The pack had been forced to open an orphanage as there were many children without anyone else to care for them. Nora had prepared everything before their arrival a week ago, but there were still many details to be fixed if they wanted the new organization to work.
On the day the group arrived, Adira had been at the head of the group, trying to rush all the refugees to safety. And although they had made it, the pack was being surrounded every day by more and more scavengers, they all were still in danger.
Adira tried her best to cooperate with Rose, as she was in charge of training the pack members. The two women worked together for the entirety of the week, helping young teenagers learn combat and self-defense skills.
"Cover your face, Xavier!" She instructed the eleven-year-old. "Yes! Like that. Duck. Punch. Cover your face, don't forget about your face!"
The young alpha tried his best to follow her instructions as he fought against a slightly more experienced opponent. Adira was proud to see that in just one week, Xavier had improved so much.
Xavier fell to the ground, avoiding one of the kicks by his opponent. He then rolled to his left, avoiding another kick, and jumped back to his feet, sending his fist against the abdomen of the boy in front of him. The boy blocked him, but left his face unprotected, leaving it wide open for Xavier to punch him right on the nose sending him onto the ground.
Adira stopped the fight, proud that Xavier had finally landed a hand on his opponent. The two boys shook hands after Xavier helped the other boy up.
"Congrats."
"Thanks."
"Good job, Xavier," Adira praised him, sending the boy away to his next training match. "But your footwork needs some more... work."
Xavier nodded. "Alright."
That was his last match of the day, so Adira sent him to get a shower and rest for the following day. Xavier followed her command, and without a word left the training grounds on his way to the orphanage. The orphanage was a temporary place for the orphans to stay, it was one of the bigger houses in the territory, but the construction of the actual orphanage was still underway. She saw him leave, the kid spoke only when someone talked to him, and the only time Adira saw him initiating a conversation was with his younger sister, Alana.
Adira stayed there to supervise the training of the other young members of the pack and the refugees and left only after the session was over. She made her way to Rose's office and knocked before entering.
"Ma'am," she said after closing the door behind her. She hated calling her Gamma, but at least she did not call just Rose.
Progress.
"You done?" she asked, folding a few papers in front of her and throwing them in the shredding machine. Adira nodded. "Good. You are free tomorrow; Alexander wants you to be with him during his next round."
Adira left the office and made her way down the hall to Alexander's. she entered after knocking.
"I heard you need me tomorrow." Alexander was looking at a map hanging on the wall thoughtfully. When he did not reply, she tried again. "Alpha."
Alexander shook his head and turned to see her. He had eye bags under his eyes, his skin looked dry, and his hair was oily. He was clearly not having a good time.
"Yes. I have sent a few scouts to check how many of them are out there, but they cannot get close enough without having to deal with rogues as well as scavengers. It's like they are getting better at coordinating themselves as an actual pack."
"Didn't you say the prisoner agreed to help? Why wouldn't he tell you those details?"
"Yes, he did," he sighed. "When we asked him, he said only those who are fully transformed into scavengers listen to Miles. He and a few others who are not fully transformed yet can still think for themselves, which means there are more scavengers now. Adam says Dalia will help us if he asks her to do so."
"So... how do you plan to get in contact with this Dalia?"
"That," he turned and pointed a finger at her, "is where you come in." She raised her eyebrow inquisitively. "Dalia" he explained, "is in their inner circle since she is his favorite toy apparently. If she is with Miles, then that means they'd be in their camp, right?"
"Aha..." she said, still not sure where he was going.
"So, to find Dalia and ask for her help, we need to find their camp."
"Ah."
"So, you, my best tracker, can find the camp."
"Okay," she said. "One thing though... how do you plan for me to be able to find the camp if even a small group of professional scouts get attacked when they go out of the land?"
"I've got that covered," he smirked. Adira did not like the look on his face. "We'll ask other packs for help. Well, I did that already."
He moved to his desk and showed her documents with information about a legend: the child of the moon goddess. She knew the stories, Alexander's mom used to tell them when they were in class when they were back in elementary school. She read the titles running her eyes through the pages realizing Alexander might be losing his mind.
"Alex..." she started talking. "You know this child of the moon is just the protagonist of some stories, right? This person is a legend." She saw his tired face adapting an offended expression.
"They are not just stories. This person is real. They come to the packs who need help when they ask our moon goddess."
"That's just a legend, Alex." She spoke softly, placing a hand on his shoulder which he moved away from.
"Adira, we are legends to the humans. If we are real, this person must be too. All legends are based on real facts."
Before she could speak again, they were interrupted by Nora, who looked just as tired as Alexander. She ran to her mate and hugged him tightly, then she smiled up at him nodding her head excitedly.
"I did it." She kept smiling at her mate, ignoring Adira's presence. "I was able to talk to the priestesses and they confirmed it for me."
"That's great news, baby. Where are they?"
"The high priestess told me he left a few weeks ago. Apparently, he was supposed to go back to the heavens, but they are sure he hasn't; the portals are undisturbed."
"The portals? What are you talking about Nora?"
Nora noticed her cousin in the room and let go of her mate to face Adira and explain to her what was going on.
"We need help, so we asked other packs for assistance. Some old packs mentioned our problem might be bigger than we think and that we should look for aid from the moon goddess herself. Only the priestesses can communicate with the goddess, so we looked for them. It was hard to get in contact with them, but I did it!" she exclaimed proudly. "They told me the moon goddess does not meddle in wars but her son has been known to do so as it is his job to protect our race."
"Okay, so you are telling me you not only made contact with the priestess, the most arrogant people on the planet, but you also found out that the child of the moon is actually a dude, correct?" Nora nodded. "Alright, and I guess the next question is: have you been able to contact this man?"
"Not directly. Keep in mind that this is hard to do. Right now we cannot leave the land without risking being killed. It's been hard to track someone using just the phone and internet!" She defended herself.
"I'm sorry, Luna," Adira used her official title. She did not want to offend her. "What happened then?"
"Bitch. Anyway, I was able to track his possible location to a pack in the north. I spoke with Luna Roja but they told me the pack had been divided between the two sons of Alpha Alberto. Right now, the son of the moon goddess is in the new territory of Luna Roja, or The Night Hunters, as they call themselves now."
Alexander kissed his mate, picking her up and jumping with her in his arms, both smiling at each other. "Good job, my love!" he placed her down carefully to then grab his phone from his pocket. He dialed a number and then the three of them waited for the other person to pick up.
Alexander place the phone on speaker mode so they all could listen to the conversation.
"Alpha Sebastian Alvar speaking."
"This is Alpha Alexander Sturner. I have a request to make from you, Alpha Sebastian."
A long pause left the three of them anxious. They heard movement from the other side of the line and then a door being closed. "Alpha Alexander, this is a surprise."
"Yes, I know. I will skip the formalities; I have a big problem on my hands and I was informed you might have the solution to that problem."
"Intriguing. What is that solution then?"
"The son of the moon goddess."
Another long pause before Sebastian spoke again, now his voice was cautious.
"What makes you think the son of a goddess is here, Alpha?"
Nora took the phone, ignoring Alexander's protests. "Please, Alpha Alexander. It took me a long time to find enough evidence that the son of the moon goddess is there right now. My pack is in danger, and we need help, urgently."
"Luna, Nora, glad I could finally talk to you. I understand your situation, and maybe I can help, but tell me the kind of danger you are talking about."
Nora took the next few minutes explaining to him what had been going on since the attack against the Midnight Pack. Sebastian remained silent as she spoke, only asking questions about details such as the numbers of soldiers and scavengers. Alexander helped her explain what they saw when they arrived at the destroyed pack lands, where the refugees were staying, and how they had been unable to get out of their lands since the beginning of the week.
"Did you hear that?" Sebastian asked, but it sounded like he was away from the phone. He was talking to someone else.
"Alpha Alexander?" a new deeper voice called. Adira felt something in her core, like the pulling of a rope threatening with breaking.
"Yes?" Alexander replied, oblivious to what was going on with Adira's body.
Was she feeling hot? Sweat started running down her back and forehead. She used the back of her hand to clean it off.
"I'll be there in two days." Said the man on the other side of the line and the line was cut off.
Nora, Alexander, and Adira were left speechless. Was that who they thought it was?