Lucky's life was getting stranger every day, and that said a lot, since she had recently discovered that she was a werewolf, and killed a bunch of evil humans, making her a media sensation despite her identity being unknown.
So this cop knew they were werewolves all along? She was getting tired of the constant turmoil caused by these chance encounters that turned out to be entirely non-coincidental.
She returned the pointed look the officer was giving her. "A favor? And what do you mean you know who we are?" She didn't want to beat around the bush. "Somebody just tell me what's going on!" Her anger rising, she refused to back down. She sensed that this werewolf meant no harm, but enough was enough!
"Fine, I will just tell you the truth. I am the Alpha of Desert Moon Pack." He told them. He extended his hand, which they both shook. "Alpha Jacob Redfoot. I'm also a police officer for the humans part time. You met my Beta and his brother today." He paused, looked around, and pulled up a chair next to Lucky.
He spoke quietly, as if they were sharing a secret. "Lucky, we were able to piece together what we think happened in Las Vegas. We think that some traffickers unknowingly abducted a werewolf, unfortunately for them, more so for the poor she wolf." His eyes continued to pierce hers.
"Im pretty sure your Beta told you who we were, no need to pretend otherwise. He told us you were excited to meet me." Lucky informed him.
"You are correct," Alpha Jacob smiled sheepishly. "However, others who are aware of the existence of werewolves are starting to figure it out. Watch this, it's a recording of one of the human investigators talking to the Werewolf Council." He handed his phone to Lucky, and she and Traven watched as a guy in a suit spoke to a group of other well dressed professionals. It looked like a courtroom.
"We have reviewed all of the security footage, and the only way that wolf came out of that building was by shifting to wolf form from human form. It was never seen entering the building, but it was definitely seen leaving. The emergency exit alarm was the first alert that something was wrong. Then the crazy reports started coming in." He pinched his nose between two fingers. "We followed the blood trail and it led us to a private room near the top floor. What we found there was evidence that something had been locked up, we found parts of the cage. Men who appeared to be playing poker, ten of them, had all been slaughtered by something that could not have been human. Two guards were also killed, along with the two owners of the hotel."
"So a werewolf killed a bunch of rapists and pimps. Then escaped. Sounds plausible," Traven laughed, then realized that it would seem plausible to anyone who knew werewolves existed, and certainly to the Werewolf Council.
"The Council knows this werewolf was you, Lucky. Nobody is mad at you. You reacted like anyone in your situation would have. It was self defense and you are in no danger of being charged with a crime." Alpha Jacob told her as he took a drink. "Besides, you already made a scene, and we want to keep things on the down low. Just try not to make the news, and no one will trouble you." He took a sip of his beer, giving her a conspiratorial wink. "I also might have spoken to my contacts in the Council."
Great. So the werewolf authorities knew who she was! She was probably trending now! Maybe she could go on tour! Traven heard her thoughts and held back his laughter.
"Why would you stand up for me? You dont know me," Lucky asked. His answer only created more questions.
"Lucky, there are a lot of things you don't yet know, and I can't really explain everything until I am sure. Let me just say that you look an awful lot like someone I know well." Alpha Jacob smiled softly. Aha. She reminded him of someone, that explained why he was helping her. She was not going to complain, but things just kept getting weirder.
"You knew when we got to town who we were," Traven said, "Eli and Daniel explained that you were keeping tabs on me. Eli was there the day I left the pack."
"We had scouts out who saw you in wolf form approaching Albuquerque and Desert Moon Territory. I knew it was you,Traven, and we wanted to offer a chance to stay in Desert Moon. We had been planning to do that next time we caught sight of you for quite a while. But to find you with the Las Vegas Wolf, was an incredible stroke of luck. No pun intended," he quickly added. "Lucky, you can help us save a lot of lives, and a lot of women and girls could be freed if you agree to help us."
"Help with what?" She asked, squeezing Traven's hand tightly. She had a feeling she was not going to like this.
"We have been investigating what we think is as large scale human trafficking organization, operating out of locations hidden in remote areas around the southwest. A lot of girls and young women have disappeared without a trace." Alpha Jacob informed them.
Lucky felt a pang of guilt, she knew there were others, even in the same hotel she had been in, she had heard things she would give anything to unhear. Those poor women were truly trapped. Unable to escape. Tears stung her eyes, and she heard a soft, melodic voice in her head. She thought she might have imagined it.
"Destiny will never stop calling you," the voice was beautiful, the message was cryptic and haunting.
"Can I shut off the notifications for those calls?" She said aloud, earning her a strange look from Traven and Alpha Jacob.
Then she froze, her body going stiff and her pupils dilating. It was as though she had left her body. She floated in some place that was OTHER, baffled by what was happening.
For a short time she heard familiar voices saying her name, as she floated in the strange space. She was drawn to a figure in the distance, a light source in the unsettling darkness. A woman with long white hair began to move toward her. Lucky felt no fear. She knew who this was. She wasn't sure how she had gotten an audience with her, but she knew it was the Moon Goddess. She felt her feet touch down, and looked to see where she had landed. Her eyes widened, and she shook her head, unable to believe what she was seeing. It looked like she was standing on the moon!
The Moon Goddess, Selene, was ethereally beautiful, wearing a long, sheer white gown, and she seemed to glide more than walk. "Hello, my child," she greeted Lucky in that melodic voice.
"Hello," Lucky replied. Something about her made her feel at peace, at least for the moment.
"You are very unique. There are only a few recorded cases of werewolves who learned what they were only when they shifted." The Moon Goddess gave her a sympathetic smile. "That had to be quite an experience."
"Yeah it was a bit of a shock," Lucky eyed her suspiciously, wondering if she was hallucinating this entire encounter.
"I'm sorry, my child, Fate serves Destiny and I am, at best, a mediator. I cannot interfere, I can only act as a guide." The Moon Goddess came closer, "I am glad your wolf was there for you. Everything that you went through, it wasn't for nothing. You are destined to bring change, but you will have to fight, overcome your fear."
"I don't want to be afraid anymore,"' Lucky protested, a hint of defiance in her voice. She just wanted to live a peaceful life with her mate. Now she was supposed to be some kind of hero? "What planet am I on?" She muttered, then remembered she was on what appeared to be the moon.
The air in front of her began to ripple, and suddenly she was looking at a large rectangular room full of cots, row after row. It looked like a dilapidated warehouse.The lighting was dim and the walls were concrete, making the place seem even more desolate.
She wanted to close her eyes, knowing she was not going to be able to forget what she was about to see. "No, please, no," she sobbed, not wanting to see what was in front of her. Her anger at the Moon Goddess became overwhelming. "Why are you doing this to me?" She screamed.
In each of the cots was a human woman. All of them appeared to be drugged and most of them had fading bruises on their naked bodies. Some had fresh bruises, others marks that looked like burns. It was the most horrifying thing she had ever seen.
As she watched in terror, a door swung open and a woman was dragged into the room, the cloth in her mouth muffling her screams. Several of the women woke briefly from their drug induced stupor, looking at the new arrival with a mix of pity and resignation in their eyes before passing back out.
As Lucky sobbed uncontrollably, one of the men stabbed a needle into the screaming woman's arm. She quickly went limp, and they tossed her body on to a cot. They removed her clothes, and handcuffed her to the metal side of the bed frame.
"WHY ARE YOU SHOWING ME THIS?" She screamed, and suddenly the vision disappeared. The Moon Goddess, tears rolling down her cheeks, reached for Lucky's hands. She jerked her hands away, furious.
"I showed you what is really happening, as we speak here. I thought you might want to help stop it." The Moon Goddess said sadly.
"Me? How can I stop it?" Lucky didn't know a whole lot about the deity of her kind but she thought the Goddess might be a little bit insane. Or maybe a lot insane.
"By fulfilling your destiny." She replied. "You will know, the path will reveal itself. You just have to stay strong. You are stronger than you know. You always have been. You will learn, my child."
"I want to help, I really do I just don't know how," Lucky said, sadly.
"Yes, you do, dear. Never forget how strong you are, and how strong your wolf is. Nyah was bonded to your soul for a reason. Your wolf is special." She began to fade and the voices calling her name became louder. "You are special!"
"Wait! I still have questions!" Why was she leaving?
"Your origins will reveal the answers you seek. Go to Midnight Moon." The Moon Goddess faded. Lucky felt the world tilt, and suddenly Traven and Alpha Jacob were standing over her as she sat in her patio chair. They were both staring at her like she had grown a third head.
"What?" She asked them, momentarily disoriented.
"I don't know it's like you went into a trance," Traven told her, concern written in his features, his blue eyes bright. Lucky felt a sudden pang of desire, but quickly suppressed it. This was not the time or the place.
Clarity soon returned, and she shook her head and slammed her hand on the table. "No," she said, angrier than Traven could ever have imagined seeing her. She had a wild look in her eyes, if she had been anyone other than his mate he would have been scared shitless. Her eyes seemed to glow, radiating sadness, anger, and a helpless feeling that Traven sensed through the mate bond.
She looked at Traven and Alpha Jacob, and what she said surprised them. "The Moon Goddess is a lunatic!"
"You just saw the Moon Goddess?" Alpha Jacob asked, awed, looking at Lucky with reverence. She rolled her eyes. She had a bone, more than one actually, to pick with the Moon Goddess. Showing her that nightmarish scene, when she could do nothing to stop what was happening to those women. At the very least there should have been a trigger warning.
"I did. And she's crazy." Lucky was angry. Traven put his hand on her shoulder, calming her nerves. She sighed. "She showed me things I didn't want to see and started talking about destiny and my wolf and all kinds of cryptic stuff that apparently I am supposed to be able to figure out."
Alpha Jacob still had a stunned look on his face. "Lucky, not every werewolf can talk to the Moon Goddess. Do you have any birthmarks?" Lucky looked at him like he had not only grown three heads but ten eyes and a curly pig tail.
What had gotten in to these people? These werewolves? And Goddesses? She felt like there was a conspiracy attempting to rob her of her sanity.
"What do my birthmarks have to do with this?" As a matter of fact, she had a small, crescent shaped birthmark, on the back of her neck. No one noticed it, as she had always worn her hair long.
"Answer the question, Lucky," Traven urged her, realizing his mate might be a whole lot more than just a beautiful she-wolf. Lucky sighed with resignation and lifted the back of her hair. She heard them both gasp.
"She's marked, she's chosen," Alpha Jacob whispered, "I knew I found you for a reason."
"Marked? Chosen? What the fuck is going on?" Lucky yelled, losing her patience. Suddenly panic seized her heart.
"Where is Flappy?"
The lab was gone, vanished without a trace.