Page 7 of Forbidden Moon

It had been four years since he’d been home, but he doubted life in the Saranac pack had changed much. They were still a traditional pack, focused on established gender roles of male strength and female submission. If there was one thing he knew about Maya, even after all these years, is that she was not submissive. She took her pleasure in bed, and would be a partner out of it, not just sit by and wait for him to tell her what to do and guide her actions. Nor would she accept any of the leaders of the pack ordering her around.

She understood the hierarchy of a pack. All wolves did. They had to in order to survive. They may be human, but the wolf half respected and needed the pack structure to survive. But Maya wouldn’t be relegated to the sidelines because of her gender. She was here as an enforcer. Saranac didn’t have any female enforcers when he last checked. He doubted they had evolved in four years to add any females to the ranks now.

How would she fit in?

One of them would have to leave their pack if they mated. They could not have a cross-pack mating with both staying loyal to their packs. One of them must break their bonds and join the other. Who would it be? Or would they choose to reject the mating and stay separate?

CHAPTER FOUR

Maya made it back to her room the next morning without seeing anyone. She showered and dressed and was on duty, with no one the wiser. Not that her duty was anything special. She was guarding her Luna, ensuring her safety, as if anyone would attack the mate of an alpha during Council proceedings. Then again, stranger things had happened during their history and, while their Luna was a fierce fighter in her time, it made sense to have a guard on her just in case. Even if the job was boring as shit.

At least her Luna was a decent sort and didn’t make her job too difficult. Over the next couple of days, while the Council was in session, Maya stayed close to her Luna, while she visited a few friends among the other Lunas, including the Supreme Alpha’s mate, and then worked out in the basement where the Council Enforcers had their space. Maya swore she could sense Garrett there, but he was absent, though other enforcers were present to ensure everyone’s safety.

The nights were spent with Garrett in his rooms, since Maya didn’t want to risk bringing him to her room. It was too close to her pack, and she was risking enough already, with his scent beginning to embed itself in her skin. Her boss and mentor, Isaac, had already given her a look and asked her if she had found someone interesting to spend time with. He added a wink, clearly not bothered by the fact that she spent time elsewhere, so she only smiled and shrugged, not inviting any confidences. Knowing how he felt about true mates, she wasn’t ready to share that she was convinced Garrett was her mate.

She would have to talk about it soon. They were from rival packs. One of them would have to leave their pack. Even though their packs shared a border, it was rare that any mating crossed a pack line, even with allied packs, and Dirigo and Saranac were definitely not allies. Not by any stretch of imagination. In fact, most recently they were on opposite sides of an inter-pack war and it had turned ugly. Things had settled, but it was an uneasy truce.

Her Luna flipped a page in her book. “So, who’s the wolf?”

Maya froze from her seat across the room. “Excuse me?”

Her Luna looked at her, a gentle smile on her face. “I don’t know you well, Maya, but Isaac speaks very highly of you and of your professionalism. So, you wouldn’t be sneaking out every night and coming home the next morning with the faint hint of another wolf on you unless it was serious. Am I right?”

Maya’s face burned hot, and she wanted to sink right through the seat cushions. “I’m sorry. I have not been neglecting my duties, ma’am.”

Her Luna laughed. “Please, call me Lyla. We can be a little informal here. And it was no indictment of your actions. Isaac mentioned you hadn’t found a mate among the pack, which can happen especially with strong female wolves. We had hoped this experience would give you exposure to the wider world of shifter politics and maybe meet other wolves. I suspect we were correct?”

Maya nodded. “But we’re not ready to talk about it.”

Lyla pursed her lips. “Is he your mate? Your true mate?”

Maya hesitated, not sure how much she wanted to share. “I suspect so. It feels like it, but it’s—complicated.”

Lyla grinned. “Love and mating always are. Have you heard how Duncan and I mated? He was investigating my brother, our alpha, for trafficking female wolves. My brother had set up me for a forced mating to get rid of me. We knew pretty quickly we were mates, but I wasn’t interested. Not initially. I didn’t want to go from one cage to another.”

Maya’s eyes widened. “I had heard something, but wasn’t sure how much was true.”

“It’s true. I killed my brother. Eventually. And I accepted the mating. But it happened quickly. Then we had to figure out how to get along and be mates. That was the harder part. Two headstrong wolves, both trying to be in charge.” A smile danced along her lips. “But fun too.”

Maya didn’t know what to say. This was her Luna talking, not one of her friends. So she sat in her chair and nodded, a polite smile on her face. Lyla refocused on her.

“I assume your wolf is not from Dirigo. Isaac is happily mated. Tate and George, our other guards, are close to being mated back home. So, he’s from another pack. That makes it tricky. I understand your hesitation in sharing details. We will leave soon, within a day or two, so you’ll need to figure out how to handle the situation.”

Maya sighed. Lyla was right. How would she handle the mating, if it was that? Garrett had another month in his assignment with the Council and, more importantly, they were from rival packs.

Lyla leaned forward and took Maya’s hand. “You don’t have to share anything now, but know that I’m always available to talk to, if you need to work through anything. If it is a true mating, I’m sure we can work something out. And don’t let anyone say you have to be the one to leave. Plenty of males have left their pack for their female.”

Stomping outside the door interrupted them, and the door flung open, crashing against the wall. Her Alpha, Duncan, stormed into the room, his face red and he was growling. Isaac was behind him, pulling the door shut. Lyla jumped to her feet and raced to her mate, her hands rubbing on him in a soothing way.

But Duncan was too agitated and began pacing the sitting room. “Those damned Saranac wolves. Do they think we’re stupid? Pushing at our borders, demanding that we give them land, claiming it was theirs all along. They’re spoiling for another war, I tell you. And lying about maps. The one Treadway showed was bullshit. Doctored. Counterfeit. Yet he had half of them convinced of his lies, or afraid of him. None of them wanted to go the way of the Tri-States pack and find themselves disbanded.”

Lyla continued to try to soothe her mate. “Take it easy, Duncan. You know Simon will see right through Treadway’s lies.”

Isaac frowned from his post by the door. “He seemed inclined to want to deliberate on the matter and adjourned the session.”

Lyla stared at him. “Deliberate? About what?”

Maya also stood. “Did you tell him about the skirmishes we’ve been dealing with all along the border, the hit-and-run attacks from Saranac?”