The Forbidden Child - Alpha’s Lost Luna

CHAPTER 1 ****Jane**** ~ I was in the place with the long hall again. Huge open windows to my right from floor to ceiling, arched above like a half moon while the bottom was flush with the floor. There was red flowing sheer drapery blowing in the wind, tangling with my white nightgown. As I approached the doorway at the end of the hall, I heard him beckon to me. I felt the inexplainable pull, the need to open those double doors. To find him on the other side. My hands reached out of their own accord to grasp the iron handles that were welded to the massive intricately carved wooden doors. Pictures of trees and flowers and intertwined men and women adorned its surface. My heart beat faster as the doors began to open in tandem. A gust of wind blew the most intoxicating smell to me of chocolate, cinnamon and sandalwood. I briefly closed my eyes as I took in a deep breath of the aroma. Then I heard him. “Come to me, my little one.” His voice deep and powerful, compelled me to move closer to him. My eyes stayed focused on the ground as I approached where he was. Finding the marble beneath my feet cold and hard on my bare feet, a stark contrast to the other sensations I was feeling. “Look at me.” His strong voice commanded me. For some reason I resisted. I found I had stopped walking, and now stood in front of the man but a few paces away. Part of me desperately wanted to not just do as the voice commanded but to throw myself at him. The other part was terrified beyond belief. “LOOK AT ME” He commanded me again more firmly. I had not the strength nor the will to disobey. My head lifted and I lost my breath at what was before me. He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. His body was thin, yet somehow still muscular. A blue suit sat on his frame giving him a regal look. His skin was perfectly smooth and white, pearlescent even. He had long dark brown hair that lay in soft waves that framed his face. My eyes fell on his lips as I watched them curve into a half smile. He instantly closed the distance between us. Then reached out with his hand, grasping my chin with his icy hold as he forced me to look up into his eyes. “You will be MINE!” He almost growled as I stared into his crimson blood red eyes. ~ I awoke sitting straight up in bed, sweat dripping from my brow and my heart pounding out of my chest. This was the third night in a row I had this dream, but the first I had opened the doors. Those eyes, they haunt me still. I almost felt like he could still see me even now. I wrapped my arms around myself trying to push away the feeling of vulnerability. I looked outside to see the first rays of early morning sunlight beginning to shine through the trees. The sound of birds chirping and warmth of the new day helped to settle my nerves. Summer was quickly coming to a close and soon I’d be starting my final year in a new school. Might as well get up and tackle my to do list.  I walked out my bedroom door and within a few steps found myself in our small kitchen. The cabinets were painted white over the previously old brown doors. One of the first things Amy insisted on when we first moved into this manufactured home a little over a month ago was bringing it up to date a little. It’s a far cry from the 1920’s bungalow we rented back in Salem. That place had character oozing out of its bones. This place though? Felt like it was just slapped together as quickly as possible. At least the property was beautiful. We had a creek running out the back yard, and forest all around us. It was Amy’s fathers property and she inherited it when he passed away back in June. I grabbed myself a banana as I put on a pot of coffee for myself and Amy. She should be getting up soon for her shift at the rez clinic. Amy is a nurse. That’s how we met. About 8 years ago I was found unconscious and beaten underneath a willow tree by a passing hiker in the Van Duzer Corridor. Not far from here actually. The hiker was able to use a satellite phone and called in a rescue for me. They ended up sending a life flight helicopter and took me to Salem Hospital. Four broken ribs, a spiral fracture of my tibia, a concussion, sprained wrist, malnourishment with dehydration and severe blood loss from lacerations all over my body. And to top it all off, once I finally woke up, amnesia. That’s what it says on my medical record anyway. I was lucky to be alive. Amy is the one who nursed me back to health. She was the only one I trusted when I first woke up. After almost a month of being in the hospital, she offered to take me back to her home until someone could find a relative of mine to take me in. No one ever showed up to claim me, so Amy became my de facto guardian.  “Good morning Jane, hmmmmm, is that coffee I smell?” Amy says as she walks into the kitchen in her big  blue sleep shirt and fuzzy pink slippers. Jane, yup, that’s me. I couldn’t believe they saddled me with the name Jane, as in Jane Doe. A nobody, and unknown. I guess that is what I was, and still am. At least they didn’t go all the way down that road, they at least gave me a decent last name. Amy even picked out my middle name. Jane Arabella Willow. Arabella for (as Amy says) my beautiful fighting spirit like a lion, and Willow because, well, I was found under the Willow tree.  I picked up Amy’s favorite mug from out of the drain tray it had been drying in. A big one that said “I’m a nurse, what’s your superpower?” and filled it up with coffee and handed it to her. She smiled as she opened the fridge for some creamer. “Big plans today?” She asked me while taking a sip of her steaming hot coffee. I rolled my eyes. “Yea right. Going to go to that huge end of summer party that I never got invited to with all those friends I don’t have.” She just looked at me expectedly. “You could you know, go to that party. Just crash it if no one invited you. Isn’t El going?” El was the only person I kinda made friends with once coming here. She lived on the reservation and volunteered at the clinic Amy worked at. She was my age and we would be going to the same school in a few weeks. We met one day when my car had been at the mechanics and I was giving Amy a ride back and forth to work so I could use the car when she wasn’t. “I don’t know, maybe. She never said anything to me.” I looked down at my own mug, fiddling with it. I never really got good at making friends. It was always fine until they started asking about my past, then I was the freak once they found out the truth. I’m just a nobody with no memory and no family. I hadn’t quite gotten to that part yet with El, which is why she was probably still talking to me. Giving a big sigh and groaning I look up at Amy. “Fine, I’ll give El a call and see if I can wiggle an invite.” “That’s my girl.” Amy says with a smile. She looks at the clock on the oven and slams her coffee mug down on the counter. “Shoot! I’m going to be late! Have fun today Jane, maybe I’ll see you at the party too, it's been awhile since I went to one of those.” She winked at me and then rushed down the narrow hall to her room. “Amy, no! You can’t!” I yelled back at her with worry. A few minutes later Amy was rushing out the door in her scrubs, keys and purse in hand. “See ya!” She laughed as she left. I groaned again as I realized she probably would go too. She isn’t your typical guardian, she was only 22 when she took me in. Coming up on 30 she still felt young enough to party.  I heard my phone vibrate and fall off my nightstand in my room. Giving a huff I walked into the room to see what else Amy wanted. It had to be her. No one else was going to be texting me before 7am.  You have just as much right to be there as any other rez kid. You are my kid and this is my tribe. I’ll see you this evening. Her tribe, of the Grand Ronde Reservation. That’s what she meant. Same as El, same as every other person who was going to be there tonight. Grabbing a pillow from my bed I screamed into it. “Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!” Putting my pillow back on the bed I sigh in defeat. If I didn’t show up tonight I would never hear the end of it. She would just keep pushing me all school year to socialize. She just didn’t understand how other people saw me.  I went back into the kitchen to finish my coffee and give myself a little more energy for the day. I still had to go into one of the bigger towns to get some school supplies. Figured I might as well head over to Lincoln City to do my shopping, then I could find my way down to the beach and sunbathe while reading my book. I would definitely need that relaxation to get through tonight. With a plan in place, I set my feet into motion. An hour later I was packed and ready to go. Walking out into the sun, the screen door slammed behind me as the gravel made a crunching sound under my feet. I opened the trunk of my little two door coup and it screeched, causing me to wince. I’d need to add some WD40 to my list. Tossing my bag with a change of clothes and some food in the trunk along with a beach towel and sunblock, I slammed the cover and jumped into the driver's seat. Revving Sally’s engine, I smiled as I sped out of the gravel driveway and made my way down HWY 18.      As I pulled into town 20 minutes later, I dreaded the slow speed I had to go. I much preferred the freeway of Interstate 5, or I5 as most call it. Even then I felt like I needed more speed, and I had the tickets to prove it.      Stopping at Bi-Mart first, I planned to pick up some school supplies that would hopefully last most of the year, unfortunately for me I was so early this morning that none of the stores were even open yet.       I found an interesting coffee shop nearby called Salt, but it too was closed until 9am. After driving around for a while I pulled into the local Dutch Bros and ordered a small mocha with a double shot espresso. By the time I got back to Bi-Mart it was just opening. Not really ever having shopped at a Bi-Mart before, I had to ask an employee where to go to get what I needed. It seemed to be a mesh of different things from electronics and automotive, to clothing and some food. And yes, school supplies too. Not forgetting to get my WD40, I went to the cash register. Using Amy’s family membership card and my debit card, I took my bags and headed back to my little red Sally.      When I found the little café Salt earlier, it was in an outlet mall that had several shops I could find some decent clothing in. So I decided to head back over there. I found a parking spot almost in front of the café, as others seemed to be pulling in at the same time. I still have a few minutes to kill, so I popped the trunk of my car, wincing again at the noise, and dug through the bags looking for my can of WD40. It was in this position with my ass hanging out of my car and my head deep in the trunk that I thought I smelled something intoxicating. It had hints of sea salt and coconut and if you could bottle the sun that is what it smelled like.     “Jane? Is that you?” I heard a familiar voice. Crap. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone I knew here and was going sans makeup, while wearing cutoff jean shorts and a white tank top to cover my tropical flower bikini underneath. Raising up a little too fast, I bonked the back of my head on the underside of the trunk and dropped the can of grease I just found. I just about dropped to the ground from the impact as well but instead found myself in the arms of the most delicious stranger.       As soon as the bare skin of his arms touched mine, I felt like little electric shocks were crawling all over me. His warmth seemed to seep into all my emptiness and fill it up in ways I didn’t even know needed it. I leaned in closer, pressing my face against him and took in a deep breath. I can’t believe I just did that, but he was definitely where the smell was coming from. I don’t know how someone could possibly smell so good.      “Jane! Are you okay! I shouldn’t have startled you. I was just surprised to see you here!” I swear I heard the man holding me say mine under his breath as I began to regain my composure. He helped to stand me up on my two feet but never fully let go of one of my arms as if to steady me still. I turned to see what I thought was El looking at the stranger with an odd look of shock on her face, then she quickly looked at me worriedly.     “Hi El, I’m fine. Just a little bump, I’ve had worse.” I said as I used my free hand to rub my head and winced in pain. As soon as I said that I thought I heard a growl coming from behind me. Turning to see who exactly it was that was still holding on to me, I found what can only be described as a sun god. That felt fitting with how he smelled and felt. He was perfectly bronzed as if kissed by the sun. But not in that I spend to much time outside kind of way. It was in a more natural way. He had black hair that was cut short on the sides, but with little natural curls on the top. His chiseled jaw was clean shaven, and his lips looked juicy and soft. Then his eyes, they were a perfect deep chocolate brown. But they were so much more than that. It looked like they held a fierce desire and they were focused on me.     I shuddered in pleasure at seeing this man before me, and would have never broken the connection if El hadn’t broken it for me. She grabbed my arm that was still holding on to the stranger and pulled me closer to her. Turning me around again to face her.      “Jane, are you sure you're okay? I think you should go get seen. How about I drive you over to Amy? I’m sure she’d want to take a look at you.” The sudden loss of connection with the man made me feel empty again, and cold. But is that how I’ve always felt? I turned away from El again, pulling my arm from her to search for the man. Only to see him being pulled away by another man a little shorter and smaller in stature.       “Oh don’t worry about them. They're just the boys. I’m sure they're just going to go eat or something.” El said. Sure enough, a moment later I saw the shorter one drag the larger one into the café called Salt. They were followed by another girl that looked a lot like El. “But I should thank him for catching me.” I said almost absent mindedly. I couldn’t help it, it felt like a magnet was pulling me forwards towards him. I took two steps in his direction when El grabbed my arm again. “Now I know you need to be seen. Come on, where are your keys at? I’ll drive. I rode along with them anyway.” She said as she reached into the trunk where she must have found my keys.      She walked me over to my own passenger door and opened it for me and pushed me in. “I can drive my own car you know.” I said irritated.  “Any other day and I’d agree with you, I’ve seen you drive like a bat out of hell down the rez and out onto 18. But today, nut uh. No way. Today you get me.” She said as she shut my door and quickly made her way to the drivers side. Not even a minute later and she had us out on HWY 101 and back towards home.