The Little Luna

Answers

Luna’s POV:

We immediately began walking through the woods, the opposite direction from the school, Vespian was in the lead, I was directly behind him and Celeste and Orion pulled the rear, their heads bowed together whispering exceedingly low, so low I couldn’t hear them even with my exceptional hearing. Fatigue washed over me as I stepped over a fallen branch, I misplaced my food and fell forward, raising my hands to protect myself when I hit the ground, but I never landed, instead I was pulled into two strong arms, and the tingles that sparked to life where our skin met told me instantly it was Vespain.

“Are you okay Luna?” His voice was laced with worry.

“Weird he worries so much for me, he barely knows me.”  I thought.

“He’s our mate, of course, he worries about us, he cares for us.”  Ellie's voice drifted through my mind.

“Yeah, I’m fine Vespian.” I gave him a soft smile, but I knew he could tell how tired I was by the scrunching of his eyebrows.

“Vesp, I insist you call me Vesp, and you tripping through the woods will not do us any good, especially if you get hurt.” He swung me up into his arms, bridal style, and continued through the woods, walking as if my extra weight meant nothing to him. 

I could see Orion get red-faced with anger but shook my head slightly at him telling him to leave it be, Celeste then put her hand on Orion’s arm and whispered in his ear, he responded with an eye roll, a curt nod of agreement, and yanking his arm out of her hold before they both followed behind me and Vesp once more.

After about 5 minutes Orion got fed up with our pace and sped up to walk beside Vespian, “So if you are a wolf and the suspicion is we are as well, is speed a wolf thing?” I rolled my eyes at Orion's impatience and buried my face in Vesp’s neck, breathing in his earthy scent, it seemed to relax me, so I closed my eyes and just relaxed against him.

“Yes, werewolf speed is a thing. Why? Do you have supernatural speed?” Now Vesp sounded curious, great, we were about to race.

“Hell yeah! I always have to hold back in football so I don’t become someone’s science experiment, you know, like the FBI.” 

“Half the FBI are werewolves, so you wouldn’t have to worry about that,” Vesp stated matter of fact.

Me, Orion, and Celeste all looked at each other shocked. “Seriously?” We all exclaimed in unison.

Vesp chuckled at our shock and nodded, “Of course, how could they not take advantage of our special skills. Our senses are heightened, we are faster, stronger, smarter, and we have a second mind, our wolves, that helps lead us and guide us. We make the perfect soldier, one of the reasons so many rogues join the military, they can rise in rank quickly.”

“What are rogues?” This was all so interesting, learning about this whole portion of us that had been hidden, I wanted to know everything.

“Rogues are werewolves without a pack.”

“Like us?” Asked Orion, looking slightly thrilled at the prospect.

“No.” He stated immediately, but after a second he seemed to rethink it and let out a slight sigh. “Well, maybe? I’m not really sure? You don’t smell like rogues, but you aren’t even 18 yet and you are half-blood. Unless you think your mom might be a wolf and keeping it secret?”

“No.” Me and my siblings answered laughing. Mom a wolf? She tripped over everything and didn’t show any signs of having heightened senses like the rest of us did.

“Then I’m not sure, but all the more reason to take y’all to Alpha Darius.”

“So if Zander is a wolf, why hadn’t he noticed before what we were?” Orion paused and added on “Possibly are.”

Vespian shrugged his shoulder, shifting me slightly in his grasp, “To be honest, he may have been wondering, or the little things that sparked flags for me didn’t for him because he’s known you most of your life. You all smell human, and for the most part, act human.”

“For the most part?” Celeste’s voice drifted from Vespian’s right side; she was now walking beside us on the right while Orion walked along beside us on the left.

“I mean, you could hear me from a distance away, much better than human hearing. Then there is Orion’s Alpha voice, never heard of a human having such authority when they talk that even werewolves listen.” Vesp looked down at me then, his eyes looking over my tired features and smiling down at me. I could feel my heart skip a beat and my stomach flutter, his gaze just did something to my insides.

“Alpha voice? I don’t have an Alpha voice. Besides, you said that Zander was a werewolf and he never follows my lead just because of my voice, he does so if he knows it’s what’s best.” I could hear the confusion in Orion’s tone.

“I mean, you do have an Alpha tone, you’ve tried using it on me today. As far as Zander goes, he is an Alpha, the same as me, which is why your tone wouldn’t work on him, or me. What’s interesting though is that without being their Alpha, you can show authority over wolves that are not part of your pack.” His tone was a mixture of curiosity, wonder, and worry. These facts meant something to Vesp, and the possible reasons behind it didn’t seem good.

“Why do you think he can command wolves that aren’t part of his pack?” I needed to know why he was worried, curiosity and wonder I could handle, the worry scared me though.

Vespian looked uncertain as he contemplated my questions. “I think we should wait for Alpha Darius’ opinion, in a perfect world we would be seeing my father, he always knows exactly what is going on and has an extensive history of our kind, he could tell us so much more than Alpha Darius. But, he isn’t here and he isn’t anywhere near here.”

“Earlier you mentioned his Luna. Luna isn’t his?” Celeste’s entered the conversation, asking a question I was seriously confused about myself.

Vespian let out a soft chuckled and shook his head, “I thought we agreed to wait till we reached the packhouse and Alpha Darius to discuss all of this.”

“I mean, it seems to be quite a walk, so you might as well go ahead and tell us what you can?” Orion interjected. I began hearing small snaps like a twig breaking and knew Orion was tearing apart a small stick, it was something he had done when he was upset or nervous ever since we were little kids.

“I guess you’re right, it’ll cut down on how much Alpha Darius has to explain as well. Alright, so a Luna is the formal name of an Alpha’s mate. Alpha Darius’s wife is known as Luna.”

“That does actually make sense!” Orin explained excitedly, “Any time I would mention Luna over at Zander’s house his mother would turn her head as if I called for her. I always thought it was just a coincidence?”

“Wait.” Celeste piped up, “So if a Luna is an Alpha’s mate, and you are an alpha, and Luna is your mate, that makes her…. Luna Luna?”

“Well, yes, something I have already had a small laugh over if I am honest.” Vesp’s chest rumbled with a deep chuckle, the sound sending the butterflies in my stomach into overdrive. Everything about him drove me crazy.

“It sounds silly if you ask me.” I rolled my eyes to emphasize my point, I had always loved my name because it had been the nickname my father gave my mother. Wait. “I think you’re right! About us coming from Alpha blood, my name was the nickname my father gave my mother, she said he always called her Luna.”

“See. Everything is connecting. Your father had to be an Alpha, but since he didn’t take his Luna with him to his pack there must have been a war going on and he was scared of her being targeted.”

“Targeted?” Celeste’s voice was full of worry now. “Who would target our mother? She’s the sweetest woman you could meet!”

“Enemies target an Alpha’s Luna if they can get to her. If you kill one mate, the other dies, or at least becomes very weak and drops into a depression that eventually kills them. An Alpha is no different, if an Alpha loses his Luna, he goes into a killing rampage, all he sees is red and he won’t stop till he’s brought down.”

“So then, if our father was from a waring pack then he may have left mother, and ultimately us, behind to protect her,” Orion stated. It had always been a sore place for Orion that our father had left our mother and never returned, he’d sworn he’d never leave us and had even turned down football scholarship offers from great colleges because they were too far away from mom. Of course, mom didn’t know that was why, she figured he wanted to stay close to his siblings, after all, triplets who shared a womb are just as close when born.

“Exactly.” Vespian stated, “An Alpha can’t just leave their mate unless they have a very, very good reason, your mother would have been his moon and his sun, his very life would have been all about her, every breath he took would have been for her. It’s impossible to walk away from something like that.” Vesp’s eyes met mine again and the love that was shown there made my heart skip a beat and my cheeks flush red.

“He feels all of that for you, Luna!”  Ellie’s voice rung through my mind, elation coloring every word.

“I don’t know Ellie, this is all happening too fast! I just met him, how do I know I can trust him? How do I know he won’t leave me pregnant and alone just like my mother was?”  One of my biggest fears had been losing the love of my life so soon after meeting him, just as my mom had. I wasn’t as strong as her, I didn’t think I could move on from that.

“Vesp isn’t leaving anytime soon, and his pack isn’t at war, I don’t think you have to fear that Luna.”  Ellie’s voice sounded soft and I could have sworn I felt a warmth surround me as if I had been hugged by an invisible force. “Give Vesp and Eli a chance.”

“We’re here.” Vesp’s voice cut through my inner monologue and I turned my head from his chest to see the giant Mansion looming up in front of us as we walked out of the trees.