Crescent (Tribes, Book 1) [completed]

Chapter 5

It had to be today, of all days, that his father called an emergency meeting. Conner realized life couldn't halt for him, but did it really have to throw a curveball right now? 

The convoy left this morning to go retrieve his female. She would come to him any time now, and he didn't want to miss her. Especially since the two he chose especially for her protection weren't allowed past the inner gates to the res.

His eyes flitted to the clock. She'd be here any minute. His wolf whined in his head, a sound that agreed with his own despair. Any other wolf would have been allowed a leave from this meeting to see to his mate. Being future alpha sucked.

"Conner, are you listening?" His father snapped at him.

Conner redirected his attention and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Broken fence line, strange smells."

"This is serious." Macon frowned at his son. "If there are hunters on the reservation, who do you think they'll take out first? The strong ones? No. They'll go for the women and children."

Thankfully, out of all the packs on the tribal reservation, Conner's had the least amount of mated males. Macon still believed in finding a true match instead of taking whoever they wanted. The younger generation found it harder to seek out their mates than those before them, but they also left the reservation less than those before them.

It seemed to Conner that they were growing content with their allotted land. Their plains and forests so generously doled out by the government. Where did the discontentment go? What happened to wanting more out of life than a simple, military-guarded existence.

Macon shot Conner another glare that told him he missed yet another important question.

Conner sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. Focus, focus, focus... He blew out a breath. "Who in here has a child under the age of sixteen or a mate?"

A smattering of four or five hands went up. Conner knew there would have been more, once, but a purge on their village by one of the smaller, rogue groups of Crescents had ended in the massacre of at least a dozen mates. That had been ten or more years ago, when Conner had first shifted and couldn't save his mother from their wrath.

Macon nodded, his glare at the side of his son's head finally softened. "Alright. For the time being, those men are released to guard their own. You know how to get ahold of us if there's a problem. Eyes open, ears alert."

Relieved nods and a few grunted agreements sailed their way from the men as they hastened out the door.

Conner checked the clock again. His fingers drummed an anxious rhythm against his knee when he realized he wouldn't get the same courtesy as the one extended to those men. As future alpha, he had to be on constant alert. That presented a problem, but he didn't think it would be too hard to leave her for just a few hours a day. He could totally keep his wolf under control.

The other males will see her first, the wolf growled in his head. They'll want our mate.

Conner sighed and pressed his fingers to his head. Sometimes he wished he could shut up the little voice that constantly directed his steps. They can't have her. We claimed her.

Yes. With the humans. Wolves know better.

Crap. The wolf was right. Why did he have to worry Conner with all his pouting and whining? He was anxious enough about getting her to the reservation safely. His jittery fidgeting stilled as he tried to find a way out of this meeting. Surely it would break up soon. They could only rehash a break-in so many ways before it became repetitive. 

Ten minutes later, his father called a halt to the arguing and issued marching orders for scouting the edges of their territory. If the other alphas in the Tribe were smart, they would order similar scouting parties. A hunter in the midst of wolves never ended well. The sooner they caught him, the less damage he could inflict.

Conner stood and jogged for the door.

"Not you," Macon announced with a firm tone. One of those alpha tones that Conner had never been able to disobey. Even his wolf's desire to see his mate safe couldn't override the pull of the command.

Conner growled and turned to face his father. "What do you want, dad?"

"We have a perimeter check to run, you and I." Macon brushed past Conner and toward the back door of the meeting room.

Conner sighed. He thought, just maybe, his dad would cut him some slack on claiming day, but it appeared he wouldn't have that kind of luck. Judging by the attitude and snide looks over his shoulder, Conner wouldn't begetting off duty until they finished. He just hoped it came sooner than expected.

Macon didn't utter another word, even after the father/son duo entered the quiet woods. This was second nature now, a silent perusal of their borders that almost always brought up a scared rabbit or two and sometimes an alpha of an adjoining territory.

"You know she's coming today," Conner whined quietly when his father didn't offer an explanation for this atrocious behavior.

Macon nodded. "Yes. I know."

"They could be here any minute. They might already be here, and you said Blade and Preston couldn't stay." Conner knew he was pouting but he didn't care at this point. He wanted to go claim his mate. "What if she's alone?"

"The men guarding the front gate know she's coming."

Conner snorted. "You mean the single, desperate ones? As if I'd let her stay with them for longer than a minute." He huffed. He hadn't seen her with a human male, and he hadn't gotten close enough to mark her with his own scent. The young wolves would know she was single and unattached. He couldn't chance that.

Macon growled and stopped abruptly to plant firm hands on Conner's shoulders. He shook him once. "Your responsibility, first and foremost, is to this pack. Everything else second. Haven't I drilled that into you by now? These people depend on you!"

Conner sighed and nodded listlessly. He wouldn't be going anywhere until they completed the rounds. "Okay. The good of the pack." He paused. "But didn't you ever feel this way with mom?"

Macon's eyes darkened dangerously as he stepped away and turned his face. "Let's get this done, then you can go retrieve your mate."

Conner bounded after him. The sooner he finished this the better. His wolf already started pacing in his head. He didn't need him taking over, especially when he didn't know how he would handle this new mate once he spotted her.

One thing at a time, Conner. One thing at a time.