His Luna’s Already A Luna
Chapter 74

Lucinda

POV

Lucinda was standing in Nick's office, the table in the middle of the room was indeed a model of the pack. It was very detailed. She wondered who made it absently. It even included the construction of the new school, she could see two lakes in the pack's territory, even Granny's cabin up north was there, along with half a dozen bears dotted around in the northern woods up by the lake and some dear as well.

There were plenty of creeks and streams that fed into the lakes or out of them. Even a waterfall down by the eastern lake. She'd not seen that last night. Though from the look of it, the path that they had been on last night would have taken them right to it. Nick had probably been taking her there, but she had been distracted by the Water Nymphs.

Most of his pack members lived just south of the pack house in and around the town centre, but there were a few homes out near the eastern lake, a couple dozen on the model, and there were a half dozen very large looking homes dotted along the main river that ran down the eastern side of the pack.

She pointed them out curiously, they were spaced evenly and gave lots of privacy, it appeared.

"River homes, family's can book them for events such as birthday parties or anniversary's and such things. Away from the pack, private." Nick told her as he was uncovering the map on the wall which showed the pack and the surrounding lands, where the other packs were.

Lucinda walked over to it and looked at it. Nick touched the map. "Half Moon Pack is here." Lucinda nodded. Her eyes moved from it to the east of it, she could finally see where her pack was in relation to where this pack was. Reached out and touched it on instinct. Her home.

"Terrible story that one," Nick said, obviously watching her. It was a darkened shadow on the map. "no one went to their aid." he sounded a little disappointed to her ear.

"I know." she nodded sadly, and let her fingers trail off the map. There had been no time to call for help. No one had even known there was an attack coming, till it was on them and Darwin was flooding the eastern boarder with all his warriors. No one had even had time to prepare for it. She sighed, couldn't help it.

"You know the story?" He asked her softly.

Lucinda nodded "Everyone does."

"Mm, its very sad."

The white Lotus Pack was actually closer than the Half Moon Pack, to Nicks Pack. She was curious as to how long it would take to get there, from here.

"If Alpha Corey calls for assistance, it's 3 hours across rogue territory. Not that I would let you run across it, Lucinda."

"I know," she nodded, not that it would likely stop her, if it was reported Darwin was there, he would have no say in the matter. They would just go and he'd have to deal with it. "Is that at a regular pace? or is that using Rip at full Alpha Wolf speed?" "Rip at full tilt," he nodded "the drive is much safer."

"I would think so. A lot of rogue territory out there to cover." she turned away from it, to look up at Nick. "Don't take this wrong way..."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Where is Darwin's Pack?" He frowned instantly down at her, so she clarified for him "I'm not looking to go and hunt him. I just..."she sighed, "want to feel safe, away from him."

He looked at her for a long minute, then seemed to decide to believe her: "In Canada actually. A full state away." he told her.

She was the one frowning now. "What?" she didn't understand. Was that cruel bastard, so obsessed with Felecia that he would cross into another country, run him and all his warriors across two full states, just to get to her? Who did that? After 20 years of being rejected, the man or his wolf, were completely insane, it seemed.

"That's likely why Alpha Corey had no information on him. It took Jeremy, Kevin and Braidy nearly a week to dig up the information I now have on him."

Lucinda wondered what the Cruel bastard Darwin, was doing now? Down in her pack. In the White Lotus Pack territory, if his pack was up in Canada. It didn't make any sense at all to her. Why bother coming all this way for nothing! He'd burned the whole pack down himself. Left no one alive! as far as he knew. So why return? What for? It didn't make any sense at all.

"I don't understand, what is he doing all the way down here?" she mused aloud, looked at him, to Jeremy who was sitting across the room. Hoping one of them would have an explanation for her.

"None of us do, Lucinda. Come and sit down. I will give you all I have learned about the man...but I want you to tell me first, why did you antagonise him, challenge him?"

Lucinda sighed softly, she knew this was coming. Walked across the room and sat down in one of the leather chairs, across from Jeremy. Jeremy had told her as much. But what should she tell him and how much of it? She didn't really want to tell him everything, not without her women's consent.

Jeremy was watching her, as well as Nick, who'd taken up the seat next to his Beta. They would both likely pick a lie, so that option was out. "In a nut shell, he killed Matthew, both my parents and my older brother." she stated, it just wasn't the entire story but it was the honest truth. That man had slaughtered them all without mercy. Had no mercy for anyone. Not even the women and children who'd been defenceless and hiding in the pack-house for safety.

She found both Nick and Jeremy staring at her now. It seemed they were completely shocked by her statement. Lucinda held out her hand for the file that Nick was holding. He didn't hand it over right away, as she expected him to.

"You had an older brother?" he asked, clearly had not known that.

"Yes. Xavier." Lucinda nodded.

"How'd you and the twins survive?" Jeremy asked her.

"We hid. Not that Darwin cared about me. I was wolf-less, ignored me. But I took the twins and we hid."

"Damn...you were there when it happened." Jeremy stated.

"I was." Lucinda nodded sadly, she had been and it would forever be burned into her memory. "Can we not talk about it anymore." her voice hitched a little with the pain of the memory it caused talking about it.

Nick nodded and handed her the file to look at.

Lucinda took it and directed all her attention to it. She could feel both Nick and Jeremy watching her. What they made of her tale she had no idea, but everything she had said was the truth, just an altered version to keep her women and children safe. She had to ignore the itch to glare at them pointedly.

It was interesting and sad that his older brother had seen a massive number of warriors go past, had done nothing at all about it, informed no one. Probably didn't want them retaliating. He'd also refused aid to them on their way back. No one had seen Alpha Darwin, since that day and his son was now in charge of the pack.

There was a picture of him. He looked like his father, though a little softer around the edges and those eyes of his were unmistakable, he was Felecia's son for sure. So she had run and left the child behind. Maybe thought he wouldn't come after her, if she left the Heir to his pack there.

Must have been hard on her, to leave the boy behind in the care of a brutal man like him. The information on him showed he was only 2 years older than Matthew. The twins had another brother out there. She saw that his pack was peaceful since he'd taken it over. Perhaps he'd not been like his father. She hoped not. Would never tell him about the girls. Would hide them away forever, just in case.

So where has Darwin been all this time? He certainly had not looked like a rogue or smelled like one, for that matter. His wolf looked very healthy and strong, as an Alpha wolf would do when in a pack.

It didn't make sense to her. Eight years it had been and he'd not been seen returning to his pack with his army. His son had taken over right away. He'd not been expecting to see his father again, it seemed. Where had the man been and what had he been up too? "Where is he? It doesn't make sense!" she finally asked them.

"We don't know," Nick answered, sounded like he was telling the truth. "You said that it was the first time you had seen him in 8 years."

"Yes," she nodded, "not since the day he killed everyone."

She had been out to the White Lotus Pack many times since gaining her wolf and had never seen him there before. "He didn't look or smell like a rogue to me." she added, and turned her eyes on the both of them, one at a time, looking for their opinion. They had both seen him, Jeremy up closer than Nick.

"Not a rogue." Jeremy agreed with a nod.

"Still an Alpha wolf," Nick nodded, "old but still had the feeling of a full blown in charge Alpha of a pack."

"So, if his son is in charge of his pack?" Lucinda frowned. It didn't make sense "Whose pack is he in charge of now?"

"Unknown," Nick told her.

"Would you tell me? If you knew." she asked directly.

"Yes I would." Nick nodded, "to keep you clear of it. Especially with what we learned about Ky'ra yesterday. Keeping you and her safe and unharmed is my number 1 priority."

That made her frown. "We can take care of ourselves."

"Till you can't," Jeremy said as he leaned back in his chair, and stared at her. Clearly, Nick had shared the information with him. Being the Beta, he would know everything. "Agreed. Your strong and Ky'ra is very aggressive, Lucinda. But Ky'ra doesn't know when she is in danger of dying."

"We've been fine all this time," she countered.

"Till that bear Lucinda, you lost a lot of blood, had to have a transfusion while your wounds were being tended to. Likely would have died out there on your own. Unaware of just how badly injured you actually were." he told her softly, calmly. But she could hear the concern in his voice.

She just frowned at him.

"Let's not argue about it. You read what we read about Ky'ra's wolf. Did Ky'ra tell you it was wrong?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Then till you understand your limitations, you'll need a protection detail, if you're going to insist on patrolling, that is. I'd prefer you didn't do it at all."

Anger started to fill her, he was going to limit her again. She was a fierce warrior, trained long and hard to earn her title, there weren't many that could take her down and here he was telling her, because of Ky'ra's wolf type, she had to stay home and do nothing. "I'm not going to sit around and do nothing all day. Or just be a baby maker for you." she added. If he thought she was just going to be around, to produce him an heir or two, he was dead wrong.

"I didn't think you would. And I am not asking you to be a baby-making machine, Lucinda. But you do need to agree, to not patrol on your own for now."

He thought she was reckless. She had never been reckless. Was simply damned good at her job. "Fine. So when can I start patrolling?" she asked.

"I'll have to organise it. So a few days I guess." he told her and his tone implied he expected her to agree to his terms,

"Till then?" she shot back.

"I'll let you train. You can choose the morning or afternoon training group." he nodded.

"Mornings and Bow training in the afternoon," Lucinda stated flatly.

Saw him frown at her, unhappy she was pushing for extra training in the afternoon it seemed, but Bow training was nothing really, not at all like full hand to hand combat or wolf training, not that many would take on Ky'ra in training. Most opted out of it, and so she'd been excused from it, Ky'ra was too aggressive even in training.

"Also, when can I start training the teens? You lost that bet fair and square. Told me if I won, I could train them my way. I want to sort that out and get it underway." she informed him might as well get all she wanted while they were on the topic. "And what kind of training does that involve?" his frown had deepened and was now marring his handsome face.

"Strength training, some gym workouts. Agility training, so running your obstacle course would be good for that. Bow training and techniques. Knife handling and throwing. I'd be expecting them to train 3 or 4 days a week, dawn and dusk. Rain, hail or shine, even in the snow." she answered honestly. She had thought about it quite a bit.

"No. it's too much. Twice a day, plus your regular training. No." he was putting his foot down. Seemed he'd taken her the wrong way or read what she'd said wrong.

Lucinda smiled at him "Nick calm down. I didn't mean it like that. I meant their training schedule would cross over all these times, not twice a day. That weather training will also be a factor. One training session, every other day, is fine. At either time, I'll organise a schedule."

"I'll want to see it. Approve it." he told her in that no-nonsense tone again.

"No! You said, I could train them my way." she was glaring at him now, her anger back.

"And you will, once I have checked the schedule."

"You don't trust me." she snapped, shooting up to her feet, glaring down at him now.

Watched as he sighed in what appeared to be frustration, "I don't want you training six hours a day. You don't need to."

"So, you're going to limit my training time with them too then?" she was more than annoyed by this, it took a lot of training and dedication, to achieve her level of skill and if the teens were wanting to be like her, at her level in six or seven years, then they would have to train hard, and be very dedicated to their training, like she had been.

"They're just teens, Lucinda. From what I saw, all without wolves yet." he countered her.

"So I never had a wolf. Trained damned hard to fit in and keep up. If I could do it. Then so can they, it's that simple."

"It's not that simple."

"Yes it is." she cut him off, too angry to care about his explanation. She had never had Ky'ra and had learned and trained wolf-less. These kids would eventually get their wolves and then it wouldn't be a problem anymore. They could handle it as far as she was concerned.

"No it's not." he snapped back at her, then took a breath and tried to calm himself down, "I won't have you training my...our juniors so hard, you're running them ragged. They will still have to attend their regular training and schooling and I'm certain some of them will have part-time jobs within the pack itself. Everything has to be taken into account."

She'd had enough. "Do, whatever you want, Nicholas." she shot at him. "Clearly my way, was never what you intended." she turned and stalked out of his office. Out of the pack-house altogether. They'd had an agreement. He was not going to honour it, that much was clear. She was ticked off about it, had won that bet and in front of his warriors and the teens, and now, he was not going to honor it. Great role model for his own pack.

It wasn't so hard to let her train half a dozen teens every other day at either dawn or dusk and on the weekend, one daytime training session, just three hours, maybe four each time. It was nothing in the grand scheme of things.

She knew how to break up training so as not to exhaust oneself. An hour of agility followed by learning to use the bow for an hour, so basically standing around. Then a run or hit the gym for another hour. And then knife training, again basically just standing around. It really wasn't all that much to ask for.

Yes, she would have to take into account their schooling, so maybe afternoons would be better and only morning training on weekends or during the school breaks.

Lucinda stalked all the way to the Koi pond and stood there staring down at the fish. Training, everyone trained. That's what he'd told her. Everyone but her, it was going to be. Not now that he'd learned about Ky'ra, her type of wolf. Was completely paranoid, it seemed, that she was going to get injured and die.

'Not likely! Ky'ra snorted.

'I agree.' Lucinda told her wolf. 'We never had to worry about it, in all these months.

'Strong and capable I am! Ky'ra agreed

'Just being overly cautious and smothering us now!

"Lucinda, we need to talk about this." Nick's voice interrupted her conversation with Ky'ra, from behind her.

"Why, you've clearly made up your mind." she folded her arms across her chest and refused to look at him, continued to just stare at the pond and the fish moving about in it.

"I am going to let you train the teens. I just want to see the schedule and make certain it's not too much for them is all."

"Because you don't think. I know, when is enough, right?" she spat at him.

"Yes, you're right on that." he agreed. "But whose fault is that? From all I have seen, you train yourself to the point of exhaustion. You don't seem to know when to stop, not even for yourself, and Ky'ra! Just lets you. Neither of you understand when enough is enough."

"That's bullshit." she snapped.

Nick grabbed her by the arm and yanked her around to face him. "Is it? Even after a concussion, you went and trained. Who the hell does that? No one I know." he snapped back at her.

She glared up at him. "I was mad that day." she practically snarled at him. "Remember why? Because I do!"

Saw him nod and take a deep breath to calm himself down. "Yes, I recall," he acknowledged.

"I have trained the twins for the past three years. Do they look exhausted to you? Do you think James and Gabby would allow me to do anything, that would be detrimental to them? They also have schooling to attend!"

"Write up the schedule and let me see it, is all I am asking. Is that so hard to do?" he sighed heavily with a slight shake of his head, almost as though he couldn't believe she was arguing with him about this.

"Fine." she snapped and stalked off away from him, "Just leave me alone." she grated as she walked away.

Stalked all the way around the pack-house, glaring at the ground the whole way. He really was just too infuriating some times. 'should just punch him in the face! she thought absently as she stopped at the Koi pond again, 'one good hard punch.' she took her shoes and socks off, stepped into the pond and waded around watching as the fish swam about and away from her. Shame it wasn't more than knee deep and no Lotus flowers.

Wading in the water reserve with her mother hip deep picking flowers always seemed to help her calm down as a child and a teenager for that matter.