dramatic change? The Blood Moon Pack was notoriously absent from such polite ceremonies. It couldn't just be Nate tossing the invite.
Clara, meanwhile, was determined. She wanted desperately to be seen outside the pack at Ethan's side, afraid that if she wasn't constantly present, he would finally lose interest.
The Alpha took longer than necessary, finally descending the stairs looking impeccably sharp. He was dressed not for a social gathering, but a high stakes business acquisition.
"Alpha, can I come too?" Clara asked sweetly, clinging to his arm as she always did, utterly confident in his compliance.
"No, Clara-Bell," he said, gently stroking her hair. The dismissal was casual, which only heightened the sting. "The invitation was for me."
"I know, but the others are going too," she insisted stubbornly, trying to corner him into admitting his favoritism.
"Well, that's their punishment," he scoffed, his lips pulling back in a chilling grin that flashed his teeth. "Besides, we will be gone for a while. You should stay home, eat good food, and take a nap," he finished, slowly and deliberately disengaging from her before giving her a brief, possessive kiss on the forehead.
He marched toward the van where his inner circle waited, bowing respectfully.
"I need you to stay back," he instructed Micheal, his finger pointing directly at the Beta. "It would be too intimidating if we all got there." He gave a short, hard laugh. The comment was meant to be a joke, but its arrogance made the air freeze. Ethan didn't care if anyone felt threatened by his presence.
"Nate, you trashed the invitation, so you drive," he commanded, addressing the Gamma who was still nursing the earlier humiliation.
"Yes, Alpha," Nate responded readily.
"Since we are traveling light, Daniel, you should also stay back," he said, his tone turning dangerously cheerful.
"But Alpha," Micheal cut in, concern overriding fear. He was visibly displeased. "It would be risky to go there with only the two of them. If a fight breaks out, or if they try to corner you..."
"I can handle it," Ethan cut him off, his voice firm, meeting his friend's worried gaze.
"But—"
"I said, I. Can. Handle. It. What part of that doesn't register?" he barked, his irritation flaring again, a clear sign that the volatile Cole was still close to the surface.
"Very well, Alpha," Micheal conceded, stepping back to watch him go.
"That is settled, then. Let's go, boys," Ethan called, jumping casually into the back seat of the van.
The vehicle pulled away. If the guys hadn't just witnessed his explosive temper, they might have simply thought the whole outrage was an exaggerated performance.
The guys in front immediately dropped into a silent mind link.
'Why do you think he wants to attend?' Josh asked Nate, his mental voice tight with confusion. The trip would take three to four hours, and there was always the chance Ethan would order them to turn back halfway.
'How should I know? The guy is an equation you can't solve,' Nate grumbled through the mind link. Ethan wasn't always this volatile; something devastating had happened in the past to shatter him.
'Any idea why he got so mad?' Josh pressed, his mental voice tight.
'Any idea why he does the things he does?' Nate countered with a question of his own, focusing fiercely on the road. He risked another glance in the rear-view mirror. Ethan’s intense, focused stare met his reflection, and the sheer intensity of it made Nate's skin crawl.
'And why is he dressed like that?' Josh pressed, his thoughts filled with bewilderment over the Alpha's formal attire.
Nate was too scared to engage. Their eyes had locked twice in the rear-view mirror, that intense, unwavering stare from the back seat felt like an invasion. What if he could read their minds? The question wasn't paranoia; it was a plausible threat when dealing with Cole.
'Why don't you ask him yourself?' Nate shot back, his mental voice sharp with irritation and fear. He immediately shut the link down completely. Now, only the Alpha could reach him through the mental channels. He focused fiercely on the road, praying the silence would be interpreted as deference, not insolence.
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