* * *

The look in Sage's eye screamed pure motivation, and she did not hesitate to snatch the phone off the counter to find Blake's contact number.

After holding it to her ear, she patiently waited for the former Rogue, who had now turned coven member, to pick it up.

"Hey Alpha, how's it going with—"

"You left the pack?! I come home, and you're just gone!!" she shrieked into the speaker, and Jackson turned to look at Grey.

"Oh, I missed this." The Crescent Moon Delta whispered, nudging Grey with a sense of an inner alliance. And even if the two had just met and learned one another name within the last few minutes, the newcomer had grinned. "I'll swap some stories with Sage, starting with the fight with Toby. Remind me." The Rogue issued, and either Delta had fist bumped while Blake was left to process who was calling him.

"Sage...?" Blake questioned, unsure if he could even believe it himself. But given the commotion that he heard from her line, it could only be the truth.

"...You slick bitch, how the hell did you pop up out of nowhere?" He breathed out, earning him a bright smile—One he wouldn't be able to see just yet. "I'll tell you when you come home. I have a job for you." She issued, which was all he needed to stake his claim in coming over.

With the call ending, she sighed in relief, hoping that at least one problem she wanted to get done would get a head start. "What? We have lots of Rogues and witches. They need to get home soon, too." Sage said, explaining part of her plan to the room, and who better to help than Blake Warren?

With Blake on the way, a fraction of the burden on her shoulders had started to lift, knowing that her Charge would know how to go about this. Yet when she turned back over to Remus, she had already met his gaze—But the male had already risen to his feet and taken the steps towards her.

In a not-so-friendly way, either. Not when the scarred line on her hand, and the bite on her neck had caught his attention so easily.

"What the hell is—" Neither Jackson nor Grey hesitated in putting their hands before Sage. And Remus was met with a few lingering eyes awaiting his next move.

Torin, being one of the many.

"Remus, look, I don't know if you see that scary Viking man Sage brought with her. But whatever you want to say can be done—" The hand on Jackson's shoulder had stopped his rant, and she kindly began to untangle the hands placed before her in Remus' almost hostile pounce.

"When Underground destroys mate bond, they make fake one with human...I know it's not you. Smells wrong...Then—" Sage choked on the thought as the sight before flashed back to the darkened garage and the sickened male who had an obsession with her and her mother.

Even now, her hands slowly made their way to the bite, hating how the pain erupted with just a single touch.

But Remus had gotten the wrong idea.

"You—You stole my Mate?!" Remus erupted in a roar, but Andy held his hands up and denied it. Even if it had been an offer, it still hadn't happened.

"Remus, that bite was there before I met her. I swear, I wouldn't—" Andy couldn't lie, not at this moment, not after so many lies had brought them to this type of heartache. So instead, he redirected himself, "—But, I did make a deal with Sage. And that deal is what brought us here." He honestly admitted, his eyes lingering softly toward Sage.

"So why do you have his mark on your neck?" In an instant, Sage pulled her fur back over her neck. It was a defensive action that she couldn't help but feel the gazes of judgment from everyone in the room.

"It's not Andy's bite, Remus. It's from the facility," Sage said, unable to meet anyone's gaze for very long. She knew it looked bad, and it still hurt at times. But what was worse was that she had to explain it to everyone when she wasn't ready to.

"That's why we couldn't recognize you...Your scent changed," Eli claimed, recognition of it all finally becoming clear, but that had undoubtedly amped up Remus as he attempted to gain forward, but not at Sage—But to Andrew.

"Alpha or not, Mate or not, I will not hesitate to subdue you, Remus," Torin explained, and that threw in another topic.

"Who the hell even are you?" He shouted, and the Viking smirked.

"My name is Torin. I hale from the Lundr pack off in Norway. I was given an assignment along with my family by my Alpha and Jarl. But that can be discussed after the other issues are settled." With that in mind, it caused another issue to remedy, but Andrew thought he should make it clear.

"It's not my mark. Our deal was made for her to become my stand in Luna until we could travel. That bite is not mine." Andy explained, hoping they wouldn't press on it any further, knowing Sage wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

However, Grey commented on wishing they could have made it sooner, which earned him a right-hand smack upside the head from Sage. Jackson was not far behind when he laughed.

"You offered to what?" Remus spat, the veins in his skinny arms looking ready to pop, yet as he looked around at the high-ranked males that joined in beside Andrew, it was clear right from the start, "...You made Sage your Luna?"

"I only offered it because Half Crescent needed one," Andy replied, allowing himself to relax, hoping he didn't look as intimidating as he felt. While it did cause Sage to tilt her head, it didn't matter, but it did make Remus a little more open to hearing the whole story—Yet Eli was not too thrilled about the reasoning.

"Is that why Swift Tail is falling at the seams?"

Andrew smirked at Eli's comment about that god-awful pack, and Sage sucked in a breath after the realization hit her.

"I...I killed three Alphas now." She said, claiming the achievement as her small wiggle erupted with a smile. However, the moment came into Sage's mind—After most of the conversation had been quickly explained. Or the basis of it, anyway. She eyed the room, almost expecting the pups to have woken up by all the chaos...Yet, there wasn't even a hint of them anywhere.

"Where are the pups?" Sage questioned, and Andrew didn't miss noticing how everyone in the room had straightened at the mere mention of the pups.

"Remmy?" Her voice had only caused the others to avert their attention elsewhere, but the way Remus had pulled his eyes up from the floor had only emulated the longing in regret he was trying to hide.

In trying to battle the sting in his eyes, he couldn't help but submit to the tears.

He had begged for hours over Sage's grave for her forgiveness, but with her alive...He wasn't so sure he would earn it or deserve it. So when his head hung low, it was clear to Sage that she wasn't going to get an answer from him.

So she scanned the rest of the room until she landed on the only wolf who didn't deviate from her gaze.

"Remus lost custody of the twins, Sage," Eli spoke, a hint of remorse playing on his words. Which earned him an instant glare from both Deltas and the opposing Beta, but a flash of anger rallied in Andrew.

"Lost...Custody?" She questioned, and it was clear that she hadn't heard the phrase before. But it didn't matter, not when Andrew took a stand.

"He lost the pups." Julia reworded, but Sage's quickened panic was defused by her brothers as they shared the truth: that they were away in Mystic Grimm with her side of the family.

And not actually lost.

"How did you lose custody of your own damn kids, Remus?!" Andrew roared, disregarding Torin's warning and following his own anger. After hearing so many stories of the twins, and making the promise of fathering them himself—He was equally as angry as Sage was, but not laced with as much confusion as her.

"It was for the better...I couldn't—I couldn't recover after Sage died."

"Did you learn anything from your father?! Or what NOT to be at the very least? Goddess Rem, what the fuck?!" Sage gasped at the mention of Randal, now it all made sense—Any time Andy fished for hints and details about Crescent Moon, he was doing it out of curiosity.

"You—You want to lecture me? Where the hell were you? Never mind Sage resurrecting, where the fuck were you?!" The bellowing voice of a former Alpha didn't have the same effect on the room, but when Andy spoke it undoubtedly caused some of them to tilt their heads.

Feeling the effects of an Alpha's tone.

"You mean after I 'died'? I failed, Remus. I wanted to blow that goddamn fucking building off the mountain to bits, and he saw it as retaliation. I was sold. It wasn't long before I was released...And then what? I'm a criminal at home? A war criminal? I couldn't just come back!" Andrew argued, and Sage only realized that she was crying when the tears had started trickling down her neck and then some.

"But you can come back having made a blood pact with my Mate?! By taking advantage of her—"

"I did not force Sage to do anything!" Andy's voice had taken a new octive as he laid down the law. He hadn't forced Sage into anything.

If he had, he would've accepted the blessing of the Heat and offered himself to her when she needed it the most. But Sage intervened before he could even mention that.

"Remmy, it was hard to come home. I don't know how to get home by myself. I didn't trust Alpha Noah, and good. Because he is almost as bad as Moon Valley." Sage explained, and that caught everyone's curiosity, and she closed her eyes, remembering another important detail that needed to be shared. Sooner rather than later. "He poisons Half Crescent like he did my Luna ceremony." She recalled, and that is when Luke couldn't remain quiet any longer, slamming his fist to the table as he cursed.

"When we're done, we're calling Moon Valley—Fucking liars." Sage shot her head off towards her brother and let out a firm shake of her head.

"We're not done...You said pups are in Mystic Grimm?" She questioned, and it called upon Aurora and her soft nature as she came forward to offer a comforting hand to her Luna.

"They are...Why don't we all settle down and wait for Blake to come, hm? Let me make you some tea." Aurora offered, but the blatant tone of talking to her like a pup had caused Sage's eyes to dull.

Had they always spoken to her like that?

Severin snorted at the sight. "This how they treat you in pack life, hun? Like you're an invalid?"

Grey had laughed alongside him, even when an instant deflection had rallied on the Crescent Moon side.

All but two.

"We do not treat her like an invalid!" Julia shrieked, and Andy rolled his eyes as he caught both of his males making jokes in their shared link. "You want a foot rub and a bath too, baby girl?" The Severin teased, which enraged the former stand in Luna Julia even further.

"Is that how you speak to your Luna and Alpha Female, Rogue?" The term had caused Severin to drop his smirk and pin his gaze off towards Julia, which caused Eli to stand and defend his female.

Just in case.

"Now that you mention it—Fake Luna, I happen to know my Luna very well, isn't that right, hun?" Severin admitted, and truth be told, Sage had first met Severin and had built upon their relationship as a team, it wasn't a lie.

"What a bitch..." Grey spat, but it had instantly been reprimanded by Sage.

"Grey, stop it." She hissed, Grey had been tempted to reply, yet he stalled upon seeing the fiery gaze in her eyes, which he quickly conceded to.

"Yes, Luna." The smug smirk had lasted a mere half second on Eli's face until Sage caught it with narrowed eyes. Grey knew what he was doing, tormenting the couple who took over Crescent Moon for their own gain.

"The pups are with my brother?" Sage questioned, not wanting to be distracted for another moment. And thankfully, Aurora had been the first to agree. However, Remus sucked in a breath, knowing that receiving a call with his name would look awful.

As the phone rang, Sage saw the home-line on the wall...Almost as if taunting her for its entire existence. Why hadn't her call worked if it was sitting right there, plugged in?

"Huh, was wondering when you'd call. The pups are sleeping right now, Rem. They had a full day in the—" Sage had missed the sound of her brother's voice so much that it caused her to lose track of her own voice and mission.

So she quietly listened to Harlow speaking about the pup's day. Thinking he was giving Remus a rundown of their day. But the line went quiet soon enough.

"Remus? You still there?"

"I want you on a plane. A safe plane. To bring me my pups." She instated, and Jackson began to roll his shoulders as he laughed at the thought of how Alpha Harlow must look upon receiving that type of call.

______

Date: 11/04/24

Time: 1:00 PM

Words: 2281