The Reluctant Luna

Chapter 2

With math class over, Louise gathered her stuff and headed for her locker. She had a few hours of homework she'd need to do, along with whatever nonsense came up in the pack. As she was organizing her bag, a hand came to rest on her shoulder.

She paused, inhaling deeply, and recognized Greg's scent. She resumed packing up. "What do you want, Greg?" She felt him bristle at the disrespectful tone, but didn't really care.

"Alpha Jax doesn't want you to come to the pack tonight," he stated, seriously.

Louise paused then turned to face him. "Why?"

"There's another Alpha visiting. He doesn't want your presence to cause unnecessary..." She raised an eyebrow in warning. "...complications."

"Let me guess, he'd appreciate it if I let Dad's brood know, as well?"

"He's already notified your father."

Allison's hand came to rest on Greg's shoulder and she gave Louise a dirty look. "Do you have to talk with her?" she asked venomously.

Greg shrugged. "Alpha's orders." That would be his dad, and the leader of their pack. Returning his attention to Louise, he asked, "Any other stalling questions?"

Louise shook her head slightly. "I wouldn't want to make your girlfriend jealous by talking with you too long, errand boy. Tell your dad I'll stay out of his hair until I get word otherwise."

Greg scowled, but nodded while Allison shot her a hateful glare over his shoulder. Once they were out of sight, Louise took a deep breath and considered the change in situation. Great, I'm going to be surrounded by a different source of hateful stares. Lovely.

Stepping out of the school, she could at least take some relief in the fact that it was overcast again. She dropped her bag in her Nissan and drove to the center of town instead of towards the outskirts, where the pack was located. Pulling into an underground parking garage, she swiped her pass card and pulled into her reserved spot.

The elevator took her up to the penthouse, where she found the usual signs of overdone opulence. "Louise! So good to see you again! It shouldn't take pack business for you to visit your dad, you know," a thick, Irish accent boomed.

She sighed a little, but gave him a hug. "I know, Dad. I missed you too. It's just that... this," she waved around, indicating the human servants, the paintings, the... everything, "isn't really me."

"I know, I know, you're more comfortable with the wolves. Despite that, I would like you to visit more often."

She nodded slightly. "I will, Dad. How are things going, by the way?" she asked as they walked past the humans and lower ranked vampires of his brood.

"The usual. Vampire politics make the petty squabbles of werewolves look like a game of tic-tac-toe."

They turned a corner to go down the hall to her room. "And, as usual, you're in the middle of it, despite your location."

"Quite. There are some in the Seattle brood who think I should be answering to them. This, despite the fact they know I own a quarter of the businesses in Seattle, and most of the ones in the rest of the state."

"You know you can send me to Seattle for some 'shopping' any time, right Dad?"

He shook his head. "You're a tough one, my dear, but I don't think there's any need to send you about, right now. Although, perhaps it's time you spar with a broodmaster again, just to test your skills," he added with a smirk.

Louise felt a grin slip onto her face as she dropped her school bag off in her room. "Let's see whatcha got, old man," she replied with a grin.

They headed down to the gym, arm in arm. Curious members of the brood followed. Those who'd been around longer ran ahead to get good seats. Once in the gym, Louise and her father got in the steel cage and sized each other up. There was no referee.

She sized up her father. The five foot six red-head had unnaturally pale skin and over four hundred years of experience in both combat and politics. Smiling, his eyes turned red and his fangs and talons grew. "Come, child, make your father proud," he taunted.

Louise smiled as her eyes turned orange. Unlike her father, she bulked up, ripping her clothes and sprouting the midnight black fur of her wolf form. She half transformed into her wolf, but also extended vampire talons and added vampire elements to her wolf fangs, making her mouth a set of razor-sharp needles.

She simply growled in response. He charged at her with blinding speed, only to have her mist away. When she rematerialized, she swiped at his back, only to have her hand caught in his own. After that, their attacks were fast and furious. He was faster, but only just, and she was stronger, but only just.

As they blurred around each other, viscous, black ichor and bright, red blood slowly began to dot the floor of the cage. Her ears vaguely registered shouts and cheers from outside the cage. Despite it all, her heart was beating at a leisurely pace, and her breathing was slow and steady. Her father, of course, did neither. Being functionally dead did that to him.

Finally, he flipped her on her back and dropped his knee to her throat. She shifted back to human. "I yield, old man. I yield."

"That's 'Honorable Sire,' to you, child," he replied with a smirk as he resumed the appearance of a human. With a glance at the mat, he caused all the blood and ichor to float up, then rush into his mouth. "Your blood is always a rare delicacy, you know."

Louise shook her head as she stood. "You know you're creepy, right Dad?" she smirked.

"I'm meant to be."

Glancing around, she saw a number of hostile glares from the more senior vampires in his brood, including Jace. This hadn't been about testing her combat abilities, it had been a reminder that she was above them. Her father was protecting her in his own way.

As she stepped out of the ring, her wounds were already healed. Despite that, she caught the eye of a man who had been watching. Pointing at him, she said, "Come here."

The man, new to the service of the brood, glanced at his master for approval before going to her. Louise extended her fangs and bit his wrist, taking some extra sustenance before she licked his wrist whole. "Know who the princess of this brood is," she whispered in the bewildered man's ear, before returning to her room to get dressed and do her homework.