Without a Trace

Lucky opened her eyes, and once again found herself in the place she had been transported to in the diner back in Albuquerque. The darkness was less terrifying now that she knew what to expect. "Big Mama?" She called out.

"Hello, daughter of mine." Selene appeared, embracing Lucky, who hadn't known how much she needed a hug until just then. Tears streamed down her face, sobs shook her body, as The Moon Goddess held her and soothed her with her melodic voice.

Lucky finally calmed down, hoping for some answers. "I can't believe I found my father. This is so confusing."

"You have been through so much in such a short time, you cannot forget your strength. You fought your way out of a situation most would have never escaped."

"I had a pretty clear advantage. I was a giant wolf. They were humans. Most who are in my situation don't get that chance," Lucky said. She laughed, "I guess I live up to my name."

The Moon Goddess sighed. "Yes you do. I hated seeing you go through that but I couldn't intervene until your life was in danger. I released Nyah's full potential and bound her to you when I knew it was necessary to save your life. You needed werewolf healing."

Lucky shivered at the memory. She didn't fully trust Selene because she had, indeed, not intervened sooner. "Thank you for that," she finally said. "It gave me hope. It was scary at first because I had no idea what was happening. Then I realized it was my way out of that hell." She changed the subject. "I discovered what my gift is. I can project emotion?" Lucky half stated, half asked.

"Yes. You can project any emotion, which you appeared to understand the full implications of quickly. I wish you could have seen the ripple effects from your moments of happiness with your mate. Everyone in that hotel felt it. It changed the course of their lives, for the better."

"But I could be equally destructive if I release large amounts of negative energy, like anger?"

"Exactly, but there may be times when that becomes an advantage." Selene told her, and Lucky correctly assumed she would not elaborate further. She would have to figure that one out on her own.

"Listen to your wolf and trust your instincts."

"Is my birth mother alive?" She bluntly asked Selene, not expecting a definitive answer. Selene looked thoughtful for a moment. The truth would come out, but it needed to come out at the right time. So, she simply told her, "perhaps your father can help you understand why he believes she is."

"But you know, don't you?" Lucky implored her.

"I know enough. And so do you. Don't doubt yourself, dear. Your destiny is waiting. Your mate is waiting. His parents will be at dinner. I will ensure you are seated near them. Be careful of werewolf hearing. Pass them a note, telling them to find a reason to invite you over. You will be able to talk safely there."

Before Lucky could ask any more questions, she heard her name being called and found herself back in Alpha Liam's office, sprawled inelegantly on the floor in front of the couch she had been sitting on. Should she tell them what had just happened? She decided to let them think she passed out from the shock of it all.

"How embarrassing," Lucky stated as she rose to her feet. "I guess I am more tired than I thought." She looked at Luna Gina, who looked suspicious that there was more to it, but that could also have been in Lucky's head. After all, it couldn't be easy for the Luna to deal with, having her husband's daughter with his true mate show up, especially considering she had lost her own child. She felt a surge of anger as she remembered they all accused Traven and sentenced him to death. Quickly she thought of playing fetch with Flappy and the anger receded. She didn't want to rush to judge this woman, who had been through so much, and was dealing with a situation that many would find uncomfortable at best. Trust your instincts, don't doubt yourself, listen to your wolf.

If she listened to her wolf, the Luna would be chased from the room, maybe with her life, maybe not. Nyah did not like the Luna. She was supposed to trust Nyah, and could not deny that she had a bad feeling about Luna Gina. Could she have had something to do with Lucky's mother disappearing?

She sat back down on the couch. "Sorry for being overwhelmed. This is a lot to deal with, I swear every time I turn around something crazy happens." She sighed, looking at her hands. "I had no idea I was a werewolf until this one terrible night. These people hurt me, badly, and I would have died but Nyah came that night and I healed from my injuries."

She looked at her father, who looked furious, at the thought of what Lucky had been through. Alpha Jacob hadn't gone in to a whole lot of detail, probably because he knew full well that when Alpha Liam was angry or felt threatened, he tended to be irrational. Alpha Jacob had been after him to look more closely into Neveah's death. He had refused, telling him he already knew who did it. Now, he found himself questioning himself, how sure was he that the crime had been solved? In his grief, could he have been too quick to accuse one of his pack members? It had made sense in the moment but if he was honest with himself he hadn't been able to figure out a motive. Why would Traven, one of Neveah's good friends, kill her in cold blood? Was his reluctance to investigate further due to his certainty of being right, or his shame in possibly being wrong?

And, of course, the grief he felt over what had happened to his beautiful, kind hearted daughter. She was to be Alpha when he stepped down, one of the first female Alphas in the werewolf world. It was becoming more common for the Alpha title to be given to daughters when there were no sons. He agreed with this. Neveah had all of the qualities a good Alpha needed, many would have seen her kindness as a weakness but Neveah was anything but weak. She was always the one standing up for bullied pups in school, more than once sent home for beating up a classmate for picking on another pup. As she learned self control, her kindness had been an asset, many times he found himself seeking his daughter's advice. She had never steered him wrong. What would she have done, in that situation?

He was certain she would have stood up for Traven. If he was innocent. The Alpha looked tired, all of a sudden, the weight of his conscience making itself known. In his heart of hearts he didn't truly believe Traven had been the murderer. There had even been reports of feral looking rogues in the area that day. But why would those rogues target his daughter? Just for sport? He couldn't believe that either.

"You look tired," Lucky said, "maybe we should just spend some time getting to know each other and not focus on all of the heavy stuff, but can I ask just one question?"

"Of course," Alpha Liam said, smiling at Lucky's emotional intelligence. She reminded her a bit of her sister in that moment, although there was a hardness to Lucky that was very different from Neveah. This was probably because of the horrors she had experienced, and what she had done to escape from that place- she had courage. He felt a sense of pride, looking at his daughter who was as much his doppelgänger as Neveah had been Gina's.

"Why do you think my mother is still alive?" She asked him.

"I never felt the bond snap. I don't feel it anymore, like it is blunted, there is no pull, no mind link, I marked her, she was angry at me for that. Said it wasn't fair to her or to Luna Gina. She refused to mark me, she didn't want Gina to hurt any more than she already had." He looked ashamed, again, and was surprised when Gina spoke.

"You never told me she said that," her face was pale, she looked like she was about to faint herself. Again, Lucky felt pity for her.

"If she had died I would have felt something, even though the bond was only half complete. I now know that she survived after she was gone, your existence is proof of that. She was not far along when she disappeared. What I don't understand is how you came to be abandoned. And who was she with, that you believed your father was with her?"

"I have no idea. They were staying in a vacant apartment, the neighbors assumed they had moved in and the people running the apartment never suspected a thing." A thoughtful look crossed her face. "Almost like they were hiding."

Lucky and her father stared at one another for a moment, he could see many more questions in her eyes, along with an anger that he felt was directed at him, Goddess knew she had reasons to doubt him. He was beginning to doubt himself. Not a good thing for an Alpha to do.

He stood up, smoothing the front of his suit coat, and Luna Gina stood with him. They were quite an attractive couple, her blonde, businesslike look complemented his dark hair and eyes in an interesting way. "We will be serving dinner in a couple of hours. I can introduce you to the pack. I encourage you to spend some time getting to know them. At some point you might wish to join Midnight Moon, but take all the time you need. You lived as a human most of your life, I want you to be sure it is what you want." He reached for Lucky, wanting to give her a hug, but pulled back just as she stepped forward. He was embarrassed until he suddenly felt a wave of love, it hit him hard. He pulled his daughter in to his arms, fighting tears.

"I'm so sorry, my little girl, I never knew, I looked for her for so long. I never stopped looking." Lucky hugged him back, also fighting tears.

"My life was not always bad. There were tragedies but also a lot of happiness. Some day I want you to meet the Smiths, the couple who raised me." Alpha Liam agreed, he would love to meet them. "I haven't told them about the whole werewolf thing yet. They were looking for me, when I disappeared without a trace they were devastated. I let them know I was okay. So much is happening. A few tears spilled over. "It's so much."

Amelia put her arm on Lucky's shoulder, guiding her new friend back to their rooms. She needed time to process her collection of answers before asking any more questions.

Luna Gina watched silently, a strange look on her face, a mix of anger and something resembling, perhaps, regret. For once she was glad no one was looking at her. The only thing she knew for sure was that Lucky was trouble. Just how much trouble remained to be seen. Taking out her phone, she sent a single text. "Time to collect." She hesitated for a minute, then hit send.