* * *
Sage had awoken with the same haze as the days prior, her wolf was walking on eggshells and learned to manage on only a few decent hours of sleep.
And in the mists of taking care of pups and talking to the surrounding packs, she had a hard time in believing that killing those Alpha's was the best approach.
It was hard to deny that Sage had killed Calvin and Miles, or that Hayes killed Nathan. Not when so many enforcers had been present, but the other packs had retaliated—And there was nothing in the wind that could suggest what they were up to.
So while Sage spent the first few minutes of being awake trying to pump the milk from her achy breast, she turned to her phone and huffed.
No updates on Remus but plenty on the other dozens of problems.
Sage held the two packets in her hand as she started walking downstairs, yawing and just thinking about the refreshing glass of tea would a bit of ice would really feel like.
She caught her dad sitting at the table with Eli—with everyone as they seemed to be lingering around, so while she went to go place the milk into the fridge and she start to brew the needed caffeine, she rubbed her eyes enough to see the male in her living room.
Sage let in a deep breath, nobody told her when he was going to come back. And she didn't hear what anyone else was saying around her, but it didn't matter.
Not when she walked right up to the male and pulled him down for a hug, her Charge conforming to his Luna's hold.
"I'm sorry, Luna." He whispered, and for the first time since the Council had come to their land, Sage had smiled up to the male in a greeting.
Though her eyes had yet to return to normal.
"I told you soon." She responded by pinching his cheeks, causing him to groan. Especially when Sage's attention turned from Blake off towards Raven.
It was hard for the Luna to recall the last time she saw Raven, a day or two before she had gone to the Sanctuary. "Luna Sage...You probably don't remember me all that much but I—" It was clear that Raven regained much more of her sanity and livelihood since her time in the pack's infirmary and spending time with her Coven.
The color in her cheeks proved just that.
"Happy you're back...And healthy." She said, and when Sage pulled away she caught the bite mark featured on the witch's neck, it caused the Luna to smirk off in Blake's direction.
"Oh no, absolutely fucking not. Stop it!" He chimed in, coming closer to the females and holding his mate from behind.
"Are you doing that linking thing?"
"No. She's being sassy. Come on, I missed you, Sagey. No need to start teasing me." Raven was surely shocked that Sage had remembered her at all—Or fought so much in an attempt to find her.
But the acceptance of a closed-eyed grin sent Raven into another smile.
"Um...Luna Sage, I don't know how moving to packs works, but I was wondering if Blake and I can stay on pack grounds?" Raven asked and Sage nodded.
"Why I ask you to come back, safer."
"I heard what happened, Sage...Some badass shit for sure, sorry I missed it." Hayes rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Get something to eat, Bubbles. The pups are going to be up soon." She hummed and decided to eat outside to be able to fit everyone. It wasn't that difficult to fill in Blake and Raven, however, Sage remained silent and listened intently as she ate the feast in front of her.
Her appetite had to fill the Alpha's energy she was building up, but in the middle of it, she rose to her feet. "Do you want to meet the pups?"
"Pups?!" Blake gawked, his chair back as he followed after the Luna, but not before settling a kiss onto his mate's head—Though she felt rather singled out, even if she met everyone and recalled their names.
Werewolves were reclusive beasts, and her being mated to one while being a different species was...Strange.
And while her Coven accepted Blake as her Light, Raven worried that perhaps she hadn't met the criteria in Crescent Moon's pack just yet.
"So can you do some hocus pocus kinda stuff too?" Jackson asked and the rest of the table groaned, which left Raven to enclose on herself.
Her powers were rather...Underdeveloped. Having been kidnapped so young didn't give her the time to perfect it.
"Y-yeah, Auntie says that I should keep it at a minimum. I haven't learned much about control or anything yet. I have loads to study." That wasn't really an answer to his question so she humored him and the rest of the table and let his cup of coffee float up and almost threatened to pour it over his head.
"I don't like movie references to my craft, so before I call you doggy for the rest of the year. Let's keep it to ourselves, yeah?"
"Yep! Yep! Fuck, yes okay sure. No more movie references!" Jack said in a panic, but in truth, Raven had listened to the taunts for so long that it actually coming from another supernatural hurt more than she realized.
Blake had taken the mug by its handle and settled it back onto the table. "Making fun of my mate Jackson?... You're lucky the mug didn't explode." He teased, while Raven turned into actual puddy as her mate returned to sit beside her.
But this time with a pup in his arms—Rue to be exact.
The lil pup was starting to feel better from her cold, her energy almost matching Ronan's this morning.
"So the Alpha's in a coma? How does that work?"
"Sage said she feels him and his wolf healing, they're both fine just...Not waking up." Eli informed him and Sage nodded in confirmation.
"Rumor is that the other packs formed an alliance to combated ours, geographically we take up the better part of the east, mindful of Whitepaw... There's not much at the Council's grounds other than information."
Sounds like you should burn it down, sweetheart. Don't want them to use it.
"Can we send wolves?" Sage asked, and that caught the males at the table's attention.
"What for?"
"Burn it down." Everyone's expression had turned rather surprised at the offer, even her father.
"Bubbles...You can't just set a building on fire."
"White House set on fire for re-tal-i-ation—Retaliation. Anything important there?" Hayes thought for a moment and then shook his head.
"Not off the top of my head, but I wouldn't count what I say for what is...I didn't know they were withholding funds from our packs." Sage nodded and then her headshot over.
"How many Reformed are at council?" Her father's face instantly dropped in that, he shook his head but not before slamming the table with his fist—A clatter of dishes and utensils followed in suit.
Making the pups pout and whimper in regards to their grandfather's anger.
Sage sat Ronan closer to her chest and held a hand out to Rue, though she seemed very fond of Blake—And Sage had to admit, he smelled rather sweet after his mating with a witch.
"Enough for an army if they act quick enough." Sage thought for a moment, recalling the flight there, and realistically, they need someone closer to do the job.
"Moon Ridge is closer?" Eli nodded and he said Alpha Kendal would be easy to get into contact with, a plane ride would take no more than half an hour.
"Good. We send wolves to Moon Ridge to help Reformed escape. I don't want bad packs using them, I want them safe and out of way." Raven couldn't deviate her eyes from the she-wolf.
Of course, she was told that the wolf wouldn't be the same as the one she met in the cells, and while Raven was prepared for a normal wolf. Hearing that she was an Alpha female and one of the leaders—Or that Sage was as one of the biggest reasons why she and the rest of the truck's captures were saved?
It gave her some hope that if Sage could manage to live life to the fullest, she herself could enjoy it just the same. It had the witch snake her hand into Blake's, and he turned over for a moment to see if there was anything wrong—But she simply smiled back to her Light, earning herself a squeeze in return.
"A hundred sound good?" Eli said, his hands at the ready to type and Sage perked her lips.
"Yes...Do we have room for extra Rogues?"
"No Luna, we're almost at full compacity as is. With the returned funds we can start construction but it'll take a few weeks." She hummed for a moment and then brought out her phone, she needed a visual of the packs that were against them and more.
"Some of the Rogues I trained here, some trained will go and help White Paw. I don't like they're far away and alone from help." Hayes voiced that he'd go and call Drake now, saying that the addition of an unknown number of Reformed Rouges would be a good strategy—Rather than having the other side claim them.
"Should we start construction? Just in case?" Jackson asked and Sage frowned. She didn't know much about construction, and only recalled the time Remus was overseeing her first neighborhood build while she went to the mall.
"Take long?"
"We can have a neighborhood of those communal cabins built in two weeks if we have enough hands for it," Jack replied and Blake nodded.
"If we're full-on capacity I bet there's plenty that will want to get to working, especially pups—They pull some weight too." Sage shook her head. "I don't want to make pups work, but maybe they should train extra..." There was a lot to think about, one problem lead to another.
And if it didn't make matters any worse, Sage's phone rang.
"Who's calling?"
"Packhouse...Hello?" Sage said, and Eli eyed her—Silently telling her she needed to get used to saying her title when answering the phone.
"Good morning Luna, I just wanted to let you know that the Alpha's has been ringing a few times now..."
"Coming now, thank you, Gigi," Sage said, hanging up the phone and taking another chug of her tea.
"Calls from Alphas, maybe Moon Valley." It had the entire party rise up, luckily Amy was ready for the Luna to call her to watch the pups.
Sage gave them a few more cuddles and promised to have lunch with them before their nap, and she scolded Blake for not letting go of Rue.
"Sweet goddess above, those are the cutest pups I've ever seen," Blake said with a bright smile on his face, perhaps it was the Charge and Mentor position he had with Sage, but he was already protective of the two furballs.
"Wait until you see them in fur." Jackson laughed, and it caused Raven to question that. "They can shift?"
"Yeah, Alpha pups are born in fur, so Sage shifted for the birth and they waited until the twins were strong enough to endure a shift." The Luna hummed in front of them all and smiled once again.
"They really small then." She said fondly, and Hayes brought his daughter closer into a side hold as they continued off back towards the packhouse, Raven couldn't remember if she's seen this building before or not.
But she did catch the way the other wolves around the house stopped what they were doing and greeted the Luna.
Her mother and Auntie attempted to explain to her the fundamentals of werewolf life, but she didn't know that it meant that this type of 'Queen status' was actually everlasting.
Or was it because they were in a war.
"Blake...Am I allowed to listen to all of this?... Honestly, I can just stay at your cabin if—"
"It's our cabin, and technically I've been titled the general for the reformed so I need to hear this anyway." Sage heard every word of it, and she asked for Luke and Leo to come to the office as well.
They needed to start planning this properly.
Upon entering, the phone had started ringing. And just as Eli was about to go pick it up Sage shook her head. "Remmy always gets mad when I don't pick up the phone, Alpha's don't like being ignored." She said making a devious face as she went over to the computer and turned it on.
Her father took the seat beside her as she still needed a bit of help with the technology aspect on this side of the job.
But she was right at the end of whatever Alpha was on the line getting annoyed, because there wasn't even a five-minute interval between one call to the next.
"Alright, showtime...You'd think a week they would've all been over it." Sage shrugged her shoulders, her cells were still filled with enforcers and the two Luna's leftovers. As Luna Simone had been suicidal and refused to act accordingly to the surrender.
"Goodmorning, Luna Sage of Crescent Moon speaking, how can I help—"
"REMUS FUCKING MOON YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?! DESTROYING THE UNITY WE HAD, FOR WHAT?!" The yelling over the phone hadn't really given Sage a profile as to who it was, so she asked over the link and Eli responded.
"Alpha Conner, there is no unity."
"Where the fuck is my father?! And who the fuck is this?!"
"This is Luna Sage, and your father is dead." The seething on the other end of the line almost masked the female gasp she heard in the background.
"Remus killed my father?"
"No. I did. He is greedy just like you and your mate. You want help you ask for it, can't hide behind your dad anymore." Sage caught Jack biting his fist and she grinned in triumph, if he was reacting that way, she was certainly doing something right.
"You bitch!" Erika yelled and Sage rolled her eyes—Sweet goddess, Eli knew she was sassy as of late but frankly ever since she took the Alpha's title temporarily there was no sense of bullshit that would pass by her.
"I thought I am a pig?... And no, you can't have Crescent Moon. You take care of your pack, maybe you can save it instead of taking mine." The silence over the phone only confirmed it and Sage hummed as she leaned further into the chair.
"That's why your dad is dead, Conner, and he tried to kill me—"
"I don't believe my father tried to kill you, you killed him because—"
"He send hunter after me, I kill him because he threatened me, my mate, and my pups. Now listen, I do not want war, I do not want any more fights. But council was not helping everyone, they help you and the rest of their packs but not everywhere. You want help, you ask, and if you want war...? You tell me now."
"You dare declare war on Moon Valley?"
"War means I want something, I don't want anything from you—Even if you owe Crescent Moon lots and lots of money. I don't want anything. I'm asking you, do you want war?" It was clear that Conner and Erika weren't expecting anything when calling Remus repetitively. But their lack of denial on the front of the bounty hunter suggested that even Moon Valley knew—Even if it was Alpha Miles who ordered it.
"Where's Remus...He's dead, isn't he? My father killed him just like he promised. You listen here you little bitch, I will kill your entire fucking line and when I'm done your pack will beg me to lead them."
Sage made direct eye contact with Eli and smirked, she knew that enacting war on Moon Valley would cause a chain reaction.
Warriors and plane leave soon, call Kendal.
Eli nodded but it was Julia who took the phone from him and was going to make the call. Yet the threats going back and forth from Conner to Erika were nothing but verbal abuse—And Sage was immune to it from people like them.
"That's very nice langue Conner, it sounds so cute over phone. And when you call Michael and Victoria you can tell them too that his parents are dead—And Alpha Nathan too..."
...Now tell them to check their bank account sweetheart, finish them off.
No matter how much Sage felt guilty in paraphrasing Darius' speech, it was working and she couldn't afford any mistakes. Not when her pups were threatened again.
Not when she was sending warriors to go for a rescue mission.
"—And then I need you to look at your bank account. So I ask again, do you want war?" Financially, Moon Valley was screwed. And Darius was laughing over the bond he had, so much so that Raven's eyes flickered off towards Sage's shadow and then back to her figure.
She was completely still so why was her shadow moving—
"You'll regret fucking crossing us Moon, you have yourself a war. Us, Shadow Pack, Blue Moon, Moonlight, and Eclipse. Especially if you killed our former Alphas."
"Have a good day, Alpha Conner." She said, sickly sweet on the cuff—And it just so happened that either Luke and Leo had caught the end of the conversation.
Sage was bobbing her head and looking around the room, her eyes weren't a solid black anymore after that call but they were still as loud with her sweet aura.
She was surging with Alpha Blood and reigns.
"We're going to war?" Leo asked, and Sage let out a nod. And he turned to his son and smirked.
"Son, I think it's time you take the title. I'm not in my prime to manage a war like I was..."
"Dad—" Leo shook his head, his hand starting at his shoulder and the other holding his son's cheek.
"You're ready. Take it, son. Take it." Sage never really understood how normal titles would be passed, like a Beta or Delta for example. But it usually was the same in regards to a Master of Arms, it was a passing title that of course needed to be earned.
But Luke was of age and he proved himself for the title on more than one occasion, Sage breathed in the exchange of power like a breath of fresh air.
Her new Master of Arms mirrored her own blackened eyes, only for his father to slap his shoulder in a proud manner.
"We'll throw a party when this is all done, now...What can I do?" Leo asked, while he was no longer in holding a title, he would prove to be useful non the less and Sage started to run down as a list while Hayes started to send out the 'SOS'.
"Luke staying on base sounds like the best bet, Leo can head out with the first round of wolves to Moon Ridge—White Paw will need the numbers if Blue Moon or Moon Valley wants to jump-start this," Eli said and Hayes shared his agreements, but the ring of the computer calling caused Sage to flinch.
"Goddess, she doesn't jump for an Alpha tone but damn, if FaceTime gets her by surprise." Jackson teased, though not as quietly as he thought as most of the room was looking at him.
"I can't hear you Jackson, talk louder?" Sage said as she clicked the screen—Especially when it was her brother calling first.
"Sage, what in goddess name is dad telling me?! You're going to war?"
______
Date: 01/29/2022
Time: 2:50
Words: 3570
Author's Note:
So sorry this is late, I think I've caught a cold that's been going around my family this last two weeks. And forwarding, Monday's chapter might be delayed, there's an oncoming storm warning in my area--And that means a lot of snow and wind.
Hopefully I don't lose power, but if I do, I promise to upload the next possible day if I can.
***
Anyway, let's give it up for Luke Elwood, the new Master of Arms for the Crescent Moon pack!!
👏👏👏
Also, a welcome back to everyone's favorite former Rogue--Did you miss Blake? Because I sure as hell did, and now's he's mated💙
What do we think about Sage's call with Alpha Conner and Luna Erika of Moon Valley? Remember, they are the lowest-ranked pack in America and have done a lot of questionable things behind everyone's back.
Is it right to go to war? I guess we'll find out.
I might have said this already, but this book is significantly shorter than the rest because I needed to split up the ideas. There will be 37 chapters, so 13 more weeks!
Before I let you go, I want to give a general warning (My friend/Beta reader brought this up and I agree with her), this will end on a cliffhanger.
Is now too early to prepare?
Alright alright, I hope you all have a great weekend, and if you're on the North East coast of the US with me, stay warm!
See you Monday--Hopefully🤗