The Blood Moon Luna

She's a What?

"Blood Moon?" Selene asked, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." She looked around the room. "Is that the name of the hospital?"

A chuckle came from the woman who called herself Elder Edith. "No, my dear. It's the name of our community." Elder Edith walked to the side of her bed. She placed her hand on top of Selenes hand and smiled. "Now, can we ask you some questions?"

Selene gently took her hand from the woman and clasped her hands against her chest. Being surrounded by strangers and touched by two of them was a little out of her comfort zone. "Um.... okay?" She was hesitant, but if answering questions got them to leave or her questions answered, then she'd answer them.

"Let's start with your whole name."

"Selene Elizabeth Munelicht."

"Great, and who are your parents?"

"Pamela and Henry Munelicht."

"Where did you grow up? And how did you end up here?"

"The city, Portland. I moved here about 3 months ago for work."

"I see." Edith was now staring at her. "Your eyes are interesting. Did you get them from your mom?"

Selene pursed her lips, biting on them from the inside. These were getting really detailed now. "My mom says I got them from my dad? I don't know, though. I never saw pictures of him."

Edith's brow furrowed. "Why is that?"

"He died, she didnt want to see him." Selene kept it simple. The question was too much. Whoever these people were, they were being nosy. In all honesty, she didn't know why her father's pictures weren't in the house at all. Any time she asked, her mother simply said 'because' and changed the subject. After a while, Selene just stopped asking.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, Selene pulled her hair up and then shifted sides. Figiting with it was managing her panic at the moment. As she shifted, the hospital gown fell off her shoulder. Edith saw this and examined her shoulder better.

"That's an interesting mark, my dear." Edith said, pointing out the moon shaped birthmark. It was a decent size, about a half dollar coin size. It was perfectly shaped like a crescent moon. It was a slight purplish brown color and stood out against her pale skin and other freckles.

"Oh yeah. That's why my mom named me Selene." She pulled the sleeve up and held onto her shoulder.

"Selene. It means the moon. Do you like the moon, have a connection with it?"

Selene pursed her lips again. The questions were getting down right weird. "I mean, yeah. When you are named after something, you tend to grow a connection with it." Selene gave Edith a confused look. "Are you some sort of therapist? I don't understand why the complex and intimate questions."

Edith smiled and shook her head slightly. "No, my dear. As much as I help with advice and herbal medicine, I am not a therapist. Just one last question before we let you rest. How do you like dogs?"

The last question was very odd, but she was going to answer it to get them to leave. "I like them. They are very friendly and very cute." Was all she said. They didn't need to know that even the meanest dog she had ever met still rolled over and gave her bellies. They also didn't need to know that random times of the day dogs would often start howling at her. "Can you send a doctor in so I can see how long I'll be here?" She asked simply, implying that they should leave.

Edith nodded and started to leave, all the boys shuffling out with her. Elliot was last and lingered at the door hesitantly. When he finally did depart, he bowed his head ever so slightly at Selene.

As soon as the door shut, Selene let out a huge sigh of relief. A nurse walked in not long after. She explained that Selene was fine and that after some paperwork was filed, she could leave. "I'll make sure that Mr. Ichor knows you are ready to leave." The nurse said with a smile before slipping out.

"Okay." Selene responded automatically before she realized what the nurse had said. "Wait! Who is Mr. Ichor?" The nurse was gone, though, and didn't hear her call out. Another sigh escaped her mouth, this time of frustration. All she wanted to do was go home. She wanted to curl up into bed and pray her body aches stayed away and that her returning headache would subside. Come to think of it, she didn't understand what was going on at all. Sure, she's in a hospital, but they never mentioned if something was causing the pain, just that that's why she was there. Also, why take her to a hospital, not in town? This one didn't seem much bigger than the one back home, or so she could tell. Where was this town? "Was I kidnapped?" The sudden realization hit her. "I need to leave!"

Selene gathered her strength and slipped out of the bed. she pulled her pants off first and ripped at the wires and IVs out of her. As a sensor was tripped, she slipped on her shirt and then shoved her feet into her shoes. She didn't care about socks or her bra. She just needed to escape. Selene looked out the window. She was on the first story, perfect. She shoved the window open and hoisted herself through it. Adrenaline must have kicked in because she was not feeling the pain at the moment. Good, she needed as much energy as she could muster up.

After a quick look around, she saw the forest not far, just a few buildings to pass. No one seemed to be around, so she took in a deep breath and pushed herself. She sprinted as fast as she could to the edge of the woods. The trees engulfed her as she made her way through. After about 10 minutes, the adrenaline started tonwear off. Selenes breathing started to get jagged as the pain started in her legs and slowly worked up. She didn't stop, though, she forced herself to keep moving, even if it was just walking. Suddenly, a howl came from somewhere in the woods.

***

Elder Edith led the boys over to get cottage. She let them all in and started to look over her books. After about 20 minutes, a sudden gasp escaped her. "Boys, I need to speak to the Alpha alone. Please go check on Selene." She shooed the rest of them out and then turned to Theo.

"She's definitely not human Theodulf, but she's not exactly wolf either," Elder Edith said. Theo looked at her confused. "Do you remember the story of the Moon Goddess?"

Theos expression become even more confused at Elder Edith asked her question. "Yes. The one about how she wanted to be with the wolves who loved her so much. You still tell the story to the pups very often." Theo figited with the hem of his shirt. Sitting still was not easy for him right now.

"Correct. She urnd to be part of the pack so bad that she fell from the moon to earth." She continued on from him. She picked up a crystal ball that looked like the full moon. "When the goddess fell to earth, she wished on a falling star to be mortal like her wolf friends so she could hug them and talk to them. This is how our people came to be."

"Yes, yes, Elder Edith. I know this story by heart, but what does this have to do with her? She is clearly not a wolf, not even half wolf. So if she's not human that what the hell is she?" Theo was starting to get angry. He didn't want to hear about a fairytale from his childhood. He wanted answers.

Elder Edith grabbed Theos' hand and placed the moon crystal into it. A smile formed on her lips as his anger molded into confusion again. "My dear boy, the moon goddess became mortal herself that day. You, Theodulf, have mated with the reincarnation of her. This is why she is not human but also not wolf. This is why she must also uphold wolf traditions. She is the traditions and has even higher power than you, Young Alfa." Her smile formed into a smirk as she saw Theos face filter through several moods as it sunk in.

"She's a goddess." He murmured, trying to convince himself of it. "How does she not even know? She seems to think she's human herself."

"Something must have happened to her. She should never have grown in the human world. She should have been born into the wolf world." Elder Edith started to skim the names of the books on her shelf. "Ah, here we go." She plucked a thin book out and held it out for Theo. "This is a list of all the missing pups from around when she was little. Maybe she is in here." Her voice sounded a bit more somber than before. Missing children were not often, but still something they had to deal with. She plucked another small book from her shelf. "And this is a list of those who went missing after the attack. She could also be in here."

Theo was about to take both books when Michael burst into the cottage. "Theo, quick, she's gone missing, and we think she's in the woods." Theo quickly ran out and followed Michael.