* * *

Remus' birthday went off without a hit, he acted surprised when his Beta and Delta threw him a party. But really he just adored having his Luna by his side throughout the night, and while she looked like an absolute nymph—Or that's what he thought of her as anyway—she quickly turned into a Minx the second they were home alone. That mall trip the previous week had turned into a blessing, as she continued to pluck through the new supply of panties and bras.

As of yet, Sage was on employment from the council itself. She took her role seriously, already having looked through the profiles of the first wave of wolves, and since Crescent Moon had a decent number of wolves already, they certainly had room for new pack members that proved their worth.

Yet that didn't sit well with Sage.

She wanted all of them to feel safe and happy here, it was her wolf who was feeling a strong level of anxiety. And it didn't help that she had a small army behind her.

Jack, Luke, Blake, Elenor, and Laura followed after their Luna.

Sure there were other wolves who were guarding the outskirts of the perimeter, but that was more on the defense than offense.

When they arrived, the given twenty-seven wolves had moved forward from the communal houses and stood at in a rather dense clump.

"Goodmorning and Welcome. I am Sage Moon, Luna of Crescent Moon...Today I want to learn names, strengths, and weakness." Luke turned his gaze off to Jack and they shared a smirk, though Jack couldn't keep this to himself and linked his Alpha moments following Sage's first few words in the introduction.

Goddess Alpha you're missing it.

Well someone has to man the office if you want to trade, and I rather not scare the entire rehabilitation group now for disrespecting Sage.

Oh, they're eating up her words.

Jack was sending him what he was seeing and hearing from the beginning and Remus closed his eyes and smiled.
Goddess was it beautiful.

"This is Delta Jackson, Master of Arms, Luke. My charge, Blake and my females, Laura and Elenor." When the wolves had their names called, they waved to the crowd, but it was clear who was going to be a hard ass to not.

"I do not take disrespect. I hear everything and I listen to everything. Disrespect—Ring." She pointed off to the corner and the wolves before her eyed it in cation.

"Disrespect to me, ring. Disrespect my wolves, ring. No co-oper-ation, ring. Understand?" There was a slight mumble of agreement and she huffed.

"Understand?"

"Yes Luna." They all said in unison and she smiled.

"Today we do skin, tomorrow is wolves. Females with me, males with Jack and Luke." It was rather split down the middle in terms of either gender.

With three males and three females to secure the training, it was clear that there was going to be a lot of work. And while three of the wolves had power amongst the entire group, it was the normalized feeling of two other she-wolves and a charge to make it easy to ask the questions.

However, a hand went up in the air.

"Er...Who are we fighting in the ring if—"
"Me." She said quickly and strick before turning around and turning to her people.

"You wrote that all down this morning, didn't you?" Sage hitched her nose, not liking that Luke called her out on her practicing her speech. But he thought it was cute.

"Should we take it easy on them the first day?"
"Half half, after lunch no easy." Luke grinned, lifting himself up from the ATV, and went along with the other males before Sage joined the females.

"Hello! My name is Elenor, we're going to start out with a few laps." And that is how the day started, a light jog just around before pairing off the wolves to spare so Sage could get a feeling.

And the bear hunt training proved to be a perfect trial and error, and Laura would smile whenever Sage would haunt a spar and fix their position before moving along to another group.

"She might be after your mate's job." Elenor smiled to Laura, the two were growing to be rather good friends as well all things considered.

"Oh he knows it too, Leo thinks it's hilarious...And when Sage first came, they thought she was going to be a tracker." Laura let out a breathless laugh, especially considering where they were in terms of a year.

However as lunch rolled around, the scent of sweat permitted the area. And those setting up the lunch was clear, and those around them turned sloppy.

"LUNCH STARTS WHEN I SAY IT STARTS!" Sage whipped her head towards Luke with wide eyes, and it was clear that it was a sense of conditioning them to become part of a pack and wait until their task was done before eating.

The females took that example quite well and Sage nodded across the field to Luke. Who grinned—He lived for disobedience, especially when he could get to correct it.

When the helpers were done setting it up she turned to Luke who blew the whistle, those in utter exhaustion had fallen and took their time getting to clump together in the crowd. Though it was the females at the front line as they were starting to see the Luna in a better light.

"Hour break for lunch, no overeating. Know your limit." Those around her remained still as she went forward and those behind the table had started to plate the dishes.

"Called by house number, no rushing no food. Understand?" This time they responded as one in respect to their Luna.If anything Jack was just waiting for one of them to act out so they could move this along quicker.

The males were looking to do something when the she-wolves would switch the males with instructors, and it was partly an agreement that Sage would solve the issue or Blake.

A pack member ending the fight would make them retaliate more against the idea of a pack's mentality.

It was a little unorthodox on how Sage wanted them to sit in a circle together and talk. But not starting up a conversation until after they've eaten half their plate.

However, Luke took the lead as he called out the start on his side, and they said their name, age, rank, and desired job in a pack. It was clear that the males had high aspirations, anything from warriors to trackers.

While the she-wolves wanted to be more caregiver-oriented roles, though there were a few who wanted to warriors. And Sage tallied those she-wolves in the back of her mind.

With the guest wolves all stuffed, they still had a decent amount of time to digest before they were going to finish the day with more sparring...

That's when it started to go downhill.

Elenor had to calm Luke down from across the ways, they weren't so focused on her or Laura. They wanted Sage's attention because it was wrong.

Something about her being claimed by a high-ranked wolf was desirable to these former Rogues—Their idea of a claim a male has on their destined female wasn't in their methods of life.

The she-wolves explained this, and it was Luke who had the unfortunate reminder of Alex from all that time ago.

She was clear that that behavior was no welcomed and she didn't care how much she hated a cage. They'd go straight into a cage.

"Hey beautiful." Sage's wolf growled at the flirtation as she was working on showing a male how to punch properly. But it was clear that most of them were slowing their pace to get the Luna's full attention.

Making her job harder than the she-wolves, though some were attracted to Jack—Most of them were attracted to Jack and Blake.

Luke too, but he shot down their advances before they even thought about acting upon them.

However the second a hand took a grab of Sage's ass she found herself in one fluid motion to reposition herself behind the male with his arm pinned against his back—So much so he groaned in pain.

"Disrespect?"
"N-no Luna." He tried to apologize but Sage had none of it, she was defensive about these sexual advances. Which led to the Luna pushing him towards the ring and throwing him in before calling the others to watch.

Wolves learned from a spectrum of other's errors.

The singled-out male looked around the group for help, and while the males were curious. It was either gender that needed to know what would happen if they stepped out of line.

Sage however felt bad, he was skinny—thin. Clearly he was on the path of gaining his weight back, but this male named James had the height advantage.

It wouldn't help, though, not when Jack had already called the pack doctor to come within a few minutes.

"Shift when I say, start!" James was familiar with this bit. But his anger and embarrassment had caused him to be sloppy and inconsistent.

Meaning that Sage had thrown him on his ass within seconds, and he was withering on the ground. Luke was laughing his ass off, and it became apparent to the audience that Luna Sage of Crescent Moon was not a force to be reckoned with.

But another male was staring at her with question and suspicion, and she came forward with her shoulders held back and her fists curled and turning white.

"Is there a problem Dante?" It was clear that the wolf was not prepared for the Luna to remember his name, and not one part of her liked how she looked at him. With her position, none of the pack members with her were allowed to interfere.

Nor would they, Sage's ability to read a personality was inapplicably accurate that it was scary.

"I said...Is there a problem?" He was fighting his wolf, it was clear—Whether it was his skin or his fur side that wanted to be defiant, so be it.

Those beside Dante took steps back when Sage had thrown him into the ring.
"I don't want you to fight your wolf, that's not the way of a pack." The male hurried back to his feet and was growling in spite of the Luna speaking.

Ten bucks she lands him on his ass in under a minute.

Jack sent to those near him, and they turned with a dull expression before Laura cracked.
"I didn't do much better than that, and that was before she was training for the bear hunt." Jack hummed while Luke remained passive.

This was a large lesson of Sage learning the chain of command, but these wolves didn't have the hierarchy that a pack is meant to have.

If Alpha was here, however, it would probably be much worse in terms of challenging the males here and there.

None of the females were about to challenge Sage for her position of Luna, as it came with being mated to the Alpha.

The Alpha position could be challenged and fought for—to the death. Another reason why Remus was inside. To avoid any temptation of wolves thinking they could take on such a seasoned wolf-like Remus Moon.

Sage however wanted to teach, and she was getting very good at addressing a crowd.

"I do not want to fight you, I do not like fighting wolves. I—" 

"Who the hell are you to tell us how to act?!" Sage had been slightly shocked at being interrupted, leaving her thoughts to scatter.

But in that time she came forward to the male, sizing him as she planted herself before him.

"I was not born in pack. I was born in cell. That's why you are here to learn from me." Murmurs had suddenly sparked up surrounding the circle and Sage growled to those around to settle the matter.

And without a fight would be grand, but it's what Rogues knew. Overpowered was what they thrived on.

"I was born in the Underground, with scientists. That's why I don't talk right." Sage said with the same conviction as before, but Jack huffed—He hated when she talked down on herself.

And the Alpha made it a rule that she wasn't allowed to.

"You're talking fine hun!" Jack said from the crowd, but the girl rolled her eyes. Making Dante smile that the Luna cracked to what he assumed she would be outside her role as Luna.

"I'm learning. And I want you to learn too. What happened isn't fair, so why hurt yourself when you can be better?" That is what her pack members had been waiting for, and Remus had felt the world lift up off his shoulders.

He had been worried—More than worried, downright aggravating this entire day. But Eli and Shawn were too loyal to tell him otherwise, though he had taken the time to see how the first day was going.

Did he promise Sage that he wouldn't come?
Yes.

But in hearing Jack's proud relay of it all made him pick up the pace, and it certainly was worth it. As much as Sage didn't favor politics and otherwise, it was clear that she was gaining the Luna's ability to do just that.

"Alpha...You shouldn't be here," Jack said, especially when it made Sage nervous—The Delta didn't want to be the one to tell the Alpha.
But Sage was doing her best to be Luna, this was her project and she had full reign of it.

Course that was one of the many worries Sage was feeling as of yet.

"Ordering me around Jackson?"
"No sir, but reminding you of Sage's order." He hadn't looked elsewhere but his mate, who was still talking and addressing the crowd about the rules.
As well as what the week would look like, and how she would not take any silly behavior.

"Dad would've cried tears of joy if he saw this." Remus grinned at Luke's compliment, his wolf nearly purring at how caring Sage had looked. She and the other she-wolves had started to talk to the younger generation, it was those who would enroll in school soon that were high priortiy on her list.

Remus wanted them to have every possibility, especially if they didn't want to stay here in his pack in the end. This was simply just a halfway house.

"How're they looking?" Remus said off towards Blake, and the male was gnawing on a toothpick. An awful habit that Sage thought was so silly, especially when he cooked.

"Not bad. A little reckless and sloppy. Young too, I was prepared for a few older males and females." Jack shook his head. "Any higher ages would be too thickheaded to changes, that's where Leo is in Alaska. He's got the harder group." The Delta explained, and became a simple talk while the she-wolves answered any questions that would be a concern before sending them on their way.

Though she was going to check on them for dinner, as well as tomorrow and throughout the week.

It was going to be tough, she knew that. But she had hope, and it was a beautiful feeling once she realized that there was progress.

"Hey munchkin," Remus whispered as he pulled her close, and she hummed at his warmth. He could certainly feel her exhaustion, yet he willed himself from showing anymore comfort.

Not with foreign members on his land or in front of them.

"How about a bath?"
"That sounds nice..." She smiled, her eyes fluttering with the intent that it wasn't only going to be a bath.

The days that followed the training of the reforming group, however, the council was thankful for the progress. Dante had been the first one to truly submit, and having taken the one who had the most difficult to come to the conclusion—Others had quickly followed in pursuit.

Once there was submission and respect to see her as Luna, they were greeted with a much friendly she-wolf. That the joys of pack life were better now after that mental barrier had come crashing down.

Wolves were social beings, and while there are factions, Sage wanted them to be included throughout the pack—Yet she was about to be given the political backlash that Remus was dreading.

Crescent Moon pack members were against the addition of these savages, so when the pack was allowed to dispute their issues.
They used slurs as such.

"Are you calling me a savage?" Sage was quick to point out, and while she was protected as Luna...It was a sudden realization that there was a bit of hypocrisy.

Which caused Remus to make a public announcement, one that reminded Sage of her introduction to the pack. Though this was filled with mixed emotions and them questioning the Luna's decisions.

Yet it was the council's decision in pushing this project.

"I am deeply disappointed in this pack, what I heard in the past three hours of your concerns and suggests...Has opened my eyes further, that we are still under my father's rule of being control by this outdated construct and methods. These wolves did not have the chance to chose their life, my Luna did not choose to be born in captivity. Just as these wolves did not choose to be born in the wild. We are all wolves...They haven't lost their sanity." Remus' speech made Sage upset, how could her pack be so selfish in wanting nothing to do with these wolves?

She saw the young pups as adorable lost souls, and there were days that some of the she-wolves would tell her stories or share their memories with her.

They were lost, confused...They couldn't go to the human world and were outcasted from being near other packs.

"What makes us any better than the scientists that made my Luna's entire life a living hell? Do we subject them to death?... The youngest Rogue that has been listed is four. A little girl who loves playing in the mud and hasn't received her wolf yet. What life are we condemning her out there?!" Sage knew the little girl he was talking about, but the council was waiting to send her.

All the former Luna's were treating her like a princess anyhow, she was in good hands. But what she needed was a family to adopt her. Sage knew that Camilla was on the verge of doing just that, but the commotion and moving around with Leo had stopped her from doing so.

"Alpha Remus wanted me to leave when I come here. No chance to join the pack. But I don't know my family or my pack. I only knew my cell and what scientists teach me...Change makes Crescent Moon grow stronger." The wolves were in full attention now, they knew clearly what had almost happened to their Luna.

That they were blessed that Kelly wasn't up there now, or that their Alpha's bloodline was still Crescent Moon, like it has been for generations before them.

"I ask you to give chance. Like you give me, and I give to pack." She narrowed her brows, had she said it right?

All eyes were on her and she felt her cheeks starting to turn red at the embarrassment—A new trait that she was starting to develop once the pack was questioning the Luna.

The clapping soon erupted, and Remus swooped in to kiss his mate directly on the lips.

It seemed like Randel Moon's reign was officially over.

______

Date: 07-03-2021

Time: 12:23

Words: 3345

Rogues get a bad rep in the Supernatural world, no matter the species.
Sage plans to prove the old title outdated.
But it's going to take a lot of work and time to change this generation's minds.
Working with the Reformed is just the first step.