The Lonely Luna

Ashlyn

*Ashlyn POV*

This morning when I saw Reyna and Gilberto come down together, I couldn’t help but smile. I knew that they hadn’t mated because she wasn’t marked and they didn’t smell like it. I still had to tease her though. She blushed like crazy and he just looked at me open mouthed. Just then, Reyna spoke up and told him that I had been her best friend way before I was her Beta and had always called her by her first name. He still raised an eyebrow quizzically. I just laughed. Before I knew it, Reyna’s grandmas and the kitchen Omegas brought breakfast to us. They always made the most killer meals. Today was no exception. They had made omelettes for everyone and served fresh fruits and juices on the side. We all dug in and started talking to one another. I kept trying to get her attention, but she was ignoring and talking to her mate and making googly eyes at him. I just rolled my eyes and gave up. I knew that it was going to be pointless to talk to her. I finished my breakfast and went up to the fifth floor to my apartment to finish getting ready to head to my restaurant that I ran with my husband and mate, Miguel. I also had to make sure that our pups were up and getting ready for school.

I unlocked the door and walked into sheer chaos. Miguel Jr. and Alex were both running around naked, even though Jr is 13 and Alex is almost 10. Then here comes Aidan, my oldest, yelling for them to get their asses dressed and ready for school. They just took off running and laughing their fool heads off. Liliana, my only daughter, walks in and hugs me. “Mama, my brothers have lost their minds. Papi has tried to get them ready, but they’re not listening to anybody. I even tried threatening them with the belt, but they ran off laughing.” She was 21 weeks pregnant at almost 15. She had found her destined mate, Gustavo, at the age of 13. It was totally unheard of for a she-wolf (or any wolf for that matter) to find their mate so young. I wasn’t happy at first that she was pregnant and unable to have her quinceñera, but what’s done is done. At least Gustavo was around and was willing to help raise his pup. Then again, Reyna did threaten him within an inch of his life if he abandoned Lily and the pup. His eyes had just about popped out his head when she said it too. I had just laughed to myself, but I also knew that she was serious as a heart attack.

In walks Miguel complaining that the boys never listen to him, but stopped once he saw me. “Mira tus hijos, corriendo hecho madre como locos (Look at your sons running around like crazy fools).” I looked at him in disbelief and said; “No sólo son mis hijos, Miguel. Son tuyos tambien, pero cada vez que se porten mal, son míos (They’re not just my sons, Miguel. They’re yours too, but every time they misbehave, they’re only mine).” He just walked off, like usual. I threw my hands in the air and rolled my eyes. I tried mind linking Reyna, but she had a block up. She must still be with Gil. I rolled my eyes again and went to get Jr. and Alex dressed and ready. They finally got their clothes on and all four of them went out the door for the elementary, middle, and high schools. I yelled for Miguel and told him to hurry up so that we could head to our restaurant. He yelled back that he would be coming in late because he had to call one of our suppliers. I just left and walked to the restaurant. He’s been acting so different towards me and the kids lately. I have more important things to worry about at the moment. I got to the restaurant and went in through the back door. I greeted my Omegas and asked what the first order of business was. It was Wednesday and staff meeting day. My head chef filled me in on our deliveries, a couple of which were running late. Some of my ingredients could only be gotten in the human towns and unfortunately, it was both of my human suppliers that were running late.

What am I going to do without my vegetables for my signature dishes? Next, my head hostess gave me the tips sheet from the last week. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets when I saw how well my servers had done in tips. I was very pleased. My head waitress submitted some applications for the new staff that she needed. I promised to look them over and let her know by the end of the day. I noticed that my dessert chef was absent. I asked the head chef if he knew where she was. He said that she had called him to let him know that she wouldn’t be in due to a family emergency. Her mom had fallen last night and had broken her hip. The poor girl was an absolute wreck. I just nodded my head. With that, the meeting ended and I headed to my office. Miguel still hadn’t arrived. I tried mind linking him, but as usual, he had me blocked out. I went about getting the tips split evenly between all of my servers. Once that was done, I put them in manila envelopes with their names. I sealed the envelopes and put them in my desk. I locked the drawer and went into the kitchen.

Miguel was still nowhere to be seen. I was so fed up with him and his bullcrap. I went around to the various stations to see what everyone was working on. I knew that with my dessert chef being out, I was going to have to make all of the desserts today and the next few days until she came back. Sally was a good kid and talented dessert chef. She was also an only child and her mom’s caretaker. I prayed to the Moon Goddess for a speedy recovery for Omega Stephanie. I set to work on getting the desserts made. At 1:00, Miguel decided to come strolling in. I was furious with him, but I wasn’t about to cause a scene at work and in the middle of our lunch rush. I let it go for the time being. I knew that he was going to make some lame ass excuse as to why he was two and a half hours late. We open at 10:30 every day for brunch. I got a mind link from Reyna asking me to come to her office. I let my staff know where I was going. For the time being, we were good on desserts and the lunch rush was just starting to slow.

I took off my apron, washed my hands, and headed across the street to see my best friend and Luna. I was waved through security and walked into Reyna’s office after knocking. She motioned for me to sit down and finished her phone call. I could tell that she was talking to her mate. As soon as she hung up, her face fell. “¿Qué pasó, Reyna? Te vez muy triste (What happened, Reyna? You look so sad).” She replied that she missed her mate and that her wolf María missed Firulais (Fear ew lie). We talked a while longer, then I had to get back to the restaurant. I walked in the front, went through the kitchen, got weird looks from my staff, and headed to the office that I shared with Miguel. I got to the door and heard some strange sounds coming from inside. I opened the door and found him power driving one of my waitresses and the pack slut, Manuela. They both looked up in surprise. I marched over to them, snatched her by the hair, and dragged her half naked and screaming through the restaurant and across the street to Reyna’s office. Miguel came running out if the office behind us pulling up his pants and tucking in his shirt. He was yelling at me to stop, wait.

I ignored his ass and marched right into Reyna’s office, still dragging Manuela’s half naked ass by the hair. “I’ll have to call you back. Something came up.” With that, Reyna ended her call. She walked over to her office door, instructed Eliza to have security escort Miguel off the property, turned back to me, and shut the door at the same time. My blood was boiling. I was so damn mad that I couldn’t think straight. Reyna sat down in her chair and waited for me to say something. Before I could say a word, Manuela started stuttering and sputtering; “P-p-please L-l-una! H-h-help me!!” I back handed the b***h to the floor and told her to shut her mouth. “I caught Miguel in our office with this b***h bent over his desk power driving her. I knew the bastard was cheating on me!” Reyna’s eyes almost popped out of her head as she looked from me to the sobbing mess on the floor. “P-p-please d-don’t h-h-hurt m-me. I-I’m p-p-pregnant!” Manuela wailed. I saw red. I went to grab her, but Reyna stepped in.

*Reyna POV*

“What do you mean that you’re pregnant?” I asked Manuela. “Y-yes L-luna, I-I’m p-pregnant. M-Miguel’s t-the f-father.” I find that hard to believe because Manuela has a reputation as the pack slut. She tried to get with Leti, Nora, and Lucinda’s mates before. Then, again, she had went after almost every single male in the pack. Not a single one was her mate. It’s unusual that in a pack of 900, she hasn’t found her mate yet. Ashlyn was ready to beat the life out of Manuela. “I want her dead or at the very least banished!” Roared Ashlyn. I mind linked Ezekiel (Leti’s mate and my Delta), José (Nora’s mate), Jorrell (Lucinda’s mate), and Pablo (Gustavo’s uncle and head of my guards). They came to my office almost immediately. “Take Manuela down to the dungeons. Then find Miguel and take him too. Put them at opposite ends away from each other. I want her in silver handcuffs. Put him in silver shackles.” They nodded and left to do my bidding. Manuela started shrieking hysterically as they dragged her away. I shut the door behind them. I mind linked Eliza and told her to cancel the rest of my appointments for the day. Ashlyn collapsed into my chair and started sobbing. I just hugged her and let her cry.

Once she was finished, she wiped her face, fixed her hair, looked at me and said; “I’m going home. I’m closing the restaurant and giving everyone the rest of the day off with pay.” I just nodded my head. She walked out the door. I mind linked Lucinda and her mate Jorrel and asked them to come to my office. They arrived within five minutes. I told them that I wanted them to accompany to the dungeons as the others were already there. “What’s going on, Luna?” Asked Jorrell. I told them that I would explain once we got there. We got to the dungeons and I could hear Manuela shrieking in agony from her silver cuffs. I made my way to her cell and mind linked the pack ob/gyn to bring her portable ultrasound machine. I got to the cell and saw that Manuela’s wrists were badly burned from the silver. I had her released. She fell to the floor in a heap. I waited for Dr. Stevens to arrive. Once she did, I had her hook Manuela up to the machine. I watched the screen to see if the slut was really pregnant. She wasn’t. I immediately mind linked Ashlyn and told her to come to the dungeons. She was there so fast, I barely registered it. “She’s not pregnant, Ash. She lied.”

“WHAT?!” She yelled in disbelief. I repeated it. Dr. Stevens showed her on the ultrasound machine. “YOU LYING, NO GOOD, DIRTY b***h! I’M GOING TO F*CKING KILL YOU!!” Leti, Nora, Lucinda, Jorrell, Pablo, José, and Ezekiel stepped in between them as Manuela cowered in the corner of her cell. I led Ashlyn out of the cell and to the other side of the dungeons where Miguel was. Dr. Stevens came with us. “Miguel, Manuela te hechó mentiras. No está embarazada (Miguel, Manuela lied to you. She’s not pregnant).” He stared at me in shock and disbelief. “No te creo. Yo se bien que está embarazada. He sentido las patadas del bebe (I don’t believe you. I know that she’s pregnant. I’ve felt the baby kick).” Dr. Stevens showed him the images from the ultrasound. He still didn’t believe it. I had the shackles removed from his ankles, but after cuffs were put in him. I had put on a special glove, grabbed the chain of the cuffs, and led him to Manuela’s cell where he confronted her. She wouldn’t even look at him. He turned and walked back to his cell alone. “I, Reyna Velazquez, Luna of the Silver Moon Pack, hereby banish you Manuela Dominguez. If you are caught on pack territory, you will be treated as a rogue and killed instantly.” *turning to the guards* “Take her the edge of the pack territory and leave her. Mind link all of the guards and let them know what happened.” They nodded and dragged Manuela out of her cell. She was too weak to fight back.

As for Miguel, I banished him from the castle and any and all pack functions/activities. Ashlyn stepped up to him and said; “I, Ashlyn Martinez, Beta of the Silver Moon Pack do hereby reject you Miguel Sanchez as my mate and the father of my children. If I ever see you again, it will be too soon.” She spit on him and walked away. I followed closely behind, throwing over my shoulder; “Vas a vivir en una de las casitas a la orilla del territorio. Ni se te ocurre ir al restaurante. No te van a dejar entrar. Voy a mandar a alguien una vez a la semana para llevarte comida y otras necesidades (You’re going to live in one of the cottages at the edge of the territory. Don’t even think about going to the restaurant. They won’t let you in. I’ll send someone once a week to bring you food and other necessities).” With that, I left the dungeons and went back upstairs.

*Ashlyn POV*

I can’t believe that bastard cheated on me with that slut Manuela! What was he thinking?! How am I going to tell our kids that their dad was banished and that they’ll never see him again? What am I going to do? I headed for the elevator, got in, and pushed the button for the fifth floor. When it stopped, I got off and unlocked the apartment door. Thankfully, all of the kids were out, so I didn’t have to worry about telling them just yet. I sent a mind link to the pack interior designer to come as soon as she could. Ten minutes later, there was a knock on my door. I opened it to see Isabela, the pack interior designer, standing there. “¡Ay querida! ¡¡No puedo creer que Miguel te hizo infiel (Ay darling! I can’t believe that Miguel was unfaithful to you!!)” Let me point out that Isabela is MTF trans and the best designer out there. She bustled in with her sample books (paint, curtains, blinds, wallpaper, fabric, etc). “ I would have been here sooner, but I had trouble finding all of my books. Is there a particular style that you had in mind? You know that I can do anything and if I can’t, I will find the man that can!” I just smiled at her energy. She reminded me of Chi Chi from that movie, To Wong Fu (I don’t remember the whole name). You know the one where Patrick Swayzee, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo were in drag? Yeah. That one.

I told her that I definitely wanted the master bedroom redone, including the master bath. It was horribly masculine. I also wanted her to redo the living room, dining room, and my kitchen. We sat down and began looking over the sample books. Before I knew it, the kids were coming home from school. Aidan and Lily got home first. Isabela let herself out. “Mama, where’s papi? I wanted to give him something that I made at school today.” Said Lily. “Papi’s not here and he’s never coming back, Lily.” They both just looked at me as if I was speaking some other language. I promised to explain when the two little ones got home so that I wouldn’t have to explain it twice. Once all four were home, I told them that I had caught their dad cheating on me in our office at the restaurant. Jr asked me what happened. I told them the family friendly version and that the Luna had banished him. “But we’ll still get to see papi won’t we, Mom?” Alex asked. I told him that no, we would never see papi again because the Luna banished him from the castle, the restaurant, and any and all pack functions/activities. I also told them that I had no idea which cottage he was in.

Aidan was madder than anyone. “Why the hell did the Luna have to go and banish him?! She can’t do that!” It was my turn to look at Aidan as though he were speaking another language. “Dude, she can do whatever the hell she wants! She’s the Luna!! Besides, your dad was cheating on me!!! You know the punishment for cheating, especially if you’re a ranked member of the pack. He got what was coming to him.” He just stomped off to his room. Lily wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder. I pulled her as close as I could without squishing the baby. I just held her as she cried. The two little ones climbed up on the couch and joined the hug and began crying as well. After we had all finished crying, we wiped our tears and headed down for supper. I yelled for Aidan to let him know that we were heading downstairs. He yelled back that he wasn’t coming. I just rolled my eyes and headed downstairs with the other three. I mind linked Isabela and told her that I needed names of some good companies to make my office at the restaurant smaller.

I didn’t care if they were human or werewolf. I just wanted to block off Miguel’s side of the office. Maybe I’d have it turned into a storage closet? We got downstairs and Reyna and the girls just looked at me. Before I knew it, they were all hugging me, even their mates. I was so grateful to my Luna and friends. I knew then that everything was going to be fine. Everyone sat back down and ate. We had enchiladas rojas y verdes. They were so good. I’m still trying to get the grandmas to give me some of their recipes. Shoot, they weren’t even giving them to their own granddaughter! Oh well. We all ate and laughed so much, we had tears streaming down our faces. It felt good to be with my friends and kids. After supper, the two little ones wanted to know if they could go over to a friend’s house. I asked if they had homework. They replied that was the reason for going to the friend’s house; study group. I told them that they could. They were so excited that they ran up all five flights of stairs to get their backpacks and ran all the way back down and out the back door. Those two are going to be so fast once they get their wolves. They were already really fast. Jr was thinking about going out for track and field. Alex was going to be playing baseball and helping his brother train.

Lily and I went back up to the apartment. She said that she had homework. As soon as we got upstairs, she went straight to her room and started on it. Aidan was still in his room with the door shut. He had decided to blast his music. I just walked past his room and went to mine. I opened the door and stared at the room depressed. I had no intention of using those blankets ever again. For all I knew, Miguel had slept with Manuela in our bed. I sent a mind link to some of the Omegas that did laundry. Before I knew it, they were knocking on my door with the clean blankets, pillows, sheets, etc. that were normally for the guest rooms. I had them sanitize and disinfect my bed. I left the room while they did. I went to the living room to watch tv. After 45 minutes, the Omegas came out of my room and said that it was cleaned and disinfected and the bed was made. I turned off the tv and went back to my room. It looked totally different just by changing the sheets! It looked more open and a lot lighter. I made a mental note to tell Isabela to use blues, golds, and creams in my new bedroom look. Reyna had done her room in pale greens and blues because those are her favorite colors. I loved the vibe because it was super calming and reminded me of the ocean.

The bedding that the laundry Omegas brought up was from a guest room that was seldom ever used. I loved it! It really brightened up my dark, masculine room. I climbed into bed, snuggled under the covers, and picked up my book. I was reading the current Stephen King book and it was so good! I was so into my book that when my phone rang, I almost jumped out of my skin. I picked it up off of my nightstand and saw that it was Miguel. I immediately rejected the call. I then proceeded to change the number, but he was making it difficult because he kept calling. I was finally able to get it changed. I sent a text to Reyna, the Delta, Echo, Gamma, and my chefs. None of my wait staff needed to have it, except for my head server. The others were to report to her. I eventually put my book down, turned off the light, and went to sleep. I was woken up in the middle of the night by a knock on my door. I got up to see who it was. It was Lily. She asked if she could sleep with me. I opened my door wider to let her in. Once she had climbed into my bed, I shut my door and locked it again. I went back to the bed and climbed back in. I pulled her close and snuggled her. I had my arm around her belly so that I could feel the baby too. We fell asleep almost instantly.