* * *

Jackson sucked in a breath as he let the brutal words replay in his head, there was surely going to be a damn murder.

Alpha, you need to get home.

Jack called, hoping—Praying that his Luna forgive him for this.

How come? And where the hell are you, we have a meeting with Grey Hallow in ten—

Sage came home from school.

Jackson could hear his Alpha sigh.

How bad was it?

Bad. Laura challenging her times ten bad.

Remus sent a message off towards Issac that his Beta would fill in and he'd try to join later, but the Alpha of Crescent Moon cautiously walked towards his house and stood beside Jackson.

"Why didn't she call me?"
"She ordered Mr.Graves not to tell me."
"Schedule an assemble at that school tomorro—"
"Already ahead of you, but hey—She wants to be normal." Again with the normal!
It was a broken track record, it was clear she was being hard on herself...But perhaps her expectations for herself weren't realistic right now.

"Sage?" He called out, and of course, she heard him. But there was little reason for her to move to go near him.

Go away.

She responded, and it caused Remus to inhale gently.
While he assumed she'd be up in her room, but her sweet scent was old.
Instead he trailed back to look out the window, the garden was surely growing—And he thought it was beautiful what the she-wolves did to help Sage in her quest to find a sanctuary.

But right now it was being tainted with the bad energy the school provided.

What could've happened?
Did she panic that it was too much?
Were the pups too much?

These questions swirled around in Remus' head until he came right beside her, and she huffed an annoyed greeting. But the second he saw the slight form of bruising on her knuckles, he kneed down and took her hand in his.

"Munchki—"
"No. Don't want to talk. I say go away and nobody listens."
"I do listen Munchkin, but it's against your better judgment." She returns her chin to the top of her knees as her hands sway with the patch of flowers in front of her.

"What kind of—"
"Lavender." She says cutting him off, though her head didn't move her eyes did, and that was enough for him at the moment. Especially as he locked his own chin on her shoulder, his breath just a mere inch from her mark.

"Why won't you tell me what happened?"
"Because you get mad."
"I get mad for good reasons Munchkin."
"But if I not—But if I'm not your mate, then—" A growl settled her thought and she nodded.

Was he being too overprotective?

Jack? Do you know what happened?

Yeah.

Is this something that I should let go?

Absolutely fucking not, if not for Sage's sake than the she-wolf who spoke out of turn.

Remus leaned further to nuzzle her neck.
"Sage, hun. You battled a whole list of nightmares and horrors this pack cannot dream of. I want you to be safe here, and by safe I mean both physically and mentally. Both here...And up here. And if something is bothering or hurting you I need—Want to know."
"But mate will get mad."
"If you know I'll get mad it must be bad hun, tell me. And I'm asking you to tell me before I go to the school to find out for myself." Her eyes turned to him in a sense of a plea, but he already made up his mind.

"Male wolf call me and my friend losers." She mumbled, and Remus closed his eyes. Well, the pup's ignorance will surely cost him that.

"If you did something to hurt him Sage, I need to know before—"
"I didn't hurt him. I scared him. I hurt Kara." Remus' back straightened tenfold at the name.

Fuck.

"What did Kara—"
"I know you with Kelly before, I don't like but it's old. But she—" A growl escaped Sage as her wolf was becoming more and more vocal as she continued.

"What did she do Munchkin?"
"I don't like hearing Kelly name, it makes my wolf mad. And I know I don't talk normal, I don't use words right. But I'm not a..." A tear slipped down her cheek, a silent one as there were no sobs as she stared at Remus.

"I'm not a retarded mutt." There was a fine line of things Remus could tolerate, but hearing her hiss that offensive phrase made him fall down onto his ass in clear shock.

Sage didn't have a disability, she didn't have a learning disability or speech—Or anything in the sort. It was her communication and lack of knowledge that made her appear to be less educated, but she was trying.

She was trying and it still wasn't enough.

"Sage I—"
"I tell Jack you can't help me be Luna, and you can't help me have wolves like me. I learn that from Luna meeting, but I try and nothing works. I don't want to go back to school." Her voice was strangely normal, but she was out of touch with the kind and soft voice she usually has.

She was hurt.

"No...No I can't help you be Luna, but as your mate I will always do everything in my power to protect you. All males are like that, whether they are an Alpha or not. But as Alpha, and your title of Luna, nobody is allowed to openly disrespect you."
"I break her nose."
"And that isn't the end of her punishment Munchkin, the pack accepted you long ago. Kara is an uneducated pup who spoke out of turn and will face the consequences of it."
"She say you're her brother," Remus sucked in a breath. "Because you with Kelly." He was caught red-handed and in a tight position, wasn't he?

"How long you with Kelly?"
"A little bit munchkin, a few years." The idea of years sounded strange in Sage's mind, she hadn't even been on pack grounds for a year yet.

"I don't know what to do."
"First, I am going to find Kara and the male that called my mate a loser. Do you have any requests on a punishment?"
"No punishment—"
"Sage, I know I am not the most helpful in teaching you how to be Luna, but as an Alpha wolf with a title amongst a pack. If we let pups go for this treatment, other pups will continue to act that way." Sage soaked in the words and huffed, perhaps he was right.

"I don't know punishment."
"No, you do. But my sweet mate wouldn't put a pup through that." She began biting the inside of her cheek as she perked her lips.

"Blake says he cook for old pack."
"Yeah...?"
"Kara cook in packhouse." Was it that much of a punishment?
No, but part of Remus knew that Kelly's sister would hate it.

"And the male?"
"Sam Tuner...What do pups do for pack?"
"They train after school every other day in groups, handle projects we give them. Why?"
"Sam go on late patrols."
"Sage that might be—"
"On weekends." Remus smiled brightly, leaning forward to kiss her cheek, though it made his wolf anxious that he tasted the tears.

"I'll get right on it...Now how about I make you some lunch, I'm guessing you didn't get to finish eating."
"No. I didn't. Not hungry." She said with a pout, a small sniffle finally adding to the mess of her emotions.

"Not even for a chicken bacon salad?" It earned him a flicker of her eyes towards him and she tried to silence her stomach but a loud grumble spared Remus from having to convince her otherwise.

He led her into the house and mind linked off towards Jack to get it sorted, he wanted both those two pups to do good by their Luna's punishment.

"Remmy?"
"Hmm? What's up Munchkin?"
"I really like lab, and my lab group. Can I go to school for lab?"
"Hun, what makes you think you can't go to school anymore?"
"Cause I get into fight with Kara and punch her."
"She was testing your patience, do you regret punching her?" Sage shook her head and sighed.

"I don't want to hurt pups."
"Yeah well, someone has to whip them into shape...Do you know what my dad would've done if someone did that to mom?" It piqued her interest and so she tilted her head, a silent prompt for him to continue.

"He would've killed the pup. Maybe a little more merciful than most, but there is a fine line of what is acceptable. If he was feeling generous he would've collared her until she was a submission Omega with little food and water...Do you see how you punching her and making her cook at the packhouse could be set to a bigger punishment?"
"Collar? Why collar?" He didn't want Sage to get emotional, and it seemed that it had become a sort of trigger word for her.

Much more than a cage.

"Because that's what humans do Sage, they put collars on animals. But when we do it it's a punishment, when they do it it's—"
"Wrong." He nodded in confirmation as he continued to toss and throw together a proper lunch for his mate.

His wolf growling in approval when she hummed at the first bite, it always left him with the same pleasure if he hunted and killed prey for her to feast on.

This was just the skin version of it.

Sage made a hefty bite for him and held out her fork, he took it close to imminently and hummed. "I think I make a pretty decent chef hun." She nodded as she started to take another bite.

"You know...I think you caught Jack off guard with ordering Mr.Graves to not speak about it."
"Politics."
"No not politics, chain of command. You're higher than Jack and Eli, munchkin."
"Higher why? Because I'm Luna?" He nodded, and then it made the smallest shred of sense that her order could only be overthrown if the Alpha has the final say.

"I like school, but I only want to go for Biology."
"We can do that hun, it sounds like Mr.Graves likes you as a student." She didn't follow up on that comment, nor did she return for the rest of the week to school since there were no labs to be had.

On the plus side though, Kara hadn't made a big fuss about being sentenced to kitchen duty in the packhouse. Not until she was an hour in and almost started a fire, course Kelly come and questioned the entire ordeal and she was rather shocked that Remus had actually gone through with dealing out the Luna's punishment.

"Remus, is it really necessary? Kara's sorry for what she said." Remus had looked up from his paper, and already his wolf was on the fence with this she-wolf. It was strange, just a year ago they were together and the power couple of the pack—Though the pack held their own opinions.

But now they were strangers.

"And what did your sister say to my mate, Kelly?"
"She mentioned me and us, the girl can be a little jealous, Remus. It makes for a better time in the bedroom if you remember so—"
"That is not why your sister is in the kitchens for the remainder of the week. Had I dealt the punishment she'd be right beside Tuner on weekend shifts."
"Remus, it was just a sly—"
"Comment? Retarted mutt is a sly comment?" Kelly stilled, but it was clear that the comment wasn't a shock.

"Now that doesn't sound like Kara, does it?... Not the one I remember at the very least. No, it sounds like she's repeating someone else's words."
"Remus I—"
"Sage might have a tolerance for disrespect, but I do not. Do I make myself clear?" Kelly had stifled a sniffle as she hid her gaze, his eyes had turned into a dark shade of onyx to showcase his anger.

"I said, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Alpha."
"You can join your sister in the kitchens."
"Remus you know I can't cook to save my life."
"Then perhaps you'd want to go back in the sparing circle with Sage. She felt guilty in hurting your sister, guilty in having to pick a punishment. But you're lucky she did." It felt dirty, like a presence had slipped into Remus' soul and overtaken him for a moment.

Did he sound like his father?
Yes.

But he wasn't about to make his father's mistakes and lose his mate, not to herself, not the pack, and certainly not to Rogues.

He vowed that Sage will continue to get an education, will continue to learn how to drive, and will continue to make the necessary steps until she feels comfortable with herself.

______

Date: 06-24-2021

Time: 12:01 AM

Words: 2211

Sage is on her way in learning about Chain of Command and the Pack's opinion.
But the Synder sisters are going to be trouble...👀