Making A Luna

THE PROTECTIVE MATE

Logan

Hell. Was I living in actual hell? I had spent the last three days stuck in a revolving cycle of the same conversations and I was reaching breaking point. I had practically lived in this office. When I had returned three days ago i was told we had lost four men, not three and we had just lost the last surviving man from the attack. “Not one f*****g survivor” I yelled at Jack my beta, who had just told me. “Not one” I repeated. How had I lost five of my men just like that. I had been gone barely 24 hours and everything had gone to s**t. So yes, I decided, I was living in hell. These past few days had been spent informing families of my men’s deaths, dealing with the mourning families, informing my pack that we were doing everything we could to stop this from happening again, being bombarded by angry pack members. And this was all before we lost the only survivor from the attack. How could you let this happen they asked. I couldn’t respond to a question that I didn’t know the answer to. My men had never had problems fighting off rogues, we may lose one or two maybe once a year, but never 5 in one hit. No survivors. “Look Logan, I know things aren’t looking good but look at it as a learning curve. Now we know we need to do better” Jack tried to reassure me. “A f*****g learning curve? So 5 people’s lives were just a learning curve, is that what you are trying to tell me?” I raged, not believing he could say something so stupid. i***t. “Logan of course I don’t mean that. But clearly we haven’t been doing enough otherwise this wouldn’t have happened” he kept his composure. That was one thing I liked about my Beta, in any given situation he won’t back down, he won’t hide. He’s almost too confident for his own good. However, I couldn’t help but agree with him. I hadn’t done enough for my pack, we needed to do better. “You’re right, so let’s sit here and come up with a plan. Get Joseph, Reuben and Henry here.” I ordered standing up from my desk. “I’m going to speak to his family before anyone else has the chance to” I informed him walking towards my door. “Oh, and when I get back nobody leaves this room until we are certain we have a solid plan.”

-

We had spent hours throwing ideas back and forth on what we needed to do, which men we needed out patrolling more and planned for more training sessions. Although this pack had come a long way in the 2 years since I arrived, it was not far enough. “Right guys, I think we’ve got it. Let’s hold a pack meeting in 10 minutes” I said, standing up as I looked at my watch. “Jack, stay behind I need to discuss another matter with you” I continued as the men made their way out of my office. Jack shut the door behind them and turned to face me. “What’s up?” He asked as I sat back into my chair. “I need to talk to you about my mate” I confided, as he raised his eyebrows at me. Jack already knew about Esme, he wasn’t just my beta he had become my best friend. “Everything has been so crazy these last few days I haven’t been able to even eat or sleep and I wish that was just due to everything going on here” I sighed. “You do look like s**t” Jack joked, trying to lighten the mood. When I didn’t respond he walked over to sit down in front of me. “She rejected you?” He asked, sounding more concerned now. “No she didn’t reject me. In a way it’s worse” I replied, agitated. “She doesn’t even know I’m her mate, she doesn’t feel the bond.” “What do you mean she doesn’t feel it? Didn’t you go home because she was turning 18?” He asked, confused. “Yes. But she doesn’t recognise me as her mate. Somethings off about it, it’s almost like she feels a connection to me but not the mate bond. I kissed her and she kissed me back. Then she ran from me” I admitted. “Logan, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” He queried, leaving back into his chair. “If you’re thinking magic, then yes. Now, if magic is involved I want to know why. We can’t let anyone know we’re looking around, so I need you to search for answers for me without alerting anyone you’re doing so. This stays in this room” I insisted. If magic was involved, there would be a reason why. The last thing I needed was more enemies after my pack. “Of course Logan. Look we need to get going to this pack meeting” he reminded me. “I’ll meet you there, I just need to make a call” I responded. Jack nodded before making his way out of my office. I waited for the door to close behind him before pulling my mobile phone out. Esme hadn’t tried contacting me once since I had left, not even after the countless calls I had made. I clicked on her name and held my phone to my ear, listening to the ring. Hi you’re through to Esme her voicemail spoke out. No answer - again. I’d have to try again later I told myself. I took a deep breath before standing up from my seat. I guess it’s time to face the music.

Esme

I looked down at my phone as it rung out. Seeing the name on the screen I threw it back onto my bed. That was the third call today, why couldn’t Logan just leave me alone. He had called multiple times the last couple of days, none of which I had answered. Did he not get the hint? As my phone finally started ringing out, I picked it back up and grabbed my rucksack. I slammed my bedroom door behind me before making my way towards the stairs. I still hadn’t managed to figure out what I was going to do about the Logan situation, or how I even felt about it. I hoped that a run would help me clear my head. “Hey, where are you going?” I turned around to see Blaire stood behind me playing with her hands. “I’m just going for a run, wanted to let my wolf out for a bit” I replied, hoping she would leave me be. “Can I come with you?” Of course, Blaire was yet another person in my life who couldn’t take the hint. I let out a sign and forced myself to fake a smile. “Yeah, okay” I replied bluntly. There goes any chance of me clearing my head. We made our way down the stairs in silence. I stopped dead in my tracks as we walked out of the pack house to be met by Theo caught in a brawl. “Theo” I shouted out as I managed to move down the steps. He was ignoring me, too focused on tackling the other wolf to the ground. “Theo what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I yelled, to be ignored once again. Thankfully, Mason shot past me and managed to get in between the two. “Theo, walk away” he growled, as he held my brother back. The other boy was now on the ground, covered in blood with what looked like a broken nose. “I don’t need your help Mason. I don’t care if my sister is in love with you, I don’t have to listen to you. You’re not my alpha yet” he spat, trying to push Mason off him. I shot a glance towards Blaire who’s cheeks were now flushed as she looked down at the floor. Thanks Theo you jerk. I pulled on his arm trying to get his attention now. “Theo let’s go” I pleaded, hoping he would listen to me. He pulled himself out of Masons grip and stormed past me towards the pack house. “Thanks Mason” I mumbled, my cheeks burning. “No drama” he replied as he flashed me a smile. Turning back to the pack house, I began to run after Theo. I stumbled up the stairs and headed straight for his room, pushing open his door without knocking. “What was that?” I screamed, my body trembling with anger. Theo was casually sat on his bed, scrolling through television channels. “What was what?” He asked sarcastically. “You know what Theo” I yelled, having no patience for his games. “It’s not your business. Stay out of it Es” he grumbled, his eyes not leaving the television screen. “Theo please, stop doing this. Just talk to me” I choked, as I realised tears were spilling down my cheeks. He turned his attention to me and motioned for me to sit on his bed. “I-I don’t mean to do it Es, I really don’t” he stuttered, as he hung his head in shame. “Then why Theo?” I sat next to him looking down at my hands as the tears continued to fall down my face. “Ever since he left, I don’t know I’m just so angry all of the time. So when someone says or does something I don’t like, I feel this overwhelming anger. I see red” he admitted, now looking up at me. I threw my arms around him and hugged him right. “I’m angry too Theo. But this is not how dad would want things to be. We need to honour him Theo. Don’t let everything he taught us be a waste” I cried into his ear. We sat in an embrace without saying a word for a while. “Theo, I’m here for you. Just please stop lashing out at me, at mum, at anyone who dares look your way.” “I’ll try” he promised, pulling away from me. “Want to hang out with me for a while?” He asked bringing a smile to my face. “Yes”

-

I skipped down the stairs to meet Blaire for our morning training session. I had spent hours with Theo yesterday, and I felt that I had really got somewhere with him. I looked down at my phone as Logan’s name flashed on my screen before shoving it into my pocket. I still wasn’t ready to deal with him. As I reached the training grounds, Blaire beamed at me. “Morning sunshine” she chirped as I discarded my bag in the floor. “Morning to you too. You ready to show us what you’ve got?” I asked. I had insisted Mason and Roman came along to today’s training session to help. I knew that Blaire was improving, but she wasn’t improving fast enough. We had been hit by another rogue attack last night, and the threat to our pack was higher than ever. We needed a strong Luna. “I’m warning you I won’t go easy on you” Roman laughed at Blaire as she got herself ready. I went over to join Delilah who was observing from a nearby bench. It turned out that she was 5 weeks pregnant when she fainted which meant that her and Roman had conceived on the first night that they mated. Being nearly half way through her pregnancy, she had started to show which I had somehow missed before and was glowing. “How’s the training going” she asked me as I sat myself next to her. “To be honest Delilah, not great. She’s just not improving fast enough. I hope Roman can help” I confided. “Well, if anyone can help you know it will be him. Unfortunately, Mason isn’t the most viable candidate now with her being his mate” she replied. I nodded my head in agreement. We watched Blaire and Roman, as she attempted to tackle him to the ground. I switched my phone off as it rang again. “Who are you ignoring” Delilah interrogated me as I threw my phone into my bag. “Nobody” I lied, knowing she wouldn’t push any further.

-

We finally had a breakthrough at training today and I was finally feeling confident that Blaire could be up to speed in time. Delilah and I had observed most of the session whilst Roman took control. Mason, well I don’t really know what Mason did apart from growl at Roman every time Blaire was tackled. Roman had offered to help tomorrow too- Mason however had been officially banned from attending any more of our sessions. “You’re not helping her by treating her like a child” I had scolded him. “If you can’t control yourself, then you need to stay away!” He had begrudgingly agreed as me and Roman teamed against him. I now sat at dinner next to Theo and my mother speaking to them about our days. “So Esme how is training Blaire going?” My mother asked as she placed her mug down in front of her. “Yeah it’s alright. It’s not exactly been a walk in the park but we are getting there” I answered wanting to cut the conversation short. “Anyway excuse me, I’m going off to bed. I’m exhausted and I’ve got to be up early again.” I made my way towards my room, eager to get in the shower. I’d not had a chance since training, and I had spent the day feeling dirty. As I pushed open the door and switched on the light, I was startled by someone sat on the end of my bed. “I think we need to talk”