The Emerald Moon Pack

Devon

I’ve spent an hour trying to get my mind off her. I’ve seen her before–after all, this is a small town–but I feel like I lose control of myself every time I’m near her. 

This time, there was something in the way she flipped her long, wavy red hair back and gazed at me with those stunning hazel eyes. I swear those eyes are a different color every time I look at them.

As the Alpha, I’ve always had a lot of control, but my wolf inside goes crazy every time I see her or smell that hypnotic mix of pine and wildflowers–her scent.

“Devon, are you with me here?” 

My Beta, Mandy, jolts me out of my thoughts. It was what she does best–keep me on track. We’ve known each other since we were kids, and she’s always felt like a sister to me. When the rest of the pack was killed, only a few young stragglers were left, and it seemed natural to make her my Beta. There hasn’t been a female Beta in Emerald Moon pack for generations, but well, we’re the only generation left, so we make the best of what we have. 

“Yeah,” I tell her. “I’m just thinking.”

She shakes her head. “You’re always thinking, Devon,” she says. “But sometimes you just need to take some time for yourself. I can tell something’s bothering you. Spill it.”

“Nothing’s bothering me,” I insist, lying. 

“M’hmm,” she hums, sitting down in the chair across from me and folding her legs. That’s a sure sign that she’s onto me, but I try to ignore it.

“There’s nothing wrong, I promise,” I tell her. “I’m just frustrated that I haven’t had a breakthrough yet.”

“You’ve been down there in your tech room for months now,” she says, her lips pulled down in a half-frown. “Maybe you’ve got that wrong. Maybe there’s some other way besides some new technology to fight with.”

“I don’t think so,” I mutter, shaking my head at the same time. “Something tells me I’m close.”

“You can’t kill immortals, and vampires are immortals,” she says, leaning forward a little and furrowing her brow. “We’re just going to have to hide out forever. This isn’t such a bad town, you know. I hear rumors that a certain redhead has been checking you out in town.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I protest, but I can’t look her straight in the eye right now, and I know that means I’m done for.

“So that’s it!” she cries, clapping her hands together like she’s discovered the secret to the universe. “Not that I didn’t notice. She brings out a spark in you.”

Well, in a way, I do feel some sparks around that redhead, so I suppose you could call it that. 

But I’m not going to admit it to Mandy. “It’s not it.”

“Yes, it actually is,” she insists with a smug smile on her face. She leans back and her face turns serious. “You know, you are a person as well as the Alpha of this pack. You are allowed to have feelings, you know. You can’t be just all about business every single day of your life.”

“I can, and I will, so we can survive,” I tell her. “It’s bad enough that there are so few of us left. It’s my job to make sure the pack members survive and build families of their own… so we have a future.”

“Surviving is no future,” Mandy mumbles, going into her philosophical mode. I can never argue with her when she does that, and it pisses me off. “We have to actually live somewhat along the way. We all get one shot at life. What’s the use of existing if we’re not making our lives worth living?”

I look up at her and furrow my brow. “What is that supposed to mean?” I ask. “You think I’m not doing the best I can for this pack?”

“Where did that come from?” She shakes her head in frustration. “Of course, that’s not what I meant. You work hard and do your best for us. But being a leader also means being a role model. You have to show the rest of the pack that living means spending time with friends and family, having a life, and maybe even loving a redhead.”

A quiver makes its way up my spine as my wolf reacts at the mention of her. “I don’t love a redhead,” I say as simply as I can, staring at a stray strand of carpet on my living room floor just so I can avoid Mandy’s stare.

“You keep telling yourself that,” she says. 

“We’re supposed to discuss pack business.” I sit up a little straighter and try to get the redhead out of my mind. “So, let’s get on with the reports.”

She shakes her head. “We were discussing pack business–you,” she argues. “Wouldn’t hurt to have a Luna to your Alpha, you know, to make this pack feel stronger.”

“Well, we’re not going to have a human Luna, that’s for sure,” I tell her. 

“Why not?” she asks. “If the Moon Goddess brought you together….”

“Why are we still talking about this?!” I demand, a little too loudly. “We were talking about the Kenner family.”

“Right.” She sighs. “The Kenners. Now that we know they’re expecting twins, we need to figure out how to help them out with extra expenses.” 

“Right, and how to keep those pups safe when they’re born,” I add.

“That, too,” she agrees. “I think if we all pick up extra hours at our jobs and just dedicate that extra time to a pool of money for them, that should add up.”

“I agree,” I say. “I’m sure I can add some hours at the store.”

When we first arrived in Emerald Valley, I, along with the rest of what was left of our pack, decided to split up and blend in. Though we were living in a human city, we’d still function as a pack, but we’d keep ourselves separate enough so that we didn’t arouse suspicion. 

Unfortunately, none of us had any marketable skills for human society, not really, anyway. Sure, we were all strong and capable, so we could do physical work, but without any formal human college education, the job market was limited for all of us. We couldn’t deplete our savings to send a few of us to college. So, I work at the grocery store in Emerald Valley.

Back when my pack was together in full force, before the vampires killed most of us and burned down our small village, we all lived fairly peacefully deep in the forest of Northern California, where most humans didn’t venture. Those who did were out camping or hunting, and if they came across our village, they left us alone for the most part, assuming we were humans as well. 

They had no reason to think we were wolf shifters. 

It’s no coincidence that this town has a name similar to our pack, because we are from the local forest where our pack had lived for generations, for hundreds of years. The forest here is gorgeous, full of trees and foliage that’s a deep emerald green, hence the name. There’s a lake right at the foot of the hills with a surface as smooth as glass, especially in the cold, quiet winter months when it reflects the deep blue sky and green, majestic trees–and the full moon and sparkling skies at night. 

I love it here. This forest is my home, my pack’s home. We were born to be here. 

That was why I was so happy that there was a human town nearby where we could blend in and hide, at least until we figure out what to do about the bastard vampires who have taken so much from us. 

Our village is gone now, but the remnants of our pack are safe. As the son of the former Alpha, it’s my duty to protect everyone who is left, and I plan to do that for as long as I live. I will give my life for this pack, and my whole life is dedicated to every wolf in it. 

I don’t have time to deal with a pretty redhead in a smoothie shop. 

And I can just put her out of my mind.