The Moonlight Kiss

The chatter downstairs was slowly becoming louder and louder. Evan covered his head with a pillow trying to drown out the noise, but to no avail. Resigned, he rolled towards the edge of the bed and got himself up.  His feet hit the cold, wooden floor with a thump. He stretched his arms out to the sides, and the silky sheets fell down revealing his muscular chest - it was almost hairless. He rolled his head to the sides and got up reluctantly, before heading to the big, full-length mirror that resided in the corner of his bedroom.  He was standing tall at 6'3 feet, and although he was lean years of competing in various sports made his body strong and his muscles defined. His hair was a dark blonde colour, short on the sides and ruffled at the top. His eyes were a warm brown colour, sparkling with mischief and he was known for his cheeky smile.  Evan tried to fix his hair up, before picking up some clothes off the floor and throwing them on. He headed out of his attic bedroom and run downstairs to join the company which was becoming more loud and giggly by the minute.  "Here is my birthday boy!" a middle-aged woman yelled-out when he entered the kitchen, before embracing Evan in a big warm hug "Happy birthday my love!"  Her head barely reached his chest, but her arms held him tightly around the waist. She had long dark brown hair tied up at the nape of her neck, and a curvy figure, but the feature that would have grabbed a person's attention during the first meeting would be the large scar that run down the left side of her face, cutting her eyebrow and down her cheek. She used to be a chief fighter of her pack before she became a mother, and her battle scar was a brand by which she was easily recognised as Peggy - the Luna of the Valley Pack.  "Love you, Ma" Evan kissed the woman on the top of her head. Around the kitchen table were sat a bunch of young werewolves of the pack, always close to the Luna and her warm, motherly presence, and they were the source of the noise that woke Evan up in the first place. They started getting up to join in on a group hug, whilst excitedly shouting birthday wishes over one another.  "Thanks guys!" Evan laughed and almost lost his balanced being pushed by the affectionate youngsters, who then went back to their seats at the table and continued with the breakfast.  He was finally 18 - the day every werewolf looks forward to as it is the day when they gain their inner wolf in the coming-of-age ceremony. It is one of the most important days in the werewolf's life as up to that point they were living an almost human life, in the small community of their pack. The inner wolf is a werewolf's guardian, a blessing from the Moon Goddess, that guides and protects them through life. They also gain the ability to shift into their werewolf form, and they become stronger and faster than they ever were before - the perfect huntsmen. Also, once of age, are able to find their Mate - another gift from the Goddess - a person that is their perfect other half, their love, their soulmate; some werewolves are lucky enough to find their Mate within their pack, others look for years before finally meeting them, some give up before ever finding theirs and settle down with someone else.  Evan was not at all concerned with the ceremony, gaining his wolf or finding his potential Mate; what weighed heavy on his mind was that as the only child of the pack's Alpha he was soon going to be the pack's new leader, and he knew that his father was looking forward to stepping down and naming Evan the new Alpha.  "Your father is at the back of the Potters' farm, helping them fix that old truck of theirs" said Peggy to her son, who was busy stuffing his face with toast and bacon "I'm sure he would like to speak with you about the evening's ceremony"  Evan sighed. The Potters were an elderly couple that lived on the very edge of the pack's settlement, and as of lately seemed to be needing more and more help, yet stubbornly refused to move into the Pack House where the more vulnerable members of the pack lived. It was the Alpha's job to ensure all the members of the pack were safe and looked after, which in peace times meant even the smallest jobs like helping them repaint the house, harvest crops or fix a car.  Evan said goodbye to the rowdy bunch, and started heading to the Potters' old farmhouse. His mind was busy thinking about the times when the Valley Pack was not at peace - before his father became the Alpha, they were often at war with other packs fighting for territory, for prey or to overtake the other packs and claim their pack members - the ones that didn't die in the fight, or run away and become rogue werewolves. It was in the one of their final battles where his mother got seriously injured, as a werewolf from another pack swiped her across the face leaving her with the scar that has since became her trademark. When Peggy got hurt, her Mate and Evan's father did something unheard of amongst werewolves - he challenged the Alpha of the pack at the time for the leadership; the winner would be the Alpha, the loser would be executed. His father, carrying the love for his Mate in his heart and the love for his fellow werewolves getting needlessly hurt in all the fighting, won the title of the pack's Alpha. He then went on to rebuild the pack and by making trade deals with the neighbouring packs, and the werewolves of the Valley became the biggest, strongest and most successful community around.  How could he ever dream of becoming the Alpha his father was? How could he even dream of becoming half the werewolf he was? "Hey there handsome!" suddenly a high pitched voice interrupted Evan's thoughts.  Stopped in his tracks, he looked over to the three familiar-looking girls standing outside the town's grocery store. They had turned 18 not long ago, and were making the most of their freedom as they have not yet found their Mates. The girls had long, straight hair either blonde or black, and were dressed almost identically in tank tops and extremely short jean shorts that looked as if they were a size too small for them. The girl that yelled out jogged towards him, her boots jingling when her feet were hitting the ground.  "He-ey Vanessa" he said with little enthusiasm. The girl was known for her promiscuous behaviour, and frankly she intimidated him with her confidence.  You see, Evan was lucky enough to have been attending a human high school in the nearby town, unlike the other werewolves from his pack that were homeschooled. In order to fit in with the other pack members his age, he made up stories about the numerous girlfriends from his school when in truth they never existed - he was embarrassed to admit he has never dated and was yet to lose his virginity.  "Happy birthday Evan" the girl has flashed him a big, bright smile "I am looking forward to your ceremony this evening",  she added.  "Um, yeah, thanks" he muttered, feeling the blood rush to his face "Um, yeah, I'll see you there", he hurried off hearing the girls giggle behind him and the jingle of their boots.  Well done you i***t, he scolded himself for the awkward encounter. Vanessa was one of the prettiest girls in the pack, and even though she was paying him a lot of attention he did not feel it to be at all sincere - rather she was desperate to be the next Luna. In fact, that is how he felt about most of the girls from his pack - they did not like him, Evan, but rather the son of the Alpha and their next leader, they dismissed the person he was for their idea of who he could be.  Finally arriving at the Potters farm, he found his father's legs sticking out from underneath a baby blue truck with signs of rust on the sides.  "Need any help?" he asked. The man rolled out from underneath the truck and stood up, wiping his hands on his jeans. He was burly, with very broad chest and shoulders. He had the dark blonde hair his son inherited, but also a big bushy beard with streaks of white hair running through it. The crow's feet around his eyes showed that he was not at all a stranger to smiling and laughter, and his face lit up upon seeing his heir.  "Son." he said in a deep husky voice "I am sorry to be starting your birthday off by fighting with this old thing" he gestured towards the car `"But I promise you that the preparations for this evening are all going ahead as planned. You must be excited, everything will be different once you gain your wolf." "Uh, yeah" Evan mumbled, lowering his head "You see dad, it's just that..." he looked up again and noticed that something has grabbed his father's attention. The man's eyes have darkened and he was scanning the tree line where the farm met the forest. He stepped in front of his son in a protective stance.  "I smell blood."