* * *

With dealing with the former Rogues and the prospect of going to school, the Luna found herself growing stressed. And stress was not something that Sage has ever had dealt with before.

Course Evie was understanding, but she encouraged her Luna to finish this semester and take the summer off from all the school work. However Sage did not want to fall behind, she had a million things to do and a million more on the back burner.

Was this what Remus had to do every day?

Course if Sage had a Beta or Delta Female, the jobs would've been split up. Somewhat unfair, but otherwise manageable. And while she could always ask Laura or Ellie to help her, her wolf prided herself to do it on her own.

It was a turn of the tables as Remus was the one to tell Sage to go to bed, and he was being a bit ignorant to all his mate was doing...Which is what got them into their first argument.

Leaving Sage to sleep in her room and Remus to sleep in theirs.

Remus hadn't slept a wink knowing that Sage was mad at him, and his wolf was just as equally angry with her wolf. All he wanted was for her to come to bed, but as he made his way to the packhouse and to his office he realized that all the assignments that were being sent off to the council were from Sage.

"Hey Alpha, I just checked those for Sage. They're looking pretty good." Jackson said with a smile, and Remus frowned as he took in his mate's assessments.

"What the hell is this?"
"The progress reports...For the Rogue recruitment?" Jackson said with a bit of caution, coming over to see if it was the right file.

"Yeah that's it, she said she'd be finishing the updated schedule by Friday. I don't know when she wanted to interview them."
"Interview?"
"Yeah, the council wants to know what the reformed wanted to do in a pack setting. Think she actually already interviewed most of the pups yesterday." Remus felt like an asshole, how could he have just given Sage a project and not helped?

"Everything okay?"

"I'm an asshole."

"Not new—Hey! You said it, I'm just agreeing." Remus sighed as he held up the folder. "When was this issued by the council?"
"Er, maybe a week or two ago? I told Sage she could ask for an extension but she seems to have enough time." Remus shook his head.

"No, she doesn't." The alpha growled as the aggravation began to grow. But it was more than that, he should've seen this coming.

"Come on Alpha, if she wanted help she'd ask."
"I didn't offer mine, I just threw this project her way." The two stayed silent as Eli came in with another folder in hand.

"Luna's on fire, managed to get the interviews—Sorry, did I interrupt...?" Eli said as he placed the folder onto the Alpha's desk before going towards the coffee machine.

"Alpha just realized how much work he gave Sage." Eli turned around just as bewildered as Jack felt. "Sir?"
"The council didn't tell me anything about assessments or interviews."
"They must be directing their attention to Sage then, I have a free afternoon tomorrow and could help her with it." Remus ran a hand through his hair, sweet goddess he was fucked.

"Is she home?"
"Said she was going to sleep, was up all night," Eli said, informing him that Sage hadn't gone to bed even after he did himself.

Heading back over towards the house he caught Ellie and Luke who were over to check on Sage. "She was up all night," Remus said before Luke had the chance to knock.

"Did she finish the review?" Ellie questioned and Remus nodded, the she-wolf felt awful after reading the text this morning while she had been long asleep at ten o'clock.

Ellie was not a night owl in any regard.

"She should have a day off..." The she-wolf whispered and Luke quickly agreed, saying that they would be fine managing the reformed today.

Leaving Remus to quietly open the front door, he smiled when inhaling her scent. He ran out of the house this morning not daring to wake her or wait for her. His wolf was highly prideful and didn't think he was in the wrong.

But now he felt utterly stupid, sweet goddess the dread was going to make it worse. He wanted to run, sometimes Sage and her wolf could be horrifying. His wolf had his tail between his legs and crept slowly to confront the situation.

Peeking his head into her room, he caught that the blinds were closed and his mate was snoring softly.

I think I'll be working at home today. Could one of you send me the reports?

Remus sent to either his Beta and Delta as he quietly returned to his home office. He took his normal calls, managing well enough while Sage slept through the next few hours.

His wolf, however, was going ape shit. He was desperate in wanting to fix the relationship between them. It ultimately caused him to check on her ever so often, but when deciding to make some lunch he heard a scream.

Having dropped the bowl he hurried upstairs, his canines sinking into his lips and his wolf unleashing his claws as he almost threw the door of her room off its hinges.

His eyes scanned the room for any possible signs of an intruder, only to find Sage withering in bed, drenched in sweat and still panting to catch her breath.

Licking his canines he managed to have them retract right alongside his claws as he hurried to her side. "Sage...Sage." He issued, but it wasn't working.

She was slashing something—The enemy, he couldn't tell what was happening. And in an attempt to stop her, he settled himself over her, pinning her wrists and allowing his wolf to speak to hers through the bond.

Soothing her, but the connection was strained. Especially from the argument the previous night. How riled up he had managed to get made her wolf adamant in trusting him.

So he took it a step further, nibbling at the bite on her neck to distract the insatiable terror that was happening before him. Which was enough for her to escape the nightmare she found herself in.

Her eyes opened, but they a deep onyx color. Her nose soon gestured into the air as she was attempting to find the culprit. But when she could only detect her mate, she started to settle her own heart.

Yet that didn't mean Remus received any attention or at least a second of her gaze.

"Sage...Are you alright?" The sudden movement of her hand caused him to lean back, hoping that she would explain what happened but she simply rubbed her eyes—though cautious about looking around the room.

Like she was waiting for something—Someone.

"Sage. Please munchkin, talk to me."
"I have a bad dream."
"Yeah. But you've never done that before. What was different?" In his mind, he thought he had said the right thing, but Sage had been entirely sensitive as she broke down as all her thoughts returned.

Remus' face fell instantly as he scooped her into his hold and tried to cheer her up, whispering to her things of how proud he was on all her hard work, how sorry he was in not seeing her work.

"Wolf sad..." She whispered, and that caused his own to perk up.
Why was her wolf sad?
Did someone say something?

"Why is she sad, hun?" It was on the tip of her tongue, and instead she nuzzled further into his neck in the attempt of getting out of saying what was truly wrong.

But Remus knew how she operated, and this would not be the time she slips through the cracks. "Sage, why are you sad?"
"I need help." She said with a sucked breath, and his mind instantly went to the conversation he had with Jack this morning.

"With what hun?"
"Being Luna." A sigh escaped him, but so did a smile. He would be the biggest hypocrite in the world if he didn't know what she was feeling right now, he hated having to ask for help. But that didn't mean he refused it.

Eli and Jack knew when and where they should press for their aid in the Alpha's affairs. Shawn was learning as well, but his own tasks weren't as high-tiered as what the other two males were used to.

"Munchkin, why didn't you come and tell me?"
"Because I want to do it...Because council ask me." She said with a hoarse sob following soon after, while this was the root of the problem. Her heart was still beating erratically in the sense that she was scared and nervous.

"The council is asking too much, sweetheart. You need to focus on yourself too." She knew he was right, and when she huffed in defiance he had responded with a chuckle.

"Reforms need help."
"It's not something you can help with in a day. You can tell the council to wait—that you need more time. You shouldn't be doing work all day long, schoolwork or council work." With his words settling her cluttered emotions, she went limp in his hold.

In a bliss of calmness, she felt a few peppered kisses to her temple, then her cheek before one lingered onto her mark.

A giggle escaped her as she looked up to her mate. Her red and puffy eyes were causing his wolf to cringe. If he wasn't here...How long would it have taken for him to realize she was feeling this way?

"Are you hungry?" She nodded, and her stomach emphasized this and he growled in response.
"Sage. When is the last time you ate?" With a silent shake of her head, he realized that she was running on no energy whatsoever.

"When's the last time you shifted?" She repeated the shake of her head and it caused Remus to dig deep in an attempt to recall when the last time either of them had gone for a run. Hunting.

Of course she shifted when she was with the reformed, but that was different. Sage needed to find the balance of work and health, and while she didn't want to be treated like a pup—He should've known that this was going to happen eventually.

Not with all her actions, but with the eating portion of the day.

"Here's what we're going to do, we're going to eat some lunch and—"
"Lunch?" She questioned, scrambling out of his hold and taking hold of her phone on the nightstand.

"I missed training..."
"Luke and Ellie know you weren't going hun, now let's go eat some lunch. Go hop in the shower, lunch will be ready when you're done." She agreed, taking the time to go back to their room to gather some clothes.

He was thankful that he had distracted her with going for a shower, otherwise she would've panicked over the broken glass from the salad he was plating for her.

It hadn't been all that much, he simply gathered all the shards and used the vacuum to make sure it was all cleared.

His plan for lunch was to put whole packet of mozzarella sticks in the oven with a few other frozen foods that were their usual 'go to's when they were hungry.

Hey Eli, Jack, could you do me a favor?

Yeah, what's up boss?

Everything alright?

It was a sheer difference between Jackson and Eli, was it the level of rank that made Jackson a bit more carefree or his age?
Remus was sure it was part of the reason. Both having taken their father's old rank when he himself took the position of Alpha.

I need one of you to email the council that the rest of Sage's assignments are on hold. Do either of you know what is scheduled for this week?

It took a few moments to pull up on Sage's account and in her emails, but Jack scanned it and sighed.

Jack had been the one to find the first trail of deadlines, he too didn't know what the Luna was up to.
Remus this is awful, I don't want to call it manipulation. But—

That's what this is, saying 'need' and giving her no room for anything? Sir, I would call Hayes.
Eli said, interrupting Jack but they eyed each other from the Alpha's office in a sense of understanding.

Eli was usually the one to scope out the full story, but the email must've been truly deceitful than what was Sage going to say about it? She saw the council to be a higher power and agreed with a smile.

That's plan B, but Sage needs to learn how to say no.

Might have to help her say no Alpha, I'll forward what I'm looking at. Think we'll have to ghost view the council's orders for Sage from now on.

Remus agreed with either of them, checking on the state of the mozzarella sticks which caused him to smirk in victory.
"Sticks?" Sage grinned as she entered the room, a light sweater on and short yoga pants that Remus explicitly told her were 'at home only'.

"They're comfy." She said, stomping her foot on the ground slightly as her sweater was down to the same length as the shorts themselves.
It wasn't that he was going to tell her to take them off—Well the thought did arise but for other reasons.

Instead he was admiring what was his, he was admiring his female.

And when the onyx eyes erupted, Sage knew exactly what that gaze meant. Her wolf issuing a sway to her hips as she leaned up to kiss her mate's chin.

"Thank you for making sticks."
"No sticks until you promise something munchkin."
"I don't like promises." He leaned back to one side of the kitchen while Sage took her usual spot on the counter, even though she was fully dressed—His mind allowed him to pretend she was only wearing the sweater and nothing else.

"You'll like this one, it involves sticks." It earned him her undivided attention and he chuckled while taking out the plater.
Making her wiggle in her seat up on the counter.

"You have to start getting into a schedule, you and your wolf need to eat. Keep your strength up."
"But I'm busy."
"That's not good enough hun, you can work and eat a sandwich. Multitasking, remember? Work down here while these are in the oven? And you know you can order from the dinner or Gigi."
"I forgot." She mumbled, clearly disappointed in herself.

Which already screamed that she was stressed to the point of ignoring meals.

At the sound of cutting bread, she tilted her head. She caught that Remus hadn't just made sticks in the oven, he also made a salad and chicken parmesan to put in a sub.

Just when Remus was about ask how much she wanted, but her stomach spoke before he did. And she came to hug his arm to see what he was making.

"Smells good."
"I didn't hear that you promised to eat, looks like I get two—"
"I promise!" Remus smirked down to his mate, but he wanted to hear the full thing.

"I promise to eat and not forget to eat. Even when I'm busy." After hearing that he picked up one of the many sticks and fed it to her. And while she took the offered bite, she didn't waste time to now hold it in her hands.

Yet her chewing was interrupted as Remus pressed his lips against hers. "Can we eat outside?"

"Sounds like a plan, do we still have ice tea?" She nodded and hurried to get the plates and drinks, making Remus' job easy as taking the entire tray to join his adorable mate.

She seemed so tiny in their patio chairs, but he was told that she was tinier before their first meeting. He couldn't imagine how his wolf would've felt then, with little to no verbal communication other than growling and huffs.

It was this that motivated him to take in the reformed—The refugees as Sage had named them. Which was a nice change and didn't categorize them as harshly.

They enjoyed the unscheduled day off, and they made a plan to tackle it properly. However Sage was still adamant about something, and it bothered Remus that she didn't speak about her nightmare.

But how was she supposed to tell her mate—Her Alpha, that she was scared of the pack?

______

Date: 07-06-2021

Time: 1:13

Words: 2821