Second to the Luna

Chapter 3- The Return of the Past

ETHAN

The rogue werewolf thrashed in his restraints, and foam dripped out of his mouth. His canines and claws were fully extended, and the only thing keeping him from completely transforming was the silver strapped to his wrists and ankles. He looked more like a rabid dog than a person. This wasn’t normal, even for a rogue.

The first group of rogues that crossed into this pack’s boundaries was somewhat reasonable. They were aggressive—which wasn’t unusual for rogues without an alpha to tame them—but when we showed them the strength of our pack, they tucked their tails and went running.

This rogue was beyond aggressive, and any attempts to intimidate him into submission hadn’t worked. I was starting to doubt if we’d be able to get any useful information out of him.

I felt the shift in energy as Winston walked into the prison. It was easy to forget that he was the most powerful werewolf in this territory because he always had a bright smile on his face. Plus, after seeing someone in diapers, it made them less threatening. However, Winston’s usual smile was gone, and his jaw was wound so tightly I was afraid his teeth were going to crack.

I raised an eyebrow, not expecting Winston to be the one joining me. This was something that usually fell under Kalli’s territory. “No Kalli?”

“She’s busy. Where is this rogue that had the audacity to attack my pack?” Winston growled. His mood seemed particularly sour.

“He’s inside,” I said, gesturing to the interrogation room.

Winston peered through the little window on the door, and his anger twisted into confusion. “That doesn’t seem normal. I don’t remember the reports from the other attacks describing rogues this aggressive.”

“That’s because they didn’t,” Asher said, walking up with a binder filled with the patrol records of all of the rogue attacks that had happened in the past few months. I had requested him to gather that information, since I was sure Kalli and Winston would want answers about the increased attacks.

“Were the others in the group this bad, or is this one just suffering from some sort of disease?” Winston asked, unable to take his eyes away from the thrashing werewolf inside.

“The other rogue captured today is showing the same tendencies,” I said.

Asher flipped through the book. “It looks like each attack was a little more aggressive than the last. The last two had no survivors, because our warriors were unable to take anyone alive without risking serious injuries to themselves.”

Winston paused for a moment as he processed this information. Kalli was the one who had received all of the reports before. I was sure she told him about it, but she may not have realized each attack was worse than the last one. It was easy to miss the differences until we had three attacks in one week. “Any theories on what is going on?”

“I think someone is targeting this pack and is using rogues to do it,” I said. “I have no proof to back that up, but that’s what my instincts are telling me.”

“Mine too,” Winston said. “I was just hoping they were wrong.”

“Maybe we can get some information out of these rogues,” Asher suggested.

I looked inside the room, and the rogue's eyes were almost completely red as his body fought with his wolf for control. “I’m not sure he’s of sound mind to give us any useful information.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Winston said. He opened the door and the three of us entered the room.

Is Axel coming? I linked Asher as we walked in. I had requested both of their presence for this interrogation, but I hadn’t heard anything from Axel all day.

I’m going to assume no, Asher responded. He never showed up to the rogue attack, and I haven’t heard from him since.

I took a slow breath to hold in my frustration. I thought things would have been different with Axel when he returned to the pack, but he still had the same aversion to authority as before. I didn’t know what to do about it, either, since I didn’t want to cause tension between us. Things were finally better now that we all shared Juniper as a mate, but it felt like a delicate balance. If I tried to order him around, it could destroy that balance.

“I’m Alpha Winston of Pack Validas. I am the alpha of all alphas of this territory, and I’m sure you have heard of me,” Winston announced, letting his wolf energy seep into the air. It was only a fraction of his power, but the rogue reacted to it viscerally. “That’s why I can’t seem to fathom why you would risk even attacking my pack.”

“Let me go!” the werewolf snarled. “If you don’t, you’re going to regret it!”

“I doubt that,” Winston said with full confidence. “You’re lucky to even be alive right now. You’re in no position to make demands.”

“Just kill me then.” The rogue started thrashing against his restraints. The silver cut into his skin, making him bleed, but he didn’t seem to notice the pain. “Kill me like he’ll kill you. Kill me!”

Winston stepped forward, letting more of his wolf take over. “Stop!”

The rogue flinched, but it didn’t affect him as it should have. Winston was a powerful alpha that could stop werewolves in their tracks, even ones from other packs.

“He’s going to kill you!” the rogue droned on, his words barely distinguishable through his howling. “He’s going to kill you and your luna and—”

Something inside of Winston snapped. He lunged forward, grabbing the man by the jawline. Any softness in his eyes was replaced by a dark stranger, thirsting for blood. “Who dares to threaten my mate?”

Winston was on the verge of ripping this man’s head off, and I wanted to stop him. We needed him alive to find out as much as possible, even if we had to resort to torture. However, my wolf didn’t dare to cross my alpha.

Asher glanced at me, sharing the same concern. I shook my head, warning him not to interfere. It would be even worse for him if he crossed Winston in this state.

The rogue wolf started cackling. He wasn’t in his right mind, and I was starting to wonder if there were drugs in his system, manipulating him to act like that.

“I suggest you answer me,” Winston snarled. His claws extended from his hands, piercing the skin where he held the rogue.

Despite the blood dripping down his body, the rogue didn’t even seem to notice his fresh wounds. He continued laughing, repeating the words, “Kill me,” or “He’s going to kill your mate,” over and over.

Winston was on the edge of ending this man’s life, and I knew if I didn’t step in, valuable information would be lost.

“Answer the alpha’s question,” I demanded, using my own wolf energy to try to pressure the wolf to listen. “Who sent you here?”

The rogue's eyes seemed to clear when he heard my voice. He looked at me and stopped laughing. “The man who wants revenge on you. Anthony Burrell, of course.”

“Liar!” Winston lost his grip on his self-control and ripped the rogue’s head off. The head fell to the floor with a thump, and the silence felt like a suffocating presence.

I felt Asher’s eyes on me, waiting for some sort of explanation, but the name of my deceased father on that man’s lips had put me in a state of paralysis. Anthony had tried to take everything from me. It was his fault James, my brother, was dead. He attempted to kill Juniper on multiple occasions and nearly got Axel killed. Then there were the unspeakable things he did to Nathan.

But he was dead. I killed him myself.

So why did this man try to blame his presence on the ghost of my father.

Winston stormed out of the room, snapping me out of my state of shock. I followed my alpha, leaving the pool of blood forming at the rogue’s feet. Winston pushed over a chair, snarling to let out his lingering frustration. The warriors guarding the front of the prison stared at their alpha, but I shot them a look that made them go rigid. They looked away, acting as if a fit of rage hadn’t just taken over their normally calm alpha.

“Winston, let’s take this somewhere else,” I said. The last thing he needed was his warriors spreading rumors.

The alpha took a deep breath. “I’m fine.” His wolf still glimmered in his eyes, and while I knew he was taking control back, he wasn’t fine.

Go check on the other prisoner, I ordered Asher, knowing I’d do better with Winston in a one on one situation. Whatever was going on with my friend didn’t need to be shared with anyone else, not even my brother.

Asher nodded, slipping out of the room.

“Let’s take a walk. We can get some fresh air and discuss what this means,” I said. He still seemed resistant, so I added, “I could use some fresh air, too.”

This was enough for Winston to nod in agreement. We left the prison and took a path that wound through the forest, eventually leading back to the pack house. The prison was kept away from the houses to keep pack members safe.

“I’m sorry,” Winston muttered after several minutes of silence. “I know I shouldn’t have killed that rogue like that.”

“You’re the alpha. You can do what you want,” I said.

Winston huffed. “Don’t give me that crap, Ethan. We’ve known each other long enough. I may be your alpha, but we’re also friends. If you can’t even tell me when I’ve crossed a line, who is going to keep me in check?”

I sighed, knowing he was right. While he was the alpha and had the power to do what he wanted, he was the type of man who relied on others to make sure he was doing the best he could for the pack. “In that case, that was a really stupid move on your part. That rogue could’ve had very valuable information for us.”

Winston laughed, surprising me. I had expected anger, not this. When he stopped, he took a slow breath. “I’m sorry. I let my wolf take control, and I should’ve been stronger. When he threatened Kalli, I lost it.”

“You don’t normally react like that,” I noted. It was normal for a werewolf mate to act possessive over their mate, but Winston had never acted like that with Kalli. He loved her, but he trusted in their relationship in a way most couples fail to do.

“I know,” Winston said. “I know I have to get my wolf under control, but he’s been on edge recently.”

“Any particular reason why?” I asked, feeling like Winston wanted me to pry into his life. It was clear there was something going on, since he showed up instead of Kalli, but it wasn’t something I had planned on questioning.

His dark fingers through his white hair, creating a stark contrast. “Well…we promised each other we wouldn’t tell anyone, but you should probably know, especially if it’s going to affect my wolf like this.” He paused and glanced at me as if he expected me to be brimming with excitement. He wanted me to urge him to reveal his secret.

“It’s your choice if you want to tell me or not, especially since Kalli and you agreed to keep it a secret.” Even though that wasn’t what Winston wanted me to say, I refused to pry.

“Oh, what the hell. I’m sure Kalli will tell Juniper soon enough. We’re having a baby!” Winston said.

“You’re going to be a father?” I asked, my chest swelling with happiness. Winston and Kalli would make wonderful parents.

“I’m going to be a father,” Winston said, almost in disbelief.

I pulled Winston in a hug. “Congrats man!”

Winston hugged me back, nearly engulfing me in his bear-like size.

“So that explains the overly protective behavior,” I said. “And why you kept Kalli away from the attack today.”

“Yeah,” Winston said. “I thought it would be fine, but when that man threatened Kalli, my wolf lost it. He wasn’t only threatening Kalli. He was threatening my pup.”

The mood shifted away from the happy moment. “Speaking of which, I think it’s even more essential that her pregnancy is kept a secret,” I said. “I know neither of you are great at keeping secrets, but if someone really is targeting this pack, Kalli could be in more danger. If they learn that the luna is pregnant, they might try to use her against you, even more so than before.”

“I know. I just had to tell someone, and you’re the only one I wanted to tell,” Winston said. He let out a puff of air. “Who do you think is targeting us like this?”

“Not my father, that’s for sure,” I said. “But it has to be someone who knew that his name would rattle us. Perhaps one of his associates is trying to revive his plan.”

“I thought we were done with this,” Winston said. “It’s been quiet for almost a year. Why would they come back now?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. I had let myself fall into a false sense of safety. Everything was quiet after Charles and my father were eliminated, and there were no signs of anyone wanting to take over his position. For months after the attack on the pack and former alpha, we weeded out anyone who had betrayed the pack. When that was over, life had returned to normal.

Then Juniper graduated and came back to live in this pack, and I felt like I understood what true bliss was. I let myself believe it was something that could last.

“We should reach out to the vampire king,” Winston said. “Anthony was trying to create a war with the vampires. If this is someone who was working with him, then they may have the same goal.”

“I really hate that guy,” I muttered. The last meeting with King Claude had been rather unpleasant. He was arrogant and demanding, acting like he was the superior. We at least came to a mutual understanding that neither party wanted to disrupt the treaty between werewolves and vampires, but I had hoped it was the last time I’d see him.

“Me too,” Winston agreed.

***

JUNIPER

I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my temples. Kalli had left to get a snack over an hour ago, leaving me to sort through the piles of papers necessary for planning the Luna Ball alone. I knew Kalli wasn’t coming back to help today. She loved shopping, but party planning wasn’t her thing.

I thought about taking a break for the day, but my need to succeed overcame my tiredness. I just had a few more papers to sort through and put into designated binders. Once that was done, I could actually start on the rest of the tasks.

The office door opened, but I didn’t bother to look up as I skimmed the last few papers with pack names and a list of their most important figures, taking notes on anyone I needed to add to the guest list. “I’m almost done,” I said.

“Still overworking yourself?”

My head snapped up. Nathan stood by the door, smirking at me. He wore his letterman wolfball jacket, and there was a little scruff on his cheeks, making him look older.

“Nathan!” I shouted, jumping up from my chair and running over to him. He met me halfway across the room and scooped me into a big hug before twirling me around and around.

It had been a whole month since we last saw each other. He had two and a half more years of college to get through, and even though he thought about quitting to follow me and his brothers back to this pack, I refused to let him give up on his dream for me. Long distance wasn’t easy with him, but we made it work.

Nathan lowered me back to the ground and captured my mouth with a deep kiss. His hands dug into my hips, grasping me with the ache of our separation. It was easy to get lost in his touch, and my body melted into his. Despite having my three other mates here, there was always a missing part of me when Nathan was gone. Now that he was back, it made me realize just how much I missed him. I regretted telling him to finish school, but I would never tell him to quit, especially not for me.

When we finally came up for air, I studied every feature of his face, afraid I was going to miss something.

“What are you doing back? I thought you weren’t supposed to come back until next weekend,” I asked. Nathan had a few weeks off for the holidays coming up, and I had been counting the days until he came back to visit.

“I missed you too much, so I arranged it with my professors to take my finals early. I didn’t want to be away from you for a second longer than necessary.” Nathan brushed my hair off my neck and lightly peppered my skin with his lips.

I wanted to ask more questions about how the finals went and how the plane ride was, but when Nathan started sucking on his mark on my neck, words fell out of my head. I could only think about how good it felt to be in his arms again.