Page 15 of Into the Grasslands

“What if the best option is to make sure that the pack’s Alpha and Beta both find their mates? It will only strengthen the pack as a whole for that to happen.”

“It will, but we already know you have a potential mate waiting for you. It’s not guaranteed for me. My time will come.The pack needs someone who can lead them in your absence. Bring your mate back, then we’ll worry about finding mine.”

“You’re a good man, Warren.”

“You’re our only Alpha, so go do what you must. I’ll hold the fort down while you’re away.”

I nodded to my second in command as I turned to the rest of the men who were ready to set off for Mirage Island, or what most of the packs referred to as Reject Island when they wanted to paint it in a bad light. They only did that when they no longer wanted to help maintain the place. I couldn’t remember a time when my pack had sent someone there. It was all but forbidden under my father’s rule. On the rare occasion that one of our pack had rejected their mate, it was brought before my father first. The punishment for not doing so, because my father required good reasons to reject a moon-blessed pairing, was banishment from the pack.

If, for instance, the pack member being rejected had already started a family with someone else, then the rejection would be granted and both parties would be asked if they wanted to leave the pack or stick it out, knowing that they would be faced with seeing their intended mate move on. Of the rare few times it happened, at least one of them left. In one instance, they both went their separate ways for their own reasons.

No one was sent to Mirage Island from my pack, though. That might have been why I never thought to organize trips there to see if any of our pack members found their mates among the women who were left there.

I stood in front of the bus that would take us as far as Mirage Lake’s western shores. There were eighteen of us who needed to be transported on the near day’s drive to get there. Since we would have to run through human territory and risk hunters spotting us if we all took off on paws, it was the only way to transport all of us there safely. With so many of us, we organizedthe use of a tour bus to take us there. Not only would we have transportation with enough space to bring back a female for each of us, if we were so lucky, but we had a place to store the rafts and other supplies as well.

I didn’t think that every man on the trip would find a mate, but stranger things had happened. In fact, I held out hope that only a few lucky pack mates would find the person they were looking for. Some because they were second chance mates, and therefore free to choose whomever they wanted if someone took their fancy.

“Are you ready for this?” Warren asked in a low enough tone that most of the men gathered wouldn’t bother to pay attention.

“I’m very curious as to what’s out there waiting,” I stated as everyone loaded onto the bus.

“Do you think that your wolf taking off in that direction had to do with what he knew was out there waiting for you?”

“Seems like it, doesn’t it? It feels like maybe all the times I thought the…” I cut myself off because that was something that could not be voiced aloud where the pack’s sensitive hearing could pick it up. “Well, now I wonder if my wolf didn’t know better than my human side.”

Warren nodded sagely. “That was what I was thinking too. There are no signs otherwise.” He meant there were no other signs of the madness setting in. Despite not seeing any yet, there was still a real cause for concern. The pack had been in my rule for far too long, considering its size, to not have a Luna share the burden. Slowly, I had started to let go of the idea that finding a Luna would be a betrayal of Catalina. Her dream visit to me made that a bit easier, but I still had a small voice in the back of my mind that told me it was wrong to replace her.

That wasn’t something I could voice to anyone else in my pack though. Not even Warren, as they would all lecture me about how Cat hadn’t been my fated anyway. Had she been myfated and I lost her, the leadership of the pack would have never passed to me.

“Everyone is here and accounted for. Time to set out on your grand adventure and bring our Luna home,” Warren announced loud enough so that everyone heard him. Some of the men on the bus started to cheer or catcall until I boarded and then they all quieted down.

“If you do not find your mate, or someone you think can be your second-chance mate, then I don’t want you to worry. It was remiss of me not to think to add Mirage Island to our singles tour previously.” We often did singles tours with the males and females of the packs where we would take a handful, who haven’t found their mates within our pack, and go visit other packs who were close and hospitable enough to allow potential trades of pack members.

“What made you think of it this time?”

“I had a dream that pointed me toward the island to find my mate.”

“Your moon-blessed?” One of the men asked, clearly shocked by this news. When I nodded my head they all looked at one another. “I thought only the females received the mate dreams from the Goddess?”

“I don’t know why this happened, but I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Hopefully, my dream proves to be fruitful for myself and for some of you as well.” I glanced around at the male members of my pack who were on the bus and realized there was one notable absence just as our driver closed the doors and started the bus.

“Wait!” I called out. “Where is Viktor?” I glanced around again and even gave a sniff to the air, but didn’t sense him aboard. “He was supposed to be among the men going this time.”

“Alpha,” one of the younger men called out to me as he stood. “Vik volunteered to stay behind this time. He opted to go on the next run instead.”

“Why?” I growled.

“I’m not sure.” Alex, the younger wolf stated quickly before he took his seat again. I mind linked with Warren immediately.

Thorin:Find out why my cousin decided to ignore my direct order for him to go along on this trip with me. He better have a damn good excuse for ignoring an Alpha Order.

Warren:Sorry, I thought he was with the rest. I will check in and give him the warning that you are displeased.

It was my own fault because I never thought I’d need to give the actual Alpha Command to my cousin. He had gone without a true mate almost as long as I had. There was no doubt in my mind that he had given up hope, but I wanted him along in case someone there struck his fancy, or if for some reason his mate was on the island. He had pulled away from the pack recently, and went missing for days on end sometimes. Either he was becoming unstable and nearing a choice to go rogue or something else had taken his focus. Either way, it was dangerous to have a wolf in the pack, especially one as powerful as Viktor, who was more lone wolf than pack mate.

I turned back to the driver and gave a nod of my head as I took my seat behind him. We were already twenty minutes past when we should have headed out, and I didn’t want to wait any longer to get to the island. A nervous energy built in my stomach that there might not be time to waste. What if I wasn’t the only Alpha out there without a mate who got wind of the fact that there was a rejected Luna on Mirage Island? She would have had to have been there for at least a year, if the legends were true. She could not take another mate unless it had been a year to the day that her mate rejected her. The Gods themselves put that caveat into existence to give young and dumb alphas achance to course correct if they made a mistake. Cat had alluded to a loophole, the potential Luna having a choice, but that was unheard of.

I wondered, once again, why anyone would willingly give up a moon-blessed mate, let alone condemn her to time served on Mirage Island. There was something not quite right about the circumstances involved with my potential Luna. It made me wary, but that wouldn’t stop me from seeking her out.

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