I follow him out and downstairs, but my nerves are starting to get the best of me. This sounds like an important meeting, and I can’t shake the feeling I might mess it all up somehow. Plus, Ezra is still mad at me, and I am not sure how long that will be for. It makes my stomach hurt when there are problems between us.
I reach for Kora, and she stirs but is sluggish. “What’s going on with you?” I question.
“Feel so tired, and uncomfortable,” she complains. She is making me nervous because yesterday I thought it was my drinking causing her to suffer, but now I’m not so sure, maybe she needs the moon or something? Mom did say she becomes energized from it.
“I’m not sure, I just feel off, and so hot,” she whimpers, before huffing and wandering away.
Sighing, I let her rest, following them out to the car. Mateo opens the passenger door and I climb in and he hops in the back behind me.
“So, where is this meeting?” I ask.
“Not far from here, just on the border about ten minutes heading away from town,” Ezra says, starting the car. We drive to the location, which turns out to be a small office building, resembling more of an outdated house.
“Why here?” I question, looking at the rundown place.
“We don’t like taking them into the territory, nor do they like entering. This place is easily accessible by all of them too, since this road we are now on is neutral territory, just like this place,” Mateo explains behind me.
Ezra pulls up in the small parking lot, which can hold maybe four or five cars max. Getting out, I scan the place, it looks derelict and graffiti covers half the building. I expect the inside to be even worse, but when Ezra unlocks the door, it’s clean and vastly different from its exterior.
Two rooms hold offices, while the rest of the place has been gutted and opened right up. A small kitchenette is off to the side, and an oval desk in the center, with fabric chairs and a couch is off in another corner. The windows are heavily tinted from the outside, but from here you can see out of them clearly. Walking down the hall next to the two offices, I find a modern bathroom.
“If this is neutral territory, who owns it?” I ask.
“The pack does, was better than leasing it, so we brought it for this specific purpose.”
“Yeah, the place was a dump when we got it, suppose the outside still is,” Mateo laughs.
We are only waiting for around ten minutes when cars start pulling up and parking, and men jump out. A burly-looking man with a beard and his hair tied at the nape of his neck comes inside. He looks to be in his early 30s, maybe mid-30s at most.
The man sits down heavily in his seat and barely spares me a glance. He nods to my mate and to Mateo, “Alpha Ezra, Beta Mateo,” he greets. “Why has this meeting been called? It had better be important, I have a pack to take care of.”
“I wouldn’t summon you, all of you if it wasn’t. This is about Jackson’s pack.” He returns the nod. “Andrei, this is my mate and Luna, Kat,” he introduces me to the hulking man. “Kat, this is Alpha Andrei from Howler Pack.”
Andrei grips my hand tightly, eyes studying me. “You’ve got some strange eyes, Luna.” He sniffs the air. “And your scent reminds me of someone.” He cocks his head to the side, staring at me and not letting go.
“Thanks…?” I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or a complaint. It’s hard to puzzle out this serious man and his almost glare.
He glances away from me and scowls at Ezra. “You finally found her, Alpha?” He questions and I try to pull my hand free, but his hand only tightens, trapping me.
Ezra growls low in his throat, almost like it’s unintentional. “Let my mate go,” he warns.
Andrei releases his hold on me and gives me a crooked smile. “Apologies, Luna. I forgot I was holding it.” He leans back in his chair and lifts a finger up into the air, shaking it side to side. “Although Alpha, I am interested in the story of how you found a Lunar wolf.”
Ezra presses his lips together into a thin line. He still doesn’t look happy about this guy touching me. “She is a pack member.”
Andrei chuckles, his eyes narrowing. “I thought we trusted each other here, Alpha Ezra. Why are you telling me lies?” Ezra shifts in his seat, his eyes flicker, and he leans forward, but Andrei isn’t done. “She’s obviously your mate now, I’m not blind. I see the mark. But I searched every she-wolf in this area and beyond while searching for my mate last time, remember Alpha? She was not with your pack at that time.
Ezra folds his arms across his chest, staring the man down. However, Andrei smiles smugly, seemingly enjoying the tension. “Which means, she must have been one of Jackson’s wolves, huh?”
Ezra’s nostrils flare, but he keeps his cool. “That might have been true at one point, but she’s not anymore. Kat is mine.”
Andrei continues to study the both of us. “Interesting,” he muses.
The rumbling of two different cars from outside draws my attention to the windows, and I watch as more men spill out. One looks to be about my age, and definitely the youngest of the three. The Betas that accompany them remain outside, chatting like they are all friends.
“Alpha Nicolas, this is Kat, my mate, and you know Beta Mateo,” Ezra introduces, and once again the entire thing happens. Nicolas does a double take upon meeting me. But at least he doesn’t try to touch me.
“Interesting mate you have there, Alpha Ezra, congrats,” Nicolas observes. He appears to be in his mid-twenties, around the same age as Ezra and Mateo, with a shaved head and cold blue eyes.
“Nicolas is the Alpha of the Cold River pack,” Ezra explains. And I nod, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. My hands are clammy, and a bead of sweat runs down the back of my neck.
“Nice to meet you,” I tell him.
The third and youngest one comes in. “Hey, I’m Harley, nice to meet you, Luna, Ezra,” He says, shaking his hand. I assume he is from the Moss Valley Pack. They all take their seats, yet they all keep glancing at me, especially Nicolas and Andrei, while Harley doesn’t seem as inquisitive.