Moonlit Valor

Missing Their Other Half

Xavier watches his father leave the town center and head back to the fight along the pack border. He frowns, wishing that he was following the Alpha to the rogue captives. But as Gamma Justin starts talking, Xavier quickly clears his face of all emotion to respectfully listen.

Even though his face is calm, his mind and heart are not. At the feeling of his impatience growing, his wolf, Lycidas quickly speaks to him through their mind, The chain of command applies to everyone, not just you. Take a deep breath and know that your father believes he is doing what is best.

Xavier quickly thought back, I understand that, but I don’t think that I should be stuck here when I can be more useful to him elsewhere. I’ve trained with the Warriors all my life. If I was one year older, I can guarantee that I would be over there with them.

Then find some patience… for you have a year to wait, Lycidas replies simply.

Xavier frowns at this, even though he knows that his wolf is right. But as he waits, he considers that the best place for him to go now would be the pack house. That is where any prisoners would be brought. Perhaps he could convince his father to allow him to help with the interrogation process.

Gamma Justin dismisses everyone, and faster than anyone else around him, Xavier heads out of the square, ducking and dodging through the people. Cutting this way and that through the werewolves, he makes his way toward the pack house where he and his family live.

On any given day, the pack house works as a sanctuary for the pack members. It has some open rooms that can be utilized if some werewolves need a place to stay. The house also has many entertainment options that are held within the main movie room. Not only do they have a very large projector, but they have numerous board games, a small library, art supplies, and more. Xavier’s favorite part about the pack house is the food that the cook continually provides. While Xavier’s family eats there, so do the Beta and Gamma’s families on occasion as well as most of the pack’s warriors. The very top floor was the most private of them all as it held the Alpha’s family’s sleeping quarters and the main offices for the pack leaders. All of this is within the charming modern, wood-tone, three-story-high building.

Xavier continues to walk toward his home, quietly thinking about the rogue attack. It had seemed so organized. How could they have possibly known that all of the first-time shifters would be out there and vulnerable? And it is strange that the rogues had such an upper hand and yet, as far as Xavier was aware, no one from his pack had gotten hurt. The rogues could have snuck in quietly and done far more damage. Xavier shakes his head with a small sigh as he continues to walk through the center of town, the moonlight, and occasional torches hooked to the sides of buildings lighting his path.

Suddenly, he stops walking and a few werewolves bump into him, not expecting him to take a break in the middle of the street. But Xavier does not notice those who knock into him, for he realizes that he has forgotten the most important thing of all. His mate.

He turns around and begins to run back in the direction that he came from. A few people cry out in irritation as he skirts around them just barely avoiding a collision. Others give him dirty looks for just a second until they recognize who he is and they quickly try to change their reaction. Xavier hardly notices them though and he keeps running, hoping that beyond reason she might still be back at the square. How did he forget her?

He reaches the square and almost everyone has already left. Only a few stragglers remain and most of them seem like they are night sanitation workers who had been out here before the rogue attacks and were now getting back to work. Xavier slouches against one of the raised garden beds that hold numerous flowers. He sniffs out the air slightly, hoping to catch her scent in the breeze, but he isn’t surprised when he doesn’t smell her. If she had been anywhere close, she was now long gone.

***

Anna lays in bed, her eyes wide and her heart pounding in her chest. She had stayed up for a bit talking with her mother and telling her all about the first shift. But when she got to the part of the story where her mate arrived, she froze in shock, realizing that she didn’t even know who he was or where he had gone. So, rather than tell her own mother about her mate when she is not sure if he will even be sticking around, she leaves him out of the story. Now Anna feels an enormous amount of guilt and sadness at the fact that her mate is missing from her, and she could not face to talk about him with her mother.

Standing up from her bed, she walks over to her window and opens it, allowing the late-night air to enter her room. She sniffs at it, hoping that she might smell him. Her wolf allows her human side to smell out scents much better than ever before and yet, his scent is not among them. With slightly trembling hands, she climbs back into bed and closes her eyes. Finding his smell in her memory, she pretends that she can smell him right now too. His scent enters the room from a far distance as the wind carries it to her. The Moon Goddess gives them just one more blessing, that they may find each other again, and then, with a blowing kiss, she sends his scent to Anna. Anna smiles softly as sleep begins to find her. Her tired and sore muscles begin to relax, and the pain in her legs is no longer quite as piercing. Her heart no longer trembles in worry. And just at the edges of her perception, she can smell her mate as he waits for the night to end so that he will unite with her again.