Reclaiming the Luna's Throne

Get Back our Girls

[Rowan]

As I paced back and forth, every nerve in my body felt like it was pulled tight and buzzing with electricity.

It was nearly time.

I looked up at the sky as the moon climbed higher into it’s deep blue dome, the stars twinkling around it like a million silent promises.

Dressed in a casual, tight black tshirt and jeans, I felt uneasy. I missed my armor, the hard leather that had been bent and worn to fit my body like a second skin.

Finally I heard the signal and I began to move towards the sacred grove.

Like every other time I’d been here, it sent a light shiver running down my spine. The council was there, and the 37 other warriors who had been waiting for this moment for years.

They gathered in the central clearing as the moon approached its peak.

“Men”

Beta Samuel addressed us all in a disarmingly soft and low voice. He didn’t need to use his power of command, not here.

“I know that, as much as our people have suffered, you have borne your unique loneliness as none of our kind should have to.”

Several of the warriors around, all strong, capable adult wolves, looked haunted.

“It’s finally time. For the first time in 30 years, the Moon Goddess has blessed us with an Ivory Supermoon, and we can once again open the portal. It is time.”

More than 40 pairs of eyes looked up at the moon together, wondering, anticipating.

The gamma’s wife, the only she-wolf in attendance, began to move through the group, handing out a single, intricately carved bone key to each of the 38 warriors.

I clasped mine tightly in my hand.

One of the other men cleared his throat, uncertainty in his voice which didn’t match his muscular form.

“How do we know this will work…?”

He voiced our shared fear, but Beta Samuel just shook his head lightly.

“All you need to do is trust the mate bond to guide you. You will land in the right place.”

Each of us moved away to stand beside a tree, and as the moon reached its peak and bright clear beams shone down, filling the clearing and lighting up the paths between each tree almost as if it were daytime.

“It’s time… go get our girls.”

Every member of the councils eyes were shining with emotion as the 38 men moved in unison and slotted the keys into the rough bark, turning them.

I gasped, and heard others do the same, as a c***k of bright light appeared and the side of the tree swung open like a doorway.

“You have 3 moons…”

Beta Samuels voice faded into the distance as I ducked my head and stepped through the portal.

I didn’t know what to expect, but it was less like he was stepping forward and more like I was frozen in place while the very fabric of the world twisted around me with gut wrenching force, moving past my skin so fast I felt it would tear off every hair on my arms.

Then just as suddenly as it began, or maybe it had been days, the ground solidifies beneath my feet again and I find myself standing in a sparse forest.

In the distance I hear a strange sound, a rushing, and occasional honks and sirens. It must be the vehicle called cars.

The light was strange, not the crystal clear moonlight I was used to but diluted with yellow foggy tones.

Electric lights.

I straighten up and immediately double over again, dry heaving as my head spun. Delightful.

Eventually, I look around, taking stock of where I was. Had it worked?

I could now see tall metal buildings rising in the distance beyond the trees. This was definitely Earth. But from what I knew of human cities, they were massive.

How would I find the one I was looking for?

I reach out to my wolf, but there was no answer. The connection was still there, but it was muffled and distant. I flexed my fingers and made a fist, testing my strength. Definitely weaker, but not too bad.

I scan the trees around me and realise it isn't really a wood or a forest but a park, the trees were planted too deliberately, and – yes that looked like a path. But which way to go?

Suddenly, amongst the dozens of new and mostly unpleasant city smells, I catch the slightest hint of lavender and spiced honey.

Almost robotically, I turn and started to move in that direction, Beta Samuels words echoing in my mind - trust the mate bond.

My sharp eyesight peers ahead through the trees, and suddenly I see her.

The most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and my breath catches in my throat instantly.

She was curvy but fit. Rich mahogany brown hair fell in light waves behind her back from her pony tail, leaving her face unframed as she stared up in the moon while she casually walked down the path.

I knew that every wolf found their mate to be the most beautiful in the world, but I’d never experienced it for myself, and it was beyond what I was prepared for.

She had a small nose with a little turn up at the end that gave her a curious look, and wide eyes. As I stare at her, I step on a twig, causing it to c***k, and she suddenly stopped and looked at the forest around her, a slightly worried look creasing her beautiful forehead.

I saw her light freckles then, and that her wide eyes were a beautiful dark grey. Like storm clouds calming after a storm.

After what seemed like an eternity I was finally able to urge my frozen body forwards, unable to tear my eyes away from her face, and I stepped out from under the trees into the moonlight.

“Mate…” I breathed.