Luna was the only and most beloved daughter of Amara and Kael Ashen. She was their heir, as the goddess was yet to bless the Alpha and Luna with a male child or any other children, and they loved her to bits. Given that she was a beautiful child with wavy black hair and silver eyes, her skin had an olive tone that always almost attracted stares.
Luna was as beautiful as she was willful. Growing up in the Silver Crest pack, there was not much to do. The boys were made to train, while the girls either helped in the kitchen or became healers. And yes, they had school, but after school they had to pick up a chore to contribute to the growth of the pack.
Luna loved everything in nature, much to the chagrin of her parents, whose goal for her was to marry and strengthen the pack. Her mother couldn't bear to think of her little baby being wed yet, but the father wanted her to have a betrothal as soon as possible. Amara felt her only child should be allowed to be a child for as long as possible, and Kael often squabbled with his wife about it, but being hot-blooded creatures, those long fights often ended with passionate lovemaking.
The pack house was built on the mountainside to keep its inhabitants protected. It was a very steep and slippery climb; only members of the pack knew the entrance through the tunnel, and most of the tunnels were filled with so many traps and twists that one could either get lost or killed. Of course, all the males were taught how to navigate these tunnels; the women were never expected to leave they were to be protected.
The main house was a mansion that was inhabited by the alpha, his beta, and the family, then the rest of the workers, servants, and guards. Then smaller houses were built to surround it, creating a very closely knit environment. The pack was built this way to protect the pack members and also ensure that the security was enough and no houses were positioned near the border.
The Silver Moon Pack was one of the smallest packs with very few resources except their clean water and arable farmland, and of course it was the closest to the human territory, thus the tough rule to protect their existence. The humans knew about the werewolves, but they saw them as more mythical creatures than anything else; this kept both sides at peace and the humans blissfully unaware.
The pups at a young age were taught to stay away from humans; often times, to enforce this belief, they are told horrible, gory stories that may or may not be the truth, but they did the trick. Luna had just come back from school and was just able to grab an apple before she ran to begin her training as a healer.
She worked with five other girls who were much older than her. Being a healer was not really a role any female liked being assigned to or participating in because they felt it made them seem less feminine and less marketable. Cooking and serving meant you met with the wealthiest men in the pack, who would see them as potential wife material, and of course, there was the bonding with other females and gossip.
All five women working with her were widows; they chose this role because, despite its tedious and bloody, gory nature, it paid the bills. They were well provided for, and there they could escape the pitying looks. Luna was the odd one out. While the women assigned themselves various tasks of tidying the clinic, others dried the herbs and washed the beddings.
Luna was asked to go gather herbs; it was the chore she loved the most in the world. Shifting to her orange fur wolf, she bounded towards the forest, allowing the air to play with her fur, giggling, stopping here and there to chase a butterfly, and smelling the beautiful flowers that bloomed. After taking about thirty minutes to play, she went to her favorite area, a beautiful stream with sparkling water, and lapped at it for a while, soothing her thirst. Then she transformed into a human and took a dip.
Giggling and swimming in the water completely nude, very soon she saw a black wolf with green eyes bounding towards the forest; her smile only widened. Theron Caius had been her best friend for as long as she could remember; with only a two-year gap between them, he had been trained to follow her up, protect her , serve her, and obey her—she was his future alpha, after all. But above all, their friendship was what was most important to them both.
He leaped towards her, turning midair and crashing into the water beside her, and they both giggled. Nudity was not really much of a big deal in any wolf pack; they were used to being naked around each other all the time. Theron splashed water at her, and she splashed back while they played like two naughty kids.
This was usually their way of destressing and hanging out together, as it is more difficult at the pack with all the activities going on. After their secret swimming , Theron would help her gather all the herbs they would need, and she would race back to the clinic to avoid getting a scolding from Alleria, the pack's healer, or worse, reassignment of duty, because she loved this job.
"How are your classes going? And I hope you're not getting into any trouble; you know how mischievous you can be. Luna felt warmth bloom in her chest as Theron turned those wonderful green eyes on her. As you can see, my classes have been wonderful. How about yours? "It's okay." Theron answered, smirking at her, There had been whispers that their parents may make them marry." Luna was not sure, but looking at Theron right now in the stream , looking effortlessly handsome with his golden hair glinting in the sun, Luna knew she would marry him.
Swimming closer to him, she kissed him, and Theron looked at her startled. A twig snapped behind them, and the magic was broken. Luna began swimming to the water's edge, not giving Theron a chance to say anything, mortified at her behavior. They worked wordlessly, gathering herbs. She was wearing the blue dress she had been wearing earlier at the clinic, and Theron had thrown on jeans, but her eyes had unashamedly lingered at the muscular shoulders, and a blush stained her cheek as she stumbled away from him, pretending to hunt for a rare herb.
She didn't know what was happening to her. Pretty soon they were done, and once again they both shifted, with Theron clutching the basket in his mouth. They began to run home. He handed her the basket at the crossroads, and they split in their different directions. Luna changed back to human form and once again retrieved her dress from the basket and put it on, then strode to the clinic so that everyone would assume she didn't use werewolf speed, and it would account for the lost time.
When she got back in, she began arranging the new herb she picked for drying and began assisting the others in grinding the previous one and packaging prescriptions for pickup. Their day was always filled up. Luna was very thankful that at least there were no severe cases. It was around 7pm when the last of the prescriptions were delivered, and she had to say goodbye to the others and head home.
When Luna got home, which was about dinnertime, her whole family, including Theron and his family, were waiting for her with grim looks on their faces. She tried several times to catch Therone's eyes, but his were firmly fixed on the table, and her heart thudded in her chest. Did he report the kiss? her cheek flamed at the fact that it was her first kiss at seventeen and half she would official be turning eighteen in two days.
Mom, Dad, what's the matter? Why the grim faces? "You're to be wed." Her father answered in a tone she had never heard him use, and her heart thudded fast; she felt lightheaded. Who am I marrying? She asked, wondering if it would be Theron with his blond hair, boyish look, and fierce loyalty; her lips still tingled from the kiss she had stolen from him. Silly boy, he was so shy. And she was not hating the idea of marrying him one bit, I mean, this was a man she had literally known her whole life, even though he hadn't responded to her kisses the way she wanted him to, but she knew it was out of respect for her and her parents, of course, and the poor boy was probably caught off guard too, considering they had never been anything other than close friends.
And in that moment, with the sun painting him in gold and her heart thudding wild, Luna knew if she could choose, she'd choose him."
You're to be married to Alpha Marcus Valen of the Golden Moon Pack." When she heard the marriage announcement, the name hit her like a slap. Not Theron. Not even someone she knew. Alpha Marcus Valen. Her fate sealed with a stranger's name."
Her whole world came to a stop. She couldn't breathe; she felt as if she was suffocating.
Tears ran unchecked down her eyes, and she nearly choked holding back the sob. "I thought," she paused, unable to continue , but her silent questions were understood as she stared at Theron. He finally lifted up his eyes to lock with hers, and she read every single emotion in that single gaze: longing, pain, and heartache. She looked at her parents, and neither one of them could quite meet her eyes, those freaking cowards. If they were going to sell her off like some prized commodity in exchange for protection, the least they could do was at least look at her properly in the face as each and every one of the people she had ever loved and trusted betrayed her; they might as well just murder her while looking remorseful.
I thought I was supposed to wed Theron whenever we were ready. I thought you were grooming me to take over from you. She's had herself saying, lips trembling, still in a daze. "Luna, you would not answer back to your father." Came her mother's shaky reply, her heart breaking to pieces that her only daughter was being given away against her will, but she would help her see, would make her accept it, she would make her see reason.
The anger and fear were evident as Luna turned the full weight of her glare to her mother. "Mom, you can say that because you're not the one being asked to marry a stranger. What if Theron is my mate? I haven't even had a chance to find my mate yet," Luna wailed, unable to understand what was happening. "Honey, you know that finding a mate now is something that happens once in a blue moon; it's almost a myth. Your father is not my mate; we married for alliance, and look, we are happy. You would learn to be happy too."
I want to know why, Luna asked again, refusing to meet Theron's eyes. Even though she could feel the weight of his stare on her back, she was angry at him for keeping quiet, for not saying anything. Had the kiss meant nothing to him? Could it be that he had no feelings for her outside the bounds of friendship? Her father spoke up then; he was someone that hated strong emotions and especially hated being questioned, but Luna was his only daughter, and he loved her with all his heart. Seeing her cry broke him in places he didn't know existed.
Clearing his throat once again, he continued, "There have been rumors of rogue attacks, and I am afraid we do not have enough military strength to protect ourselves. The Red Moon territory has already fallen, and who knows which pack is next? They are a stronger and more advanced pack than we are; hence, I need this marriage alliance with the Golden Moon pack to protect our territory. We may not have money, but we have a strong lineage, and we can merge both our packs once you have an heir. Until then, if we get too old, Theron can rule until whenever it is the heir you produce is old enough to merge and rule both packs."
"This is madness." Luna screamed in blind rage. Her father's wolf growled in response at the insult and then whimpered at the startled look in Luna's eyes and the tears that fell silently as she looked at every one of them at the table. Betrayal cut through her like a sword. I really hate you all for being cowards." "Luna, please," her mother began. I can't right now; I need air. Shifting into her wolf, Luna ran and ran for hours, unaware that she was being torn by branches, unaware of her surroundings. She just ran mindlessly, refusing to think. She ran until she was out of breath and all her bones ached, until she could not move an inch and collapsed in exhaustion, wailing.
She knew that this time around she was totally alone. Even Theron didn't come after her. She knew it was no fault of his; an alpha's decision was final, and they all had to obey. She wailed so loudly, wishing she would die. She had to abandon the home she knew and the man she was starting to like to be given out as some gift to win an alliance with a pack she knew nothing about and to fuck a man she didn't know and breed for him like some highly prized mare.
It was unfair to her. How she wished she had not been so innocent and so chaste. She should have listened more to girls her age and had wild sex. Now, after keeping herself for so long, she would give her maidenhead to a man that wouldn't even appreciate it. She must have fallen asleep at some point; by the time she woke up, it was early morning and extremely chilly.
She shook the dew from her fur as much as she could, silently accepting her fate, slightly dizzy from all the crying and, of course, hungry she hadn't had a proper lunch or dinner, only the apple she had eaten earlier. Her head pounded. She wondered why nobody had come for her yet , then she began the slow walk home, stunned that she had run sixty miles from home. By the time she got home, it was midday. There was a stillness in the air she didn't quite like. Putting aside her sadness and hunger pangs , she ran all the way home. The stench of smoke was hard.
She realized her home was burnt to the ground, and from the smell, she could pick up that the culprits had put wolfsbane and other sleeping herbs into whatever it was they had used as flammable material. Everything was gone; there were no survivors. She ran from home to home, and it was all just ashes. Luna retched as her legs buckled; she crawled her way home, unable to believe what her eyes were seeing. Her legs refused to work because deep down she knew what she would see.
She saw them then in different positions, partially burnt, skin melted off bone. She retched again, then cried, raging, her screams a mix between howling and screaming, her form shifting, unable to decide whether to stay human or wolf. She passed out on top of her family, praying it was a lie, praying she would wake and it would be a nightmare. She was the lone survivor of the pack massacre.
If she had not run away, if she had been stronger, maybe if she had accepted the betrothal , if she hadn't fought them, maybe she was just cursed; she deserved to die too. Standing to her feet, a kind of maniac fever taking over her, she marched to the clinic. All parts of it were burnt except underground, where they kept the more poisonous prescriptions. Grabbing the wolfsbane, it was fate that she had to die by the same poison that killed her family. Mixing it with the second deadliest poison she found there, she downed it.
Her wolf begged her , protested, but she was not listening; she was done here; there was nothing left for her. The pain hit her first , but she knew she deserved it.
It started with a strange, metallic taste, sharp and bitter, like blood and copper. Then came the heat, crawling down her throat and blooming in her chest like fire beneath her skin. Her stomach twisted violently as a piercing buzz filled her ears, and the room began to tilt and spin. Her breath came in ragged gasps, each one shallower than the last, while cold sweat slid down her face. Numbness crept up from her toes, paralyzing her inch by inch until she couldn't even cry out for help. Fear turned to confusion, then horror, then quiet despair.
Her vision blurred, melting into smudges, and then she felt my chest tighten, pressing the life out of her. She felt her wolf trying to survive, fighting the poison, but she swallowed back the urge to retch. It was her body's way of trying to survive, to fight the poison. She wanted to die; she wanted it to be all over because the pain in her heart was worse than anything her physical body was going through. Eventually she could feel the darkness cradle her as she slipped away... too fast, too soon. Eventually it went eerily quiet, and soon after she found herself hitting the floor. At least she had escaped the agony and the guilt. At least she could be with her family now. At least the pain was no longer there, only sweet, complete darkness and surrender.