I presume that when you used d'Moivre's formula you found that
z- a= 2, or -1+ i\sqrt{3}, or -1-i\sqrt{3}.
Then z= 2+ a, or a-1+i\sqrt{3}, or a-1- i\sqrt{3}.
Multiplying those together and setting them equal to -9, you get a very simple equation for a!