#1 The Rise of the Crescent Moon

August

Arlo trotted over to Josie, bumping his head into our mate’s leg as she treated one of our wounded wolves.

“Arlo, you aren’t helping here.” She giggled, swatting at our head.

“So sorry about your Alpha’s rudeness Mathew.” She rolled her eyes at the man laying on the bed in front of her. He had minor injuries, a dislocated shoulder at worst.

“Why don’t you go shift so we can have a civilized conversation?” Josie ordered in her soft voice. Arlo bowed his head in submission and ran off to shift in privacy. A few minutes later, I returned to our mate on two legs.

“The borders are clear.” I informed her,

“But, I strengthened the patrols for the time being anyway.” She looked at me and I knew I had done something wrong.

“The warriors need to rest, August.” She sighed.

“The injured are resting, anyone else is willing and able to serve.” I assured her. She pressed her lips together, unhappy but not enough to continue the argument.

“You’re good to go, Mathew, just rest that shoulder.” She shot a pointed look my way before moving on to her next patient.

Before the battle, our gracious Luna had created a medical tent to ensure that our wolves were properly taken care of. We suffered some casualties and even more wounded but the outcome was so much better than we had hoped.

“You’re going to need stitches, Morgan.” Josie informed the she-wolf sitting in the chair. I eyed Josie, impressed at not only the care she took of our pack, but of the fact that she knew everyone’s name; I’m not even sure I knew everyone’s name.

“Great.” Morgan sighed, rolling her eyes,

“Damn witches and whatever spell is stopping us from healing.”

“August, your wolves are the worst patients I’ve ever had.” Josie smirked after performing a couple dozen minor medical procedures.

“Well, they’ve never had stitches or broken bones that required casts before.” I shrugged.

The witches had done something to the wolves that halted our ability to heal. It was similar to whatever they did to me the night I was a patient in Josie’s cabin and when they attacked the village. We still weren’t sure what we found in my blood, but Mayze confirmed it was of witchy design. Josie was taking samples from out wounded to see if she could match any markers from their blood with mine. There was talk of trying to create an antidote or even a vaccine to prevent it from affecting us.

For the time being, however, Josie had her hands full setting bones and closing up wounds. My pack was, admittedly, being very whiny about the whole thing.

“They need to man up.” She huffed, blowing a stray piece of hair from her face. I tucked that hair behind her ear and planted a reassuring kiss on her lips,

“That’s true.” I laughed at her.

“Alpha!” Ethan came running up to me with a wild look in his eyes.

“What is it, Ethan?” I sighed at his dramatics.

“I have a problem.” He replied,

“What’s the problem?”

“I found my mate.” I heard Josie drop something behind me before she appeared at my side,

“Oh, Ethan!” She squealed.

“No, no, it’s bad, very bad.” Ethan was pacing the tent, shaking his head. Josie and I exchanged a glance before I planted myself in his path, pausing his pacing.

“Why is it bad?” Ethan’s eyes locked with mine and I finally began to take his concern seriously,

“She’s a witch.” My head snapped back to Josie whose mouth was gaping open.

“That’s impossible, Ethan.” I said plainly. There was no way werewolf would be mated to a witch.

“I know, I know. But, I felt it, Alpha, it’s true.” Ethan said quickly, his eyes filled with fear. Fear that he would be fated to live in a world where it was outlawed for him to be with his mate. I put one of my hands on each of his shoulders and forced him to look me in the eyes,

“We’re going to figure this out. Where is she now?” I asked him.

“I don’t know. I felt something when we were in battle but I ignored it to keep my focus. When I was doing patrol I felt it again and followed my senses. It led me to her. She was hiding out on the border, her own instincts trying to lead her back to me. She ran before I could speak with her.” Ethan muttered. As if I didn’t have enough problems, Hayden rushed into the medical tent bringing me more.

“Alpha, uhm, there’s an Elder here.” My head snapped towards my Gamma.

“What?”

“Yeah, he’s in your office.” Hayden looked as terrified as Ethan. I looked between my Beta and Gamma, my head spinning, until a soft hand found its way into mine. I looked down at my mate and smiled, my anxieties melting away.

“You go deal with the Elder, I have things under control here,” She ordered me,

“Ethan, we will find your mate after things have settled down here.” She said to our Beta. Ethan bowed his head,

“Yes, Luna.”

“You are my savior.” I said to her, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“I know.” She said smugly, prompting a laugh from me. I gave her hand a squeeze before following Hayden to my office.

“Elder Jacob, to what do we owe this visit?” I asked the gray haired wolf sitting in my office. He stood from the chair, using his embellished cane for support.

“I heard about a conflict arising between werewolves and witches. Imagine the Council’s surprise when we were not kept informed.” Elder Jacob was not pleased.

I grumbled to myself, cursing the Council and their frustrating need to be involved in everyone’s business. The Council of the Wolves was originally designed to give advice and wisdom, they were the ultimate knowledge keepers of our ancient legends and history. They were never created as a governing body. But, when our world dissolved into chaos fifty years ago, prompting the segregation of the species, the Council took control over the werewolves.

“My apologies, Elder Jacob, we meant no disrespect. We simply did not need the Council’s help.” I tried to sound diplomatic as I sat down behind my desk. Hayden smirked in the corner by the door and I ordered him to shut up.

“The Council must be informed of all interspecies mixing.” Elder Jacob argued.

“It wasn’t exactly a mixing, sir, the witches attacked us.” I sighed, desperately not wanting to go into detail about the deals made by the past Alpha’s of this pack.

“Why, pertell, were witches attacking this pack?” Elder Jacob pressed.

“Their leader wanted access to this land, something about her ancestors holding the original rights to it.” I shrugged, sounding bored.

“I see….” I wasn’t sure if the Elder was buying it,

“And where is the leader now?”

“She’s been….taken care of.” I grinned. There was nothing the Elders responded to better than a show of force and violence. It was an imperfect system. Elder Jacob responded how I anticipated,

“Well, that takes care of that then, I suppose. Alpha August, you’ll do well to inform the Council of any other conflict or witch involvement in the future.” It was less of a question and more of a threat.

“Of course, sir.” I nodded respectfully.

“Gamma, get me my driver.” The Elder ordered Hayden who quickly received Elder Jacob’s driver.

“Oh, and congratulations on finding your Luna, Alpha.” Elder Jacob said from the door of the packhouse.

“Thank you, Elder. She’s truly been a gift.” I smiled proudly.

“Yes, we were apprehensive about the idea of a human Luna for this pack but it would seem that things have settled just fine.” I resisted the urge to growl at the Elder for thinking he had the ability to oversee my mate. Instead, I thanked him again,

“Safe travels home.” I said between my teeth, practically kicking the man out of my territory.

“That guy is a real ass.” Hayden said as we watched his limo speed away.

“You’re not wrong.” I sighed.

“What right does the Council have to give opinions on an Alpha’s mate? On anyone’s mate?” Hayden grumbled, feeling the same anger I did.

“They were never meant to hold the power they do, Hayden. Perhaps, a problem for a different day.” I said, patting him on the back before I went to find my Luna, suddenly feeling the urge to have her in my arms.

“Where’s my Luna, omega?” I asked one of the wolves who was exiting the medical tent.

“Talking to Madam Mayze.” He said, pointing across the field. I spotted Josie and Mayze engaged in, what appeared to be, a private conversation. I resisted the urge to listen in, distracting myself with the inner monolog of my patrol,

“The Southern border is clear. ”

“West, too.”

“Nothing unusual on the North end.”

“Good on the East end.”

“Should we continue to hold the line, boss?”

“Good work patrol, I’ll send out warriors to relieve you in a few hours.” I said to the patrol, relieved to hear that our borders were holding strong.

“Everything okay?” Josie’s voice interrupted my thoughts. She had a look on her face that I didn’t recognize.

“Yes. What was that about?” I asked her, nodding towards the witch. Her smile grew wider,

“I’ll tell you about it later.” She said, reaching up on her tippy toes and pecking me on the cheek with her lips.

“How’s everything here?” I asked her, looking around at the wounded.

“Everyone has been treated. The more severe injuries were transported to the infirmary, everyone else was sent home to rest. Several members have reported for orders.” She pointed towards the opposite side of the tent where a crowd was gathering. I felt a surge of pride at my pack.

“Go easy on them, August. We need rested warriors.” Josie rubbed my arm before disappearing inside the house. Wyatt, Mason, and Logan were at the front of the pack awaiting orders.

“Okay, pack, listen up. I have about twenty wolves on border patrol. Everyone is tired and we need to stay fresh. Let’s coordinate a patrol schedule that ensures everyone gets plenty of rest while also keeping our pack’s security at top priority.”

“Yes, Alpha!” My pack responded and immediately got to work.