New Ground

POV: The Goldmoon Alpha

I didn't have to come out here myself. I had a meeting close by that would've let me get updates the easy way, through email like a normal person. But some things needed eyes on them, not just words on a screen. After everything my pack had survived to get to this point, I owed them that much.

The Elders had come through two days ago with a list of recommendations meant to speed up approval. I'd handed the logistics over to my people, the same way my father once handed things to me, trusting them to get it right. But the second I stepped out of my car and started toward the Omega quarters, one thing hit me hard.

Heating's off. That's on me.

Their old territory stayed warm most of the year, so nobody thought twice about how much colder this new land would run. Omegas didn't have a wolf's thick skin against the cold, not like the rest of them did, and the current setup wasn't going to cut it. I made a mental note to handle it myself. Some things were too important to trust to memory.

Fix it before the first frost. Not after.

I caught myself wondering if it would snow this year, already half-planning some kind of pack outing if it did. Half the pups had never seen real snow. The image alone, tiny paws kicking up powder, howls echoing through strange trees, tugged a smile out of me. It carried me through the rest of a long day.

My lead builder found me not long after with a status update. Everything on track, only plumbing left to finish. A short walk through the site showed moving trucks parked, heavy equipment coming off trailers right on schedule, exactly the way the Elders wanted it. I nodded along, threw out a few words of thanks, aware these were the same hands that turned my father's dream into something solid.

Dad would be proud. Hell, I'm just grateful we made it this far.

Past nine, I sat across from Sarah, my father's Beta's mate, hashing out housing details. Normally a Luna handled this kind of thing, but I hadn't found my yet, so Sarah stepped in whenever the pack needed her. I didn't say it enough, but I appreciated the hell out of her. She filled a gap without ever making me feel the empty space more than I already did.

We'd moved on to talking about expanding the medical wing, more mates found meant more pups eventually, when a loud cheer cut through the quiet outside. Loud enough that it triggered a mind-link ping from the warriors patrolling the new scent markers.

Every head in the room snapped toward the windows. Colored light flickered over the treeline in the distance. Sarah's eyebrows shot up, and I felt just as thrown.

"Warriors, report," I said through the link, already halfway out of my chair.

A few checked in with nothing unusual. I was one breath from shifting and going to look myself when the last one finally spoke.

"Alpha, Warrior Jackson reporting. Looks like the new neighbors, Bloodmoon, are throwing some kind of birthday party. Their Alpha gave the green light for it, kicked off around six. Started off as a family thing, pups included, but once the kids got put to bed, it turned into something else. Looks like that's what we're seeing now."

"Appreciate it, Jackson. Saves me a trip over there before we've even settled in. Wouldn't want to start things off on the wrong foot." Relief loosened the knot in my shoulders.

"Happy to help, Alpha. Heading back to patrol."

"Go ahead." I opened the link to the rest of my warriors, a quick reminder to stay sharp. No telling what kind of pack this Bloodmoon really is. I sighed and turned back to Sarah, picking the conversation back up right where we'd left off, though part of my mind stayed on those lights still flickering through the trees.

An hour later I called it a night, satisfied enough with the progress. I climbed into the back seat of my car and pulled out my phone, opening the file my Gamma sent over on the neighboring packs, each one broken into its own folder for easy reference. The day's weight pressed down on my shoulders as the car pulled away, and I let myself breathe for a second before diving back in.

I scrolled until I found the file labeled Bloodmoon and tapped it open.

Alpha James Black. I said the name out loud, testing it. Something about it scratched at the back of my memory, a feeling I couldn't quite place.

Guess I'll find out soon enough.