The Silver Wolf

Private Meetings

ADALAINA POV

(At the training grounds that morning)

Damien and I woke up early and went to go train privately. We had been at it for hours, talking, sparring, just having some fun. I smelled the faint smell of pine trees, and it reminded me of Christmas. At first, I didn't think anything of it. The area had tons of pine trees around it. Slowly, the smell started getting stronger. Between the smell and my wolf yelling "mate" in my head and prancing around, it was hard to concentrate.

Damien and I had a small fight after he got my scent hiding necklace off. After heading inside and getting cleaned up, I went down to help get breakfast ready. Lyle came in with a beautiful black haired, blued eyed girl. Lyle stepped out for a minute, leaving me and the black haired girl alone.

"Hi Miss Gabby, can I get you anything?" The head omega asked.

"No, I'm ok, thank you." She turned to me. "Hi. I'm Gabby. I haven't seen you around here before."

"Hi Gabby, I'm Adalaina." I said as I continued chopping up the vegetables for the omelets.

"As in Luna Adalaina? Of the Silver Crescent Pack?" I looked over at her. She seemed very curious.

"That's me." I chuckle nervously.

"Why are you here in the kitchen?"

"Oh, I like to help with the work. I don't like to have people wait on me when I can do it just fine." I smile and shrug.

"Wow, that's cool. More people should be like that." She paused but had more to say, I could tell. "I'm from the Black Moon Pack." She said nervously. I put down the knife and looked up at her with tears in my eyes.

"I'm sorry for what my father did to your family and pack." I looked down. "They weren't my actions, but I still feel deeply for those that he hurt. I'm so very sorry." She pulled me into a hug.

"Don't worry, it was your dad, not you. I've kept tabs on your pack. Probably more than my brother. You are entirely different and have done so much better than he ever did. How did you know I have alpha blood?" She looked curious and confused.

"Oh, I can sense people's blood lines or the power they give off."

"That's so cool!"

Just then, a girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes bursts through the kitchen door.

"You. Omega. Make me something more edible than this trash you're currently cooking."

"Sammy." Gabby says while all the omegas start to bustle around.

"Stop." I say as a command. Everyone turns to look at me. "I'll do it. If she says please."

"Who do you think you are?"

"Luna Adalaina of Silver Crescent. You?"

She smirks.

"Sammy. Future luna of Blood Moon. How does it feel being the daughter of a psychotic murderer?" I stay quiet.

"Your poor mother."

"Leave my mother out of this." I say cooly.

"She was probably so ashamed of having a daughter who was going to be like her father that she just decided to die so she wouldn't have to see the monster that you'd become." I turned and walked out right when Lyle and Damien were walking in. I suddenly felt my hair get pulled back and hit a few times in the face. Once I got free, I took off out the door, ran behind a tree, took off my clothes, and shifted. Running out to the empty area between Forest Lake and my pack, I went to the lake. I shifted back and got dressed. I sat down in the grass surrounding the lake. After probably an hour, I heard rustling in the trees. I turned around, ready to fight. Why does my favorite place happen to be in rogue territory? Damien walked out, hands raised.

"Just me." He said. I sighed and sat back down. "You ok? Gabby told us what happened." He said, sitting down.

"I hope that my mother is proud of me. I still feel bad I couldn't save her."

"Your mother would be so proud of you. You survived beatings, starvation, torture, and so many other things, and you turned around and decided to be a kind leader."

"Can I just stay here?" He turned and looked at me.

"If you did that, who would run the pack?"

"You?" I said hopefully. He laughed sadly.

"I can't, Laina. You know that you are the best one for the position. Come on. We have a meeting to get to."

We ran back to the house and got ready. We walked into the room, where I smelt the same pine tree Christmas smell. My wolf started yelling mate over and over again. We sat down, me trying to ignore my wolf.

"Look, it's the sorry excuse of a luna. I'm sure a pup could do better than her." I shot a warning look over at the man. I looked up to the man in front of me, the one the pine smell was coming from. "MATE," my wolf yells. His black hair, piercing blue eyes, kept me staring for a moment. I stay calm, I have to make it through this meeting. I can show him when we're not around a bunch of people during the private meeting, so when he rejects me, it's in private.

Every time I tried to input anything into the meeting, I was ignored. In the end when Lyle asked if there was anything anyone wanted to add. Damien stood and gave his little rant, I then stood, said a few words, and left. I changed into casual clothes, then went to Damien's door.

"Hey D, can you let Alpha Tanner and Beta Kendrick know that if they want to wear casual clothes they can? I'm gonna go get some snacks and drinks. Go ahead and let yourself in my room."

"OK, yeah, sure thing. Hey Laina?" I pause before leaving, and look at him. "Tanner's your mate, isn't he?"

"Yeah." I sigh. "We should expect him to want to speak to me in private. I'm sure he'll just reject me." I shrugged and walked away.

I got back to my room with a try of drinks and snacks. I open the door, trying to balance the tray, when Alpha Tanner walks over and takes it from me.

"Thank you." I say softly. I take a deep breath and take off my necklace. He stands up straight, then turns around. "MATE," he says.

I walk over and sit down. He's watching me intently.

"So, what can I help you with Alpha Tanner?" I ask, trying to keep my eyes from straying down to check him out. It's hard with his white t-shirt and dark blue jeans that show off all his muscles.

"Well, I don't know if I really need what I was going to ask for now." He chuckled nervously. "Could we... could we talk in private? Just the two of us?"

"Yeah." I walk Damien and Kendrick to the door and close it. I slowly turn around and face my mate. "I'm ready when you are." I say, keeping my eyes in the ground.

"Ready for what?" He says, slowly walking towards me.

"For you to reject me." I whisper, trying hard not to let him know I'm on the verge of tears.

"Your father killed my father." I nod. "He killed so many people." I nod again. "I think we need some time, or at least I do." My head shoots up, and I look at him in surprise.

"Wha.... what?"

"I need to think. I don't want to just reject you, but I also need to come to terms with the fact that my fated mates father killed my father."

"I understand." I say, looking back towards the ground.

"I'll be in touch. Take care, luna." And with that, he walks around me and out the door. I sit down on the edge of the bed and quietly cry. A few minutes later, my phone rings.

"Hey, Dustin." I say, trying to hide that I'm upset.

"Luna, you need to come back. There's something you need to see."

"I'll be leaving in a few minutes. Is everything ok?" I hear an exasperated sigh.

"The rogues. They left a message for you."

"I'm leaving now." I grab my bag and take off. I mind link Damien and ask him to pack the rest of my things and bring them when he's done visiting his brother.