Chapter 45

Luka’s POV

A week passed, and Caleb was good to his word. We started with inspections of the Red Moon Pack, his pack. He taught me about the various warehouse resources, hardware facilities, training grounds, and the pack's armories, and many other areas that needed to be monitored. Their trade with the other packs brought in everything they needed.

Today, they were working in a distribution warehouse, where the omegas were giving out their weekly supplies for their daily lives. I had been so excited to see a program like this in Red Moon Pack that I got up early and put together extra packages, wanting to have plenty. Long Lake Pack did nothing like this for the omegas. They never had extra items that they could save, trade, or sell if needed.

Later that morning, before we began inspecting the omegas’ supplies, James, Caleb’s beta, showed up looking disheveled.

“Good morning, Alpha King. There is a problem in the armory.” He leaned in closer to Cabel. “There are supplies missing.”

“Some of the men must have forgotten to check their equipment back in, is all,” said Caleb.

James cleared his throat. “No, sir. There are quite a few things missing. I believe there could be something amiss.”

Caleb touched my hand. “I will be back as soon as I can. Do you think you can handle the inspection and then distribute the supplies?”

“Yes, I believe so.” He kissed my forehead, handed me the list of supplies that needed to be checked, and vanished with James.

In loose brown slacks, a blouse, and black flats, I put the list down and rolled up my sleeves, wanting to be able to move around and help if needed.

Five minutes later, pack members were lining up at their stations to have them inspected. The warehouse was big and dusty. Everything at the packing station looked well used with no foot mats for the omages’ feet or a chair to rest in when your legs become tired. I worked stations like this in the past. I knew how much those two items could improve production and mindset.

My hair was up and out of my face today in a high ponytail. I squared my shoulders as I walked toward the first station. I could do this. I could be a Luna.

An older woman stood in the warehouse, her eyes, mouth, and cheeks creaking with lines. Her back was hunched, and her clothes had holes. I swallowed, unsure what to do. The warehouse was cold, and I could see her shiver.

I smiled. “What is it you do here?” I asked in a soft voice.

“I package different fruits into bags.” She pointed to the truck pick-up area. “Then I take them to be picked up.”

I saw the walk to that area. It was a good distance, and I knew this was hard work for the woman. “Do you need anything that could help you?”

The old woman blinked at me. “A cart would be helpful.”

I pulled out my notebook and wrote it down. “I will see what I can do.”

The old woman smiled and gave me a nod.

I went to the next station and the next. Taking notes. As the morning progressed and Cabel still hadn’t returned. I began to hear whispers about my time at Long Lake Pack.

“She is an omega. She doesn’t know what she is doing?”

“She is just a whore.”

“She is just Cabel’s servant. She shouldn’t be doing the inspection.”

It hurt to hear such things from pack members, especially when I was making all these notes to want to help them and make things better. I wanted to walk out and let them stay in their misery. I raked my teeth over my bottom lip. No, a Luna would stay and find a way to improve life for them.

My back went straight when I heard the gut-turning sound of Olivia’s harsh voice in the distance. I quickly glanced up and found her at the truck pick-up area. She was rummaging around the omegas’ packages. I hurried over, not trusting her.

“What are you doing here? Where is Caleb?” She crossed her arms and shot out a hip, irritated at my presence.

“He is busy. Can I help you?”

“I’m here to pick up the packages for the omegas of my household.”

I heard over and picked up the list Cabel left. It showed thirty boxes. That seemed like a lot, but Cabel left the list so I would follow it.

The door rolled up for the truck, and I loaded the thirty boxes onto a pallet with wheels under it, not thinking to ask for help. This was something I would have had to do on my own at Long Lake pack, and old habits die hard.

Once the boxes were loaded, I was dirty and dusted off my hands. It felt good to do some physical work. Olivia's face went ugly, but the others in the warehouse stared.

Olivia gave me that wicked half smile, and my stomach sank, unsure why.

It wasn’t until around noon that supplies were lower than they should have been. I started to panic. What was wrong? When I went back to my personal items, a paper flew to the ground. I lifted it up and wanted to cry. This paper had different amounts and had Cabel's signature at the bottom. This was the approved list. Where had the other list come from?

“Olivia,” I hissed. I hated her. So much. I could shove her off a cliff.

I ran a hand over my hair and looked at the remaining supplies. In the far corner, I had packaged and set aside more boxes to be safe. My blood pressure rose, but I pulled in a breath. I looked at the list to see how many individual omegas would be coming to get their boxes. I was going to be fifty short. I would show Olivia.

I pushed a pallet to the first station and began putting together more boxes. I would do a hundred so that everyone would receive two today, since that is about what the other households received. I wanted it to remain fair for all omegas.

I didn’t ask for help; I just went to work. Before I knew it, the old woman was beside me, working along with a dozen others. We all worked as quickly as possible. I only stopped long enough to take out the boxes and returned to work.

At the end of the day the workers and I were laughing and telling stories.

As they departed for the evening, each one of them had three boxes and were so thankful. I felt tears in my eyes.

Caleb hurried over. Seeing me sweaty and dirty, he raised a brow. “How did everything go? I heard there was a problem with the list.”

“Yes, it got mixed with another one and more supplies went out then should have. I managed to fullfile the orders and seen out extra supplies to all the omegas they were very pleased to have more supplies.”

He kissed me. “Nice job.” He eyed me. “You didn’t have to work in the warehouse. You know that right.”

“I wanted to. It was my mistake to have mixed up the list. The lest I could do was help.” Cable pulled me close and rested his cheek against the top of my head. “You will make a perfect Luna.”

I was exposed to more management styles within the pack and found that the lives of the bottom Omegas were painful and basically lacked rest. This pulled at my heartstrings in a way I can’t explain. I needed to help them and I would.