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The week leading up to the full moon was going down in the books as one of the worst I had experienced since arriving at this forsaken place. I was only excused from my duties during the visit, and everyone had double duties until then as we cleaned, prepared and planned for the visit. I wasn’t given time to maintain the garden, though I was expected to keep it immaculate for the party. Talk about unreasonable expectations.
I was only getting three hours of sleep a night, and as I spent all my free time in the pack house cleaning, I was unable to avoid the groping and innuendos. I had three visions during the cleaning of the suites, and I was not allowed to rest after the onset of migraines that followed them. We were also made to pre-pack everything Sandra would take to her mate’s pack. They were so sure that she would find her mate that night…
The worst part was that I was too exhausted to let Kara run free. She was mad at me but was also exhausted from healing my exhaustion and migraines. I was having trouble controlling her. The more exhausted, the grumpier we both were and the more she wanted to come forward and put people in their place. We needed to be careful. I could not afford to be found out. They would realize my lie and likely kill me. I was planning on running away before I hit what they thought was my nineteenth birthday. I had one year, twenty-five days and zero idea of where to go.
The only part I enjoyed throughout that week was planning the menu, even if it was only five or six meals. Still, I enjoyed having no budget for the meals and letting my imagination run wild. I didn't have to cook dinner for a couple hundred wolves either, so I could be as intricate with them as I wanted. I only needed to feed the ranked members and visitors. The warriors would be getting takeout for dinner throughout the visit, so we set up a temporary tent and moved the buffet tables there while the dining room was rearranged to sit a dinner party of about forty people. The visiting guards would eat outside with the other warriors. That allowed me to make a proper multiple-course dinner on both nights. It would be an exhausting evening. I also planned to make canapes for the celebration to be held after the usual moon run and celebration for Sandra’s mate.
Maya and I had our work cut out for us as we would be the main ones cooking, but we made a plan, and as long as we stuck to it, things would be alright. Big meals, followed by two simple meals that would be prepped beforehand, then a full course meal. We just hoped people loved our food.
Thankfully, the other omegas would be in charge of serving, so we could dedicate ourselves solely to cooking. We even tested parts of the menu throughout the week, and there were no complaints so far.
Despite the groping, no one beats us for a full week. It was a nice change of pace that allowed our bruises to fully heal for the first time in a long time. Every girl working at the pack house had at least one bruise that one might confuse with being a birthmark at this point. Alpha Geoff and Luna Luisa didn't want to have healing omegas walking around with so many high-ranking werewolves about. I heard Luna Luisa telling a warrior caught hitting a girl that she didn’t need some snowflake wanna-be hero up in her skirts about how they treat their servants.
The day before the arrival of all the ranked visitors, Luna Luisa surprised us all with three used sets of clothes for the duration of the visits. All the omegas that worked in the pack house usually wore throw-away clothes we managed to fit into. Most of our clothes were worn past the point of being able to call them decent clothing. They were either stained or ripped. I was unhappy with this gift as the new clothes were not baggy enough to hide my breasts. I knew it would spell trouble after the visiting parties were gone.
The day our visitors were due to arrive was here. I woke up early to get breakfast going but stopped to look into my tired reflection in my makeshift mirror.
Today’s the day. Are you ready, Kara?I asked my wolf.
Fuck yes, I am. We’ve got this, she said. I felt my eyes turn black. A sign our wolves were front and center.
Kara…
Sorry, just excited,she said sheepishly.
Chapter three
Markus
“Idon’tknowwhyI let you talk me into this visit. We have more than enough on our plates at the moment. I should not be leaving the pack,” I grumbled to Gillian, my beta, as I started reviewing the outstanding papers that needed to be dealt with before my trip.
“Because we need a luna, and you need to get laid already. You’re getting grumpier by the day,” Gillian laughed at me.
“I’m more than capable of taking care of the pack without a luna. Besides, I don’t want to be tied to the Blood Moon Pack if I can avoid it. This is a bad idea. I should just cancel,” I said, looking at my phone to see what time it was. Gillian snatched the phone out of my hand, and I growled.
“You’re going, and that’s that. The pack duties will still be here when you get back. You’ve gone non-stop since you took over the pack four years ago. You need a break. Even if you’re not her mate, you just need a break, brother,” he pleaded.
We need to see who his allies are. If the reports are true, we may be headed into a war, Atlas, my wolf, said in my head.
You’re right. Some recon would be good,I conceded.
“Fine, but you owe me one,” I pointedly said to Gillian. He rolled his eyes, so I continued on. “I take it you’re all packed and ready to go? I have to go grab my bag from my room. It’s too bad Danny isn’t back yet. He enjoys this shit way more than I do.”
“He’s not due back until about a week after the full moon. He said he thinks he’s close to something big,” Gillian said. His eyes darkened at the thought of what Danny was doing. If we weren’t still trying to grow the pack business, he would be right there with Danny.
The rumors that surrounded the Blood Moon Pack were enough to make any decent wolf rage; the little bit of information we already discovered for ourselves would make it hard not to separate Alpha Geoff’s head from the rest of his body when I saw him.
“You going to be able to control Otto while we stay at the pack house?” I asked, knowing this situation struck a bigger nerve in him because of his past. “We can’t afford to give ourselves away just yet. We still need proof.”
“He knows. He will behave. He’s not happy about it, but he knows what’s at stake,” he grumbled.
Rubbing my fingers at my temples, I sighed. “Let’s get this shit show going then. Maybe we hit the jackpot and find something to help us with this investigation.”
I signed the last of the documents and gave my assistant the last few instructions on things to accomplish while I was away. I went to my room, grabbed the suitcase that was packed for me and dragged my feet to the car waiting for me at the entrance of the pack house. I hated social gatherings, but Atlas was right. We needed information before we could take on the Blood Moon Pack. I wasn’t sure we could take them on alone. Our pack was getting stronger every day, but to take on the Blood Moon Pack, we would need allies. To get allies, we needed proof.
From all of our research, we knew the Blood Moon Pack didn’t have a lot of unmated females. Alpha Geoff culled anyone he thought could become a threat when he took over as Alpha and all that remained were the wolves most loyal to him or those who never dared to oppose him. Most of his men found mates outside the pack, and for some reason, their offspring were rarely females. I liked to think the Moon Goddess, Selene, did not wish that pack to exist. Only about thirty-five percent of their population found their true mates. The few females that were born into the pack eventually became chosen mates as they were not allowed to leave to look for their fated mate. The chances that I would find a mate there were low, at least.
I wasn’t looking for my mate. I didn’t need one. I was twenty-five years old. Much too old not to have found one as an alpha, and I refused to take a chosen mate. I looked for a mate once, but after what happened to my father with his chosen mate shortly after my twenty-first birthday, I distrusted what the bond did to a person and stopped looking. Only after he’d found his second-chance mate did I see any relief in his tormented eyes. I was thankful to the Moon Goddess for helping him find peace, but I also requested that I be spared from that pain. I avoided going out during the full moon. I only ever led my own pack runs, but I could not refuse the request from the Blood Moon Pack. We needed answers.
