Dead Luna
Chapter 41

Amelia's

POV

After Leo asked for the radio to be turned off, the rest of the long car trip was boring. As pretty as the drive could be at times, often times driving thru the dense forest, it could get monotonous. And my brain was still wanting to hash out the events of my brief stay in Bull Run. The things that happened in the Luna suite last night in particular. I had a lot of emotions to process over that, and I wasn't sure I was ready. Starting with the terror I felt, thinking Leo was going to be killed. The relief and joy when he killed Jerome. And the shock over the pack declaring Leo their new alpha.

As soon as I get out of the car, I rush into the pack house and head straight into the kitchen. I look around, finally spotting her in her tiny office, sipping a cup of tea. She looks thinner than she used to, and worn. She looks so tired. "Mom?" I say, coming closer. "I'm home!"

She turns to look at me, a look of joy spreading across her face, and then we embrace.

"Oh, my dear girl!" Mom cries with happiness. "I've been so worried about you!"

"I've missed you so much!"

We laugh, and I allow mom to tell me all her latest news, which doesn't take long since I was calling her a few times a week.

Then Alpha Derrick steps in for a moment, and tells mom she can have the rest of the day off to spend time with me. We both thank him profusely, before mom gathers her things and we head to her little cottage where I get her caught up on everything that's been going on in my life, starting with an introduction to Ambrosia.

Mom was shocked, as I had been somewhat vague over the phone about everything, not wanting to worry her more than necessary.

She is very intrigued with the task given to me by the Moon Goddess, and surprised that I get to pick my own mate, and that I have several Alphas I can choose from.

"But what about Leonard?" Mom asks, knowing my history with Leo. I know she'd really like it if we managed to reconcile, as she had been good friends with his mom DeeDee since childhood. Plus she was a firm believer in fated mates, which always surprised me since there must be some reason she never talked about my father.

"What about him?" I ask, a little defensive.

"Don't you still love him?" She asks, sounding hopeful. "Moon goddess must have paired the two of you for a reason."

"She did actually. She hoped I'd teach him to be less selfish and care about someone besides himself. Those were almost her exact words. I think he's only beginning to learn that now, and we aren't mates any more. So it seems to me that we don't actually have to be mates at all for that to happen."

"Hmm...."

"Let's talk about something else. I'm only going to be here for 5 or 6 days before I head to the other packs in the alliance, and I'm not sure yet where I will be after the mating ball."

"Sure, sweetie! Whatever you want."

We talked for a couple hours before heading back to the pack house where Alpha Derrick insisted we were invited to have dinner.

I knew that Luna Francine liked everything to be a little more formal, so I loaned mom one of the dresses that Luna Veronica had given me, a very conservative beige one. Mom typically wore a uniform for her work in the kitchen as the head chef, and had only a limited selection of casual clothes she wore when she had a bit of time off. She certainly didn't own anything appropriate for dinner at the pack house. Normally she ate in her little office. I wore a flowery sage green sun dress with a knit sage shrug, which was more my style.

The dining room was nearly full tonight, with the addition of my mom, Beta Ragu, and I. Besides Derrick and his parents, former Alpha Daniel and Luna Francine, also joining for the evening meal was Derricks older sister Amanda and her mate Peter Ellingham, Beta Jackson, Delta Rick Travis, Leo and his mom DeeDee, former Beta Louis and his mate Barbara, and Gamma Chris, who had taken over the position after the death of Leo's dad.

I was sat to the right of Alpha Derrick with mom to my other side, and Derricks parents to his other side. Leo was placed at the other end along with his mother. Flutes of champagne were passed around, then Alpha Derrick stood up and proposed a toast. "To Alpha Leo of Bull Run pack, our newest ally," Derrick says. "As usual, causing me all sorts of trouble, since now I have to replace a Gamma for my future Luna!"

Everyone laughed at the obvious jest.

"But, seriously, I can't wait for the mating ball now, which Alpha Leo has graciously offered to host on the next full moon at Bull Run. And I hope he serves plenty of smiley face chicken nuggets at the banquet following his alpha ceremony!" Everyone cheered, the few who knew about the incident at the diner near Green Mountain were chuckling, and all raised their glasses to Alpha Leo, who was very appreciative of the support of his former Alpha.

Mom had already organized and prepped most of the dinner in advance, so it was a simple matter for the rest of the kitchen crew to finish cooking and serve the dinner consisting of corn and crab bisque, a tossed salad with candied pecans and champagne vinaigrette, choice of beef Wellington, pork medallions in a wine reduction or macadamia crusted halibut, garlic mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables. For dessert there was a choice of bread pudding, creme brûlée, and a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. I chatted with Alpha Derrick about the usual way that I do things, meeting with the unmated pack members when he is busy, and that I would also want to spend some time with my mom. But that he should schedule plenty of time for us to get to know each other. He nodded, seemingly satisfied. I already knew plenty about the pack itself, so I didn't need a tour. I already knew there was about 900 pack members, I had graduated from the pack school, and visited the training grounds as well as the medical clinic numerous times growing up here.

In that way, Alpha Derrick already had an edge over the other alphas I was choosing between, because I already knew and loved this pack. I had even had a bit of a crush on him as a young girl, although he had gone off to college for several years and Leonard had replaced him as my teenage crush. But I had always had a tender spot in my heart just for Derrick, and had kept myself pure in the off chance that I was his destined Luna, not wanting there to ever be any awkward issues with his officers.

I didn't actually know him well, as I was several years younger and had never been around him much, seeing him only during summer and winter holidays when he was home from college and me working in the kitchens, occasionally serving him meals if he wasn't out with friends during my 2 years helping my mom. I did respect him, though. He was young, handsome, and always polite to me.

Now finally I would get the chance to really get to know him. I had gotten to know Alpha Craig quite well during my week in his pack, and knew what sort of mate he would be. I had also gotten to know both Alpha Zachary and Alpha Jerome as much as I ever wanted to, and were both effectively eliminated from my potential mate pool. Thank goddess! So I needed to decide between Craig and Derrick, and this week was the week to do it.

After dinner I spent the evening with mom, just relaxing and watching TV until she went to bed around 8 pm since she had to be up early for breakfast service. Then I was calling my childhood friends to let them know I was back and interested in getting together, only to learn Chelsea and Belinda both had mates and pups now, so they couldn't get away at such short notice. Only Rachel was still single, but she was a college student, and apparently out with other friends already. But she planned to come tomorrow morning for her appointment with Ambrosia.

So I sat there, alone on my bed, staring out of the window on a lovely summers night. Daydreaming about the alpha mate I would be choosing soon, and the life we would share together. Loving each other. Leading our pack together. Having pups. Making pups. Who would be a better lover, I wonder? Too bad it was against the rules to take the alphas for a between the sheets trial.

But I lay back on the bed, my legs spread wide, and played with myself, imagining how they would worship my body and how they would make me feel. Unfortunately, the only experience I had was with Leo, so it was hard to imagine the act of love with anyone besides my ex-mate and I eventually give up in frustration.

I remember instead how easily he would get turned on, especially when I would sleep naked wearing that necklace he gave me on my 18th birthday. It wasn't an expensive necklace, him just being a future Gamma at the time didn't pay all that well, but he had promised to buy me lots of pretty things once he was promoted to the title. He had promised me many things. But I had been impatient. I now wonder whether I should have given him more time before I suddenly left like I did. Unfortunately, one cannot change the past. All we can do is move forward, and hope to do better.