The Alpha Luna - Legacy of Hawthorn Moon Pack

POV Skye Thorne The night was dark, wet from the rain and my bare feet sunk into the soaked clay, slowing my speed as I ran toward the sounds of fighting. I'd woken up from a nightmare, one I'd had countless times as a pup. In the terrible dream, my parents are both lying dead in a pool of blood and I arrive too late to help. I heard my mother’s screams and increased my speed as much as my body could in the conditions. My blood began to run cold. The Alphas had all agreed to meet to sign a peace treaty. Even though my father, Alpha Aster Thorne, had agreed to host the gathering, I could sense his apprehension in the days leading up to the council meeting and tonight I felt that something was terribly wrong. As the hosting Alpha, my father asked my mother, our Luna, Evy Thorne, to be present for the meeting. It wasn’t uncommon for my father to include my mother in the pack and Alpha business. He believed Lunas were the life blood of the pack and should be involved in all aspects of pack leadership beside their Alpha mates as equals. Not all Alphas agreed with my father’s perception, but they tolerated his inclusion of my mother on our packlands. They view my mother's inclusion in Alpha business as a sign of weakness in my father. There were 27 pack leaders in our region. Our territory was one of the largest, we had the majority of the resources and the most pack members in the country. There had been much discord between the 27 Alphas. Historical Pack laws allowed Alphas to challenge other Alphas in combat to the death to win rights to pack leadership. New laws my father helped pass forbid fighting and encouraged partnership. Four of the 27 Alphas disagreed with the law and saw my father's involvement in changing historical pack law as an abomination. Many pack laws were being violated by Alpha Vincent Vance from the Lakewood Forrest Pack. He was vocal about his hatred for my father. The packs were divided on the signing of a new peace treaty. Some sided with Alpha Vincent and agreed with his methods of doing things. They didn’t want peace. They preferred the old way of doing things and fighting for land rights. They viewed it as the only way. Vincent had managed to make some allies through his back door political and financial business dealings. He had the money and support. Some of the other Alphas felt he was a valuable asset, regardless of his morals. They had agreed that he was a strong leader and, because of his financial resources, it was better to keep him in power. Vance desired to challenge other Alphas to claim their lands and pack members as his own. He was greedy. Others sided with my father and the pack laws which forbid werewolves from being so involved with human politics and supported peaceful pack policies. While it was historic Alpha practice to challenge each other for land, it wasn’t something the majority of Pack leaders wanted to do. The peace treaty would put an end to Alpha Vincent’s advancement. He was not happy about the council meeting or my father’s part in arranging it. As I neared the door to the barn where the meeting was held, I heard fighting and my mother crying. I smelled blood, the iron-rich odor made me cringe. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw next. My father, the Alpha of Hawthorn Moon and our family pack lay bleeding on the floor, dead. His throat had been ripped out. My heart shattered into a million pieces. My mother was being restrained by one of the other Alphas loyal to Vance. She was about to shift into her wolf when I opened the door. I ran to my father’s lifeless body before anyone knew I had entered the room. A growl emerged from deep inside my core. My mother was screaming. I heard when the mate bond is served through death, it is felt by the mate. I could see a tortured look on her face, she was writhing in agony. Before I knew what was happening, I shifted for the first time. My body burned with the pain of it, my flesh felt torn, I was so emotional I allowed my wolf to emerge, without any struggle. He was enormous and stood protectively over my father. I was so confused. From safely inside my wolf my mind swam with questions. Who killed my father, our Alpha? What Happened? My mother’s fangs came out and she snarled at Alpha Vincent, and I immediately had one of my answers. I wasn't sure how, but my eyes glazed over & my mind linked to my mother as an Alpha would. Mom! What happened?! As she began to reply, Vance saw our minds link and, without a word, he slit her throat with his claws. In a matter of seconds, both of my parents were gone. The pack members who supported Vance fled and my wolf howled while I sobbed inside. My wolf wanted to hunt the traitors down. The remaining Alphas argued whether or not to pursue. My Wolf introduced himself. Hello Skye, I'm Redstone, we can avenge our Alpha and Luna! I replied through tears in a ball on the floor of Redstone's mind. Hello Redstone, I don't know what to do. With all of the chaos, I hadn't even noticed my wolf was male, but now all the other Alphas in the room stared at Redstone in a mix of confusion and awe. He was the largest wolf they had ever seen, his size alone commanded respect and he was a HE. Ten Years Later . . . I woke up. . . Tears streaming down my face. That night replayed in my nightmares. An almost nightly occurrence now. The day Alpha Vincent Vance had challenged and killed my father and mother was the worst day of my life. Since that night, keeping our lands and pack safe from Vance and his allies had been a daily struggle. Many members of our pack had defected and joined the other packs after my parent's murder. They were afraid without our Alpha and Luna we would no longer be a strong pack. Our pack shaman and dear friend Sabeena says the repeated nightmares are a trauma response due to seeing my father and mother die when I was only seventeen. She said it’s my subconscious attempting to heal from the pain of such a deep loss at such a tender age. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep and just wanted to make it through the night without reliving the most painful moment of my life over and over. I missed my parents every day. They raised me to be a servant leader and a healer. My father’s leadership was an example of the Alpha I wanted to be and my mother was a gentle yet strong Luna. They were loving and kind parents. I don’t have any siblings. My wolf Redstone emerged early the night my parents died. Most of us do not receive our wolves until we are twenty-one but Redstone felt I needed him that night and came to my aid. He has always been there for me. Redstone is my best friend and a great comfort to me. He is so wise and I trust his guidance. He is a huge, strong, reddish brown wolf with ashen and golden tips on his fur, his eyes are light pale green, similar to my own features when I’m in human form. My wolf is the strongest in the region. I’ve been told in wolf form I have a striking resemblance to my father’s wolf, only larger. Because my mother and my father were both pure Alphas and my father didn’t have a male heir, I asked to inherit his title. My wolf is also male, which has never occurred according to our elders. Female werewolves have female wolf counterparts. I’ve never met anyone whose wolf doesn’t match their human gender. The elders allowed me to assume leadership as Alpha because of Redstone. This also complicates things in regards to ever finding a mate for both my wolf and I. After ten years, I am resolved I will likely be unmated as a result of my gender. My father secretly began preparing me to be Alpha of our pack when I was a young pup. He always believed I would make a better Alpha than most men. He believed I was destined to lead and that the moon goddess gave me special gifts because I was meant to be Alpha. He believed she wolves could lead and that gender didn’t determine leadership, the goddess did. After his murder, my training involved countless hours of physical combat in and out of wolf form and studying pack law day and night. My Beta or second in command is my Uncle Samson. He is the second strongest wolf in our division. After my father died, Uncle Samson took over my Alpha training. Many male wolves challenged my leadership and tried to forcibly take me as a mate once I reached eighteen in an attempt to become our Alpha. My wolf Redstone and my Uncle Samson’s wolf Skyline defended my honor & claim to lead as Alpha and Luna. Today I am both the Alpha and Luna of our pack. Something that has never been possible in any wolfen history our elders are aware of. As a result of my wolf’s size, strength, and proven ability to fight, no males continued to challenge my claim to Alpha. A female Alpha has never been allowed in the history of our kind. At twenty-seven years old, I am proudly the Hawthorne Moon Pack’s Alpha/Luna and the first female Alpha in the world. I will never forget the sacred day of my Alpha ceremony. An elder reluctantly came and hosted the ritual linking me to our entire pack of over 500 wolves. I can communicate with each of them telepathically. It is amazing. I can also feel what they feel. I have heard that this connection I have is a different bond then a male Alpha. They can only communicate telepathically, but because of my feminine empathetic ability, I also feel what pack members feel. It’s not always enjoyable to feel what they feel. I’m still adjusting to it. My father told me what it was like to link, to a pack, but experiencing it for myself has been overwhelming. Many wolves in our pack doubted my ability to lead as a result of my gender. This isn’t spoken openly but clearly felt through my abilities. While the doubts hurt, I don’t blame them. We are facing major challenges from rival packs. Alpha Vincent is determined to gain our land and every one of our pack members. Regardless, I have devoted my life to protecting our pack. I swore an oath to my father to lead with honor and one to my mother that I would be caring and kind, and that’s what I intend to do.