His Reluctant Luna

Alice

"You are going on a raid?" I said incredulously.

"Yes," Lucian responded while buckling his belt.

"And it would be pointless to ask, to take me along. You won't do that, right?"

"Precisely," he responded, fastening his guns. He was dressed in all black. Which was something like his combat gear. His entire team dressed in black, along with several spare black sweatsuits in case their outfit got destroyed during shifting.

"Why not? You know I can fight!"

"Of course, you can fight. But that doesn't mean you have to. It's too risky. We have no idea what we are going to face. These are hybrids are abominations."

I hugged his waist from the back, resting his forehead on his broad back.

"You have no idea, how anxious I feel when you go on these raids. Last time........"

I couldn't speak further as the memories of almost losing Lucian engulfed me.

He placed his hand on mine.

"I am not going alone, it's a planned attack with a team. You have nothing to worry about. Anyway, did you see who just walked in?" He smirked, peering out from the window.

Curious, I followed his gaze, we were in our home, and I could see the garden entrance through the bedroom window. Walking in through the main gate was Zaiden and Olivia. They were walking side by side like two school kids on their first day of high school. Olivia looked happy. For someone who couldn't stand the sight of men, going for a walk with her mate all by herself was a big step.

"Woah! When did that happen?"

"He came around asking for my permission to take her for a walk. I allowed it if she was ok with it. She seemed quite keen." Lucian grinned.

"We are quite a matchmaker, aren't we?" I joked.

"Matches are made by Luna, we are just facilitating it. Come on let's scare the kids." Lucian grabbed my hand and took me down, to the living area.

Zaiden and Olivia were standing at the entrance, talking.

"Hello there, what took you so long?" Lucian said in a firm voice.

The smile vanished from Zaiden's face, and I couldn't help rolling my eyes.

"I said only 30 minutes. It's 40 minutes already." Lucian continued.

"I am sorry, sir. I will be more careful next time." Zaiden fumbled.

"Who said there would be the next time?" Lucian replied, folding his arms.

"Enough Lucian, he is already scared out of his wits" I interrupted. I walked up to Olivia, who was looking at the proceedings with a scared expression.

"I am thrilled to see you both getting along, please don't mind, my mate. He gets carried away sometimes. So, how was your walk?"

"It was nice, Madam Luna. I made sure to keep a comfortable distance." Zaiden beamed. "I have another request, Alpha." He looked at Lucian.

Lucian raised an eyebrow. "Sure shoot off."

"May I join you for the raid? I have promised Olivia that I would kill every rogue who has hurt her."

Olivia was staring at him with a shocked expression. I was a little alarmed myself, though it was a natural gesture for a wolf. His wolf would be simmering for revenge. Lucian blinked, it must have come as a surprise for him too.

'Take him with you,' I said in his mind.

"Can you fight ?" Lucian asked.

"I wouldn't have survived in my previous pack if I didn't fight. I am also a sharpshooter." Zaiden added.

"Excellent! Run to the armoury, Damon will be there. Gear up, we are leaving in the next 10 minutes." Lucian commanded.

Zaiden's eyes lit up like the boy who had been suddenly bestowed with an early birthday gift.

"Yes, sir." He beamed.

'Happy now?' Lucian spoke in my mind.

'You're the best, thank you,' I replied.

Lucian didn't fulfil Zaiden's wish just because of me. As an Alpha, he knew that wolves needed to show their strength and ability to protect their mates. It would ensure that Zaiden would get approval from other pack members and make it easy for him to assimilate. He was a good Alpha.

****************

Lucian

The wretched ramshackle house glowed in the moonlight, it might have been a large homestead, but neglect and nature took their toll on the property. The house, or what was left of it, stood almost fully covered with creepers, thick weeds, and small trees. Several sections of the roof had caved in, and one side had a large, gaping hole.

It had some mismatched pillars added to the front, probably by a previous owner, to make it look like a plantation house. However, the verandah was rotting, just like the rest of the house. Those pillars could barely hold up the precariously attached roof. The place looked abandoned. With the barn and surrounding overgrown with vegetation, as dilapidated as the house. A human would give it a pass.

However, for werewolves, the unmistakable stench of evil that permeated the location and the worn trail in the tall grass indicated it was inhabited by the rogues.

I waited at the edge of the forest as the betas and enforcers got into position. The scouts had counted at least ten different rogues loitering in the past two hours before us getting into position.

We moved stealthily and quietly. The occasional call of the nocturnal birds and animals foraging in the forest were the only sounds to pierce the otherwise silent night.noveldrama

I waited for the signal to swarm the place and commence our attack.

The strong metallic smell of human blood was worrying, The scents carried by the slight breeze confirmed that the rogues held female humans. I prayed that the human women were alive to be rescued.

We had the advantage of the element of surprise. Our strategy made sure that we approached the isolated house downwind, to avoid getting sniffed out by the rogues.

The rogue might try to kill all the human prisoners in case they got wind of an attack.

I looked up, above, Peter and Damon were perched on a tree branch. Zaiden was camouflaged and ready with powerful rifles to pick out rogues who might try to flee. Damon gave a thumbs-up.

Once ready, we swarmed the building. Most had already shifted to hybrid form preparing for the battle.

As I dashed inside, I encountered two rogues immediately after entering the house.

I despatched them quickly with a slash of my claws, severing their jugular. They fell with a spray of blood. I ran down the rickety stairs that led to the basement of the house.

It was empty and dark as night, but it was not a deterrent for us, who could see clearly in the dark. A narrow tunnel was dug on one of the basement walls on the far left of the room.

Sniffing the air, and tracking the stench of unwashed bodies, I signalled my betas to follow.

Soon enough, after rounding a corner, the tunnel branched into two. The smell of humans was stronger on the left, mixed with the faint scent of the rogues, while the stench of rogues came from their right. Not wasting precious time, I instructed three of my betas to go left and free the humans and escort them safely out of the lair.

While the rest of us continued to confront the rogues on the right.

As we got near the heart of the den, I could hear voices.

"That Beta woman, why did you kill her?" One rogue growled in anger.

"Well she attacked me first, !" another answered brusquely, "I thought she was passed out after all that pounding we gave her. But the bitch had managed to untie herself and attacked me. What was I supposed to do?"

"You couldn't handle a beta, how will you handle an Alpha woman! " Yet another broke out aloud.

"Oh yeah! As if our attempts to snatch those female mates were successful ?" the first voice continued, snidely.

"All you had to do was call us, not try to subdue her yourself," the rogue asserted. "You were nothing but a puny human before the alpha bestowed you with our gift. The least you could do is listen to him." His voice dripped with disgust.

"Not much good it did us...." Sounds of scuffle ensued, as the rogues tussled with each other.

From the sound of things, the rogues were scuffling with each other. Nodding my head, I signalled for my team to rush into the room.

"What the fun----?!," exclaimed one rogue, who saw the betas rushing out of the tunnel.

The surprised rogues didn't have the chance to adequately defend themselves. Besides being caught unaware, they were outnumbered three to one. A token attempt at breaking away was quickly thwarted.

One even rushed with head hunched down at the betas blocking the exit. His headlong dash ended when I stepped into his path and laid him out with one swipe of my claw. He hit my extended arm hard. His feet flew up as his body was propelled backwards by the force. The crack of bones was extraordinarily loud in the confines of the cave-like room.

"Ok, who's next?" I taunted the rogues. "I thought you would give us more challenge."