Forever Taken

Chapter Thirteen

I had assumed that Mira would be where I left her. That was the wrong assumption. Whenever I went back upstairs to check on her she had disappeared. I probably would have been worried had the bed not been made back up.

I went back downstairs to where Ezra and Wes were still sitting in the living room where I had left them. Ezra had been making it his personal mission to beat Wes at some video game that I hadn't heard of.

"Where's Mira?" I asked Wes, sitting down in one of the rocker chairs.

"I'm sure if she wanted you to find her she would have told you where she went," Wes answered.

"Would you chill with the snarkiness?" I had to ask. "I understand why you're angry, but I don't need the constant animosity from you."

Wes answered me by killing Ezra's avatar. I got the point. I got up and showed myself outside while Ezra complained about the game. I was determined to find out where Mira had gone.

I found a path big enough for a vehicle to drive down and followed it. Within a quarter of a mile I saw what looked like a neighborhood. There were different styles of homes set back from the path, and they looked like they continued for a while.

This has to be where the rest of the pack live.

I continued my walk for probably another mile and then decided to turn around. When I had gotten back to the mansion's backyard, I took another path that was smaller. It led to an open flat field where I found Mira, along with many others. There was a crowd sitting in front of Mira, facing me, while Mira was facing them.

They all were obviously staring at me instead of her, and I could see mixed looks. Some faces looked fine with me, but some looked like they hated me. Some faces seemed not to care whether I was here or not. I kept walking, not letting myself think that they could be as angry with me as Wes was.

They'll have to get used to me sooner or later.

I heard Mirabelle speak up to get their attention. "Everyone needs to pay attention to me and not the interruption."

Mumbles of "Yes, Luna" filled the field.

"I want us to be prepared. I want us to be ready for whatever comes our way. I don't want us to freeze up during an attack. But I don't want to spend our lives in fear, waiting on something to happen. For over a decade we have been on our own. We have had no allies that we could depend on to back us up. That is changing soon."

I had worked my way around to the pack and sat down on the outskirts of the crowd. Mirabelle was avoiding my eyes. The people around me had started getting antsy, and I could feel them move and hear a few of them whispering. I wondered if it was an excited antsy or an upset one. I couldn't tell.

"Out of respect for our elders, I welcome questions at this moment."

An older man stood up, surprising me. I had figured everyone would just agree with Mira. She had the kind of presence that didn't open for questions even while saying she'd allow them.

"Luna," he began, "Are you not afraid that other packs will see this bond as a symbol of your weakness?"

I felt bad for Mira. I could sense that this man was probably a regular headache and doubted her abilities.

"If I were a man you would see this as a power play, but because I am a woman you see this as weakness...." she said, lowly. "Luckily, alphas from other packs don't seem to be as misogynistic as you."

I chuckled, unable to help myself. So much for feeling bad for her. Should've felt bad for him.

A couple of people stared at me because of my laughter, including Mirabelle. Since her eyes were finally on mine, I grinned.