Page 36 of Second Chance Luna

Brent's POV:

"Where are you going?" My mate groggily asked as I pulled my shirt over my head. I walked closer, leaning down to peck her on the forehead, "I need to take care of something before the meetings begin. I didn't mean to wake you, go back to sleep."

She looked past me at the clock on her nightstand, "at 4 in the morning?"

Always so full of questions, I shook my head and kissed her again, "yes, baby, at 4 in the morning, now go back to sleep. I'll see you at breakfast." Thankfully she decided to roll back over and I bounded down the stairs, snatching my keys quickly before shutting and locking the door. The alarm chirping settled my nerves, but the two guards at the front and back entrance made me feel that much better. I nodded to the two in my line of site before hopping in my vehicle and heading to the pack house.

The car ride was silent, I didn't even want music on. My mind was racing with all that had happened in the last 24 hours on top of what Alyssa's uncle and his mate had to say when they visited at Christmas. My mind was reeling with what ifs. I got there quickly, the drive not taking near as long as usual with my urgency to get to my office.

I tossed the keys to the Omega and took 8 flights of stairs in minutes barely breaking a sweat, my wolf pressing forward at the task at hand. I could smell the slightest hint of fear as I turned the corner. I was ready to get this shit taken care of as I threw my office door open, Anderson already there, ready and waiting.

"Ah, Alpha Maks, so nice of you to join us," I sarcastically growled as I made my way around to my desk chair, facing him with Anderson lounging on the couch against the wall.

"Pretty hard not to join when I am yanked out of my bed by a Beta at 3:30 in the morning! What is the meaning of this Alpha O'Connor?" The man spat, becoming red in the face as he spoke.

I leaned forward and placed my elbows on my desk, hands clasped in front of me, "I have been alerted that Maci is a representative here with you from your pack, which you failed to mention in what I made very clear to be an extremely top secret meeting..."

The Alpha's mouth gaped open as his eyebrows shot up, "you're accusing me of treason against my regional Alpha? I am not stupid enough to try something like that, especially right under your nose. Maci was born into my pack, you know that is her home and where she returned after... well after what happened, but I have had her under constant surveillance as you've asked and I would never in a million years bring her here."

I thought carefully about what the man was telling me. Maci had been at the back of the room yesterday, and not sitting amongst a pack... but something still wasn't right. She could've simply been on her way to the table when I spoke, I wasn't ready to buy his story just yet.

"If you're keeping surveillance on her, then how did you not realize she was here?" I leveled my gaze at the man in front of me .

He shook his head, "I know what you're thinking and I am not in on some big plan... I wasn't even the Alpha when she was born there, which you know. I took over for my father after she mated with you and moved here. I have no allegiance or care for her other than the fact that she is a member of my pack. You can check the registration log I submitted to your Luna," he said pointing at me, "back when she asked for accommodation purposes, and you will not find her name on it." He paused a moment, "and Maci has been under surveillance as you asked, but it's not like she's on house arrest. She hasn't done anything that doesn't allow her to come and go from the pack." I grumbled at his response. It wasn't that she hadn't done anything, it was that I hadn't quite put all the pieces together just yet.

I remained silent, a tactic I had learned from my father. Let the silence make them anxious and they will speak.

Alpha Maks sat back in the chair with his elbow on the armrest and covered his mouth with his hand, as if he were pondering what to say or do next. He finally let out a slow breath as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and neck bent in submission, his stance showing me that his allegiance was to me as he made himself completely vulnerable to my wrath, "listen, I have heard stories of what you do to traitors. I do not have a death wish so large that I would bring Maci here and leave my mate, my children, and my pack."

We returned to silence as I thoughtfully pondered his statement, if Alpha Maks was being honest, then someone from my pack let her in...

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Brent's POV:

"Hello, my love," I slid into my spot and kissed her temple as I shoveled food into my mouth, barely making it to breakfast on time. I made Tenley giggle as eggs fell into my lap.

"Well, hello to you as well," Alyssa gave me a side eye and smirked, "what in the world has you in such a tizzy today?" She asked as she helped me clean up my mess.

I sighed, settling on the truth, "I'm just trying to figure out how Maci got onto our land. I never officially banished her when she rejected me because I didn't figure she'd ever return, but with her not being a pack member anymore, approval should've gone through me regardless, and no one alerted me of her arrival. Now I have to figure out who, out of 80 wolves on patrol, would've let her in without so much as a heads up. I questioned Alpha Maks about her statement last night, but so far everything checks out that he didn't bring her with him..."

I didn't want to bring Maci up again, which is why I was so vague this morning, but I wasn't going to lie to my mate.

She looked at me, her eyes telling me she was full of thoughts, "I actually hoped we could discuss that."

My brow furrowed, "you did?"

She took a drink and nodded her head, "yes, she said she was a representative, but her name was never on a single list. I would've come straight to you had I seen that."

I sighed, "I know we should've talked, but you needed your rest and I needed to investigate for myself. I wasn't trying to keep you out of this, I just didn't want to add anymore stress to you."

She waved her hand, "oh, do not worry about any of that. I would've been most annoyed to hear Maci's name come up at 4 am. I was just simply letting you know that at least that part of Maci's story is a complete lie. "

Yeah, and that lie is the tip of the iceberg, I thought as I finished the last few bites of my food.

"Is there anything you need from me? I know you have an extremely full day." My mate asked sweetly.

I finished the bite I was chewing and answered, "the only thing I need from both of my girls," I said as I pointed at each of them with my fork, "is for you both to stay in the line of sight of your guards, and do not leave this pack house unless I know."

Alyssa looked at Tenley, "hmmmm, I think we can manage that." She winked at our daughter, who tried to wink back and just ended up forcefully blinking, making us laugh at her antics, effectively relieving some of my stress. Damn I loved them so much.

"Ok, ladies, I hate to run, but the meeting begins in 10 minutes," I said as I kissed them both on the top of the head and ran my hand across Alyssa's bump.

Alyssa stood too, "we need to get going as well. I am meeting with the Lunas, and Beta and Gamma females. I figured we could all hangout and share different ideas on pack life, hospitality, and just get to know each other."

I smiled brightly, "that sounds wonderful my love, enjoy and I will see you for lunch."

I relaxed even more at the thought of her in a room of around 30 additional wolves. I turned to head out, but was stopped by the pull of my mate.

"Okay, I think I might just be paranoid from all of this, but now that I can step back and see things through a more clear lens... You know what nevermind, I don't know maybe I'm being ridiculous," she sat back down and waved me on .

"My love, if it was important enough for you to stop me, it's important enough to say, now speak," I commanded, now was not the time to withhold potential information or gut feelings.

"Okay, fine. I can't shake the feeling of Micah handling me so harshly that day. To be honest I have thought about it almost everyday and I get extremely anxious when I see him around the pack. Again, maybe I'm just paranoid from my past, but I don't know. All the wolves we saw on the ATV ride called me Luna without you having to say a word, do you think he knew, but hurt me anyway?" Her doe eyes searched mine for clues of what I was thinking.

I silently cupped her cheek, "thank you for sharing this with me. I will be looking into it immediately."

It was not a far fetched thought. Not at all, and one I should've thought of as well if I'm being honest. Micah should've known. He was right beside her, he had been close enough to pull her hair... I growled at the thought.

I exited the room and linked Ryan,

'Do we have any updates on the situation?'

'Nothing yet, boss. I am combing through every bit of footage I can.'

'Keep me updated.'

I shut the link before he could respond. I knew I had the best working on this, but I was frustrated at having to be patient.

I walked my way toward the meeting rooms. I now had Anderson keeping his eye on Micah. We were going to act like nothing was wrong until we could speak with him. We were lying low for now, not wanting to spook him into knowing we were on to him before we had a plan, but also making sure I fully vetted this situation before making such a large accusation regarding my top warrior. I stopped in front of the doors, taking a deep breath before walking in to settle the chaos in my mind.

"Good morning, everyone."

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Brent's POV: Later in the day

The first two meetings of the day went off without a hitch. Financials were always fairly simple because I required a finance report every two months from each pack and always combed through them when I went for pack visits. Finances were always the first to show signs of pack weakness, another thing I learned from my father and his experience.

It also helped that in each meeting coffee and light snacks were offered, a far cry from the meetings of the past. Alyssa along with the Beta and Gamma females had truly made these mundane, annoying meetings somewhat comfortable and everyone was in a brighter mood for it.

What did not help my mood at all was the fact that we still did not have footage of Maci coming onto our land, but she has also not been seen since last night. I knew the footage of her coming onto the land would take longer to comb through, but from the footage we had of Anderson escorting her out, to now, there was no sign of her. She was never seen leaving my pack.

This had pretty well sent me over the edge and I spoke with Alyssa about this at lunch, telling her that I would have an empty room set up and ready for her and Tenley to lounge and rest in for the day. They would be staying put and then would eventually get ready for the end of year ball, which I was extremely close to just canceling if we didn't get eyes on Maci soon. I promised Alyssa I would try to keep that from happening, knowing how hard she'd worked on this, but her safety was far more important to me than a damn ball.

My original plan had been to send them to the more secure Alpha suite and move Alpha Johnson and my sister to a different floor, but she had refused to uproot them. So an empty room on the ranked floor it was with 10 guards stationed up and down the hallway. She was so fucking stubborn sometimes.

Thankfully I was headed toward the training grounds now and could let off some steam. It was also vitally important to make sure the Alpha's and Beta's were up to par on their combat training. We couldn't have Alpha's that could be overthrown by rogues, compromising their packs' safety and future.

As I entered the edge of the training field I could feel the frustration of my daughter pushing on the paternal bond so I opened it to allow her access,

'Hey Ten, everything okay?'

With a humph, she spoke, 'momma is being mean to me...'

'Oh she is?' I played along .

The mate bond then pulsated at my mind,

'First of all, our child needs to learn not to speak aloud when linking, and I guess if me listening to you and staying in this room instead of taking her home, then yes I guess I'm mean...'

I laughed and switched back to my link with Tenley, 'sis, you need to listen to your mom. You should be napping anyway.'

'but I want to go home...' she sniffled .

My heart broke, I hated when she cried, even if it was over something a little silly, 'how about this, after the ball me, you, and mommy can make a huge pallet and watch a movie in the big TV room when we get home later?'

'YES! A movie night!'

I smiled at her brightened demeanor , 'Oh, and Tenley? Remember you don't talk out loud when mindlinking, okay? I know it's kinda hard, but don't forget what we've been working on.'

'Okay, daddy. I have my lips closed now,' s he proudly shared.

I laughed at her sweet little voice , 'good deal, daddy has to go train now. Be nice to mom, okay?'

'Okay! And you be nice to the wolves, daddy!'

I closed the link, laughing softly at her last statement.

"What's so funny?" Anderson asked.

"Oh, just Tenley learning to mind link and telling me to be nice to the wolves," I shook my head in amusement.

He rolled his eyes in amusement, "you? Be nice to the wolves? Does she realize who her dad is?"

"Whatever," I grumbled, but he was right. I was not nice. No one got to being a regional Alpha by being nice.

...

"Alpha's and Beta's, we will train for the next three hours. The first hour will be in human form, the next hour will be in wolf form, and the last hour we will train on any technique that is lacking. Myself and my Beta will be training alongside you as well as evaluating. Beta Anderson is my lead trainer and extremely knowledgeable in the field of combat both as a human and wolf. You will listen to him regardless of rank, or you will have me to deal with. Also, there will be NO forced submissions today as you all know a submission means you gain control of the submitting Alpha's pack. If you attempt an unlawful submission, you will be stripped of your title and the council will be called, do I make myself clear?"

A resounding, "yes, Alpha," met my ears and I nodded at Anderson to begin our training.

"There are 14 Alphas and 14 Betas, the Beta and the Alpha from each pack will square off for round one. You will be doing hand to hand combat. The first one on their back loses and the fight stops. Find your position on the field," Anderson's voice boomed across the training grounds as he faced me.

I smirked at him, "might want to let Jess know that pretty face is about to get wrecked."

"Aw, you think I'm pretty? Hate to break it to you, but I'm happily taken." A sarcastic frown cast over his face making me scoff as I launched at him.

The sounds of punches landing on skin, and growls filled the air as did the smell of blood, and sweat as the men fought against each other. All of the Alpha's successfully took down their Beta's which was the hope of course. However, a few of the Beta's put up a damn good fight, making me think for a moment they would gain the upper hand before their Alpha eventually took them down. And all of them showed that they could handle protecting the pack in the absence of their Alpha, none of them actually worried me, but there were some things we could work on in the technique section.

Once the human portion was over I called for everyone to shift and wolves now stood before me where their human once did. Anderson and I would not be shifting, we needed to be able to watch them fight for evaluation purposes.

"Let me remind you of the rules," I addressed them, "once again, no unlawful submissions. You may bite, but you cannot take chunks out of each other. Again, this is purely bite and release," I reiterated. "We have a ball in a few hours and my Luna will be horrified to see a bunch of bandaged men. A bite will heal in a couple of hours time, but taking chunks of skin will not heal quite so fast. I'd rather fight all of you at once than piss off my pregnant Luna, now, begin!"

Fur and teeth flashed before me like a blur as we walked through the masses, watching and taking notes. We had just about finished when Ryan pushed at my mind and I opened the link.

His tone was thick with dread , 'Alpha, your office, now.. .'

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Brent's POV :

I gripped the edge of my desk, eyes closed and breathing slow and deep, both trying not to throw my desk across the room and shift at the same time.

"Run this by me again," I growled.

Ryan swallowed, "yes, Alpha. Um, it appears that the cameras were tampered with and the same two hour-long loop has been on repeat in Dalton's cell as opposed to live footage... I didn't realize it unt -"

I cut him off, "you..." I seethed, "are the head of my security, and you didn't realize this? You didn't realize it like it's just some small, minute little detail and not the FUCKING LIVE FEED OF THE MAN WHO HAS, ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, BEATEN AND RAPED MY MATE, LET ALONE YOURS AS WELL! THAT IS WHAT YOU FAILED TO REALIZE?!"

Ryan solemnly nodded, "yes, Alpha."

I stepped around my desk, walking slowly up to my Gamma, my arms crossed over my bare chest as I came face to face with him, "and how long has this feed, you've just now realized, been playing for," my nose mere inches from his forehead as I looked slightly down at him.

"I-I can't be for sure, Alpha," he stammered.

"Your best guess then," I growled.

"Approximately 4 days, sir."

My fists clenched at my sides as my Gamma closed his eyes, preparing himself for my retaliation as Anderson came closer to intervene if needed, but I raised my hand silently up at him to keep him from advancing. He wouldn't stop me from hitting him, but he would stop me from killing him if I got out of control. The room was silent, nothing but the breath of those in attendance filled the space. I raised my fist as Ryan squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact. Anderson stood back, but was ready to pounce if needed. At the last second I turned around and brought my fist down like a hammer on my desk, splitting the heavy wood desk straight down the middle, sending splinters around the room.

No one spoke a word. I stood with my back to the rest of the room with my eyes closed, willing myself to calm down enough so that I could link my mate,

'Alyssa, the ball has been canceled. No questions right now. I am sending Anderson to meet you and your guards to escort you and Tenley to my office and then I will be taking you both to the safe house. Do not stop or speak to anyone on your way here, do you understand me? '

'O-um-okay, Tenley is asleep, but Brent, you're scaring me. Can you at least tell me if you're okay?' I could feel her anxiety rising through the bond .

'My love, I am fine, but I need you here, now. I should've already had you with me. Your guards have been instructed to move you and meet Anderson. Knock twice on your door when you are ready to signal them, be quick.'

'Okay..' Her tone oozed with worry.

'Alyssa, I love you. It's going to be okay.'

I placed my hands on my hips and glared at the ground. I had never been so pissed off or so worried in my life and now it was happening at the same fucking time. I would kill Dalton the moment I got my hands on him. He would never get a chance to do this again.

'I love you, too, Mr. Alpha. I'll see you soon.'