Moonlight

Chapter one: Old pain

Lucas is in his office doing some paperwork for the pack members, who are getting ready to leave and go live with their true or second-chance mates in their packs. Then there is a knock on the door and Shean walks in.

"I still don't get why you are doing their paperwork if they can do it themselves and only need your signature," says Shean, plopping into the chair on the other side of Lucas' desk. "This way I am able to memorize where each member is going and if it would be dangerous for them or not," explains Lucas. "You can keep telling yourself that. Anyway, I came because your father and mother sent me," says Shean. "Let me guess, they want you to talk some sense into me to choose a mate since I haven't found one," says Lucas, leaning back in his chair, sighing. "This time, no," says Shean and adds, "They want us to meet them in the old library." "The old library?" questions Lucas. Shean just nods. "Let's go then," says Lucas, and they both rise and go to the old library in the woods.

"Why did you want to meet us? And why here?' asks Lucas when they reach the entrance of the old library. "Well, since we built a new library closer to the center of the pack, I thought I'd bring some of the books to it since most of them are only copies," starts Nichelle, Lucas' mother. "I came to help her and we found an interesting book which I have never seen before," continues Aiden. "And what is so special about this book?" asks Lucas. "Let's go inside and we'll show you," says Nichelle and they all go inside.

Nichelle and Aiden lead the boys to the center of the library, where a big book is on a table. When they get closer, Lucas and Shean can make out the title of the book "The Legend of Moonlight". "I didn't know the legend had been written down," says Shean. "Neither did we. I did hear about it once from my father, but I didn't think it was actually true," says Nichelle. "I still don't get why we had to come down here? You could have just told us by mindlink," says Lucas, still confused. "This legend is a little different from what you have been told," says Aiden. "I think you should read the book," suggests Nichelle. "It might give a new perspective on the legend and our first bloodline," she adds. "Okay, I'll read it," says Lucas. He takes the book and goes back to the pack house, to read it in his office quietly. Shean follows him out and Lucas' parents continue taking some books and bringing them to the new library.

When Shean and Lucas get back to Lucas' office, Shean asks, "Are you actually going to read the book?" "Is it so hard to believe?" asks Lucas in return. "I just thought you didn't know how to read books," says Shean, grinning from ear to ear. "Get out of here you i***t," says Lucas, throwing a pen at Shean's grinning face. He immediately gets out of there and Lucas chuckles to himself. Then he opens the book and starts reading the legend.

Everyone in the pack had been told the first luna never got to be one, because she had died while giving birth. She had fallen pregnant after the first night with alpha Damien. When she had died, he had been devastated, yet he didn't go mad like everyone usually does when they lose their mates. Alphas are sometimes hurt a lot more because their matebond is much stronger. Every single wolf wondered how it was possible, but they all came to the same conclusion: he had his son and that kept him sane, since his son was part of his mate. And the name Moonlight came from alpha Damien's nickname for his mate, Moonlight, because they had met under the full Moon's light.

The book, however, says that alpha Damien had never marked his mate and after they had spent some nights together in secret, his mate had vanished. Some months later, a baby had been left at Damien's doorstep with a note from his mate, "It would be wrong to keep him from his father and his father from his heir. I can't be your luna because I would put you, our child and your pack in danger. That is something I could never live with. I know he will be safe with you. And I am really sorry. Moonlihgt." What she had been sorry for, Damien didn't know. He hadn't even known her actual name. He just called her Moonlight because when they had met under the full moon, her eyes had glowed like moonlight. Damien wanted something to remember her by, and so he named his pack after her. He also made the pack's symbol a glowing moon like Moonlihgt's glowing eyes with a wolf imprinted on it.

Of course, that is the short version of the book. It actually describes all the events before and after Moonlight's appearance. It also speaks of the Blacks becoming the alpha bloodline. The book says that Damien Woodlock and Christian Black had been best friends and both of them had had alpha blood. Christian had decided not to become an alpha because he didn't want power. Damien, on the other hand, was the best leader you could ever ask for. He gladly took the alpha position and Christian became his beta. They had visited a powerful witch who put a spell on Black's bloodline. It made the alpha blood weaker, but if the Blacks ever become alphas, the blood will start to gain its strength over time. It would make every next alpha stronger than the last. When the bloodline regains its original power, the heir of Black will become the strongest alpha in the world. When he finds and marks his mate, he will become the werewolf king. Because that is who the Blacks were made to be from the beginning by the Moongodess.

Lucas finishes the book and closes it. All this new information makes his head spin. He stares at the book cover and the symbol of their pack. After a while, he notices something on the moon. From afar, it just looks like moon craters, but when he looks closer, it seems to be some kind of writing. It is still so small that he gets a magnifying glass to read it. "Come and find me at the lake. You know the spot, youngster." That text makes Lucas drop the magnifying glass.

Lucas is the only one in the bloodline who has been called youngster. The person who called him that, died a long time ago though, and memories of that bring back so much heartbreak and misery. His grandfather had been the only one to call him a youngster. He died 10 years ago and it had broken Lucas.

Even as a child, Lucas hadn’t cried when he got hurt, wether it was emotionally or physically. Everyone was in awe because of it, but when his grandfather died, Lucas cried for days. He refused to eat or go out. Everyone was exetremely worried about him. He locked himself in his room and not even Shean could get him out. At some point he came out himself and it looked like he was fine again. After that he didn't cry again.

No one still knows why the boy who never cried, even if he was badly injured, suddenly cried for days when his grandfather died. For that to happen, everyone thought it just might be the loss of a loved one, that makes him crack completely, but in reality, the bond he shared with his grandfather, was something Lucas himself can't explain and with the death of his grandfather, that bond broke and the pain was so immense. It had felt like someone was trying to rip him apart from the inside while burning him with fire from the outside. On top of that, his heart was also broken and that added more pain.

It had been something Lucas had never experienced before and he could not hold back his tears. He hadn’t wanted for anyone to see him in such a state, so he locked himself in his room. The pain had started to subdue a few days later and when it was completely gone, Lucas had dared to come out of his room. Everyone had been so happy when he came out, they didn’t even notice how much thinner and weaker he had become. Lucas got his strength back after eating a lot, but he had felt like he wasn’t able to reach that potential he had had before.

That feeling still lingers but after reading that text, some of the old pain of losing his grandfather came back to the surface.