Alpha's Solace (Black Moon Saga Book 1)

Unexpected Guests

Adam sighs and shifts in his office chair, preparing to dive into the stack of paperwork that has been piling up all week while he was away dealing with the new hotel that just opened down in Arizona. As the eldest grandson of the founder and CEO of Solace Hotels, and since he is currently the Alpha of the Spirit Moon pack which inhabits the territory where the original Solace Hotel is still located, it was expected that Adam attend that grand opening just like all the ones before. It comes as part of the responsibilities when becoming Alpha of this pack and has always been part of the obligations of belonging to this family.

It’s not like he doesn’t appreciate the family business, because he does. After all, it is not only what keeps tens of dozens of packs across North America financially secure, but it is also what keeps the peace between many packs and other shifters and supernaturals across the continent. And where it is unable to keep the peace, it at least provides some rest to those at war or running for their lives and needing a place to recuperate and gather supplies. That’s because Solace Hotels is not your ordinary run-of-the-mill chain of hotels.

Centuries ago, a group of some of the most powerful supernaturals in the world joined forces intending to put an end to many of the generations-old conflicts that had put all supernaturals at risk of being discovered by humans. As part of their coalition, they created neutral territories around the globe that can be used by all supernaturals. That group of powerful beings, which included vampires, magic casters, fae, and shifters of all sorts then went on to become the original Council of Supernaturals, who are to this day still responsible for keeping order in the world and working to protect secrets from humans by making and enforcing the rules by which all in the supernatural world live.

One of the most important rules prohibits fighting within the boundaries of the neutral territories, making them the perfect places for anyone at war, fleeing their homes looking for sanctuary, or just wanting to make connections with other beings like themselves to acquire whatever it is they may have need of. There is also little risk of humans coming to these locations because of the spells woven into their soil and structures. The magic is unsettling for all intruders and causes the entire area to exude a pungent odor that targets humans, making them violently ill and rendering them unconscious if they get too close.

About a century and a half ago, Adam’s grandfather came up with the idea to upgrade the basic amenities of the neutral territories by converting the camps, trade centers, and infirmaries into hotels that could be managed by the local supernatural populations. The hotels would provide safe, private places where all supernaturals could find lodging and medical care, trade for supplies, and build alliances and relationships in comfort. His plan received overwhelming support from The Council, and his family has been held in high esteem and tasked with overseeing the project ever since.

Aldric Brentwood named his hotel chain “Solace Hotels” to reflect his intent to provide a luxurious place of solace and sanctuary for all who need it. His family has personally been running the very first Solace Hotel, a grand building that also serves as the Spirit Moon packhouse, for three generations now. The Spirit Moon territory surrounds the boundary of the neutral territory, allowing the pack to provide extra security to the area, and includes the town that has been built up within the neutral territory that they call home.

Adam is proud to come from such a well-known, respected family of werewolves, and is also proud to be the current Alpha of one of the few packs permitted to take up permanent residence in these territories, but sometimes all the pomp and circumstance and smiling for the camera gets a little tiring.

He’s been especially sick of all the formal events that require his attendance over the past years since his chosen mate and the mother of his child left him for her true mate. He was happy for her when she found her mate, and they parted as friends, but that doesn’t change the fact that her leaving created a void in his life. Now without someone on his arm to keep him company and share the spotlight, all the attention just doesn’t hold the same appeal that it once did, and he finds it annoying how much it keeps him away from his home, his son, and all the work around his pack that is actually important to him.

“Alpha?”

His brooding thoughts are interrupted when one of the omegas, a young man whose name always seems to escape him, pokes his head in the office and calls to him uncertainly.

“Yes?” Adam responds expectantly, wondering what needs his attention now.

“You might want to come downstairs and see for yourself,” the man responds hastily, “but, uh, a young girl just arrived in the lobby. A human girl and a baby, and we don’t know what to do with them or how she even made it here without getting sick. They’re not supposed to be able to do that, right?”

Adam sighs once more, and then nods. “Alright, I’ll come see. And no, they’re not supposed to be able to do that, but I’m skeptical that she’s actually human. I’ll come sort it out, though. You’re dismissed.”

The omega bows his head respectfully and then leaves the doorway.

Adam stands from his chair, runs his fingers through his shaggy black hair that is badly in need of a trim, and then heads out the door and toward the stairs to the lobby. Though the hotel is six stories and he has the option to use the elevator, he prefers not to. For some reason it always makes him feel like a caged animal, and he prefers the feel of his own two feet carrying him where he needs to go.

He arrives in the lobby a few minutes later to the sight of a young girl who looks to be about eight or nine years old sitting on the floor holding an infant. Noticing that the baby smells distinctly like a werewolf, he frowns as he wonders who the parents might be. He has always tried to make a point of getting to know every family in his pack and keeping himself apprised of when there is a birth or death, but this boy he does not recognize.

He also notices that none of the pack wolves who would usually be roaming the first floor this time of day nor any of the current guests are anywhere to be seen. He makes a mental note to cover proper protocols for when a suspected human unexpectedly enters the territory at the next pack meeting, though of course first he would have to come up with said protocols as this has never actually happened before.

The girl has removed her coat and outer clothes, except for the large, navy blue winter hat that remains on her head. She has also unbundled the baby from his snowsuit, and their discarded clothes are piled neatly on the floor next to them. She’s murmuring softly to the baby and rocking him gently back and forth as Adam approaches.

He looks again at how she has her hat c****d slightly to one side and it looks to be about to fall off, but she doesn’t seem to be bothered by this. Her only focus is on the baby. It’s impressive how someone so young seems so adept at caring for an infant.

His goal is to study her discreetly while she’s distracted to get some sense of what she might be. Sure enough, she looks and smells human, but how can this be? She shouldn’t have been able to come this far into the neutral territory without becoming ill, but she seems totally fine.

She must be the true mate of an Alpha, his wolf, Kieran, offers an explanation inside his mind.

That’s a good point and is really the only conceivable explanation that makes sense. The only circumstance where a human is immune to the ancient spells that protect the neutral territories is when she is the fated mate of an Alpha, which was included in the spell-weaving as a failsafe, despite the rarity of such a circumstance. It would be tragic for an Alpha to fail to discover his true mate simply because she couldn’t get to him, or to not be able to bring her home to be his Luna because of the magic’s effect on humans.

As Adam considers this, it clicks in his mind what is probably going on. The girl is likely to be the mate of his son, Marcus, Spirit Moon’s future Alpha. The only way to know for sure is to wait for them both to come of age, which will happen for Marc in nine years when he turns 18.

Feeling cautiously optimistic that perhaps this mystery has been solved and the girl is nothing more than she appears to be, Adam decides to move closer to the two children on the floor.

As he comes within just a few feet, she looks up at him with a pair of bright, piercing hazel eyes partially hidden behind the few strands of her ash-blonde hair that have come loose from her hat, and watches with interest as he sits himself down cross-legged on the floor near them. She doesn’t appear to be frightened, but she doesn’t seem completely at ease either as she clutches the baby protectively to herself.

“Hi there,” he starts, making sure to keep his deep, resonating voice sounding light and friendly. “My name is Adam Brentwood, and this is where I live. Can you tell me your name and how old you are?”

He can't help asking her age, now curious how many years remain until she comes of age. The prospect that he might be sitting face-to-face with his son's future mate is too exciting to resist.

The girl considers him for a moment, searching his bearded face and chocolate brown eyes for signs that he means her any harm. Finding none, she relaxes slightly before answering him.

“I’m Kylie, and this is my brother Jonah. I’m nine years old,” she lies, worrying that Mama might get in trouble if someone finds out that she left a baby with such a young child, and figuring that nine sounds old enough to take care of a baby.

Then she adds, “I’ve been to this town before, and I remembered the way to get here even though Papa drove the car last time and this time I had to walk. Jonah’s heavy.”

Adam chuckles, but is intrigued that she claims to have been here before. It’s also concerning that these children may have been out in the cold for too long since she walked them here. And the girl is a human, who are notorious for not being able to tolerate the cold for long.

“Who’s your Papa, Kylie?” he wonders.

“His name is David and he’s a doctor, I think. He had to go to work at night but never came back. Do you know where he went?”

Adam knows quite well who she might be talking about, the pack’s shaman, a man named David Wallace who is studied and skilled in both modern medicine and ancient healing arts and herbology. His concern deepens as he remembers seeing a memo on his desk a bit ago about how David failed to show up for his last few assigned shifts and there has been no response to anyone who has tried paging him.

By his recollection, David married a woman named Olivia a few years back. Because she was human and would not be able to live inside the protected town, David relocated to one of the cabins in the woods outside the protected zone but still within the pack territory.

But that doesn’t answer the question of how they ended up with a human child. The girl is calling him Papa, but as a werewolf, David wouldn’t have been able to have children with a human. And the baby? Sure, it could be David’s, but then who is the mother? A human cannot bear a wolf’s pups, and a werewolf cannot father a human child. To Adam’s knowledge, David opted not to complete the mating ritual and risk Olivia dying in the shift, and she was never turned. So, where did these children come from?

Obviously, David has been hiding a few things, he thinks to himself.

Returning his attention to the girl in front of him, who is expectantly waiting for his response, he tells her, “No, I’m sorry, sweetheart. I do know your Papa, but I don’t know where he has gone. Can you tell me where your mother is?”

Kylie looks disappointed, and then responds, “No, I don’t know that either. When Papa didn’t come home, Mama had to go to town for the things we need and now she didn’t come back too.”

A single, small tear slips out of the corner of her eye as she sighs and continues, “She didn’t want to leave us, but somebody had to go, so I stayed with Jonah. When the little hand gets to the red numbers he needs another bottle but now his milk is almost all gone and I didn’t know what to do so I came here even though I’m not supposed to go outside and now you don’t know either.”

Her explanation comes pouring out faster and faster, and so do her tears.

Adam reaches out to take the baby from her with one hand and pull her in for a comforting hug with the other. She’s trembling, but he’s not sure if it’s from the cold or her anxiety about her parents. As he holds her, he realizes there is something about this girl that is affecting him strangely, and he can even feel Kieran pacing restlessly in his mind.

We need to help her, Kieran growls. We need to protect her. She’s our responsibility.

Adam silently agrees with his wolf and vows to himself to never let this sweet child experience discomfort or sorrow like this ever again if he can help it.

With the mysteries of what could have happened to her parents as well as why they hid the children from the pack still on his mind, Adam links some of his pack members for assistance. He tells his Beta and best friend, Thomas Sullivan, to organize a search party for Olivia, fearing that she may have fallen ill attempting to get into the town and may be somewhere in need of medical assistance. Then he makes preparations with his staff for Kylie and Jonah to stay with him at the hotel for a short time until he finds some answers about where their parents have gone or something more permanent can be arranged.

An omega girl comes to take Jonah and get him fed and changed in the pack nursery. With the baby taken care of, Adam turns his attention back to Kylie, who is still clinging to him, though she has calmed down some. Until someone comes to take her to a guest room and help her change into some warm, dry clothes, he is content to hold her and give her what little comfort he can offer without knowing how to return her to her parents.

He holds her gently against his chest and rubs her back soothingly, noticing when her shirt shifts slightly that she has a birthmark on the top of her left shoulder peaking out. Musing that it is shaped vaguely like a wolf, he adjusts her shirt to cover her properly once again and snuggles her a bit closer, smiling softly to himself when he feels her sigh contentedly and relax against him.

Later that evening, Kylie joins Adam and Marc for dinner, and the moment the two children meet they immediately hit it off. It seems like a sort of preliminary confirmation of Adam’s suspicions about the two that they get along so naturally together. He feels content for the first time in a while just sitting and listening to the sound of the children giggling together and enjoying each other’s company.

He also can’t help contemplating how sometimes the whole idea of fated mates can be such a royal pain in the ass, but other times it seems as though the Moon Goddess gets it exactly right. It's impossible not to appreciate even just for a moment whatever powers in the universe brought this girl to his doorstep and made sure that Marc would never have to endure the same pain and loneliness that has plagued his father all these years.