Page 23 of A Luna's Revenge (Stone Mountain Shifters)

Charlie

The Day Tracy Vincent Arrives

Early Morning

Devastation Day 1

My eyes spring open as I shoot up in the bed, my heart thumping in my chest to a staccato beat. My breath comes in ragged bursts as I focus on the room around me. Where am I? Where's Jenson? What is going on? Something is wrong?

Searching around in panic, desperately seeking anythingthat would anchor me. My eyes flit over to the side of the bed where the bassinet should be, where our pup, Xyran, should be sleeping.

Instead of finding my little one, I spy only the familiar furnishings of our old bedroom at the pack house. Maybe Jenson has Xyran, feeding him a bottle of breastmilk.

Confusion and anxiety envelop me as I realize I am not in the new house Jenson built for us. This room is different, older, with the familiar, pungent scent of many wolves. This isn't my new, safe sanctuary— it’s the Alpha Suite at the pack house, a place I didn't expect to be.

As I try to calm myself, the ensuite bathroom door swings open, and Jenson emerges. He is fully dressed, his countenance shadowed with sleep. He pauses, noticing I am awake.

"Charlie? What are you doing awake?" His cold voice is rough with sleep.

I blink. "How did we get here at the pack house? Where is Xyran?" I plead, searching the room desperately once again.

"You are still caught up in sleep, Charlie." He laughs dryly. "Where else would we be? This is where we live. And, who is Xyran?"

"No, I whimper, panic seizing my throat. “You said we live in the pack housebuthave a home in the meadow.”

He rolls his eyes. “You’re being ridiculous. I didn't build a house in any meadow." He scoffs. "And we have no pups. I don't know how you could forget that. You know you haven't been able to conceive! This is our life. Stop daydreaming."

"No pup?" What is he talking about? No new house? I blink again, shaking my head to clear it, "Was it all a dream?" I choke out in a trembling voice. "It felt so real, Jenson. It was like—everything was falling apart. And then, it was wonderful. We had a pup." The dream hangs heavily.

“Are you sick?” He reaches a hand out to my forehead. “You don’t appear to have a fever.” He strides over to the door and glares back at me. He snaps, reaching for the doorknob.

Noticing he is fully dressed, I ask, "Where are you going?"

"Go back to sleep, Charlie. The front gate contacted me. There is a pregnant female here seeking asylum. No concern of yours." Jenson exhales impatiently.

I glance at the clock on the nightstand, which glows the time harshly across the darkened room. "At 4:00 a.m.?" I probe.

"I know." He sighs, rubbing his face. "Don't wait up. I don't know how long this will take." He leaves the room, loudly closing the door behind him.

"What the heck?" The fragmented flashes of my dream stick in my mind—painful and unsettling—anda sickening feeling of foreboding surges through me.

That was all a dream, and I am deposited back into my nightmare. No loving mate, no new house near the meadow, no pup!

Clutching my achingly empty womb and desperate to escape this reality, I bury my head in my pillow and sob.

Jenson

I enter my office and realize that nothing will ever be the sameas I see a pregnant Tracy Vincent sitting in one of the office chairs next to a tired-looking Beta Ben. I know I am screwed.

"Hey, Ben, why don't you head to the kitchen and get us some bottled water to wake us up?” I need him out of the way for a few minutes to talk privately with Tracy. “While you're gone, I'll get a statement from..." I look at her questioningly.

"Tracy Vincent." She supplies haughtily. "You know–"

"Ms. Vincent." I cut her off before she can spout that I know her name. Because I do know her name, but I don't want Ben to know that. I met her at the Alpha conference three months ago and had a brief affair with her. I didn't expect to see her again. It was something I had never done before, but sneaking around with her was addicting. So, when I returned home, I decided to continue cheating on Charlie with other she-wolves or human women. Going off pack lands to bars or hotels has become my favorite pastime.

Don't get me wrong, I love Charlie. She is my person, and I would be lost without her. However, the pressure of siring an heir that has been placed on me so young and Charlie's inability to produce one has really gotten under my skin. It's her fault that we don't have pups, and sleeping with other females makes me feel better. With Charlie, I feel emasculated, like a failure. With the others, I feel powerful and virile.

“Sure thing, Alpha,” Ben replies as he leaves the room.

"What are you doing here?" I hiss so no one else can hear me. "I told you what we had is over and done. I am a mated male, and no one will come before my Luna."

"If you would answer the phone, I wouldn't have had to come here to let you know I am having your pup!"

"What are you talking about?" I snap. "We used protection."

"Well, even protection doesn't always work." She gestures to her stomach. "As you can see."

"I sense no bonds with your pup. As a matter of fact, I can't even sense your pup."

"Didn't you tell me your wolf rebelled when we became intimate? He probably refuses to acknowledge him because I'm not your mate." She mocks.

"Him?" I whisper. "It's a boy?"

"Yes," she gloats. "I'm going to name him Jenson Black, II; I am due any day now."

I lean back in my chair and swipe my fingers through my hair. Sighing, I spit. "Follow my lead and go along with everything I say. If you do, and the pup is mine, I will allow you to move into the pack house across the hall from the Alpha Suite. I will care of both of you and ensure the child's education and advancement to Alpha. He will become my heir." I spit out. "But only if you play along. I will never leave my Luna, and you will never replace her. Do you understand?

Her lips form a stubborn line while her eyes narrow. "Fine."

"You'll want for nothing if you behave yourself." I assert. "You and I will continue our relationship, and no one will know. Understand?"

“You just want me for a breeder?”

“No!” I snap. “You will be sterilized to prevent any further pups between us.”

“What?”

“We will take all precautions to prevent my Luna from knowing about us,” I state firmly. “This is your offer, or you can leave.”

"I agree." She fumes.

She knows it’s a good offer for her, a pregnant she-wolf with no mate. She would have anything she wanted, including access to me. I feel pretty smug about my new situationship. I nod. "Good. So, behave."

Charlie

Nothing compares to the dread I feel at this moment. It took a moment for me to wake up enough to register that Jenson said there is a pregnant female at the gate seeking asylum. All my instincts start going off. This was very reminiscent of my supposed dream.

I called the front gatehouse and discovered Enforcer Orson to be commanding it.

“Enforcer Orson, this is Luna.”

“Good morning, Luna. How can I help you?”

“Can you tell me the name of the person that came to seek asylum?”

“Her name is Tracy Vincent, a pregnant she-wolf from another pack,” he advised. “She was escorted to the Alpha's office this morning at about 04:15.”

I know that name. Tracy Vincent was the pregnant female from my dream. The one that caused problems for Jenson and me.

“Has Tracy Vincent been here on pack lands before?” I ask.

“No, Luna. This is her first visit.”

“Orson, I am still half asleep this morning; what is the date?”

After telling me the date, including the year, it becomes apparent that the past year had indeed been some kind of warning dream. I thanked Orson and hung up the phone.

When I think back to this day in my dream, I realize the dream didn’t actually represent reality but rather a warning. In my dream, Jenson was kind and loving as he used to be when we were younger and first mated. However, in the last year or so, he has grown cold and distant and is not the best friend and soulmate he has always been.The relationship has become strained because of our inability to conceive.

There is this eerie feeling of déjà vu that permeates the air. The goddess has sent me this forewarning to help me prepare emotionally and physically to accept and prepare for an alternate future than I had planned.

I suspect my dream is symbolic, showing a more profound meaning through its imagery instead of making exact predictions. While I’ve never had such an experience, my mother and grandmother have shared stories about being forewarned through similar experiences, though none as elaborate as mine. Knowing this, I will take the dream figuratively and not literally and plan accordingly for my future. We shall see what the day holds.

I need information fast since there is a discrepancy between the dream and reality. If what I suspect is true, I will be called into a meeting shortly, where I will be introduced to Tracy Vincent, who may be carrying Jenson's pup.

It seems everyone who matters is holding their breath, waiting for me to get pregnant. I know Jenson loves me, but he has grown sullen and disgruntled under the pressure. His parents are constantly riding me to give them a grandchild; his mother is rude. The elders are pushing me to provide the pack with an heir.

I’ve suggested that Jenson get checked to see if he might be the one having issues, but he's "an alpha, and it isn’t his fault." By the way, that's a direct quote from everyone...except Dr. Bridgit. Dr. Bridgit agrees with me, especially since she has examined me and determined there is no physical reason she can find for me to be unable to conceive. But the general consensus is that I am a failure.

I digress. I have to figure this situation out. If I’ve been warned, there is a reason. It’s 6:00 a.m.; if the scenario plays out close to the former timeline, I should be called into the conference in a couple of hours—just enough time to do some research.

I’ve already showered and dressed. I’ll wait in my office as I have to make some calls. I have a sick feeling in my stomach that things are not as they seem.

Once in my office, I place a call to my private investigator. I may as well get started early. I want him to send me any information on Tracy Vincent quickly so that I can preparefor that meeting.

"Security Investigations, Bill speaking." His gravelly voice echoes over the connection.

"Hi, Bill. It's Luna Charlie Black. How are you today?" I breeze.

"Luna! Nice to hear from ya. What can I help you with?"

"I have a confidential investigation I need to be completed within a couple of hours. Can you make that happen?"

"Sure, sure, Luna. I'll do my best." He roughly intones. "The line is safe; you can speak freely."

"Thanks, Bill." I sigh. Bill is a shifter familiar with our world, so nothing surprises him. "I need you to investigate Tracy Vincent. I'm not going to be shy here, Bill. Investigate everything, including a possible intimate connection with Jenson." I open my calendar for reference. "Especially anything occurring at an Alpha conference about three months ago at Lazy Moon Pack. The Alpha is Rich Simpkins."

"Alpha Rich Simpkins." He repeats as though he is writing it down. "Lazy Moon. Okay." Bill is a cool character; he didn't even blanche. Of course, he has probably seen it all by now.

"Next. I need you to see if you can find information on Cheating Mate Syndrome.” In my dream, Jenson showed me a pamphlet about it, along with a surgeon who specializes in treating it. I can't recall the surgeon's name. “There is a pamphlet about it, along with the surgeon's name specializing in it. I need to speak to that surgeon and learn more about this condition."

I recall the symptoms were nausea, vomiting, lesions, wounds and bruises on the torso, seizures, convulsions, unconsciousness, catatonia, and death. It stirs the memory of when Jenson was at that Alpha conference. I was sick the entire time and had a lot of these same symptoms.

My stomach seizes as I pull my shirt up and look at the scars on my stomach and chest from the lesions. Dr. Bridgit and Dr. Shannon did not know the cause, and it took me a few days to recover. I still experience episodes from time to time, but the onset of the symptoms was during the time of the Alpha conference three months ago. The evidence is stacking up.

Within the hour, Bill had called me back and sent me all the information I needed and more.

Like the vision, Tracy Vincent worked at the Alpha conference. Bill's contact, an investigator at the Lazy Moon Pack, informed him that Alpha Jenson was seen numerous times with Tracy Vincent.

There was even an incident that was swept under the rug about her being caught in bed with him. She had been reprimanded for fraternizing with Alphas, but they were adults, so it went nowhere. She did have a record of attempting to tamper with Alpha Simpkins's mate bond, for which she received a light probation sentence.

Even though Tracy Vincent had a reputation for dabbling with magic, there was no indication that she had used anything on Jenson to make him desecrate his mate vows, so nothing illegal happened. It appeared that Jenson had entered into an intimate relationship with Tracy Vincent of his own free will.

Bill further advised that his assistant called around the bars local to our pack and found that Jenson was a regular who had been seen leaving with she-wolves and humans to go to nearby motels. Complete with video footage from the motel cameras.

There were even some inappropriate photos from the Alpha conference of Jenson and Tracy Vincent.

Jenson either didn’t care if I found out or was pretty stupid because he wasn't even trying to be discreet. He probably thinks I am a love-sick, trusting fool. I'll show him.

To facilitate the gathering of information, he had his mate chase down the surgeon and provideinformation about Cheating Mate Syndrome. It’s a serious condition. Bill even had the surgeon's office fax me a copy of the exact pamphlet Jenson had shown me in the dream. The pamphlet lists a drug, Amra, that can help ease the symptoms of CMS. With his mistress moving in, I will likely need that more than ever. The pamphlet lists the surgeon's name and number. I intend to call her at some point.

My early morning investigative session has proved exceptionally fruitful, if not painful. While I realize my dream was a warning, it was not precisely accurate. Using the knowledge from the dream and what Bill's team determined, it’s time to make my inevitable escape. I just have a few things more to investigate and put in place before I leave.

I don't want to watch this play out any more than I have to.As entertaining as it would be to play pranks on Jenson and the skank, there will be no playing games in reality; revenge will be on the menu and served piping hot!

I hear a tap on my door. "Come in." I close my hologram device.

Our assistant, Lou, sticks her head in the door. "Hey, Luna. Alpha is requesting you join him for a meeting in his office."

Right on time. I guess it begins now. I should be able to get an Academy Award for my performance this time. I’m glad I’ve been forewarned. I feel numb because I already went through this and survived. "Ok. Thanks. And Lou?"

"Yeah?"

"Have someone bring me some boxes. I need to put some things in storage." I smile. "Oh, and can you have cook pack a nutritious picnic lunch for two? Jenson will be asking for it. It's not for me, so you don't have to ask me anything more about it."

"Okkkkay." She leaves the door open, and I walk out to Jenson's office. I faced this once; I can do it again. I sigh as I open the door to Jenson's office and walk into thelion’s den.