168, Going to China

168, Going to China
Tite
The other Lunas had decided I needed to relax and have some girl-time. All the Alphas, including Nash, had objected and acted like five-year-olds who had lost their favourite toy. Essme and Jane had jumped on the plan and packed a picnic basket for the Lunas.
“You can’t just go out in the desert all alone,” Sam pointed out as we were loading my aunt’s car. She had been invited, as the high priestess was almost a Luna, as Bella had put it.
“Why not?” Alice asked as she got into the back seat.
“Because who knows what could happen,” Graham said, earning approving nods from Ulf and Sam.
“Really?” Bella asked, rolling her eyes as she got in next to Alice.
“That is just pathetic,” Amber agreed as she was the last one into the back seat.
“At least take some warriors,” Ulf suggested.
“Love, we are four werewolves and two witches. I think we can handle going into the desert,” Amber told him.
“What? That doesn’t add up,” Graham objected.
“Gray, Tite is counted twice,” Bella reminded her mate.
“Will you be okay?” Nash asked me as he stood holding open the car door.
“We will be fine, and we will be within midlinking distance,” I promised.
“Good. Our warriors are patrolling the border, nothing should be able to slip by them,” he said and gave me a light kiss.
“No, no, no. You can’t give in to them,” Sam told Nash.
“That’s right. You need to be on our side,” Ulf agreed.
“I’m on my mate’s side,” Nash said and shrugged.
“And now he is making us look bad,” Graham groaned. “Fine! Have a nice picnic, sweetheart,” he said, leaning over the side of the car and giving Bella a kiss.
“Mindlink if you see a leaf blowing in the wrong direction,” Ulf told Amber, and she nodded whilst trying to stifle a giggle.
“Love you,” Sam told Alice.
“Don’t get lost, I would hate to have to go out and look for you,” Bones told my aunt.
“Oh, fuck off, you old goat,” she told him and then gave him a kiss.
“Behave while we are gone,” Alice said.
“At least there are no lakes and no fishing,” Bella told everyone, and both she and Alice laughed. I joined in as I knew the joke. As we drove off into the desert, we told my aunt and Amber about the incident on the lake when Bella had introduced Graham to her dad, and the two men had gone fishing with Alpha Sam and his father. Then about how Sam, Graham and Alpha Mikael had got into an ice fishing competition at New Year.
“If we hadn’t gone out there to get them, they would still be there,” Bella told everyone. We laughed.
“There is no fishing around here,” I said.
“At least that means we’ll have them all back by dinner,” Alice chimed in. We found a good spot by a rock formation that offered us shade. Spring had come to the desert, and it was almost passing into summer. We spread out the blankets and sat down with our food.
“How are the beans and Gil?” I asked.
“Stella has started putting more than one word together, and it’s clear she has inherited some of my… well, my bossiness,” Bella confessed, and we all smiled. “Theo is not far behind, but he is a little calmer and lets his sister boss him around. She is the leader of the little trio with the two of them and Mavis. Then when something scary happens, it’s Theo who steps up. He’s a protector, just like his daddy,” she told us.
“Gil is speeding around the pack house. It almost makes me miss the days when he couldn’t walk,” Alice joked. “One minute the boy is in human form, the next he has shifted. And let me tell you, he likes to find a good hiding hole to snuggle into. I don’t know what human mothers do when they don’t feel the link. I would have gone into panic mode a couple of times a day if I couldn’t track him,” Alice said. I enjoyed listening to the stories about the pups. It was a good distraction.
“You look more relaxed,” my aunt whispered to me after half an hour.
“I feel it. This was a really good idea,” I agreed.
“How do you feel about becoming Luna tomorrow?” Alice asked me.
“Good, I have been looking forward to it, and I know it’s a lot of responsibility, but I think I’m ready for it,” I said.
“Of course, you are, dung beetle. You were born to lead. It’s in your blood on both your mother’s and father’s side,” my aunt told me.
“Just remember that you won’t be perfect; none of us are. We can only do the best we can,” Bella reminded me.
“I will try.”
“And remember that you love your mate, even when he is so stubborn you would like to strangle him,” Amber told me.
“That goes extra when you are pregnant,” Alice added, and Bella nodded.
“Gray would not be alive today if I didn’t love him a ridiculous amount,” she told me. I giggled.
“I will have to remember that.”
“And there will be times when he tries to take on all of the heavy loads because he is trying to protect you. Don’t let him,” Alice said.
“He needs a safe place just as much as you do. Being an Alpha pair can be lonely, and always showing the strong side is tough. Both of you feel it,” Amber reminded me. I nodded.
“A true leader knows when to stand strong and when to bend. Don’t forget that the pack will support you just as much as you support it,” my aunt said. They were sharing their knowledge about how to lead, and how to handle the pressure and hardship that came with it, as well as reminders of the joy being a Luna brought. I listened, trying to remember every piece of advice I was given.
“We have been away for almost three hours; I think we need to get back,” Alice said.
“I would like to avoid a four-pack search party,” I agreed. We packed up and headed home. It was a little strange that none of our mates greeted us on our return, but I could feel through the mate bond that Nash was fine. We took the basket into the kitchen and thanked Essme and Jane for arranging it.
“It’s nice to have you back,” Jane said, looking towards the back door.
“And why is that?” I asked.
“Well, the Alphas are behaving… oddly,” she told us.
“Oddly?” Bella asked.
“I think they are digging a moat,” Jane said.
“A moat?” Alice clearly had a hard time believing it. Jane nodded.
“I think they are just men with too much testosterone, and too little to do,” Essme told us. Bella laughed.
“That sounds more likely,” she agreed.
“Well, let’s go and find out what they are up to,” I said, and we all walked out back. Bones was sitting on a recliner, drinking a beer, looking halfway irritated, halfway amused.
“There you are. Why aren’t you with the others?” Hilda asked as she walked up to him.
“Too old for shit like that,” he said and drank another mouthful of beer. He was looking at something, and we all followed his gaze. It was a sight most women would have paid good money to see. Five Alphas were shirtless, each digging a hole along the fence. They had been at it for a while. Each hole was an impressive size; when they stood in them, the ground level was at their waist. We walked over to them, each approaching the hole our mate was digging.
“What are you doin’?” I asked Nash. He looked up.
“Digging,” he said.
“Yeah, that part is hard to miss. Why are you digging?” I wanted to know.
“You wanted to plant things,” my dad said, who was in the hole next to Nash. I nodded. I had suggested we plant Chuparosa along the fence to brighten the place up.
“I didn’t realise you needed such big holes for planting some shrubs,” Bella said to Graham.
“We offered to help,” he told her.
“That was sweet of you, honey, but it doesn’t explain the size of the hole,” Belle pointed out.
“Are you actually digging a moat?” Alice asked. I giggled.
“Of course not. It’s just… well, if you do something, you do it right,” Sam told her.
“Mhm,” she answered.
“Ulf, why are you tunnelling to China from Tite’s backyard?” Amber asked her mate. She just got a huff in reply.
“I think I get it,” I said.
“You do?” Amber asked.
“Sure. They started by digging a little hole each, being helpful. Then their Alpha instinct kicked in, and none of them would stop before the others,” I explained.
“No,” Alice said.
“That would be stupid,” Bella agreed.
“Ulf is smarter than that,” Amber objected.
“She got it right on the first try!” Bones called to us. I looked over at him. He had made room for my aunt and they were both watching us, sharing the bottle of beer.
“That is childish and beneath you, Gray,” Bella scolded her mate.
“Time to get out of your very nice hole,” I told Nash.
“I’m not tired!” he objected.
“Neither am I,” the rest of them said as one while continuing to dig.
“Well, good on you, but I want to have a backyard. If you continue like this, we will have to declare the place a dig site and cord it off. What if one of the women falls into one of the pits when we have our training sessions here?” I told them. They stopped digging and looked around.
“Maybe we went a little overboard,” Sam confessed.
“Yeah,” Graham agreed.
“A little?” Alice asked.
“Overboard?” Bella demanded.
“Sorry,” all five Alphas said. They looked like puppies who knew they had misbehaved. I started laughing and soon the other Lunas joined in.
“It’s okay,” I said. I reached my hand out to Nash. “Come on, you need a shower before dinner,” I said.
“We do need to do something about the holes,” he said as we were walking back to the house.
“I’ll ask some of the boys to fill them up,” Bones let us know from his spot.
“Thank you,” I called to him as we walked into the clubhouse.