Alpha's Blind Luna



I sat on the edge of a small cliff that was not too far from the house. Further east was a waterfall from a stream that wrapped around the territory but that was further than I wanted to go. The air blew through my hair and I had my leg pulled up, the other dangling off the edge. It was sunny and so the rock beneath me was warm since the trees didn't grow this close to the edge. It overlooked the rest of the forest that dropped down about thirty or so feet.

It was peaceful. There weren't any sounds outside of the wind, the rustling of the trees, and the creatures in the forest. I found a place that I escaped to outside of the High Council castle as well. Here though, was familiar and safe. A place where my head could just not think of all the things I needed to do, all the duties and problems of the world. Naresh also sat quietly in my head as we looked out. At some point, I closed my eyes and slipped into a meditative state.

I heard someone come up behind me and I looked back, seeing Hector shift and walk through the trees. Turning back to the view, I rested my chin on my knee.

"This always was your favorite spot as a kid. I found you out here after the fight with your brother." He sat down next to me, both legs dangling off the edge.

"The view is calming. It's far enough away from everything that you can lose yourself to the wilderness."

We stayed quiet for a long time. I snuck a glance at Hector again. Seeing him in a different light knowing there might be something going on between him and my mom. His hair now sported a peppering grey but it looked good with the braid he usually wore. He had lines on his face that showed he wasn't as young as he used to be. Scars riddled his upper body but none of them looked life threatening. Not like some of the ones my mom sported. Hector had always been a big part of my life. Him and Bryan both I counted as uncles more than anything. My Uncle Ty had been busy a lot as Beta of his own pack and so we never saw him much or my cousins. They also were pretty mad at my mom and my dad for different reasons over the years.

"You know, your mom went through a lot before you kids were born."

I hummed. "I know."

"Nova actually saved your mom's life."

My eyes widened and I looked at him. "What?"

His face was blank but the sadness in his eyes was apparent. “Nova put off her dying from an overconsumption of healing potions. She had been attacked and it was the final potion that her body couldn't take."

"But healing potions are so rare now-a-days. How did she end up consuming too many?"

"There was a point where she was tortured and they used the healing potions as a method of taking her to the point of dying before healing her. How they were able to get so many, I don't know, but she was drowned in them for over a year."

I was stunned. There were always bits and pieces of my Mom's life I was told. But this was more than just the quick words of 'my mission went south' or 'I went missing for a few months'. This was the first time I had heard that she had been tortured and that they used potions. That she had almost died back then before she died having me.

Sighing, he rubbed his palms on his legs. "Yes, she took Nova without knowing what it would do. It was not a great point in her life. But she was alone and had literally no one. Nova just turned out saving her long enough that your grandpa and dad were able to find a solution. That was the reason why she had to take steroids for years."

"She destroyed them though? The drugs?"

"Yes. We all thought it was the end of it. Until it popped up again a couple years ago. She was livid. The drug gives you super strength, sure, but you can't feel emotions. At first, it would sound like a blessing but you slowly lose your humanity. I can't even say that it makes you become a wolf because even wolves feel emotions. You become a robot. Unfeeling, unsympathetic and the more you take the drug, the worse it gets. Until there is a point when, even if you get off of it, you can't feel again."

My eyes widened. It was quiet but there was a shake in his voice as he spoke.

"The new drug...amplifies that, Vale. Your mom was on the drug for years and she could feel that sense of unfeeling seeping in. She got off of it and expected to die for a while. But this new drug, it only takes a couple months."

“Wait.....so if Mom found it in pack...if they were using it to test it then..."

Hector looked at me, his eyes moist but his face was stern. "Your mom found out too late. Winning the challenge a few weeks ago meant they had to stop using it. Stop experimenting with it. But...it was too late."

My hand covered my mouth. "So my dad..."

"Is just like your mom when she was on Nova. She couldn't feel love, couldn't feel anything deep for anyone or anything. While she couldn't be happy, she also couldn't be sad either. For her, at the time, that was a relief. There was so much pain she endured over the years, in her mind, it was better to feel nothing than everything. You're dad though...watched the effects it had on her and he still took it. I don't know what would possess him to take it. To even be near it ever again."

“Was it the Nova that took her wolf away?"

Hector was quiet for a while until he also pulled up his leg to rest his chin on his knee. "No. Nova wasn't the cause. Kai died trying to save your mom. You know your mom received a blue scroll from the old High Council, correct?"

I nodded. The story had been told to me but I knew a lot of details were missing from it. The details I had were a mission report more than a journal entry.

"A blast from some grenades broke her. Every bone in her body broke and then she was buried under rubble of a building. She didn't die though. She should have, but Kai kept her alive. Kai sacrificed herself so that Auri could live long enough to be saved."

"But?" I could see it, the anger and pain in his face.

He tried to compose himself by taking a deep breath and it worked to an extent. His scowl settled back into a thin line but Hector's brow was still furrowed. "The wrong people saved her. Everyone thought she was dead for over a year and she lost a lot of herself during that time."

“So now Dad...can't feel? Is that what you are saying? He can't love? Can't be happy or sad or angry?"

Hector nodded. "It's the reason why it's so easy for him to walk away now. Your brother and your dad have lost so much more than they realize. The worst part is, they can't feel what they have lost."

"But they have super strength?"Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

"No. Not unless they are taking it. Each tablet will last for seven days."

My eyes left Hector and looked over the forest. "How many other packs have you found this in?"

"Eight."

I coughed and turned back to him. "How many..."

He shook his head. "We don't know. But someone is distributing it. Someone is getting it to the packs and selling it without giving the full details of what it does. We are afraid of the lasting effects that it could have when taken too long. With the level of potency upped, there is a chance something far worse could be on the horizon."

"Do you have any leads? Any information?"

"The pack that is harassing the Silver Sun pack, we've been watching them for a while. It seems they were the first and longest sighting of the drug we have come across."

My leg dropped down and I turned to Hector. "You mean..."

"We've been looking for an excuse to be able to make contact with the pack and it turns out, we got one. The High Council requested your mom to take care of them.” He chuckled. “I think it will be our first trial run for our new pack." Hector smiled at me. “Bryan told me that he already told you about our plan."

Shaking my head, I swallowed down the feelings of protectiveness over my mate. "I know Mom keeps saying that I'm not needed yet. The High Council also currently deems it not my problem but if we are already dealing with these kinds of drugs in eight packs..."

"I mean, the problem is we can't walk into a pack, tell them to give us all their drugs and then say don't do this again. They are just going to go out to get more. They are going to want to take it more. Especially with how people feel like there will be a war between the races. Everyone wants a leg up. And unfortunately, no one wants to work for it. This is easy and why wouldn't you want to be stronger than you ever have been?"

"So, Mom and Grandpa have been working on where it's getting distributed."

Hector nodded. "We stop the drug from being made, being distributed, we remove the ability for packs to get it. Sadly, the damage that has already been done won't be able to be reversed but we can prevent anymore from happening."

"Then what can I do?"

"Right now? It's keeping balance. The peace we have been clinging to so desperately. The spark we are wanting to stop from igniting the whole damn world. We need you to keep us balanced while we do this. If it all goes to hell before we are able to get this reigned in, packs are going to feel like this is a viable option to not only fight but to keep their pack safe. Hell, we could end up winning the war but we would have lost everything that makes us who we are and that I would consider a bigger loss than anything.”

I didn't know what to say. Part of me wondered if, even after a war, I would have to do what Alpha King Odin did. Go through every pack and try and help right the damage done. Even after all that suffering, to still deal with the aftermath. Our family pack survived an attack, a war, but you could tell it had taken it's toll. Both on our people and on my parents. Especially my mom but apparently there was so much more I didn't know about her. Now, my mate was being pulled into this and it would only be the beginning if things didn't work out. If we weren't able to keep walking along the path that we found peace in. Knowing on either side of that path was a cliff that led to the deaths of many people. Meanwhile, trying to get a handle on something that could ruin our entire way of life, our connection to our families and mates. Everything we stand for.

My hand came up and rubbed my neck, trying to relieve the sudden weight I felt on my shoulders. Maybe my mom was right. Knowing all this, made me feel anxious and nervous and I wondered if I was going to be able to handle what was coming. Hector put his hand on my shoulder.

"You're not alone, Vale. You will never have to fight this alone. We will be by your side and we all have talents that we will put to good use. But you never need to feel like you are alone."

I nodded and looked back out over the forest. It did help but I still felt the weight pressing down on me. Part of me wanted to go with my mom to help with my mate's pack. Originally, I was going to ask to join but now, I realized that I wouldn't be able to. My place right now wasn't with them, not yet anyways. For the same reason my mom wasn't telling me about the pack she was building. Now, was not the time. Pieces still needed to placed on the board before everyone started to play their part.

Naresh jumped in. 'We will make sure we are still at the top and ready to take our place where we are needed.'

I nodded. 'Training with Mom for the next few weeks, then head back to the High Council. I think there is still information we can get from them and their extensive informants. Maybe see why we are such on a knifes edge with this peace between our races. Do our duty as Alpha King now that we know there is such a huge issue laying under the surface. Make sure we are as ready as we can be for whatever is coming.'