Warriors of Blue moon

Florence POV:

It’s been over a year now since we lost Lelanna and things hadn’t gone back to normal, at least not for Sam and Layton or her family. I thought back to when we had started the search for her, the warriors that had been handpicked by Layton and Sam had searched high and low even with Layton and Sam by their sides, day and night, but still week after week, month after month, they would return with no news.

They would come back and tell me, father and mother that there was no scent, lost clothing or weaponry, nothing at all that could lead us to her or even to know if she was still alive. It gradually had a draining effect on them both. Luckily the three groups of 12 warriors we had picked to join the mission had stuck to their word and not told anyone, they had all shown their loyalty, but for most of them they knew Lelanna or knew of her and they all held a high respect for the fact that she was a skilled warrior and so close to my family.

I remember Sam’s face when Layton first told him of the mission, he had actually looked quite shocked but I could see the bright hope in his eyes. He was so eager to get out and find her that he was adamant in joining the first 12 and Layton in the search. So off they went, they’d be gone for seven days and return for two, then they would be off again, searching different areas, widening their search, they were barely home and their absence was really noticeable in the Palace and for our people in the village. But with mum and dad’s guidance and help I took on the pack duties with them, trying to keep things in place and ticking over while they were gone.

Layton and Sam, although exhausted and angered by their lack of findings, they still worked hard in the palace on the days they were home. The detective my father had confided in did his best to find answers on what happened that day, every villager he asked that had been in the area between the lake and Zara’s home had claimed they never saw her, especially bloody and wounded. The detective said every one of them were completely certain they hadn’t seen or heard any commotion near the lake. It had been a warm quiet and calm day, so any noise would have been noticed, or anyone walking around with blood or cuts would have been seen. Everyone in the village knew each other and it was a lot calmer and less populated than the high street and the town. Everyone knew Zara and yet she didn’t ask for help from anyone on her way from the lake to her house when she would have had to pass through the village.

My dad had decided to call Zara in for a meeting to discuss the events of what happened that day. According to my dad Zara kept putting on the tears, that he said felt like an act and on queue to avoid having to answer any interrogative questions. Two days after the meeting my dad sent two warriors to bring Zara and her parents in for another meeting, but they were gone. The warriors gained access to their home to find most of their belongings were still there apart from their clothes and there was no sign of any of them. All of Zara’s remaining extended family were interrogated but they all claimed they had no idea why they left or where they would have gone. My dad put out a missing persons request to neighbouring Alphas and informed them these people were wanted for a potential false accusation of a serious crime.

All the Alphas my dad reached out to were good alliances and close to my family and once they knew that the daughter of the legend Mr Vanderwood was the one being accused, they did their best to help. They visited the homes of all their people in case there was anyone in hiding, they even sent out some of their own warriors to search around their pack boarders. As the months rolled by, Zara and her parents hadn’t been seen by any packs either. The Alphas had even reached out to other Alphas in respect of my dad, but it was as if they had dropped off the face of the earth. They were definitely in hiding somewhere but we had no idea where or where to even begin to look.

As much as I enjoyed taking care of the pack and its duties, getting to know the warriors, the villagers, learning our protocols, having meetings, even arranging the meetings, because it felt so good to finally have an important place in my own pack and home but as we reached the end of a year, seeing Layton and Sam’s dejected attitudes every time they returned, became a worry and the searches with 36 warriors constantly alternating and not being able to be home with their families for long or help patrol the pack boarders, all the remaining warriors were taking on all the shifts that belonged to the missing warriors. Complaints and accusations were coming in, things were getting tough and to have no news of Lelanna for a whole year...well it meant we had to accept reality and make a decision, one that was hard to make!

When Sam and Layton came back from one of their searches, mother and Father broke the news to them that the search had to stop and that things had to be taken care of here, we needed all of our men and women and we couldn’t keep letting our warriors feel so helpless and disappointed without even a flicker of good news, It was taking its toll on all of them and it was obvious they missed their homes.

Of course, as we predicted Sam and Layton didn’t take the news well, but mother and father refused to fund the search or allow the warriors to be out of the territory anymore, although they understood, it hit them both hard.

I knew from our many talks growing up that Layton was in Love with Lelanna and that for him she was IT, THE ONE! Even when they both reached 18 and he realized they were not destined mates he would always tell me it was wrong and that she was meant for him, he couldn’t love any other like he loves her, no matter how hard he tried to remove her from his heart. So, when he knew the searches had to end I could see the anguish in his eyes… the agony that the life he imagined with Lelanna never becoming a reality…. he’d lost her for good, but he blamed no one but himself. We all saw the pangs of guilt he felt and every week when they would come home, I would see the fear and unshed tears in his watery eyes. and Sam… oh Sam… his little sister and pretty much a best friend, they were always so close and had such a wonderful bond. He just looked so lost, I could see the lump in his throat that he tried to keep down as my father broke the news. Tears sprang to his eyes straight away and he looked absolutely defeated.

Everything since then has been...well… dull, sad, hard. Sam barely speaks when he’s around us, he does his job and he does it brilliantly, he’s a good leader and advisor to Layton, but he’s here for the job and nothing else, it’s like he’s lost all connection with us. Sam and Dakota were still together and all I could hope was that she bought him some comfort through his loss.

Me and Layton still talk all the time but it’s never happy or full of hope and dreams about the future like it used to be, It’s all sad now, like he has given up, even though he’s due to become the official Alpha in four months, he’s not excited in the slightest and Like Sam, he does his job, he does what’s expected of him and everyone, especially our warriors love and respect him. He’s clever, generous but sensible too.

He’s done so well preparing to take over as Alpha but at the end of every day when no one is around but me and him, he’s not the same person he is to everyone else. He drinks until he passes out and he talks of nothing else but Lelanna and how he let her down. He’s adamant he will never love another and will die always belonging to Lelanna and I knew he meant it. No matter how many women would try to woo him or flutter their eyes to gain his affection, he never showed any interest, if anything he always seemed irritated by it and I didn’t blame him, I knew for Layton, Lelanna was irreplaceable. His one mistake has cost him dearly but ever since then he promises himself to never make that same mistake again.

I always hope that she’s alive and safe somewhere, maybe in another pack although I know that’s pretty unlikely as we asked all Alphas to contact us the moment she was found. I keep telling myself how brave and strong she is and that she surely would still be alive, but I’ve heard the stories of what’s out there, I know the battles her father and Gabel fought together to scare the rogues from coming anywhere near our boarders.

But I still hope every day just as I know her family and her friends and Layton still hope…. That maybe…. Just maybe, she’ll come back to us one day and prove to be her fathers’ daughter.