* * *

The next morning, Andy slipped out in the undercover of the rising sun. Though it was difficult, for once he wanted to stay in bed and relax—For once he had a reason to.

But with that, he also had more of a reason to work, to make the pack a better environment for the newcomers, but also to uphold his promise. Though in the back of his mind, he was tinkering with an option, one of which that was surely either going to have Sage leave to Crescent Moon within the hour after hearing.

Or, on the off chance, they would strike the deal.

He felt dirty in playing with her lack of knowledge and possibility that her mate might be dead, but wolves had the potential for a non-fated mate to become theirs. It used to be considered a strategy between packs. A method to keep the Alpha gene going strong. But now everything was so heavily mixed that he was damn sure that Sage was more than rare, she smelled too much like an Alpha.

Yet now she smelled like him, and he was basking every minute of it when they sat down together at breakfast together. The smile on her face indicating that she had a much better time in managing her headache.

Have a good night, Alpha?

Severin teased, but it was Grey's laughter in the link that told Andy that this was a three-way-call. But he made great work of keeping to his meal of deer and potatoes. Though he was waiting for Sage to take his share, it seemed the she-wolf enjoyed the cook's potatoes even more than himself.

Yeah, an Alpha female—Tell me, top or bottom?

Andy growled instantly. The blatant disrespect from Grey was starting to weigh thin. As did his fist against the fork as he tried to call in his wolf, however, the soft hand soon wrapped itself into his, causing the fork to drop.

Okay?

She called out, and he soon found himself in a daze. Her eyes held mountains of concern and he could only nod, though Severin wiped his finger to the side of his lip. Indicating that the Alpha was drooling, though he wasn't—And if he was, there was a decent reason for it.

Because the question lay pure in his head for the entire day.

Was Sage a top or bottom?

It was going to take a lot more than sharing potatoes during meals to win her affection, but during the nights, she had been more approachable. That the closed doors offered privacy, and the walls between the two truly allowed them to connect.

Sage had been present to the coming of four new Rogues that heard from others of the location, earning him a question that he had to decipher because she couldn't manage to say it verbally.

However, when he caught sight of Ethel with Yaxel, he called them both over for the witch to translate the now Latin phrases Sage spoke out.

"She doesn't trust the male, says there's a...A black aura?" Ethel was now joined in on the newcomers, and she too, confirmed she felt it. However, it was the look of confusion from Yaxel and Andy to one another that truly caused more questions than which position Sage would find herself in the bedroom.

It certainly overtook his mind from being a horny male. However, he didn't have to fight the debate in his head much longer as Sage walked into his office after a quick knock. Leaving him to greet her with a smile and rising from his chair to come over towards her.

The full week of sleeping beside one another was sure enough reason to get their wolves to bond more so than skin.
It was slightly sneaky, but Andy certainly didn't know how to handle she-wolves in the traditional sense.

"Everything okay?" She blinked for a moment, then tilted her head up towards him with a twitch of her nose. "Yes. But I need to talk—tell you something." He flashed his teeth towards her in a smile. Her voice had a strong gruff towards it that always enacted and called to his wolf when she was near.

Yet he hadn't a clue why.

"Don't tell me you're leaving already, hun." He said with his hand going to his fake wounded heart. It was something she'd seen males around her do a lot. Both Jack and Remus for instance, when either Aurora or herself had said something that offended them.

She instantly went to reach for his hand and pulled it away. "Not bad. I don't like lying." It was certainly the truth, but it was better for one or the other to come.

His brows narrowed, and his hand gripped hers tightly. Feelings could not get in the way of his leadership. He'd seen the result of it far too much in his life that he'd be damned if he turned into a hypocrite now.

"What type of lie?" Her eyes darted this way and that, until they closed, and her breathing became long and even. Yet when they popped open, he caught the change she was trying to show. The pairing of a single onyx eye to a grey one was strange at best. But it didn't enact an answer like she would've predicted it would.

"I am Lycan, Alpha She-wolf. But I have more blood in me, Grandma is a witch." His silence didn't offer much of an answer, nor did his tightening grip.

Perhaps it would've been better to share that she was a Luna to Crescent Moon instead of just an Elwood mate? Clearly, she hadn't thought this through and huffed impatiently at the fact that Darius was still muted from her head.

She hated going about this all wrong, and she was constantly left unsure of her own choices. Or the simple idea of checking over an action would've been helpful, but he left when she exhorted all her energy.

Sage wanted to think that he was off with Willow, helping her with her own horror. It made her feel better at night when they weren't any sort of connection except the ones around her in Half Crescent.

"You're a witch?" She pulled up her free hand and gestured her to fingers, stating that she was only 'a little bit' of a witch. "Your grandmother was a witch who mated a wolf?" She nodded, whispering the term Alpha-male in response to his question.

"Mama not born in fur, but she gives birth in fur...Just not me." Andy frowned, asking for her to repeat it again. So she nodded, not as aggravated as before. Though this time, she came with a notepad from his desk.

Having it drawn out in front of him, minus the names, made it easier for him to understand. "So you're a witch...Is that how you can see the aura of the newbie?" She nodded with a small smile on her face, though when she turned to her water pouch, she let the cork go and began to bend the water out into the open with a steady line flying through the air.

"What the fuck?!" He said a gasp, his breath leaving him to choke on thin air as he watched in awe. It was truly hypnotic to see her go about with the movements, but it was the first honest smile that came upon her face for the day, and that was always a sure win.

"I heal cut?" She questioned, and he scoffed. Throwing his shirt down to the ground and offering up the better part of his torso. Sitting right on his desk, Sage had managed to direct the water to bubble up around her hands. The clear glow enacted her healing ability, one of which Aurelia had mentioned prior—That it was a Halliwell trait to heal.

Or perhaps just Willow's. One of the two, Sage couldn't quite remember which.

It truly hadn't taken that long, and when she pulled away and retracted the water back into the small leather flask—She was instantly interrupted with Andy's anxious lips onto hers. It had been such a shock that she let out a small gasped, though it only made it easier for him to slip in his tongue.

A move that caused Sage to slip further through his legs and settle one hand on his thigh and the other on his cheek, her thumb gently brushing at his ragged skin. The breath sucked in was damning, as were his hands that were riding very close in disturbing her fur cape.

"Careful with bear." She whispered in between the small kisses she inflicted. Better yet, he had managed to unbuckle it from her shoulder and gently place it on the table, his hands up in the air as a sign of a white flag.

Though in distraction, it was easy enough for him to maneuver her to his position on the desk with her legs parted to make room for him in between.

The rich sweetness that was erupting in the air was just sending even more sirens to his wolf. Infatuated did not cover what he felt for Sage. How could it barely be a month?

"You're beautiful, you know that? Goddess have mercy on my mind when you wear this..." He gestured to her outfit, the clothes made sense now. The lack of shoes was even more so, but what he really wanted to see was her just wearing her bear fur.

That's what he wanted—needs to see.

However, like most days, the door flung open, and a familiar set of shoes came raging in. Only it wasn't Grey like Andy had assumed it would be. No, it was Maeve, with Grey just a few steps behind.

"I'm sorry, Alpha. She wouldn't take no for an answer." He said with a tone of disgust, clearly, Severin had informed his Delta of the relationship Sage had with her own. Though not frowned upon in any regard, it was starting to get a little...Overbearing.

Especially when Andy caught the obsessed crazed eyes of the female Delta. The title given in an attempt to give Sage and her females a bit of comfort in knowing that they weren't losing their entire order.

"What the hell is this?!" The female called out, and Sage frowned upon seeing that the she-wolf finally made an appearance. "What?"
"N-no, you don't get to play dumb with me, Alpha. I'm yours, n-no—you're not really going fall for his deal, are you? If you become Luna, then we'll never leave!"
"You talk to Elena?"
"Yes! And you're nuts for taking it. I was supposed to be your Luna!" Sage blinked at the she-wolf in both confusion and annoyance, a quick flicker up towards the male she was sharing salvia with only accounted that they were on the same page.

"No. We don't mate and I don't mark you, Maeve. I love you, but not like mate."
"And you love him?!" Andy stepped away, this was clearly a catfight waiting to happen. And his ego surely didn't need a—
"My wolf does, yes. He's a sweet male who wants to help, I try and look for you and you run away...Luna's don't do that."
"So it's okay for you to cry out by the lake but—" Neither Grey nor Andy could've seen Sage move any faster, but the way she handled to silence her Delta was beautiful if not well tamed.

She held Maeve just above herself, so her feet wouldn't touch the ground, and all the weight went straight to where Sage held her by the throat.

"I cry for pups, my pups, my family, and my lost mate. You run away because you don't like Alpha-male. You want to be in pack, then you need to learn. Not in cage anymore." Sage hissed, and without fail she dropped Maeve down to the floor without so much as a warning or gentle lift.

Andy managed to lock eyes with Sage for a moment, but she only pressed forward to retrieve her bear fur. "Not Delta anymore, leave room." She instated, her back turned to the door behind them both. Which caused the Alpha-Male to nod off toward Grey in an attempt to remove Maeve from the room.

The shouts and screams surely caused a commotion, and it left Sage tenser than before she entered the room. In attempting to get her bear fur back onto her shoulders, Andy had turned to help her, but also calm her rash actions.

"I guess she won't take it well..."
"Take what well?"
"Not being your Luna?" Sage attempted to give herself a moment before shrugging.
"I don't want a Luna."
"But you'll be mine?" He was filled with questions, one of which Sage did not know how to follow through with.

A sigh escaped her before she knew what to say, and that is when she turned to face him properly. "I don't know. I miss my mate and pups. Wolf likes you, but it's wrong—"
"It's not wrong. It's progression, hun. Many wolves find someone else after losing a mate. Usually they pair up with those who've lost a mate too."
"But you don't lose mate, and I don't know if mate still alive." This was a nasty case of going back and forth, and it certainly made her anxious to leave, so she hurried along and found her footing off toward the door.

Yet Andy couldn't take that risk.

"If your mate is dead—" She didn't give him the curtsey of finishing that sentence as she whipped her head around.
"Careful...You might be Alpha-male, but I don't like you talking about my male." The firing gaze she'd given him was a warning. He wouldn't put it past her to manage to collapse the whole building.

Sage was not just a wolf anymore, not with her secret out in the open. Witches could cause mass destruction, if not worse. He's met a few in his lifetime and all of whom were ready to cause a riot.

"If they're not alive anymore...I'll father your pups, Sage. Your pups deserve a father." It was clear that she hadn't thought about that and so she huffed. "I have siblings and my dad...You have female somewhere Andy. You find them." She said with clearcut conviction, but he shook his head.

"Sage...How old do you think I am?" That was a strange question, and it surely sparked her to think. He was certainly older, but her father and Papa Leo were about fifty to sixty-something.

"More than thirty?" It was a rather dark chuckle to escape his lips as he couldn't deny that she was right. "I'm thirty-four, I have no heirs to my name, and I've never gotten a whiff of a mate. You're the first she-wolf who's awakened my beast in at least a decade, and I don't mean quick fucks, Sage. I want you." Her eyes went wide once more. She couldn't believe the words coming from his mouth, his beautifully soft mouth that her wolf couldn't stop recalling over and over again.

"You—I don't understand." She admitted, and he came closer to her. All with slow and cautious steps not to offend her wolf any further tonight. His hand managed to wrap and interlock with hers, gesturing to his heated skin and keeping contact.

He knew how much it meant to her wolf.

"I want you. I want you to be mine, and I want to be yours. Call me selfish. But I think the goddess truly did us right by sending you here—You didn't just stumble to these woods, I can't believe it any other way."
"Crescent Moon my pack..." She whispered, complete sadness dripping with every word she managed to croak out.

"It is, hun. But do you want to stay in your mate's birth pack? Would you really want to stay and see familiar faces? I can promise you that it's not easy. It never is."
"And coming here and meeting nice male is easy?" She shot back, the term of endearments was certainly going to his head now.

Sage was full of them, especially when she reached out and felt his scar once again. Humming along a tun to ease his suffering.

"I can't take pups from Crescent Moon...Wrong."
"It might be, they would grow up to be an Enforcer or something equal in rank, but Canada is starting to recognize us as a real pack. I'm working on getting the Rogues on the grid to—" It all made sense. All his persuasion made crystal clear sense.

And she felt so damn smart for unlocking it on her own.

"You need mate and Luna to join Conclave." It wasn't anger she was displaying, but it was more or less the same as her being disappointed.

"I do." He hadn't tried to lie or cover up, so she didn't do much more than huff and reverted back to the topic at hand.
"You don't know me." She finally admitted, and he shrugged.
"I don't need to. I know you're a good wolf. I'd be lucky to have a female like you by my side. Or, if I have to go to surrounding packs for meetings, I can leave them in very capable hands. It's rare these days to find trustworthy wolves. And it's even harder to find someone you want to spend your whole life with." The urge to stomp her foot on the ground to stop him from talking was growing more and more infatuated with Andy.

Had it been the Goddess' will? Or was it a damned distraction? After a strong inhale, she pouted. Coming to realize that the deal of being his Luna to be able to go to Crescent Moon still reigned over her shoulders.

"I go to Crescent Moon, if mate alive..."
"Then we part ways, and perhaps I've gained a lifelong friend. But if he isn't, and after all Black Crescent is sorted with their homes...You'll come back with me." Her eyes closed shut in an effort to mask the burning sensation rapidly growing.

She couldn't be a Luna. Not when she was still technically one for another pack—A Mother Luna. Was this illegal?
What were the conditions of this?

Andy watched as Sage's hand went up to her neck to her previous mark. He hadn't taken that good of a look at it. Not since she usually covers it with her hair or like now, with the bear pelt. He couldn't imagine how much it hurt—Still hurts.
The most he's heard of was the instance that Maeve had cold-heartily mentioned just a few moments ago.

"It's okay to miss them. It's normal."
"You miss family too?"
"Every day. And lately, just a little bit more." He said, his eyes almost drooping with the sound of regret trailing behind him. Though Sage was not well versed in reading between the lines, there was something strange with the way he said it.

Until the panic infused her, it came as a crashing wave that had almost knocked her over. But instead, she managed to hunch down and clutch her stomach, her fangs enacted, and her eyes began a new shade of black that Andy was sure he's never seen before.

"What is it—What's wrong?!"
"M-Maeve." It hadn't occurred to him what Grey would do with the She-wolf until he realized what the punishment of disrespect would lead to. And thus, he turned back towards the window and unlocked the window to see the former Beta-Female being chained to the centerpiece.

"Sage, you have to disconnect from her emotions. I know it's hard but—"
"Get. Her. Off." The growl came in between her clamped teeth, and it was certainly a change of character from the Sage he was speaking to just a moment ago.

"I can't do that, hun." He honestly admitted, and it caused her to squeeze her hand. "Why?"
"She disrespected both of us. She has no right barging into my office while you and I are speaking. She violated the policy not once, but twice now. We have rules in place for a reason, and I explained them to you and your females when you arrived." He knew what she was thinking. However, in seeing her rush towards the window with her hands against the glass, Andy couldn't help but feel guilty.

Whether Sage wanted to admit it or not, the love she shared for her Delta might be more than just platonic. It's the inability to love someone else other than a mate that truly set back werewolves and their kind for decades, to wait until the other half comes.

"Take her off." She hissed, and he could already see her suppression in making a scene down below. The self-control was beautiful, but he wouldn't be considered an Alpha if he didn't use this.

"Now, if you were my Luna...Then I wouldn't see an issue with you having a right over the she-wolves. But my rules are in place for a reason."
"Wrong. You keep her there if I say I will be your Luna. Then it's more dis-re-spect." He had to admit. She was getting better at deciphering.

It was both beautiful and damn annoying.

"I swear to you. It's not." She wanted to believe him. Every fiber of her body was burning at the idea of being limited by shackles and chained. The collar was worse than a cage at some points in her life.

So when Andy noticed that tears were leaking through her eyes, he stepped forward and attempted to comfort her.

"I be your Luna. But no mark-ing until after I see if mate alive."
"Deal."
"And I bring pups here?"
"Of course."
"And I can see family?"
"I will happily get more situated with tech and communication. All you have to do is play your role here. Be my Luna." She swallowed, the pain becoming unbearable until she nodded. Her hand had reached forward to her belt, where she removed a small dagger. One of which he had never seen before.

Never even felt on her person.

"Mate does this once...To make a promise with someone." She whispered, but somewhere deep down, her stomach rumbled at the idea of how binding this would be.
How monumental it would change the course of her world if it came to it.

Andy certainly wasn't prepared for Sage to whip the dagger out, let alone bring up an old law that he's only heard of a number of times. But he knew the risks, and he also knew that Sage was a she-wolf of her word.

Doing this would put the seal that he needed to prove to his wolves of Sage's position, and the possibility of having pups now was one of the few things that coursed through his mind.

As Sage allowed the knife to make a thin slice in her hand, she smiled as she handed him the said blade. "Wolf is happy."
"Mine or yours? Because I think mine is about to go out and howl in a second." He didn't look down when taking the knife to his hand. Instead, he felt himself hypnotized by Sage's flashing smile with closed eyes.

Yes, he could see himself attached to the female in front of him for the rest of his life.

And had been the first to offer his hand, the trail of blood already threatening to drop and stain his carpet. But truthfully, there wasn't much more these carpets could hold in terms of dirt and grime.
"Backing out already...?" He questioned, worried that his eagerness was freaking her out. Sage's denial caused him to relax his tense shoulders, though he could see the words buzzing around in her head, trying to form a sentence.

"If you find female...You go and be with her." She deemed, and that caused Andy to growl.
"I'm not going to find her. I'm closer to death than I am to that, hun...And what if we're living with pups of our own? You'd want me to leave you? Leave our pups for the chance to be with my mate. No."
"My mate was going to mate with she-wolf. I don't like her—I hate her. She cause big problems for me. I don't want to be like her." Andy could see the conflict in her eyes as she spoke on experience.
He could've sworn that she was shaking at the thought of her mate's potential bond.

"How long were they together?"
"High school? She work with him too. Half pack likes her, and half pack doesn't...I was going to be kicked out from Crescent Moon."
"What? Why?"
"Cause I didn't meet Mate yet, then they have to keep me. Alpha makes new rules." Sage had missed the softness in his eyes. How could he be making a deal with such a kind-hearted she-wolf?

She was going to get kicked out of Crescent Moon for what?
He knew better than anyone what the pack stood for and how it was still standing, but if she wasn't mated to a pack member, then Andy did not doubt seeing that she'd need to be relocated.

"Your Alpha find a mate yet?" Sage's eyes went wide as she certainly hadn't expected that question. And she was met at a crossroads. What was too much to tell him?

"I can't talk about my Alpha with you. That's not right."
"But after this little shake, I'll be yours, and you'll be mine."
"No bite until I know what happens to mate, Andy. That's what you said." She said with a pointed finger. So he held up his hand and caught that his genes were already in the process of healing it.

"Have about a minute to decide. My skin regeneration is pretty top-notch...Even if it did nothing to help my face."
"Your face is fine. Come here." She said, her hand had been the one to be out, and he held no hesitation like she had prior.

Sage sighed in relief that it was the same feeling. Not only was she joining the pack properly with this action. But the reign of Half Crescent's Luna was now completely accepted, only making matters worse when her eyes darted out the window again.

"Let her go."
"She has about another twenty minutes. I'm sure the Elwood's taught you everything about respecting those above you...Well, I guess there's only a few above you." That wasn't at all the truth in Sage's case.

She was Luna. The only person she really had to consider was Remus,' but realistically, that wasn't at all a demand half the time. And if it was, she could simply ignore it. Like her coronation.

"Alright...Now, what color do you want your dress?"
"My what?"
"Dress, I'm sure your Alpha had a coronation for his Luna, right?"
"I didn't say he has a mate." His head tilted, a small smile coming up on his face. Which earned him a stomped foot.

"You trick me."
"Sorry, I couldn't help it...So, is she nice? On a scale of one to ten? I'm guessing she is if you want to go back so badly." It was wrong for her to answer about herself.

"Pack likes her."
"And you don't?"
"She's trying her best."
"But?... I think I'm hearing a but coming."
"No buts. She helps Alpha a lot, changes rules and makes Crescent Moon better." Andy soaked up the information and let his head nod, all before his eyes drifted off towards the window. Chase was closest and proceeded to let Maeve go with a final warning that the next time this happened, the Luna wouldn't be able to aid her.
The Luna.

Sage was officially back to being Luna, and it was set in stone now.
Now the slight spark in her hands was to grow apparent. Perhaps it was the element she knew, and he didn't, that made the deal worth it, that even though he is the Alpha—She could still take his order up for consideration, now even more so since she's his Luna.

"Can I treat you to dinner?" She blinked off towards him and she nodded, earning herself a kiss on the cheek before he more or less skipped out of the room.

Yes. It was safe to say that there was something wrong.

______

Date: 09-02-2022

Time: 9:49

Words: 4833

Author's Note:

There it is! Sage has sworn a blood oath to Andy!

Is anyone else screaming at their phones?
I promise my Beta Reader was absolutely pissed at me for this one.

But now we know why Andy wants Sage as a Luna (Besides the obvious reasons for wanting a badass bear slayer like Sage). The Canadian Conclave has specific rules about packs wanting to join, and Half Crescent never met the criteria.

Maybe Sage should've just made that call in town, but then we wouldn't have a book!

Anywho, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! I'll see you Monday for the last chapter of this phase!