Chapter 8: “The First Member”
1136 Words
We didn’t leave the Neutral Grounds that night.
Too many eyes. Too many questions.
Kael set up camp at the edge of the valley, under pine trees. Far enough to be quiet. Close enough to be safe.
I couldn’t sleep.
The staff was propped against a rock. It glowed faintly, like it was listening.
_“A Pack for the unwanted,”_ I’d said at the council.
The words kept echoing.
At dawn, someone was watching us.
I felt it before I saw it. The mark on my neck tingled. Cold.
“Kael,” I whispered.
He was already up. Knife in hand.
At the edge of the trees stood a girl.
Small. Maybe fifteen. Thin. Clothes torn. Hair matted.
She didn’t move. She just stared at us like we might vanish if she blinked.
“Hello,” I said softly. I didn’t stand. “What’s your name?”
The girl flinched. “Don’t… don’t yell.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I’m Ella. This is Kael. We won’t hurt you.”
Kael didn’t move either. He kept his hands visible.
The girl’s eyes went to the staff. Then to my neck. The cloth had slipped. She saw the mark.
Her breath caught. “Luna…”
“Yes,” I said. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. Then nodded. Then shook it again.
Kael spoke for the first time. “What’s your name?”
“Lina,” she whispered. “Lina Cole.”
“Which Pack, Lina?”
She hugged herself. “None. Not anymore. I was… cast out. Three days ago.”
Cast out.
My chest tightened.
“Why?” I asked, though I already knew.
“Wolfless,” she said. The word was bitter. “My father said I was useless. He left me at the border.”
Wolfless.
Just like me.
I stood up slowly. “Lina, do you have anywhere to go?”
She looked at the ground. “No.”
Kael glanced at me. One look. _Your choice._
I stepped forward. Slow. “Then come with us.”
Lina’s head snapped up. “What?”
“You heard me,” I said. “Come with us. We’re building something. A place for wolves like us.”
“Like… rejected ones?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Like us.”
She didn’t move. “You’re a Luna. You don’t need…”
“I do,” I said. “A Luna isn’t strong alone. She’s strong because she protects. If I can’t protect one girl, what’s the point of the title?”
Lina’s eyes filled. She blinked hard, like she was trying not to cry.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Darius is hunting you. If they find me with you…”
“They won’t,” Kael said. “Not if you stay close.”
Lina looked between us. Then she took one step forward.
Then another.
“Okay,” she whispered.
Kael gave her water and bread. She ate like she hadn’t eaten in days.
While she ate, I opened the library book.
_“The first member is the foundation,”_ it said. _“Choose with care. The Pack will reflect her.”_
I looked at Lina. Scared. Hungry. Brave enough to walk to us.
She was perfect.
“From now on,” I said, “you’re not wolfless. You’re Ashford.”
Lina froze mid-bite. “Ashford? But that Pack is… gone.”
“Not anymore,” I said. “We’re bringing it back.”
She set the bread down. “How? We’re just three people.”
“We start with three,” I said. “Then we find more.”
Kael stood. “We need to move. Staying here is risky. Darius will send scouts back.”
I nodded. “Where to?”
Kael pointed north. “The old Ashford border. There’s land there. Ruined, but defensible. We can rebuild.”
“Rebuild a Pack house?” Lina asked. She sounded scared and hopeful at the same time.
“Start with a camp,” I said. “Then a house. Then a Pack.”
We left the Neutral Grounds that morning.
Lina walked between us. She kept looking back, like she expected someone to grab her.
No one did.
By midday, we were in the forest again.
Lina tripped on a root. Kael caught her arm before she fell.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Don’t be,” Kael said. “You’re tired. Rest when we stop.”
She nodded.
I watched her. Watched how she stayed close to me. Like I was a wall.
I remembered feeling that way two weeks ago. With Kael.
The mark on my neck warmed.
_“Protect her,”_ the first Luna’s voice said. Faint.
“I will,” I whispered.
That night we camped by a stream.
Lina wouldn’t sleep near the fire at first. She sat in the shadows.
I moved my blanket. “Here,” I said. “It’s warmer.”
She hesitated. Then came over.
We sat in silence for a while.
“Ella?” she said finally.
“Yes?”
“Can… can I see it?”
She pointed at my neck.
I pulled the cloth down. The crescent mark glowed faintly in the dark.
Lina reached out. Stopped herself. “Can I…?”
“Yes,” I said.
Her fingers hovered over it. Not touching. “It’s beautiful.”
“It wasn’t, before,” I said. “It burned. It hurt. But now…”
“Now it’s yours,” Lina finished.
I smiled. “Yeah. Now it’s mine.”
Kael was on watch, but I saw him listening.
Lina pulled her knees to her chest. “Do you think… do you think I could have one too?”
“A mark?”
She nodded.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But if you do, it’ll be because you’re meant to. Not because someone says you are.”
She looked at me. Really looked.
“You’re not like the other Alphas,” she said.
“No,” I said. “I’m not an Alpha. I’m a Luna.”
Lina smiled. Small. Real.
For the first time since we met her, she looked… safe.
I lay down. Lina curled up near me.
Kael sat with his back to a tree, watching the dark.
The staff was between us. Warm.
Above us, the moon was full.
And in my head, the white wolf stirred.
She looked at Lina. Then at me.
_“Pack,”_ she said.
One word.
I closed my eyes.
For the first time since the Moonlight Ball, I wasn’t alone.
I had a Pack.
Small. Two people.
But it was mine.
And we were just getting started.
- Writer
