Chapter 2

'Dickson, can you shut up for two minutes? Or I swear to the moon goddess I'll throw you out of the car,' Zack snarled angrily. Dickson immediately shut up and looked out the window to avoid Zack's gaze. Zack rolled his eyes and went back to reading some pack reports. This was supposed to be a serious meeting to discuss boundaries and rival packs. Zack could not let anyone mess this up with their pointless comments. He needed all the packs he could get to form a strong alliance. "Alpha, the Moonstone Pack is coming in T-5," one of Zack's pack warriors called from the driver's seat. Zack nodded and carefully put the papers back in the appropriate folders before watching the land as they got closer. There appeared to be several houses that formed a giant U-shape on the land. In the middle of the rows of houses was a house larger than the others, which Zack assumed was the pack house. In the middle of the U were several warriors who were busily training under the guidance of a Gamma. Zack's wolf yelped in approval when he saw how hard they were training. 'They can certainly keep up with our warriors.' he said. 'Why does the pack have the name Moonstone? Are they obsessed with moonstone or something?' Zack turned and gave Dickson another look that made his face pale, 'What did you say, Dick? I could not quite hear you.' There was no reply. "All right," Zack muttered as the car came to a stop. Zack's pack warriors immediately got out to retrieve their bags while the rest of them got out of the vehicle. Almost immediately, Chance and Reece stood behind Zack with their arms crossed and serious expressions on their faces. However, Chance's lips kept twitching as if he were smiling. Zack watched Alpha Nathan and his Luna with a cool gaze. They both had dark brown hair, but Alpha Nathan's eyes were silver and his Luna's were brown. He had a strong build that showed he was not someone you could just walk over. It would be hard to crack him, but it had to be done. They needed this agreement. "Alpha Nathan." Seth nodded. "Alpha Zack," he nodded back, "you look just like your father." Zack put on a small, proud smile, even though he'd heard it a million times before. Alpha Horris pointed to his Luna, "This is my mate, Jennifer." Zack reached out to shake her hand, but she stepped forward and pulled him into a warm embrace that caught him completely off guard. His wolf rolled with laughter at his shocked expression, and Zack could hear Chance behind him trying to stifle his laughter. Luna Jennifer pulled back and gave him an apologetic smile, "We are a family of huggers, at least I am. I did not mean to scare you." Zack shook his head and smiled kindly, "No harm done." She and Zack's mother would get along just fine. His mother loved to hug strangers, much to his father's displeasure. Alpha Nathan smiled mischievously and nodded to a young man standing next to him, "This is my son Oliver." Zack eyed the future Alpha closely. He had a playful glint in his eye that told Zack he was much more relaxed than his father, but there was also a seriousness in his gaze that assured Zack he would make a good Alpha. Zack shook his hand and turned back to Alpha Nathan, who looked around in confusion. When he saw Zack's questioning look, he shook his head to reassure Zack that everything was fine. "My daughter Freya should be here, too. I could have sworn she was right behind us, but she must have run away. Do not worry, you'll meet her soon anyway." Hmm, so the precious daughter of the Alpha was named Freya. From what Dickson had told Zack in the car, she loved to shop, and she was very headstrong. But before Zack made up his own mind, he wanted to meet her. He'd already had experience with false rumours, so he was not going to believe anything anyone said until he saw it with his own eyes. His wolf purred contentedly, which made Zack frown slightly. His wolf had to be high or something, because he had never made a sound like that before. Never before. "Well, let us not hang around here. My beta will show you around once you get settled. I hope you do not mind staying in our house? My mate insisted on letting you stay with us so you'd be comfortable here," Alpha Nathan said, giving his mate a stern look. She slapped him on the arm, which made him chuckle. Zack shook his head, "It's fine with us." "Alright then, follow me." Zack nodded to his pack warriors, who quickly grabbed their bags and followed them. As they passed a few houses, many people stopped to stare at them and bow respectfully. 'I hope they have good food,' Chance muttered in the mind link, and Reece hummed in agreement. Of course, Dickson could not keep his mouth shut, 'I can not wait to meet some hot girls.' Zack growled at him before cutting the connection, 'Desperate little puppy.' Suddenly, Zack felt something soft bump against his leg and looked down to see a small puppy sniffing his foot. He squatted down and scratched the puppy behind the ears. "And what's your name, little guy?" He blinked and changed back to his human form. Zack smiled at the little boy, who couldn't have been more than five. The little boy grinned, showing his crooked teeth. "I'm Wey," he said, trying to make the r sound. Zack chuckled and stood up. "Nice to meet you, Rey. How old are you?" He grabbed Zack by the finger and pulled him toward the Alpha's house, "I'm five years old. Daddy says I can fight Cwime now since I ate all my banananas." Before Zack could correct him about the bananas, they stepped into the entrance hall where Luna and another woman stood looking very worried. "Rey!" one woman called out, "where did you run off to? I was so worried." Rey ran up to the woman and hugged her legs, "I was playing with my wolf, Mommy. He was sad." She sighed and bent down to pick him up, whispering something in his ear, to which he nodded enthusiastically. Luna Jennifer turned to Zack and smiled weakly, "Nathan and Oliver had to take care of a problem with one of the pack borders, but they should be back soon. You guys can go ahead and go to the kitchen. Freya made lunch for all of you, and I'll take your pack warriors up to the dorms to deliver your luggage." "Is everything all right with the border?" asked Zack, croaking. It sounded like they were having the same problems as other packs. Luna sighed. "It's the same. Rogues trying to invade the pack's territory, but luckily the situation is under control this time." Zack couldn't help but notice her wince as she said this time, as if the last time had been a major disaster. He made a mental note to ask Alpha Nathan about it later. "Anyway, please go to lunch. I'm sure you're all hungry." "You got that right," Chance chirped from behind Zack. Luna Jennifer laughed and gestured to the door in the corner, "This way then." Zack thanked her and followed Chance and Reece, who were just running, into the kitchen. As he walked in, the delicious smell of fried chicken, lasagna, and freshly baked cookies hit him. His stomach growled approvingly as he approached the island. Chance and Reece were staring curiously at someone, and Zack turned his head to stare at the alpha daughter's back. She was humming softly to herself as she pulled something out of the oven that Zack assumed was the cookies, but the strange thing was that he couldn't take his eyes off her. Her light brown hair glistened in the sunlight as it tumbled forward with her movement. She looked small, but since he was 6'3", everyone looked small. To a normal person, she'd be considered tall. She also seemed to have a perfect figure, which she hid under a loose white tank top and black sweatpants. "I hope you guys like cookies, because I made way too many," she said, turning to them with a warm smile on her face. Zack immediately made contact with her chocolate brown eyes and inhaled sharply as something rose inside him. His heartbeat quickened and his palms became sweaty as they stared at each other. It was as if something was tugging at his heart. Something that came together as the two stared at each other. His wolf howled and growled loudly, trying to get Zack to come closer to her. But Zack just stared at her. He stared at the one thing he didn't want to find. His mate.