1 Blue Moon Pack

"1…2…3…4…5…" Fin stood in the locker room at the pack gym counting slowly in his head. His best friend Ryn was getting dressed next to him talking about the meeting with the Alpha later today. "Ryn, shut up please."

"Oh Finny. I'm just trying to prepare you; we know at this point he's been pushing for you to go out and get some life experiences before he steps down as Alpha. Handing the pack over to you." Ryn said, leaning towards me.

"Yea I know. But we know how bad of an idea this is, Ryn." I muttered with a sigh. This was a terrible idea.

"Yes, it's a terrible idea. But what kind of beta would I be if I let you go out alone." He asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

"You just wanna go find your own mate, shut up." I pushed him away and laughed.

"I mean, I do like the ladies. Come on, let's get ready, we must go meet your grandfather soon."

Thankfully it was so early that the gym and locker room were empty, this was our early morning routine. Ever since I could remember, we had always done this. Ryn and I grew up as neighbors, and he just so happens to present as a Beta with Alpha tendencies. Those types of Betas were rare, and often called Sub-Alphas, and tended to be the Pack Betas, or Pack Commanders, 2nd hand to the Alphas. Ryn's father was supposed to be my father's right hand, but they both died when we were young. When they died Ryn and I had woken up screaming in the middle of the night telling our mothers that something was wrong. We both woke up with a scar across opposite eyes. We have no idea where they came from, thankfully our pack is small, so no one really spread rumors about the strangeness that followed our fathers' deaths.

So, my grandfather remained Alpha, while I was growing up. Naturally Ryn and I grew close and understood we would one day be pushed into the roles of our fathers. There's only one slight problem.

Ryn is also the only person that knows my secret, he was there in the woods the day I presented as an Omega, with alpha tendencies. We were both shocked by that and how early it happened. It seemed to come from nowhere in the middle of a raging storm. Usually, a wolf shows signs the days leading up to presenting, but I hadn't shown a single one. We were six, hiding in a treehouse from the store. Lightning struck the tree we were in. When we woke up on the forest floor, I was in the middle of shifting for the first time and he swore to keep my secret and help me keep that side hidden. It took years of practice to be able to hide my secondary scent and build the body of an Alpha. Thankfully, I have the alpha tendencies of my father, that does make it a little easier that I can use alpha pheromones. As far as we know, there are no other Omega-Alphas in existence. We've never told anyone. Male Omegas are rare, and often not treated the best. When my parents noticed, it was hell. Without knowing how the pack will react, or understanding how I can pass as an Alpha, we never spoke of it in front of others.

I looked at myself in the mirror, my white hair and silver-gray eyes were as rare as my secondary gender. I was barely 5'5", but I managed to keep decent muscles and a six pack with the help of Ryn. He towered over me at 6'2" and was built like a linebacker. With his dark red hair and green eyes, he stood out in the crowd. His wolf was beautiful, he was massive and had a deep red coat of fur that was almost black. He had a silver slash across his right eye that matched my wolf's silver slash on my left eye, they match the scars we woke up with when our father's died. My wolf was smaller,though still big for an Omega, and pure white.

Ryn is what the alpha of this pack should be. He was big and strong and kind and fair; I was small and didn't trust people. Not after my mother left me when she found out I was an omega, and how mad my father was before he died. It's been 12 years, and no one has seen her. I've lived with Ryn since then. His mother was the mother I wish I had. She didn't know about my secret, but I think she really did know but she didn't ask and never brought it up. But she knew I was different, and she knew Ryn worked hard to help me learn to be an alpha.

Ryn tied his unruly red curls into a bun and pulled me out of the gym.

"C'mon Finny, leggo see the pops "

"I still hate that name" I rolled my eyes and raked my fingers through my hair. I kept my hair long on top and an undercut. It's just how I liked it but sometimes the top got too long and always fell into my eyes. But Ryn always threatened me if I cut it all off, he said it made me prettier to look at. Cue another eye roll please.

We were both dressed in ripped jeans, and white shirts. but I wore a long sleeve and Ryn wore a short sleeve, any excuse to show his arms and he will. We lived in a small town outside of Roanoke VA, close enough to drive into the city for fun and necessities but far enough away that we didn't accidentally let new wolves lose to the humans. We often chose to go to the public gym in town, instead of the pack gym. The town gym was always empty this early in the morning.

We left the gym that was in the middle of the town promenade and walked to our bikes. They were of course, black matte and beautiful. The town was small, but we had some shops and a promenade with a theater and gym and restaurants. A big arcade, and some other small shops around. The alpha, my grandfather, lived on the edge of town in the alpha house. It only took 15 mins to get there from the gym.

By 8 o'clock, we were greeted at the door by the housekeeper, and led to Alpha's office.

"Alpha Vince, Fin and Ryn are here" the housekeeper said as she knocked on the open door.

"Let them in and shut the door please Mary. "

We walked in and nodded to my grandfather.

"Alpha, how are you?" Ryn asked, taking a seat by the window. Across the room from the desk there was a giant bay window with a lunch table in front of it.

I followed Ryn over, "Grandfather" I said in acknowledgement as I walked to the table. You could say that my grandfather and I never really got along. I didn't like his old-world views on omegas and pack dynamics, and he could be a hard alpha sometimes. I don't have any happy childhood memories of him. He's only gotten tougher and meaner in his old age, and I don't think he ever liked my mother as his son's mate much. My parents were not destined mates, there was a rumor that my mother forced my father's true mate out of his life. No one has spoken of it since his death, so I have never known the true story. When my mother abandoned me to him at a young age, he hated her more and left me to Ryn and his mother. I didn't hold much love for him anymore.

We sat down and looked up at him. Alpha Vincent Alden, he was beginning to show his age, most wolves could live to around 150-200 give or take a few years or wars, it was very rare for a wolf to be 300+ years old. But my grandfather was 900 this year. My mother used to say it was because he made a deal with the Devil once, so he was going to live forever. His wolf was one of the most powerful wolves I have ever known, the kind of power you can feel from miles away, so I wouldn't doubt he could live forever. There have only been five Wolves in history that have lived that long, the Tyrant Wolf King is the oldest by far. Though, my grandfather hadn't aged as gracefully as the Tyrant Wolf was said to have. He had gray hair, and his eyes looked cloudy, his joints almost creaked when he moved too much. It looked like his forever was running out.

"Good you're both here. I'll just get right to it, as you know it's about my time to step down. So, I am sending you out the pack for a year to gain experience and knowledge, and hopefully find a mate as it's obvious yours isn't here. You can leave next week, in the meantime, Ryn as your beta will need to contact packs that you will visit and ask permission for you to travel there. Any questions?" He was always a very straight forward man, and stubborn. I knew there was no reasoning with him, and I couldn't exactly tell him that it wasn't a good idea to send his secret omega grandson out to find a mate.

"No. Is that all?" I asked.

"Almost. You must remember to show respect to other packs, especially the big family packs, and I also have someone you need to meet in the White Pine pack. He will give you some things to bring back to the pack, that can't be sent through the mail. And I don't trust anyone else to go get it." He sat down with a cup of coffee at the table with us. "I have an old friend there I need you to meet. Your fathers were supposed to meet him twelve years ago, but then the accident happened. The two of you will meet him instead."

I could feel Ryn's tension, "Alpha? You want us to travel all the way to Washington, to the White Pine pack. To the Tyrant king?"

My grandfather didn't waiver at our surprise. "Yes, you'll need to travel through all the big packs. It's customary for soon to be alphas to meet all the leaders and invite them to your banquet."

Ryn and I looked at each other, "Ryn, just make preparations, no one's ever seen the King. Let alone get a meeting with him. We'll leave our customary invite with reception, get the items from Alpha's friend and leave. We'll start on Friday. " I said. I stood up to leave "Get the info of who we need to meet and what we are getting there and make the calls to the packs." I nodded at my grandfather and walked out the office.

"Ryn, stay a moment." I heard my grandfather say when I opened the door.

Ryn caught up to me by the time we reached our house. We kept my family house next door to his mother, who he didn't want to leave alone. "Well. This trip just got a whole lot worse than we thought" Ryn huffed as we walked into the house.

It was a small house with two bedrooms, two bathrooms upstairs. A kitchen, living room, dining room, and office downstairs. A few years back we finished the basement and added a bathroom, Ryn stays down there, and I stay on the 2nd story.

"Yea, I don't think I'll be able to keep this secret this whole time. By the time we meet the White Pine pack I'll be running into my heat. How am I going to pretend that's not happening in front of the Demon King Ryn!" I sighed and sat at the kitchen counter watching him make me a cup of coffee to cheer me up.

"I'll make sure to bring suppression meds, though they only help suppress the scents not the actual heat. We've been practicing this for years now Finny, if we have to, we stay on the road a few days somewhere to ride it out first. We will figure it out yea?" he said sitting my cup in front of me.

"Ornery old bastard," I muttered.

"Who? Your grandfather or the King? " Ryn laughed

"Both apparently" I laughed with him. "What did the Alpha want after I left?" I asked Ryn.

Ryn looked thoughtful and shuddered. "It was weird. I think it's the first time I have ever seen emotion come out of him."

"That old man doesn't have emotions." I scoffed.

"I'd have said that too before. He wanted to give me the "take care of your future Alpha" speech, but then talked a lot about you, and your dad. I didn't really know what to say so I just said I'd protect you and bring you home safe." Ryn shrugged. I find it hard to picture emotions coming from him, he's never been one to show much. Why bother with a speech like that when he more or less abandoned me too?

We sat at the counter planning what we could do on the trip, and I left Ryn to make the calls and I went for a run in the woods behind our house. I could hear my wolf wanting to get out of my head, and I've never been able to stop him from coming out before. He's freakishly strong sometimes and stubborn so I've learned to work with what he wants and needs, and he understands that we could be killed if our secret is let out, so he helps us keep hidden.

"Let's go, snowball" I giggled as I heard my wolf scoff.

"Tell Ryn I'm going to bite him if he keeps calling me that" I heard my wolf say as I changed. It took a long time to get used to the sound of another voice speaking to me, in my own head. It used to startle me and make me dizzy. Now it seems weird if I don't hear him.

"We wouldn't have too if you would tell us your name, you big puff ball" I said to him.

He scoffed and took off running through the trees, it was warm for the end of fall, and he loved to run through the woods for hours. We ran to the lake several miles into the woods, and swam to the giant rock in the middle of the lake, his favorite place to sunbathe.

I could hear his voice get soft in my head, "you know this is going to be dangerous for us Fin. We are still new and have not reached our strongest potential yet. And if we do encounter our mate, it's going to expose us to them. To the people that will want to hurt us." I could feel a deep sadness in him, he spoke as if he had lived through this kind of evil before. I want to protect him, but I still don't know how to. I'm only eighteen. I'm not an Alpha...

When a Wolf is born, sometimes a Wolf can be reincarnated from a previous life. No one knows why some are reborn and some aren't, the Moon Goddess stopped talking to our people hundreds of years ago. Old timers would say it was unfinished business, old grandmothers would say it was unrequited lost loves. No one really knows. Mostly a wolf is born the first time, lives it's life, passes, and that is the end of the cycle. The moon goddess above chose each wolf at each time for a reason. They say she used to walk among the packs, that everyone knew her face and heard her voice. After the War of Extinction, no one was able to find her again. I could feel the depth of my Wolf in my head and my heart, I knew it was not his first life or even his second. That alone should be impossible, there are no books in our pack library where a wolf is reincarnated more than once. I could gather that his previous lives were not good ones. But I didn't know anything else about him, we haven't established that kind of connection yet. It leaves us weaker and more vulnerable, but I can't force it on him. That would be cruel.

"One day, you're going to have to tell me why Snowball. I feel that you're sad and angry a lot. When you're ready, I'm here you know." He didn't answer back, so we took a nap in the sun for a few hours and waited on Ryn to eventually find us for dinner time.

A few hours had gone by in my wolf form, and I could hear Ryn's massive wolf tromping my way. His wolf was very playful, he looked terrifying, but he loved to play. He came sliding into the clearing and jumped into the lake. My wolf huffed at his splashing around, "your friend is a big oaf" my wolf said.

"Oh, let him have his fun" I laughed

I could hear Ryn trying to sneak closer to us, "Do not splash us, Great Oaf"

Ryn whined through the link, "Aw come on, Snowball. You never play with me! Finny tell him to play with me!"

"You child, you tell him to play with you" my wolf and Ryn went at it for a while, they always tended to but heads, but I can feel that Snow really cares for Ryn. Or at least cares for his Wolf, Roran. Roran's personality was almost just as playful and loud as Ryn, but he did have a better a serious side when needed. They always tried to coax my Wolf into joining them, but Snow was often quite and just liked to watch them.

"Okay boys, it's time to head home for dinner. Ryn did you contact the packs we will visit?" I asked as we jumped into the water and swam out of the lake.

"Yes Darling, I planned the whole trip, from the wedding to the honeymoon and back again " he said dramatically throwing his wolf against mine.

"Aaaish, Snow is right, you are a big oaf." I shoved him off with my head and took off running to the house.

After we made it home and sat down to eat, I asked about our plans again.

"I contacted the bigger packs, to ask for permission to go onto their lands. I didn't have to contact small packs like ours until we go and introduce ourselves. All the packs naturally said yes, as they know we will be switching Alphas soon. Thankfully we don't have to visit EVERY pack, that would take years." Ryn said in between bites. "I left a message with the Beta to White Pines and sent a text to the number your grandfather gave me for his friend. I told him that we would contact him when we got to White Pines and could meet then."

"Realistically this is going to take about a year as it is anyways, give or take. If we start heading south, we go through the big packs in North Carolina and South Carolina together since they both order the states and are friendly packs. Then we have Georgia, Florida. There we have two stops. Alabama, New Orleans, Texas, New Mexico. There's a small pack in Colorado, then off to Cali where we must meet three packs. Not to mention the small packs we cross in between those." I sighed. This was going to take forever.

"Yea and after Cali we hit Washington, where the White Pines pack is. Then small packs in North Dakota, off to St Louis, Chicago, and New York. There are only a few small packs on that leg of the trip. Then we meet the northern VA pack on our way home. So, yea, it's going to take about a year-round trip. Give or take travel time, down time for heat/rut and all that."

"It's us, and just two back up, right?"

"Yea that's all your grandfather thinks we need. He was eerily cryptic on it when I asked for more just in case. He said, 'you will come to find your own soon', whatever that's supposed to mean." Ryn took my safety almost too seriously at times, I could tell he wasn't happy with only two guards coming with us.

"I guess it's easier really. More people with us, the harder it'll be to keep it hidden. Who are we taking?" I asked.

Ryn looked thoughtful for a minute before saying, "I would prefer to call in Sean, but he's in college so that wouldn't really work. But Ray and Eric are capable, and more loyal to you than your grandfather. SO, in case something does happen, and they notice you're really not an alpha, we stand a better chance at convincing them to stay on your side."

"I bet the packs were really confused to hear the name Blue Moon again. To think we use to be one of the biggest packs before the last slaughter of the Tyrant." I spoke. Ryn nodded in agreement.