Chasing Luna

By Natasha Renee

There is only one thing in this whole world that could scare Alex. Finding her mate!
That would be the last thing Alex wants for herself.
The thing is...she doesn't want a mate. So when she runs into him, she doesn't know what to do. His name is Jonah, and he's an Alpha, and he is perfection. They are predestined to be together, but Alex still denies him. How is Jonah going to win the heart of a wolf that does not want or need him? Will she keep pushing him away? And what does Alex do when the Alpha puts up such a good chase?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Natasha Renee
• Release date: Mar 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005217198

Natasha Renee

Natasha Renee lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two young kids. She has always been a lover of books since the moment she learned how to read. Her writing career started out with poems and short stories and soon she decided to try to write a full novel. So putting pen to paper she got to work and wrote her first story, Chasing Luna. It took a lot of encouragement from friends and family to share those stories and her imagination with the world.When she's not writing, she spends her time reading, and traveling the world with her family. Happy and excited about becoming a new author Natasha looks forward to sharing her vivid imagination and the lives of the characters in the stories that she has created with everyone that reads her books.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Run, run Alex, go! Don't stop! I chanted in my head as I pushed myself pass the slight burn that I felt now forming in my left leg. Ignoring the pain and the roar of the crowd that I was zipping past at high speed I tried to focus on one thing and one thing only. The finish line! I had that red ribbon in my sights as I finished my last lap around the track and increased my speed. I imagined myself crossing that line. And that’s exactly what I did twenty seconds later. I pumped my fist in the air while the crowd went wild. I was now the new regional champion and made my track team #1 in all of the colleges in the western hemisphere.

My teammates all ran onto the field and surrounded me with hugs and slaps on my back. Also I was able to receive my trophy and sash for having the record for fastest time in regional history. I was on cloud nine, feeling like a god among men and nothing could pull me down from my cloud. Even the moon goddess herself would have been proud of me.

As I was heading from the locker rooms after showering and changing my clothes I heard the sang-song voice of my best friend and Luna of my pack, Celeste.

There's my superstar she sung as she wrapped me up in one of her bone crushing hugs. Celeste and I have known each other since we were pups fighting over the same Barbie doll. We always told others that we weren’t just friends but sisters even though she was my complete opposite. Compared to my five feet nine and a half foot height, Celeste stood five feet even and that was being generous. Where she had golden blonde waves that cascaded down her back and lightly tanned skin with startling bluish gray eyes; I had dark reddish-brown curls that reached a little pass my shoulders and light brown skin with eyes that I like to classify as an olive color. We were the ebony and ivory of our pack.

You did great! I'm so proud of you She exclaimed while lacing her arm through mine as we made our way out of the arena.

Yeah Alex, it seems like you get faster and faster every time I see you run. Alpha Phil stated as he intertwined his fingers with the ones on Celeste other hand.

Thanks guys I said as we continued to walk to the parking lot.

Celeste and Alpha Phil are the leaders of the Ash Peak Pack in Fort Peck Lake, Montana. They have been mates since they found each other two years ago at a pack meeting when he was introduced as our new Alpha. They complement each other well. Where he is strong and commanding, she is soft and loving. Many of the members in our pack seek her out for emotional support and comfort. Including myself. Her warm energy as always calmed my wolf. That was another reason that she was my best friend and comforter. Without her, I would have killed many people by now. To say I have a short and lethal temper was an understatement. I am always on edge and in need of constant relief, which is why I try to stay as close to Celeste as possible, because she keeps me grounded. Without her I would not be able to deal with my home life that just keeps getting more and more bleak as the days go on. As if sensing where my head was Celeste commented on the obvious.

So, I'm guessing he didn’t come? She asked.

No, but I’m not too surprised. He has not been to one of my meets in a while and even though he always says he'll be here, his seat is always empty I replied with a sigh.

I'm sorry. She said in a sad voice. Maybe he'll come next time.

Giving Celeste the side eye I stated. The seasons over Celeste.

Okay, well than he will come next year She huffed.

Whatever I said rolling my eyes. Even though I know Celeste was trying to make me feel better about my situation I knew the truth. My father was never going to come and participate in any of my activities. He just didn’t have it in him anymore. I didn’t blame him for it; it's just the way it is. Ever since my mother, his mate passed. My father changed for the worst and will probably never return from his despair of losing his mate.

How about we take you out to celebrate your victory? Alpha Phil asked changing the subject. Even though he was the Alpha, he always took the time to show support to any of his pack member’s activities outside of the pack. I was one of the few pack members that wanted to continue school and go to college outside of the pack. Even though my school had a few humans it consisted mostly of wolves from various packs around the state. With that being said we have to pay close attention to how we acted around them.

Sure! I'm starving! I said jumping up and down excitedly. I really was hungry.

CHAPTER 2

Pulling up to my house two hours later I shut off the engine and stared at the house that my dad and I shared. Sometimes it was hard to go in there and face my dad. My mom died a three years ago. She was hit by a drunk driver one night coming home from working as a nurse at a community hospital. Her death hit my dad and I hard, but my dad never really recovered from the lost.

My mother was his mate and losing her sent him on a downward spiral that he never climbed out of. He is just a shell of his former self. He walks around on autopilot just barely getting through the day. At one point in time, he was our packs head physician, but after my mother's death he was not able to handle the stress so Alpha Phil thought it was best if he took on a lower role as an assistant and only handled minor health problems.

Each morning I make his breakfast in the morning and drop him off at the pack clinic before I head to school. One of the other assistant’s drops him off at home and once I come home I make dinner. Our days consist of me asking him questions and him giving me yes or no answers. At times I have to repeat myself and I often wonder if he even notices my existence at all.

Letting out a deep breath I jump out of my Jeep grabbing my gym bag and head into the house. The house is dark as usual. My dad usually doesn’t turn on any lights when it gets dark. I don’t think he even notices the difference between day and night anymore, or maybe he just doesn’t care to notice. So once I walked in I head for the lamp beside the couch and click it on. I was not surprised to see my dad sitting on the couch sipping a beer and staring at a blank TV screen.

Hey dad I said. Did you eat yet? Are you hungry? To that he nodded yes he was. OK, let me put my bag up and I will make you a plate. I stated heading to my room.

After getting my dad fed and off to his room to bed, I went and prepared for bed myself. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling for a long time. I was anxious about something. What? I had no idea but I could feel my wolf stirring and that put me on edge. I lay in bed for another hour tossing and turning still not able to sleep. I stared at the ceiling willing myself to go to sleep when a howl sliced through the quiet night. It caused me to jump out of bed in high alert. The howl went on for a period and I know exactly who it was. Dad!

I raced down the short hallway and into his room just as the howl cut off. I raced to his side and held him down as he thrashed about in the bed. He eventually settled down after a few seconds and I stroked his hair as he slumped back and his breathing returned to normal. His eyes were still closed and I knew that he slept through the whole episode. These episodes do not happened often, but every so often he would dream of my mother and his wolf would surface. Causing him the howl out in anguish. I always have a mild heartache on these nights.

Once I made sure my father was over his episode I gave up on trying to sleep so I grabbed a small pack for my clothes to bring with me. I exited the house though the back door to go for a run. At times when I couldn't sleep I would go for a run through the woods to clear my mind and calm my wolf. And after what just happened with my dad a run is exactly what I need.

I stripped out of my clothes, stuffed them into my bag and shifted into my wolf. With a quick shake I grabbed the bag between my teeth and took off towards the woods. There was nothing like running while in wolf form. The wind whipping through my fur as I ran at full speed through the forest as the scenery rushed by. I felt wild and free without a care in the world. These were the times I could let go of all of my baggage and truly be myself. At top speed I was nothing but a blur of movement as I zipped through the trees, I could run all night.

After an exhilarating run through the woods behind my house, I shifted back into human form and pulled on my clothes as I walked towards my favorite spot. It was a huge lake that runs in the middle of the woods called Fort Peck Lake. Something about staring at the water that flowed smoothly down the banks that always put myself and my wolf at peace.

Just as I was about to close my eyes and connect with the nature around me a twig snapped. My head followed the sound as another twig snapped. Checking for any other sound or movement, I scanned the trees in the direction I heard the sounds. I didn't see or smell anything but I heard another twig snap followed by a low snarl. Shit! Who the hell is out here with me? As I quickly realized I was no longer alone. I slowly stood up still watching for any movements to indicate where my intruder was located. Then I saw it. A pair of red glowing eyes that was then accompanied by six other sets of the same red eyes. Rogues! All of my senses were now at full alert.

Perfect timing I thought with a small smile. I guess I will be working off my steam in other more thrilling ways I said under my breath as I slowly stood and faced my unwelcome company.

Look who we have here boys One of the red glowing eyes said in a gruff voice. A little red riding hood came out to play with us. The other red eyes laughed mockingly at me. They stepped up coming in to view of the full moon. To say they were ugly was an understatement they were beyond that. Each of them had greasy hair that shined in the moon light and I could now smell the disgusting scent of something like sewage. I almost gagged. This was true for all except the one that had spoken. Even in the moon light I could see his striking features. His eyes lost their red glow as he sauntered from behind a bush. But even though he had almost paralyzing looks I still recognized him as rogue. And I was still left wondering why I couldn’t smell them coming.

This little red riding hood does not want to play with anything as disgusting as you and your disgusting friends I growled out. The leader eyes flashed before he took another threatening step toward me, which caused me to crouch into my fighting stance.

You have a bad mouth on you, red. I think you need to be punished for that He said.

Bring it on stinky I said. Just then I heard a few more growls that caused my eyes to get a bit wider as six more rogues came into view joining their friends. Shit I said under my breath. Six I can handle, but thirteen was pushing it. I had no other choice but to make a run for it, and that’s exactly what I did.

Since they were blocking my route back to my house I turned and ran the other way. Track really came in handy during times like this. As they gave chase I tried to pay attention to the direction I was running, making sure I did not run into any human neighborhoods. I jumped over fallen tree limbs and uprooted stomps. I weaved through the trees gaining momentum as I went. Just as I was gaining speed I noticed a quick movement to my right and panicked thinking that one of them caught up to me. The movement captured my attention causing me to stumble over a root and fall to the ground face first. I quickly jumped up to face my attackers when a large male jumped in front of me growling at the rogues who were high on my tail. He was a huge shirtless wall made of pure muscle and he radiated strength and power. Alpha! My mind screamed. I could feel his power radiate off of him.

The rogues surrounded me and my mystery wolf that still had his back to me. Seeing that he was not a threat I turned my back on him to face the rogues that were closing in on my back. I growled at them letting my inner wolf out to play. As soon as she came out, one of the rogues launched at me. I bent low grabbing his outstretched hand and using his momentum to my advantage, throwing him over my left shoulder into a nearby tree. He hit the tree hard with a loud thud and landed on the ground unconscious. I turned my attention back to the remaining rogues to have two come at me at once. The first throw a punch that I swiftly ducked and countered with a punch to his ribs. I then turned in time to block the punch that was directed at me from the second rouge with my left hand and countering with a solid punch to his face breaking his nose and sending out a gush of blood. I went back to my first attacker and dropped him with a roundhouse kick that knocked him out cold.

My wolf was enjoying the violence and the cries of pain that my assailants were making. All of this just egged her on. I was caught off guard by a rouge that got behind me and kicked me hard in the back. I fell forward but caught myself, reared back and kicked the rouge in the gut. Quickly turning around I landed a punch right in his jaw. I heard his bone crushing and then him dropping to the ground. The rogues were dropping

Reviews for Chasing Luna

[Lindsay Dronen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I say this is a pretty good short read! The book kept me interested. The only thing I’d recommend is a proofread because there are some errors, but my brain quickly skipped over it.