“And I am not?”
“Wait… no!” he looks at me, shocked. “That’s not what I meant.” When I smile, he lets out a sigh. “That’sexactly what I meant. Forest needs someone with a cunning streak at his side.”
“He can rely on me for that,” I say. “I am not here to play around.”
“I figured as much.” He eyes me curiously. “What is the plan?”
“I want to see all the most vulnerable places, such as the nursery, the infirmary and alike, and then the place where the warriors train. The advanced warriors are training soon, am I correct?”
“Yes, I met Martin on the way. He is already preparing for training. You want to talk to them?”
I nod.
Griffin eyes me curiously, but doesn’t ask any further questions. Instead, he starts leading me through the pack and shows me all of the places on my list. I take my time talking to the wolves working there. In my hand, I have my notebook, making notes in it.
Initially, the pack members working in the nursery were surprised when I arrived, but they warmed up pretty fast. The shifters working there told me it’s been ages since a luna visited them, which just adds to what I already expected. Forest’s mother doesn’t give a flying fuck about the pack. It would be heror Harry’s job to regularly pay a visit to this place. I make sure to help out a little and play with the three young pups who are already there because their parents had an early shift.
My next stop is the orphanage, and then the infirmary. The pack members there are over the moon to see me, very much to my surprise. The lady leading the orphanage, in particular. It looks like she is about to cry when I ask her to show me everything, and to talk to me about the kids there. I make sure to ask the questions I need to, but do so without making it sound like I am blaming Forest’s parents.
It’s pretty much the same as with the nursery, only worse. No one of rank is ever around, no one seems to care, they are constantly running out of budget, and the young woman leading the place and her co-workers are actually paying for little presents and gifts out of their own pockets!
An absolute embarrassment for a pack! It’s the duty of the alpha couple to make sure the weakest pack members are tended to and look after the orphans, in particular.
My last stop is the infirmary, and the doctor is already awaiting me. It seems like the word must have gone around that I am visiting certain places. And unlike the other workers I talked to, he not only has a very strong opinion but isn’t afraid to voice it.
“Finally, someone in this place who does seem to care,” he tells me bluntly, while leading me through the two floors of the infirmary. “I don’t need to tell you, Luna, that the place is not up to the standards of a pack of our size and reputation.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” I say, equally as blunt. “It’s an embarrassment.”
He looks at me in surprise before nodding grimly. “I have been talking to the alpha about it for ages. I need more nurses, and at least one additional doctor, if not two. We need a therapist. Weneed more warriors learning first aid, and by the goddess, some of them would be willing to do so, but they are not allowed to.”
“Have you ever talked to Alpha Forest about this?” I ask him.
He looks at me, then shakes his head. “I didn’t think it would make a difference.”
“I think it would, or rather, I know it will,” I tell him, figuring he is the one person I don’t need to gently nudge into giving Forest a chance and seeing him in a different light. Going by how intelligent and direct he is, he would see through me immediately. I might just tell him, instead of beating around the bush.
“If he had cared, why did he never come on his own?”
“Well, I guess his reasoning isn’t so different to why the warriors don’t help out more. You said it yourself; they are willing to, but can’t.”
“As the future alpha, he should have noticed on his own. He could have stood up against the current alpha.”
“The current alpha is his father, and the man who raised him,” I say. “As the son of his parents, every single person in this pack should be thanking the goddess that he is nothing like his father.” The doctor stares at me, his mouth open. “As the pack doctor, I am sure you are very well aware of everything happening in here.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You are a pack elder,” I say.
Again, he pauses and stares at me. “Luna, you are starting to frighten me, and I mean that in a good way. I am an elder, yes. I don’t look like it because I am still working and not as old as an elder usually is, but I am. How could you tell?”
“You are not scared of the alpha family,” I say. “And you don’t mince your words. You have the pack’s interest in mind, as it should be for an elder.” Unlike the elders in my former pack. “How did you get the position?”
“The former elder was my father. I got the title from him,” he says. “And obviously, I took all the tests and exams to prove I am eligible.”
I nod. Elders are usually only a handful of older pack members: a maximum of three, who have a vast knowledge of everything, and are known to be fair and watch out for the pack. Just like alphas and betas attend courses and learn the ropes of their rank, and have to prove they can do it, elders have to pass an exam.
“Are there more elders?”
