Chapter 8

Storm

We were in the car headed back to the Celtic Moon Pack. I was driving, going way to fast as we headed towards Alpha Doyle's home. I was worrying about getting us lost, having only made trips along this road twice. Once on the way out to the Celtic Moon Pack and then on the trip back to the university campus. I was trying to focus on where I was going when Lilly suddenly asked from the back seat, "Lena, what is going on? Why are we heading back home?"

"I will tell you when we get to your dad's house," I replied.

"Lena, you are really scaring me," Lilly said, as she looked at me, meeting my gaze in the rear-view mirror from where she sat in the back seat.

I was driving as fast as I could while staying safe enough to prevent us from ending up in a wreck. We were making good time and soon enough we were pulling into the driveway that would lead us to Alpha Doyle's house. As we pulled up in front of Alpha Doyle's house, I saw that Alpha Doyle and Beta Sean were already waiting on the front porch.

The moment the car came to a halt, they both came downstairs to greet us. I got out of the car and as soon as I closed the car door Alpha Doyle drew me into a hug whispering, "Back again love."

"We need to talk," I replied.

He looked at me for a moment before nodding and walking over and picking up my suitcase that Leah had already unloaded from the trunk of the car. Resting his hand on my lower back Alpha Doyle guided me inside.

Sean and the girls followed us inside, and after setting our suitcases at the foot of the staircase, Alpha Doyle directed us into the lounge room. As soon as we were in the lounge room, we took a seat, and everyone looked at me expectantly.

"May I speak without interruption?" I asked Alpha Doyle.

"You may," he replied.

"Okay, girl's I am going to ask you something and I don't want you to get angry or upset with me. I only want a simple yes or no answer. No one will be in trouble, I promise you. Okay?" I said, looking at the three of them.

"Okay, Lena, if you have something to ask us, then please ask us," Leah said.

"Lena, you are scaring me," Lilly whispered.

"The morning we left to go back to the campus, your father said that we had to keep the fact that I was the pack's new Luna a secret. I need to know; did you girls tell anyone?" I asked.

"No, I swear to you, I never said a word," Leah replied.

"I said nothing. Daddy made it clear we weren't to say anything and there is no way I'd ever risk his wrath," Julie said, throwing a quick glance to Alpha Doyle.

"I didn't tell anyone, I promise you I didn't," Lilly whispered looking at me.

"What's going on, Lena?" Alpha Doyle asked, a look of concern on his face.

"Leah, Lilly and I went for a run earlier today, and after our run we were approached by a group of guys. They are werewolves. Anyway, one of those guys got a little too close for comfort while he was trying to get us to hang out with him and his friends. When we declined, he didn't seem to like being rejected, and when he saw that I was not to thrilled with his presence. He said and I quote, "Easy Luna, I meant no disrespect." When he said it and I looked at him, he must have realized I was trying to figure out how he knew all about me being Luna. He gave me this smile, like he knew something I didn't. It was an evil smile," I said as I explained to the group about our earlier encounter.

"What did you say after he said it?" Beta Sean asked.

"Not much, I kind of just told him a few home truths, then I told Lilly and Leah to go back to our room," I replied.

"That was a good call love, going back to your room, it was the right decision," Alpha Doyle said as he reached over and took my hand in his.

"Do we want to know what these so called 'home truths' were?" Beta Sean asked.

"Probably not," I replied.

"Okay, well, these guys, did you know them?" Beta Sean asked.

"They have been hanging around for a while actually. They first showed up a couple of weeks before Lena arrived at the university. But they backed off a little when Lena turned up because for some reason, they are afraid of her," Leah said.

"They must have picked up on the fact that she was of Alpha blood," Beta Sean replied, looking over at Alpha Doyle.

Looking at Doyle, I said, "Well, I have been thinking and I think if the girls never told anyone about me and if you and your Beta didn't tell anyone, then you have a traitor within your pack."

"No offense Luna, but if someone learned the truth about you, then that doesn't make them a traitor. We are not at war, you know," Beta Sean said as he laughed at me.

"No offense, Beta, but you didn't see these guys, and when it comes to pack security, you are always at war," I replied.

"Okay, that's enough. Lena, Sean and I will look into what you have said, and we will go from there," Alpha Doyle said, as he stood up and made his way out of the room without a backward glance, Sean hot on his heels.

The girls and I waited out in the lounge room watching television until the Omega's called us in for dinner. I couldn't help but feel as though Alpha Doyle was now angry with me over what had happened. And maybe he was. He was an Alpha, and they were notorious for being moody.

Dinner tonight was more quiet this time around, than what it was the last time I was here. I sat at the table in silence. I spent more time pushing the food around on my plate than I did eating. My chest felt tight and my stomach was in knots and for some reason I felt like I was going to burst into tears at any moment. After a short while, unable to put up with feeling this uncomfortable for a moment longer, I excused myself and made my way upstairs, lugging my suitcase to the spare bedroom that Alpha Doyle had slept in when I was last here.

Taking a quick shower, I shifted into my wolf form and curled up on the bed. I felt lousy! I had come here to warn Alpha Doyle of a potential problem for his pack, and now I was laying here feeling as if I had done something wrong! Damn Alphas! And damn their stupid unpredictable moods too!

Alpha Doyle

Sean and I were standing on the front steps waiting for the girls to arrive. We soon saw the car coming up the driveway. When it pulled up in front of the house, Sean and I made our way downstairs and over to the car to greet the girls. As soon as Lena got out of the car, I pulled her into a hug before whispering, "Back again love."

Looking up at me, I could see the seriousness in her eyes. The all business look she wore on her face was starting to worry me, as she said, "We need to talk."

I looked at her for a moment before nodding and picking up her suitcase. Placing my hand on her lower back, I guided her inside. Sean and the girls followed us inside in silence. After setting Lena's suitcase along with the girl's suitcases on the floor at the foot of the staircase, I directed everyone into the lounge room.

As soon as we were in the lounge room, we each took a seat and everyone looked at Lena, waiting to hear what she had to say. "May I speak without interruption?" she asked, looking at me for an answer.

"You may," I replied. "Okay, girls. I am going to ask you something and I don't want you to get angry or upset with me. I only want a simple yes or no answer to my question. No one will be in trouble, I promise you. Okay?" she asked, looking at the three of them.

"Okay, Lena, if you have something to ask us, then please ask us," Leah said.

"Lena, you are scaring me," Lilly whispered.

"The morning we left to go back to the campus, your father said that we had to keep the fact that I was the pack's new Luna a secret. I need to know. Did you girls tell anyone?" Lena asked. As soon as she asked the question, my eyes flew to the girls. They would not have said a word. Of that I had no doubt. My daughters would not go against me like that.

"No, I swear to you, I never said a word," Leah replied.

"I said nothing. Daddy made it clear we weren't to say anything and there is no way I'd ever risk his wrath," Julie said, throwing a quick glance my way before looking back at Lena.

"I didn't tell anyone, I promise you I didn't," Lilly whispered, looking at Lena.

"What's going on, Lena?" I asked, needing to get answers from her.

"Leah, Lilly and I went for a run earlier today, and after our run we were approached by this group of guys. They are werewolves. Anyway, one of those guys got too close for comfort while he was trying to get us to hang out with him and his friends. When we declined, he didn't appear to be very happy about being rejected, and when he saw that I was not to thrilled with his presence. He said and I quote, "Easy Luna, I meant no disrespect." When he said it and I looked at him, he must have realized I was trying to figure out how he knew about me being Luna, and he gave me this smile, like he knew something that I didn't. It was an evil smile," she replied.

"What did you say after he said it?" Sean asked her.

"Not much, I just told him a few home truths then I told Lilly and Leah to go back to our room," she replied.

"That was a good call love going back to your room, it was the right thing to do," I told her as I reached over and took her hand in mine.

"Do we want to know what those so called 'home truths' were?" Sean asked Lena.

"Probably not," she replied, not making eye contact with any of us.

"Okay, well these guys, did you know them?" Sean asked her.

"They have been hanging around the campus for a while. They first showed up a couple of weeks before Lena arrived at the university. But they backed off when Lena turned up because for some reason, they are afraid of her," Leah said.

"They must have picked up on the fact that she was of Alpha blood," Sean replied, looking over at me.

Looking at me, Lena said, "Well, I have been thinking, and I think if the girls didn't tell anyone about me, and if you and your Beta didn't tell anyone, then you have a traitor in your pack."

"No offense Luna, but if someone learned the truth about you, then that doesn't make them a traitor. We are not at war, you know," Sean said, as he laughed at Lena's wording.

"No offense, Beta, but you didn't see these guys, and when it comes to pack security, you are always at war," she replied.

"Okay, that's enough. Lena, Sean and I will look into what you have said, and we will go from there," I told her.

As I stood up, a look flitted across Lena's face, passing too quickly for me to decipher. She looked away from me and shrugging it off, I got up from my spot on the lounge and made my way out of the room with Sean hot on my heels.

Sean and I went upstairs and made our way into my office and as we sat at my desk, Sean let out a light laugh, "She is a little pistol, that one, I will give her that," he said.

"Yeah, she is. But I don't know what to make of it," I replied.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking at me and waiting for me to explain. "Well, my daughters swear they said nothing. I didn't tell anyone, and I doubt you did either. So how did they know of Lena being our Luna," I asked.

"Wait, you think Lena told them herself?" he asked, looking at me surprised.

"She was a rogue when she came here. Maybe she had a few rogue friends she conveniently never told us about," I replied.

"Connor, you can't think about your mate like that. She is your second chance mate. There is no way she would betray you like that. Anyone could have overheard us talking at any time, hell any of the house staff could have blabbed about Lena," Sean said, looking like he needed me to get my head on straight and look at the scenarios that could have occurred for someone to catch wind of it. Because in my heart, I knew he was right, there were a few other scenarios that I needed to take into consideration.

"I don't know Sean. There's just too many things I can't wrap my head around," I replied.

"You do realize that if she ever learns of your doubts towards her, she will never forgive you, right?" Sean asked.

"I know. But what if this is a game? What if she is here infiltrating and undermining the pack? Maybe that was the plan for her being here from the very beginning. How would we know if it was or not?" I asked.

Sean said nothing, he just looked at me with a sad expression on his face. I knew what he was thinking. I was jeopardizing my future because I had an overactive imagination. Fated mates didn't behave the way that I was currently acting. If I had doubts regarding Lena, I at least owed her the opportunity to defend herself. Before too long, there was a knock at the door, and a housekeeper informed us that dinner was being served. Sean and I made our way into the kitchen and I saw that the girls were already standing at the table waiting for us.

I pulled out Lena's chair and helped her to get seated before taking my own seat at the table. I put food on both mine and Lena's plates, and it wasn't long before everyone began eating. The mood at the dinner table tonight was subdued. I had noticed that Lena spent more time playing with her food and pushing it around on her plate than she did eating it. I was about to ask her if she was okay when she suddenly set her fork down on the table, then standing up she excused herself and left the room.

I looked around the table, catching the eyes of Sean and my daughters. My daughters all seemed just as lost as I did on what had just happened. But there was something in Sean's eyes that caught my attention. It seemed like a warning of some kind. I thought about what Sean had said to me in my office earlier. He was right. I needed to get my act together when it came to Lena.

I finished eating my dinner, then excusing myself from the table, I went upstairs in search of Lena. I made my way upstairs to my bedroom, opening the door, but the room was empty. Closing the door, I made my way quietly down the hallway to the spare bedroom that I had used the last time she was here. Opening the door, I saw Lena laying on the bed in her wolf form. I slowly stepped into the room and she raised her head, watching me. The look she gave me had me feeling on edge. I was standing there in the doorway watching her and trying to decide how best to proceed. Deciding to take a chance, I walked closer to the bed and Lena lay her head back on her paws but kept her eyes on me. It was obvious that she didn't trust me.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I waited to see what she would do. When she continued to lay there and not move, I decided to lay down too. I stretched out on the bed, and as I did, Lena's head jerked up in surprise, her eyes on me, watching me. I don't know how long I lay there for, just watching her, but eventually I fell asleep.

Storm

The next morning, I awoke to find Alpha Doyle laying on the other side of the bed. He had his head resting on the pillows he had piled up behind him, and he was just watching me. It was a little unnerving.

As I lay there, everything from the previous day came back to me, and I found myself remembering how miserable I had been feeling the night before when he had walked out of the room without a word, and my heart ached once again. The feelings I had been feeling at the dinner table suddenly hit me full force once more. I don't know how long Alpha Doyle had been laying there watching me for, but I felt unnerved and vulnerable under the intensity of his gaze.

Climbing off the bed, I made my way into the adjoining bathroom. Shifting back into my human form, I wrapped a towel around myself before closing and locking the door and turning the shower on. Climbing into the shower, I let the warm water wash over me and before I could stop myself, I felt the tears start to fall. I pressed my hand over my mouth to muffle the sounds of my sobs as I gave in to the misery that consumed me.

Once I had finished my crying jag, I finished taking my shower. Getting out of the shower, I got dressed for the day, before making my way back into the bedroom. I noticed that Alpha Doyle still hadn't moved from where he had been lying on the bed. Not saying anything to him, because I was still feeling miserable, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. When I got there, I saw that the girls were already seated at the table. I looked at the food that had been set out on serving trays and in assorted bowls on the table. It looked delicious, but my appetite was non-existent.

"So, Lena, what are your plans for today?" Leah asked, before taking a sip of her coffee.

"I am not sure, why? What were you thinking?" I asked.

"Do you want to go over to the lake and hang out?" Lilly asked.

"That sounds great actually, when do you want to go?" I asked.

"How does right after breakfast sound?" Leah replied. "Okay," I agreed, giving her a smile.

As soon as the girls had finished their breakfast, we made our way outside onto the porch which adjoined the outdoor entertainment area.

"Lena, are you okay? You barely touched your dinner last night and you haven't eaten this morning," Leah said looking at me concerned.

"I just feel miserable. A run will do me some good," I replied.

Leah looked at me for a moment, then nodding she began to remove her clothing. Lilly and Julie followed suit as I made my way over to a secluded area out of everyone's view. I quickly got out of my clothing and shifted into my wolf form before anyone could see the scars that I worked so hard to hide.

Once the girls and I had all shifted into our wolf forms, we made our way through the rain towards the lake. My wolf was loving being able to run and explore. It took me a while to realize that the lake that the girls were headed too was not the same one that I had ended up at when I had run from Alpha Doyle on the first day I was here.

Despite my miserable start to the day, I was having a lot of fun exploring my new surroundings. We were having such a good time that in all our excitement the hours just flew by. We had been running around for hours now, just exploring and playing. We had started to make our way back towards the Alphas house when the rain started to fall harder; it was a bleak day, but despite the icy weather it was still a fun day for playing.

As we were slowly making our through the downpour, back towards the house, I was unable to resist stirring the pot. I ran up behind Leah and jumped on her, taking her to the ground. Once she was on the ground, jumping off her, I pounced into a crouched position right in front of her giving her a cheeky wolfie grin before suddenly turning around and taking off.

As soon as I started running, the three girls were right on my heels. We raced through the trees, jumping over fallen logs and dodging trees and large rocks. Keeping just a few strides in front of the girls, I ran, enjoying the freedom. It felt like flying! It was exhilarating! But for the life of me, I couldn't remember the last time I had had so much fun!

Exploding out of the trees, I found myself in the clearing, right in the Alphas backyard. I looked up towards the house and saw that Beta Sean and Alpha Doyle were standing on the porch watching us. Seeing them standing there startled me, and I faltered, giving the girls the perfect opportunity to catch me. The three of them pounced on me, taking me to the ground. I easily crawled out from underneath them, and before I knew it, we were playfully attacking and pouncing on each other in the rain and mud.

Alpha Doyle

The moment I had awoken and saw Lena sleeping at the end of the bed still in her wolf form, I couldn't help but smile. Her wolf sure was a pretty one! I had no idea how long I had been watching her for when she woke up. As soon as she saw me watching her, she tensed up and watched me for a moment before she made her way into the bathroom, which adjoined the bedroom.

She was in there for a while. She had a shower, and then she came out dressed for the day, and without a word she left the bedroom. Laying there I thought about her actions, I couldn't put my finger on it, but she just didn't seem to be herself at the moment. By the time I had gotten downstairs to have breakfast, the girls were already gone. I had no idea where they had gone, and with everything that had happened the day and night before, I was honestly worried about them.

When I expressed my concerns to Sean, he wasn't worried, he was convinced that the girls were going to be fine. We had pack warriors guarding the perimeter, so I knew they had help close by should they need it.

While I was eating, one of the Omega's who worked in the kitchen came over to me. "Alpha, could I have a quick word with you Sir?" she asked.

I nodded and she continued, "Sir, I just wanted to bring it to your attention, Miss Lena, she didn't eat this morning. I only wanted to let you know because I noticed she barely ate last night."

"Thank you for bringing that to my attention," I told her. She nodded before making her way back into the kitchen.

After I had finished eating my breakfast, I made my way out onto the front porch with Sean hot on my heels. I took a seat on one of the porch chairs and Sean did likewise.

"So, how did things go last night?" he asked.

"I didn't have a chance to talk to her," I replied.

"Well, you guys shared a room, and it wasn't your room you were in, funnily enough. So, something must have happened between the two of you," he said, wagging his eyebrows at me and grinning like a total idiot.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked, laughing at him and his childish behavior.

"I am just wondering when you are going to do the deed so our new Luna can officially become our new Luna," he replied grinning at me.

"Well, nothing happened…" I repeated.

"Look you guys are supposed to be together. It was fated. And I know you have doubts about her. But you need to either talk to her about those doubts or let them go. It is not fair to her to not know how you are feeling or what you are thinking. The girl deserves the chance to defend herself, and she also deserves the chance to be happy and loved unconditionally," he told me, giving me the same look, he normally saved for the young warriors who were in training whenever he gave them a lecture. I knew he was right. My behavior and convictions towards Lena were not fair. I owed it to her to make the effort to get to know her before passing judgement. We sat there on the porch in silence, and the only thing we could hear were the sounds of the rain falling on the roof overhead.

A short time later, Sean got up from his chair and walked over to the porch railing. He was looking out into the backyard and I suddenly heard him chuckling.

Intrigued, I asked, "What are you chuckling about now?"

"Come over here and see for yourself," he replied, keeping his eyes fixed on the backyard.

Getting up from my seat, I made my way over to the porch, and standing beside him I looked over to where he was pointing. In the trees I could see four wolves running. At first glance they appeared to be racing, but it didn't take me long to realize it was more of a reversed game of tag. My girls were chasing Lena. Lena suddenly burst out of the trees and into the backyard. I know the exact moment she saw Sean and I watching her, because her steps faltered, and my girls were on her like cats on a mouse! It didn't take long for Lena to get out from under the dog pile! She turned around and jumped on the girls and before I knew it, they were all pouncing on each other. I realized they were just having fun. I heard Sean chuckling at them from beside me, and I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face at the sight of them.

"She sure looks dangerous. We might have to start calling her Lethal Lena," Sean said in a voice that let me know he was being sarcastic as he raised his right eyebrow at me.

"Okay, fine, I will talk to her," I told him, feeling defeated. I knew Sean wouldn't let it go until I made an effort to do the right thing by Lena.

"Well, make sure you do. You aren't getting any younger you know," he told me.

I looked back at the girls who were still happily playing, and when I saw how muddy they were, I realized the cleaning staff would not be very happy with the mess that the girls were going to make when they came inside. But for me, just seeing them having fun like this was worth it. It was only a short time later when I saw the four girls run around the side of the house. Curious, I looked at Sean and suddenly we heard screaming and yelling coming from inside the house. Sean and I ran inside and saw the girls still in wolf form being chased by a half a dozen cleaning staff all wielding brooms and screaming like banshees as they chased the girls throughout the house.

"Holy Shit!" Sean said, wide eyed, taking in the commotion in front of us.

Everywhere the girls went they left a path of mud and destruction as they tried to avoid brooms and cranky cleaning ladies. There were paw prints all over the floor, muddy streaks across the walls and on the door frames. Furniture had been upturned and scattered across the floors and assorted glass objects were broken and scattered across the floor.

"Ah, Alpha, do you want to get them under control or should I?" Sean asked.

His mouth hung open in horror, as we both took in the mess and commotion taking place before us.

"Everybody, halt now!" I bellowed.

Everyone came to a stop immediately. The whole room was suddenly silent. The only sound that broke the silence was the sound of another vase falling off a coffee table and shattering on the floor.

"Girls get upstairs and get cleaned up now. Cleaning staff get this mess sorted out immediately," I told them.

No one moved until I bellowed, "Now!"

Everyone took one last look at me before they scattered in various directions like cockroaches across a floor.