One Fateful Night

During the short drive from the gate to the direction of the pack house, my mind was swirling in all directions. So many questions were flowing through my brain I couldn’t keep up. However, one question kept coming back to my brain If Roberto is here; could other Blood Moon members be here too?

In an attempt to not get my hopes up, I passed it off as wishful thinking. Finally, the pack house came into view and it was a beautiful three-story house, behind it was a large lake. To the left and right were small cabins, which is more than likely where pack members live. Opening the door cream walls and hardwood floors greet me with a ton of sunlight from the large bay windows. Surrounding these windows were so many different types of plants I couldn’t possibly name them all.

I continue to follow my Uncle John, as we make our way up a large hardwood staircase, we then turn left to a large oak door and enter the Alphas office. I take my place in the back of the room as the Alphas and Betas take their seats and are introduced to the other packs in attendance. Alpha Alexander then takes the time to introduce me and explain the circumstances that brought me here. Given the fact I was the Beta’s daughter, I was considered a representative of Blood Moon.

Alpha Hedrick stares at me with pity, and motions Beta Richard to begin. “As you are all aware, three nights ago the Blood Moon Pack was attacked late at night by Rogues. Unfortunately, we have no idea why they were attacked and nearly slaughtered; but the survivors that arrived here the next day have given us a lot of good information.

My eyes about popped out of my head. “Survivors??” I managed to crack out in total disbelief.

“We will discuss this after the meeting,” his eyes focus on me as I nod fighting back tears. “Right now, we need to focus on trying to find a base that is local to all of our packs. Given the number of the Rogues that attacked Blood Moon, there is no way they could travel a large distance undetected. Our best chance of finding them starts in the Blood Moon area, we are going off the assumption they are starting with the closest area and working their way out to the closest packs.”

Pointing at the generalized map of the five local packs, Blood Moon was surrounded by red borders, with an X where the pack house was located. “Emily, you are the most familiar with the area, I want you to mark off spaces on the map that you think a large group can hide undetected. John, can you call any other local packs, and warn them, the smaller packs can take refuge with larger ones if need be? There may have been more attacks that we don’t know about. We can then reconvene in 3 days after we put a plan in place on how to deal with finding this Rogue hive and figuring out what they want.”

I nodded in agreement with him and swallowed the large lump in my throat. I then turn to the map, Blood Moon was a large area and there could be many spots for groups to hide. In order to narrow it down, I mark off my thinking spot and drew a line from there to the backyard of the Pack House. Re-imagining I was at the party, I focused on which direction the Rogues were coming from. This narrowed the locations down to South East of the pack house. In hopes that my hunch was right, I looked around the map at any small clearings, caves, or landmarks that could possibly house such a large number of Rogues. Circling at least 5 potential spots, I show the map to Alpha Hedrick.

He smiled at me gratefully and concluded the meeting so he can send the other Alphas home to prepare for any incoming attacks. I turned to Beta Richard.” Didn’t you say something about Blood Moon survivors?”

“Let’s take a walk around the pack house, we do indeed have a few survivors here, plus I can show you your room.”

We walked back to the steps and went up to the third floor, walking down a long hallway he stops at a door on my left. “This will be your room.” He opened the door to show a well-lit room with a black framed queen bed with a white comforter and red accent pillows. The room contained anything I could possibly need including a TV, DVD player, and a large walk-in closet. I notice my bag on the floor by the closet and make a mental note to unpack it after the tour.

I leave the bedroom behind Richard, and he directs me back to the stairs where we went down to the first floor. As we walk through the open foyer that we passed when we came in we entered a door to the dining room and kitchen area. Looking around I see Omegas quickly preparing lunch as some of the Warriors come down to eat. I received hugs from a few of the Blood Moon Warriors with major relief that I am still alive. I ask a few about the Alpha, Beta, and Josh and no one knew if they had survived. Richard leads me out of the dining room down a long hallway, he pointed out the gathering area which contained a TV, game room, and pool table. A library was right across the hall from the game room which was floor to ceiling shelves bursting with books. Finally, he led me to the infirmary and I saw doctors and nurses frantically working over patients, there were so many injuries they had patients with minor injuries in the hallway treating them. I looked around and gasped at the severity of the situation we were in, I trained with so many of these men and women who were being treated. Lost in my train of thought I barely heard the screaming coming in my direction.

“EMILY!! OH MY GODDESS YOU ARE ALIVE!”

I quickly look up in the direction of the voice and I see a very familiar woman running straight at me with tears in her eyes. She quickly grabs me and wraps me in a hug.

“MOM!” I grab her back and hug her as hard as I can. As I stood there hugging her, all of the pent-up emotions I was holding in were released into inconsolable sobs. After ten minutes we both finally calm down and break apart looking at each other.

I wipe the tears from my eyes, “where is Dad?”

She looks at me with a distant look. “Come with me.” She said as she takes my hand and leads me down the hallway into a room where my father is laying in a hospital bed. The beeping of the machines is a distant sound in my mind as I look down upon my father sleeping in the bed. His pale skin is covered in scratches and bruises and a large bandage is stretched across his chest. The lightheadedness begins as I slowly sit in a nearby chair. “What happened to him?” I asked.

“In helping us escape, we came across a group of rogues he shielded me from a bullet. Unfortunately, the bullet was encased in silver and it was a long time before we could remove it. If he wasn’t a Beta, he would have succumbed to the bullet before we got here. He pushed himself to get us here and because of that, his chance of survival is extremely slim.”

“What about the Alpha, Luna, and Matthew?” I asked afraid to know the answer.

“Thomas and Samantha died on the field. Matthew is missing. ”

A lone tear fell down my cheek, as I digested the information. Mom sat down next to me and put her arm around me as we watched my father sleep. A short time later Uncle John came quietly into the room, giving my mother a huge hug and holding her as she cried. Eventually, he pulled up a chair to join us and we broke into a discussion of what happened on that fateful night. I explained the story to my mother the story of my meeting with Matthew, my time by the pond, and how I ended up being in Uncle John’s care.

“Emily, I need you to listen to me.” Mom turns and looks at me with a serious expression on her face. “I realize there are a lot of changes in your life and you feel like your world is crumbling around you, but you are technically the Luna now as well as the Beta. You will be needed to help fight this war. Please do not let your emotions get the best of you, and focus on the needs of Blood Moon, they need you now more than ever!”

Her statement hit me like a ton of bricks, I’m the Luna. OH, GODDESS! He never rejected me, I left before he could! My mate is missing! How am I going to handle this?? Overwhelming fear took over my body as I began to shake. “I’m not ready,” I said to my mother.

“You were ready to do this a long time ago; if you weren’t ready there wouldn’t have been a reconciled family this morning because of your decision to check for survivors. Uncle John and I will be here for you, it’s overwhelming yes, but you can do it!” I lightly smiled gave her a quick hug and mentioned a walk as I left the room.