The Hexed Luna (Book 4 of Forest Wolf Series)

Alpha's Council

Jack’s POV

   My week dragged by as I dealt with my companies and any pack issues that popped up. I also dealt with Adria once more during the week. She plopped down in my lap in the dining hall right before dinner one night in front of everyone. I grabbed her wrists and flung her off me to the floor. This shit needed to stop and I hope the shot to her ego was what she needed to get the message. No one said anything to me and she looked embarrassed as hell from my reaction. 

   It was finally the day to leave for the Alpha Council meeting. I had my things packed and ready to go. I drove my truck to the airport and boarded my private jet. The flight from Harvest Moon to the Council Manor is a three-and-a-half-hour flight. During the flight, I took the time to watch ESPN and catch up on Football news. 

   I shut the TV off and played with my phone for the last thirty minutes of the flight. When the plane landed I grabbed my bag and exited. I found an SUV waiting to take me to the Council Manor. We arrived there within a few minutes and I got out of the SUV. 

   I stopped and looked around the area before taking a deep breath. I liked this area. It was beautiful here and especially this time of year with the leaves starting to change color on the trees and fall. I wondered why no one had put a pack on this side of the country. 

   I turned and walked through the door of the Manor to be greeted by an attendant that showed me to my room. I placed my things down on the bed and left my room. I went straight to the kitchen and got a sandwich to eat. I left the kitchen and walked the grounds while eating my lunch. I enjoyed moving around as much as possible. Sitting still just made me restless. 

   When I was done walking around I went back to my room and turned the TV on to watch a golf tournament. I sat there and relaxed while waiting to be taken to dinner. After several hours an attendant knocked on my door. I got up and went with him to the dining room. The room was set up as usual with tables spread out everywhere. I saw Alpha Dave and Alpha Brian at a table together with their mates, Luna Jenn and Luna Claire. I sat down at a table not too far from them. Moments later I was joined by Alpha Dean of the Blue Moon pack. He was a good friend of mine. 

   “How have you been?” I asked Dean. 

   “Oh, you know. Same old things. Fighting off rogues while trying to work.”

   “Rogues huh?”

   “Yeah. What about you?”

   “We’ve had a few attacks here and there but nothing above the normal.”

   “Anything new going on?” he asked me. 

   “Not really, I just have some solid advice for you.”

   “What about?”

   “Stay away from psycho she-wolves that aren’t your mate,” I told him. 

   “Oh, sounds like something stupid is biting you in the ass.”

   “Yes,” I said with wide eyes. 

   Dinner was served soon after we started talking and we continued until it was time for our traditional Alpha outing. A drink honestly sounded nice at this point. With the issues I had been dealing with of my own doing I needed a way to relax. 

   All of us piled into three SUVs and were driven to the pub that was close by. When we got there, we got two tables and sat down. We all ordered our drinks and started having a great time. I ordered an Imperial IPA and eagerly started drinking it. Goddess, it was great to have a drink. 

   After our first couple of rounds, I can tell our tables are having a great time talking and laughing about past times and good stories. This was the only enjoyable part of the Alpha meetings, getting drunk together. Tomorrow I knew I would end up getting pissed off at someone for something and most of the time it was them being dumb. 

   Suddenly, we all watch as Cameron quickly stands up and goes outside the pub. I see Duncan, BJ and Ivan all trailing after him. I wondered what was up with them but none of us asked. We left them alone knowing that if it was something important, someone would have said something. The four of them soon left the pub early while the rest of us stayed and had a few more drinks. 

   “So Curt, any more pups in your future with that mate of yours,” Dave asked. 

   “Nope. One son is enough. Grayson keeps me busy enough,” Curt answers. 

   “You three,” Dave says pointing at me, Alex and Dean, “are the last three in this group that still haven’t found your mates.” 

   I had heard that Cameron had found his mate. They had gotten married and I was informed that she was carrying their first pup. I wondered if he brought her with him but I didn’t notice her at dinner. To be honest I didn’t pay much attention to the other tables because I was talking with Dean. 

   “Sometimes it’s more difficult than one would think,” Dean says, a little irritated.

   He had been looking in the northern packs for his Luna recently and was having no success in finding her. He needed to check the other packs too. I really needed to start looking at the other packs. I had only been to Blue Moon and Gray Moon. Waiting for her in my own pack was stupid. Not everyone found their Luna in their pack like Duncan, BJ and Ivan had.  

   “That it is,” I huffed. 

   “Don’t think you're lost just because you haven’t found her yet, guys. Sometimes after you find her you just want to strangle the life out of her,” Curt says. 

   Alex laughed at Curt and said, “I don’t envy you with Nicky.”

   “And you shouldn’t. I hope by the Moon Goddess you guys get a kinder Luna than mine. Then again we needed a strong stubborn ass like her,” Curt says. 

   “We all get what we need in a Luna. Not just for ourselves but for our packs,” Brian tells us. 

   I hope he’s right. I needed someone that was going to be able to handle my past and want to stay with me. Not only that, I hope she needs me as much as I already needed her. I also hope she can handle my temper. My temper sometimes worries me around others. 

   We all keep talking and drink a few more rounds before heading back to the Manor for the night. The ride back was filled with laughter as we kept talking in the vehicle while an attendant drove our drunk asses back. When we entered the Manor, I watched as Alex and Dean tried not to stumble down the hallway in the dark to their rooms. I giggled like a schoolgirl at them and watched Brian, Dave and Curt stumble a little back to their mates. 

   I took a deep breath and straightened up to walk back to my room. Right at the end I stumbled into the door and opened it. I walked into my room and closed the door behind me. I started to shed my clothes, dropping them on the floor as I walked towards the bed. I stripped down to my boxers and crawled into bed under the covers. I turned the lamp off and laid in the darkness before closing my eyes to find sleep. 

~

   My alarm went off and I jolted awake which was a bad idea. My head hurt from drinking as much as I did. I shut my alarm off and got up slowly. I went into the bathroom and drank some water before stripping my boxers off and climbing in the shower. While standing under the water, I felt Porter stirring in my mind as I washed the smell of beer away from last night. 

   “Well don’t you look like a ray of sunshine this morning?” 

   “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m always a ray of sunshine.”

   “Right…”

   I finished showering and got dressed in black dress pants, a black button-up shirt, a black vest, a black and silver tie and a silver blazer. Once I was dressed I went to the kitchen to grab breakfast. As I was getting my plate of food, Cameron walked into the kitchen. 

   “Good morning,” he said. 

   “Good morning,” I answered.  

   I looked over at him and watched as he got two plates out and started filling them. That told me his Luna was present but I hadn’t seen or noticed her yet. I shrugged it off and left the kitchen to go eat in my room while watching some sports news. 

   I sat there watching TV while I finished eating. I kept watching the news on NFL games and Baseball stats until an attendant came to my room to let me know that the Alpha’s meeting would be starting at ten.  

   When it was a little before ten, I left my room and walked through the halls of the Manor towards the meeting room. I kept myself relaxed as I walked into the room and over towards my chair. I needed to try and keep my cool during today’s meeting. Everyone knew my temper was bad but I needed to show I could control it. 

   Everyone entered the room and an attendant closed the door. All of us took our seats and I looked down at my watch. I was happy to see that the meeting was starting on time for a change. 

   Alpha Dave called the meeting to order as always. When Dave and Brian finally stepped down as Alphas of their packs the Council would be looking for a new head to the Council. Dave was our current head. It would be entertaining to watch the power struggle between Curt and Cameron to lead the Alphas since they were the oldest. 

   Dave announced updates with the packs since our last meeting six months ago. Cameron had found his mate and had gotten married, just like I had heard. We all congratulated him and he held a smug smile saying thank you. He and Curt seemed to piss me off the most in this bunch other than Dave. He also announced that Cameron’s mate was pregnant. 

   I sat in my chair watching and listening just waiting for things to shift. This is why these meetings were so stupid, focusing on stroking someone’s ego every time we were here. 

   “Now to the business at hand,” Alpha Brian cut in.

   “Right. We are here to discuss crops and other issues arising in our territories. We will go around the table and discuss issues while Brian takes notes,” Dave says. 

   “Duncan, go ahead and start us off,” Brian says. 

   The meeting started to drag right along. Everyone shared what was going on crop-wise and rogue issue-wise. I didn’t have much to share but I let the others know we had some rogue problems. I watched everyone’s expressions and reactions to information while trying to read their thoughts. 

   I took note that half of the territories were having crop issues while the others had rogue issues. With the crop issues, we badly needed help from the Forest Wolf if he was out there somewhere. For all we know he could be on the other side of the world helping those packs. We needed to find him. 

   I noticed when Cameron and Duncan shared a look with one another and Alex saw it too. Those two knew something that was going on and they weren’t sharing the information with anyone. What the hell did they know that the rest of us didn’t? Ivan and BJ even shifted in their seats saying they knew some information also. These four were holding out on the rest of us. I felt my anger starting to rise from being left in the dark. I would get that information from them. 

   Suddenly the alarm in the building sounded loudly in our ears. Everyone jumped out of their seats ready to attack. An attendant came running into the room to talk to Dave then quickly left, leaving the door open. 

   “We are being attacked by rogues. The Lunas were in the garden. I’m not sure where they are now,” Dave said.

   Cameron, Duncan, BJ and Ivan were the first ones out of the room. Curt and Alex followed them out onto the porch of the Manor with the rest of us close behind them. As we stood on the porch we heard and saw rain pouring down. The rain that was coming down wasn’t normal by any means. The puddles and droplets that were collecting were liquid silver. What the fuck was going on? There had to be witches at play here, but why? Who had pissed who off?

   The silver would kill any werewolf if they were caught out in this. The Luna’s had a small chance of survival unless they found cover somewhere. I hope they have. 

   Cameron put his hand out in the rain and I listened to him hiss as it hit his skin. Was he thinking that somehow he could go out there? None of us could. 

   We all started to scan the area for any signs of the four Lunas but didn’t see anyone. The area was calm with the deadly rain falling around us. Everyone was quiet while listening and watching for any signs of movement. 

   Suddenly through the sound of the rain, I heard something creaking, like there was wood moving. That’s when we all saw two trees walking around with three figures under them coming towards us. 

   “What the fuck,” I heard several of the Alpha’s say. 

   The trees were moving about. It could only be one of two things; a friendly witch was here to help or the Forest Wolf was out there somewhere. I watched the trees and the Lunas carefully. There were only three of them instead of four. Nicky, Clair and Jenn were under the trees, so where was Cameron’s mate? 

   When the trees reached the porch the Lunas quickly joined us. Nicky walked up to Curt with a scowl on her face as usual. I don’t see how he deals with her. He must have tons of patience because I would have rejected such a nasty mate as her. 

   “Are you alright?” Curt asked her calmly. 

   “I’m fine other than being traumatized,” she huffed. 

   There she was being dramatic again. What a bitch. She really needed to get over herself. 

   “How did the trees move to get y’all here?” Curt asked Nicky. 

   “His mate,” Nicky said, pointing at Cameron. 

   That’s when I heard Luna Jenn speak to Cameron, “Jamie’s still out there.” 

   Was Cameron’s mate, Jamie, a witch? That’s not completely unheard of. I was interested to meet her. A witch and a wolf pairing didn’t happen that often but when it did the offspring tends to have a wolf and a little magic. 

   We stood on the porch and watched and waited for any signs of another female out there. In the distance, we all heard loud growls and howling. What was happening out there? I watched Cameron start to get more agitated by the second in front of our group. He was pacing back and forth on the porch running his hands through his hair. His mate had to be a witch otherwise he would have mind-linked her by now.