The Luna's Pack and Her Alpha

Four | Preparations

Veronica

I pulled up to the packhouse and handed my keys to an Omega as Damon and I got out of the car. Leo, my Gamma, was waiting for us on the porch.

He bowed his head to me, “Luna, your servants are waiting for you in your office.” As soon as he finished his statement his face light up into a huge grin as he laughed.

I tried to hide a smile as I shoved him and shot a dangerous look at Damon, who immediately cut off his chuckle, “This is not funny,” I scolded them.

Leo nodded, “You’re right, this is not funny, but it is a joke. We all know the accusations are a load of crap.”

“Now we just have to prove it.” And with that, we darted up the stairs to my office.

…

We entered my office to see my father, Beta Nolan, and Gamma Patrick sitting on my leather sofa. Leaving the desk seats open for me and my team. They took their seats, but I remained standing, “Alright, let’s go through the accusations, top to bottom.”

My father nodded his head toward the folder on my desk and waited for me to open it before speaking. Inside there were signed statements from my Uncle Neil, Nelson, my cousin Molly, and my Aunt Maureen.

“The four of them wrote those statements and submitted them to the elder council, sighting the abuse as the reason they left the pack.” My father spoke slow and clear, thinking through each word, just as he taught me to do.

My eyes scanned the documents, finding statements like; ‘verbally abusive’, ‘physically violent', and ‘mentally unstable'. Molly wrote: ‘After giving my brother a black eye, Veronica confessed to being drunk and high. She was spiraling from the news that she was not the biological daughter of Alpha Green.’ Her words cut me deep. I would expect something like this from my Uncle or Nelson, they were power-hungry, but Molly was like a sister to me. I closed the folder, not needing to see anymore.

“What do we know about their current whereabouts?”, I asked the room

It was Damon who responded, “They moved into a small apartment in the city when they left, about 30 minutes from here. They’ve been there ever since. I confirmed their location on the way here.”

I nodded, “Let’s increase patrols, I don’t want any one of them near this territory.”

“Consider it done”, he bowed his head and closed his eyes signaling he was sending a mind link to someone. So, I moved on to the next order of business.

“Leo please notify Dr. Moreno that I will be coming down for a drug and alcohol screening and that he needs to prep a paternity test. The Elders will perform their own tests, but I want as much evidence as possible.” He nodded and bowed his head to send his own mind link.

I looked over at my father who held eye contact for a moment before nodding. I hope he knew that the paternity test was only to prove what I already knew to be true, I have no doubts about him being my father. Just like I have no doubt that my drug and alcohol screening will come back clean. I have never had a single sip of alcohol and I definitely don’t do drugs. Even if I wanted to, I didn’t have the time.

I looked back over to Damon who had finished his first task, “Prepare the patrols for the Elders' arrival” I said, before turning to Leo “and Please ask an Omega to prepare a few rooms on the guest floor.” I swept my eyes over the faces in the room, each of them returned my eye contact, their faces full of determination. “Does anyone have anything else to add?”

My father cleared his throat, “Do you want to collect statements from some of the pack members about their treatment here?”

“No.” My father raised his eyebrows at my response, so I elaborated. “No one in the pack will corroborate the abuse claims, I want the shock to be clear on their faces when they’re interviewed. Plus, if we tell them nothing about it there can be no claims of coercion.”

My father nodded before he failed to hide a smirk, that was a test. I maintained eye contact with my father as I dismissed the others, “Thank you, gentlemen, that’s all for now.” I finally took a seat at my desk as Damon closed the door behind him, “When are you going to stop testing me, old man?”

My father chuckled, pulling one of the guest chairs closer to the desk, “When I’m dead.”

I rolled my eyes and we sat in comfortable silence together for a while. This was our routine when something stressful happens. Neither of us likes to be alone, but we also don’t like to talk, so we sat together and let the presence of the other comfort us.

I hesitated, “Dad?”

“Yes, Pumpkin?” He said looking up at me.

I smiled, he only called me this in private, usually right after I called him ‘dad’. “When you brought me into this room for the first time, why did you look so worried?”

He shifted in his chair and diverted his eyes, causing me to raise my eyebrows in surprise. My father never showed discomfort or weakness so this movement stopped my breath in my lungs. He looked back up at me with a sigh and confirmed my suspicions, “When you were two, Nina pushed you over and took your toy. Your mom gave you a new toy, but you followed her across the room and challenged a 4-year-old for your toy. When you were three you tried to negotiate your bedtime and insisted that future Alpha’s should get to stay up as late as they want.” He paused before he shifted topics, “When these accusations don’t work and the Power Transfer goes on as planned, Nelson will challenge you for the pack.”

I nodded, “Yes, I expect we’ll all be attending a challenge next Saturday night. The preparations have already been made.” I confessed.

He nodded, “and I know that you’ll die before surrendering the pack.”

I was shocked. “You expect me to lose?” I felt like I’d been punched in the gut, but he shook his head.

“No. I know you’ll fight with your life and win, but there are no true winners in a challenge. If Nelson submits he’ll never stop trying to take the pack from you and if he doesn’t submit, you’ll be forced to kill him and you’ll have to live with that for the rest of your life.” He sighed, “I knew this would happen and I couldn’t put you in this position if it wasn’t what you truly wanted. I looked worried because I had to look at my beautiful, 5-year-old daughter and ask her to take on a role that would forever change her life and put her in danger. A role I knew you’d accept without hesitation.”

I nodded my head and we returned to our comfortable silence.