Second Chance Luna (Phoebe and Jason) novel Chapter 45

“Um…May we join you?”

Phoebe looked up to see a trio of lunas cautiously approach while she spoke to Koko. She smiled warmly, “Of course.”

Koko introduced the three lunas as she was well-acquainted with them. They all came from mid-ranking packs, “This is Luna Arin from Tumbleweed Pack, Luna Kimi from Mountain Keep and Luna Sashi from Meridian.”

Perhaps expected from lunas from smaller packs they were all on the shorter side, petite like Phoebe. Sashi was also rather plump and she gave off a gentle, calm aura.

The trio of lunas joined them in the water. They were nervous about meeting a Luna of such a large pack, but seeing how easily Phoebe accepted Koko’s presence gave them the courage to introduce themselves. The pup in Phoebe’s arms soon found several more eager to cuddle with him as he splashed.

“..Excuse me.”

Phoebe looked over her shoulder to see the young she wolf from the dining hall along with two others. Some paragraphs are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Jobnib.com. Visit Jobnib.com to read the complete chapters for free. Judging by how they stuck together they were clearly acquainted. All three were dressed in bikinis, one also wore a sarong. Phoebe wasn’t much into trends but she would consider them fashionable young she wolves not that she was any expert on fashion.

“Yes?” Phoebe prompted when they remained silent.

“We were just wondering when it would be our turn,” the first said.

“Your turn? I’m not sure I understand,” Phoebe said, genuinely confused. The pool was open to everyone though with the Luna Luncheon scheduled around it most of the rest of the pack elected other distractions for the day with the exception of the daycare and her guards.

“Well…when is everyone else going to leave?” the she wolf glanced at the other young wolves splashing and having fun.

“They’ll be here for awhile,” Phoebe said still confused.

“Don’t be shy. You’re welcome to join them.”

“But…they’re unranked,” the young she wolf finally said.

“That’s right,” another seconded, “in our packs unranked wolves are restricted to certain swim times.”

“And if you decide to throw a pool party during that time they can’t swim at all for the day,” Phoebe surmised. She didn’t need their confirmation. “And do you think regulating them like that fosters loyalty and pack unity?”

The three she-wolves looked at each other in confusion.

“Let me put it a different way,” Phoebe sighed; “if a lower ranked member of your pack and you are alone in the woods and suddenly found yourselves attacked by rogues do you think that pack member would stand and fight with you or would they run and save themselves? Keep in mind this pack member may be one you have bullied and degraded because they were powerless to stop you. A pack member you probably don’t even know by name. Do you think they would do anything to protect you, their tormentor? Do you think pack bonds are strong enough to save you when you have done nothing to strengthen them?

The three she wolves stared at her in shock. They had been raised as alpha daughters and taught the pack was subservient to them. It never occurred to them that the pack would not support them whole-heartedly.

“They would get in trouble for abandoning us,” one said.

“Maybe,” Phoebe allowed, “but who would tell anyone the truth of what happened after you were gone. Besides, lower ranked wolves are weaker and rarely trained. Would they really be punished?”

The young trio shared uncertain looks.

“And what if your fated mate ends up being one of those unranked wolves you’ve looked down on all your life?” Phoebe asked. “It’s not unheard of, after all, I myself was unranked until Jason found me. It’s not easy for alphas to find their fated mates, perhaps that’s because they are looking in the wrong place.”

Again the trio gave each other tentative looks. They had always assumed they would find their fated mates among the ranked members of the pack: alpha, beta, gamma, but…

“That’s probably why so many alphas resort to taking chosen mates,” Phoebe said. “It also explains why the birthrate among ranked pack members has fallen.”

“What do you mean?” one of the trio asked

“It’s not secret. Fertility rates between chosen mates is far below that of fated ones. With a chosen mate you might only have one or two pups while a fated mate you can easily double that. Which explains why all of you are only children.”

“H-how did you know that!” one of the she wolves stuttered.

“Wolves recognize their own,” Phoebe smiled.

“You mean you’re…”

“Yes. I’m an only child too. My parents were fated mates but they met much later in life since they were from different packs. But as far as your parents are concerned… they are most certainly chosen mates. In fact, I’m certain at least one of them rejected their fated mate.”

Lucille suddenly snorted laughter drawing their attention.

With a smirk she explained, “Given I grew up with their parents I can confirm everything you just said.”

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