His White Luna

Jamie

I panted exasperatedly as I ran up the last flight of stairs, sweat had formed on my brow as I skipped every third step and raced towards Angel’s scent that still lingered in the hallway. She had to be here, why else would she want to stay in the city of a foreign pack?

I wheezed and pounded on the door, where her scent was the strongest, “Open the door,” I commanded, drawing from every cell of Beta I had within me, hoping it would be enough.

The footsteps of bare feet against a cold tile could be heard under the crack in the doorway as someone drew near and I stepped back, composing myself. It had to be her, it had to be Alice.

She smiled kindly at me as she opened the door, she didn’t even try to hide or run, “Hi Jamie, it’s nice to see you,” she said leaning on the doorframe. “Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?”

I looked at her, it was like I was hallucinating, I thought perhaps she was a ghost. I couldn’t help but pull her into a hug, and a weight lifted off my shoulders when I touched her, she was really here. She embraced me back and inhaled deeply in my arms, “I’m happy to see you too, Alice,” she mocked, and I pulled back, holding her at arms length.

I hadn’t seen her properly since she walked out of the hospital for the last time, leaving Nate and myself with nothing but an air of mystery around her. She didn’t even leave a note, nor say goodbye, she only disappeared off into the shadows.

Her soft skin danced across my arm and she pulled me into the apartment, “I’ll put the kettle on, it looks like you need a moment.”

Like a puppy dog, I followed her into the apartment, which looked a great deal like the one head had back in her old pack. It was nothing like Nate’s house in the Pack, everything was white, the walls, the floor, the furniture, but there were splashes of colour thrown around, the colour of the books she had compiled, featured in every crack and corner of the apartment. It was all so Alice.

“I’m sorry Al, it looks like I brought unwanted strays knocking,” Angel said placing her coffee cup down the dining table and catching my gaze.

“I’m sure he would have found me eventually, isn’t that right Jamie?” Alice said, putting a warm cup in my hands.

I shook my head and looked at the two, “No, I’d looked everywhere for you, when Angel requested an extended layover here, I knew she must have known something I didn’t, so I followed her smell here.”

“See,” Angel said, giving Alice a knowing look.

“Clearly not everywhere then,” Alice said shaking her head and giving me a wink.

The loud buzz in my ears suddenly disappeared and I snapped back to reality, “come home, Alice,” I commanded.

The two women stared at each other and then looked back at me, “your Beta commands don’t work on us Jamie,” Angel laughed, “I’m married to a Beta and she’s an Alpha – “ Angel stopped as Alice’s hand landed on hers.

The two friends looked at each other, seeming to exchange words without opening their mouths, “I’ll go,” she said, eventually turning to look at me.

“But Al-” Angel said starting to object, cut short by the growl that ripped from my lips.

“I have to Angel, Jamie has been tasked to hunt me down, just look at him.”

Angel turned and looked me up and down, my muscles throbbed as my mind fought every cell in my body not to lift Alice up, throw her over my shoulder and carry her back to Nate. She was right.

“What about everything you’ve worked so hard for here,” Angel said, placing her other hand on top of Alice’s.

“I’m not the same she-wolf Nathaniel took two years ago, I’m doing this for Jamie.”

Angel sighed and realised Alice’s hands, picking up her empty mug and swirling the dregs in the bottom of the cup, “I should go catch my flight,” she said defeated.

Alice nodded, “Lock up after you leave, and call me, I’ll answer this time,” she said with a smile, standing up and walking around to my side of the table.

I looked down at her, “Come with me,” I said, placing my own, untouched, mug down onto the table and escorting her out the door.

She laced her hand around my arm and smiled at me, “It’s okay Jamie, I won’t run, you can breathe now,” she promised.

I didn’t realise I had been holding my breath until she pointed it out and I let my body exhale, a quiver shooting down my spine and a feeling of satisfaction washing over me. I was finally going to be realised from the command Nate had given me, it had been over a year now and the pain and turmoil within me was excruciating.

I was bringing the Luna home.

* * * * * * * * * *

I was proud to stand beside her, she was still the woman who I had met many moons ago, but she was so different now, she stood taller, she thought smarter, and she fought harder. She was unlike any Luna I had ever seen, she was unlike any leader I had ever met, she was born to be powerful.

“Are you ready?” I asked, joining her at the forest edge and looked at her, as she stared distantly into the darkness.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, and it was clear she was battling with a turmoil within herself.

“You can’t escape this forever Al,” I said trying to urge her.

She shot me a dirty look that could have killed, “You’re not helping Jamie, it’s hard.”

“Talk to me then,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder, “What happened?”

She looked at me, her pale eyes had hardened over the last year, “I went East, after I left. I thought that I would go back to the Seaport Pack, but then I thought of Jenny and her family, my father, Tom, and I realised I couldn’t face them. That, that would be the first place you guys looked for me, so I headed South, I slipped through every one of the pack territories until I stood at the Southern border, and I just couldn’t step over it.”

“Couldn’t, or didn’t want to?”

“Couldn’t,” she said finally making eye contact with me and scratching her neck, “despite everything, he is still the Alpha and I couldn’t disobey that order.”

I swallowed as I recalled the scream match the two had and shook the thought from my head, “so what happened next?”

“I came back to central, I kept my nose out of trouble and completed my PHD, got the teaching gig that I worked my arse off for. You guys apparently didn’t think to look for me under your noses.”

“No, I thought you would have travelled anyway to get away from us after,” I stopped and looked down at the ground, “after the war I guess.”

She smiled weakly and inhaled deeply, “have you told him you found me?”

“No,” I said shaking my head, “to be honest, he’s not the same person he was when you left, I don’t know how he’ll react to the news,” I admitted.

She smiled weakly, “let me make my own entrance.”

I nodded, “I will still need to escort you,” I said, placing my hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

“I know, to be honest, I’m surprised you didn’t tell him the second you saw me.”

I smiled weakly, “you’re also my friend, Al. Yes, you’re my Luna and my job is to bring you back to him, but you’re my friend above all of it.”

“Thank you,” she smiled. She let out a sigh and stepped forward, “I guess it’s time for this to end then.”

It was like an explosion, a white light projected from her, followed by waves of her scent, it was like being beaten into a field of flowers with a book. I stagged back a few paces and gasped for fresh air, clasping my hand over my mouth. Not that it was a bad smell, of course nothing compared to my beautiful mate’s, but the overpowering sheer quantity of it took me off guard. I guess this is what happens when you conceal your own scent for so long. It builds up.

The white robe she wore flutter around her as the air calmed and she began to step into the forest, the pine needles crunched under her bare feet and she leaped into the air. I had watched many wolves transform though out my life, from Alpha’s to Rouges, each person had their own style and their own wolf, yet nothing compared to her grace.

It was by far one of the fastest transformations I had ever witnessed, I could have blinked and missed the whole thing. She had flung her arms out to the side, as if trying to fly and as she brought her arms above her head, she changed. The paws of a great white wolf stood where she should have landed. Her fur glistened as if she had diamonds tucked away under her coat and an un-nerving sensation washed over me as she turned and looked at me with her white eyes.

It had been a year since the war ended and I had seen Alice for the first time in her wolf form. Nate had told me she was a white wolf, but when I arrived on the battlefield to find her, her coat was stained red with blood. She had exceeded the expectations of all, the power of a white wolf was rarer and more legendary than that of a black wolf. She could have single handily ended the war without our assistance, and she didn’t even know it.

’Are you ready?’ she asked through the mind link.

I swallowed and nodded, lost for words at the power and beauty she emitted. “Let’s go home.”