Dead Luna
Chapter 57

Jackson's

POV

Jackson drove us to Portland Oregon just after lunch the next afternoon. I had been reluctant to leave my mom, our time together seemed to have gone by way too quickly. But once we were in the car and I had the radio tuned into a station playing my favorite

songs, I was singing along and enjoying myself.

It was about a 2 hour drive from Winter Moon to the Portland area, where the Willamette pack resides amongst the west hills. Just off of the downtown area near Washington Park, is an immense area of natural beauty where the pack members love to run. The area includes a university hospital, zoo, an arboretum, rose test gardens as well as a Japanese garden, and many fine homes. The entire area was in general quite upper class.

The pack itself is smallish, with just less than 500 members, but it has a higher than normal percentage of single members. Most of them being male. It's also one of the most prosperous packs, due to the large number of members being professionals, such as doctors, computer programmers, engineers, lawyers, and security specialists.

Luna Heather tells me the reason she believes there is such a disproportionate number of single males is because they mostly head off to college to get their degrees in specialized fields, and while they are away, their fated mates get tired of waiting and take chosen mates from other packs. There are currently only sixteen unmated she wolves, and fifty five m

I decided I'd start with the unmated she wolves tonight. With so many career professionals, evening appointments would be in demand. The next morning would be for the wolves who worked on pack lands, and the evening again devoted to all the rest of the career professionals. There was no time to be wasted. Thankfully I didn't have the distraction of a single alpha in this pack that I would need to date, get to know, and decide whether to choose him for myself or someone else.

Dinner would be served at 7 pm, so I would see as many she wolves as I could between 5:30 and 6:55, and anyone else not available so early would be seen after dinner between 8:30 and 10 pm. Luna Heather allocated space in her office for the task. Alpha Garrett popped in a couple times, pretending to be needing a word with his Luna. I offered to let him stay, but he claimed he was too busy. Still, I was able to see the first 11 wolves before dinner was served.

Dinner itself was nothing spectacular, but I was formally welcomed by the Alpha, Luna, and the officers and their families. We dined on bbq beef short ribs, roast chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, cornbread, watermelon, and cheesecake bars. Perfect cuisine for a hot day in August.

"So why are you limiting your skills to just 10 packs?" Luna Heather asks me halfway thru dinner. "Doesn't the moon goddess want your assistance with any other packs?"

"Well, Selene did hint that I might be helping others. But she tends to be very vague about things rather than giving anyone direct answers." I say, thinking back to that meeting that happened almost a month ago. "I suppose there might be more collaboration in the future, but once I've chosen my mate and become a Luna, I'm not positive my alpha would like me to ue doing this. I will have many new responsibilities, after all."

"But if you have your choice of anyone, why limit yourself to just those 4 alphas?" Luna Heather inquires further. "And it's my understanding that your potential mate pool is now down to just 3 alphas, so you ought to be allowed to add another potential mate. You could even be mate to the Alpha King himself since you have the power to choose. He's been recently widowed. Imagine the possibilities!"

I do imagine it, and I laugh a little at the idea of being mated to my own grandfather. "Oh, I don't think would suit well at all. I'm used to a far simpler life than that of Queen Luna. And I don't think he would just let me waltz into his private residence at the capital to see him. I'm sure it's just not done."

Luna Heather doesn't look convinced, but changes the subject to the weather.

After dinner I finish all the appointments with the rest of the she wolves, and after I had Jackson check my scent to make sure I didn't smell even the slightest bit like I was in heat, I begin to see the first few male wolves.

Even without the scent of me being in heat, some of the single wolves were showing more interest in me than I was comfortable with. Particularly the lawyers. They seem to have an over inflated ego and such self confidence that they were coming on to me. But thankfully Jackson was there to protect me and prevent things from getting out of hand. I was relieved when the end of the day came and I could finally go to my guest suite for the night.

"Thanks for all your help today," I told Jackson as we were getting ready to part for the night. His guest suite was just across the hall from mine. "I'm very glad you are here with me."

"You're welcome," Jackson said with a smile, gave me a little kiss on my forehead, and then watched as I closed my door.

The room had a small patio, with a lovely view of the forested hillside. There was a slight breeze, making the unusually warm evening to feel more comfortable. I sat on one of the 2 wooden Adirondack chairs that were provided, and contemplated the day I had. I was starting to see exactly how important it was for a Luna to have a Gamma by her side. Growing up as an "omega" meant nobody really noticed me much, and I was generally safe, more or less. Other packs may not always treat omegas well, but Winter Moon treated them like valued members of the pack more than like slaves as some packs do.

But a Luna is generally regarded at the "heart" of the pack. A good Luna who cares about the welfare of her pack members is often revered nearly as much as the moon goddess herself, and is typically well guarded against all sorts of evil intent, whether from rogues, rival packs, or even the occasional internal dispute.

I was starting to feel quite thankful to alpha Derrick for the continued loan of his former Beta, now Gamma Jackson. I hadn't realized how much I had come to depend on first Leo, and then Jackson. And if I choose Derrick as my alpha mate, then I would always have Jackson to rely on to keep me safe from harm, to be a friend of sorts, and help me with various tasks I suppose.

Alpha Craig doesn't currently have a Gamma, but I suppose he would appoint one soon once he has a Luna. Perhaps he could convince Elena's new mate Travis Blake to move to Silver Falls pack and appoint him to be his gamma. Or perhaps either Kitty or her future mate would take on the job. Or Joshua? I'm sure Craig would appreciate my opinion in the matter.

Alpha Leo, who is now a potential mate in place of Alpha Jerome, has Gamma Desiree. She seems nice, and I really like her mate Ashley. But would I be comfortable with Desiree as my Gamma after what happened with her brother Jerome? It would be strange at a minimum, and potentially fatal at worst if she decided to get revenge for her brother's death. I don't know her well enough yet to feel at ease with that amount of risk. Especially since I haven't had much chance to train in recent years, and have no training at all with my wolf. I'll need to rectify that as soon as the mating ball is over. But I suppose if I talked with Leo he would quickly rearrange his team however I liked. Only we spent such precious little time together in Bull Run meeting the pack members, that I feel unqualified to suggest anyone else that could effectively do the job.

I'm running out of time to make my final choice, even though I was given a bit of extra time by selecting Bull Run as the location for the mating ball. Otherwise I was supposed to have invited everyone to the mating ball as the future Luna of that pack. But I wasn't any closer to making my choice than I was before this whole adventure started. I could just give up on my ability to choose, and allow Moon Goddess to once again give me a fated mate, only I suspect I know whom that would probably be. Perhaps I needed to replace some way to visit my alphas once more. Find out who really makes my heart sing.