A Stupid Mating Ball

Duncan

“Why do I have to go to this stupid mating ball at the Blood Moon Pack?” I asked Gideon, my best friend and the Alpha Prince.

“I’ve told you, Duncan. We suspect something is off over at Blood Moon with the treatment of the omegas, and this is the perfect opportunity to slip you in there to take a look for us. I’ve already been committed to an event elsewhere, and Mom and Dad wouldn’t have a legitimate reason to show up at a mating ball, considering they’ve been mated for 40 years already,” he responded.

“Right. But why me? Don’t you have any other people you could send in? What about your future beta and gamma? Don’t they need mates, too?” I argued.

“Yes, they do, but they’ll be with me. I’m headed over to the Darkshade Coven to meet with King Dorian and negotiate the renewal of our alliance, and I need Axel and Malachi with me on that. They both need to witness the process and negotiations so that they can act in my absence if and when the time comes. You know this; you’re just being difficult because you don’t want to chance finding your mate,” Gideon responded, a weird combination of exasperation and smugness in his voice.

“I just don’t feel like dealing with Alpha James and his spoiled little pissant of a son, Tobias. They’re both narcissistic, pompous, self-impor-”

“All right, all right, I get your point. But come on, Duncan. That’s precisely the reason we need someone to go check this out. Mom is adamant about it. She won’t tell me why, but she needs someone we trust to go, and we don’t trust anyone more than you. Besides that, you’ve got the perfect excuse, already have the invitation in hand, AND have the exact ability we need to determine whether something is going on there. Your psychometry power could mean the difference between finding out what’s really going on or leaving the omegas to be abused.”

“You really know how to lay it on me, don’t you? Fine, Gideon. I’ll go. And I’ll do my best to poke around while I’m there, but you know I can’t always control when I get flashes. It’s frustrating, but I just can’t control that one like I can control my storm power. I’ll take Julian and Lucian with me. Between the three of us, if there’s something to find, I’m sure we’ll find it. But you owe me, damn it. You know I hate mating balls, and a mating ball at the Blood Moon Pack is just extra trouble on top,” I told him, resigned to helping. Knowing that Luna Queen Gwen was suspicious that there was abuse happening, I couldn’t NOT go. ‘If there’s something bad going on, we’ll find it. Plus, I have a feeling that we need to be there, Duncan. I don’t know what it is, but I think Mother wants us to go, which means that there IS something happening or something is going to happen that we need to be there for,’ my wolf Conn told me.

‘You’ve spoken with the Goddess? She wants us to go to Blood Moon? This can’t be good,’ I responded to him.

‘I don’t know whether it’s good or bad, but she said we would have a task coming up that will send us to another pack, and that we MUST go,’ Conn replied.

“Duncan? Are you still there?” Gideon asked.

“Sorry. Conn was giving me his two cents. Apparently, he’s spoken with the Goddess, and she wants us to go as well, so there’s no way that we’re not going to help out now.”

“Well, shit. No wonder Mom is pushing it, then. If Conn’s spoken with Selene, and my mother is concerned…maybe I should postpone these negotiations and go with you after all,” he said.

“No, you know that wouldn’t be appropriate, plus I can’t imagine your father would let you postpone alliance negotiations with the Vampire King. We’ve got this. I’ll keep you updated,” I replied.

“All right. If there’s something you need from me in the meantime, you know where to find me. I’ve got to go round up my crew for our visit. You should probably do the same.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll talk to you later, Gideon.”

“Later.”

After I hung up the phone, I sent a quick email to RSVP for my group to the Blood Moon Mating Ball, and mindlinked my Beta and Gamma. “Julian, Lucian, to my office, please.”

“On my way,” Lucian responded.

“Be there in a few, coming from the training field,” Julian replied.

While I waited, I coordinated with my head omega to get my packing done and with my warriors to get travel arrangements made. Blood Moon was only a few hours’ drive away, so we could make the trip with unmated warriors and kill two birds with one stone. Those who are still unmated usually like the opportunity to attend the balls, so it’s good for morale to ask for volunteers for the security detail.

At the knock on my door, I stated, “Enter.” Lucian came in, followed by Julian. My beta and my gamma were both unmated, so I wouldn’t have an issue getting them in with me.

“What’s going on, Duncan?” Julian asked once they were settled. My leadership team knows they don’t need to add the “Alpha” title unless we’re around others, and I’m glad that they’re comfortable enough with me to drop it in private. Some alphas are ridiculous about requiring the title at all times, but that’s not the kind of alpha that I want to be. Julian and Lucian have grown up with me, so it’s a little easier for them, but my Delta and Head Warrior still struggle sometimes to drop the formality.

“You two need to pack a bag. We’re leaving tomorrow to head over to Blood Moon Pack’s mating ball,” I dropped on them.

“What? Why a stupid mating ball?” Lucian said at the same time that Julian whooped. Complete opposites, but somehow these two still manage to get the job done. Sometimes I wondered how.

“Gideon and Luna Queen Gwen have personally requested that we go over to Blood Moon Pack and do some digging into the treatment of their omegas. Since the mating ball is in two days, and I’m unmated, they think it’s a perfect opportunity to get some intel. Since I have to suffer…you guys are going with me.” I smirked a little.

“Gee. Thanks. You know I hate those things. They’re always full of a bunch of women trying to rank up,” Lucian grumbled.

“Buck up, Lucian. Maybe you’ll actually find your Goddess-given mate while we’re there, and then you’ll never have to attend one again. Think positive,” Julian grinned at him.

“There is absolutely no way that I’ll find a mate at a pack like Blood Moon. Any interaction that I’ve had with Alpha James and his idiot of a son over the years has shown me all I need to know about the type of people there.” Lucian dismissed Julian’s optimism with a snort. “I don’t want any ties to that place.”

“Seriously, there are genuine concerns about the treatment of the omegas in the pack, and even Conn agrees that we have to go. I need you two specifically because I need as many eyes on this as I can get in the brief window of time that we have. We’re allowed up to fifteen members of our pack for the event, so I’ve already requested volunteers for the remaining twelve openings from our warriors. I will be maxing out our allowance, and with warriors, because of the circumstances. I don’t want to go unprepared. With the excuse of the mating ball, it won’t look too out of the ordinary—lots of packs don’t take omegas if they’ve got a large group of unmated in the higher ranks. I don’t care if you actually spend any time at the ball beyond your initial appearance, because that’s not my main concern. I want to get in, investigate as unobtrusively as possible, and then get out. If we boost our warriors’ morale a bit with the chance to meet their mates, then that’s a bonus. But I want our focus to be on making sure that the conditions in the pack are what the Royal Pack expects,” I told them.

“And just what do we do if they’re not? We’re not going to be able to do much with twelve warriors.” Julian slipped straight into serious mode. As Beta, his job often consisted of strategizing, so this was no surprise. “Unless you’re planning on calling up a hurricane, which would trap us there as much as you. I suppose I could create an earthquake or Lucian could wind up a tornado, but let’s face it. A couple of people with elemental powers against an entire pack isn’t exactly good odds for winning.”

“We’ll make that call when we get there. If things are critical, I’ll call the Royal Pack while we’re there. If not, I’ll fill them in when we get back, and we can plan how to approach it.” I answered.

“I don’t know, Duncan. You’re saying that both Queen Gwen and Conn think something is wrong. That doesn’t sound to me like we’re going to have a peaceful trip,” Lucian commented.

“I know, but for now, the purpose of this trip is recon. We’ll try to keep it that way if we can. Go pack for a three-day stay and follow up with the warrior volunteers. Once we determine who is going, we’ll brief them on expectations.”

“On it.” Lucian stood up and left the room.

“So, what did Conn actually say?” Julian asked. Aside from Gideon, Julian is probably the best friend I’ve got, besides being my Beta. I’m actually a little shocked it took him this long to ask.

“Conn said that he’d spoken with the Goddess. She told him there was going to be a task that took us out of the pack, and that we needed to go. No, that we must go. No more information other than that, but you don’t deny an order from the Goddess,” I sighed. “Even if I were that suicidal, Luna Gwen was pushing for someone to go. I suspect she has some kind of inside information, not that Gideon mentioned that. Call it a gut feeling.”

“Why isn’t Gideon going then? Claiming he doesn’t have time since it’s on his eighteenth birthday?” Julian joked.

“Ha. No. He’s committed to a treaty signing at the Darkshade Coven. He’ll be available by phone if we need him, but he’s got to get the treaty renegotiated before the current one expires.”

“I suppose that makes sense. All right, is there anything else we should know or prepare for? If not, I’ll go pack.”

“Nothing else on my end. I need to coordinate with my father for pack coverage while I’m gone, and then I’ll be wrapping things up so that we can head out first thing tomorrow.”

Julian stood and headed out. Looking back at me, he said, “I sure hope that we don’t find anything too serious. Remember what happened to the last pack that King Cian found to be treating their omegas poorly?” He shook his head. “I don’t want to be the one to tell him that another pack’s leadership is corrupt and needs yanked out.” Shaking his head, he closed the office door behind him.

Sighing, because he was right—no one wanted to see Alpha King Cian riled up, and mistreatment was one of the few things that managed to ignite his temper—I mindlinked Dad. “Hey, got a minute to stop in the office?”

“Sure, son. I’ll be there. Need your mother, too?” he responded.

“Why not? You’ll fill her in anyway,” I laughed. Mom and Dad are fated mates who had been together for forty years already. It was rare to find them separated these days. Since Dad had handed over the pack to me a little early, he’d been devoting all of his time to spending as much of it with Mom as possible. She still acted as Luna when I needed something for the pack and would continue to do so until I found my fated mate, but I wasn’t necessarily in a hurry for that. I wanted what my parents had, and it could take years to find the one the goddess made for you. At twenty, I still had plenty of time.

Dad entered the office, Mom right behind him. “Good evening, son. How are you?” she asked, coming over to give me a kiss on my cheek.

“I’m all right, Mom, though I could be a little better. Can you two handle the pack for a few days? Gideon called, and he needs me to head over to Blood Moon Pack for their mating ball. Queen Gwen has some concerns, and Conn has orders from the Goddess,” I told them.

“Orders from the Goddess? That’s…ominous,” Dad said. “What’s the concern?”

“Omega abuse. Gideon asked me to take advantage of the ball to do some subtle investigation before they jump and send a whole unit in. The opportunity was too good to pass up. He’s got royal duties, or he’d be going himself. I want to take Julian and Lucian with me, as the more eyes the better. I’m sure they’ll be on their best behavior with all the outsiders in the pack for the ball, so I want to make sure we can spread our attention around. Since they’re both still unmated, they won’t raise questions.”

“That sounds like a solid plan. How many additional are you allowed to take to this ball?” Mom asked. As Luna, she knows that the pack hosting the ball sets the number of allowed participants.

“Twelve, for a total of fifteen from our pack. I’ve asked for volunteers from our unmated warriors. I don’t want to risk taking any lower ranks into a pack that is suspected of abusing lower-ranked wolves,” I said. “Plus, if we do run into trouble that needs to be addressed immediately, we’ll need them while we wait for the Royal Pack to come. We’re heading out tomorrow morning and should be gone for around three days.”

“I’m assuming Gideon is sending you, not just because he trusts you, but because of your powers?” Dad asked.

“Yep. He thinks that even if they’re hiding things while we’re there, I’ll get a flash that will give us answers. He knows it’s not always guaranteed, but honestly, with both Queen Gwen and Conn pushing this, I suspect the Goddess may make it happen.”

“True. Well, of course we’ve got the pack covered. You do what you need to and call us if you need any additional help while you’re there. We’re happy to help,” Dad said. “Now, go get dinner and finish getting packed. You’ll need a good night’s rest going into this.”

They left, and I closed up my office and headed to my suite. They were right…if this was going to go how I suspected, I’d need all the rest I could leading into it.