Chapter Two

Coral

“Harley! Come talk with me!” I called out to my sister, who had been too busy learning about Luna duties over the past few weeks to spend enough time with me. I had missed my sister over the last year, and even though we had spent a lot of time together over the last month, I needed more time. I just needed more time. Honestly, she had been spending plenty of time with me. 

‘She will be over soon. She is finishing up with Raina,’ my wolf, Ivy replied. Ivy had been spending a lot of time talking with Lela, Raina’s wolf, to learn more about our abilities as a red wolf. Even I had been spending a lot of time with Raina. Raina was the first red wolf and trained all new red wolves. I was also learning from the red wolves. Talia was closest in age to me - just a few months younger, but she had been at the red wolf compound since she was 13. Now that I had arrived at the compound, Raina was interested in seeing if our abilities changed. Because each red wolf had a strength in a different area when it came to emotions and behaviors, there was speculation that all of us together could be extremely powerful. 

I huffed at my wolf and sat back down on the couch. I had arrived at the compound about an hour ago and had been waiting for Harley to finish up. She was sitting in the kitchen, talking with Raina about Luna responsibilities. I knew she would be over with me soon enough. 

I believed that part of the reason I needed to spend so much time with Harley was because of what had happened over the last two years. Since Harley was my guardian wolf as well as my sister, our wolves had an extremely close bond. 

The last two years had been very difficult. Hell, the last almost five years had been a nightmare when I thought about all that had happened.  Here I was, less than two weeks away from my 18th birthday, and so much had happened over the last few years that I wasn’t sure how I had worked through it all, especially with the difficulties I had at times with managing my emotions. Difficulties managing emotions was pretty common for the red wolf, especially without any guidance or training. And that was certainly the case for me.

Before I turned 13, my mom had died from a rare illness. It was an illness that was extremely rare in wolves. Unfortunately, my mom’s wolf spent so much time trying to heal my mom that her wolf died from exhaustion just prior to my mom’s death. It was so heartbreaking to see it happen. I didn’t even know that a wolf could die like that. To see my mom so devastated that her wolf died made everything so much worse. 

After my mom’s death and before I shifted, my sister and I had talked about going to live with our grandparents, but since we were both in school, and my grandparents lived so far away, we decided to wait. The pack members of the Silver Springs Pack were helping to take care of us and there was space in the packhouse, so we stayed there. 

It really got bad after I shifted. Harley kept asking Alpha Carlson if he had called the Red Wolf Compound and he kept telling us lies. He offered some training from the pack white wolf, but that training stopped once she also asked if he had called the Red Wolf Compound. 

But that wasn’t the worst of it. Right before my 16th birthday, Alpha Carlson propositioned me. He told me that he didn't have a mate and thought that I would make a good mate for him. He didn’t care that I wasn’t even 16 yet or that I had a mate out in the world, waiting for me. He offered to do the Luna Ceremony on my 16th birthday as a present to me. When I declined, he got more verbally forceful, saying that he would use his Alpha tone on me and force me to be his mate. Then, one night, when he thought that Harley was away, he came into our room. I was asleep when he entered and I awoke to him gently stroking my inner thigh. I was startled and felt almost like I was paralyzed with fear when I realized what was going on. He groped at my breasts and had nearly touched my most personal areas when Harley came out from the bathroom. She had seen everything that had happened. I am still not sure how Harley stopped herself from ripping off the Alpha’s head. She was so angry. 

The next day, we left. Our plan was to get to the Red Wolf Compound, but it was nearly a 12 hour drive away from the Silver Springs Pack. We had no money and no car, but we still left, taking just a backpack each of items. The next year was difficult. It seemed like no matter where we went, someone seemed to know that I was an important wolf, even if they didn’t know I was a red wolf. We kept having to run.  No matter what happened, Harley always made sure I was safe. We kept a low profile, running from place to place, often sleeping outside or in abandoned cabins in the woods. Walking was so slow and we weren’t making good progress. 

About a year ago, the constant running was becoming too much. I knew that we were getting closer, but we were still a few hours away. Harley met with a witch named Sarah who said that she knew Raina, the red wolf compound, and offered to help us. She said that she could put together an elixir that would suppress our wolves. She would also call her connections at the compound and have them come pick us up. Ivy trusted her and we decided to do what Sarah said. 

I am not sure what all happened, but on the day that we were supposed to meet up with those from the Red Wolf Compound, there were wolves all around the cabin we were in. Harley went out to try to draw them away. I got scared and I ran out. Sarah had left the antidote with us and I took them with me when I ran. But it all went to shit. I lost the elixir as I tried to make my way to my grandparents house. When I finally made it there, I was so scared, I refused to call the Red Wolf Compound. I can’t even explain why I didn’t call. It seemed so stupid looking back on it all. If I had just called, I could have been to the compound within the week. But I never did call. Without my wolf, I was crippled with fear. 

I lived with my grandparents until one day, Harley showed up with her mate and one of my guardian wolves, Alpha Anders of the Red Moon Pack, Alpha Duncan, one of my guardian wolves, of the Crescent River Pack, and Raina, and Callan, Anders’ parents. The joy that I felt from having my sister back was indescribable, but I was even more excited because Harley had the elixir so I could get my wolf back. 

I wish that I could say the drama stopped there, but it didn’t. An attack by another pack resulted in the death of Alpha Carlson and made it clear that the threat on the red wolves was not just from power hungry Alphas, but from other creatures as well. I shuddered as I thought about that threat. 

Harley waved over at me and held up one finger, indicating that she was almost done. I smiled at her, so glad to be close to her. I knew that she was being pulled in some many different directions right now. She was trying to learn about being the Luna of the Red Moon Pack, trying to figure out how to navigate being my guardian wolf, and adjusting to being a mate. 

The process of bonding with my guardian wolves had been interesting. Although each red wolf had 10 guardian wolves, I had six so far. Four more were still yet to arrive at the compound, although two were on their way. The guardian wolves were so fascinating. Four of my guardian wolves I had some interaction with before coming to the compound. I obviously knew my sister. One of my guardian wolves was Adam, a warrior from the Silver Springs Pack. Although I didn’t have a lot of interactions with him while at the Silver Springs Pack, Ivy felt comfortable with him because we knew who he was. He was friendly and eager to learn everything about the red wolf, so we had already talked several times. 

Anders, despite being busy with his Alpha responsibilities, had also spent time with me. Much of the time was spent with Harley and Anders together, but I didn’t care. I was just glad to spend time with them. Duncan, on the other hand, had not spent any time with me. Ivy was upset that one of our guardian wolves was so distant, and I know she had shared that with Senna, Harley’s wolf. 

I didn’t really know a lot about Duncan, except for some tidbits I had heard from the other red wolves. I knew that Duncan had taken over as Alpha from his father shortly after turning 18. He was a fierce fighter and quite protective of his pack, but he also had a reputation of being a jerk. He slept around with a lot of different she-wolves, but Harley had told me that something happened a few months back that hurt Duncan. She believed that he was acting as a jerk as a front to cover up how hurt he was. 

The red wolves themselves were also so very interesting. Raina was the first, followed by Cammie. Elizabeth, Sophie, Ariel and Stephanie were the next oldest set.  Vivian, Grace, Talia, and myself rounded us out. As I worked with each of them, I had learned that each one had unique abilities, and the older they were, the more abilities they seemed to have. 

“Finally!” I smiled up at Harley as she approached. “How is the training going?” I asked as Harley sat next to me on the couch, placing her head on my shoulder. She sighed.

“It is going well. There is just so much to learn. Raina has been great with going over the general responsibilities to the pack as Luna. Plus, there is so much to learn about the Red Wolf Compound.” She sat back looking up at me. “How about you? How is training going?” 

I smiled at her. “It is going well. I have been meeting with Raina every morning and then with Cammie in the evening. I have also been spending a lot of time with Talia and Vivian, since they are so close to my age.” I shrugged, pulling my long hair back into a high ponytail. My hair was a bright, deep red, just like every other red wolf. Although any she-wolf could have red hair, it was the color of our wolves that set us apart. Our wolves were a deep red. Some wolves were an orangish color, but ours were different. And beautiful. 

Harley played mindlessly with my hair. “Everything okay?” I asked, sensing that something didn’t feel right. 

“I am good, just a bit overwhelmed. Luna duties, guardian wolf responsibilities, strategy, managing threats, being newly mated. It is a lot to juggle.” She placed her head back on my shoulder. “I need to keep training with the other guardian wolves, but everything takes time. I have woken up at 5 all this week to try and get training in. It is exhausting! I need my sleep!” 

I had to laugh at my sister. If anything she definitely needed her sleep. She shared stories of the time that she ended up working as an omega for the Crimson River Pack. It was the same time I was staying with my grandparents. Nothing was good about that time, but Harley’s biggest complaint was the lack of a good bed to sleep on and having to wake up early. I had no doubt that she was up spending romantic time with Anders late in the night and then getting up early to train. 

“Don’t laugh at me!” She yelled out, sitting back against the couch. The smile on her face told me she wasn’t mad at me. 

“Maybe tell Anders to come to bed earlier so that you can get more sleep!” I laughed. Harley nodded.

“That is a good idea, but these unknown threats are taking up so much time. There is another meeting tonight to discuss the threat.” She looked worried as she spoke. While I didn’t understand all of the threats to the red wolf, I knew that this concern was serious. I adjusted my sweater, feeling slightly worried as I thought about the unknown vampire threat. 

“Is there any new information?” I asked, playing mindlessly with the sleeve of my sweater as I looked over at Harley. 

She shook her head. “No new information. Duncan is concerned because, despite the increase in security, there are still some rogues who are getting close. Anders has had meetings late every night this week to review the threats.” 

I understood the significance of that. Just this week, a new security system was installed. It was supposed to be able to pick up sooner on threats, but I knew that there had been a few rogues who had gotten pretty close to the pack border. 

“Speaking of Duncan, is he going to actually make it over to meet with me today?” I asked, playing mindlessly with my hair. I had noticed that many of the red wolves did that and I wondered if it was a self-soothing technique that we all used.

Harley rolled her eyes. “Yes, he will be here. I just reached out to Anders so that he could tell Duncan he has to come over.” She shook her head. “I know that he is struggling with some things right now, but that is no excuse for him to be ignoring you. You and your wolf both need to spend time with him.” 

I nodded. I knew that she was right, but for some reason, meeting with Duncan made me feel uneasy. It wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling, just a bit more of nervousness. Duncan was angry much of the time, and because he had very few interactions with me, I couldn’t get a good read on him. I thought that there was more to him than just the anger. I guess we would see.

Anders approached, and I knew that my time with Harley was over.  “Coral! How are you doing?” Anders asked as he walked up. He placed his arms around Harley.

“I am doing well. Talia, Vivian, and I are meeting for dinner after I meet with Duncan.” I smiled up at the Alpha. My sister had lucked out with her mate and I could only hope that I could be as lucky. 

Anders smiled and then sighed. “Duncan will be here. I told him that he didn’t have a choice this time and he needed to come. Grey told me that his wolf is not happy that they haven’t sat down and talked to you yet.”  Anders took Harley’s hand, pulling her close to him. “I would expect him soon.” He turned with Harley to leave, who gave me a wave and I smiled at them both. Anders turned back around, speaking to me again. “Coral, don’t put up with his shit. Put him in his place and keep him there. The connection we have with our red wolves is very, very strong. When you meet with Talia and Vivian today, talk to them about their connection to their guardian wolves. The connections are steel. They become unbreakable bonds. They are your best friends, your confidants, almost like siblings. Because there will be 10 guardian wolves, your relationship will vary with each of them, but all of them will be strong. Duncan can’t let his own shit get in the way of this anymore.” 

I nodded at Anders. I guess it was time to sit down with Duncan.