Alpha's Blind Luna novel Chapter 45

It took twenty minutes of walking before anyone even came to greet us. I was following Mark but I didn’t know why we weren’t shifting and running in. It seemed like the long way to be going in but when the Beta, Joshua, finally showed up with two other warriors, Mark shifted. He still hadn’t said a word to me the entire time. I adjusted my duffle and shifted as well. All of their eyes went wide as my shift probably shocked them. My size and color also didn’t help, considering I towered over Mark.

We had never shifted and I had never seen his wolf form just as he hadn’t seen mine. So it wasn’t surprising but I felt a shift of wariness in all of them. As though my ‘stupid frat boy’ persona may be broken. They took a minute but were able to gather themselves enough to lead the way. Again, even in wolf form, it was slow going.

Heading north, we passed the outskirts of a town before coming to a stop at an older castle looking building. It was gothic and reminded me a lot of the High Council castle but it was a bit smaller than that one. Everyone shifted and I followed, throwing on the jeans I had but forgoing the shirt.

“Damn, that’s weird. Why the hell do you shift like that?” One of the warriors the Beta brought with him ask me.

I chuckled. “My mother shifts the same way. I take after her.”

He just nodded and didn’t say anything further. Shoving my hands in my pocket, I followed the guys as Mark took the lead.

“Our Alpha is looking forward to meeting you. We are hoping to put a stop to this issue. We’ve lost thirty seven wolves already. And we were suffering from the loss of our own children as well.”

“How many?”

Beta Joshua looked back at me, surprised I spoke up. “How many what?”

I chose to ignore the blatant disrespect he had for me. I also hadn’t come in with my Alpha King power blazing so I didn’t know if they just thought I was part of the High Council. “How many pups?”

“Thirteen.”

My eyes widened but I looked down, trying to give the thoughts in my head time to process. Thirteen pups missing and from the sounds of it, the pack had given up on them. They just were trying to stop anymore from being taken. On top of that, it meant that 37 of them had died and only thirteen or so had died from the other side. Unless their numbers were skewed.

“We will speak to Alpha Niles at once. Set up a base and see where you have also set up your defenses. I want to make sure we get as many details as possible.” Mark said in a very authoritative Alpha voice.

Beta Joshua nodded and lead us into the pack house. It was a couple floors up, but he eventually knocked on one of the doors and opened it, revealing an office within. It was dark and brooding. There were a surprising amount of mounted animals on the wall, as well as a full bar on one of the sides of the room. Not a single bookshelf in sight. I hoped they just kept their library elsewhere but it did not bode well that their Alpha didn’t have a book in his office.

'He doesn’t feel right.'

I looked over Alpha Niles. He was probably around Týr's age. Maybe a little older. The lines on his face and the grimace that seemed etched in stone on his face made it seem like he was older. There was something off about him. Naresh was right. It wasn’t quite evil but it certainly didn’t feel good either. Looking at Mark, he and the Alpha shook hands. Not coming forward, I just nodded my head to the Alpha.

“High Councilor Mark, I’m glad to have you in the territory. Though it seems they sent you to babysit.”

Naresh growled but I held him down.

“This is our very own Alpha King Vale, Alpha Niles.”

Growling again, this time I really had to shove Naresh down. Mark’s attitude was worse than Niles. I didn’t want to blow my cover though. Dumb might get me a long way here. Especially if something was going on.

“Oh, so this is the new Alpha King. Well, he’s a bit...young.”

My brow furrowed. “What? You do know how an Alpha King is crowned, right? That an Alpha King is born, not chosen. We aren’t just old men from the time we are named Alpha King.” I rolled my eyes and grumbled. “All you Alpha’s are the same.”

Mark and Niles shared a look between each other and I chuckled inwardly. Exactly what I was looking for.

'They aren’t going to take you seriously, Vale.'

'That’s what I want for a little while. They don’t know our power, the level of Alpha we are. Let’s let them have their guard down. Just like Peter said. You said something isn’t right. So let’s find out what.'

'I don’t know, Vale. I don’t like being treated like this.'

I chucked at Naresh as his tail swished like an upset cat.

“Well, I’ll make sure to provide our best room for our King.” Niles forced a smile that made me think he didn’t actually know what a smile looked like anymore. His smile sent shivers down my spin.

“So has their been any movement on the vampires and witches side? What are we looking at for you defenses? And you want to tell me why they think you did it?”

Mark fired off question after question and I just listened as the two of them continued through their chattering. Everything seemed pretty well fortified but it didn’t make sense. None of it did. My eyes narrowed and when there was a break in their chatter, I chimed in.

“Your Beta said you lost thirteen pups.”

The Alpha nodded. “Over a six months time, yes. They would disappear from their homes or school.”

“So middle of the day and at night? It seems suspicious that you couldn’t feel anyone on your territory that would be causing harm to your pack.” My eyes narrowed.

“They disappeared into thin air, Alpha. There no was sign of struggle, they just vanished from wherever they were. Gone. No trail, no scent, nothing. We didn’t suspect anyone local since we are on good terms with the local vampires and witches but now…” He trailed off.

Clearing my throat, I looked at him. “It’s Alpha King, Alpha Niles. I’m not just your regular old Alpha. Wouldn’t it have been prudent to work with the local covens to figure out where both your children have disappeared to? I mean, working with them if they have seen anyone going through their territory would help stamp out this issue.”

Alpha Niles shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “You want me to tell them I don’t have a handle on my pack? Sure, let’s announce to the entire world, Alpha King, that I couldn’t protect my borders enough.”

“Too late for that now, don’t you think? Now, you’ve got thirty-seven dead because you didn’t want to ask for help.”

He growled and Mark put his hand out. “Vale, why don’t you head out? Let us talk over the specifics of it. You can check out the rooms.”