The Luna’s Peak

3

“Any plans for the rest of the day?”

Beck segued into a conversation about the newest cupcake flavor that a local bakery had recently unveiled. I was grateful for the subject change, and I was grateful for continued pleasant small talk.

“None.” I smiled and nodded at a young couple who walked past us as we stepped into the main road, back in town. “What about you?”

“I’ve got a meeting with Alpha in about an hour,” he said.

“About the obstacle course?” I asked.

“Yup,” he confirmed.

Beck was always looking to make improvements or to add things on to the obstacle course down at the training grounds. It seemed he was always trying to catch Reid at a good time to discuss his newest ideas. The last couple of times, though, he finally wised up and scheduled it.

“What’ve you got this time?” I asked.

Beck shook his head. “Nope. This idea is awesome, and I can’t risk it getting out too early. You wanna know, sit in on the meeting.”

I shrugged one shoulder noncommittally. “I’m sure Alpha will tell me all about it later.”

Beck clicked his tongue. “You’re missing out. I bet he won’t deliver it like I will.”

“Is this a performance?”

“Might as well be.”

Up ahead, we noticed Silas, speaking to another new warrior by the name of Jax. Silas’s long, scruffy chestnut brown hair was tied up in a messy bun on the top of his head. Jax, in comparison, had a buzz cut. He was a bit small in stature, but he was as muscular as most male werewolves. I’d assisted in training sessions with him in attendance once or twice. He, like our new warrior, Dylan, had potential.

As Beck and I approached, Jax stopped talking and stood at attention upon noticing me. I held up one hand, and he relaxed. We all exchanged polite greetings, and I went to stand beside Silas.

“Luna, I’m glad you’re here,” Jax said, and I detected a touch of hopefulness in his tone. “Do you think I could tag along with you on patrol next Tuesday?”

Newbies tended to favor me—I was the least harsh of all of Black Summit’s patrol leaders, by far.

“That’d be fine,” I agreed, and his face lit up excitedly. “I’ll get with you early next week to discuss details.”

“Thank you, Luna!”

I smiled at him again.

“We were just talking about his first patrol,” Silas chimed in. “He has expressed more than once that he’d like to go with you.”

I shrugged. “I don’t blame him.”

“I’m not suggesting that Asher or Luca or Brandon or…anyone else would be bad,” Jax clarified, his cheeks flushing, and then he quickly added, “Especially not Alpha. Like, if you were unavailable, I’d be happy to go with any of them.”

Another small smile played on my lips. “You could tell me you absolutely do not, under any circumstances, want to patrol with Alpha till you’re feeling more confident, and I’ll work with you.”

He hesitated. “I didn’t think that my preference mattered…if I had a preference.”

“It does to me. Why don’t we see how you do next Tuesday, and go from there?”

He visibly relaxed. “Okay. Thank you, Luna.”

“When’s your next training session, Jax?” I asked him.

“Tomorrow.”

“I’ll see you then,” Beck interjected, and clapped him on the shoulder with a grin. “Be ready.”

“I’m ready,” Jax assured him, with a broad smile of his own.

“Patrol prep?” I asked.

“Friday, Luna.”

I nodded. “Let’s figure out a time to talk on Friday, after your prep session.”

“Friday,” Jax repeated, and he nodded back. “Thank you, Luna.”With that, he bode us all respectful farewells, and he turned and walked away with an endearing pep in his step.

Potential or not, Jax’s demeanor was a bit…soft, for the role within our pack that he was taking on.

As if Silas could tell what I was thinking, he mumbled, “He’ll either harden up really f*****g quick, or he’ll quit. I give him a month.”

Beck chuckled. “He actually does great in the right setting.”

“He’s a sweet kid,” I said.

Beck and Silas both laughed. I ignored them, and the three of us started in the opposite direction from where Jax had gone.

“Silas, are you tagging along for Beck and Alpha’s meeting?” I asked.

“Yes,” Silas replied. “We’ve got some financial stuff to address afterwards. Alpha will likely ask for you to assist.”

“Where is he, anyway?”

Silas shrugged. “Packhouse, probably. Said he had something to do before this meeting. How was patrol today?”

“It was fine. Mostly uneventful. New kid caught two intruders.”

“Yeah? From where?”

“They said they were from some foreign-sounding pack,” Beck said. “Luna Blue? Loon Bluey?”

“Were they French?” Silas asked, surprised.

“Maybe French-Canadian?” I suggested. In retrospect, that made much more sense.

“Why were they here?” Silas asked.

“Claimed they were just passing through,” Beck said.

“Have you reported this to Alpha yet?” Silas was looking at me with one brow c****d.

“New kid did.”

“Good.”

Most pack members we happened upon stopped what they were doing to stand at attention. We simply nodded and smiled at them. Some regarded us politely in passing, and we did the same. We made small talk amongst the three of us, and we entertained the handful of wolves who stopped us.

About twenty minutes in to our walk, we went our separate ways—Beck and Silas continued straight, towards the packhouse, and I veered to the right, towards home. I planned to eat a quick lunch before I headed to the packhouse to get some work of my own done.

One of my responsibilities as Luna was to handle our real estate. I took great joy in arranging for “welcome home” baskets to be delivered to new homeowners, just like my mother had during her time as Luna of my home pack. That afternoon, I had a list of newly-constructed homes to assign inspectors to, and I wanted to put together a few baskets for the following week.

My walk home took about twenty minutes longer than it would’ve without being stopped by chatty pack members. Each time, I was stopped for trivial things: just to say hello, to ask a question about a change of assignment, or to revisit a topic discussed at a recent pack meeting. Eventually, I finally stepped off the main road and onto the dirt path that led around the small cliff, the path that led home. I followed the bend around the cliff, and our little red brick house came into view.

Every time I saw the flower boxes that I requested to have installed under the lower windows on the front of the house, I smiled. It didn’t matter that they’d been there for about three years now—I loved the contrast between the colorful pink and purple flowers and the black shutters.

I let myself in, and I stepped inside the entryway of our little safe space. When I’d first arrived here, all those years ago, there was little decor. Reid valued function and simplicity, but he also loved seeing me get excited about little things, like a new addition to my collection of refrigerator magnets.

And as it turned out, he did have opinions on things like throw pillows and curtains and the color and size of picture frames. Before me, he just didn’t see the point in adding those things to his home, for just him.

Our home had become a blend of both of our tastes, which were fairly similar anyway. We kept most of the furniture he had, but I added more. He let me experiment and he gave feedback when he was asked.

And now, as I kicked off my still-damp shoes at the door, I immediately noticed that his scent was strong.

“Reid?” I called.

I didn’t sense that he was there. I didn’t hear anything.

“Reid?” I called again, this time up the stairs.

Nothing.

I wandered into the kitchen, and I stopped, and smiled. This was why his scent was so strong—he’d definitely been home recently.

Sitting atop the black marble countertop was a share-sized bag of Skittles and a little purple gift bag, sitting in front of a beautiful bouquet of vibrant, pink peonies. I could smell their sweet scent from where I stood in the archway, but I still hurried over to the counter and put my face close—they smelled as beautiful as they looked.

He’d made a habit of surprising me with flowers at least once a month or so, for years. It still made my day every time.

I gently touched one of the flowers, its petals soft and velvety against my fingers. I picked up the bag of Skittles and tore it open, popping one into my mouth as I peered inside the gift bag.

I saw a folded card, tossed in atop something black. Curiously, I plucked the card out. The front was blank, plain white. I opened it, and in Reid’s all-capital, backwards slanted handwriting, the message inside simply read: “I love you”, followed by a small, hand-drawn heart.

I smiled again. I set the card and the Skittles aside to retrieve what remained in the gift bag. I found a lacy black pair of panties that I quickly realized had an open back.

Oh Goddess, not just an open back, but they were crotchless.

I set them down next to the bag, adrenaline pumping at the mere sight of them, and pulled out a matching, lacy black bra with open-bottom cups.

I had a fairly sizable collection of lingerie—Reid was a sucker for some lace or some silk.

My Wolf perked up. Pretty.

I obviously have to try it on. I picked up both garments, with my Skittles fisted in one hand, and I headed for the staircase. What do you think? Should I show him?

Of course, she agreed.

Mindlink? I asked.

No, send it over text so he can keep it forever and stare at it all day and drive himself insane.

I popped another Skittle into my mouth. He’s got other pictures on his phone.

But does he have a picture of this, which he specifically gifted to you on a random Tuesday, just because he likes it?

I chuckled. She was right.

I entered the bedroom and I set my Skittles down on my nightstand. I changed into the lingerie, and my cheeks flushed a bit just looking at my reflection in the mirror hanging on the back of the bedroom door—it was right on par with anything else Reid had ever chosen for me.

He’d purchased two other pairs of crotchless panties for me before, but he’d torn both pairs to shreds—if I remembered correctly, they were “strappy and frustrating”, but he definitely loved the look.

I shook out my hair and posed in front of the mirror, ass on full display, one leg popped, and with my breasts exposed from the side. I snapped a quick picture over my shoulder, and when I paused to look at it, my blush only spread.

But before I could text it to him, he mindlinked me.

“Hey,” he said, “are you free to come down to the packhouse?”

“Yeah,” I replied, as I tossed my phone onto the bed while I redressed, “I was on my way there anyway. Why?”

“We’re starting that financial stuff that Silas mentioned soon.”

“What about your meeting with Beck?”

“Almost done.”

“I have some stuff I need to get done,” I said.

I stood with my feet firmly planted, my brow furrowed at how it felt to wear these panties under a skirt—I might as well have been wearing nothing at all, but this seemed dirtier.

“The financial stuff won’t take long,” Reid assured me.

“Okay,” I agreed.

We ended our communication, and I studied my outfit in the mirror. I turned around and looked at my ass—my skirt looked fine, unassuming. I wore a cropped tank top, and the straps were wide on my shoulders.

I grabbed my Skittles off of the bed. I confidently marched out of the house and stepped outside into a light drizzle. Thunder rumbled, and I looked up just in time to see lightning streak across the sky.

There weren’t many people out wandering around in the streets now, likely thanks to the weather. I arrived at the packhouse just as the rain started to pick up. I ducked inside the building, and I climbed the nearest staircase to the third floor.

Immediately upon stepping into the hallway, I could scent Reid, and I smiled slightly to myself. I walked all the way to the end of the hall, and I pushed open the door to the last room on my left. Reid and I made eye contact as I entered, and he flashed me a warm smile.

But before I was even halfway across the room, Deanna, the leader of the current patrol team, mindlinked us both, and Silas.

“Alpha, Luna, Beta, I’ve captured another intruder,” she reported. “Claims he comes from the same pack as the intruders this morning. Should I dispose of him?”