Sleeping With The Moon Goddess

A New Alpha?

I heard the howls first, that’s what woke me up. They were coming from our guards who patrol the border but they sounded distant, coming from somewhere deep in the woods. More howls, only much louder and closer this time, those must be from our warriors. I glanced at the clock, 2:38 am. I sat up at the side of the bed trying to get my head clear. Next thing I know, my mom bursts into my room.

“Camille, get up! Rogues at the border!” She quickly shouts before disappearing.

What?! I can’t remember the last time we had an attack from rogues. We were small and our pack didn’t possess much, so we usually weren’t a target for such attacks. My thoughts that were flying through my head a mile a minute were interrupted when my mother reappeared in my door frame.

“Where’s Emberly? She’s not in her room!” My mother frantically shouted as she stared at me.

I was puzzled until I remembered our weird conversation last night and my heart sank. I felt nauseous. I looked at my mom who came to my side.

“Sweetheart, what’s going on? You look pale!”

“It’s Emberly, she went out for a run around midnight, she said her wolf was anxious and she needed to go hunt. She said she would be home before training this morning. What if she’s still in the woods?! We have to find her!” . . I tried to speak but all that came out was heavy sobs as I panicked for my sister. I saw my mother’s eyes dilate wide, mind-linking my father about Emberly I was sure.

“Where’s dad?!” I managed to ask in-between heavy breaths.

“The guards alerted him as soon as they smelled the rouges; he’s on his way to the border now.”

My mother embraced me in a side hug as we both sat on the edge of my bed. I looked up at my mom, unsure of what to say. My mother was known for her beauty, but suddenly her eyes showed worry and uncertainty. Her face looked tired and pale. Her lips quivered ever so slightly as if she was suddenly chilled.

It wasn't too long after that we heard it; a howl so powerful only an Alpha could make. A howl so loud, that even from the border it echoed in my room. A howl filled with so much pain that every member of our pack cried out. It was the howl of my father finding his first-born daughter, dead near the border, having been torn apart by rogues.

·* * * * * * * * *

“Keep Up” I hear my father say, snapping my thoughts back into the present. Realizing we were almost ¾ of the way around the track, but my pace had slowed during my reminiscence and I had fallen behind. I quickly picked up my pace and caught back up to him.

My parents, Alpha Xavier Winters and Luna Celeste Winters, run the Half Moon pack. We are a small pack, compared to most others, in Northern Washington, but my parents take great pride in the wellbeing and happiness of each member of our pack. My father knows every pack member by name and believes a great Alpha must continually work to earn and maintain the respect of one’s own pack.

Unfortunately, respect from one’s pack isn’t necessary as wolves have only ever known a hierarchy and not only accept their given ranks but will follow the orders of their Alpha and Luna without question; making for some power-hungry and miserable Alphas. I’ve visited a few neighboring packs with my parents over the years and met some of these Alphas; it makes me glad that our pack is small and my father is who he is. They may all look like Greek Gods because of their Alpha blood, but ewww, no thank you.

Having two daughters and no sons, my father had been training Emberly to take over as Alpha of our pack; which, while a little unorthodox to have a female Alpha, it had been done before and was prophesied by my grandmother before our birth; our family all heard the tale.

My grandmother is an oracle for the Moon Goddess, and why the Moon Goddess decided to bless our small pack with her presence only confirmed to my father that our pack's way of life was how the Mood Goddess wished it to be.

My grandma was given a peculiar marking of the moon on the back of her neck. It looked similar to that of a tattoo but different somehow. This is the mark the Moon Goddess gives to her children who she deems worthy of speaking for her. My grandma learned to hide her mark and keep to herself as it wasn’t safe for others to know her gift as some Alphas would slaughter entire packs if wind of an oracle caught their ear.

Oracles were not common and wrongly believed by these Alphas that they brought power and victory to their pack, thinking they would have the Moon Goddess herself to bend to their will.

Which we know is all nonsense. When my grandmother asks the Goddess a question, sometimes she will answer, and sometimes she won’t. Usually, when she does answer though, it’s almost like a riddle. Giving my grandma visions and foresight to understand it.

Long ago, she apparently saw that my father would have a daughter who would not only have strong Alpha blood running through her veins but blood from the Moon Goddess as well. And that this daughter would be destined for great things or something like that.

We all believed Emberly was the one destined for all this greatness my grandmother spoke of. So my father groomed her from a young age to be a strong Alpha for our pack. But since her death, he has been forced to focus all his attention on me.

My dad was never the same after Emberly died, heck none of us were, but he changed. He was in a way softer and more protective of me but also pushed me more than he ever pushed Em.

My dad wanted to make sure I could protect myself and the pack if need be, without fail. It was like he was trying to take everything he taught Emberly in her 18 years and have me learn it in 4. I tried my best to learn as much as I could and push forward, but part of me never wanted this. The future Alpha was supposed to be Em, not me.

I’m now 20, which means I start training to learn pack business for the next two years at his side so that I may officially take over the pack when I turn 22. This now means my life is preoccupied with going into the office with him most days, attending meetings, and visiting neighboring packs, and learning about negotiations.

I didn’t mind so much meeting with the various members of our pack, I was meeting a lot of people and actually learning about a lot of things I hadn’t even thought of before, but I hated visiting the other packs the most.

There weren’t a lot of packs along the northern west coast that were close to us and those that were, were ran by Alphas who ruled with fear rather than respect. The other Alphas would always look me up and down, practically undressing me with their eyes. A few even tried to negotiate with my father for me, like I’m some piece of meat for them to buy, chain up, f**k and produce them with an heir. Pigs!

My father always tactfully declines sighting that the ‘true mate bond’ is held in high standards within our pack and unless I find my true mate in the pack of another, I will remain at Half Moon. As much as some Alphas would like to argue, the true mate bond is usually respected within every wolf pack as true mates are said to be handpicked by the Moon Goddess herself.

I hadn’t met my true mate yet, but I would think of him sometimes and fantasize about what he would look like. About how amazing it would feel to have his hand running along my body, his chest pressed firmly into mine.

They say when you find your true mate, the connection between you two is electric, igniting sparks from their fingertips that travel through your whole body and light your core on fire. It’s a feeling you can never get enough of.

I have kept my promise to Emberly and remained a virgin, holding out and waiting for my true mate, but damn if there weren’t times when touching myself at night or in the shower just wasn’t quite cutting it.