9. The New Luna

nine

The New Luna

*ELDEN*

B ack at home from school, Flora heads off to say hello to her grandma while I target the packhouse to put my bag and books into my room. I need to meet up with Samuel later for some training. He and Geneva are still here, overseeing everything, especially because my father neglected the pack for so many years.

They don’t trust his leadership anymore and are scared the pack might overthrow him if they don’t help out. Personally, I’m glad they are here, although I don’t always get along with Samuel. But he and Geneva at least try, and with them close by, Dad doesn’t dare to be a complete shit to me.

On my way to the packhouse, I bump into Beta Oliver and-

“Emilia,” I say. I still feel a bit awkward around her.

“Elden.” She smiles brightly. “You are home early.”

Dad has married and marked her, yet it didn’t help in making us a family. It’s not her fault, it’s mine and my father’s. We just stopped being family when Mom committed suicide. Maybe we weren’t even family before that, but at least Mom was the glue that kept the image together for me.

I know deep inside that isn’t true. She was barely able to tend to me, and couldn’t even hug me. But it’s my truth, and I can’t help but cling to it.

With Emilia, it’s different.

The pack treats her differently, too. Despite my mom having been depressed, they liked her, and over the years that my father was just here occasionally, they lost their connection to him. They still see him as their alpha—because they have to—but I know they have their eyes set on me and Flora now.

I don’t know how to feel about that. I don’t even know if I ever want to lead this pack, that holds so many sad memories and that broke my mother. It doesn’t matter what I think or feel though, because to them Flora is their future luna, the miracle girl with the secret powers, and I, the future alpha with the strong lycan beast in him.

My eyes wander back to Oliver and Emilia, making me focus on them again. Oliver is carrying two chairs that I recognize as two beautiful pieces from my father’s office. “Do you need help?” I ask.

“No, you work too much for the pack already,” Emilia says. “Beta Oliver and I wanted to take these to the orphanage. Your father doesn’t want them anymore, so we thought it would be better to donate them.”

Certainly not Dad’s idea.

“That’s good. The orphanage is always short of stuff,” I say. “Flora and I were planning on painting murals for them on Sunday.”

“That’s a lovely idea. What else do they need?” Emilia asks. “They are not as open about these things to me.”

It amazes me that she so gracefully accepts the distant, cold way they treat her. No one is impolite to her, but they aren’t particularly warm, either. It’s not her fault. She is just easier to hate than my father.

It’s not fair, but when was it ever? The pack didn’t care much for Mom when she was depressed, only when she passed away and then they suddenly realized what they lost.

“I will ask them,” I say. Talking about upcoming Sunday reminds me of the promise I gave to Jace. Maybe it’s sly to ask her and not my father, but I just don’t feel like interacting with him more than necessary. “There is a party on Saturday. Jace’s father organizes it. I wonder if I could go. I will take Flora with me if she wants to come.”

Emilia smiles at me, like she always does. I don’t ask her often for things, but when I do, she usually says yes. She never got mad at me either, even when I was mean to her at first, or when I fucked up. The only time she was annoyed was when Jace and I threw a secret party during summer vacation, got drunk and almost burned the packhouse down. It was the only time I ever did something stupid. Emilia and Dad came home early and were shocked about the mess. Even though she wasn’t happy, Emilia still had my back. I bet, if it weren’t for her, Dad would have beaten me.

“If Jace’s father organizes it, it’s one for higher ranks,” Oliver says. “Alpha Caelum wouldn’t refuse such a request, Elden.”

I don’t say anything to him. By now, he must know that I try to minimize my contact with my father as much as I can. The less I need to talk to him, the better. Meanwhile, Emilia’s gaze saddens slightly. I’m not sure what she knows or sees, or what she heard, but she knows that Dad and I are hardly talking. “It’s okay,” she tells me. “You and Flora should go and enjoy yourselves. I will tell him. He is not going to say no to me.”

She is right. It came as a shock to me, but she truly is his weak point. I’m sure now that he never loved my mom. But, maybe he loves Emilia, that is if he is capable of loving someone.

I still remember when he introduced her to me.

“Meet Emilia,” Dad says shortly, while looking at a completely perplexed Oliver and me.

My gaze wanders to the person behind him, a beautiful woman… older, Dad’s age.

“Alpha,” Oliver asks, stunned. “You found your second chance? I wasn’t aware.”

Despite everything, he still treats my father with respect. Not with the friendliness he used to have for him, but he still respects him as his alpha. I sometimes hate him for it, but now I can at least understand him a little. He still is Dad’s beta, after all. It doesn’t matter that Dad is barely at home.

“She is not my second chance,” Dad says shortly. “We chose each other.”

“Caelum, I told you that’s not the way you should introduce me. You should have told them in advance,” Emilia admonishes him, much to my surprise. Never has anyone talked like that to my father. Then she steps forward, reaching out her hand towards me. “I’m Emilia,” she says, “from a pack in Tuscany. I’m so happy to finally meet you, Elden.”

I can only stare at her, not able to bring myself to take her hand. She lets her hand drop, a hint of sadness in her eyes, but when Dad wants to push past her to yell at me or do worse, she puts her hand on his arm. “It’s okay,” she says. “They are shocked. I would be, too.”

He just gazes at her and stops paying attention to me, fortunately. Beta Oliver lets out a sigh of relief, also.

“I wish I could have met you earlier, but your father and I didn’t know where our relationship would take us,” Emilia explains.

“How did you meet?” Oliver finally finds his voice again.

“I lost my mate,” she says, sadness in her eyes. “He used to be alpha. I did lead the pack for a couple of years until his younger brother was ready to take over,” she pauses. “Unfortunately, we had no children. Caelum and I met during a meeting for the Council.”

She seems to be nice, for the lack of a better word, and like she genuinely grieved her loss. How come my father found someone like her, and how come she wants him? If she isn’t a totally crappy person, she could do better.

“You are finally here,” Samuel’s voice reaches us from behind. “Welcome to Silverlake, Emilia.”

“Thank you, Samuel.” She smiles at him, before gazing at Oliver and me. “Samuel and I are old friends.”

“Oh, are you?” I ask, turning to Samuel. One gaze at him tells me what I wanted to ask, because he looks pathetically sorry.

He did know.

Of course, he did.

Asshole!

“I’m going to meet with Flora,” I say, ready to leave this miserable little piece of drama here.

“Did you finally get serious with that girl?” Dad asks.

The way he says ‘that girl’ riles me up instantly. It’s not what he says but how he says it. As though Flora is just a nice little ornament and not her own person. As if she didn’t have any value aside from being my mate and future luna.

To my relief, Geneva steps forward now. “Allow me to welcome you too, Emilia,” she says. “We haven’t met yet, but I have heard a lot about you from the Italian packs.” She turns to me now. “You know, they always talked highly about Emilia. Despite being known as the widowed luna, she kept her pack together.”

“You are praising me too much,” Emilia says. “I did what anyone would have done.”

Geneva is a kind woman, and very smart. She was Mom’s friend. If she says Emilia is a good person, I’m more inclined to believe it, but at the same time, she just said she hadn’t met Emilia before. Emilia could still be a fraud; she could be a self-centered piece of shit like my father. Everything is possible.

“We are going to have a family dinner tonight,” Dad says. “I expect you to attend.”

I have to fight hard not to laugh. Family dinner? The last time we had one was when I was six, before Mom had her last depressive episode. “A family dinner?” I repeat.

Oliver seems to have similar thoughts because for a split second, the look on his face is of mere disbelief.

“Yes,” Dad says shortly, turning towards Emilia. “Beta Oliver will attend also. I want you to meet the ranked members.”

“You don’t have a gamma?” she asks.

“No, he left when my first mate passed away, and we never chose someone else for the position.”

He neglects to tell her that we never chose a second gamma because he was barely here, and so Samuel and Geneva took over. Then, they decided that they would continue to lead the pack together with Dad, until I became old enough to take over.

“Elder Samuel, Elder Geneva, I hope you will join us too,” Dad says.

“We wouldn’t want to miss it,” Geneva says. For a moment, I’m not sure if she is being sarcastic or not.

“Flora will attend, too,” I say. I’m definitely not going into this without proper backup! And who is a better backup than my girlfriend and mate?

“She is not family,” Dad says.

“She is,” I say with emphasis. I don’t give a shit if he is going to be angry or not, or if he is going to hit me for standing up against him, but no one is diminishing Flora’s position in my life! “She is my mate and future luna.”

“Your mate?” Emilia asks, stunned. “You are only fifteen, aren’t you? So, the rumors are true.” She turns to Dad. “I would love to meet the future luna.”

“You are the future luna, for now,” Dad says.

“No.” Emilia shakes her head. “I’m your chosen mate, and will help you and the elders from the sidelines, until Elden and his fated mate are old enough to take over.”

My father looks like he wants to protest, but Emilia takes his hand into hers, squeezing it. “It’s hard for a pack to accept a luna so late, and I’m sure they have already accepted your son and his mate. I will help you as much as I can, but this position doesn’t belong to me.”

Dad looks annoyed, but, at the same time, doesn’t seem to be able to fight this woman. I’m actually amazed. How is she doing it?

I still feel confused, but seeing how my father is finally distracted enough to stop talking to me, I decide to take advantage of the moment and sneak away.

*FLORA*

“You are late!” I jump up and wave at my handsome boyfriend, beaming when he comes running towards me. “Did your training with Samuel take longer?”

Like out of a Marilyn Monroe movie, I throw myself into his arms, happy when he twirls me around. I wrap my arms around his neck. “I’m sorry you had to wait,” he mutters, wrapping his arms around my middle and pulling me closer against his body. “Samuel had a few things he wanted to discuss with me. I think he hopes we will take over as soon as we are eighteen.”

“So soon,” I say, before pulling him downwards and kissing his nose. “But if it’s with you, I bet even leading a pack will be fun.”

I let go of him, stretch out my arms, and twirl around. Elden chuckles, grabbing my arm and pulling me against his chest again. I love when he does that. His chest is so broad, and he has trained so much recently that his muscles are getting more and more prominent. The other girls have noticed, too, but he is mine.

“Before I forget,” he says. “Jace needs me to be his backup for one of these crappy elitist parties. Please tell me you’ll come.”

“Of course.” I shrug. “Can’t let you two boys alone.” I beam as a thought crosses my mind. “I can ask Janice, too.”

“It’s a party thrown by his father,” he points out. “You know how he is. Worse than mine.”

“I will say Janice is my friend,” I offer with a smirk. “Jace finds her cute.”

“Are you sure? He didn’t look like that to me.”

Boys. I roll my eyes. Jace looked at her and was completely smitten. “Believe me, he is.”

“Okay but Janice is half lycan, which means to Jace’s parents she is probably as bad as an omega,” he grimaces. “As if it’s bad to be of lower rank. Dad looks down on them as well. What a stupid thing to do.”

It’s one of the things I love about him. His sense of justice. “I am sure Jace’s dad won’t say anything if I bring her along.”

“You sure you can pull it off?”

“Of course, I am your mate after all.”

He smirks. “I love when you abuse your power.”

“In this case, I am rather abusing yours.” I giggle when he twirls me around again and pulls me into a kiss. The day he asked me on a date, three years ago, was the best of my life. We knew we were mates, and it was weird between us for a while when we realized what we meant to each other. I have liked him for so long, and then he made the first step and asked me out; like the prince he is.

“Do you want to go for a run?” Elden asks. “Regis wants to see you.”

“Yes,” I beam, feeling my own lycan stir slightly. Celeste can’t shift yet, which is unusual. I should have been able to do so on my seventeenth birthday, but Grandma told me to be patient, and that for me it would happen on my eighteenth. I don’t know how she knows these things, but I do know how it feels to have secrets and how difficult it is to keep them, so I didn’t push her for answers.

Elden pulls his shirt off, and I latch onto him immediately, making him grin. “If you continue like that, I won’t be able to shift.”

“I can’t wait for you to be all mine,” I mutter.

“I’m ready when you are,” he says.

“You don’t mind that I want to wait until I am eighteen?”

“No, it’s fine,” he kisses me again, before pushing me away gently and undressing. Just because I don’t want to have sex with him yet, doesn’t mean I don’t want to look. And he certainly knows I do, because he undresses so slowly. The only reason I don’t want to get intimate with him, yet, is because I want to feel the full mate bond.

It has to be so magical, then.

Elden shifts to his beautiful black lycan. Regis is majestic. True to his name he is strong, easily towering over everyone else. Apparently, he is super special, but for me Regis is just my cute fluffy lycan. I make sure to cuddle him, wishing I could let Celeste out already, so that they could spend some time with each other.

Regis lays down flat on the ground for me to climb onto him. “I’m good,” I say, my heart skipping a beat when he dashes off. I hold onto his fur, enjoying the wind on my face as he carries me through the pack grounds.