Chapter 2 - Need for a Luna

HERMES

IT WAS A Tuesday evening, and there was no better place for me to be than a tavern, after a long days’ work of repairing faulty vehicles.

Today was unusually jampacked with loads of activities. I had not experienced so many cars having breakdowns in one day, all my years of being a mechanic in the county of Westwoods.

“I’d have one more shot please,” I called out to the bartender who wasted no time in filling my shot glass with my second round of tequila.

As I downed my liquor, my phone beeped. My hands hurriedly fetched out the device from the thigh pocket of the blue faded denim jeans I was putting on and held it out to my face, in order to see the cause of the alarm. My face twitched in disappointment and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, seeing that the message was from one of my betas, my favourite one at that.

`Where are you,’ the message read.

I sighed before punching the keyboard of the device with my thumb while the rest of my fingers, held onto the device from behind.

`At the tavern,’ I texted back.

I am Hermes Pitt, an Alpha of a local werewolf pack known as the Desert Wolves. It’s been four years now since I lost my mate to a battle between my local pack, and a pack consisting of true bloods named the Silver Moon Pack. They were not just a pack, they were a family, and that gave them an edge over my pack and I, as a result of their bond by blood.

Unlike the Silver Moon pack, every member of my pack became a werewolf through the bite, and there was no true blood amongst us. Going against a true blood for ordinary werewolves like us was dangerous, against a whole family pack was deadly.

I was warned by the Chief council of wolves, but I had refused to listen, being the hot blooded monster that I was. But now, I had learnt my lesson as I had lost the love of my life and my mate, Sarah Adkins.

The thought of it almost brought tears to my eyes.

Each time I remembered that she had not wanted me to battle the Silver Moon pack that night, I felt a different kind of pain in my chest. The moon goddess definitely had to punish me for being so stiff-necked. It was heart-shattering that she had to carry the cross for me.

Honestly, I still can’t comprehend how my Alpha status was retained, as I had gone into a total state of depression for more than a year, coupled with loads of nightmares that came as a result of the self-guilt that was eating my insides. Her deep, sea blue eyes always appeared in my dreams with tears of blood trickling from them and I’d wake up, crying my eyes out.

I never wanted to see the wolf in me anymore. The cursed beast that made me change from my true human nature to a hot-blood animal until Gregory, the beta who just called reached out to me.

He had changed my perspective about her death and made me perform some rites so he was able to pull me out of my misery and restore me back to my original self.

In my absence, my pack of six that had been cut down to five since the death of my mate, was weak since there was no Alpha.

Gerald, another Alpha of a local pack known as the Blood Moon was seeking to make my betas part of his pack, wanting to take advantage of my weakness and sorrowful state.

The moment I recovered, he was the first person I went for, and with the help of Gregory, I was able to rip his head off his neck. His pack members pleaded allegiance to me after the death of their Alpha, making my pack increase in strength and in number.

Over the last few years, I’ve had a total number of eight betas and four omegas, making the Desert Wolves pack the strongest in Wetwoods. Every other pack respected and feared us.

Still, we had a weakness, the absence of a Luna.

I caught the scent of Greg even before he stepped into the Tavern. The continuous tapping of his shoe as he walked into the arena filled my eardrums. He knew my regular spot in the tavern and was headed straight to it.

“Howdy! Alpha,” he greeted as he took his seat on the bar stool next to me with a wide grin on his thin lips.

“What are you up to?” I asked, shifting in my seat to face him.

“Nothing much, I had no animal to treat today,” he replied waving his head in disappointment.

Greg was a veterinary doctor. He was not originally from Westwoods and neither did he get the bite from a wolf in Westwoods. He came to the county as a well experienced and knowledgeable werewolf and in few months’ time, he had set up an animal clinic.

Sarah used to own a dog back then, that got infected with rabies. Greg was the newest vet in the county and she suggested it’d be best we try someone new to take care of the animal. The moment we stepped into the clinic, we could tell from his smell that he was no ordinary human. He also sensed that we were werewolves and started stalking us.

Few days later, he opened up to us about being a lone wolf that needed a pack and we let him in.

“While your day didn’t seem so pleasant, mine was quite the opposite but stressful. Want a drink?” I asked immediately after replying.

“No, I’m good,” he replied just as I had expected.

“But you do know what I want to talk to you about right?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Say whatever you have to say Greg,” I replied.

He wasn’t really comfortable in bars or pubs. I knew what he was going to talk about and I wasn’t in the mood for it.

"We need a Lunar,” he said, his eyes fixed on me. They were opened wider than usual.

“Soon Greg, soon,” I replied, turning my face away from him.

“Soon when? You’ve been saying this for two years, two years Hermes. Do you realize that?” he asked, his tone raised a little bit higher.

Ever since he had helped me out of my depressed state, Greg had been like my right-hand man and I can’t deny that he had been very helpful. Even now, he was just trying to help and look out for the pack. I had no reply to his question but I knew I wasn’t ready for a mate yet.

“Come on, you are going to be silent now? You need to let go and understand that the absence of a Lunar in a pack is a weak spot. You are not totally oblivious of that.”

“I’m trying alright, I’m trying but it’s not easy, it’s not easy for me. The thought of having someone fill up Sarah’s position in my life and in the pack seems impossible,” I retorted.

“You see, there we go again. You got to let go man. She is gone and we need someone to fill up the void she left,” Greg replied calmly this time around. 

“I know it’s hard for you but you have to give someone else a chance, listen to your wolf, he is probably screaming mate at some point but you are refusing to listen. It’s not just about you anymore, the pack should be considered.”

I wasn’t ready to give in to my right-hand beta and as much as I didn’t want to have this conversation, I knew I had to make a choice right now.

“But we are still strong Greg. The strongest pack in Westwoods.” I was beginning to get irritated by Greg’s constant nagging of finding a mate but all the same, he was right.

“Trust me, it’s not for long. We’ve had this loophole for so long and the moon goddess has been patient enough. The whole pack have been patient too,”

“What do you mean?” I asked with my eyebrows knitting together.

“The pack members are getting worried. Everyone has a mate except for the Alpha himself whose mate is the most important,” he replied, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He could probably smell my rising anger.

“So, I’m a subject of gossip among my pack? Listen, the fact that I’ve given you the opportunity to be part of my personal life doesn’t mean you should go around talking about it to the whole pack. Damn Gerald!” I said, rising to my feet.

“My mate is close-by, I can feel she is around. I hope you are glad now,” I added before exiting the tavern, leaving Gerald speechless. He kept staring at me, probably till I was out of sight.

I had no idea what pushed me to make the last statement I made but it was what my wolf felt at the moment, and anger made me spill it out. I was curious to who or what my mate would be or look like. I had not felt this way in a long time.