LUNA AKIRA

BUZZ KILL

ROMAN

I received news that the future Luna of my pack, my fated mate, was now safe with Skylar. She is not that far from the pack house. I desperately wanted to meet her just to find out what all the fuss was about. But I had to keep the promise I made to Skylar. I owe her that much. She has done a lot for our pack through the years, and for that, I am eternally grateful to her. Once Akira completes her training, Skylar will bring her to the pack house. But the truth is, I wanted to see her before then, even if it was from a distance. Since that day when Michael told me about her, I can't seem to get her off my mind. "Titan, are you up for a bit of adventure tonight, buddy? Before you answer, it's to do with seeing our mate!" I could sense how excited he became, and without hesitation, he answered. "Hell yeah! Thought you'd never ask! Roman, we mastered the art of camouflaging our scent and moving about in silence. So going to the forest near Skylar's place will not be a problem. They will not even know we are around. I can't believe it! The time has finally come, and we get to see her!" I reminded Titan that we were to be extra careful not to let our guard down and get caught out. As I tried to leave the pack house without stirring suspicion, my ever so annoying, Oops, I meant loyal, Beta decided to show up. "How about we enjoy this beautiful full moon and race in the forest, Alpha? We can make it interesting this time around and bet on something." Michael and his wolf Hector have never won a single race against Titan and I , and now he wants to bet on something. "Michael, are you bored? I told you to start socializing more with the others and also try finding your mate." He gave me a dramatic eye roll after I said the last bit. "A simple yes or no would do, not the third degree. Anyway, I enjoy my life just the way it is, and I get great pleasure of being a thorn in your side, too. So, where are you off to? Want me to tag along?" I told him that I had some business to take care of and asked him to watch over the house. Some of the younger Omegas were going to shift for the first time, and I asked him to watch over them too and ensure all went smoothly. I knew that he enjoyed being in charge of the pack business in my absence even though he never admitted it. As expected, he complained for the sake of it at first, but then when I mentioned that I would get my second Beta to oversee things, he quickly changed his tune. I headed off towards the forest and asked Titan if he was ready to take the lead. "Ready as I'll ever be! Let's just hope we don't piss off the Moon Goddess with what we are about to do." I undressed and shifted smoothly. Titan is a bit of a softy only with me. With everyone else, he is a relentless Beast! He is feared by all wolves and not just because of his massive size but also his strength and courage, which has always helped us walk out of battles victoriously. We are an amazing power team, and as my wolf and best friend, Titan will do anything to protect me. "Slow down a bit, bud, we can't be racing through the forest. We'll surely be heard. Let's take it nice and slow. Remember, the part we discussed about moving in silence?" Titan gave a disappointed growl and said that I was such a buzz kill.

As we got closer to Skylar's place, we could hear a bit of noise, and then I got a whiff of the most amazing, fragrant scent. It smelled like fresh peonies. "It's our mate, Roman! She smells Divine. Look, look! Ohhhh, Moon Goddess! I AM IN LOVE! She is GORGEOUS!" Titan was right! We were well hidden but were still able to see a GORGEOUS snow white wolf running alongside Onyx, Lucas's wolf. I can't believe Skylar got her to shift so soon. If she looked this divine in her wolf form, I could only imagine how she looked in her human form. We were mesmerized by the sight before us when suddenly there was a strange gush of wind, and a flock of birds flew about wildly. "Roman, something is not right! Can you smell that? It's a different scent. A disgusting one, too! Our mate is in danger! I have to mind link Onyx. He has to get her out of here!" Onyx, heeded Titan's instructions, without any fuss. Wolves know not to question Titan. Those who did attempt it faced his wrath, and some didn't survive to tell the tales. Once Onyx confirmed our mate's safety, we went in search of the lurking foe. "Holy Moon Goddess! This stench is getting stronger and more disgusting! Roman, we must be getting close!" Titan was not wrong in describing the stench. It was like rotting flesh, actually worse. I have never come across it before in these parts. "THERE! TO OUR RIGHT! LET'S GET THIS WRETCHED THING!" I released my power of protective shield over us as we sped through the forest towards the figure we saw. It noticed that we were on its trail, and it picked up speed. We continued giving chase, and just as we were closing in, it stopped for a few seconds, as though it wanted us to see it. "WTF! A LYCAN!" Both Titan and I shouted out in shock. This is not Lycan territory. Having one run freely through our forest is definitely not the norm! Once it picked up pace again, we were hot on its trail. A black cloud of smoke appeared before us. Times like this, I give praise to the Moon Goddess for our added powers. We had no difficulty seeing through the smoke and ran through it. The Lycan's look of surprise lasted a few seconds, and then he let out a loud mocking laugh. There after, he did a weird twist of his body, and another Lycan came out of him. And from that one, came another and another. We were in a state of shock but knew we had to snap out of it and act fast. We alerted Lucas. He was closer, and we could use all the help we could get. He confirmed that he was coming through with other trainers, and Skylar would also be coming as it appeared that dark magic was being used. We then alerted my Betas to get here fast with our warriors. A single Lycan can wipe out an entire pack of wolves. Or so I heard. I have never been in battle with one, but from the stories my parents had told me, they were the reason behind the death of my mate's parents and the destruction of our pack. When my father took over, he managed to sign some sort of peace treaty with their pack leader, and they agreed to stay off our lands and we off theirs. So why the sudden return and from the looks of it, this was definitely not a friendly visit! The Lycan's surrounded us and formed a circle. I encouraged Titan not to be the first to attack and to just play it out. They were taunting us. They would have attacked by now but hadn't, so we would have to figure out their game plan. They had a very weird laugh, very similar to coyotes. After minutes of toying with us. One of them stepped forward and shifted into a human form and demanded I do the same. Titan was against it, but I told him we had to play along so that we could find out why they were here.