The Rogue Moon Queen

Chapter 1

The forest was silent.  Not even the wind disturbed the trees.  The harvest moon shone in all its bright glory.  The autumn night was crisp.  The stillness of the night was eerie.   A few wolves moved through the forest as one, not making a single sound.  They were on the hunt.  The leader, a big black wolf with amber eyes, was radiating anger.  His younger brother was out on patrol last night and didn’t come back in, which was very unlike him.  Emrys’ warriors were all perfectly trained.  They were the best of the best.  His pack was feared and respected equally by all but one other pack. 

The Sage Moon pack was the second strongest werewolf pack in the country, coming in behind Emrys’ Rogue Moon pack.  Sage Moon liked to press Emerson’s buttons. Usually, they were just annoying him by trying to move the boundary line more into Rogue Moon’s land, a few fights here and there.  It had never escalated to an all-out war or anything serious. 

Emrys knew however, that the Alpha of the Sage Moon pack was getting ready to step down as he was getting older and was ready to retire.  His son was ready to make peace and hold up the agreements between the two packs but the Beta and his son may have other ideas.  It was pure speculation but they were the ones usually causing the worse fights and trying to take the land.  Emrys would have to have a meeting with the current and future Alpha to see if there was anything that could be done.

            The smell of blood interrupted Emrys’ thoughts.  He growled low, recognizing his brother’s scent.  A minute later, the warriors came upon the body of a grey wolf.  The warriors made a half circle around the wolf.  Emrys walked up to the wolf and sniffed the fur.  The wolf smelled of blood, dirt, trees, and Sage Moon warriors.  There were too many scents to distinguish but it was clear that his brother had been attacked by more than a few warriors.  A faint sound came to his ears that stopped his growl.  A faint heartbeat.  He moved closer to the injured wolf and listened hard.  There it was. Weak and faint.  His brother was still alive but just barely. 

“Some of you hurry and shift.  Rhett is alive but just barely.  We need to get him to the pack hospital NOW!” he commanded through the mind link.  Several wolves nodded and moved to do as he told them.  A brown wolf padded up to Emrys. 

“Why hasn’t Rhett shifted back yet?” Lincoln, Emrys’ Beta asked.  Emrys shook his head.

“I don’t know but Sage Moon will pay dearly for this.” He hissed.  Lincoln nodded. 

The hike back to the village was silent.  Emrys sent a mind link to the pack doctor, Dr. Matilda Morris, to get set up.  Rhett was in bad shape and Emrys was worried his brother would not make it through the night. 

“If he dies it will be war.   We will s*******r that entire pack!” Emrys growled to his Beta.  Lincoln nodded his agreement. 

Emrys didn’t go to the hospital.  He would check in on his brother later.  Right now, he had too much pent-up rage to stay in a tiny room with beeping monitors.  He climbed to the tallest hill overlooking the village.  From that vantage point everything looked peaceful.  Children and pups were playing in the park, couples walking hand in hand down main street. Shops were closing up for the night.  None of the pack members down there knew what had just happened.  Emrys would have to tell them.  He would have to prepare his pack for the possibility of war if the Sage Moon pack didn’t hand over those that had harmed his brother.  Stupid bar fights he could ignore.  The attempted death of his only living family member he could not.  Emrys stood tall on the hill and lifted his head to the moon, letting out a loud, piercing howl.  He cried to Diana, the wolf and moon goddess.  He put all of his pain and despair into that howl.  Leaving only his anger.  He sent a silent prayer to Diana to watch over his brother while he took care of their enemies.  Tomorrow he would either make a few of Sage Moon pay or they all would.

On the other side of the border, deep into Sage Moon land, a young woman was watching the moon from a hospital room.  Her blood red hair shone in the moon light.  The room was silent with the exception of the beeping from the monitors.  She sighed. 

“Mama, I have a bad feeling.  Something has happened and trouble is coming to our door.  I don’t think Sage Moon is strong enough to fight it.  I don’t think I am either.”, she said sadly.  There was no response.  She didn’t except one.  Her mother had been in a coma, stuck in her wolf form, for three years.  The girl turned away from the window with a heavy sigh, and walked to the massive, sleeping wolf.  She place one hand into the soft, garnet colored fur.  Sabrina was her mother’s double.  They had the same dark red hair and intense blue eyes.  The surprise was that their wolves looked a like.  She had never heard of a wolf being the carbon copy of another.  She didn’t have anyone to ask about it either. 

Let’s go for a run.  That will clear our minds enough to help us sleep. Chimera said.  She was Sabrina’s wolf.  She was the only one that knew just how much Sabrina had been hurting and missing her mother.  To the rest of the pack, Sabrina was strong.  She had taken over the role of Luna to help her father.  Her brother was next in line to take over as Alpha, but not until he found his Luna, or his mate.  For the most part, Alpha titles are passed from father to son when the son becomes of age and has found his mate.  Any wolf can challenge for the right to be Alpha if they want, but that rarely ever happens.  The only exception to the mate rule, is if the old Alpha dies suddenly.  Like with the Rogue Moon pack.  Their Alpha was only twelve years old when his family was slaughtered.  He was already strong enough that he easily defeated any and all challengers to his title. Sabrina stopped herself.  She had no idea where any of that came from.  The Rogue Moon pack was the fiercest and bloodiest pack in the region if the rumors where to be believed.  Their Alpha, Emrys, was the strongest werewolf in history, with a temper to match.  There wasn’t a single pack in the region that wanted to get on his bad side, and no one was sure that he had a good side.  Her father had a peace treaty with him, which had emboldened some of the warriors to pick little fights with the younger warriors from Rogue Moon.

Sabrina stepped outside; the autumn air warm with a soft breeze blowing through her hair.  She walked to the tree line behind the packhouse, and walked a few paces in, making sure that she wasn’t seen.   She stripped quickly, folding her clothes into a pile and hiding them in the roots of an old cedar tree.  She shifted effortlessly into Chimera, shaking out her deep red fur.  Her dark blue eyes were glowing pale blue to match the moon’s light.  She took off at a full run, relishing in the wind in her fur.  For tonight, she was going to run and enjoy the freedom of the breeze, because her guy told her that starting tomorrow, she wouldn’t have a lot of time to run.