As the moon rises

Chapter 2

I go up to the double doors and enter my ID into the keypad on the wall, and the door clicks open for me.

Only pack members are permitted to access the Alpha's home. I go down the corridor. Inhaling the soothing aroma of the wood flooring and paneling. I rap on the door and wait for Alpha Jon to respond.

When he does, I enter and close the door behind me. As I approach his desk, I drop my head in reverence.

"Alpha," I say, pausing for a second before lifting my head. Alpha Jon gives me a kind grin.

"Please sit down, Sienna," he says, motioning to a chair in front of his desk.

"I'm assuming your mother explained why you're here?"

"To meet a man who will be joining our pack for a while?" I respond, to which Alpha Jon nods.

Alpha Jon is in his early forties, married to our wonderful Luna, Tia, and the couple has three offspring.

"Yes. Now, I don't want you to be alarmed, but I think you should know that this man is from the Black Mountain pack," he says, his eyes scrutinizing me.

"Excuse me, sir?" I mumble. I was really taken aback.

The Black Mountain pack is the most dangerous to our pack; they are vicious and often threaten other packs for territory. They killed the Clearwater pack for their territory only last year. They had apparently requested nicely initially, and then taken the territory by force when the Alpha refused.

Their Alpha Fane is vicious and ruthless. He is eager for land, and we are fortunate that they do not value our area. We are never permitted to enter their land, and no one would want to since it is said that trespassers are slaughtered on sight.

"I understand it may appear frightening, but this man is actually very friendly and polite," Alpha Jon adds. He was frantically wringing his hands.

"Why did you agree to it?" I blurted out, briefly losing my place.

Alpha Jon continues, "His Alpha was very persuasive," and I realize Alpha Fane must have threatened him.

"Anyway, his name is Cade, and he'll be with us for two weeks, working for Doctor Greene; it appears that in order to qualify as a pack doctor, he must practice outside of his own pack."

"How about work experience?"

"Exactly like that." To pass his test, he needs a recommendation from us. Alpha Jon says that it will only be for two weeks.

I get the impression that our pack was picked because none of the other packs would agree.

"Um, okay, that's fine," I say hesitantly.

When I meet him, I'm not sure what to expect.

"I've informed everyone that he's from another pack. You are the only one who knows the truth about his origins, and I would want to keep it that way. "It'll cause alarm and probably cause a lot of problems for Cade," Alpha Jon says. "However, I'd like to keep an eye on him at first." Keep him on the property so that if he tries anything, you'll be protected."

I softly nod.

"I just need you to show him around and make him feel at ease." Don't worry, he'll be staying at my place."

"All OK. I have a brief question. Why me, sir?"

"You are one of the pack's most tolerant members. I know that if he revealed which pack he actually belongs to, others would not take it well," he responds, and I am glad that he has picked me.

"All right, if you're ready, go meet him now." He works in the practice with Doctor Greene."

I thank Alpha Jon and proceed right across the plaza to the pack's medical facility, pushing through the double doors and approaching the receptionist as she sits behind her desk.

"Hi, I'm looking for Cade. He's new here," I say, and she grins.

"Doctor Greene informed me that you were on your way. "They're in room 2," she says, motioning to a door behind me.

I thank her and knock on the door, entering when Doctor Greene says so.

Doctor Greene is in her forties, with reddish red hair and lovely brown eyes, and next to her is who I assume is Cade, who isn't what I was anticipating.

Every member of the Black Mountain pack seemed ominous and frightening, with several tattoos or scars or whatever.

Cade is approximately 6 feet tall, with light brown hair that falls to his shoulders and pale grey eyes that aren't frightening in the least; he's well-built and clearly works out, but he doesn't appear like a Black Mountain pack member, with no piercings, tattoos, or scars.

"Hi, I'm Cade," he says, smiling and extending his hand for me to shake.

Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine shaking hands with a member of the Black Mountain pack.

"I'm Sienna, nice to meet you," I say, gently shaking his hand.

"It's great to see you again, Sienna." "If you two want to go out today, Cade's finished his training," Doctor Greene says, and I agree, leading Cade out to the square.

"So, what are your plans?" Do you want to go on a tour?" I turn to face him, my gaze drawn to his.

He's nothing what I anticipated.

He grins at me and says, "Um, sure, that sounds great."

Cade is extremely courteous and shows real interest in everything I tell him about the structures and our pack's history as I begin to tour him about the pack. It doesn't take long since our pack is so tiny.

For a short minute, I wonder whether he's been brought here to collect something.

They want information on us so they can attack our pack, but after witnessing how kind he's been today, I find that hard to believe.

We meet up at a coffee shop on the territory and talk about our life for two hours; I find myself laughing most of the time since we have so much in common and he's quite hilarious.

He speaks mostly about his hobbies, and he avoids my queries about his family, but I find that he's twenty-two, and he doesn't get along with his parents, especially his father, which I can identify to.

When I ask him whether his pack kills trespassers on sight, he says that it only happens if they are judged a danger, although executions are common in his pack.

I invite him over to my home for supper, determined to make him feel comfortable. My parents enjoy him, particularly my father when he discovers Cade has no interest in me. I find it amusing how pleasant and welcoming my parents are to him, oblivious to whatever pack he hails from.

They would never allow him into the home, much alone seat at the dinner table, if they knew.

Later that evening, after Cade has left, I contact Cass and Kayla to let them know how he is; I'm meeting with the ladies tomorrow, and I plan to bring Cade with us so they can meet him.

When Cade finished practice after noon, I picked him up.

"Hi! How are you doing?" I inquire, drawing him into a hug.

When he embraces me back, I raise up onto my tiptoes; I've never had any man buddies this tall before.

"All OK, thanks. So, how about you? How did you spend your day?" He asks, and I grin because he's so nice.

I take us to Cass's home, introduce them, and they all get along well, exactly as I expected.

We spend the next few hours conversing and watching TV, and I feel a little bad for criticizing Cade before I met him; I expected him to be this furious, intimidating dickhead, but he's really extremely lovely and courteous.

He says that he enjoys being able to speak to us females for a change since practically all of the girls in his pack are mated, making it difficult to be friends with them without jealous mates interfering.

I'm glad he's come to visit our pack; he's definitely made life more interesting for us all. I'm surprised Cass and Kayla haven't made a move on him yet, he's very attractive, but he's not my type; he's too sweet for me, but I enjoy his company a lot.

We decide to take a ladies' night out on Saturday night, along with Cade. Cade relaxes more as he tells us about his demanding father and how he's never felt like he belongs in with his pack. He no longer tells us about his life back home, and he never talks about it.

Kayla and I go have drinks as Cassie takes Cade to the dance floor.

"Poor Cade, she's eating him alive," Kayla says as we stand there watching Cassie grind on Cade.

As I see the flush on his cheeks, I bust out laughing.

"She's doing it on purpose, bless him." I groan, he's not my type.

I'm always blushing; I can't be with a man who is also always blushing; we'll be miserable together.

"She is," Kayla adds, "just wait until she meets her mate, he'll definitely meet his match with her." She meant that as a compliment, and I wish I was as tough as Cassie.

"I know, Goddess save him because he's going to have his work cut out for him," I chuckle, paying for the beverages.

We get the beverages and return to Cade, where Cass has happily removed her claws.