7. Silver Moon Pack
2336 Words
Grant
~
I drove from Red Moon for twelve hours toward Sliver Moon. I stopped three hours away knowing I couldn’t drive anymore. My ass hurt from sitting for so long. I had done this trip all kinds of f****d up to. To get to Silver Moon I had to go back into Montana. What the hell was I thinking weeks ago?
I was currently in Bozeman, Montana and needed to find dinner and a hotel. I found a Wendy’s and got food, then found a Day’s Inn to stay at overnight. Once I was in my room and had eaten my dinner, I showered. When I was done, I got my phone out and instead of messaging Madison, I called her. She answered on the third ring.
“Hey! What’s up?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing. I’m in a hotel room in Montana.”
“Why are you back in Montana?”
“Headed to Silver Moon in Wyoming. I f****d up this trip big time.”
She laughed and said, “Sounds like it.”
“What are you up to?”
“I’m out at our spot in the meadow looking at the stars. I haven’t been out here in a while and decided I needed it.”
“Well, then I’ll go look at the stars with you from where I’m at.”
“No wonder you're my best friend.”
“Damn right I am and you better not replace me while I’m gone,” I told her.
She laughed even more, then said, “Too bad there are already applications being filled out for the position.”
“The s**t there are,” I teased her and she laughed even more.
I stepped out of the hotel building and walked over to my vehicle. I lay on the hood of the green SUV and looked at the stars.
“Damn. You should see the Montana sky compared to the Texas sky.”
“Is it really that different?”
“Yeah. It’s bigger but there's light pollution because of the hotel parking lot.”
“Oh, that sucks.”
“Yeah, but this is nice. I needed this too,” I told her.
We lay there and looked at the sky from two different states and talked. We named the constellations that we saw as we lay there. I saw a comet and announced it. A few minutes later she saw it from where she was in the meadow. When it was time to go to bed, I told her goodnight and she answered back.
I went into the hotel and back to my room. I shut the lights off and crawled into bed. I settled on my back and closed my eyes to find sleep.
~
I woke up and had breakfast before heading out to Silver Moon. I texted Madison when I left the hotel and told her I only had three hours left to drive, then I would be at the next pack. I texted Samuel too to let him know when to expect me.
The last of the drive was scenic and I took pictures to send to Madison later tonight. It was so gorgeous out here and I enjoyed seeing the animals. There were bison that I stopped to take pictures of, then continued driving.
When I arrived at Silver Moon’s territory gates, I stopped and rolled my window down. The guard approached me, really looking at my face.
“Are you Alpha Grant?” he asked me.
Calling me Alpha was different. Eventually, that’s what I would be, but I didn’t even have one pack member yet.
“Yeah,” I said a little hesitantly.
He motioned for the gates to be opened and motioned me through. I drove through the gates and up to the packhouse, then parked out front. This Alpha and pack I didn’t really know. I have never been here, but my mom has been here a lot to help with pine beetles.
I let everyone know that I had arrived at Silver Moon, then got out of my vehicle. I looked at the packhouse as I stood there and saw that it was a large modern-looking wooden cabin nestled in the tall grass of the plains area.
As I admired the cabin-style packhouse, a man with blonde dreadlocks, a beard and tattoos came out the front door along with a woman with flaming red hair. He reminded me of my uncle Sean.
I walked up to him to see where I needed to go. I put my hand out to him and he took it and shook it in a firm grip. The grip of his hand shake told me everything I needed to. He was Alpha Samuel and instantly I knew I would get along with this guy.
“You must be Grant because you look like your father and Eric,” he said.
I laughed and said, “yeah.”
“I’m Alpha Samuel and this is Luna Scarlett. Go ahead and grab your bags so we can show you inside.”
I shook Scarlett's hand really quickly before turning to get my stuff from my vehicle. I followed them into the packhouse and up to the second floor. I was given a room and set my things down before following them down to his office. We all sat down, then started talking.
“I remember when your uncle Sean made his journey like you are doing,” Samuel said.
“Yeah. Following in his footsteps has been enlightening.”
“How so?” Samuel asked.
“I didn’t realize just how overcrowded some of the packs are getting.”
“Yes, that is an increasing issue,” Scarlett said.
“Also, it’s nice to see how different each pack is and the Alpha that runs it.”
“How many packs have you gone to that you haven’t visited before?”
“This will be my second but I know that they are all different based on the ones I know,” I stated.
“True. Do you have any questions for us before we show you around?” Samuel asked.
“What do you do for work out here?” I asked.
“I own a large cattle business that has been in my family for generations. The land here has oil rigs, so that helps fund the pack too.”
“Gold mind on finding profitable land.”
“Yes,” Samuel said with a nod.
“I’ll keep that in mind. How is the pine beetle problem?”
“It’s dwindled in the past years and we have your mother to thank for that.”
I nodded my head right as my stomach growled.
Samuel chuckled and said, “Let’s go have lunch in town.”
I smiled happily and the three of us got up to leave the office. We stepped out of the packhouse and started to walk down a paved pathway into the town. As soon as I saw the town, my eyes went wide.
“It looks like we just stepped onto the set of an old western movie,” I said as I marveled at the town.
Samuel and Scarlett both lightly laughed at me. I smiled and took my phone out to snap some pictures. Madison had to see this place.
Samuel and Scarlett led me into a rustic-looking restaurant for lunch. They walked up to a couple that had a pup that looked like a perfect mixture of Samuel and Scarlett.
“Grant, I would like to introduce you to my father, Alpha Dave, and my mother, Luna Jenn. This is my son Luke,” Samuel said.
I shook everyone's hand and I realized that Samuel looked like his mom. She seemed like a giant viking queen that would take heads in a battle and I liked that.
We all sat down to have lunch together and a waitress came over to take our drink order. I quickly looked over the menu before talking with everyone.
“So, you’re Cameron and Jamie’s second pup?” Jenn asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And just as polite as your uncle Sean,” she said with a smile.
I smiled and nodded my head, then said, “It’s a southern thing.”
The ladies giggled lightly at me. The waitress came back with our drinks and we placed our order. I got the bison chili and cornbread to test it against Texas chili and mom’s cornbread.
“Where are you thinking of settling your pack?” Dave asked.
“I have no idea yet, but I want to go to a state where there isn’t a pack yet.”
He nodded his head and I listened to Scarlett talk with Luke. He reminded me of Archie back at Blue Moon with his demeanor. He was young though. Younger than Rowen and Archie.
Our food came out soon after and I dug in because I was hungry today. It was good. I liked the chili but the cornbread wasn’t mama’s.
“What do you think of the food?” Scarlett asked.
“The chili is good, but the cornbread has nothing on my mom’s,” I answered.
The table laughed and Jenn said, “I can see Jamie as a baker.”
“Mom’s great in the kitchen,” I told her with a smile.
When we finished lunch, we paid and all of us walked around. They showed me their favorite things about the town and introduced me to people.
“Are there any extra Betas in the pack?” I asked.
“There are three Beta families here, but you will need to talk to Luke about which Beta is up for grabs. The only problem is, the pups are all Luke’s age and their dad’s are my age. There’s only one your age and I have a feeling he will be Luke’s choice as his Beta.”
“Solid pass then. I’ll find what I’m looking for later.”
He nodded his head and we kept talking to people. None of the she-wolves here were my mate and I sighed in relief for that. I wasn’t ready for that yet.
At the end of the day, Jenn and Dave went back to their house while I walked with Samuel, Scarlett and Luke back to the packhouse. We went into the dining room and sat down with the Alpha family. Soon Samuel’s Beta and his family joined us. Beta Robert and his mate Mable were sweet. Their son Bert was my age. We started talking and I got along with him pretty well but I knew his place was probably here.
Dinner was served to everyone while we talked. On my plate was a rack of lamb with butter noodles and sauteed vegetables. The lamb was cooked perfectly. We sat there and talked while enjoying our meal together.
As the day came to a close, I went up to my room and showered while texting Madison. I sent her the pictures I had taken today and she loved them. She let me know that she had gone bowling with my dad and siblings today. Dad loved his bowling and made sure we all knew how to play the sport.
I texted Madison until late into the evening and fell asleep with my phone in my hand.
~
The next day, I woke up early and ate breakfast with the Alpha family. I went with Samuel, Luke, Robert and Bert out to the training field. I watched as Samuel taught Luke and Robert full on sparring with Bert. When they were all done, I stepped in and taught Luke some new moves to try on his dad. He smiled at me and nodded his head in thanks.
When I was done teaching Luke, Samuel asked me, “Are you ready to train?”
“Yeah. I want to take all three of you at once,” I said, pointing at Samuel, Robert and Bert.
They all looked at me like I was crazy and Samuel asked, “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive,” I said with confidence.”
“Alright,” he said with a shrug.
They all approached me and the training session started. At first, they were attacking at different times, then they learned to attack two at a time, then all together. I still managed to come out victorious as I sent all three of them to the ground on their backs.
“Wow!” Luke said with huge eyes.
I laughed and let everyone rest, calling the training session to an end. We all rested and drank water while sitting together on the grass.
“My Goddess, Grant,” Samuel huffed as he got up.
“I told you.”
“How are you that strong?” he asked me.
“I’m not sure. It’s more than me just having a Lycan,” I said, shaking my head, not knowing what the answer was.
“Well, while you are here we will try to take you down,” he challenged me with a smile.
“I look forward to the exercise,” I teased him.
~
The rest of the week that I was here, we trained. We trained hard. It took on Samuel with his dad, Dave, and all four of the Betas in the pack to slow me down. It was a big undertaking but they still hadn’t beaten me.
The morning that I left, I said goodbye to everyone and packed my bags. I got in my vehicle and brought up the next pack in my GPS, the Gray Moon Pack in Utah. That was Alpha Ryan’s pack and I was looking forward to having another Lycan to train with again.
I texted Madison that I was leaving Silver Moon before I texted Ryan that I would see him in seven hours. At least it was twelve again.
- Writer
