Lacking Humanity|Half Crescent

Chapter Sixteen (Rewritten)

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The following day, Andy slipped out into the undercover of the rising sun. He went about his normal morning routine but stalled when he reached the guest room—now Sage's room.

Perhaps it was risky to allow this female so close, even without getting anything out of it, but Andy couldn't fault the woman for missing her family.

He couldn't name a single wolf or witch on the property who didn't. Him included. This is why, today, he was going to get a plan together for Sage to make it into town with the chance of making some type of call.

However, he couldn't allow his help to come without a cost, not when there was more at stake than just leaving the territory. Instead, he focused on the bigger picture, given that if his plan to join the conclave succeeded, he would have a bigger job to retain not only popularity but business with the rest of the packs. This meant he would have to make the pack bigger, and upgrades needed to be made.

In the back of his mind, he was tinkering with an option, one of which was surely going to have Sage leave for Crescent Moon within the hour after hearing.

Or, on the off chance, they would strike the deal.

He felt dirty for playing with her lack of knowledge and the possibility that her mate might be dead, but wolves had the potential for a non-fated mate to become theirs. It used to be considered a strategy between packs—a method to keep the Alpha gene going strong.
But now everything was so heavily mixed that he was damn sure that Sage was more than rare, she smelled too much like an Alpha.

Yet now she smelled like him after sitting in his bedroom chair for an hour. And he was basking every minute of it when they sat down together at breakfast.

Perhaps winning her help was much simpler than he had in mind. It also helped that the smile on her face indicated that she was much better at managing her headache.

Have a good night, Alpha?

Severin teased, but Grey's laughter in the Link told Andy that this was a three-way chat. But he did great work keeping to his meal of deer and potatoes. Though he was waiting for Sage to take his share, it seemed the she-wolf enjoyed the cook's potatoes even more than himself.

Yeah, an Alpha female—Tell me, top or bottom?

Andy growled instantly. The blatant disrespect from Grey was starting to weigh thin. As did his fist against the fork as he tried to stop his wolf from retaliating, however, the soft voice that entered his mind caused the fork to drop.

Are you okay?

She called out, and he soon found himself in a daze. Her eyes held mountains of concern, and he could only nod, though Severin wiped his finger to the side of his lip. Indicating that the Alpha was drooling, though he wasn't—And if he was, there was a decent reason for it.

Because the question lay pure in his head for the entire day.

Was Sage a top or bottom?

It was going to take a lot more than sharing potatoes during meals to win her affection, but he planned to use the most out of their mealtimes and meetings as she seemed more approachable.
Given that the closed doors offered privacy from suspicious eyes.

In fact, Sage had been present to the coming of four new Rogues who heard from others of the location, earning him a question that he had to decipher because she couldn't manage to say it verbally.

However, when he caught sight of Ethel with Yaxel, he called them both over for the witch to translate the now Latin phrases Sage spoke out.

"She doesn't trust the male, says there's a...A black aura?" Ethel was now joined in on the newcomers and confirmed she felt it as well. However, the look of confusion from Yaxel and Andy to one another genuinely caused more questions than which position Sage would find herself in the bedroom.