Chapter 11

A day after the funeral the head packs of the United States have come for the meeting regarding the Lunar pack. Each pack leaders made an appearance to the funeral, so it makes sense to meet after. Alpha Lucian, and Beta Remus of the Crescent Raiders pack are powerful werewolves. Their pack is located in northern Michigan. They are known for larger stature, and they make armor for their wolf forms. This makes then the 5th strongest pack of the United States. Alpha Orion and Beta Sybil of the Eclipse pack are known for their battle strategies. Their tactics are similar to military strategies which makes them a powerful opponent. Their pack is located in northern Wisconsin in the north woods. Their capabilities make them the 4th strongest pack. Alpha Alec and Beta Ezra of the Blue Moon Guardians are known for their abilities in skillfully taking down many rogues. They are located in a secluded area in North Dakota, and they are the 3rd strongest pack. Lastly there is Alpha Darius and his Beta, Dalton. Their pack is known for killing the most rogues out of most. However, that it not the most striking thing about them. They have the ability to channel a half form. They can call upon their wolves and not completely transform. They can be half human and half wolf. This allows them to keep the agility of their human form and use the strength their wolf possesses. Their pack is located in northern Indiana, and they are the runner up pack to us.
We all meet in the meeting hall and when Mom, Aiden, and I make our appearance we find some arguing among them. Everything is tense because no one knows how powerful the lunar pack is now and how many make up the pack. Beta James and Gamma Chione are trying to calm everyone down and to be reasonable. However, this doesn’t diffuse the situation. Mom takes her position at the head of the table with Beta James to her side.
“EVERYONE LETS BE CIVILIZED, SHALL WE?” Mom yells and she gains the attention of all the leaders. They all bow their heads to her and take their seats.
“Now, we don’t know if there is an established pack out there. For all we know the 30 rogues we faced could be the last of their kind. It is worrisome that they still exist, but we need to proceed with caution and open minds. Can we do that?” She gives each Alpha and Beta a stern look and each mumble a yes Luna. “Do we have suggestions?”
Darius stands from his seat and clears his throat. “We could trace the scent of these rogues and see where they retreated to as a start. They may have information on how many of their kind are left.”
Some Alphas nod their heads in their agreement, but some have nervous looks on their faces.
“We need to be careful with our next move because they easily took down the Alpha of the strongest pack of the world. I can’t imagine the extent on their abilities.” Alpha Orion pipes up.
“That’s a good point Alpha. What if we sent representatives with warriors to scout for these rogues and pinpoint their location? For all we know they could be targeting another pack.” Gamma Chione suggests.
“Excellent point Gamma, we should send scouts but not many. We don’t want to initiate an attack.” Mom says. Each Alpha nod their heads in agreement and whisper to their Beta’s.
“So, it is decided. Each offer your representative and scouts to send on this mission. I will be leading this mission.” Beta James proclaims and each Alpha offers their Gamma, betas, and even a few commanders. “The wolves on this mission will be departing in 2 days. Make your preparations and get your representatives here. This pack house will also act as a headquarters for all our packs. If you wish to bring reinforcements each pack is welcome to do so. We have plenty of housing and supplies.” With that final statement the meeting is done, and we all disperse. Aiden gives me a quick glance and doesn’t say a thing to me or anyone. He then leaves the room. Maybe I’ll talk to Mom about this today. I don’t want to keep this from her any longer. Maybe she will have more insight on what is happening to him. Unfortunately, she already left the room and I go out to look for her. I find her in the living room staring out the window looking at the setting sun. You can tell she is still hurting. She must feel empty without Dad around.
“Hey Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?” I take a seat next to her and she turns toward me while wiping away a stray tear.
“Sure Honey, what’s wrong?” She asks and takes my hands into hers.
“Have you noticed Aiden acting different around you?” I ask hesitantly because I don’t know how she will take this.
“He’s been a bit distant and hasn’t said much to me since yesterday. Why what happened?” She asks with pure concern.
“He’s been acting cold and distant. Yesterday when I went to look for him, he told me and I quote ‘Only I deserve to be Alpha, I’ll live in no one’s shadow.’ I talked to Blanche, and she noticed it too. She can see a darkness clinging to him. She thinks it’s either a witch’s spell or a vampires influence.”
“Oh, dear goddess.” Mom’s face goes pale and looks as if she’s going to faint. “Something must be done about this. I thought he has become quite distant, but I thought it was just grief from Granite dying.”
“Mom, we’ll figure it out. As long as we figure out how to bring back the old Aiden everything will be fine. We should first contact our pack medical witch. She may know what to do.” Freya, the pack doctor is a witch but not a witch that practices darkness. She practices healing magic and loves to work with herbs. She is a kind and very knowledgeable woman. She and her family joined the pack when we found them roaming the forest looking for a place to settle. There are very few healing witches today because many were wiped out with the bad during the war.
“That’s a good idea, I’ll talk to her when we send off the team that is scouting out those damned rogues.” She slightly growls and we go to prepare supplies them.

The Alphas will be staying for a while and most of them are calling on back up from their packs. However, they have their packs on high alert in case the rouges go for another pack.

*2 days later*
The wolves going on this mission will be traveling on foot to follow the scent of these rogues. Our wolf forms are quite fast and have high stamina, so we are able to steadily run for long periods of time. Supplies are prepared and they are all ready to leave. All the Alphas say farewell to their pack members and demand they come back unharmed. They head out and leaves the rest of us praying for their safety. I go and ponder by the giant window overlooking the village and think about what will happen when they do find these rogues. Will we have to send a war party to take them down? What if there is a Lunar pack out there and there numbers are great?
I sit there for about an hour and hear footsteps approaching behind me. Darius comes and takes a seat across from me and looks at me with wonder.
“A penny for your thoughts?” He chuckles.
“I’m just worried for the scout team. What if they can’t find anything? What if there is a pack out there and they are large in numbers. Those rogues caused significant damage. I can’t help but wonder what a whole pack of them can do.” I say a bit frantically.
“Well, first things first. We all need to keep leveled heads. We can’t make good decisions if we base them all on fear and revenge. If there is a pack out there maybe, they are not what their predecessors once were. Maybe they changed for the better and this group of rogues acted on their own.” Now I see why he is the Alpha of the second strongest pack. He is wise and knows how to keep a clear mind.
“I just don’t want them to cause the same damage to another pack.”
“We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. That’s why we sent out a scout team to figure out their numbers. This will help us make a decision of how many of us will be needed to bring them to justice for their crimes.” He says and looks out the window with me. “Now all we can do is be patient and wait for them to come back.”
“Anyone tell you you're smart?” I smile and he chuckles.
“No, my Beta usually calls me a dumbass but he’s my best friend, so I guess that’s a given.” He laughs. He’s good at taking your mind off of things.