Page 8 of Nyte's Rejected Luna

“Another pack has gone missing,” he said when the door closed behind me.

My back stiffened at the news. “Which one?”

“The Ocean Beach pack.”

“Shit,” I scrubbed my hands over my face. “They were under our protection until they found a strong Alpha. How the hell did they go missing under our watch?”

Alexander shook his head. “They disappeared overnight; from the look of it, there was barely even a struggle. I don’t know how or who is doing this, but we must get to the bottom of it. The Ocean Beach Pack may not have had an Alpha, but they were nearly as big as us. And they are closer to our territory than the last pack taken had been.”

“Does the La Jolla Pack know anything?” I asked.

“No, they are just as concerned as we are. They’ve reported many of their smaller pack branches disappearing in the same way around their territory.”

Alexander stood behind his desk with a map of San Diego opened up in front of him. He pointed to each point on the map where a small pack had vanished.

“National City, Imperial Beach, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, and now Ocean Beach. The packs in each area went without so much as a scent trail to follow. The only sign they ever existed are the few marks of claws that had been made during a struggle.” Alexander leveled me with his gaze. “You couldn’t have picked a worse time to choose a damn witch as your mate, Nyte. We must keep the pack together; you’re the only one strong enough to protect them. Whatever the hell this is, I don’t stand a chance against it without you.”

“Odd thing for an Alpha to admit,” I commented, letting my eyes drop to the map on his desk.

He pointed again at the map; his finger pointed to Imperial Beach. “Alpha Morales may have had a small pack, but he could kick my ass with both hands tied behind his back. He’s gone along with the rest of the missing packs. So, yeah, I will admit full-heartedly that I can’t take on whatever the hell is coming our way. And now you won’t be able to either…not unless you have the pack willing to follow you.”

He scrubbed his face with his hands, turning away from his desk with a frustrated groan. “Why now? Why did you have to bring her here now?”

I let out a sigh. I had told him back when he first told me he expected me to take over that I had found my mate and who she was. I wanted it to be clear that when the time came, I would choose her if the pack forced me to choose. He understood then, and he respected my choice in waiting to claim her until she was ready. He encouraged it even for the sake of my place as the future Alpha. And now I had gone and fucked it all up for him.

“Sometimes fate gets in the way of our plans.”

I didn’t wait for him to dismiss me. I knew that our meeting was over. Without any clues as to who was taking the packs, there wasn’t much else for us to discuss, and I wanted to get Paige to my room as quickly as possible.

Madilyn was a strong wolf, and I trusted her with my life. Had the pack accepted Paige as my Luna, it would have been part of Madilyn’s duties as a Beta to guard my mate, but my wolf was on edge from being separated from Paige before we sealed the bond completely. Even with her only downstairs, it felt like I was miles away from her.

As I hit the bottom step of the stairs, I was stopped by one of the last people I wanted to see right now.

“This is a joke, right?” Katya demanded.

The she-wolf had been pursuing me for just over a year now. Ever since it had become clear to the rest of the pack that I was meant to be the next Alpha. Most of the men in the pack wanted her. They didn’t care if she was their fated mate or not, often joking that they would reject their mates just for a night with her. I didn’t see the appeal in that. There was no denying that she was beautiful, but she wasn’t Paige. And any man who claimed they would choose her over their true mate clearly didn’t understand the depth of the bond.

Katya tossed her long chestnut hair over her shoulder; the scent of sea salt and suntan lotion filled my nostrils. She was the classic California beauty. Beach waves in her hair, sun-kissed skin from spending hours on the beach. She was tall with a slim figure. I had been out in public several times with her and others in the pack. Humans would always do a double take when she walked by, questioning whether she was a celebrity they should know about.

“Is what a joke?” I asked, my tone bored.

“This whole fiasco with that witch. You can’t be serious about taking her as your mate. No one in their right mind would turn down being Alpha for a witch!”

“Whoever said I was in my right mind never really met me,” I told her, pushing her out of my path. “No man who knows the pull of a mate bond is in their right mind, Katya. At least not until the bond is sealed. And even then, I wouldn’t regret my decision.”

I had already reached Madilyn’s door, pushing it open and closing it on Katya before she could reply. Looking around, I found my mate and Madilyn sitting on her bed, an array of cards strewn out before them.

“Looks like you do have a mate out there,” Paige said, running her fingers over the hand-painted pictures. “But he isn’t exactly close.”

“When will I meet him?” Madilyn asked, anxiously looking down at the cards as if she could read them herself.

Paige looked up at her and smiled. “Soon. You will know him by the fire in his hair and the earthly depths of his eyes.”

“Fire in his hair? What is he? A matchstick?” I chuckled, walking over and looking down at the cards. There were three cards laid out, their labels easily visible. The fool, the lover, and the knight of swords. I had never thought much about how Paige could tell the future from these cards. I often wondered why they hadn’t told her I was her mate yet. But I could feel the confidence in her reading to Madilyn, and although I didn’t understand them at all, I believed that whatever they told her would come true.

Paige smirked up at me. “The cards like to speak poetically, you smartass.” She looked back at Madilyn. “He could have a mark from being burned somewhere along his hairline or simply have really red hair. You will know him when you see him, though; that much in the reading is clear.”

Madilyn smiled. “Thank you, Paige. I believe you’re right. I’m supposed to take a trip this spring. Maybe I’ll find him then.”

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