The Hidden Luna

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Carter, please," Scarlett pleaded as she attacked the punching bag he held in place.

Carter shook his head. "Alpha Argent doesn't want you on watch until you can shift comfortably."

She stopped hitting the bag, placing her gloved hands on her hips, breathing fast. "I need to do something. I am tired of being useless."

Carter let go of the bag and stepped in front so he could face her properly without the bag in the way. Although he was the more studious one of the pack, he still was lean and muscular. Not as much as Hunter, but still a considerable amount from what Scarlett could see as he wasn't wearing a shirt. "You aren't useless, you're new. Most of us don't start working the perimeter or other combative positions until at least a year of shifting. You have only shifted once."

Scarlett sighed, flopping onto the bench that rested against the wall. "What can I do?"

"Well," Carter began, sitting beside her and wiped his brow that had a hint of sweat beading from it. Scarlett never noticed how blue his eyes were from behind his glasses, which he didn't wear while he trained. "You could always help Lilith."

Despite the two girls somewhat working out their differences after Zion died, there was still tension between the two. The only time the tension seemed to be defused was when Carter was in their presence. Scarlett noticed he was the only one she particularly liked in the pack, aside from him, she stuck to herself. Scarlett leaned her head against the wall. "What would I do?"

"She recruits new members," he said, taking a sip of his water. "Maybe you could help new members adjust to pack life. Who better to welcome them to the pack than someone who understands what it's like to be new here? Furthermore, better than someone who is the future Luna?"

Scarlett ignored the sinking feeling in her stomach. She had forgotten what it would mean if Ash became the alpha of the Argent pack. She wouldn't be a regular member, she would be the Luna, the person who would help run the pack with Ash. No matter how long she stayed at the pack house and in this life, she would never be ready to take up the role of Luna.

Scarlett rubbed her hands against her leggings, wiping away the sweat that built up under the boxing gloves she was wearing only moments earlier. "Maybe. I don't want her to think I'm taking over her job."

Carter shrugged. "Lilith..." his lips twitched upwards. "She is difficult to get to know but once she gets comfortable, she's kind. I think a lot of people overlook her. I'm not one for emotions, I think they're quite illogical to be honest, but I think she feels lonely seeing as she always travels. Maybe she won't see it as you replacing her, but rather you helping her. And who knows? Maybe you two could be friends."

Scarlett tried to feed off Carter's optimism. She had asked for something to do to make herself feel useful, it would be stupid if she refused the job Carter had offered her to do. She nodded her head. "Alright, I’ll help Lilith."

###

When Carter took Scarlett to Lilith's room, she tried to surpress the nerves she felt. She knew Lilith wouldn't outright be rude to her as she did when they had first met, but she knew she likely would think those rude thoughts. Scarlett had a nasty habit of giving people too much power over her. She hated it when people didn't like her and she always scrambled around trying to change that.

Carter did some sort of lyrical knock at the door, something her must do often because Scarlett heard Lilith's voice from behind the door telling him, by name, to come in. She smiled as he walked in, holding up a book in her hand. "I'm trying to read Romeo and Juliette, but I have to be honest, I have no idea what they're saying. Maybe after dinner you could hel--" she stopped abruptly when Scarlett stepped into the room. "What's wrong?"

Scarlett looked around the room, noting that the walls were covered from floor to ceiling in photos. Photos of mundane things, photos of Lilith and presumably the members she had recruited or encountered, and even some photos from when she, Carter, and Asher were kids.

Carter pointed at Scarlett behind him with his thumb. "Scarlett would like to help you with the new recruits."

Lilith looked shocked, red raising to her cheeks. "Am I not doing well?"

"No! No, of course not," Carter said quickly. It was the first time Scarlett had ever seen him try to comfort someone. She hadn't known him long, but she suspected it wasn't something he did regularly based on how awkward he is with others, save for Lilith. "You're doing great, Lil, I just thought maybe you would like some help. You handle the recruiting and then the initial training and the check-ins -- that's a lot for one person. Since Scarlett can't work the perimeter, I thought her best fit would be with you."

Lilith anger subsided and she nodded her head. Her eyes drifted from Carter's onto Scarlett's. "I'll introduce you to the kids tomorrow. We usually have breakfast together in the back."

"Kids?" Scarlett questioned. She hadn't noticed any kids. Maybe a few here and there, but thinking back on it, most of the people she had seen or interacted with were adults or teens.

Lilith set Carter's copy of Romeo and Juliette down onto her lap. "We eat early and then we train in the woods. Most of them are young werewolves who don't know how to shift swiftly, either because they are half human and half werewolf or because they were bitten and were never trained properly. They get embarrassed around the older pack members, many of them facing ridicule in their previous packs for struggling to do so. The forest gives them privacy."

Lilith stared at Scarlett hard as if she were expectantly Scarlett to judge her on the recruits she chooses, or the method in which she decided to train them. Scarlett didn't even know how she could help Lilith, let alone have enough insight to judge Lilith's ways. Scarlett thought back to what Carter said about him thinking Lilith was lonely. Scarlett knew all too well how it felt, so she offered her a small smile. "I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow."