Kenzie Hope
The morning passed by in a blur. After breakfast, I wanted to go train with Kaden and bring Brady along, but Kaden said no with a kiss on my forehead. I was going to argue with him, but he sent a look my way that shut me right up. So, I helped the Omegas clean up breakfast. When that was finished, I went for a walk and soon I found myself lounging around the couch, bored as hell.
It was now almost noon and I waited eagerly for Kaden to come inside for break time. I had missed him all day due to the mate bond.
When I finally smelt him, I ran towards the door, ready to meet him. With a laugh, he opened the door and I gave him my brightest smile. I lunged myself into his arms and he gathered me up with a kiss on my cheek.
Goddess, I love this man.
"Hi, sweetheart," He said as he put me back on the ground. There was a cough that came from behind Kaden and I turned to see probably twenty men waiting to walk in the door. My face turned to a tomato as I realized I embarrassed myself in front of them.
"Good Afternoon, Luna," The one directly behind Kaden spoke with a smile, "We haven't had the pleasure to meet yet, I'm Jake."
"Hi, Jake," I mumbled as I sunk myself back into Kaden's laughing chest.
As Kaden's chuckles slowed down he walked farther into the house as he said, "We have a warrior meeting. I'll see you soon?"
I was going to reply with a yes, but Jake interrupted me before I could, "Wait, the Luna isn't going to join us?"
I didn't mind sitting and listening to them, if anything I thought that I could have some good ideas. Plus, it was my job as Luna to be apart of these kinds of things. Looking at Kaden, I saw that he was conflicted, but after one reassuring smile from me, he made up his mind.
"I don't see why not," He told them before taking my hand and leading me to a conference room. Kaden guided me down the seat next to him before sitting down at the head of the left hand side of the table. The rest of the warriors filed in, one by one, and eventually Shane and Evan sat on Kaden's left side.
"Good afternoon, Warriors," Kaden spoke formally as he stood up, "Are there any concerns before we start?"
A man at the back of the table spoke. His hair was slimely and he was pretty creepy looking in all honesty. "The Omegas have been increasingly defiant."
I felt my heart rate speed up at the word Omegas, they were my people and I hoped they hadn't done anything bad to them. I suppose the warriors head my heart rate increase as they all looked at me expectantly. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"They aren't cooperating during inspection," He explained with an edge in his voice.
I couldn't stop myself before I uttered my next words, "Maybe that's because the warriors aren't letting them cooperate. In all fairness, it is an awful experience and the warriors don't make it any easier."
There were a few light growls throughout the room as I had offended the inspection guards and maybe even some of their friends. I got glares at me as I tried to make myself disappear.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way, I meant-" I started.
Kaden cut me off by growling, "There is no need to explain yourself, Luna. You are the Luna and these mutts have no place questioning your authority."
"Excuse my comrades behavior, Luna," Jake began with a smile, "Maybe if you explain your ideas further, they'll understand where you're coming from."
Kaden's hand found its way to my own, giving it a gentle squeeze. I looked at him for confirmation and he smiled at me reassuringly.
"Some of the inspection warriors are too much. Omegas do a lot for this pack and, in turn, they are treating like garbage, is that fair? Is that righteous? Inspections are outrageous. Do you really think those of us, who do the most for the pack, are willing to betray it?"
There was silence among the group as they thought about my words. The air was think with tension as they carefully calculated their words. On one hand, they could really disagree with what I was speaking because it was logical and Kaden would rip their heads of if they did. On the other hand, I was indirectly insulting them, which they felt a need to stand up to.
"What is wrong with the inspection process, Luna?" One of the men asked with genuine interest, but also slightly offended.
"What's right with it?" I found myself saying as I rambled, "It's an excuse for people to force their power on the weak. That's not your job, is it? Your job is to protect the weak? Am I right?"
He stumbled on his words before saying, "Well, yes, but-"
"But what? Homes are trashed, dignity is shattered people are abused. Is that protecting the people? Single women and mothers have been raped during inspections. Do you call that protecting?"
Once again he stumbled on his words before shaking his head and looked down, ashamed.
"What is the purpose of inspection?" I asked.
This time the man in the back, who brought up the topic answered, "To keep the mutts from betraying us." My heart raged at the word 'mutts' but I ignored it for the larger picture.
"But you only inspect the Omegas? The omegas are the ones who do the majority of pack work, why would they betray you? They can't get into another pack because of their status, making betraying you pointless. And if that isn't enough, they are isolated from everyone else. Hell, they don't even go to meals with you. How are they suppose to gain the information to betray you?" I argued. I was enraged for some reason, I was never this angry.
"Luna, you fail to realize that they are Omegas because they are less that us, why do you argue for them?" Another warrior asked. I took a deep breath and looked every single on of them in the eyes before answering their question.
They were shocked by my reply and they all stumbled on their words for a few minutes. I felt tears begin to prick my eyes as they began to shun me as their Luna; I could feel the isolation in my heart.
"How is that possible," Jake asked with a concerned look. I could feel his continued support of me through the pack bond and I smiled at him gratefully.
"My father was heir to an Alpha title," I started the story, "But he met a human mate." I told them the story and they joined me for the ride. Their heartstrings were pulled at my story and most of them realigned their support to me.
"Doesn't that make you the next heir to the throne?" Shane asked, filling in his Beta duties. I omitted the part of the story where my grandfather was looking for me, not wanting to put that kind of stress on them when I have yet to tell Kaden about it, but Shane put two and two together.
"That's enough for today," Kaden said, upset by where this conversation was going, "This conversation can continue to tomorrow, but as today went, I think we can majorly vote to abolish inspections." The warriors mostly nodded and then filed out of the room, one by one.
"My office," Kaden mumbled to his Beta, Gamma, and I. I reached towards Kaden and laced our hands together, he gave me a tight smile in return.
'We're screwed,' Lexus mumbled in my head. I use to know what I was going to do, back before I knew that Kaden didn't cheat; I was going to take the Alpha title of the Moon Rise pack. Now- now, that Kaden was back in the picture, I was conflicted again. How was I suppose to decide this? It was a question between leaving my mate and my pack or allowing my bloodline's pack to be become nothing but evil and possibly take over the world. The common sense part of me told me to, you know, save the world, it's probably even fate, destiny? Although, my heart told me to stay with Kaden and live in my selfish sense of happiness.
We arrived back at Kaden's office, a room that I had never seen before, I took my time looking around. The office was painted grey, and it had two floor-to-ceiling windows, which faced the pack house and where the pups would be playing. There were two grey desks; on the left desk sat a desktop computer, a notebook lying open, and a stack of papers sitting under a turtle-shaped paperweight. On the second sat nothing, it was completely void of anything, but there was a brand new swivel chair that sat behind it. In a corner, the air conditioner was blasting at medium, and there was a swivel chair in the middle of the office. A bookshelf, bursting with books was in a corner, with yet another stack of papers under a paperweight that was shaped to look like a tuft of grass. A few pens were lying on the papers, but some had fallen onto the top of the bookshelf.
As we walked in, Kaden picked up the pens and walked back towards the left desk. He placed the pens inside and sat down. Patting on his lap, he motioned for me to come sit on my lap, and I didn't object. I needed to be close to him.
Shane was the first to speak as he picked up the previous conversation, "So, are you the rightful heir?"
I sighed before replying, "Yes." Kaden's head shook as he held me closer to him. His face found its way into the crook of my neck and inhaled my scent.
I began to tell the boys about what Jordan had told me. I told them about meeting Jordan and what he told me about our grandfather. I told them everything I knew and even about my decision to go, but now that was in question.
"So this Beta Maxwell?" Evan asked as he rubbed his temples together.
"...Is horrible, I mean there are these heartfelt letters begging someone to help. It's so sad," I told him remorsefully. Kaden rubbed up and down my arm, trying to comfort me as I felt for the people.
Shane sighed before saying, "Here's the dilemma: You have an Alpha instinct to protect and care for the Moon Rise pack, but you have a Luna and mate instinct to be here and watch over us. If you leave here, you'll hate yourself for not being here for us. If don't go, you'll hate yourself for not protecting them."
The room digested his words and collectively sighed. I stood up and went to the window where I could hear the kids outside playing, making my heart full. I was the Luna here; the people counted on me. I was supposed to be the Alpha there; the people counted on me.
"It would be different if this was the pack next door, we would just merge the packs, but this is in Russia," Evan mused. I looked back at the children, who were playing tag. Their clothes were bright and carefree as they ran through the meadow area. I wished I could be as carefree as them.
"He'll take over the world, or at least try," I whispered to myself, trying to convince myself to make the right decision. It was fate to leave. It was destiny. It was my blood.
"Have you made your decision?" Shane asked as I turned to face them. Kaden's face was cold and if I didn't know him better, I would have thought he was emotionless. He didn't want to influence my choice, that much I knew, but I could tell he didn't want me to go.
"I want both," I whined like a child, stomping my foot.
"You can't have both," Kaden snapped, "It's me or them."
I felt a tear slide down my face as I said, "I don't know now. I need to think about it."
The boys nodded and exited the room silently. I sat down on the widow seat, looking back at the children. It was quiet in the room, the tension flooding through the walls. Kaden understood that this was a dilemma and it wouldn't be an easy choice, but he wanted me here and I couldn't blame him.
He stood up out of the chair and sat down next to me with a sigh. His arm found its way to my thigh and rubbed up and down, causing sparks to erupt from the area. I leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around me. We sat there for a moment, nothing but our breaths to be heard as we watched the children.
"We'll figure it out," He whispered in my ear. I knew we would, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how. This was it, the choice that defined my entire life. I wanted to conjure it all up to fate and destiny, that's why I had to go, but I wanted nothing more than to stay in Kaden's arms for the rest of eternity.
"I love you," I whispered back, but he was too caught up in his own thoughts to reply.
When he looked at me it was as if every ounce of breath was taken from my lungs floating into the air like midnight smoke. Every time he kissed me it felt like the world stopped, leaving just the two of us to wander the earth together. Every time he held my face between his hands it felt like he was untying all of my knots. Holding me for eternity in the arms I've grown so accustomed to. This is what falling in love was like, a story you never wanted to end. For so long I had longed for it, and now I can't bear to lose it - lose this thing that makes me feel so complete.
I'm in love with him.
He never left my mind, he was always there; mentally if not physically. It was just incomprehensible. He is my one stable force, my one stability in a world filled with chaos and I so desperately needed that in my life. I loved him so much for that. I'm in love with him and I can't believe I've only just realized it.
The feeling was so strange; it stretched throughout my whole body. It was overwhelming, yet made me feel complete. It had no bound nor length nor depth; it was just absolute. It felt as though I was in a dangerous fire, yet I was completely safe at the same time. It felt as though someone's given me peace. It felt as though my heart was dancing around my chest; and a hole, I was never aware was there, had been filled. I felt so light, like I was on top of the world yet my heart was constricting and it felt as if there was no oxygen in my lungs.
It was strange – frightening even – how you can go from someone being a complete stranger, to then being completely infatuated by them and wondering how it ever was that you were able to live without them, because you sure as hell couldn't imagine being without them now. I knew we were young, and most people would consider me to be foolish and naïve, but it's true when I say that I love him more than I could ever love myself. He's was best friend and, as cheesy as it sounds, he was my anchor. My one stability in this world filled with chaos.