Beauty in the Beast

I had no idea what time I woke up, but I knew it was late. The sound of songbirds filled the room, the window was cracked open and I wondered if anyone might have heard us last night. Nick’s house was deep in the woods, the closest house to his was the pack house, which only had Omegas in it. Other than that, the town was far from our location. I stretched my arms out and yawned, I was still exhausted from last night. Nick was sound sleep next to me, his back turned to me. His shoulders had little dried blood clots from my nails. I rolled over to him and traced the burn scar on his back. He must have gotten it before he saved me because I didn’t remember any injuries. I moved my fingers to his tattoo, tracing it from his back all the way to his arm and to his wrist. The artwork was beautiful, it must have taken a long time to complete. Nick’s other arm reached up and caressed my hand.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” I leaned my head down and kissed his shoulder.

“I need to be awake.” He rolled over on his back. “Seeing you in person is better than my dreams.” I couldn’t help but smile. The sound of Nick’s phone broke the special moment between us. He growled and reached over to the nightstand, only to silence the ringing and pull his attention back to me. “What would you like to do today, little wolf?” He leaned up on his elbows, so he was closer to me.

“I didn’t really make plans.” I looked over at his phone as it began ringing again.

“He’s just going to keep calling.” Nick said with a growl. He picked up the phone which looked like a tiny toy in his huge hand. “Daniel—I’m busy.” He smiled at me, making me think he was the one with the plans for the day. His smile dropped and he sat up on the bed. “Give me ten minutes and meet me in my office.” He hung up the phone and stood up.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing you should be worried about.” He leaned down and kissed my lips. “I won’t be long with this. You can get a shower, get some food. Whatever you want to do, little wolf. Just do it with clothes on. I don’t want to have to kill my beta for looking at you.” I looked at him puzzled, someone so close to Daniel, surely would know.

“I’m not his type.” I sat up and skimmed the room for my bag.

“You’re everyone’s type.” He was distracted as he quickly pulled on a pair of pants from his dresser.

“I’m pretty sure you’re more his type than I am.” Nick whipped his head around to me.

“How do you know that?”

“I think everyone knows that. Didn’t you know?”

“Of course, I knew, I just didn’t know it was public knowledge.”

“Nick, I work in a bar. I kind of picked up on it pretty quickly.”

“Right.” He threw a shirt on over his bare skin and turned back to me again. With his arms around my tiny frame he kissed me again. “I must deal with this, but you will be my only priority when I am finished.” I nodded and wondered what it could be that he was dealing with. He walked out of the room and I could hear his footsteps disappear down the hall. I jumped in the shower and tried to occupy my time until Nick was finished but I couldn’t stop my mind from wondering. There was no other ceremony to do, I was officially Luna. So, if there was a meeting between Alpha and Beta, why wasn’t I invited? I quickly dressed myself in the spare clothing that I brought with me in my bag and peaked out into the living room. I could see my shoes still on the floor from last night. I could smell Daniel, but they weren’t in the living room. Nick had an office somewhere in the house. I haven’t explored the entire place yet, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard. I needed to approach this in a reasonable way, Nick wouldn’t like it if I went behind his back and just eavesdropped. I made my way into the kitchen and suddenly realized how sore I was after last night. I don’t know if it was the first or seventh round that made my thighs ache, but it was evident that my muscles were worked.

I put on a pot of coffee and grabbed three cups. I made myself a cup of hot tea with just a touch of milk in it before I poured coffee for the two males in the home. I carried them all with ease, only slightly warming my knuckles from the heat of my cup. I knocked on the door and waited for a response.

“Come in.” Nick’s voice had me opening the door with my free fingers.

“Coffee?” I asked with a smile. Daniel smiled back at me and took the cup from my right hand. He thanked me as I moved my own cup of tea to my right hand and reached my left hand toward Nick. He took it and stared at me like he expected me to leave.

“Did you need something?” He asked me when it was clear I wasn’t going anywhere.

“No.”

“Daniel, will you excuse us for a minute?”

“Sure.” Daniel stood from the chair across from Nick’s desk and walked himself out of the office, closing the door.

“Emma?”

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing?”

“Am I not invited to your secret meeting?” I asked him.

“It’s not a secret meeting.” Nick leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

“Then what’s the big deal if I stay?”

“To my knowledge, you were invited to be a part of the Omegas and you turned it down. I didn’t think pack matters like this were of any interest to you.”

“I turned down the position because I didn’t want involved in pack matters like this, but that was before I became Luna. If there’s a threat to my pack then I think I should know about it and not just sit at home cleaning and making dinner.” Nick smiled and stretched his arm out to me. I walked around the desk until I was in his reach. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into his lap.

“I knew you were my perfect match and you just keep proving me right.” He pulled me in for another kiss before calling Daniel back in the room. “Why don’t you fill our Luna in on the situation.” Daniel didn’t hesitate to comply with his Alpha’s orders.

“Rogues were spotted around the territory lines. I sent out a team last night for strictly observations, I told them not to engage. I just got a call from them that they were attacked. Only one rogue broke territory and attacked four Omegas. Ryan was hurt.” I sparred with Ryan a few times at the training center. He wasn’t too experienced which is probably why he was on a team meant only for observation.

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked Daniel.

“He’s still in surgery, but Doc doesn’t seem worried.” I nodded.

“And the rest of the team?”

“They were able to get the rogue off Ryan, but they lost him down by the river. He jumped toward the South’s territory.”

“So, we warn the South that they have rogues.” I looked at Nick and realized the South was not to be warned. “Or they’re not rogues.”

“I believe they are Omegas from the South.”

“Why would they attack us?” I asked.

“They’re starting a war.” Daniel stated. “I have another team out right now watching the borders. The minute something looks out of the ordinary, we’ll know about it.” Nick nodded.

“I want updates on my wolf. I want to know the second he is out of surgery and I want all the Omegas ready for battle.”

“Nick, we can’t go to war with another pack.” Ever since I’ve been alive, I haven’t heard of a war between territories.

“We’re not going to war, little wolf.” He rubbed my back. “But if a war is what they’re looking for, then we will be ready to fight.”