Chapter 10

The sun is setting as we pull into a long winding driveway covered with trees on both sides. I sit up in my seat as Quentin pulls up to a fairly large pack house. I turn towards him as he shuts the car off and turns to say something to me, but his eyes goes wide at something he see over my shoulder. He scrambles out of the car as I whip around to see a man speeding down the front steps of the pack house towards us.

"It's happening! Oliver's freaking out and wants you in there." The dark haired man points towards the pack house frantically. Quentin doesn't wait to hear another word, taking my hand in his he drags us up the fronts steps into the foyer of the pack house and down a long hallway to our right. I have no clue what's even going on, but I know it has something to do with Quentin's brother, Oliver.

"Oli!" Quentin shouts as he pushes open double doors that lead to what appears to be a small hospital area. A women behind the desk stands as we enter wordlessly pointing to a door down the right hallway. Quentin nods to her pulling me along as he opens the door without knocking.

"Asshole!" A feminine yet furious voice grunts, and it sounds like she's in pain. Without hesitation Quentin pulls open the privacy curtain revealing the scene in front of us. A woman is laying on the hospital bed clearly in labor. A man with light blonde hair and bright blue eyes looks up in our direction appearing relieved at the sight of Quentin.

"Thank goddess." The man that I'm assuming is Quentin's brother motions for us to come closer. I slip my hand out of Quentin's as he walks around the bed to stand next to his brother as I awkwardly stand to the side not wanting to intrude.

"You must be Tessa. I'm... Fuck.. Emma." She screws her eyes shut in pain letting out ragged breathes in between words. "This jackasses mate." She sends a glare towards Oliver. Quentin is occupied whisper encouraging words to Oliver, so I just shuffle my feet looking anywhere but Emma. I feel like I'm intruding even though she doesn't seem upset about me being in the room. "Come over I could use another woman during this." Emma motions for me to come closer so I walk to the side of the bed.

"I don't want to intrude. I can leave if you want." I suggest because this is my first time meeting them and she's about to give birth.

"Non sense we're basically family now." She has to pause to squeeze Oliver's hand so hard he winces. "Plus this is going to be one hell of a story." She chuckles but starts yelling in pain real quick. I glance to the doctor situated at the end of the bed nervously. He glances up to Emma with a smile.

"Alright Emma it's time to push." I suck in a breath realizing this is happening now. The blood drains from Oliver's face at his words, and Emma's playful demeanor vanishes. Quentin catches my eye giving me a reassuring smile.

"Shit dicks." Emma swears grasping my hand tightly. I move closer to the bed so she doesn't have to reach so far for my hand. The doctor instructions her how to breathe and to keep pushing as Oliver kisses her forehead pushing damp hair off her face. "Motherfuucckkerr." She screams one last time before a loud shrill bounces off the walls.

"It's a boy." The doctor announces lifting a small baby covered in blood and birth goo. The room spins as everyone's cheering sounds so far away. Quentin calling my name is the last thing I hear before everything goes black.

* * *

The pounding in my head seems to be mimicking the beat of a machine beeping near me. Rolling over I open my eyes only to be greeted by darkness. I panic sitting up ignoring the dizziness that follows. A hand slips into mine catching my attention. Quentin sits in a chair next to the hospital bed I'm situated in.

"I'm sorry." I apologize looking back around the room my eyes landing on Oliver and Emma curled up together in the bed next to mine. I can't believe I fainted. Quentin smirks kissing my knuckles.

"You had no way to know. If I was going to bet on one of us fainting I would have guessed Oliver." He tries to lighten the mood. I slide  over patting the space next to me. In a blink of an eye he's laying next to me tugging me to his chest. "How's your head?" He brushes the hair off my forehead gliding his fingers over a bruise that I'm sure is there because it hurts when he touches it.

"Tender but I feel fine." He nods not tearing his eyes away from my forehead making me embarrassed. "How's the baby?" This effectively gets his attention. He looks over his shoulder, and I follow seeing a small medical crib where the tiny baby is sleeping.

"Healthy." His smile makes my stomach turn. I know he doesn't have family other than Oliver so I can imagine how excited he feels now being an uncle.  "After the doctor cleaned him up and we got you into a bed it was time to name him." He turns back snickering. "They had no name ready." I giggle as he describes their faces when the nurse brought out the birth certificate.

"Did they eventually pick one?" I rest my head on his chest looking up so I can still see his face. He nods his expression changing for a brief moment which was enough for me to catch.

"Otis Alston." He announces stealing another glance to the other side of the room where Otis is sleeping. I can tell he's got something else on his mind but I don't want to corner him mentally.

"What's wrong?" I push myself up the bed so we are at eye level resting my hand against his cheek so he can't look away.

"It's nothing." He dismisses taking a hold of my wrist and kisses my palm. I tilt my head not backing down on this. Tonight was a big night for his family, and I would hate to see something ruin it for him. If I can do something to help I'm going to do it. "I just miss my parents." He finally admits after our small stare down. My stomach drops as my heart hurts for him. I feel stupid for not thinking about that in the first place.

"Tell me about them." Maybe if he can get it off his chest it might help ease his mind, at least for tonight. I watch as his facade slowly crumbles leaving him vulnerable. His eyes soften as he allows himself to go to a certain place in his mind.

"My dads name is Owen. He was our packs Alpha for five years before he was killed. Out of both my parents he was definitely the tough one, always made sure me and Oli were behaving. During the last few years he was spending more time with Oli to show him how to become an Alpha one day. I know it pissed my mom off that he wasn't also showing me so she would do it instead. Don't get me wrong my dad was a great person, but he sometimes was a bit old fashioned in certain cases. He was an only child so i think it threw him off to have two boys knowing only one could become Alpha." I stay quiet and listen to Quentin go on about his childhood.

"My moms name is Ophelia. She taught me everything I know about becoming a leader. Oliver and I were always taught that no one is above another. She was adventurous and daring, always pushing the boundaries to see how far she could go." He smiles fondly at the memory of his mom. It warms and breaks my heart at the same time to see such a large smile take over his face, knowing she's gone and he'll never get to see her again.

"Can I ask you something?" I keep my voice barely a whisper so I don't wake Oliver, Emma, or worse Otis. Quentin nods encouraging me to continue. "Why are you the only one without a name that starts with "o"?" I don't want to open any old wound but my curiosity is killing me. I internally let out a sigh a relief when he doesn't grow upset.

"My mother hated traditions, but she loved my father more. When Oli was born she saw how eatatic he was and he begged her to carry on the "o" legacy. Loving the name Oliver she agreed, but when I was born she put her foot down. She told me she always wanted to name her child Quentin so you can guess how elated she was when I turned out to be a boy." Learning more about his mom explains a lot of his personality and behavior. If she was here today I would thank her for raising such an amazing boy.

"She sounds lovely." I snuggle into my pillow pulling the blanket tighter around us. He smiles sadly looking at nothing in particular.

"She was." I cringe at his solemn tone. It's going to be a lot of trial and error to figure out how to bring up his parents without bringing the mood down completely. I fight it as hard as I can but yawn none the less. My cheeks burn as Quentin zones in on the action.

"Let's get some sleep." He pulls me closer resting his head on top of mine. I close my eyes relishing in the ease his touch brings me. His steady breathing helps lull me to sleep.

* * *

"I'll get them all set up and then we'll see where you're at." Julia says as we walk towards a large building that holds indoor training space. Quentin would have come with but he had a whole stack of paperwork waiting for him this morning from when he was gone.

Last night we didn't get much sleep since we fell asleep in the same room as a newborn baby. It took about a half and hour before Otis woke the whole room up with his cries. The doctors came in to do a check up on Emma and Otis, so Quentin asked them to check my head. After getting the all clear we headed upstairs to get what little sleep we could.

"I hope I'm not being a bother." Julia's strides are stronger and determined while mine are weak and sluggish. I didn't want to fall behind in my training schedule otherwise I would have said forget it. My nerves are a bit heightened this morning because I'm about to walk into a room full of new people who all know I'm their new Luna. I asked Quentin if there will be a ceremony or announcement to the pack, but he said that they aren't that formal and word spreads fast. It helped a little when he said that we'll have a celebration at the end of the week now that we're an official pack.

"Please you could walk around punching people in the gut during training and still wouldn't be a bother. If anything they'll feel honored to train with their Luna." Julia light hearted joke eases my anxiety only slightly. Pushing the door open she holds it for me as I walk through. The building is sectioned off into two rooms, both equally ginormous. First half is a wide open matted floor meant for sparring, and the second half is a well equipped gym.

"Hello ladies." Julia greets the room full of women. I'm glad she suggested tagging along to the advanced women warriors class because I'm hoping I won't be too intimidated. She said that once she gets them started she can focus on me since they aren't new to training. "As you can see we have a special guest. Please welcome Luna Tessa." I smile waving shyly as a chorus of hellos ring through the room. Staying back by the wall I watch as Julia pairs everyone up demonstrating which moves she wants them to practice. I try and ignore the staring coming from a majority of the class hoping I'm misinterpreting some glares being shot my way. "Ready?" Julia walks back over to me once everyone is busy.

"I have to admit I don't think I'm as advanced as them." I watch with wide eyes as one girl takes down another so fast it looked like a blur. Julia waves my comment off shaking her head.

"It doesn't matter how well trained you are it's how far you're willing to learn. Remember all of them started out learning how to punch properly." So far Julia has been encouraging making sure I don't feel left behind.

"Let's do this." I shake my limbs out feeling a sudden boost of adrenaline. Julia decides that we'll start with a simple spar so she can see where I am. Moving over to a open area off to the side we get into position and with a simple nod of her head we start.

Lunging forward I act as if I'm going to throw a punch for her face but instead attempt to swipe her legs out from under her. Unfortunately she sees right through me jumping out of the way just in time. Using my vaulnerable position she throws a punch nailing me right in the check. By the look on her face it hurt her to do it just as much as it hurt to be on the receiving end.

"Weakling." The first whisper comes from my right stunning me. I tilt my head to try and see who said it at the same time Julia kicks at my ribs, knocking me backwards she swears under her breath. I know she wanted me to block it but I was too distracted. I need to stay focused now, I'm not just an Alphas daughter anymore I'm a Luna and people are depending on me. Focusing on what my fathers and Carl taught me I get a few good punches and kicks in before Julia swipes my legs out from under me. I land on my back with a thud that resonates throughout the now quiet room.

"She's our Luna?" Hearing the mocking tone in the random women's voice hits me harder than any hit Julia gave me. I can see it in their eyes as I push myself back up looking around at all their smirking faces.

"Why doesn't she try with someone else? I mean come on Julia you're the best warrior in the entire pack." A girl that can't be more than a couple years older than me speaks up. She's the living breathing definition of a warrior; tall, lean, and strong. Her long dark hair is pulled back into a tight pony tail, and her eyes hold devious intentions.

"It's up to you." Julia nods to me. If I decline they will only continue to mock me and tell everyone about today and how I gave up. But if I fight this women she'll no doubt kick my ass. At least they can't say I didn't try.

"Okay." I agree getting into position across from this prominently well trained women. Her muscles in her arms flex as she lifts her arms up, and a spark of mischief flashes through her dark eyes. Unease settles throughout my body as we start to circle each other and a crowd forms around us.

She makes the first move throwing a right hook, but I duck just in the nick of time. It seems to only fuel her as she doesn't waste a moment spinning around kicking me in the side. Stumbling back I use the momentum to start an onslaught of punches which she expertly dodges.

"Is that all you got princess?" She taunts causing my temper to flare. I hate that word. Something in me snaps a second wave of energy and clarity coursing through me. I repeat the words Carl engraved into my brain.

"Never let your opponent read your next move in your eyes." I whisper under my breath while looking for a weak point in her defense. When she takes a step to the left I notice a slight limp coming from her left foot. Snapping my attention back to her face I make sure to purposely glance to her right side. The second she shifts her defense to her right side I attack. Kicking out her left leg doesn't get me as much as an advantage as I would have liked. It only gives me enough time to stand back up before she already recovers.

"Quentin could do so much better." The snickers and mummers of agreement that follow the strangers snide comment from behind me sting unlike any jab yet. This is not how I wanted today to go. It was naive of me to think a pack who have had to fight day and night to be granted the same basic rights as everyone else would welcome a newcomer with my background with open arms.

"No wonder your dads adopted you. They felt so sorry for such a pathetic girl." That does it. I race forward blinded by rage. Tears burn my eyes as I swing blindly not thinking of the consequences. I hear a booming laugh before excusiatung pain radiates throughout my face as my back hits the mat again. The room goes dead silent as I feel the warmth of blood flowing down my face.

"Tessa you need to stay awake." Julia instructs me hovering above my bloody and bruised body. Any ounce of energy I had vanishes  as exhaustion sets in. The tears leaking out the corners of my eyes aren't from the pain but the humiliation. I don't know what's worse the fact I just proved how unprepared I am for my age, or the realization that I've been coddled and protected from seeing what the outside world is like. The worst of it through is I know I've only experienced the tip of the iceberg of what's to come.

*****************

Song: White Flag by Bishop Briggs

I'm actually really proud of this chapter, and excited to hear your opinion on it. What do you think of Oliver and Emma? I know I already thanked everyone on my profile, but I wanted to again thank you for 4,000 reads on Rogue To Luna! Every milestone shocks me more than the last, and I'm incredibly thankful for the the love and support. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you did don't forget to vote and comment! Until next time.

~Stella Gordon