The Hunter's Alpha

42 Gossip

Amber

After lunch, Dan went out with the scouts again and Sarah went to help run patrols, leaving me largely on my own. I spent the afternoon with Gamma Terry, or rather, just Terry, as he had insisted I call him in private. At first I had been nervous of him because he looked similar to Mr. Lyndon with his greying hair and straight nose, but as I got to know him I discovered he was nothing like my adoptive father. Even tempered and kind, he had none of Mr. Lyndon's cold dismissiveness. Terry explained that he had been the gamma for twenty-three years. He was planning to retire in a few, and I also met his assistant who was apparently in line to take over.

When I first met her, she had introduced herself as "Rhianna, future gamma and the person whose clothing you borrowed to make your escape attempt." I had blushed furiously, but she seemed to find it to be a hilarious honor that her future luna had stolen her clothing. After I got over my embarrassment, I'd come to like her quite a bit.

I hadn't been using the luna's office since pretty much everything was concentrated in the gamma's, but Terry was more than ready to transfer everything there as soon as I said the word. "Once you join officially, we'll get you set up in there. Of course we'll still help you with everything you need for as long as you need though, Luna, so there's no need to look so overwhelmed by the prospect."

He must have read my dismay on my face. It was one thing watching and listening to Terry, and another being potentially responsible for it all. It was a lot, but if I edged into it gradually and had lots of help, I could probably handle it.

And then there was the matter of joining the pack. I was starting to think I should do it soon, but I didn't know much about what was expected of me. Devon had summarized it, but surely there was more to it. "So, how do they bring new members into the pack here?"

Terry happily described everything and answered every question I had. In his time as gamma there had been a lot of transfers.

Tentatively, I asked, "Is it too late for me to join on the next full moon?"

"Of course not, although we are cutting it tight. Usually more would be done for a luna than a regular member, but if you don't mind it being simple, then we can get all the essentials ready."

Simple sounded perfect, and cutting it tight sounded like less time for me to wait and get nervous.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do it."

The rest of my day quickly became busy. Rhianna helped me find a suitable white dress at the pack clothing store. They bought clothing in bulk to keep the cost down, since werewolves had a habit of shredding things more often than other creatures. Terry asked me about a million questions, which reminded me of Megan and her mate ball. A small sliver of worry for her crossed my mind, and I wondered if she would even still be alive if they found her.

I didn't speak about my misgivings. I'm sure other people had them too, but it was like putting them into words would give them real life. I was really worried about Dan if she was dead, or remained missing. In spite of his protestations about how he felt nothing for her, he had dedicated himself to the search. The vampire had quit his job to focus, and while he had professed that it had simply been time since his lack of aging would soon be apparent, the timing and what he was doing said something else. I didn't call him on it.

I was watching Terry work when Devon's voice broke into my head. "Amber? Would you meet me in your office?" he asked. There was an odd note in his voice that made me worried, but I tried not to let my unease get to me.

"Yes, of course," I said, forcing my voice to be more upbeat than I felt. It was probably nothing.

I left the gamma's office and made my way down to the one that would eventually be mine. The door was already ajar, so I pushed it open to find Devon leaning on the desk. "Hi," I said inanely.