SAVING HIS LUNA

CHAPTER ONE. “You're just full of bad luck, and I don't want you anywhere around the important people in this pack. We don't need whatever it is that's in you spreading.” Annalise stood there with her head bowed down and tears running down her face as her dad said those words to her. Every day, she promised herself she wouldn't shed any more tears, but she couldn't stop the tears from spilling down her face. “You're looking so pathetic with those tears on your face. No child of mine should be a weakling. Clean those tears before I give you a good reason to cry.” Her father said with so much anger and venom in his voice. Every day, Annalise wondered why everyone hated her this much and what she could do to make them like her. But she came up with nothing; everything she did ended up making her situation worse than it was. Annalise wiped off the tears with the back of her hands before running out of her father's office. The day went by just like any other day. She stayed in the castle and tried her best not to piss her father off or even come across her brother. Even though he wasn't as brutal as their father, he didn't care about her well enough to protect her from her father, who found little reason to hit her. The halls of the castle were quiet, too quiet even for Annalise. She couldn't leave the castle for fear of being picked on by other kids; she mainly kept to herself. She curled up on the window seat in her bedroom, the pale moonlight spilling over her blanket and reflecting on the book she was holding, where she sketched something that looked like her mother. Her heart still ached from her father's words, but she was already trying her best to get used to his brutal words, trying being the key word, because no matter how hard she tried, his words still found new ways to hurt. But lately, something strange has been happening. It started with dreams, vivid ones that looked too real to ignore, but she didn't take them as anything and still ignored them anyway. She started freaking out after they started playing out in reality. She dreamt that her father's advice would trip and fall during a meeting, and he did, spilling drinks over important documents. She could hear her father screaming at him from where she hid behind the door. Next, she'd dreamt of a rogue attack three nights before it happened. This time around, she tried to talk to someone, but they insulted and hit her, accusing her of lying. But the attack did happen. At first, she thought it was a weird coincidence, but after it continued for a while, she finally took it for what it was. And now, as she sat staring at the moon, her hands shook with excitement. "Maybe," she whispered to herself, voice trembling. "Maybe this is it, I'm not cursed, I'm gifted, I can finally be useful to my pack, they'll finally stop hating me and accept me as one of them." She stood up immediately and started pacing her room, her heart beating so fast. "Maybe if I tell him" Before she could finish that thought, she was already out of her room, walking towards her father's office. But it was already too late, and she knew how angsty her dad might be at this time of the night, so she decided to come back the next morning. The next morning, Annalise stood outside her father's office, her heart racing, and she tried to clean her sweaty palms on her body as she replayed her speech over and over in her head. "I'm not a bad luck dad, I'm special, I can finally be of help to the pack." She knocked once. "Come in," came a gruff reply. She stepped inside and met his gaze. She almost shrank back, but decided to raise her chin instead. "I need to look brave, Dad hates weaklings," she thought to herself, and she walked towards him. "Why are you here without the cleaning supplies? Do you plan on cleaning this office with your tongue?" His voice boomed angrily as he stood up. Annalise knew the next thing that was coming, so she started talking immediately. “I have something to tell you, Dad," she rushed out, her voice breaking, "something important." Her father looked at her like she had grown an extra pair of heads. “What important thing could you possibly have to tell me? You're just full of bad luck, and if there's any important thing going on around here, I have my beta for that." Annalise started talking immediately, deciding to let it all out before he drags her out of his office or before she loses her nerves. "I've been having dreams.... And they come true. I think I can see the future dad, I know it sounds crazy, but I swear” Before she could finish, his chair scraped back violently. He was standing in front of her in seconds. His face twisted, not in awe, not in curiosity, but in rage. "You what?" He growled, his voice coming out dangerously low. Annalise could feel the temperature in the room rising. She ran her hand against her elbow as she tried to calm herself and not freak out. "I'm not lying, please, just listen to me, I thought maybe I got it from mom, maybe I have a piece of her gift." A Slap. That was what Annalise felt on her cheeks, and her face reddened. The force of the hit sent her stumbling backward. "You dare speak of your mother like that?" He roared. "You already took her life, now you're saying you stole her powers too?" "I didn't kill her," Annalise cried out, tears spilling down her face despite every promise she made to herself, but the thought of killing her mother as a child never felt like bringing the tears spilling down her cheeks. "I was just a baby," she whispered under her breath. She wondered how everyone would blame an innocent child without the power to kill a person. "You were the reason she died during childbirth; her light faded the moment you came into this world. Now you want to wear her gift as a prize for killing her?" She crumpled to the floor, sobbing. But his voice thundered on, not caring at all. "You're not special, Annalise. You're a plague. A curse, and let me not hear you speak of this madness again, I'll rip that wicked gift out of you myself." He stormed out, slamming the door behind him so hard the walls trembled. That night, Annalise fell into a deep, restless sleep. In the dream, she stood in the middle of a dark forest, the ground soaked with blood. Bodies lay scattered around her warriors, wolves… pack members. Her hands were stained red. She stumbled backward, heart racing. What happened? What did I do? Then, through the fog, he appeared. A man. Tall. Sharp jaw. Eyes like silver flames. Handsome in the kind of way that made her forget to breathe. He stared at her like he knew her deeply, completely. Like he saw everything. “You did this,” he said softly, stepping closer. “Just like me.” Her breath caught. Somehow, she knew he was tied to all of it. The dead. The power. Her. And then She woke up with a gasp. And etched into her bedroom wall right above her head was the word “awakened,” which she didn't remember writing.