Alex had been driving for two and a half hours, trapped for two and a half hours in this small space with the three Bright Moon pack members. He glanced down for the thousandth time at his GPS to see if they were near their destination. The men jabbered nonstop about politics for most of the drive, spewing whatever rhetoric their favored propaganda source had chosen to feed them. Alex initially planned to have them ride on their own with Red so he could formulate a plan with Kate, Trip, and Brice for when they found the Arch Alpha. Kate had been unwilling to leave the young werewolf and pouted her way into convincing Alex to drive with the Bright Moon men. It wasn’t fair, that woman had brains and beauty, he never stood a chance against her. So here he was, driving along a rural road with three very opinionated and ill-informed motor mouths, sore back, cramped legs, and a pounding headache. He hoped Kate was happy, she owed him for this torture.

Red sat nervously in the back of the SUV with Kate as she tapped away on a note pad. The two enormous Gammas upfront chatted happily about sports teams, what they wanted for dinner, and several other random things. They had the satellite radio on low and would occasionally turn it up to bounce and sing along to a song. Brice and Trip were larger in build and height compared to Bright Moon's Alpha. Where Davin might make a high school quarterback, these two were NFL linebackers twice over. Their jovial and light-hearted demeanor was infectious, if it wasn't something they could joke about then they tried to find a way to make a game of it. 

Brice's black corded hair bounced and swayed with his laugh and movements. Unlike like dreadlocks the boy had seen on television, Brice's hair twisted in lustrous silken skeins that fell past his shoulders, some tied back with a band to keep them out of his face. In contrast, Trip's broad scalp was glossy and shaven clean. Red resisted the urge to reach out and touch the silken ropes spilling down Brice's shoulders. He did not doubt either of them would make an amazing Alpha, the Arch Alpha must be truly incredible to command respect from powerful Gammas like these. Red had never met an Arch Alpha. He wondered if the Arch would be like his Beta Alex, no Thompson was nothing like Davin so probably not. There was just something different about these pack members from Onyx Flame. They hadn’t glared at him like his local Gammas tended to and seemed almost happy to have him along. Kate kept smiling at him and it was making him wiggle in his seat, had she seen him staring at Brice? An Omega that looked like her wouldn’t have been allowed out of the house let alone go along with a hunting party if his pack had any say. Especially not with a pair of powerful dominates like these two.

Kate watched as Red tried to sit up straight in his seat and not fidget, his eyes flicking from the back of Brice's head to her. The young man’s fretting was endearing. He kept pulling at his strawberry blonde curls then snapping his hand down to sit on it. She wondered how much chastisement he had endured over the years of living in this backwater pack to make him so self-conscience. Then again, he was 19 along with all the confusion one had at that age. Red was of medium to heavy build, about 6’ tall, skin peppered with lovely freckles, dark green eyes framed by thick amber lashes, his lips were plump and a lovely shade of reddish pink. If his size, smell, and musculature didn’t say differently she’d almost think the enchanting young man was an Omega. He was just beautiful to behold and hadn’t once hit her body with the lustful gaze most males tended to. She had seen how uncomfortable he had been around his local pack members and felt a connection to him for it.

Kate grew up in a pack that did not value the skills of its less physically strong members. The goddess had been kind when the pack sold her off, and they did sell her. She was bought by Onyx Flame with political favors and territory expansion. Alex was actually the one who chose her. Cungr, apparently, showed no interest in hunting for a mate and trusted Alex to deal with the situation. Initially, she was unsettled by the Arch Alpha’s lack of attention or interest. Once Kate realized the freedom and power she was afforded she fell in love with the idea of being his Selene. Alex trusted her and valued her opinions, ipso facto Cungr did the same.

For the first few months, Kate wondered if Alex and Cungr were bonded mates. Cungr rarely looked at her, preferring to spend most of his time with Alex. The two men fairly well ruled the pack as equals. She only witnessed one occasion where Cungr pulled rank on Alex. The Arch had come back days later with a heartfelt apology and basically let Alex call the shots for a month afterward. An Alpha who apologized, it had been a shocking revelation. That by no means meant that Cungr was weak or soft. As far as the subordinate packs were concerned Cungr was a force of nature not to be stirred up. When it came to dealing with subordinate Alphas, the Arch was not merciful or understanding.  Taking clues from Alex she had learned never to question Cungr in front of others unless the situation was dire. Cungr had a long fuse and could take criticism, what he didn’t tolerate was disrespect, mistakes made from negligence, and overreaction. She knew that Alex had the occasional female companion and had felt his eyes roam across her own form on more than one occasion. Kate's fears about Cungr's preferences were laid to rest several months after her arrival when whatever wall had been keeping him from acknowledging her crumbled and he swept her off to bed. The relationship was still one of cold convenience, but the Arch always treated her with a high level of respect. She knew that Alex was the one who chose her birthday presents and sent her flowers after she spent an amorous evening with the Arch, but this was a much preferable situation to being locked away from the world and treated as a breeding chamber. A small part of Kate hoped that once Cungr truly claimed, marked, and presented her as Selene that their relationship would become warmer. That would not happen until she was pregnant with his get.

Breaking from her musings “So Red, what would you like to do once we get home?” Kate asks.

The young man stared at her with a blank expression “What do you mean?”

“There must be something you’d like to do once we return to Onyx Flame. Take up the harpsichord, join the pack soccer league… I don’t know... college? ” She laughs.

Right, he would be moving to their pack once this was over. “I hadn’t really thought about it.” Red replies

“You got a girl here?” Brice chimes in.

Red squirms a bit at the mention of a girl, “No.” He says softly.

“Boy then?” Trip asks.

Red’s head snaps up and his jaw drops.

Trip smirks, “Boy it is, what’s his name?”

“N… no boy either.” Red stammers out.

“It’s all right if there is. My brother mated with a guy. The Arch Alpha hasn’t got an issue with it.” Trip says nonchalantly.

Poor Red’s face turns a radiant cherry color, his eyes squeeze tight and Kate is fairly sure he stopped breathing. Kate reaches her hand over and gently strokes his shoulder. Leaning in, she tenderly says, “Don’t worry about anything. It doesn’t matter who you do or don’t like Red.” Louder she almost shouts “It is really none of their business anyway. Just ignore those hormone driven Gammas.” She glares at the back of Trip’s head.

Trip chuckles and gets elbowed by Brice. “Knock it off man, not cool.” Brice admonishes him.

Red sighs and relaxes a bit, “College would be nice, I can’t afford it though.”

Kate smiles and pats his knee, “I think you’ll find Alex is generous and extremely supportive of education. He’ll be happy that you want to go, his assistant will need to be well-read.”

“Assistant?” Red hopes they get to their destination before any more awkward questions are asked of him.

The SUVs reach the coordinates that Kate designated for their starting point and the search party piles out. Alex painfully pries himself out of the driver's seat hitting his head on the roof of the car on the way out. As he is stretching the kinks out Kate grabs Alex and pulls him to the side.

“Thanks for sticking me with the local yokels Kate.” Alex half snarls while rubbing his temples.

Kate “You understand why I didn’t want Red trapped in the vehicle with them now?” Alex gives her a wry look.

She pulls out her tablet and starts to scroll through a topographical display. “I think we should send the Bright Moon members this way to search the lower Southwest section.” She explains.

“Isn’t that pretty far away from where you think the…. Ahhh.” He nods in understanding. Kate had not mentioned anything about K up to this point, she had figured out taking the local militia against an unknown entity could have dire consequences. “They may not listen to us without the Arch there to command them. Kate doesn’t realize how sage her advice is, I wonder if she has guessed at what we are dealing with. If this creature is the Arch’s mate, he’ll attack anyone who tries to close on her. Oh, Kate, I am so sorry. I just can't tell you yet, not until I know for certain.” He thinks.

“We’ll cover this low foothill territory to the East and see if we can pick up a trail.” Kate continues. “Red comes with us. I bet he's a natural tracker.”

Alex “Agreed.”

Turning back to the rest of the party Alex lays out the search grids and times to return to the vehicles for the night, what to do if there is a sighting. The Bright Moon members are instructed not to engage if they do find something. Clothes are folded, the three Bright Moon members shift and take off.

Trip and Brice shift first, their wolves are pitch black. They snarl and snip at each other tumbling around in the dust.

“Knock it off you two!” Alex yells to no effect. “Come on Red, our turn.” Alex and Red shift. Alex’s wolf is bright gold, almost metallic in color, it hulks above the two black wolves. Red’s wolf is the same light strawberry blonde as his human hair, he feels the urge to flip over when the larger wolves look his way until their attention snaps back to the SUVs. Kate’s glowing white wolf slinks from the back of the SUVs carrying what looks like a man's undershirt. Brice and Trip have completely ceased their antics. The White wolf comes up to Red and nudges him, he’s at a disadvantage here, until the Arch is found Red can’t become part of the pack so they can’t talk to him. Kate nudges him again then trots away a bit, she stops and looks over her shoulder at Red. Suddenly he is shoved hard from behind by a massive head and sent catapulting towards Kate. Red looks back as he scrambles to catch his balance. Alex's colossal golden wolf is staring at him, an impatient snarl erupting from his lips. Red cringes, the golden wolf snaps his head up and looks… sheepish? Kate sounds a sharp yip and Red looks ahead at her, she stomps her paw on the ground and finally, he gets it. He will be leading with Kate. Red, the weakest of the males in this group and the weak Omega female will be leading the search. 

Red trots up to Kate, she drops the shirt and starts to nuzzle into it then looks at him. He does the same catching the strong Alpha smell on it. So this is the scent they are looking for? He wishes he could explain to her what K smells like, it was vastly different than any wolf. 

Kate sprints off at a brisk pace, Red running at her left shoulder about 20 meters out. They start a West to East sweep of the foothills. The larger wolves are waiting in the distance for a signal the scent has been found. A few hours in Red stops cold, he yips at Kate causing her to spin around. It isn't the Arch Alpha, it's K's scent he has found. Kate comes over and sniffs then indicates it is the wrong trail. Red, frustrated, grabs her tail as she turns to leave eliciting a growl from her. He points to the scent trail with his nose, trying to insist they follow it. Realization dawns in Kate's eyes and a howl bursts from her throat. 

Within moments the three mammoth wolves appear at the hill's crest. They stop and look at Kate, Red can tell they are talking, even arguing. Kate looks at him and motions for him to lead. It appears she has won another debate with the Beta. Red is still perplexed regarding their dynamic. 

The group takes off, Red leading them along K's trail. A few miles in the Trail splits, one direction seems to bear back to town the other route angles up to the mountain, there is a secondary scent trail following along with K's. Kate's wolf becomes excited and she sprints off full tilt towards the mountain large wolves in tow. 

As they race along behind Kate the sky has been growing steadily darker with storm clouds, Alex eyes the horizon tentatively. "What do you think Brice?"  

Brice looks up, "Yeah, we are going to get hit hard. Those clouds feel wicked."

"Thanks, o' meteorologist. Anyone can tell it's going to storm." Trip quips. The razored glance afforded him by Alex silences Trip. Despite his chiding, Trip knows Brice has a 6th sense about these things. If Brice said it would be bad they needed to take cover. If Brice had a bad feeling, you better be ready to attack or run for your life. About that point, the skies begin to rain sleet down on them. 

"Kate, its time to pull up, we need to head back. Brice said the weather is going to turn nasty." Alex calls out through their mind link. He feels Kates frustrated whine, but she pulls up knowing he was right. She had seen Brice's intuition in action and was not foolish enough to ignore it. 

The wolves stopped and seemed to be discussing something as the sleet pelted down. Red wondered why they were delaying, they'd lose the trail by delaying. Kate came and bumped him with her shoulder and the group took off in the direction of the SUVs at a pounding pace. Red was having a rough time keeping stride, they were leaving him behind. Suddenly Brice turned hard and came back around snagging Red by the scruff and carrying the smaller wolf like a pup. The entire group laid on the speed. They made it back to the SUVs just as the hail started.