The Hidden Luna

Ally’s POV (Point of View) I sat on the edge of my bed smiling proudly as I looked around my new room/apartment. I had spent the entire morning unpacking and preparing my side of the bedroom at McKinney College in Alexandria, Colorado. The entire summer I was working at Loopies Frozen Yogurt to save enough money to buy everything I needed for my first semester in college. I was lucky that my foster parents allowed me to stay in their home rent free for the past two and a half months. After graduation, I quickly started working full time and hoarded every spare cent. I even took side jobs babysitting, dog walking and whatever I could find to make quick cash. I had nothing but kind thoughts of my foster parents who had taken me in as their own and even helped me buy a small used car. Mr. and Mrs. Epps took me in at the beginning of my Junior year in high school. I was in and out of foster homes and had spent most of middle and high school in a terrible group home. Thinking about the circumstances that brought me to them, brought that familiar stinging to my eyes as I fought back tears. As if summoned by my tears, my new room mate came waltzing into the room. Sydney was everything that I wasn’t. She was tall, blonde and beautiful. And by the way she commanded the men carrying in her things, she was also very rich. This would have been intimidating if Sydney wouldn’t have walked right up to me and hugged me like we had been friends for years. There was a warmth in her hug that I had never felt. At first, I was stiff but soon relaxed and returned her embrace. “Allison, it is so great to meet you. I’m Sydney. You can call me Syd.” Her smile was infectious and all feelings of melancholy that I had been feeling for the last few hours quickly disappeared. “Please call me Ally. It’s nice to meet you too! I’m so glad I was assigned to someone normal. I haven’t been able to sleep for days worrying that I would get some goth chick with a chip on her shoulder.” The comment sent Syd into a fit of laughter. “Nope! Instead you are stuck with a trust fund brat who could have lived off campus but decided she didn’t want to live alone.” We both laughed and I helped her unpack her clothes. After the men helping her left, we settled on her bed getting to know each other. I found out that she was 19. She graduated high school a year prior to me but decided to go stay with family in Europe for the past year. She told me all she did was party and drink and once she got tired of that, she decided to finally enroll in college. I was able to avoid the family talk and luckily Syd seemed to get the hint that it was not something I was ready or willing to talk about. She went through my closet and squealed with glee when she realized, although she was taller than I was, we wore the same size. I was very relieved that someone who obviously could buy anything she wanted pulled out some of my clothes that she was planning on borrowing. It actually boosted my self-esteem a few notches knowing that my tastes were good enough for someone who wore the equivalent of my entire wardrobe on her feet. “I don’t care if you ever borrow any of my clothes. It is my shoes that are off limits.” I nodded my head knowing that some of the brands of shoeboxes now lining her closet cost more than all the money I made over the summer. I looked at the sizes and ours were different so that would never be a problem. We compared our schedules and were happy to find that we had English Comp, Algebra and History together. She was taking a Humanities class that I was not and I was taking a Psychology class that she wasn’t. The timing could not have been more perfect. We would start the day together with two classes together and then after our lunch break we would have our separate classes then end the day together in English Comp. I really hoped that we would not get tired of one another. I also hoped that she was as hard of a worker as I am. I had worked hard for years to have a decent GPA in hopes of bettering my chances at a scholarship and a good future. It had definitely paid off but I was leery of anything and anyone that would become a distraction from my studies. “Are you here on scholarship?” she asked, pulling me out of my reverie. “Yes, I have an academic scholarship, loans and a couple of grants. I’ve borrowed enough where I don’t have to work while I attend. What about you?” She laughed. “Well I should probably just tell you now. I’m an Agapov. My parents give a significant amount of money to the school. I don’t qualify for Financial Aid unless you count Daddy.” She laughed nervously. “You don’t have a problem with that do you?” For the first time she actually looked nervous. Just as I had been judged over the years for being poor, I could tell people were quick to judge her for being rich. I couldn’t relate but could imagine that having so much money would cause people to treat her differently. “I don’t have any issues with you being rich as long as you don’t have any issues with me being poor.” She visibly relaxed. I hadn’t noticed that she was holding her breath. I hoped that she could see the sincerity I was trying to express. I really hoped that we would be friends. “I like you Ally. I think we are going to get along just fine. I am not a spoiled brat but my parents have been away for most of my life. They over compensate by allowing me to spend without limits. I don’t gloat or flaunt my money but I never want you to feel bad if I pay for things. Just think of it as your personal Agapov scholarship.” I don’t know how comfortable I was with that but I wasn’t above allowing her to pay for some things. I knew from our conversations that she was a really good writer and I always did exceedingly well in math. I made it a point that I would help her as much as I could in her classes. She said she was ok that growing up with personal tutors has taught her pretty good study habits. She didn’t need to get A’s, she just needed to get by but that she would ask for help if she needed it. We printed our schedules and headed over to the Student Services Building to get our Student IDs and books. I agreed to allow her to buy the books for our mutual classes and we would share. One of my scholarships included $2500 to use for books/supplies. Since my book was only $125, I used the remainder to purchase my first laptop. I was very happy to finally own my own MacBook Pro. I was busy admiring my new purchase when I felt a presence behind me. I instantly felt uneasy as I could tell that it was not Syd. I slowly turned to come face to face with a very broad chest. I looked into the eyes of the stranger standing entirely too close to me. His eyes seem to darken and I instantly tried to step away from him. I felt a hand on my arm stopping me from walking away and my unease turned into anger. “Excuse me miss, do I know you?” He asked. His sweet tone did not match the malice I found in his eyes. Everything about this man screamed danger to me. That voice in the back on my mind was screaming at me and the hairs on the back of my neck were standing at attention. His hands on me literally made me nauseous. Run! This man is dangerous. We don’t like him touching us. I pulled my arm out of his reach and stepped away so that his body was not blocking my view. I desperately looked around for Syd or really anyone at this point. “No, sorry I am new here.” “Oh, well welcome. I’m a junior. My name is Michael. You can call me Mike. It is nice to meet you..?” He extended his hand to me and I really didn’t want to take it but I also didn’t want to be rude to a complete stranger that looked like he could squish me like a bug. I shook his hand briefly. His hand was twice the size of mine and he gripped me tightly. “My name is Ally. I’m sorry I’ve got to go.” As if the gods were sensing my desperation for a reason to get away from Mike, Syd came around the corner. She pulled me towards her and placed her arm around my shoulder. I could have sworn I heard her growl at Mike and her eyes, which were usually a light shade of brown, looked nearly black. “Mike, leave Ally alone. Don’t you have someplace to be?” Although I had only known Syd for a short amount of time, her tone actually surprised me. She didn’t wait to get a response from Mike and guided me away from the store and towards our dorm. “Stay away from Mike. He is nothing but trouble. I’m sorry I left you alone long enough for him to get close to you. It won’t happen again.” I laughed at how protective she had become in just a matter of hours. “I’m glad you came when you did. He honestly creeped me out. I’m pretty sure he was smelling my hair before I turned around. He is huge! Definitely not my type and scary as hell.” “I don’t think he is anyone’s type. But don’t tell him that. He thinks he is the goddess’s gift to women. It doesn’t help that his pack….of friends support this idea. He gets away with whatever he wants. I’ve known him since we were young. I was hoping he would have graduated already but it seems my luck only worked in the roommate department.” She smiled at me and hugged me again. It was so comfortable being with her. I wonder if this is what it is like to have a sister. I always wanted a sibling but my foster parents only had one child at a time in their household. A couple of weeks before I left, they found out that they were pregnant. Although I was not blood and technically not adopted, I was excited. The only reason they did not adopt me was because I could receive more money for college if I was a foster child who aged out of the system. Two of my scholarships were solely based on this status combined with my GPA. We headed back to our room to put everything away. As much as I wanted to stay in the room and play with my laptop we were both starving. I grabbed my student ID which also acted as my meal card and followed Syd out. We sat down with our food and immediately started planning our first week. Although wealthy, Syd had arranged for a part time job working at an animal clinic 2-4 times a week. Since our classes let us out every day around 4pm. She would be putting in a few hours. She offered me a job if I needed one stating that her family owned the clinic. I declined knowing that I worked all summer so I didn’t have to. She understood and dropped it. “Do you have a boyfriend?’ She asked out of nowhere. “No, I haven’t been interested in anyone since my junior year. I especially didn’t pay attention to anyone my senior year. I was just too busy trying to have a perfect GPA and volunteer so I could get in here. One of the few things I know about my parents is that they both graduated from here and grew up near here. I used to have a picture of them on their graduation day but it was destroyed when I was young. I’ve wanted to go here ever since. I’m not really looking for anything right now. I am avoiding any distractions.” “I broke up with my boyfriend, Franz, about a month ago. I told him I wasn’t planning on the long distance thing and I was getting tired of him anyways. I didn’t want to commit to him when I had the chance of finding my match.” She hesitated before continuing. “Do you think you would be willing to go to some parties with me?” I laughed. “Only if you promise not to ever try to use those puppy dog eyes on me again. I’ll make you a deal. You come to the gym with me and I will go to parties with you. Deal?” She jumped up and hugged me. “I would have gone to the gym with you anyways but now you’ve got a deal.” We finished eating then headed to the gym to get our memberships. We quickly filled out paperwork and paid for the 24 hour gym. I made sure that the gym was accessible 24/7 because working out always soothed me on the nights when the memories and/or nightmares would keep me awake. “Let’s try out some machines!” Syd said over her shoulder as she headed to the treadmill. I laughed and hopped onto the machine next to her. Owen’s POV A woman’s laugh cut through the noise and pulled my attention away from the weights that I had been working on. It was hearty and musical all at the same time. I didn’t know any other way to describe it. She was laughing at someone or something but I felt as if it was actually calling out to me. For the first time in months, my wolf stirred. I walked around the corner and noticed that there were only two females in the gym. It was a Monday night but the local college didn’t start classes until next week. Over the next couple of weeks, this gym would be packed with young testosterone heavy men and women who did too much cardio and not enough weight training. She laughed again and pulled my attention back to them. One was tall and very petite. Her blond hair bounced as she ran a steady pace on the treadmill. The other was equally petite but shorter. Her long brown hair bounced as she ran and fought with the blonde who was obviously changing the speed on her machine. I assumed, since my wolf responded, that it was the blond who’s laugh was calling to me but I was wrong. The blond turned her head and laughed at the smaller girl and I knew immediately that it was the dark haired beauty. I moved around to a weight machine across from the treadmills and tried not to stare. The brunette finally started to fight back and had the blonde’s treadmill going at such a high speed that she had to jump onto the rails to avoid falling. She leaned over to the brunette and put her treadmill at a higher speed. I couldn’t avoid staring at her. She was fit and looked comfortable on the machine but was not wearing the proper clothing for a workout. Her chest bounced and after a few moments, I had to shift on the machine to hide my growing erection. I closed my eyes and started to concentrate on something else to avoid making a spectacle of myself. When I opened my eyes, I was disappointed to see that the two girls were gone. I tried my hardest not to be obvious but I stood from my machine and looked around the gym. I held back the growl as I spotted them talking to a group of men. One of them placed his hand on the small of her back and before I had a chance to react, she stepped away from him. One of the other men elbowed him and laughed at her rejection. He laughed to himself and turned to speak to her and I was finally able to see his face. I froze as I recognized who it was that dared put his hand on her. My wolf was going crazy inside my head. I think she is our Mate. I can’t smell her yet with all the smells in the gym but there is something about her. “We have to keep her away from Mike.” I said to my wolf. Even if she wasn’t my mate, I knew the kind of man/wolf that Mike was and would not let this beauty be tainted by him or his disgusting pack. I was going to interrupt when the blonde grabbed her arm and they hurried out the front door. Mike and his pack mates watched them as they walked into the night and then made their way over to the weights. “Is that the girl from the bookstore you were talking about?” Asked one of the guys. “Yes, she smelled so good. I wanted to drag her out of there by her hair but that b***h Sydney had to interrupt.” “You know Sydney is a party girl. It is just a matter of time until she drags her to a party. Then we just have to wait to get her alone and she will be all ours.” Mike smiled and nodded while continuing his reps. All four of them were in their own thoughts and were not saying a thing. Mike dropped his weights and stared at his reflection in the mirror. “She is mine first. I can tell she is a virgin. After that you all can have her.” His friends started laughing and high fiving each other as if they had won some prize. It absolutely disgusted me and my wolf started growling in my head. I dropped the weights that I was working with and it took all of my self-control not to walk over and rip their heads off. I needed to get away from them. I needed to get myself under control. Attacking a potential Alpha and his Beta and Gammas would be cause for execution and the last thing I needed was the council on my back. I turned to leave and made eye contact with Mike. I didn’t think he had noticed me at all but the wink made me red with anger and my skin crawl at the same time. Last edit 3/4/22