* * *

"How about you stay up here for a little? Let me get Alpha Noah situated before my Luna comes in to introduce herself," Andy offered, and truly, it would allow Sage to prepare mentally to meet someone new.

If Darius was here, she was certain this was the correct way to handle things.

"So...Luna Hera, I'll Link you after all that's finished. It'll mostly be a quick meeting, but maybe you'll feel more comfortable taking a plane to Mystic. Would that work instead of going directly to Crescent Moon?" Andy had asked, but there was far too much happening, but the status of no one answering the damned phone and the war most like either finished or still progressing worried her.

The last thing she needed was to go missing again.

Not wanting to stay in his room anymore, Sage followed him out in the hallway and smiled as they parted ways.

Andy wanted to stay upstairs with Sage and find out the real meaning behind her sudden change in name. There was only so much his Beta and Delta could do to entertain Alpha Noah, and sure, he wasn't Andy's favorite wolf, He was simply the closest. 

Which meant that the alliance they shared was necessary, at least, in his position it did.

In coming down the stairs, he caught wind of them at the now cleared living area of the Pack House, the main room, as some would refer.
They were lounging on the couch and sharing whatever the kitchen had managed to prepare at such short notice.

Another thing he felt guilty about was not providing a better warning.

"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?" Alpha Noah cheered, and Andy had to bite back a growl, reminding himself again, that this was a needed friendship.

Not one he wanted.

If it were 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 push to ask this male for help.

Even if it would make things easier on his part, that was her decision to make.

"She'll be down in a bit."
"Ah, 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. Is that the 'way of the Rogues'?" It wasn't usually what happened, but Sage's Heat made its way through the pack and blessed a select few.

While not well-timed, it had been a generous gift from the Moon Goddess. However, it was a bit of a forbidden subject, considering how he had found his Beta so close to Sage.

Heat Haze regardless, he was still angry at the prospect of what this male thought happened. "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 packs more than yours." Noah bellowed in a laugh, making the tension clear to Andy on how his males were taking the conversation.

Yet Severin's annoyed side eye had meant that this was getting insulting. So Andy sighed, taking his newly poured coffee and Linked Sage.

She was on her way—Upstairs, however, she was now rubbing the sore spot on her head as Andy's Link had surprised her, causing her to jolt upwards as she was underneath the bed searching for her Pebble.

Much like Liam's stone, Jade's had disappeared. It was one that she kept close, and in her pouch, even. So perhaps she had lost it—And with the Heat haze so close together, her memory was jumbled at best.

Sage promised herself that she would find it later, when the issue of Alpha Noah wasn't lingering downstairs. It already felt like his presence was giving a fatal air to it.

As if he didn't belong.

In coming around the corner, Alpha Noah had already been looking in her direction. Thankfully, Andy hadn't hesitated to rise from his position on the couch to greet her with a kiss on her cheek.

One she nearly denied.

We have to play the part, Sage. He thinks we just went through a Heat together.

That was true—She could do that, but it would've been more believable had she had a better warning than him just coming forward to surprise her. Perhaps then it would be easier to mask their scents together.

"Alpha Noah, this is my Luna—Hera." Andy introduced, a proud grin showcasing on his face, while Noah had raised a brow, catching that Andy had not addressed her directly as a mate, another slight jab that they weren't recognized just yet.

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

Causing her to huff in discomfort.

"When you said female, Andy, I didn't think you meant an Alpha female," Noah mentioned, eyeing her as if she were a cut of meat.
"Hello," Sage said, not liking the fact that the male hadn't really addressed or greeted her at all.

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

Sage is very protective over her prized fur, she wouldn't dare let anyone else claim the victory.

"No. I kill demon bear." Sage huffed.
"Hera actually escaped from the Underground. She came to me with a handful of other females." Andy explained, and she blinked off at him. Was he going to out everything?

"Interesting. How long have you been imprisoned for?" Noah questioned, finally growing more somber as if the tension of the conversation had finally hit him.
"Born in cell. Escape and capture again." Sage offered, making it easy for the little man to understand. And he had, given his nod.
"That's certainly a story if I've ever heard one, and you're more than welcome in my pack, sweetheart. Swift Tail is at your service." The visiting Alpha nodded, but Sage could only withhold her opinion for so long.

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." Andy deferred, welcoming an escape for Sage since it was clear that it wouldn't be all too progressive if she stayed.

And he didn't want to make her uncomfortable any more than she already is.

"The more the merrier! It seems I'm seeing a lot more pairings, am I right?" Noah subsided, her eyes turned towards Andy and 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 intertwined her thoughts, especially when his hand gestured to cup her stomach.
Right, they had to pretend they were expecting a pup.

It felt odd to feel his touch so blatantly caressing an empty womb that she hid it with a smile and smiled. Course there would be nothing in terms of a bump, which made it much easier in the grand scheme of things, but once Andy had tucked it behind her bear skin, he leaned forward and offered another kiss.

Allowing her to leave, guiding the conversation elsewhere now that Noah wasn't distracted by the product of Heats or pups.

With Alpha Noah having the Pack's undivided attention, it was easy 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 of 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, after talking to Alpha Noah, the idea of how Sage felt sick, utterly sick. She tried to express this to Elena, and the she-wolf could only promise that she would scope out the male.

"Luna, where did you want these?" A she-wolf asked, and 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 returned to the pack house to be greeted by Andy, who was coming forward to offer a hug and another kiss, this time to her temple.

She smirked, a smile playing on her face. "I smell bad. I need a shower."
"Hmm, want some help, babe? I could wash your hair?" Andy teased. It was already considered a busy day, and she found it easy to forget Noah's presence until she caught him speaking with a few unfamiliar wolves across the room.
"I hate to do this, but some of the Omegas cleaned your room out—You'll be staying in mine until Alpha Noah leaves," Andy explained, and Sage blinked, unsure if she heard him correctly.

"Andy..." Sage warned, knowing that this had been one of his first demands. 

"It's only for a few days, a week. Then you can have it back. We're posing as a united front, and if he goes back to the Conclave with even the slightest piece of evidence that we're not together, we're screwed." Andy reminded and while there was some value to what he was saying, it still irked Sage that he was making all these decisions on hi own and hadn't mentioned it anytime before.

Then again, when he first introduced the room, he had mentioned it was for visiting guests, hadn't he?

"I have a shower in my room, too. Don't worry." He smirked, but Sage was still trying to digest what Andy's intensions were besides Alpha Noah's visit. There needed to be another reason for this, didn't there? He was keeping her close. Even today, she could feel someone always watching her—a guard, as if she truly needed one.

So, perhaps it was a little out of bounds, but pushing for an answer was the only way to do this. "Are you okay?" Sage asked, and his eyes turned to where Noah was, thankful for the distance between him and them.

Yet he was not prepared to respond to her question, so he tried to shake it off. What he didn't know, however, was that Sage could sense the tipping scale of his emotions, given how close he was.

"You're scared something is going to happen...That he's going to do something." Sage decided—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 or cues needed to see that a fear, an honest and genuine one like this, could bring someone to their knees.

"Of course, I'm scared, Sa—Hun—I've loved only 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." Andy claimed, his voice turning heavy as he proclaimed such a painful truth. 

One that Sage wasn't exactly ready to hear.

"But...But I'm only temp-or-ary Luna...If my mate isn't alive, I come back." Sage reminded, wondering where things had gotten confusing, but Andy sighed.

"Call me an asshole, babe, but I might be wishing on a shooting star for the ladder." He admitted, and while the words sounded confusing, Sage still flinched—not wanting to hear that response at all. Nor the way he said it.

"We still friends...If mate alive?" She questioned, her head tilting in thought. And from hearsay from others in his pack, she-wolves who experience Heat were more likely to become emotional, and Andy took that as fact.

He didn't want to upset her in any way, but realistically, there was no telling what could happen in the next few weeks.

"Yeah, of course, but I don't think your Mate would like me calling you babe. I'll have to go back to Bear Slayer." Andy nodded, but it finally earned him a smirk, both of them turning to greet  Alpha Noah as he was making his way over towards them both.

It's easy to call me babe instead of Hera.

Damn, you catch on quick. But now I have an excuse.

It wasn't long before the two went their separate ways, but this time, she stopped at a different door and entered. She returned to the room that smelled so heavy of Andy that it took her a moment to get used to it.

All her things were piled out nicely at the table and organized as they had been in her room.

How awful was it that just when she was getting used to having a place to call her own, it had been disturbed...Again

Instead, she took to sitting at Andy's small desk beside the window, knowing she still needed to shower before heading to bed. Yet upon opening the pouch of pebbles, she plucked out Remus' so quickly and allowed her thumb to swipe against the smooth edges. Mirroring the smile she had embedded into the stone.

"I'll be with you soon..." She dwelled, but it was damning that Andy was hoping that her mate is dead.

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

______

Date: 05/29/24

Time: 6:57 PM

Words: 2442

Author's Note:

How do we like the rewrite so far?

I'm really excited to dive into Moon Ridge and, even better, Grey Hallow!!

I was thinking, maybe I could upload the first two chapters of Grey Hallow, though, I'm not sure if they're going to change, but I think it would be a nice sneak peek into how the next story in the series would start.

I feel awful for leaving at such a painful cliffhanger, but Grey Hallow needs a lot of work before it can be even touched. So I don't think it would be more than two chapters, max.

It has the potential to be the longest story in the series.

And in terms of The Luna of Crescent Moon, of course, the story has grown into a life of it's own, so...As of today, it might be split up into two stories.

Hello, duology!

Anyway, that's just what I'm thinking so far. I'm not sure if it's actually what will happen. Besides, there's so much to get done in the meantime!

I hope you're all doing well, and here's to a productive weekend!

See you in the next update!