* * *

A miracle came, but not in the way Sage had expected. She had been just sitting at the breakfast table reading her book as Andy was discussing pack functions to the right of her, course Grey made it difficult to properly focus, but the nudge set her off outright.

"Easy, did you hear what I said?"
"I can do two things at once, meanie...And females can do patrol too, Alpha. Females run faster." The scoff she received was followed up by a conjoined pair of all the women in the room to send their scowl in his direction.

"Rest case."
"It's 'I rest my case,' but yeah. I'm fucked." Grey said, sliding his back down the chair as Andy shook his head into the coffee. Though he caught Sage's smirk behind her book, which earned her a slight squeeze to her thigh—One she pouted at.

They hadn't mated since her heat, but it was hard to be far away from her. Both his mind and wolf were determined to be a good father, and in order to do that and prove it—He needed to protect her.

"What can the she-wolves do?"
"Anything and everything," Sage mumbled in return and Grey groaned. "I didn't mean it like that, I meant where would they want to go? Did you like patrolling in your old pack?" It stilled her reading as she turned to him and she shrugged.

"I do lots of jobs because I can't find one, but I'm in school with tutor and then I train—And then bear training. No time for patrol."
"So you didn't get a job yet?" She shook her head again and motioned to her book. "Not graduated yet. Evie said few more classes." Now that name certainly caught Andy's attention, Sage rarely gave away names and he jumped at the opportunity.

"Who's Evie?"
"Ms.Evelyn is my tutor. She's very nice." She smiled in delight, bringing her own mug of tea to her lips.

"Are you training with us today, Luna?" It was a sore topic, it'd been almost a week since her heat but Andy was adamant to let her do much of anything. So she shrugged. "I can help, but maybe not sparring...I don't want unlucky male getting attacked by moody Alpha." And she giggled at the hand now creeping further up her leg in torment, though the males beside her just laughed along.

They thought it was a blessing to have this type of energy, but the way Chase had run in caused them to raise their eyes.

"Alpha—No link." He breathed, causing the Alpha to frown. He was in a meeting and separated himself from the pack but damnit when it was important surely they could've managed to slip through?

"What's up, Chase?" Grey greeted with a smile, but the look of panic caused him to look directly at his Luna.
"Alpha Noah is here." It instantly caused the plates to clatter with Andy at fault, Sage couldn't help but jump—Granted it was Grey who managed to calm the Luna down before she blew a fuse from the light fixtures above them.

"What the hell do you mean—"
"It's the first of the month, Alpha." That had called fault directly towards either of his Beta and Delta, he'd been so distracted by Sage and the chance of pup he completely forgot about the meeting.

"Fuck!" He roared, taking hold of his coffee and chugging it down. He was prepared in the document sense, but not mentally no. And Grey's voice soon pulled him out of his panic.

"Alpha I don't...Well, what do you plan on telling him about Sage?" The in-place Luna's eyes started to calm down slightly, but not entirely. Not when the looming threat of a strange Alpha male could be dangerous.

"She's my Luna, simple as that."
"And the witches?" Severin interjected, and that truly caused her to shake. "Hide witches, Elena can do that." Sev nodded at the order and Andy smiled lightly, helping her to her feet and ultimately into his hold.

"...Sage? Do you know what a temporary mark is?" The Alpha questioned, and Sage shook her head. The term spoke for itself, but she was in no position to assume. "It's what wolves used to do when they were off to war, it wasn't safe to mate entirely...It'll look like a normal mating mark but—"
"No. You promise no biting." She returned, and he instantly caught her from leaving.

"It's not permanent, it's just a placeholder...If I went to war I'd give you it as a promise. That in the future we'd mate, do you understand? It looks the same and Alpha Noah won't be able to tell the difference."
"It goes away?"
"Yes, in a few weeks if I don't replace it." It was clear that panic was written all over Andy's face and so she sighed, it would certainly protect her.

So she tugged on his sleeve and motioned for her to go upstairs. "Uh, it shouldn't take that long if—" Her eyes dulled, of course the male wouldn't understand the feeling of a mate mark. He's never done one, instead, she turned to both Sev in Grey.

"We come back in a little...Tell Alpha I had heat before." She claimed, and that was certainly the perfect excuse, and just as she was walking away she turned back around. "And my name is Hera! Not Sage!" She finalized before she dragged him far enough that figured it'd be better to carry her over the shoulder, it earned the packhouse an initiating bit of laughter, but didn't cause Andy to forget.

"Hera? Is that really your name?"
"That's my name if I born in pack, papa told me. But mama named me Sage before I was taken away." She calmly recited, and that caused Andy to confirm and announce to the pack that Sage would be titled as Hera for the entirety of Noah's stay.

If Sage wanted her official name to be Hera, there was no reason he needed to be in the way of that.

"So what would your birth name be hun? Hera...?" He felt her still in his hold, obviously, she understood the question. Yet a wicked smile returned. "What's yours?"

"Alright, you got me...I get it, really, it's hard to think about my family too."
"Maybe we can find your family too...Everyones. Rogue blood is the same than—"
"Not always hun, and most of my family is dead." He honestly admitted, gently setting her on the bed and helping her out of her top.

"Hey!" She shouted, and it surely woke him up in the long run as he looked at her in shock. "What'd I do—"
"Mate mark hurts and makes wolves want to...Mate. No biting and leaving, my wolf doesn't like that." She argued, and he certainly met her anger with his own rough interruption.

"I'll never leave you wanting more Sage, that's a promise." It made the female beneath him shiver once again, and this time it had been easier than being induced into a heat—Sage could feel her movements more clearly, undressing him and riding out the feeling of warmth caused all sorts of sirens to ring in her head.

How could something so right feel so utterly wrong in the end, and just as she was about to protest—Andy's fangs had elongated to make a small mark, and sure enough his moan muffled against hers as he fed her more pups.

Andy hoped outright that the Moon Goddess could see this as another act of devotion.

The Alpha surely misunderstood what a mating mark is, and not biting fully on the next separated one from the other. Nor did Sage feel the need to mark him, the only male that would have her mark would be Remus—And Armond, in the aftermath of a decapitation.
A day she looked forward to for sure.

Andy however did not want to leave Sage's side, not when she was resting her eyes and breathing so softy. Had she really fallen asleep so quickly?

"Sage?"
"Hmm?"
"Did my mark make you tired?"
"Hmhmm. Sleepsleep." She said, curling further underneath the covers—Hardly flinching when he laughed.

"Alright, Elena will come and get you in a little...Alright?"
"Yay." That did not fit the question but it was enough for him to kiss her cheek and redress, there was only so much his Beta and Delta could entertain Alpha Noah with, and sure he wasn't Andy's favorite.

But he was the closest, making the alliance important.

In coming down the stairs he caught wind of them at the cleared packhouse main room, lounging on the couch and sharing whatever the kitchen had prepared in the short ten minutes they had.

"Ah! There's the male of the hour, I was starting to think these two were taking a crack at a joke. But I smell her on you a mile away...And? Where is the Luna?" Andy had bit back a growl, again this was a friendship he needed.

Nor wanted.

If it was up to him, he'd sink Alpha Noah with one or two blows to the skull and bury him in an unmarked grave. Part of him was thankful that Sage didn't allow herself to ask this male for help.

He would've basked in the favor more than he himself was.

"She's resting upstairs."
"Yes, yes, her heat...Tell me, do you Rogues really make it a public event? I've tried to get my mate to do the same, but she'd never be open to it...So? Is that the 'way of the Rogues'?" It wasn't usually what happened, but Sage's heat made its way through the pack and the two days of endless fucking hardly left room for much else.

He just wasn't about to explain the details.

"I kept my female private from the rest. Others went into their heats as well. Severin's female, for instance."
"It's about damn time you've gotten someone. Pups aren't easy! Not when the Moon Goddess is looking at gifting them to packs more than yours." He bellowed in a laugh, only for him to stop and tilt his head.

Andy had caught his line of sight, and sure enough, it was Sage herself coming their way. He stood up and greeted her with a kiss, and turned back towards the guest.

"Alpha Noah, this is my Luna—Hera." Noah had raised a brow at not addressing her as a mate, another slight jab that they weren't recognized just yet.

And Severin was having to ignore Grey's comments already for the majority of the meeting thus far, but Noah's attention was set on Sage intensely.

Causing her to huff.

"When you said female...Andy, I didn't think you meant an Alpha female."
"Hello," Sage said, not liking the fact that the male hadn't really addressed her at all.

"My mistake, beautiful...That's quite the accessory. Did your male get it for you?" Grey sucked in a breath and looked away, not daring to see how this would turn out.

"No. I kill demon bear."
"Hera is actually an escapist from the Underground. She came to me a few weeks ago with a handful of other females." Andy explained, and she blinked off at him.

Was he just going to out everything?

"Interesting. How long have you been imprisoned for, gorgeous."
"Born in cell. Escape and capture again."
"That's certainly a victory story if I've ever heard one, and you're more than welcome in my pack, sweetheart. Swifttail is at your service."

I don't like male.

Sage whispered to the back of Half Crescent's higher tiers, and Andy just squeezed her tighter. "Hera was just going to check on the pups and the females. She'll be joining us for lunch with Severin's female."
"The more the merrier! It seems I'm seeing a lot more pairings, am I right?" Her eyes turned towards Andy and then Sev's before holding back a sigh.

He certainly fell into the category of 'asshole Alpha,' or that's the category that Jackson would use on occasion.

"You take it easy, yeah?" Andy's voice interrupted her thoughts, especially when his hand gestured to cup her stomach. Course, there was nothing there in terms of a bump, and better yet, it was firmly protected by the bear skin. He simply did it because of the fire in her eyes.

Nor did it hurt that she still had reddened cheeks from their quickened mating.

Alpha Noah had the pack's undivided attention, and it made easy work to hide the witches. No part of them wanted to be discovered, even if Maeve threw a hissy fit. The life of a Rogue made her ignorant to the customs elsewhere, Sage and the Crescent moon pack—Even Half Crescent might not be too opinionated by the presence of Witches, but it didn't mean that everyone was alright with it.

More so, the idea of how Sage felt sick, utterly sick, after talking to Alpha Noah. She tried to express this to Elena, and the only thing that the she-wolf could do was promise that she would scope out the male.

"Luna, where did you want these?" Sage turned from her task in the dirt and smiled at the younger she-wolf. She couldn't be more than fifteen or sixteen. The tasks continued to pile up on top of one another, and before long, Sage had returned back to the pack house to be greeted by Andy.

"I smell bad. Quick shower."
"Want some help, pumpkin? I could wash your hair?" As tempting as that sounded, her nervousness always got the better of her when she didn't feel comfortable with a stranger.
"Next time, okay?"
"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Her eyes narrowed towards him in damnation. This mark truly didn't set her back that far.

However, in thinking about the mark, she realized that even if it was a temporary mate bond, she could access his emotions and the round-off of his thoughts.

Sure enough, it sparked much more understanding than before.

"You're scared I'm going to die? Why?" The term blunt never really sunk into Sage's morals, even if she was chided—Not that anyone could really reprimand her for not having the social skills needed to see that a fear, an honest and genuine one, could bring someone to their knees.

"Of course I'm scared, Sage—Hun—I've loved a handful of people in my life, and every time—Every time someone comes close, I lose them. I can't let that happen with you."
"But—But I'm only temp-or-ary Luna...If my mate isn't alive, I come back."
"Call me a dickhead, pumpkin, but I might be wishing on a shooting star for the ladder." She perked her lips and huffed.
That was not at all what she wanted to hear.

"We still friends...If mate alive?" She questioned, her saddened doe eyes reappearing. And from hearsay from others in his pack, she-wolves who experienced heat were more than likely to become emotional...And Andy took that as a sign of good faith if it was still occurring.

"Yeah, of course, but I don't think your mate would like me calling you pumpkin all the time. Have to go back to bear-slayer." The two went their separate ways, but this time she had taken ahold of Remus' stone. Smiling down to mirror his own smile.

"Then I'll be Munchkin again..." She dwelled, but it was damning that Andy hoped and prayed upon the Moon Goddess that her mate was dead.

His selfish thoughts might soon become a reality, especially if he kept stalling the trip like he was planning to.

______

Date: 9/19/22

Time: 9:53

Words: 2747

QUESTIONS:

Do we think Sage is really pregnant?

Should we trust Alpha Noah?

But the bigger question...
Is Remus okay?

Author's Note:

16 more chapters remaining!! There is a lot more in store for Black/Half Crescent, and more importantly, what the hell are we going to do about Alpha Andy.

At first I was going to have the Edward and Jacob standoff, but I think we're all loyal to Remus in this world. Maybe Sage will live up to her promise and help him find a mate in the future, but who knows what their future will even manage to be!

Just to make your heart ache further, how do we think the others feel about Sage being missed?

Besides Remus and their immediate family, how are the Elwoods handling this?

Blake?

What about the war across the American packs?

Anywhooooo, I hope you all have a fantastic week, and I'll see you Friday for another chapter!