Chasing Luna

Improbablities

:Kai:

I can practically hear Charlie’s thoughts as he quietly grunts while getting dressed. He is convinced this meeting will end in a Challenge, and while I can’t disagree I have higher hopes. No Alpha known before has gone unmated for 8 years. The oldest unmated Alphas were usually due to the early death of a mate before she turned 18 and then they wait for a Second Chance mate or a new bond with a lost mate female. Either of which typically happened before the Alpha turned 20. Should an Alpha lose a mate after 20, they died in heartbreak or challenge. Unmated males had only their own strength and desire to pull from. Mated pairs were stronger, physically and emotionally. They had someone to lean on, talk to, and fight to the death for. While the Alpha position gave a wolf a whole pack to fight for, it was still necessary for the Alpha to have a mate to share the burden with. Lunas protected the pack pups, the future of the Pack as a whole. Keeping the pups in line and being the only one capable of challenging the Alpha to protect the future generations without destroying the hierarchy and mate bond. It was simply the way of the Goddess, she took care of her packs. Unmated Alphas couldn’t continue their line and so would die out otherwise, leaving packs of rogue wolves. Alphas were born of Alphas or gained the position through Challenge. Challenge was the Goddess’s way of ridding the wolves of weak leaders, Alphas who had become corrupt and wanted power instead of leading and caring for their subordinates. It wasn’t a perfect system, sometimes corruption led on for a few generations, and sometimes a power-hungry wolf won a Challenge; but it worked better than most human governments did.

I heard the frustrated sigh as Charlie came out of his room and closed the door. I came to attention at the top of the stairs as he came down the hall and waited until he was a pace ahead of me and then followed him down the three flights of stairs. The Alpha’s house was unearthly quiet, which was pretty standard actually. With three practically empty floors and only one Housekeeper, my mate and one pup were hardly enough to fill the manor. 8 long years of silence in this house, I wasn’t sure I would even welcome the sounds of a full house at this point. But then, after today, it may not even matter. Charlie hadn’t been challenged by a packmate higher than Hunter before, and even then they were usually wolves we had absorbed from smaller packs in either battle or treaty. Other Alphas had of course challenged his authority, and many had even offered treaties to absorb part or all of our pack since Charlie was unmated, and those offers had come every month for 2 years after Charlie turned 21 and still hadn’t found his mate. When those offers started coming in, so did the Challenges. And it’s not as though we weren’t searching, every time we offered a treaty or responded to one we brokered for public meetings, under the guise of a possible challenge but more so he could set eyes on every female in attendance or hopefully catch a scent he found compelling. But nothing! And we hadn’t stopped searching since. We went to every Naming ceremony in the country and many overseas...it seemed hopeless. But Charlie was a good leader, a great Alpha, strong fighter, and so far impossible to beat, no one had come close in a Challenge. But I was worried about today, if it came to a challenge, which it probably would, it would be close. Jacob and Charlie had fought with each other, they knew each other’s tricks and methods. It would be a hard fight, and though I had faith in Charlie and knew he would win regardless, I was afraid he wouldn’t be the same. If he killed Jacob, he would change.

:Charlie:

As we started towards the meeting grounds in the nearby forest I let my mind wander.

I went over my lists again and reminded myself a dozen times to keep my cool as long as possible to avoid killing Jacob. This would be a fairly private meeting, maybe a dozen or so extra witnesses who were simply curious about what would happen. No need to really prove myself, no pack expectations of Challenge, no private mind link encouragements for Jacob, no insults thrown into my own mind causing me to rage or doubt myself. I was as prepared as I could be for every contingency Kai and I had discussed, and a small part of me wished that Jacob would succeed and end the misery from my lack of a Mate and these tiresome coup attempts.

Kai tapped me on the shoulder as we reached the clearing in the trees that marked our pack meeting place and challenge ring. I broke free of my reveries and looked around...