The Downfall of the Luna

Chapter Three: Eyes of the Rogue

*unedited*

"Everyone needs to calm the fuck down immediately." Alpha Pearce sent through the mind-link as soon as they heard the rogue making its way towards the clearing. As soon as Chase, Jackson, and the other Deltas heard the snap of a twig their excitement for the hunt started rolling off them in waves. They immediately started masking their excitement and nerves, causing their Alpha to let out a quick hum of approval. The only thing the rogue could sense was the boy, or else the trap he had been meticulously planning, shaping, and tweaking would be spoiled. A rustle of leaves from the movement of a wolf could be heard, causing the hidden wolves to look towards one end of the clearing. "The second you see the eyes you tell us," he told his men, almost rolling his eyes as he could practically feel the competition between Chase and the Deltas to see the eyes first.

The most important thing a wolf could do when coming face to face with a rogue was look at the eyes. If the eyes of a rogue had any tint of red to them, it meant that the wolf had succumbed to the wild and lost its mind. The longer the rogue was feral, the more red its eyes would become. Their pack had only had two instances in which they found a rogue with eyes the color of blood, and those feral wolves were never going to be forgotten. Going feral was always in the nightmares of children of the packs, the thought of being in the wild for too long and losing your mind was the perfect material for a young wolf's night terror. The thought of having to put down a feral rogue was never a comfortable one, even Alpha Pearce would shudder when remembering different feral rogues he'd been able to show the mercy of a final blade to.

He hoped the rogue they were about to catch wasn't going to have hues of red in its eyes, but he would rather call the Alphas and let them know the wolf had been feral than discovering the rogue had eyes of black. If you ran into a rogue with eyes the color of death, you were in trouble. There was no such thing as a slightly evil being, which was why evil and dangerous rogues only had eyes that were purely black in color. While red eyes might haunt the dreams of the pack children, if a pack warrior woke up from a dream in a panicked state of sweat, it would always be from a vision of the black eyes. Many warriors had at some point ended up fighting against a dangerous rogue and every single one of those warriors held his mate closer at night. These were the wolves who hated everything the packs stood for, and these were the wolves would do anything to destroy the packs.

Please don't let her have those eyes, the Alpha quickly prayed to the Moon Goddess. He didn't know what he or any of the other Alphas would do if the rogue was a Luna and was also either feral or worse. All the other wolves simply had the same eye colors as their human forms and he knew that Chase and the Deltas also were hoping to see either brown, green, or blue eyes once the rogue came into view.

A rustling of a bush caught his attention and brought him out of his thoughts as he looked towards the side of the clearing they knew the rogue was about to enter. Alpha Pearce quickly glanced at the young pack member sitting in the clearing, surprised to see the boy's unwavering gaze was also directed towards the sounds. Jackson's son was definitely going to be a strong warrior, he mused, considering that at this young age he was already so courageous and strong. There was no doubt in his mind that Jackson was hoping his son would become a Delta just like his father, Jackson's family had a strong bloodline with a history of Deltas and it was quite obvious that the young boy had the potential for it. Quickly glancing towards the direction of the hidden father, the Alpha reached through the mind link to ease the tiniest bit of nerves the Delta was starting to feel. "There is no rogue in existence that I would allow to take the smallest drop of blood from your son." He smiled as he felt the father's relief flood through the mind-link.

They knew as soon as she stepped into the clearing that she was a Luna. The size of her wolf could almost rival Jackson's and Jackson was one of the biggest Deltas he had ever seen. While a Luna's wolf was usually able to be close to the size of a Beta, Chase's wolf was still much larger than hers but he also was pretty large for a Beta. It was a very prideful fact for his pack that they were able to breed such large Deltas and Betas, even the pack warriors were larger than most when in wolf form. They also knew as soon as she stepped into the clearing that she was their Luna. Her presence seemed to bring a sense of peace to the wolves as they watched her take another step into the clearing, she was magnificent and radiated an aura around her that they had never felt before.

While his wolf howled with joy at the thought of finally having a mate and Luna, the man was in shock. He had been too concerned that the reports from the Ashen Stone Pack had been incorrect in saying that she was a Luna so he hadn't held his breath. And he also had already came to terms with the fact that if she was a Luna, there was a higher chance that she wouldn't be his mate.

"Can anyone see her eyes?" Chase shouted through the mind-link, helping to bring all the men back to the task at hand. She might be the Luna that they all had been praying for, but they still had to catch her. Alpha Pearce sighed to himself as he realized she still hadn't noticed their presence, watching her carefully step towards the boy. The young member of his pack also could sense that she was his Luna and unconsciously stood up and started walking towards her. She stopped quickly, looking around the clearing before relaxing and walking towards the boy again.

"You have really pretty eyes Luna," Alpha Pearce and the warriors heard the little boy whisper softly to the rogue. He could feel the strain of his men trying to see her eyes but still stay hidden from her, and felt the his wolf grow irate the longer he waited to make his presence known to their mate. He wanted nothing more than to run and sweep her off her feet but he knew this was his only chance to catch her, and he also knew that she wouldn't feel any part of their bond if he walked out and tried to talk to her. They had to carry out the plan.

James hesitantly reached out his hand towards her, unintentionally blocking the rogue's face from the hidden men. The men were shocked when their Luna let the young boy pet her. While Lunas were created by the Moon Goddess to love children this Luna was clearly unlike the others. Their Alpha could feel the hope and admiration for their Luna as they watched her interact with the young pack member, but it rolled off of them in waves, which meant that she could sense it too. She froze and pounced on top of James, crouching over him in a protective stance as she kept her head down to try and pinpoint where her hidden attackers might be. Alpha Pearce felt his heart swell in admiration as he realized his mate was going to do everything in her power to protect the young boy, even if she had only just found him.

"I realize that this is my mate and your Luna, but she isn't going to be either of those if we let her escape," he spoke through their mind-link. He felt his warriors mentally prepare themselves to catch the rogue, knowing once they were ready and waiting for his signal. "Did anyone see the color of her eyes?" He asked quickly, watching her stiffen as she was starting to sense the threat and the location of the wolves. All of his men quickly replied that they hadn't, and Alpha Pearce swore to himself. Although she seemed to have taken over the role of protector for his young pack member, if her eyes turned out to be red or black he wasn't sure how safe James was going to be once he gave the word to his men and put the plan into motion.

"Now!"