Moon Blessed Luna

Chapter 6 - Brianna

Being with Sue had definitely helped, and I decided to leave the office with her. The files would still be there tomorrow, and without any new information I couldn't hope to figure out the mystery of the missing girls.

The pack house was quite busy as we descended the stairs to the communal first floor. It was almost dinner time and most of the pack enjoyed sharing it here, being much more socially inclined due to their wolf halves. You'd rarely meet an introverted wolf.

When we entered the room everybody became silent and gave respectful bows to me, bearing their necks slightly as they did. I didn't like this way of being greeted but it was an instinctual thing the wolves did, and Keena did appreciate it. She gave a short growl which was the sign for everyone to continue what they were doing.

"I will leave you now, Alpha Blake." Sue said quietly with a soft bow and I rolled my eyes at her, she preferred to be formal in public. This time she surprised me by leaning in to whisper in my ear however.

"But if the Alpha will allow it, I would meet her in her room tonight?" I growled lustfully at those words, and almost bit into her neck as Keena shared my excitement.

"You better." I tell her, before slapping her full ass to send her on her way. She chuckles and walks over towards the group of pack medics who are seated together at one of the smaller tables. Sue was one of the first werewolf psychologists, and I hoped many would follow. As Wolves we had supernatural healing abilities, and the doctors were mostly there to make sure things healed correctly rather than speed up the healing as they did for humans. But until now we didn't have anybody to help our minds heal from trauma, which was always present in the war filled world of territorial wolf packs.

I take my time walking around the room, smiling at the pack members who acknowledge me and stopping for a short conversation with a few. My pack is quite large with nearly 150 wolves, though we aren't the biggest pack in these parts, but I pride myself on knowing every single one of them.

"Don't play with your food, Daniel!" I playfully scold one of the kids who keeps throwing his peas at his older brother. He turns around and gives me a cute smile, his front two teeth missing.

"Sorry, Alpha Bree." he says sheepishly, while his brother smiles smugly and I turn my attention to him.

"Don't look so smug, Rick. I know you were kicking him under the table, but you will learn your lesson tomorrow during training." his smile disappears quickly and he avoids making eye contact. I ruffle Daniel's already messy hair and leave to find myself something to eat.

While dumping a large scoop of peas and carrots on my plate, I am joined at the small buffet by my Beta, Ethan.

"I heard you had an emotional breakdown during the council meeting." he says casually, while grabbing a large steak. If I didn't like him as much as I did, or didn't hear the smile in his voice, I probably would have attacked him. So instead I grabbed a knife and stabbed my own steak violently.

"You know how it is with us weak she-Wolves, we just can't control our hormonal outbursts." sarcasm practically dripped from my statement, and we started laughing. Ethan's dad had been my father's Beta, and when we grew up we were always together. He was like a brother to me, despite us looking nothing alike. With a wide grin still on my face I look up at him, he is one of the few pack members who was taller than me. His bright blue eyes sparkle in his sun tanned face. When I was younger I always wished my eyes looked like his, I thought they were beautiful, but mine were a dark brown like my mother's had been.

I looked a lot like my mother actually, same dark skin, dark brown curls, her wider nose and deeper set dark eyes. I always believed it was the reason my father didn't like me, I looked too much like his dead mate. I shake my head to get the thoughts out, I am not my mother.

Ethan and I sit down together at one of the smaller tables and start eating our dinner, both enjoying the meal. Mrs. Gillian was in charge of the kitchen and with every meal I remembered why, she was an amazing cook who put a lot of love in every dish. Even something as simple as peas and carrots tasted wonderful in her capable hands.

"Alpha? We have a situation out here by the front gates, you better come quick!" Logan's voice over the mindlink interrupts my last few bites and I growl, I know my Gamma won't call me for something unimportant, and if he needs me at the front gate he must have decided it'd best to keep the pack out of it for now.

"Let's go, Logan needs me at the front gate." Ethan had already started getting up when he saw my eyes glaze over, the expression on my face must have spoken more than words. Together we leave the dining room, being careful to appear calm. We didn't need the whole pack to be nervous and start a panic, but once outside we started running. While we were not as fast in our human form, we preferred not shifting while we were inside the town.

Within 10 minutes we arrive at the front gates, where Logan and a handful of guards surround a small group of people. They're naked, having obviously just shifted back from their wolf forms, and a few of my guards have taken off their jackets and given them to the rogues.

Not all rogues are evil, most chose to leave their packs for a variety of reasons or were left over after their packs were wiped out in a war. I'm sad to say my father started many of those wars, which is where the rogue attack from nearly a year ago originated. The survivors of the packs he wiped out banded together to take him down.

Only a handful of rogues were cast out for criminal activity, but because our Wolves prefer to live together, we usually try everything to be accepted back by our pack or to join a new one. Many rogues form make-shift packs to get the sense of community back, and sometimes these packs are accepted by the council of Elders as a legitimate pack.

The small group in front of me now must be one of those make-shift packs. They shared enough of a scent to know they spend a lot of time together, but it lacked in strength of the shared scent of a true pack. There were 3 adult males, 2 adult females and a set of twins who couldn't be more than 6 years old. They must have ridden on one of the bigger Wolves for the run here, as they were the only ones dressed and they were way too young to shift.

One of the women was obviously distressed, fresh tears running down her cheeks as one of the men tried to console her. The others all seemed to be in shock and the second woman held the hands of the little ones tightly, not giving them any opportunity to walk off. My heart dropped as I came to a conclusion of what happened to this group, and I turned my attention to Logan to confirm my suspicion.

"What happened?" all the guards bowed their heads respectfully which Keena dismissed with a quick growl. She was just as anxious as me to figure out if our suspicion was true.

"Alpha Blake, these people were picked up by one of the patrols. They claim to have been looking for you after having been sent away by both the Red Sun pack and the Blue Fir pack." Logan states, not letting any of the rogues leave his sight. He couldn't be sure they weren't a threat, though the presence of children put him and his wolf at ease slightly.

The crying woman struggled against her mate's hold on her and ran over to me, throwing herself at my feet.

"Please, Alpha! They took her! They took my little girl!" she sobs hysterically. I drop on my knees and lift her up partially, she clutches my arms and looks me straight in my eyes.

"Please! The other Alpha's didn't want to help! You're our last hope!" I try to smile at her, trying to show confidence, but my mind is racing. Another girl taken, another family ripped apart. Who was doing this? Why were they taking young girls? And why did Red Sun and Blue Fir not offer to help these Wolves? They were supposedly part of my alliance to find the missing girls, with at least 10 of the missing person reports coming from their packs. I would have to figure this out later, first I needed to take care of these people.

"I promise I'll do what I can to help find your daughter." I tell the woman, before motioning to her mate to help her up.

"Mrs. Gillian? Get one of the guest suites ready, please. And make sure there is a warm dinner for 5 adults and 2 children left over."

"Right away, Bree." Mrs. Gillian practically raised me and in private she often called me by my name instead of my title. I appreciated how easily she accepted my requests and I knew she'd get others to help her without any problems.

"Ethan, please take these people to the pack house. Mrs. Gillian will be waiting with dinner for them. I will be talking to the parents when they have calmed down slightly, please take them to my office when they're ready." Ethan nods his head respectfully before motioning to 3 of the guards to come with him. The pack will be wary about their obvious outsider smell and with the guards there neither party will get into trouble.

"Logan, double patrols. Make sure every corner is as secure as possible, and take the trackers to the location these people were picked up. They might be able to trace their steps back and find a trail to the missing girl." My tone is gentle but firm and full of authority.

"Right away, Alpha." He also nods his head before shouting orders at the remaining guards. With that taken care of I hurry back to my office, thanking Mrs. Gillian quickly as I passed her on the first floor. Besides my office and a few extra work spaces and conference rooms, the first floor holds several guest rooms and suites.

"Sue? Could you come up to my office? I'm gonna need your expertise to get information from the distressed parents of a rogue girl who was taken." And with that final request I sit down in my chair and wait.

I hate waiting.