The Luna

19

"This is where I was born," Malachi adds, his eyes sweeping the town with a soft nostalgia and I wonder what exactly he's seeing.

Does he see the same fairytale streets that I am? The soft cottages with vine-covered lattices along the sides? Or is he only seeing the differences? I imagine, depending on how long he has been gone and working with the council, that things aren't exactly the way they were when he left.

"Must have been amazing growing up in such a beautiful place," Malachi just nodded at my statement, eyes focused ahead as he pulled up in front of a rather large house. It's only two stories tall, but it's long, stretched out with at least a dozen windows on each side of the large wooden door.

"Keep the hood up and your head down until I say," Malachi tugs the hood further down until I can barely see past the fabric, a slight (what I think is supposed to be comforting) smile on his face as he opens the door.

Wolves begin to move out from around the sides of the house, cautious in their steps as they watch us. Fear freezes me in place, safely in the car as the wolves eye the hooded figure, rounding the hood.

Malachi stops and removes his hood, turning to face the wolves who have begun to get defensive. Immediately, their stances changed to one of calm. Clearly, they recognize him, but that doesn't calm my nerves much.

"I apologize if I scared you all by not warning that I was coming," Malachi speaks diplomatically, hands raised in small surrender, "But I come on urgent business from the council, where is your Alpha?" his tone is all business, and I am partly confused and partly impressed by his professionalism.

But this is his pack, his family and friends. Why is he being so formal about it?

The wolves retreat, leaving just three facing Malachi, as a small dark brown-haired woman pops up in the doorway. Her hair is pulled into a high ponytail that swings with her movements as her blue eyes take in Malachi standing there.

"Hey, Harp," Malachi drops his hands, opening them to the woman, who breathes a sigh of relief before running into his arms and hugging him.

I can see the woman's mouth moving but can't hear what she's saying from inside the car. So I looked around the house. There had been so many wolves before, but aside from the three in front of Malachi, they had all but disappeared. Or at least they disappeared from sight. The thought that they could be lurking in the trees, watching me, is enough to have me sliding down in my seat, holding the hood tightly.

Malachi says something to the woman, who runs inside the house, leaving the front door open. He stands in front of my door, his eyes looking through the dark glass before he straightens his shoulders and opens my door.

"Remember, Little Red, head down," he offers his hand and closes the door behind me.

His palm takes it's place between my shoulder blades as he guides me into the house through the open door. My eyes focus on my shoes, on how dirty they have become just from this latest journey. Which seems entirely impossible given the fact that I spent most of it in the car.

Light wooden floors enter my sight and I worry that my dirty shoes are going to scuff or dirty the neatly polished look. But he said to keep my head down, and I'm scared to find out what happens if I don't listen.

"Malachi, what a surprise," a deep male voice says before a pair of black Adidas appear, "You should have called, I'd have arranged dinner," the distinct sound of male hugging can be heard, the light slaps on the back as iconic a sound as the high five.

"Sorry about that, Jax, but council business is need-to-know, and you didn't need to know until I was here," I can hear the tease in Malachi's voice, and I wondered if his cousin can too or if they've been apart too long to be able to tell. "Speaking of, we need to talk business. Get the guys and well, Emily and Harper wouldn't hurt to have around either. Office or conference room?"

In the silence that follows, my heartbeat is like a drum as I stare at all the shoes. I don't even have to look to know that there are eyes on me. It's like an innate sixth sense that kicks in, and I can feel the probing stare like he is trying to see what is under the red fabric.

"My office, it's soundproof," he responds, his feet moving to the side as Malachi guides me forward, "Everyone will meet us there," our footsteps echo on the wooden floor as we walk.

Malachi and Jaxon make small talk as we head towards his office. Nice weather, packs doing well, and working for the council keeps people busy. I can't tell if they're just trying to ignore the elephant in the room until we are behind closed doors or if this is how they normally are.

I don't have anything to compare it to other than movies and books that portray cousins as near best friends. Honestly, they had grown up together, so I would think they'd be close, but relationships are complicated, no matter the circumstances.

"So who is your friend, Mal?" the door clicks behind us and I hear Jaxon walking away before I hear the sound of a chair rolling across the wood.

I'm so tempted to peek at him, to put a face to the voice. I argue with myself the pros and cons, wondering what harm a peek could really do when a black leather couch appears in front of me.

"Her name is Mia," Malachi gently urges me to sit, not bothering to sit next to me. Truthfully, I don't want to really sit either. After such a long drive, I'd rather stand, but I'm not going to argue yet. "It's a long story and I don't want to repeat it when everyone else gets here,"

"Should I be worried, Cousin?" I can't take it anymore and lift my head as subtly as possible to try and get a peek.

Jaxon sits behind a desk, his frame impossibly larger than Malachis'. A white shirt is stretched over his chest, a logo I don't recognize across the front. His jaw is defined and smile lines crease his face. From this angle, I can't see his eyes, but with dark ash-colored hair, I wager their blue or green like Malachi's.

A loud knock on the door has me dropping my gaze back to the floor, heart in my chest as the door opens.

"Alpha," voices melded together in unison reminded me of the military when a superior officer walks by.

"Malachi? Is that you? Hard to tell under those fancy council robes," someone new teases, their white Nike shoes stepping up to Malachi next to me.

"Very funny, asshole," Malachi answers, and I count three more pairs of shoes stepping up to him, one set is a cute pair of black Rock and Candy boots.

"Since when did the council send pairs? Usually they have you work alone," I'm getting confused with who's talking. I recognize Malachi's voice, and I'm certain it wasn't Jaxon but with all these newcomers it's hard to keep track.

"This is a special circumstance. She doesn't work for the Council," Malachi hesitates and the butterflies in my stomach dance around, knowing what's coming, "She's being hidden by the Council."

His hand reaches out and grasps my elbow gently, pulling me to my feet.

"Just keep the hood up," he whispers to me so softly I question if I even heard it.

"This is Mia," I lifted my head up, enough to see those in the room.

Jaxon is sitting at his desk, the brunette woman from earlier sitting in his lap. Two men stand to his rightinfront of his desk, their stances all casual but slightly defensive with arms crossed over their broad chests. There is another girl, the owner of the boots, with short dark hair barely passed her ears, sitting on the corner of the desk.

"Why would the council need to hide her?" the blonde man asks. His blue eyes were watching me cautiously. I see his nose flaring as if he's taking a deep breath and the others follow suit, but their faces show nothing but confusion.

"Before I answer that, Axe, I need to say this. The council wasn't sure where to send Mia. It was my idea to bring her here because I trust you - all of you in this room - and the council agrees with me that you all will be able to protect her,"

All eyes are on me, each pair taking in my form and I don't need to be a mind reader to know what they're all probably wondering.

Who is she? What has she done that the council is hiding her?

Malachi scratched the back of his head, a sheepish look crossing his face, "I just haven't quite figured out a backstory though,"

Before anyone can react to that weird statement, his fingers find the fabric of my hood, and he's tugging it off my head. The inhale they all make is audible, but Malachi speaks before they can even inhale fully.

"Mia, this is my cousin Jaxon, Alpha of Larkspur," he points to his slack-jawed cousin sitting behind the desk.

"This is Austin, his Beta," the man he points to has hair that is not quite blonde but not quite brown either. His eyes, a light amber color, are wide as he blinks slowly as his arms slowly unfurl from his chest.

"Axe, Jaxons third," the blonde man, looking just as shocked as the rest of the men, as his mouth flails open like a fish.

I smile politely in turn at everyone he points out, even showing my respect to Jaxon with a small bow. Other than that, I'm not sure what to do. I'm trying hard not to feel like some circus sideshow, but that is hard to do with them looking at me the way they are.

"Malachi," Jaxon moves the girl off his lap, placing her gently in his chair before walking around the desk and standing with the other guys. They form a muscled wall around the two women behind them and I almost want to laugh at the idea that they're protecting these women from me, the one who is the weakest in this room.

"Is this a joke?" Jaxon eyes me and his cousin warily and when Malachi shakes his head no, he continues, "But she's -"

"Human," the woman with short hair breathes out, peeking between Austin and Axe as she looks at me. I can see the question in her gaze, in all their gazes. Does she know what we are? I give her a small smile in acknowledgment, hoping that answers that.

"Since when is the council in the business of hiding humans, Malachi?"

"Since Mia became Luna of the Lotus pack." Malachi's words changed the atmosphere of the room instantly.

I had been expecting a similar reaction to the one the Council gave, the title clearly being part of some secret wolf language that I have yet to be privy to. I had braced myself for it so easily, that I refused to look at any of them, instead focusing on the minimalist decor of the office.

The cream-colored walls are framed with dozens of pictures of many different people in many different situations. It's hard to tell from here, but they don't look staged like the paintings from Caspian and Atticus' offices. They look genuine, like the pictures my mom had kept around the house when I was growing up. I tried to make out faces, to see if Malachi appeared in any while I awaited the outrage and horror of the news that was just delivered.

But it seems like they don't know how to respond. All five of them, frozen in a state of shock, whether from the fact that I'm a human or from the Luna title, I'm not sure.

"Luna?" the girl with short hair peeks between Austin and Axe's shoulders again, "That's only an urban legend?"

"I would have thought the same thing, Emily, had the word not come straight from her mouth," Malachi turned to look at me, and everyone else hasn't stopped. I feel like my cheeks are turning as red as the robe around my shoulders.

"Everything you guys are thinking, the council already thought, Which is why they're hiding her -"

"Wait, if that's true, then she's a liability more than anything," Austin says, turning his shocked gaze to one of determination as he faces his Alpha, "that Lotus alpha-to-be prick will stop at nothing to get her back, and we can't afford a war over some human,"

"Hey, that human is standing right there, jackass," Emily pushed Austin away and moved to stand in front of me, "Sorry about him. Looks like someone didn't teach him his manners. I'm Emily, Jaxon's cousin,"

"Mia," I mumbled, shaking her outstretched hand. Her brown eyes soften as she smiles before looking me over.

I shift on my feet, my eyes dropping to my dirty shoes. Self-consciousness rearing its ugly head and has me thinking about how I must look after all the traveling. The same dirty clothes that I've been wearing since I left Lotus pack with Malachi in the first place.

Maybe in the haste of leaving, I should have packed a small bag, so I at least had something to change into? I guess hindsight is twenty/twenty.

"I bet you had a long trip, if you want, between me and Harper, we can get you a change of clothes?" Emily offers, looking to the other girl, Harper, before looking back at me with a small smile.

"Oh c'mon. Alpha, you can't honestly be considering going along with this," Austin says incredulously, looking from Jaxon's face to the faces of everyone else in the room.

But Jaxon doesn't answer, doesn't even blink his gaze away from me.

Emily turns quickly, shooting daggers at Austin with her eyes. Even Malachi looks like he could punch someone and there is a clear first choice. He steps forward, his chest nearly touching Austin's. They're similar in height and as intimidating as Malachi suddenly looks, Austin doesn't back down.

"Mia didn't ask for this, any of this," Malachi growls, actually growls out. The sound was so shocking that I took a step backward with wide eyes.

Memories of my fight with Caspian before he shifted in front of me, flashed before my eyes. The horror of his skin unnaturally tearing, the sound of his growls echoing in my eardrums like it's happening all over again.

I jump, a small yelp leaving my lips when someone touches my shoulder. My hand flies to my chest as if I can stop my heart from racing. I can feel all eyes on me and I wonder in the back of my mind if everyone can tell I'm shaking or if it's just in my mind.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Harper says, her hands moving slowly back to her sides, "I was just going to offer you a warm shower while they talk,"

My eyes slowly moved to look at everyone around the room. I probably look so stupid, so foolish getting worked up over something as simple as a growl. They had probably become so accustomed to the sound, I mean, none of the other guys seemed to even flinched at the sound. The only change that occurred to show anyone had even heard the growl, was Axe stepping forward to separate Malachi and Austin.

It seems that I still need to work on getting thicker skin. Baby steps I suppose. Rome wasn't built in a day.

If this talk keeps going on the way it has been, I don't know that I want to be a part of it. I've had no say really so far about what's happening, so what's the difference if I'm here or not. Either the Alpha will let me stay or I'll leave with Malachi to go somewhere else. Besides, a nice hot shower sounds amazing. I can't even remember the last good shower I had, not counting the bathroom sink baths at rest-stops along the highway. And who would count those?

"Thank you," I whispered, trying and failing to force a smile. I'm shaken, and I'm trying not to show it, but I fear they know it now too.

I don't say anything more, I didn't even bother glancing over my shoulder at them as I walked with Emily and Harper out of the room. The sounds of Malachi and Austin beginning to argue, being silenced by the door clicking shut behind me.