Lunar Eclipse

Chapter Three

(Annette’s POV)

“Good morning Luna, morning Jakob” I bow to each of them.

“Stop that you know you don’t need to do that when you’re here, only in public and for the thousandth time call me Randve” she picked her head up to look at me with her ember eyes which screamed anger, normally I would have protested the formalities but her eyes said don’t push the issue.

“Sorry Randve, so I am guessing the Alpha caught another wolf in Rose’s room?” I stood behind the couch looking out the window, watching pack members going about their business.

“Yes he did, plus he lectured her again but like I told him the lecturing does not work! I told him the last time this happened the only thing that will change her habits is a place of her own. She is going to sleep around most young wolves do but I have the feeling she is doing this to get back at him. She wants to leave this pack and travel to see the world” she sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose again in frustration. “Alex was living on his own before he met Alma, so did Sage before she met David. Why not the same for Rose? I don’t know why he is so hung up on Rose staying here”

“She would be more likely to find her mate if she was allowed to travel from pack to pack like unmated Alpha males do” I watched as an Omega dropped some groceries and a pack member helped pick them up, looked like something sparked between them.

“I told him that too. It doesn’t make sense that unmated Alpha males are allowed to go to other packs but when an Alpha female wants to it is frowned upon. I think it has to do with that attack right after Jak was born, the one that injured you and Rose” instinctively she held Jakob closer, he looked at her but she didn’t look at him, she was lost in the past.

Rose got scratched on her back from shoulder to tail bone, she was lucky it wasn’t deeper, I got a scratch from belly button around to my back. Rose and I were in the hospital for days and even with accelerated healing we both got nasty scars. Since then Alpha Cajetan has been hard on Rose, more controlling than his other kids.

I was offered a position on the Luna Guard not long after the attack by Alpha Cajetan but Rose was not and this put a big rift in between them. Rose wanted to protect her mother so the fact that her father didn’t offer a position angered her. Since then she has been acting up in way that was sure fire to get under her father’s skin. Once her father stepped down from being Alpha when Jakob turns ten she plans to leave the pack and travel the world.

“I am going to do my rounds of the pack house before I check in with Prudence” I stated as I started to walk out of the room, but not before a small hand tugged at my pants “Can I come too?” little Jakob had on his most impressive puppy eyes out but little did he know I had become immune thanks to my nieces.

Jakob had been spending time with my family ever since Alma and Alex mated and had picked up some tricks from my nieces and sisters. Jakob had always been clingy to me but when our families joined it got worse, he wanted to go on all the patrols, have sleep overs and go out on ‘dates’ with me. Everyone joked that he had a little crush on me.

“You have to ask the Lu-Randve” he pouted before getting in character again to coerce his mother, he was really on a role.

“Mommy?” she was such a sucker for the ‘mommy’ card “can I go on the rounds with Annie?” I could see his puppy eyes in full effect, she was mulling it over in her head, the first sign of defeat.

“Fine, but do not get in her way, and if there is trouble run right back here” her eyes flicked to me for confirmation I nodded and winked.

“Halfway through the round he will probably get tired and want to come back for a nap, I will bring him up then, he will be safe with me Luna” I reassured her through mind link so Jakob would not hear and purposely try to stay awake, she let out a relieved sigh then smiled waving us off.

Jakob didn’t last long like I had predicted, about fifteen minutes in he wanted a piggyback ride from there it was downhill for him, five minutes later he was out cold. I turned around and headed back to the Alpha Floor. Looking out the window in the stairwell I saw Rose flirting with a she-wolf this time, well that was a new one maybe her mate wouldn’t be a male at all but a she-wolf.

I opened the door to the Alpha suite and saw the poor Luna passed out on the couch in the same spot she had been when we left her. She would never admit it but she spends all of her time raising and caring for Jakob that she doesn’t get much time off. I walk past her to Jakob’s room and lay him down for his nap, I turned on the white noise machine that he normally slept with before slowly closing the door careful not to wake Jakob.

I grabbed a blanket from the linen closet and gently laid it on the Luan. She does so much for this pack while raising a young child. Both the Luna and Alpha had planned to hand over the pack once Alex found his mate then switch houses with Alex but Jakob threw a wrench in their plans. Jakob was not exactly a accident but he was not planned either, so they both decided to wait until Jakob was 10 to hand over the pack to make sure Alex and his mate would have enough time to solidify their bond. This would also make it less stressful on Randve to move house with a infant.

Going back out on my rounds I ran into Gamma Eeroi just coming out of his office. “Hello Gamma Eeroi, how is your mate doing?” I could see the dark circles under his eyes.

“She is driving me up a wall, last night I came home and she was repainting the walls again, saying that this shade of green was calmer for the baby. It’s the third shade of green! They all look the same to me!” he rubbed his face in frustration. They had waited so long for this pup that the nesting was probably doubled for poor Erin, the pressure of getting everything perfect.

“Sounds like the nesting faze, it should pass soon, but this is her first pup that could be adding to it.” I wanted to help him but I knew only about pregnancy from what Camilla told me, and nesting seemed like an unstoppable force. Camilla wanted to put a skylight in the pup’s room so she could get sun light and see the stars every night. It took a full week of everyone telling her no before she finally gave up on the idea.

“You could talk to Randve or Brodric, see if they could look in on Erin while you are at work. Since they have both raised kids it might help to ease her worries” I hopped that was good advice, at this point I was talking out of my ass.

“It will be the death of me, and the birth is supposed to be the hardest part! I can hardly imagine” he raked his hand through his blonde hair and walked down the hall.

Finally, I saw some more of the Luna Guards as I got to the ground floor, there are six of us in total including me. The Luna picked all the other guards except for me, and since she is an advocator for female rights three out of the five guards were female. Wolf laws and Packs are mostly male dominated with most of the higher ranking wolves being male.

The only two males are Orion and Zephyr, who are both the same height exactly and have mostly the same looks, being fraternal twins will do that but Orion had a slightly upturned mouth and a dimple in his left cheek. I had thought once upon a time that Orion and I would be mates but when my 18th birthday came and went we both knew it was not meant to be but our friendship remained. Orion and I were the only two of the Luna Guards that were unmated, it got irritating at times all the other guards could talk about was their mates.

“Nice of you to join us Netty” Orion joked knowing I hated it when people called me Netty. I glared at him letting him know I didn’t appreciate the name and he knew that it would get him a one way ticket to a beating later on in the training ring. He would be sore tomorrow accelerated healing be damned.

“I was doing some rounds and little Jakob wanted to come with” I explained Calliope and Briar nodded, the Head Guard Prudence came over to us. Prudence was the first pick from the Luna, Prudence had lost her pup and mate many years ago and since then has become the top warrior in the pack. 6 years ago when the Luna was attacked Prudence headed the evacuation of the pups and pregnant she-wolves, without orders, to the underground bunker till the danger had passed and that feat earned her a spot on the Luna Guard. Prudence cleared her throat and raised her clip board.

“So let’s get this started shall we? Our new vests are in and down in the Armory, now the tracking devices we have been using up till now will be retired and the new ones we will be using will be activated in the new vests. Put your old locators in the drop off box I designated in the Amory” these new vests were Kevlar vests specially made for wolves so we could shift while using them, in the past years some packs had brought guns to territory disputes and the casualties were far to great.

“After this meeting go down and get those on. I posted the guard rotation down in the Amory so take a look at that. Also everyone is off tonight for the Full Moon Gathering so enjoy it now get to work!” she lowers her clipboard “Yes ma’am!” we say and head off to the Armory to get our new vests.

“Alpha, Luna, Mom, and sisters please come to the conference room, Alex and I have something important to tell you” I rubbed my head as Alma mind linked me, I could tell she mind linked multiple at once from the dull ache in my head. I went over to Prudence and flagged her down.

“Alma and Alex summoned the Alpha and Luna as well as me to the conference room” I informed her, she looked at the schedule “alright I will adjust the schedule and tell Zephyr and Calliope not to expect you for a while. Mind link me when you are done for your new schedule” she waved me on then turned on her heals and walked away. I took the stairs towards the upper floors wondering what the news was but already having a feeling what it was.