The Lost Luna

Chapter 2 - Happy Birthday

***Ryder's POV***

After my lunch break, I got ready to teach my next class. I felt the color drain from my face for the second time today. It was that same girl, it's just my luck that she ends up being one of my students. "No special treatment." I had to tell myself. I tried not to stare at her while teaching and Jake made it harder to focus. He wanted to study her face and tried to fight me for control, but eventually, he gave up. "Jake, why do you want to look at her so bad?" I asked my wolf, but he was ignoring me and sulking. I swear he could be so dramatic some days, but as dramatic as my wolf can act, he's a killing machine and can wipe out five rouges easily. The bell rang, signaling that class was over, and this was my last class. I waited for the final student to leave before I practically bolted out of the school.

As soon as I arrived at the packhouse, I mind-linked my father and I betas to meet me in my father's office, and I mind linked my dad letting him know I was home. I didn't care about changing my clothes. I knocked on the alpha's office door and entered. "Alpha," I said as I bowed to my father. Our betas knocked on the door and joined us. I sat down in front of my father, and our betas sat next to us. They all looked at me, waiting for me to speak. I was struggling to find my words. "Amber Drake is alive." As I said it, I saw their jaws drop and color leave their faces. "That's not possible!" My father yelled, causing all of us to jump a little.

"Ryder, are you sure? Both of her parents were brutally murdered by a group of rouges." My dad's beta, Jacob, asks me. I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh.

"Yes, at first I wasn't, but my wolf confirmed it. She looks almost exactly like her mother. Initially, it took me a second to register that it was her, since the last time I saw her alive, she was 4." I ran my hand through my hair and took a deep breath. We were all waiting for my dad to say something. He seemed to be deep in thought, and I wasn't sure it was a good or bad thing.

"After the rogue attack, we only found her parents' bodies. We spent hours looking for her, but we couldn't find her, not even a trace of her." I hear the frustration and sorrow in his voice. It was like he was reliving that day."We decided that she was probably dead or would be dead soon, so we declared her as dead. But if what you say is true, then we have a significant problem on our hands." I assume I had a confused expression on my face from the look he gave me. "Amber's mother wasn't your average she-wolf. Her wolf was different. It was almost an alpha size and had similar abilities, but she wasn't of an alpha bloodline." I heard him talking, but my head felt like it was spinning as I connected the dots. "Wait! You don't mean." I shouted, and my dad and I made eye contact. I felt the color drain from my face as the realization settled in. "Correct, my son, Amber is a lycan."

***Amber's POV***

The new teacher, Ryder Black, kept looking at me. I felt drawn to him somewhere deep inside. As soon as the bell rang, it seemed like he wanted to get out of the building just as much as the students. As I was leaving the classroom, I got a text from my dad letting me know he was here. F**k! I forgot to let Jessica know that my dad was getting me. I quickly sent her a text letting her know, and she replied, reminding me that she had detention for cussing out a teacher. I walked out to the parking lot and saw my dad sitting in the car waiting for me. His demeanor seemed different, I couldn't tell what was going on, but I knew it wasn't good.

"Hello princess, how was school?" He tried to act like nothing was bothering him, but from how he was gripping the steering wheel, I knew something was. "Dad, what's wrong? Don't tell me that nothing is wrong because you're squeezing the life out of the steering wheel." I folded my arms across my chest and tried to give him a death glare, but he only laughed. Something about his laugh sent chillings down my spine. "Amber, you're almost 18, and I know you have a lot of questions about what you are. So I figured I would help you through your first shift. Typically, your mate helps you, but that can't happen since we're living amongst humans." He was trying to suppress a smile but was failing horribly. The fact that he seemed almost happy that he was helping felt wrong. Something inside me didn't like the idea of it.

In the past few days, my dad has been acting strange. Whenever he's walking by me, if he needs to slide in between something, he'll grab my hips, and sometimes he feels like he holds on for too long. I kept trying to ignore it, but the more it bothered me as each day went by. My 18th birthday is tomorrow, and the odd behavior from my dad is getting more frequent. I was drifting off to sleep when I heard someone say my name, and I tried to listen hard to figure out who was calling for me. I heard it again, but the voice sounded nothing like anyone I knew. "Hello, Amber." I got irritated, so I finally said, "What do you want?" I tried not to yell, so my father didn't have a reason to come here. I heard a soft giggle. It was then I realized that it was coming from inside my head. "It's nice to meet you, Amber, finally. My name is Jade. I'm your wolf." Before I could say anything, I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door, and I knew who it was. My dad peeked his head in, and the aura he gave off scared me. "Come on, sweetie, and it's past midnight, which means it's time for you to have your first shift." I forced myself to get up and put some sweatpants and a hoodie on. My dad was already waiting for me downstairs, and I felt like he was more excited than I was.

"Okay, Amber, let out a deep breath and try to relax. The shift should start to happen on its own." He said this trying to sound reassuring, but I could see through the facade. We stood there for what felt like forever, but nothing happened. I tried to reach my wolf, but it was like she put a block up. "Okay, honey, sometimes anger makes someone shift. Try thinking about something that makes you mad." So I tried to think about anything that bothered me or irritated me. But I try not to let things get me out of my character. "Dad, I don't get angry that often. I can't think of anything that makes me angry." I sounded so helpless when I said that. I suddenly felt a rapid change in energy. The energy my father was giving off became sinister. "Maybe I should tell you the truth then." I coc*** my eyebrow at him, confused by what he said. But I knew whatever it was; I wasn't going to like it.

"I'm not your real father. When you were just a little girl, I and some rogues attacked your parents. I forced your father to watch as I had my way with your mother. We injected both of them with wolf's bane to prevent them from shifting. After we took our time killing your parents. Then we saw you, and you were hiding in the closet. For once, I felt bad because you were so sad and crying, so we decided to take you and raise you as our own." I felt my blood run cold and the color drain from my face. Everything that I knew was a lie. I wasn't furious but more so hurt. I tried to reach Jade, but it was like she had left me. I wanted to run, but we were deep in the woods, and I couldn't shift for some reason.

I felt defeated and hurt, as we stood there it started to rain. I felt someone punch me, knocking me to the ground. The man I believed to be my father just hit me. "Come on, you dumb b**** shift." He continued hitting me in an attempt to force me to shift. I felt myself slowly losing consciousness, but that's when the punches stopped. A wave of relief washed over me, but he kicked me in the face. I started seeing stars. That's when he grabbed me by my hair and lifted my head. "You worthless little b****! You're of no use to me anymore. Don't come back to my house, or I promise I'll do to you what I did to your mother." He dropped me and walked off. I waited until I was sure he was gone. "Amber, it's me, Jade. I'm sorry I was unresponsive. It was for your protection. You'll heal faster in your wolf form, but you're injuries are too severe." She sounded so broken. I refused to let that bastard think he won. I began slowly getting up. I could taste blood and dirt, and one of my eyes was swollen shut. Slowly I made my way into the woods, and I had no idea where I was or where I was going, but I had to get away from that spot. I was surprised by how far I was able to get. But that was short-lived because I started seeing stars again, except this time my eyelids became heavy, and I felt myself slipping away until everything went black.