Luna Aleksa's Escape
Luna Aleksa’s Escape Chapter 43

*Kingston POV*

As I skim read the emails in my inbox, I am mind-linked by Aleksa, apparently, there are more guests arriving early and there is no one there to greet them. I ask Aleksa to hold down the fort while I make my way downstairs to attend to the arriving Alpha.

As I am making my way there I feel panic race through our bond. Aleksa seems nervous or worried about something, so I pick up my pace, and as I am descending the stairs I see an Alpha reaching his arm out towards Aleksa, she seems reluctant. I am instantly on alert and I start stalking toward the Alpha wondering what his problem is. I know it isn’t Lachlan because I don’t think Aleksa would be standing that close to him, and while she’s nervous she doesn’t seem threatened.

“MINE!” I growl. Unable to control myself. The wolf in front of me doesn’t even flinch. He is an alpha also it appears.

“Jackson,” He says, extending his arm for a handshake. It appears he isn’t an immediate threat, so I lower my guard a little.

“Blue Moon Pack,” He tells me which pack he is from and now I know exactly who he is. I’ve heard many things about him. A fierce fighter, he was first in his class at Wentworth, which is an elite alpha training facility on the East Coast. He was a natural-born alpha, although rumor had it that he was never really interested in taking the position of Alpha for his pack. Though he was the only heir, he was forced into it out of obligation to his pack and his parents.

I’m not sure what his intentions are with Aleksa or how they know each other but I am determined to replace out, and now.

“Jackson, I’m Kingston, I could sense my Luna’s distress, Am I right to assume you know each other?” I ask, raising a brow.

“We do, but not in the way you might think. You are newly mated I take it?” He states rhetorically.

I continue to stare at him, waiting for him to answer my question. I am not in the mood for his condescension.

“We both spent some time in the dungeons at Evergreen.” He tells me and with that I am confused, what is an Alpha, especially one as capable as him, doing in a dungeon at another pack.

“Jackson of Blue Moon Pack, I recall communicating with you via email. Welcome to Rocky Mountain.” I say in a forced and reluctant tone.

“I think you should come in and join us in my office, we should have a chat. Just to make sure we are all on the same page. What do you think?” I say, more of a demand, rather than a question.

“Sure. Lead the way.” Jackson says casually, which irks me a little.

We arrive at my office and gesture to him where I want him to sit. I pull Aleksa onto my lap, my wolf needs calming right now. He is angry and feels that this alpha may be a threat to our mate. He is feeling impatient. I can tell she wants to stand strong and show her independence but she can feel my frustration right now so she caters to my needs.

First thing is first, I need to know what their connection is. So I ask him what he was doing in the dungeons, and he starts his story, telling me the events leading to his time at Evergreen as well as the exchanges with Aleksa in the dungeons, he even goes on to shock us with the confession that he went back to Evergreen to free Aleksa. Sabre growls fiercely he is enraged that Jackson felt attracted to our mate, and he wants to claw his eyes and rip his throat out instantly, but I force him to the back of my mind, and keep our composure, and rightly so as Jackson goes on to announce that he knows Aleksa isn’t his mate, although perplexed at the need to want to protect her and her pups, stressing that he respects the mate bond.

He further adds that Aleksa’s previous pack Evergreen is in trouble and that it is about to be taken over. Personally, I could care less about the pack that was complicit in hurting my mate. But I can feel that she still has loyalty towards them, even though they hurt her. I can feel that she is conflicted. I will have to talk to Aleksa more about this, if she wishes to intervene somehow I will stand by her. I know she is worried about her friend Sam, and she has voiced wanting to contact him. But that is a whole other conversation for another time.

Although I sense that Jackson appears to be genuine, I am not willing to just take his word for it, so I suggest he gets settled and we continue this conversation at a later date. That will give me time to do a more thorough background check on him.

***

*Aleska POV*

It’s still dark when I wake up, I look at the clock on the wall, and I see that it’s 3.30 am. Although I feel wide awake, as though I am ready to start the day. I look over at Kingston, he appears to be fast asleep.

I guess it just feels strange not having Liam and Layla here. I feel empty. Usually, I would wake briefly at this time, make a trip to the bathroom and check on my pups. But they aren’t here and I know there’s no chance of me going back to sleep, so I decide it’s coffee o’clock. I may as well pop downstairs and make myself a coffee, maybe I could do some baking. I used to bake all the time at Evergreen, but I haven’t had a chance to here, there is always so much going on, plus Rose is always chasing me out of her kitchen.

I tiptoe down the staircase and make my way to the kitchen, it’s empty so I’m in luck. I switch on the lights and make my way to the Nespresso machine. We have a large espresso machine, and there is the old-fashioned coffee brew in the pot, but I just love Nespresso. It only takes a minute and I’m in my happy place. I walk over to the window, it’s quite light outside, the moon is in full force. I pull open the french doors and take a seat on the outdoor swing sofa on the patio. Luckily there is a small throw on the sofa, so I can get all snug and just stare into the night.

I start thinking about Xanthe and I wonder why we haven’t heard from her. I start to wonder if maybe something has happened to her. She did mention that she was running from something in her past, I hope it hasn’t caught up with her. I must discuss this further with Kingston today, there must be some way that we can get hold of her, at least to check that she is okay. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her while she was trying to replace information for me. I hate putting people out. I have gone this long without knowing I can go a little longer.

And then my mind drifts to Jackson, I am still quite taken aback that he was willing to risk everything to free me. I suppose he wouldn’t have done so if he didn’t think I was possibly his mate. I hope he replaces his mate, perhaps at the Summit, he might replace someone.

It’s the strangest feeling, but there is still something about him. It feels familiar or safe. I can’t decide which one it is. I wonder if he could be connected to my past somehow? I know Kingston is still unconvinced about his intentions, and I love that he is so protective of me, but I really hope everything works out, and that we can all be friends.

Today is the first official day of the Annual Royal Alpha Summit. A lot of packs from around the country will be arriving over the next two days. It will be interesting to meet everyone. I hope we can make some new allies/friends along the way. I am nervous about meeting the Alpha King. I’ve never met royalty before. Kingston has a close relationship with Callum (the Alpha King) he says we will get along well. I hope he is right. I hope I don’t do anything to offend, I am still learning about my heritage and werewolf culture. Kai has been teaching me about royal etiquette. I just hope I remember it all.

I feel so wired. My caffeine hit coupled with my anxiety has given me next-level energy. My mind is all over the place right now.

“Let’s go for a run in the forest! We need to burn some of this energy off!” Amber suggests, she’s feeling all pent up, it’s been a while since I went for a run in wolf form.

“I guess as long as we don’t go far we should be fine. As long as we are back before Kingston wakes.” I say to Amber.

“I want full control!” Amber declares.

“Yeah ok, but behave!” I pleaded with her.

And with that, I run towards the end of the patio, and Amber jumps off it, shifting mid-air into our wolf form.

***

Amber (Aleksa’s Wolf) POV

After running for a good while I replace a nice spot to lay down and bask in the serenity of the forest. Aleksa doesn’t let me out to prance and strut enough. Although I have to admit she has been a little better recently. I get that growing up thinking she was human and not being aware of her true identity has set us both back greatly. But now we are free from the constraints of Lachlan and Cyrus we will be free to connect more and explore. I thought I loved Cyrus but what we had wasn’t love, and if I had the chance to see him again I would be sure to give him a piece of my mind and the back of my paw. Cryus was a good lay and initially, I fell for his charm and overconfidence, but eventually, I knew there was something sinister behind the facade of them both – Lachlan and Cyrus.

It’s different with Sabre, he’s honest and unfiltered. Not to mention he sure knows how to treat a she-wolf.

I gently growl thinking of our time together, my tail wagging and my tongue hanging out. Thinking of the risque things that Sabre and I had done to each other. This makes me want to run back to our room and wake our mate up to play.

Kingston is a hundred times a better human than Lachlan ever was. He treats Aleksa like a Queen and so he should. Despite our stunted start, we are capable of great things. There is still so much for Aleksa to learn. I can’t tell her some of these things as she needs to replace out for herself. I am guided by the moon goddess herself and I know my place. I am here as her guide.

I’m enjoying having free range of the forest while the rest of the pack is still sleeping. That is until I realize we are not alone.

I don’t even need to look behind me to know who is there. I can feel it in my soul. I know he is familiar. I know he is safe. I know this because he is one of us. He too is a Crescent Moon Wolf. He is unmated so there is no identifying mark. And this is not our first rodeo, as children of the Moon Goddess, we have lived many lives.

Legend tells of the Crescent Moon Wolf being passed down by shewolves, but the Legend was wrong. There are male Crescent Moon Wolves too, just most do not know of their existence. And because no one is looking for them, they tend to live longer lives in their human hosts than we she-wolves do. The biggest giveaway of the Crescent Moon wolf happens when they are marked by their true mate. It’s our mark that gives us away.

Aleksa didn’t have to worry about her mark with Lachlan, because he wasn’t her true mate, he was a process that we had to go through in order to get to Kingston and this point in time. Or so the Goddess tells me.

I couldn’t pick it while in our human form, and nor could Jackson. But in wolf form, we are connected. Not in a romantic way, although I know we were both initially confused. In a bonded together by the Moon Goddess kind of way. We are kin. And together we are a force to be reckoned with.

We can mind-link, not only in wolf form but in our human counterparts can also. They just don’t know it yet.

“Gray,” I mind-link casually, as he continues to walk towards me.

“It’s been a while,” I add.

“Amber,” Gray says back to me, nodding his head towards me warmly.

“Looks like the Goddess has put us together again in this life,” I said to him via mind-link.

“It does. I wonder what the Goddess has planned for us this time.” He replies.

“I’m sure we will replace out soon enough. How’s your human this time around?” I ask him.

“Jackson’s strong. Restless. And a little reckless. But we have that in common.” Gray chuckled.

“Aleksa is strong too. A little naive. But kind. Unfortunately, her first mate was a total fuckwad, but I like Kingston for her. Not to mention Sabre makes me all kinds of crazy.” I say, a growl slipping out.

I manage to contain myself and on a serious note, I question Gray.

“No mate yet?” I remark to Gray.

“In good time.” He remarks confidently and unbothered.

Gray turns around.

“We have company.”