The Red Moon Pack

Season One. Chapter 5.

She stood in front of the dark mahogany desk, eyes set on Alpha Gabriel. She ignored everyone else that was in the room, not bothering to look around at them, even when they spoke. She just focused on the one person and that was in the end the highest ruler of the territory she was in. Finally, she was out of the hospital, but now, here she was, standing in the Alpha’s office, waiting to find out what was going to happen to her. It had only been a week since she woke, but her body was fast healing all of a sudden and Doctor Shelt thinks she is good to do what she wanted… within the ruling of the Alpha of course.

She was not happy when she found out that she had been taking wolfbane all her life. She had not even known and she knew it must have been put in her drinks or food. Of course Lord Vincent may or may not know, but if he knew, she felt a bit broken, knowing he weakened her. What did he fear? That she would rebel against him. Maybe because his brother had all those years ago, but she was not a threat to him, to nobody, and it was sad to know he may have done this.

It seemed, while she did not say too much, the Alpha could understand a lot. He had spoken with Sy, who was still in the cells and found out as much as she knew, so there was nothing more to say other then they knew as much as she did. Adira, a name given to her by Lord Vincent, and her age was all that was known. Witches had tried to find more details about her, but they failed, only confirming her birthdate by her inner being, the stars and a few other tricks they had. They could not figure out who her parents were, her birth pack, nothing. She was a lost child, bought up by a Vampire Lord and not trusted by anyone it seemed.

She did not blame them really, though she did not trust or like them due to the treatment she received in the Cell. If she had thought Vampires could be a danger to her, she was quickly learning that all beings could be. Werewolves were just as bad. Yet, that did not stop her from doing what she did best, helping people.

They wanted to know why she helped that Guard, when it could have cost her life. Adira, she really did not give them the whole truth, she did not need the pity, so really, all she gave them was that she knew what to do and so she did it. She always helped, and she was experienced with that type of stuff. They had been confused and so she did admit, that living with the Vampires, she had been requested a few times to do the same treatment for the Semen Coven when one returned from a werewolf attack. Alpha Gabriel had not liked the idea of that, knowing that there was a way to save Vampires from werewolf venom, and she of course thought it was ridiculous to expect it the other way, considering it worked for extracting Vampire venom. Granted, she had not expected the Vampire venom to be so toxic, even if Lord Vincent injected her with some weekly to try and build a resistance to it. That venom had been strong and that was the point in which she caused the Alpha and his leaders to feel worry.

The attack, the Vampires that bit their guard, were not from the Semen Coven. She knew that scent that had been on the werewolf, she did not say too much on that either, but she did tell them honestly who the scent belonged to. It was the Mortem Coven. If they feared Lord Vincent, then they had things to learn.

Adira had to give them a history lesson. Semen Coven was widely known, and they were strong and dangerous. However, Mortem Coven was true to it’s name. Death in Latin. The Vampire who ruled that coven… he was called Dark Lord by his people. His name was Alexanda and he was in fact the brother of Lord Vincent. He left Semen Coven over two hundred years ago and in silence he had been building an army. He was ruthless, evil and his Vampires of the Mortem Coven were dangerous, more dangerous then the Semen coven. However, she could advise that they were not as smart. Their thirst for blood clouded their logical thinking and so Lord Vincent had always been able to keep them at bay. She could not explain why they had come all the way to the Redmoon Pack, but she knew they needed to be careful. With one attack… there would always be more.

“I do no trust you.” Alpha Gabriel stated.

“I do not expect you to, but my truth is I am here not to harm.” Adira replied before he said more.

“Even so, you can understand that all I want to do is protect my people.” He continued like she had said nothing at all. “So… we will allow you to stay… as a trial. My Luna refuses to allow you to leave and go back. In saying this, you will live in the Pack house, and where ever you go, a guard will be with you. Not for your protection, but to make sure you do no wrong.”

“I will not be a problem for you.” She stated honestly.

“I expect you to attend schooling… I suppose the Vampires did not send you to school?” he asked.

“Self taught with the help of Lady Cindy.” Adira advised.

“School is different then anything else you will experience. I expect you to behave yourself there, no trouble is to come from you and somebody will be always watching you.” Alpha Gabriel explained to her seriously. “My son Sebastian, he is learning to become Alpha and will take over in a few years. His friends, Maximus, Nathanial and Kinley who are also learning leadership roles. They will be making sure you stay in line at school.”

“Can you promise Nathanial wont put hand to cheek again?” she asked daringly.

“He will not.” Alpha Gabriel said with narrow eyes.

“Then I shall not have any problems and wont need to cause trouble by having to defend myself. After all, a girl should know some self defence right.” Adira claimed.

“Who trained you self defence?” he asked her curiously.

“Lord Vincent. Clearly it does not always work, but I do hold a good punch here and there.” She said.

“Very well.” He said with a nod. “One last thing young lady… while you are here, it is NOT free living. I expect you to find some job to put effort into my pack. You will earn your keep.”

“I am sure I can find something to help out.” She replied.

“Good. You may leave, my Luna is outside the office waiting with my daughter Abagail. They will show you to the place you will stay and discuss the laws of our Pack.” Alpha Gabriel told her, she nodded and turned to leave but stopped when he spoke again. “By the way… when is your birthday Adira? For our information and school enrolments.”

“September fourth.” She told him with a nod.

Adira had walked out of the office, not once glancing at the rest in the room, even though she knew they were staring at her. Like Alpha Gabriel had said, a woman and a girl was waiting out in the hall way. They were talking, smiling and the moment she walked out of the office, they straightened up and looked at her. The girl was frowning, clearly not sure about her. The woman on the other hand gave her a great big smile, stepped forwards and pulled Adira into a warm hug. This shocked her… all her life… she had not been hugged like that. She never had a mother… it was warm and nice, but she could not let it last long. Shyness overcame her and she pulled away slightly, looking down at the ground embarrassed.

If there was one thing about Adira, it was in front of serious matters, in front of trouble, she could be strong and not show weakness. Yet in truth, she was always weak, always nervous and fearful of what was before her. She never had any friends or anyone who cared about her, none but Cindy and she was always careful around anyone else. She did not like people to see the weaker side of her, but she was and it was the truth and right then and there, getting that hug had made that strength fade away.

Luna Iras was a lovely woman though, she welcome Adira so willingly, so warmly and she showed her around the pack house. Adira knew she was getting strange looks, and Luna Iras acting fast introduced her to anyone that asked as a niece who was coming to stay with them for a while. It was half believable, seeing as now the Vampire scent was no longer embedded to her. What Adira did find out as they showed her around was that the girl, the Alpha’s daughter had a twin and they were fifteen. Though they would be turning sixteen in June, so they were just a few months older then her.

The room she would be staying in was not small but not massive either. There was a double bed and bedsides against one wall. Across was a tall boy and desk side by side. On the wall to the side was a two seat lounge near a window and on the other side wall were two doors. A small walk in and a personal bathroom. The only space in the room to move around was the space between the furniture. No room for dancing or working out in there. It was smaller then the room she had at the Semen Coven Castle, but she did not mind either. Adira was sure she would find a privet place to keep up her training and work outs.

After spending some time in the room, there had been a knock on the door and the girl, Abagail was standing there. She looked scared and would not make eye contact. She did hold out a bag in both hands, up to Adira.

“These are some spare stuff I do not wear… my mother… says we look the same size, I'm just some what.. taller.” She said.

“I appreciate it…” Adira said. “And please… you can look at me, I am not going to hurt you or anything… I might… be strange… but I am a teen like you… confused and lost with life.”

Abagail looked up at Adira then, searching her face and then a tiny smile came over her lips. That made Adira feel good. It was strange, how she liked it when the girl smiled at her. Was this what having a friend her own age was like? Not that they could be called friends, they only just met and did not even know each other very well, but it was still a nice feeling. They were silent for a moment before a boy came up behind Abagail full of energy and smiles.

“OH! So you are the chick who lived with the blood suckers!” he grinned from ear to ear.

“Maybe.” She said. “You must be the twin… of course even though you are born first, you are more simple then you sister.”

Silence filled the air between the three of them and Adira felt that maybe she had over stepped it. She shifted her arms that had been by her side and hugged herself, thinking it would be a good moment to close the door and escape their looks. However, Adira had misjudge it. As her heart pounded in worry, the boy, who’s name she was not aware of, burst into a roar of laughter and Abagail grinned widely. The boy put an elbow on his sisters shoulder and then held out a hand. Adira stepped back a little, looking at it and not sure she should take it. But after taking a moments breath she stepped forward again and took his hand, shaking it.

“I am Leonardo, but you can call me Leo for short.” He said all chilled out. “I like your spice… don’t worry I wont think you are strange. I think you are cool. Living with Vamps and flighting guards. You are a tough cookie.”

“Only when I need to be.” Adira admitted.

“Well, I can kind of see that… you are unsure about us as much we you. I get it, strong front to protect yourself. Good choice.” He nodded. “Anyway, you have us two losers now to deal with, so you’ll learn to enjoy this place.”

“I am not a loser.” Abagail gasped.

“No… actually… we are not, but we are fun!” Leonardo claimed. “Anyway, I am heading off to training, so I’ll catch you all later.”

“You are training… as in battle training?” Adira asked curious.

“Yeah… and I can tell you’d be interested in that… but maybe… gain the trust of my father first… before you come check the training out.”

“Oh….” Adira said with disappointment.

“Chill Adi… I can call you that right? Anyway… I think you’ll like this place and I think in time my father will like you. You are different, but you are a good seed, I can tell.” Leonardo told her.

“Thanks….” She replied, not sure what else to say.

Leonardo grinned from ear to air and turned, walking back down the hall. Adira would have loved to see the training, but his words were true. She hardly had been here long enough to be trusted by this pack and so her showing up at training would not be a good thing. It looked like she had to do it on her own.

She liked both the twins. Leonardo seemed like a chilled out person and Abagail seemed ok, unsure, but nice. They both looked alike, same mouse brown hair, brown eyes. Leonardo was in inch taller then his sister, but it was clear they were twins. So far, they had been the nicest two of the pack and she hoped she would get along with them ok.

In the end, she asked Abagail if there was a garden anywhere and found out there was one out the back of the packhouse. Adira asked if she could show her to it and Abagail agreed. They walked through the pack house and out through the back door. The back garden was massive. It was protected by solid concrete walls but hosted three different sections. The first part as stepping out from the door was the clean grass. The section to the left was full of native flowers and other plants. The space to the right was home to a large willow tree. That was perfect. Abagail left her be, heading back into the pack house and Adira walked over to the tree.

She placed a hand on the trunk, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath. She smiled to herself, feeling the calm of nature and the energy it gave. Opening her eyes, she looked around, seeing a decent sized stick that had fallen to the ground, Adira picked it up and started to use it to help her with movement. Like it was a weapon in battle, she started working on her training, on her own, not even noticing the eyes that were watching her from the other part of the yard or from an upstairs window of the park house.