Second Chance Luna
Chapter 72

A growl erupted from Jason as he glared at his sister.

Blushing bright red Phoebe buried her face in his shoulder.

She had completely forgotten the others.

"Oh, don't give me that," Lucille huffed. "Try to control yourself, brother."

"You can always get out and walk," Jason answered through clenched teeth.

"In these heels? Are you kidding?" Lucille scoffed before looking at Phoebe. "But damn, Phoebe! Your wolf is something else!"

With an awkward smile Phoebe settled in Jason's lap as it was evident he wasn't going to let her go any time soon.

"Did you know?" Ben asked.

"That she was silver, yes," Phoebe nodded. "But I didn't know about the whole messenger of the Goddess thing. My wolf awakened early and we shifted early too but even my parents didn't know."

"How could they not know?" Lucille asked, confused.

"Well," Phoebe hesitated.

She knew from the beginning Máni was not a typical wolf.

Everything from her sudden awakening to her coloration was unorthodox. Phoebe wasn't sure she could explain it or even if she should. It was Máni who insisted on secrecy from the beginning and after meeting the king Phoebe finally understood why. 'It's all right,' Máni finally spoke. 'Mate is here now. We don't need secrets to protect ourselves. Mate will protect us.

Will he? Against the king?"

"Phoebe," Jason cupped her chin and turned her to face him sensing her disquiet through the bond. "No matter what...I won't let anyone hut your. Believe me, angel."

He caressed her cheek smoothing away tears she didn't know were there. She could feel his dedication through the bond. His warmth, love and determination surrounded her.

He would defend her against any threat. He would take on the whole world if necessary.

"Phoebe?" Jason gently prompted.

"My wolf said we shouldn't tell anyone. She awakened much earlier than most wolves and as long as she stayed in the back of my mind no one seemed to notice," Phoebe said. "When it was time for us to shift she woke me up and told me to go outside without waking our parents.

Afterwards she still insisted on hiding herself."

"That's why everyone assumed you were wolfless," Jason surmised.

Phoebe nodded, "I didn't know anything about silver wolves. I hadn't even heard of them. There was only one book in my father's entire collection that mentioned them calling them harbingers of chaos. To be honest it kind of frightened me. Sometimes others could sense her, or at least their wolves did."

"Luke and I wondered why everyone kept calling you wolfless when we could definitely sense her."

"You did?" Phoebe asked genuinely surprised. "Then maybe my wolf was right. She said the reason everyone thought we were wolfless was because they weren't in tune with their wolves."

"Makes sense," Ben agreed. "It could also be because you and your wolf are so in sync that it is not easy to sense one from the other. When your wolf comes forward we don't always feel it the same way as with others."

Phoebe felt her cheeks warm but was it really that unusual? Then again... After her experience with Graham, Katrina, Camilla and even their recent alpha visitors she really couldn't argue. In fact it did seem a lot of werewolves put themselves at odds with their wolves. It was a worrying trend.

"So...about your rejection," Ben hesitated to bring it up but there were still so many questions.

Phoebe felt Jason's embrace tighten. She just shook her head saying, "There isn't much to tell. I graduated school early and went to college so I never met Graham until he came back from the Alpha School. He took one look and rejected me. My wolf said not to worry and that wed be all right but..it still hurt. I didn't want to talk about it but I think on some level my parents knew. They never tried to force me to go to the packhouse. We usually stayed home. Mom fretted I wasn't eating enough. My wolf did too. It's not like being a silver wolf saved me from the experience."

Jason kissed her temple hugging her close and not wanting her to dwell on such memories but he had his own question that was nagging him, "What about your wolf?

When we first met she didn't seem all that eager to link with mine."

"Oh, well, she said a lady should play hard to get."

"So, in other words, your wolf is a tease."

"Are you upset?"

"No," Jason smirked. "In fact, she should feel free to tease my wolf any time she wants."

'Traitor,' Lobo huffed but Jason sensed he really didn't mind. There was nothing their Luna couldn't do.

"Is it really okay for us to leave like this?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, the royal family..."

"It's fine," Ben waved off her concern. "It's not like we didn't see this coming."

"I don't understand."

"The truth is the royal family has been losing power for centuries," Ben explained, "and they really didn't have much to begin with. The Council technically holds more authority.

They are the ones who draft our laws. The only thing the King is needed for is to ratify any changes they want to enact. Other than that he doesn't hold any more power than a high-ranking alpha."

"Really?"

"As far as rank goes Blue, Full, New, Blood and Harvest Moon alphas surpassed him long ago. The only ancient pack that still lags behind is Crescent Moon and that's because they are so small: barely seventeen hundred members last I checked," Ben nodded. "The only reason they are still in power is because no one else wants the job.

Hard enough to manage a pack of Blue Moon's size let alone oversee all the packs worldwide even with the Council doing the heavy lifting."

"I don't understand," Phoebe frowned, "how has the royal family lost so much standing?"

"For starters, the first Prince is a cad, a pig and a sadist," Lucille scoffed. "Apparently it's a miracle for any of his bed partners to survive a night with him, not even his fated mate from what I hear. And you've met the Princess so you've seen what she is like. But that's just scraping the surface. Rumor has it she not only rejected her fated mate she is also addicted to wolfsbane."

Phoebe shuddered.

"Not to mention the royal pack is broke with all the spending the King does," Ben nodded. "The only business they run that makes them any money is the Alpha School.

The tuition is so high because they are desperate for the money but the curriculum is a joke. Remedial math and watered down history at best."

"Really?" Phoebe blinked. This was all news to her.

Rimrock's previous alpha has been so proud to send Graham there.

"Why do you think we all avoid it?" Lucille asked. "No alpha of the ancient packs has attended in centuries. And don't get me started on their little palace here."

"The royal family only moved here after they lost their castle overseas," Ben agreed.

"They lost it?"

"They took out a loan from New Moon," Ben said, "with the castle as collateral and couldn't pay it back. I'm guessing there was as non-disclosure agreement because New Moon has not made any official statements and won't if you ask their ranking members. About the only royal family member worth his breath is the second Prince but if rumors are to be believed he isn't even the King's blood."

"What?" Phoebe blinked.

Lucille nodded, "The current Queen is the King's second or third mate. She was mated to one of the King's guard who died mysteriously. Her coronation was rushed and the Prince was born shortly afterward. So unless she was having an affair with the King to begin with it's highly unlikely the Prince is of the royal bloodline."

Phoebe slowly digested all of what she had been told trying to recall the royal family. There had definitely been tension among them and while the first Prince and Princess did share features from their father the second Prince largely took after his mother. "Are you all right, Phoebe?" Jason asked. "Angel?"

"Yeah. It's just...this is all news to me," Phoebe shivered."

How is it that this is all secret?"

"I wouldn't say secret," Ben corrected,

,"it's all rumor and

unsubstantiated gossip."

"It doesn't explain why the King hates me."

"True," Ben nodded. There was no denying the contempt in the king's gaze toward Phoebe. "It would help if we knew more about silver wolves but we aren't New Moon. They are practically the Alexandria of our history and lore. Our library at Blue Moon is a small- town, public library in comparison."

"Could we just ask them?" Phoebe suggested, "I mean, about silver wolves?"

"We could contact them. It depends on how much they want to share," Ben said. "We have good relations but they might not want to get in the middle of a feud between us and the royal family. For now, I think it's best to keep all of this off open channels. We also need to replace out more about the royal family. There are plenty of rumors but the royal family keeps its biggest secrets hidden pretty deep."

"What if they attack Blue Moon?" Phoebe asked. "They could declare war and..."

"They can't," Jason cut her off.

"He's right. Only the Council has the authority to declare war," Ben agreed. "Even if the King challenges Jason for his title it'll only be a one-on-one duel with the Council as witnesses. Aside from using his sons as proxies there isn't much he can do." Phoebe slowly relaxed with their assurances though she was still on edge. Máni was restless with the prospect of a future confrontation.

"It's probably best your wolf was so secretive," Ben said. "

Given the King's reaction tonight if he heard even a whisper about a silver wolf when you were still with Rimrock he could have wiped it off the face of the Earth and no one would have known the truth."