“Now for the other three. We have a big mission to complete to get things while Seleste is training.”
You all will be going to Alpha Blake, correct?” Alpha Clark asks.
“Yes, that is correct.” Councilman Bari answers.
“Councilman Bari, can you tell us a little about Alpha Blake? I have heard about his pack and the great way they keep order along the border, but that is all I know about him other than him being a premier hunter and alpha.” Sam Asked.
“Well young hunter, all the stories you have heard are probably true. Although Blake is an alpha, he is dedicated to the Protector team. He has been even more dedicated after losing his mate two years ago during a rogue attack along the border. She was ambushed in an attempt to weaken him. Thank the goddess that Alpha Blake survived and kept his sanity. I believe it is because of his dedication that the goddess had mercy on him. I also believe that there is a bigger purpose for Alpha Blake, it just has not been revealed yet.”
“Wow, it was amazing that he survived losing a mate, but to also be able to function at such a high level speaks a lot,” Drew stated.
“Alpha Blake is a great wolf and Alpha. I have worked with him for a few years, both before and after the death of his mate. We cross-train some of our pack members. I train his pack how to combat an opponent with special abilities and he trains my hunters and trackers on how to operate without relying on their special abilities.”
“So, is he trustworthy? Drew asks.
“I would go into battle with him at any time. You can depend on him to do his part.”
“Talia, since this is your first official mission, your role will be more recon and fact gathering. I’ll leave it up to you on how you do that,” Councilman Bari says.
“I’m ready to do my part. I should have no trouble blending in. I also speak several languages fluently, so that will help with gathering information.” Talia says.
“I have every confidence in you all as a team and you Talia as a warrior. I know you will excel in this mission and missions in the future.” Councilman Bari says.
“If there is nothing else to cover, I believe lunch is ready. We can either eat in the dining room or I can have the Omegas bring food to us here.” Alpha Clark says.
“I have been sitting for so long. A nice walk and stretch will be good. Plus, it will give me a chance to see a little of your pack before me and the others leave.” Councilman Bari says.
We all get up and follow Alpha Clark to the dining room. I have been pretty quiet since the beginning of the meeting. Although I am used to traveling and training. This feels different. Even Tamaska is different and quiet. She usually loves commenting during planning meetings, especially when others make a plan for her, but she is completely quiet right now. I honestly don’t know if that is a good thing are not.
“Hump,” Tamaska says, then goes back to her corner of my mind.
Well, at least I know she is still there. We arrive at the dining room and enjoy a nice lunch with our choice of tacos, chicken salad, hamburger, or Philly Steak sandwiches. I get a little of everything. I am going to love my stay here. The food is amazing. I can tell others like it as well. We all pile our plates after the initial taste test. Alpha Blake and the others from Blood Moon just look at us and smile as we pile our second plate full. Many of them started with two plates full. It is a good thing we wolves have such high metabolisms, or we would all be overweight.
After lunch, we all walk with Councilman Bari, Drew, Sam, and Talia to the van for them to leave. They have a short flight to the Crescent Moon pack. Fortunately, there is a small private airfield near the pack that is owned by Alpha Blake. He has his own private jet and airfield. I know it is not uncommon for some alphas to have a private jet, but not many packs have their own airfield on their pack land. Seems like Alpha Blake is a lot more forward-thinking than a lot of other alphas.
Talia gives me a big hug when we get to the van.
‘Girl, it's not like we are going to be apart forever, just for a couple of months.” I say with a smile.
“I know, I’m just going to miss you and our daily talks.”
“Who said we are going to miss our daily talks? We’ll just have to make them nightly talks just before we climb our tired bodies in bed.”
Everyone laughs at us. We remind everyone that we have been best friends since we were infants. We have never spent any time apart from each other except for when I was training. Like I said earlier, this time feels different. It almost feels like goodbye. Although I know it is just so long. We will be working together closely over the next few years, but I think Talia also knows that I will never truly live at Blue Moon pack again. I’m not sure where I will end up, but I know Blue Moon is no longer my home. My time there is done.
I give Drew and Sam a hug and make them promise to take good care of my sister-friend. She reminds me that she is a badass warrior and can take care of herself. I know that she can, it just makes me feel better to know that they are looking out for her.
Talia makes Alpha Clark promise to look out for me while I’m with his pack. He goes a step further and promises to watch out for me in his pack and when I travel to Mystic Coven. That’s great. At least I will have someone there that I somewhat know and who is familiar with the Royal Family of vampires.
We say our final farewells and they set off. I’m left with Alpha Clark, his beta, his gamma, His sister, and my warriors.
“Why don’t we show you all to your rooms. Seleste, you are on the top floor with the alpha and beta families. The warriors will be two floors down with the warriors from my pack. My sister will show Warrior Peace to their room. I can’t believe my little sister found her mate before I did.” Alpha Clark says, shaking his head.
“His mate is closer than he thinks, and he will meet her in due time,” Tamaska says.
“Do you know who his mate is T?”
“Yes, I do, but I cannot tell you. They have to meet normally when it is the right time. If I tell you, you will try to influence them to meet sooner than they should, which could mess things up.”
“Ok, I won’t ask again, but can I reassure him that his mate is out there?”
“Yes, but it will be some time before he meets her, maybe months, but I don’t think it will be a full year,” Tamaska says.
“Don’t worry Alpha Clark, your mate is out there. The goddess is preparing you two for each other and the roles you will play in the future. You will find each other in due time. Before you ask, I don’t know who she is or when you will meet her. My wolf does but will not tell me. We just have to wait on the goddess. My wolf did say it will probably be less than a year.”
“Well, that gives me hope. I think your wolf said something similar to my wolf earlier. It calmed him down. Thank you and your wolf for that.”
“My wolf has a connection with your wolf. You were destined to be part of my inner protector team. T felt the bond as soon as we made it to your packland. She will do just about anything to make life easier for you that she can.”
“My wolf felt the bond as well but was not sure what it was until your wolf told him. I am honored to be a part of your inner team. How many warriors will be in the inner circle?” Alpha Clark asked.
“I really don’t know. My wolf has not told me. I’m not sure if the goddess has told her. She said she only knows when she is close to the wolf since the bond. The first one she sensed was Warrior Peace. That’s why he is traveling with me. He will also need to have more specialized training. So I guess that means your sister is also part of our group. I’m sure Warrior peace would not want to be separated from his mate for any mission we may send him on in the future.”
I can tell that both Warrior Peace and Yvette are relieved that they will be on the same team. I personally believe that wolves are stronger when they work with their mates. Their minds will not be divided between the mission and worried about what is going on with their mate, because their mate is right beside them, watching their backs and protecting each other.
We make it to the warrior floor first and Gamma Francis shows the warriors their rooms. All of our bags have already been delivered to our rooms, so everyone just has to get settled.
“There is nothing on the schedule for you all today. My warriors have been notified of your presence, so feel free to relax and explore. The warriors are currently either training or running patrol. You are free to interact with any of them. Dinner will be in the main dining hall at 7:00 tonight. Here is a folder with all the important numbers and a map of the areas of the pack that you will need to know how to find. Ask any pack member if you need to get anywhere that is not on the map.” Alpha Clark says.
The rest of us continue up the stairs to the top floor. Yvette grabs Warrior Peace and leads him to what I’m sure is their room. I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did before the mate bond pulled them away from prying eyes. That speaks a lot about the level of discipline they both have. I’m not sure the average wolf would have lasted that long.
Alpha Clark opens the door to a room that looks like it was made just for me. The walls are soft blue-gray. The curtains and the bed linen are all royal blue with accents of white gold.
“This is your room Seleste. I hope you will be comfortable here during your stay.”
“This room is perfect. Blue is my favorite color. This is similar to my room at home. The walls will reflect the moon perfectly at night. Thank you, Alpha Clark.”
“Seleste, we are going to be working closely together over the next few years. Please call me Garnett in private.”
“Ok. I will. Thank you, Garnett. I am sure I am going to enjoy my stay here.”
“I would speak too fast. You haven’t started training yet. I have been told that I am a hard taskmaster, so we will see.” He said with a smirk.
“I will leave you to get settled. Like I told the others, dinner will be in the main dining room at 7:00 tonight. It is usually a casual affair. There is no need to dress formally for dinner. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me, the beta or gamma Francis.” Alpha Clark says as they walk out of my room.
I’ve had a long day. I’m going to take a nap so I can be fresh for dinner and ready for training tomorrow. Before I know it, several hours have passed, and it is time to get ready for dinner. Warrior Cruz from my protection team linked me to inform me that the team will meet me at the stairs at 6:45. That gives me less than 30 minutes to get dressed. I’m glad that dinner is casual. I would not make it if I had to dress up. I have just enough time to shower and dive into my clothes.
I made it just in time. The warriors were waiting for me as I descended the stairs. When we got to the bottom, Alpha Clark was waiting to lead us to the dining room. We all entered the dining hall together and everyone present got quiet and stared at us. One pack member asked Alpha Clark if I was his mate. We had all agreed not to tell the rest of the pack my identity as the protector until later. Alpha Clark told the pack that I was a visiting Gamma who had displayed signs of an affinity towards the elements and was sent here by my Alpha to train. Well, that is partly true, so it will be easy to maintain. Tamaska is impressed with how the alpha thinks on his feet.
Alpha Clark introduced the warriors and I to the pack. He also announces that Yvette found her mate. As he is doing the introductions, I noticed that all three of the remaining warriors are acting strange.
“Umm, Tamaska, what is going on with them?”
“Oh nothing, they’re just sensing their mates, but it's so many people in here, they can’t get a good feeling for who or where they are.”
“Do you know?”
“Of course, I do. Ask Alpha Clark to have Shanice, Janet, and Tricia come over. They are sitting in different areas near the back of the hall.”
“Alpha Clark, Tamaska said my warrior’s mates are here in the dining hall. There are too many people in here for them to get a good reading on them, but they can sense that they are in the room. Tamaska said if you link Shanice, Janet, and Tricia, you would be doing them a big favor. Don’t worry, all of my warriors have the utmost integrity and have been waiting for their mates since turning 18.”
Alpha Clark links the ladies and within seconds, three beautiful ladies walk towards the alpha’s table. As soon as they get close, all six of them start running toward each other. They are definitely mates. The dining hall erupts in applause. One person finding their mate is a good thing, but four of my warriors finding mates on the same day is miraculous. I guess the goddess wants my team to be the strongest possible. I release the warriors to go spend time with their mates and their mates' families. Alpha Clark reassures them that he and Warrior Peace will watch out for me.
I am happy for my warriors. All of them wanted to find their mates. I know they were disappointed that they would have to miss the mate ball. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for them. They didn’t have to wait for the ball.
I asked Alpha Clark about the three ladies and was very happy to hear that two of the three are elite warriors, while the third is a healer with warrior training. They will make a great addition to my protection team. They are the closest to me aside from my inner circle. Alpha Clark and I agreed that Shanice, who is the healer, will train in combat medicine so that she can heal us in the heat of the battle. This is a win for us.
Dinner, like lunch, was delicious. After all of the excitement of the new mates, we all ate in relative silence. You can always tell when the food is good. No one talks while we are eating. We all ate until we were full before the conversation started back. Tonight, was Italian night. They had several types of pasta with beef and seafood. I have regular and seafood lasagna, both were amazing.
After that awesome meal, I was ready for bed again. I know I napped earlier, but it's been a long week for me, so I am tired and need to recharge. Tamaska is still not 100%, and we have a full day of training. I say good night to everyone and head to my room. Warrior Peace and Yvette walk with me. I know they take their role as my protection seriously, but seriously; I am one of the strongest warriors around. I can protect myself. Warrior Peace reminded me that I needed to keep up appearances, plus, he and Yvette were ready to head back to their room anyway.
I get to my room and fell asleep before my head hit the pillow. This is the start of a new adventure, and as excited as I am, I need to sleep more. I will explore more later.