Amber

After lunch, Dan went out with the scouts again and Sarah went to help run patrols, leaving me largely on my own. I spent the afternoon with Gamma Terry, or rather, just Terry, as he had insisted I call him in private. At first I had been nervous of him because he looked similar to Mr. Lyndon with his greying hair and straight nose, but as I got to know him I discovered he was nothing like my adoptive father. Even tempered and kind, he had none of Mr. Lyndon's cold dismissiveness. Terry explained that he had been the gamma for twenty-three years. He was planning to retire in a few, and I also met his assistant who was apparently in line to take over.

When I first met her, she had introduced herself as "Rhianna, future gamma and the person whose clothing you borrowed to make your escape attempt." I had blushed furiously, but she seemed to find it to be a hilarious honor that her future luna had stolen her clothing. After I got over my embarrassment, I'd come to like her quite a bit.

I hadn't been using the luna's office since pretty much everything was concentrated in the gamma's, but Terry was more than ready to transfer everything there as soon as I said the word. "Once you join officially, we'll get you set up in there. Of course we'll still help you with everything you need for as long as you need though, Luna, so there's no need to look so overwhelmed by the prospect."

He must have read my dismay on my face. It was one thing watching and listening to Terry, and another being potentially responsible for it all. It was a lot, but if I edged into it gradually and had lots of help, I could probably handle it.

And then there was the matter of joining the pack. I was starting to think I should do it soon, but I didn't know much about what was expected of me. Devon had summarized it, but surely there was more to it. "So, how do they bring new members into the pack here?"

Terry happily described everything and answered every question I had. In his time as gamma there had been a lot of transfers.

Tentatively, I asked, "Is it too late for me to join on the next full moon?"

"Of course not, although we are cutting it tight. Usually more would be done for a luna than a regular member, but if you don't mind it being simple, then we can get all the essentials ready."

Simple sounded perfect, and cutting it tight sounded like less time for me to wait and get nervous.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do it."

The rest of my day quickly became busy. Rhianna helped me find a suitable white dress at the pack clothing store. They bought clothing in bulk to keep the cost down, since werewolves had a habit of shredding things more often than other creatures. Terry asked me about a million questions, which reminded me of Megan and her mate ball. A small sliver of worry for her crossed my mind, and I wondered if she would even still be alive if they found her.

I didn't speak about my misgivings. I'm sure other people had them too, but it was like putting them into words would give them real life. I was really worried about Dan if she was dead, or remained missing. In spite of his protestations about how he felt nothing for her, he had dedicated himself to the search. The vampire had quit his job to focus, and while he had professed that it had simply been time since his lack of aging would soon be apparent, the timing and what he was doing said something else. I didn't call him on it.

I was watching Terry work when Devon's voice broke into my head. "Amber? Would you meet me in your office?" he asked. There was an odd note in his voice that made me worried, but I tried not to let my unease get to me.

"Yes, of course," I said, forcing my voice to be more upbeat than I felt. It was probably nothing.

I left the gamma's office and made my way down to the one that would eventually be mine. The door was already ajar, so I pushed it open to find Devon leaning on the desk. "Hi," I said inanely.

His sharp grey gaze was on me, but not with the usual warmth. Something was bothering him. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing. Close the door. Do you have something you want to tell me, Amber?"

"Uh, no?" I wracked my brain, trying to think about what he could possibly be upset about. When I came up empty of memories of wrongdoing, I slumped my shoulders and instinctively tried to look smaller.

He sighed. "Don't do that," he said as he pushed off the desk and strode over to me. "You know, when we save my sister and the others, I'm going to kill every hunter I get my teeth into for making you feel like you ever needed to act passive to survive." He pulled me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me.

"Don't kill the children," I said quickly.

"I won't kill any children."

"Or civilians."

"Fine, no civilians."

"Or people who surrender."

He exhaled. "I won't kill them straight out, but no promises after we sort out the extent of their crimes."

I nodded. That sounded fair enough to me.

"But if I get my hands on any of the remaining Lyndons, they will die."

The thought did not upset me. "That's okay with me."

He frowned down at me. "How is it that I called you here to talk to you and yet I somehow ended up with a list of demands, Amber?"

I shrugged. It was sort of amusing now that he pointed it out since he didn't seem truly upset. "So, what did I do?"

"It's what you didn't do."

"I don't do a lot of things." He was slightly vexed, but I wasn't nervous.

Devon frowned. "Let me tell you the story of my day. So, Oliver's bringing me in files about an hour and a half ago, and before the door completely closes, I hear someone say something like, 'Oh, I'm so excited we're going to have an official luna again.' I don't think much of it, because the pack is constantly speculating, I just tuck it away as just more pack gossip."

Oh. I could already see where he was going with his talk, but it was probably better to just quietly listen until he got it all out of his system.

"And then later, I need more coffee and no one's around to fetch it for me, so I decide I might as well stretch my legs and get it myself. So as I walk into the break room, I hear Rhianna chatting about how great the luna's dress for the ceremony looks on her and how it's the first luna ceremony she'll see and if only it was the full moon already because she hates waiting."

I nodded so he would know I was listening.

"So I get my coffee and go back into my office, and the next time Oliver comes in I said, 'Tell me what's planned for the luna ceremony so far.' Oliver starts giving me all the details he has and I just nod along like I had even the slightest warning that this was going to be happening."

"I see," I said since it seemed like he was looking for a response.

"So tell me, Amber, why I had to find out you'd decided to officially join the pack by overhearing gossip?"

I made some sort of unholy hybrid between a cringe and shrug. "I just decided, and I was planning to tell you when I saw you? Because I didn't want to bother you, because I know you're really busy?"

"Are you asking me, or telling me?" He was frowning.

"I also didn't realize how quickly the news would spread. I mean, it's only been a couple of hours since I asked Terry for more information about it and decided I was ready. I asked if we could do it this full moon, and Terry said we had to hurry if we wanted to get it done, so..."

He still looked vexed as he listened to my explanation.

"...and I thought you really wanted me to join. I didn't know you'd be upset with me or obviously I would not have. I guess we can wait until later, right?"

Devon pulled me tighter against himself. "Of course I'm not upset you're ready to join."

"You seem upset." Only a bit, but I'd expected him to be happy about it.

"I just would have preferred I wasn't the last to know, and that you would have been the one to tell me."

"In my defense, if I'd known how fast your pack gossips I would have gone over to tell you immediately."

"You're something else," he said with a half smile. I assumed his words were a compliment because I was immediately rewarded with his lips capturing mine in an enthusiastic kiss.