Reclaiming the Luna's Throne

Things You Should Know

[Natalie]

I opened my eyes to the sight of a heavy canopy hanging above me from the four carved wooden posts of my bed.

Shit.

It wasn't all a dream.

I had really left everything I knew behind, supposedly forever, and followed a strange man to what was apparently an interdimensional other world full of werewolves and magic.

My mind just couldn't process it.

Even more, what had I been thinking??

But it was too late. There was nothing that could be done about it now.

I looked at my watch, now grateful I'd bought an old-fashioned wind-up and not a battery-driven one. It suddenly crossed my mind that my phone would probably die eventually too, and with it any photos and memories of my past life. I felt an uncomfortable twinge in my gut as the enormity of my decision began to settle.

It's not that my life was that great, but it was mine. It was what I knew... and now it was all gone forever. I felt my knees get weak as I stood up and braced myself against one of the bed's four sturdy posts, taking a few deep breaths.

It's OK. You hated that place anyway. Time for a fresh start! Couldn't get any fresher than this...

Recovering a little after my self-pep talk, I dressed in some of the limited clothing I'd brought along – plain black skinny jeans and a loose white t-shirt with metal details – brushed my hair and applied simple lip gloss. Then I headed out the door to see a smiling young lady at the end of the hall directing some of the other girls down the stairs to the meeting place.

Following along, I couldn't help but marvel yet again at how much of a fairytale this seemed. This was a serious castle. Broad stone steps, curving banisters.

My breath caught in my throat as I entered the breakfast hall. No, this was a full-on ballroom.

The ceiling vaulted high overhead, supported by rows of arches and columns to either side. An impressive stage stood at the front with a regal-looking throne in the center. The highlight of the room was the unusual roof, patterned with stars and constellations but open at the peak, one wide round window open to the sky. Didn't it ever rain here?

The setup seemed at odds with the impressive surroundings, as if we were at a conference rather than in an old-worldly banquet hall or ballroom. One long table with the same group of older men and women I'd seen the night before was set up just in front of the stage, and the rest of the room was filled with round tables of 8 or 10 seats. At every second place was a notebook and pen. There was even a seating chart at the entry with a list of names.

I glanced around the room, looking at the other girls who were gradually finding their places. Some had red eyes and looked worn out and dejected, having evidently suffered sleepless nights. At one table, I saw a very familiar, earthly sight– a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair was gossiping in a low tone as several others listened raptly before stealing a look at one of the other girls and snickering. Great. Less than 24 hours and a clique had already formed. What was this, mystical high school? Weren't all these women nearly 30?

I checked the seating chart, relieved to see that I was pretty far away from the new mean girls. I quickly found my name and made my way to my table when I noticed one thing that set this apart from any conference you'd see on Earth. On closer inspection, the notebooks were made from rough, natural paper and bound in leather, and the pens were something like an old-fashioned calligraphy pen rather than a ballpoint.

I picked one up and examined it more closely when a deep voice sounded just behind my right shoulder, making me jump.

"Good morning."

It was Rowan.

Jeez, I hadn't even heard him coming. How could such a tough-looking guy move so quietly? The skin on my arms raised slight goosebumps as his movement to sit next to me seemed to be enough to get a reaction from me.

"Did you sleep well?"

He still seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me since last night, and his voice sounded almost a little melancholy. The room was nearly full now, and as I craned my neck around to look, I saw servers starting to bring out breakfast to everyone, and the last 4 people - the two couples who had opted to stay together instead of in the palace - entered the room.

"Fine, I guess," I replied dismissively, "I was pretty tired... you know... big day."

I sounded lame even to myself and was glad for the interruption of one of the biggest breakfasts I'd ever seen being put down in front of me. Rowan didn't hesitate to start digging into his even BIGGER plate, which was piled up with bacon, sausages, eggs, and steak. His seemed to be mostly meat. Thankfully mine also included a bit of everything, from toast to potatoes and pancakes.

It was delicious.

"Hi, everyone. I'm Katie."

A friendly voice announced - it was the woman sitting directly across from me, who had curly strawberry blonde hair, freckles, and blue eyes. Cute. I thought to myself.

Devon

- Alicia

Maran

- Natalie

Rowan

- Cara

Sim

We took turns to give our name. I let the others take the lead in the conversation. Making new friends had never been my strong suit.

"So you guys were orphans too?"

"Yeah.. I guess we all were, can you believe it?"

"Do we all have the same birthday too?"

"18th of July"

"2nd of August"

"15th of June"

"OK so not the exact dates but we were all born in the same summer. Devon, do you know why?"

The man named Devon smiled and reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind Katie's ear.

Well don't they seem cosy.

I couldn't stop herself from thinking. I felt more than saw Rowans eyes watching me again and shifted slightly in my chair, pretending not to notice.

"As soon as breakfast is done, the Beta and the rest of the council will explain everything. It's a pretty long story, so they wanted to tell everyone at once."

Devon replied. I noted that he also had a deep voice, though not as deep as Rowans and it didn't seem to... seep into my bones in the same way.

"That's also why you guys have all of these" he gestured to the pens and books "in case you want to take notes or something to follow up later."

The four of us girls around the table nodded. Of course that made sense. We were all holding in dozens of questions.

What's all this about mates? kept pushing to the forefront of my mind, much to my annoyance. There were more important questions after all. An endless number of them.

I pinched herself to double check once again that this wasn't all a dream, when a gong was sounded from the dais at the front. Everyone had pretty much finished eating and the servers began to remove their plates as Beta Samuel cleared his throat.

Here goes.