Luna Rising: The Prophecy

Chapter 11: No Choice

August

I burst back into our sorry excuse for a house. "Mother, what happened between you and Aeliana? I need to hear it from you."

My mother looked up from the dish tub, where she was washing the tea things. "What do you mean?" She asked me nervously. "We had tea, that's all."

I strode over, taking the teacup and towel out of her hands and setting them on the shelf. "Mother, what happened at the packhouse yesterday? Were you punished?"

"August, please," she begged. "Nothing happened."

I crossed my arms. "Aeliana just told me a different story."

"Miss Aeliana should not have concerned you," my mother said with an arched eyebrow. "There was a situation, it was handled without a fuss, thank the Goddess. That's the end of it."

I glared. "Aren't you the one always telling me we need to tread lightly? To keep our heads down?"

"Now you listen to me, August," my mother said, setting the teapot down with a thunk. "I won't have you giving me a lecture on how I should have handled the situation. It was an accident that couldn't be avoided. We settled it between us. I trust her not to say anything."

"I don't," I muttered.

My mother fixed me with her parental scowl, and I knew I had stepped over the line. "She is different," she said, taking a deep breath. "I think things will be different once she's helping lead the pack. Better. So until then—"

"Just keep my head down," I sullenly finished her sentence. "Fine. I got it."

"Oh, August," she said, coming up to give me a hug. As tall as I was compared to her, whenever she hugged me I felt like a small boy again. "Maybe soon, we'll have a chance at a better life. I know you're frustrated. But for now, we don't have much of a choice."

I sighed. I knew what sacrifices my mom made just so we could be members of this pack. She did it all for me, and her words made me feel guilty for challenging her. "It's okay mom. I'm sorry. I know you're always careful. Much more careful than I am."

"About that," she said, pulling away. "Try not to be so informal with Miss Aeliana. She is arranged to be Derek's mate. And you know what that means."

I knew it all too well. That was why I essentially told her to stay away. "Alright. I'll keep my distance." I shrugged my shoulders and tapped my fingers on the table. "I'm going to go get more firewood," I said.

"Sweetheart, you already have enough for three winters out there," my mother said.

"Then I'll get some for the neighbors," I said as I headed out the door, feeling claustrophobic.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel any less suffocated walking through the woods as I did in our too-small lodgings. The truth was, I hated it here. I don't remember coming here when I was little, but I knew that we were lucky to have been accepted as pack members by Blue Moon. Not many people would take a disgraced unmated mother and some Gamma's by-blow.

I wished I knew who my father was. Not so I could get to know him, but so I could rip him to shreds. Perhaps it was for that reason that my mother refused to talk about him. I didn't even know the jerk's name. I watched my mom work herself to the bone, day after day, and witnessed her receive constant verbal abuse from Luna Carlotta and her friends, whose personal mission seemed to be making everyone's life miserable. She took it all silently, too afraid of us getting cast out as rogues to fight back. All because my father couldn't be bothered to own up to his responsibility.

I was sick of it all. I may have grown up in this pack, but I didn't exactly have happy memories here. In fact, one of the few bright spots in my childhood was Nice Girl. But, for obvious reasons, that little bright spot was never allowed to get any bigger, or we were risking getting kicked out.

The older I got, the more I thought about taking my mother and leaving Blue Moon. Surely, now that I was grown and so many years had passed, nobody would see my mother as a stain on their reputation. Except, every time I tried to bring it up, my mother shut it down, always going back to the same words she used in the house.

We had no choice.

---

Aeliana

Somehow, I found myself back at the packhouse. What exactly was going on at Blue Moon? How had I never noticed that I was feared by so many in the pack? I felt foolishly unobservant. I must have been too wrapped up in Derek and my own rosy life to really see what was going on. Was it too late to set things right?

August's words stung. Apparently, I wasn't worth knowing beyond whatever small acquaintanceship we'd cultivated. I thought again of my morning in the dining hall, this time with different eyes. Were people just putting up with me since I was supposed to be their Luna? Was I reading too much into it in a petty quest to be liked by everyone?

Stella, please tell me you're awake, I linked my sister as I entered the packhouse.

Yes, I'm awake now. Where are you?

I just got back to the packhouse.

Come out to the stream. Bring muffins!

I rolled my eyes and stopped by the kitchen, where an omega hastily fulfilled my request for baked goods. Five minutes later, I was settling down on a blanked Stella had laid out by the stream that ran through the woods a few minutes from the packhouse.

"Oh, good," Stella said, grabbing a cranberry muffin and taking a bite. "I missed breakfast."

"Just wake up when normal people do, and you won't have that problem," I said, nibbling on a blueberry confection.

"So what's wrong, Aeliana?" Stella asked, ignoring my little jab. "You sounded upset earlier."

"Oh, Stella! I already feel like I'm a failure," I exclaimed, resting my head on her shoulder.

"How is that possible? We haven't even been here for a full day yet!" Stella said. "Did Derek say something to you?"

"Oh, no, he's been wonderful as always," I said. I proceeded to spill out everything that happened that morning, how I had suspicions of how the Blue Moon pack members feared me or didn't like me.

When I was done, my supportive, loving little sister started laughing. "What?" I whined, getting even more upset.

"Oh, Aeliana, the people love you. I saw it when I used to come here with Mom and Dad for your birthday during summers when you were here," Stella said, still giggling. "Do you seriously not know what's going on?"

"No, I don't, or else I wouldn't have asked," I snapped.

Stella's laughter subsided, and she glanced around to make sure we were alone. "It's not you they're afraid of, Aeliana. It's Luna Carlotta," she whispered.

"How can they fear their Luna?"

"Um, she's kind of mean, haven't you noticed?" Stella said, raising her eyebrows.

"I mean, she does seem to get easily stressed, but think of what she has to deal with, running a pack by herself and dealing with the war on top of that!" I jumped to her defense.

"First of all, she doesn't run it by herself, she has her pack to help her. You remember what father always says?"

"An Alpha is never alone at the top," I recited with her. "I guess. But still, you have to admit the job must be hard without a mate."

"That's true," Stella said. "But that doesn't mean you take it out on others."

I bit my lip, remembering the Luna's rudeness from last night. Great. Yet another thing about which I was hopelessly obtuse. "This conversation is making me feel sillier by the minute," I admitted.

Stella put her arm around me. "It's okay, Aeliana. You're not silly. You and Derek are part of an important prophecy. It's okay that you focused on that, and maybe didn't notice other things."

"Shhh," I glanced around worriedly. "You know the prophecy is a secret."

"Oops! Sorry," she whispered.

"Besides," I murmured, looking over my shoulder again. "That's exactly the problem. Our parents wanted the prophecy to be kept a secret, so nobody here knows that its fulfillment is supposed to be coming soon. To them, I'm just the girl that was arranged to be their next Luna in service to an alliance with Howling Rivers. It feels like maybe they're afraid that if they upset me that I'll back out and they'll lose their alliance or something. You should have seen Violet's face. And Harold's."

"Maybe you're right," Stella conceded. "I didn't think of that. After all, anyone who's met you for more than two minutes knows that you're nothing like Luna Carlotta."

"I don't want to spend my whole life in a pack that walks on eggshells around me!" I whined. "I miss home."

"Aeliana, this is your home now. You're already living in the Luna suite. And once your birthday comes, you'll be mated to Derek. It's not like you were ever coming back to live at Howling Rivers."

"I think I was just pretending like this was all the other summers when I left home, to make it easier," I admitted with a sigh.

"Aeliana, you know I love you, right?"

"Of course!" I exclaimed.

Stella looked me in the eye. "You need to get it together and stop being such a baby."

I blinked back at her in astonishment. "What?"

"You heard me. You are a kind, thoughtful person, and you have all the qualities Blue Moon needs in a Luna. But—fated obligations aside—you're going to have to put in some real work. All leaders do. You should know that better than anyon—"

"Shh!" I hissed, clapping my hand over her mouth.

"Whh—"

"Shh!" I whispered again, eyes scanning the opposite bank.

What is it? Stella asked in my mind, eyes wide.

I saw something, I said, staring intently. Or maybe someone.