Finding My Missing Luna

Chapter 2

Derek POV

"Derek," my father yells to me from his office. I roll my eyes but get up to go find him anyway. I pass my mother on the way there and stop to talk with her, she won't look me in the eyes as usual. "You look beautiful today Mom," I tell her as I bend down to kiss her cheek.

"Thank you, but there's no need to lie, I know I'm looking a bit like a mess today," she reaches down to smooth out her perfect dress.

"It's no lie, I'll come sit with you later but I have to go talk to dad now," she flinches when I say that but then goes back to reading her book. My father is a traditionalist a.sshole who thinks Luna's are beneath their mates. He thinks women should be seen and not heard, my mother wasn't always like this. I have memories of her as a child laughing, smiling, whole. But over time my father's constant beratement of her, that one day turned physical, wore her down. Once I got strong enough to defend her my father didn't dare raise his hand to her again but the damage had been done. Maybe she would have been able to come back from all this s.hit if she had gotten help, or if this pain wasn't inflicted on her by her mate. But I think the fact that the one person who was meant to be hers in mind, body, and soul was the one to cause her so much pain broke something inside of her that can't be fixed.

There isn't anything I wouldn't do for my mother, and I can't wait to take over for my father so I can help her even more. My excitement to take over this pack has become very well known. To the point that I've earned the nickname the Arrogant Alpha. I rarely hear anyone say that to my face, except for my best friend, who likes to tease me. To be honest, I don't give a f.uck what people think about me and the things I'm doing to take over this pack, not when the well-being of my mother is at stake. Although truthfully, I have the whole pack in mind too. We aren't a large pack, about one hundred and fifty members, but we have access to quarries and mines on our pack lands that have brought us tremendous wealth. My father will, and has, done anything to defend the money but not so he can use it to improve the pack. No, he'd rather use the money to buy expensive s.hit for himself, like the new theater room he had added on to the pack house, that only the Alpha family is supposed to have access to. Our pack members might not realize it right now, but my ambition to take over this pack has less to do with my arrogance and more to do with doing what's right for our people.

"You called me?" I ask as I walk right into his office even though I know he hates it, and his scowl proves me right.

"Come in, and close the door. I have a few visits scheduled with some of our closer packs to look at our current alliances and figure out if we should continue with the same treaties going forward or, readjust them," he says as he folds his fingers together and raising his eyebrow at me. What he means to say is that he wants to look at the treaties and if they aren't giving us enough money, end them. He has already ended important alliances over money that we don't need but I won't let him keep this up, so even though I want to go on this trip instead of him, I'm curious as to why he's sending me.

"Why do you want me to go?"

"You know I've been waiting for you to find a mate before I hand the pack over," I huff out a sigh of disbelief. He may want me to have a mate to take over, like I said he's a traditionalist, but that's not the only reason he hasn't handed it over yet. People may call me the Arrogant Alpha but my father is the one that name really belongs to. He's worried about what I'll do to him once he steps down, and more than that, he's worried I'll ruin his legacy by showing the pack how their Alpha should have been treating them all these years. But hell, if he's going to say that finding my mate will get him to hand the reins over, then I'm in. "I want you to try to find your mate, or pick a chosen from the daughters of the Alpha's that you're sure to meet."

"Do you have a list of packs and current treaties?"

"Mark does," my father's Beta is a good man, a good leader, and had been a better father to me than my own. He never found his mate, and never took a chosen so he doesn't have anyone to pass the Beta line to. I've been thinking of asking my best friend to fill the roll, and hoping that he's even half as good as Mark is. Maybe I'll have him accompany me on this trip and see if he could be up to the challenge. I nod at my father as I turn and leave making my way over to Mark's office. I knock before I go in, showing him the respect I would never show my father.

"Derek, what's going on?"

"The Alpha's sending me to meet with the allied packs and go over our current treaties. He said you have the lists I need?" Mark rolls his eyes, not at me I know, but at my father shirking his responsibilities. Then he gets up and goes to the filing cabinet behind his desk. My father has refused to update our computers and other tech systems, thinks they're a waste of money, not realizing this system is a waste of time.

"Here you are," he hands me a stack of files. "You want me to come with you?"

I look at the files, there are only four. "No, I'm going to bring a driver and I think I'd like to bring Liam, see how he does with this."

"Ah," he says rubbing his chin, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised but I'm glad you've finally chosen someone to give a chance for the Beta spot to."

"I want to see how he does, I think he might have what it takes."

"Me too son, now you call me if you have any issues with anything okay?"

"I will," I head to my room and link Liam on the way. He meets me there and I let him know about the trip and that I'd like him to come with me. He seems confused at first but then I think it dawns on him and he goes to start getting packed up. I go through the files and make a note of the order we'll be seeing the packs in, then I call each Alpha to let them know about the trip and when to expect us. Our first trip is to a large pack, one of our largest allies. The Alpha George and Luna Rachel have one daughter, I believe her name is Monica. We'll be making our way there tomorrow morning and I need to read up on this pack tonight. I end up staying up way later than I intended and sleeping through my first alarm the next morning. Thankfully, Liam gets me up and we get on the road so that we're not running too late.

We pull up to their pack house and I can see a woman standing outside, waiting for us I assume. As soon as I open my door the scent of lilies hits me and the women's head snaps in my direction. I can see when it hits her that we're mates. Because I'm guessing her wolf tells her at the same time mine does. But instead of coming over to me she throws me a look, turns, and runs away. What the f.uck, I think as my wolf growls in my head.