The Runaway Luna

Chapter 3

Ross’s POV

The sun was already shining brightly when I awoke the next morning, as evidenced by the light streaming through the windows into the alpha suite. It would probably be another lovely Autumn day for the Harvest Moon pack, if I actually cared about such things. I’m sure my pack members will be happy, though.

I reach towards the other side of the bed, very interested in another round of lovemaking with my brand new mate. Last night with the timid little thing had been quite an eye opener, as she seemed to have hidden depths of passion once I rid her of her virginity, and I was eager for more. Lots more. Only she isn’t there.

I get out of bed and carefully peek into the bathroom, since I don’t wish to startle my timid little mate. She isn’t there, either. I suppose she went down to breakfast. We never did eat any dinner last night, so she is probably starved to death after the hours we spent having s*x. That must be the reason!

I contemplate last night as I shave and shower, and then dress carefully in my usual somber tones. I prefer to look cool and imposing at all times. No nonsense. I can never be too sure that I’m not being observed by my enemies, so I must look as if I’m in complete control all the time.

I am far more pleased with Julia than I let on. She is just the sort of mate I need. Timid. Biddable. And surprisingly passionate! Plus she tastes divine, like a decadent dessert. Chocolate, caramel, and something else. Something just a little bit salty. I could happily lap up her delicious love juices all day long.

Julia’s body seemed very small and delicate at first, but she is surprisingly strong. Not stronger than I am, naturally, but when she tried to shove me away I could feel that she was much stronger than she appeared to be. The loose dress she had worn must have given me the impression that she was a thin and sickly she wolf. It had certainly done little to showcase her toned muscles and her delightful, but modest curves.

I know I was a bit of an asshole last night, but until I can be absolutely sure of Julia, I will consider her an enemy. I must show her no weakness. She must be loyal to only me, and my pack. She is no longer a member of Clear Lake, so all ties to them must be broken off whether she wishes it or not!

I wonder what sort of stories my mother is probably telling Julia about my childhood this very moment? What secrets my stupid younger brother Jeff might be spilling to her eager ears? I decide I better hurry downstairs and see for myself, but in a dignified manner. I must not let her think for even one moment that I care about her or even think about her if she is not right there before my eyes.

As soon as I reached the breakfast room I noted that my entire family was present, as well as my officers. I scan the entire room. Only Julia isn’t there.

“Where is Julia?” My mother inquires immediately. “You really must bring her down and let her eat, the poor girl! She is much too thin already.”

“She’s not here?” I ask, stunned. But no one claims to have seen her since I dragged her upstairs last night. Certainly no one has seen her this morning. Damn it all!

“Maybe she’s out in the garden?” My brother Jeff suggests. “We should organize a team to search for her, in case she got lost in our unfamiliar territory.”

That is a surprisingly good idea from my usually idiotic brother! I do as he suggests, and also get the omegas to search inside the pack house as well. I want to leave no leaf unturned in the search for my mate! She has to be around here somewhere. There is nowhere else for her to go.

“You might want to check security footage as well,” my mother adds, sounding worried.

Yeah! We need to do that! Somehow that skinny little she-b***h has got under my skin, and now I can’t concentrate properly.

I get together with my officers Lewis, Larry, and Terry, and we go check the security footage. Eventually we spot her on the grainy camera footage leaving the pack house, naked, and carrying a small satchel just before 3 am in the morning.

“Oh, yeah!” Lewis says at the beautiful sight of my naked mate. “Look at that fine shapely ass, and those perfect little t**s! She’s a lot better looking without her clothes on, you lucky bastard!”

I punch my Beta hard on the arm at his indiscreet appraisal of my mate, and he grumbles as he rubs his sore arm. Then we turn our attention back to the security footage and watch as she slips the satchel around her shoulders and then promptly shifts into a beautiful little she wolf. She quickly runs off, heading due west without a single glance back.

I curse the grainy black and white footage, as well as my dead father who was too cheap to upgrade to full color. I want to know what color my mates wolf was! And maybe I wanted a clearer look at her beautifully toned body before she shifted. Lewis wasn’t wrong, and I had a hard on just from watching her on the pathetic little screen.

“Why do you suppose she went in that direction?” My Gamma Larry asks out loud. “Isn’t Clear Lake north of here?”

“She must be trying to throw us off her trail,” I muse out loud after I think for a minute. “She probably turned north just as soon as she got off of our territory. I’ll call her father in a few hours and demand that he send our Luna back ASAP. Alpha Gabe obviously won’t want to go to war with us again over his scrawny little daughter.”

Lewis, Larry, and Terry agree with my assessment of the situation, although we continue to search the territory just in case. When Julia hasn’t been found by lunchtime, I finally decide I better call her father, as she should have reached her former home by now. Only that phone call didn’t go nearly as well as I hoped.

“Hey, Alpha Gabe,” I say congenially over the phone by way of a greeting. Then I get right to the point. “Alpha Ross here. Has your daughter Julia by any chance come home? We had a little spat after I accidentally broke her pearl necklace, and she seems to have run off in anger.”

“That damned little b***h knows better than to come back here!” Gabe growls over the phone. “She won’t be welcomed if she does. All the guards are under orders to beat her and send her away if she tries to set foot on our territory.”

“Wait, what?” I sputter, surprised at this new information. “Why would you do that to your own daughter?”

“Julia is my stepdaughter,” Gabe smugly informs me. “She’s nothing but a bastard! My mates teenage mistake. She claimed that she’d been raped, or something, I don’t really know or care. But the little bastard was foisted on me after I’d already marked and mated with her mother, so what was I supposed to do?”

“I see,” I say, absolutely stunned. Now I understand why Alpha Gabe was so eager for this deal. It solved several of his problems, didn’t it? “Well, could I possibly talk to your Luna, then? Maybe she’s heard from her daughter this morning?”

“My mate is dead, and has been for the last 4 months!” Gabe shouted angrily over the phone, and then the line suddenly went dead. I guess that explains why her mother didn’t attend the Luna Ceremony yesterday. And maybe why she was so upset about that damn necklace.

Wow! Okay, then. That was very unexpected! Julia is definitely not heading North to Clear Lake in that case. Unless she has friends waiting there to help her. But if the guards are under orders to beat her if she shows up, she probably won’t take that chance. Gabe is definitely a brutal sort, and so are his warriors.

I sit there and wonder what my mate intends to do in that case. Maybe once she realizes she has nowhere else to go, she will come crawling back to Harvest Moon with her tail between her legs.

And that idea prompts me to think of other things I’d like to have between her legs. Like me! It’s a very pleasant thought, but I need to have her back here and lying on her back, legs wide open, for that to happen! I won’t let her out of the Alpha suite for a week, after turning me into a fool like this! I’ll use her so hard tonight that she won’t be able to walk for a while, and I’ll give her so much pleasure she won’t consider leaving me ever again.

I think these happy thoughts for a while, but the stupid she wolf isn’t found anywhere on our territory despite a very thorough search. As night begins to fall, my temper begins to rise. It was one thing to be a scared little virgin, but I know I gave her plenty of pleasure last night! Why would she leave me?

She obviously hadn’t left me for a former lover, since nobody could fake being a virgin that convincingly. And she was too young to have met her fated mate. So that wasn’t it.

Then the phone in my pocket begins to ring. I look at the display, to see that it’s a number I dont recognize. It can only be HER!

“Come back now, and I will forgive you for making me look like a fool,” I say menacingly.

“I’m not going to come back,” I hear her say timidly. I growl impatiently at her refusal. And then she begins to say those most dreadful words imaginable. I never once suspected that she would have the guts to do this to me! “I, Luna Julia Roxann Wainwright of Harvest Moon pack…”

“Wait! No!” I begin to plead. “I’m sorry about the necklace. I promise to buy you a new one!”

“Reject you, Alpha Rosco Phillip Wainright of Harvest Moon pack,” she continued, undaunted.

“Please, don’t do this!” I beg.

“As my Alpha, and my mate,” she finished, and I began to scream, feeling so much pain in my heart that it was unbelievable that I should still be alive! “Goodbye, Alpha Ross.”

And then I hear the line go dead, as I writhe in pain on the floor. I think I may have even passed out for a few minutes.

If I ever find that skinny little b***h, I’ll kill her for this!