The Broken Luna

Chapter 6 Mira

I had fallen asleep in the tree when I felt her branches shake. She screamed in my head,

"Mira! Run!"

Without hesitation, I jumped from the tree and was soon flying through the woods.

"Take the long way back, get to the pack house! Now, Mira!"

I ran as fast as I could, hopping over familiar tree roots, circling back to the house as quickly as I could. When I got there, I ran face first into a hard chest. Alpha Reiz.

"Mira! Where have you come from in such a hurry?" He asked, his eyebrows knit together in confusion. I normally would spend all day in the woods until it was time to cook lunch now that school was over. I legally couldn't have a real job until I turned 18 according to pack law.

"The trees. They told me…to…run," I said, panting from the exertion.

Reiz sniffed the air carefully, "Mira, get inside. Now," he growled.

"Why, what's going on?" I asked

"NOW!" He repeated in his Alpha voice. I obeyed, figuring I could just ask him later. Beta Marv and Gamma Scarlet came running down the stairs.

"Tell everyone to be on high alert, there are invaders on our land. It smells like it's just two, but I want everyone to be extra careful. The festivities are still on for tonight. Mira, come with me," Reiz spoke quickly but with authority. I scampered behind him, practically running to keep up with his 6'4 stride.

"The invaders are from your father's pack. I expect they're here for you. Your uncle's Luna died before ever producing an heir and he refused to remarry. He passed recently, which means that you are to be the next Luna of the Northern Moonstone Pack. I was hoping they'd wait until after your first shift and address this diplomatically. But it seems as though they plan to take you by force. I want to know what you want to do?" He said, dropping bomb after bomb of information on me. I had no idea my father had been so high ranked in his previous pack nor that I had had an uncle. I had no clue how to be a Luna and I technically couldn't ascend without an Alpha by my side anyways.

"I-I don't know. How high ranked was my father before he joined Crimson Moon? Why did he leave? Aren't I supposed to have an Alpha in order to ascend?" I asked rapid fire.

"Your father was the younger brother to the most recent Alpha. He left because as second born, he had no claim to lead unless something were to happen to your uncle which causes many wolves to demand a fight to the death before they choose to follow, it's safer just to leave. Also, your mother, his fated mate, was a member of Crimson Moon so it was easier to swear loyalty to me. In our pack, yes, Alphas and Lunas ascend together. They're stronger together and so the pack is stronger, it just makes sense to wait for Fate, but not all packs operate this way. Northern Moonstone hands over rulership to the firstborn son as soon as he shifts, unless there are no male heirs, then it goes to the first born daughter. You are the only living descendant of the Alpha line. The moment you shift at midnight tonight, you could claim the pack lands," Reiz patiently explained.

"I'm not ready for any of that, I have no training. I don't know anything about Northern Moonstone or their pack laws. Crimson Moon is my home, " I rambled.

"You understand that if you don't take the leadership, someone else will? Either a Sigma already in the pack or the neighboring packs will invade? Your father's home and legacy would be destroyed," Reiz spoke calmly.

"This is my father's home. I am his legacy. If he didn't want it, neither do I," I said firmly.

"Then we will defend you," he promised, "your first shift will be difficult. You can't be outside right now, follow me."

Reiz led me to the training room. I'd never actually been in here, it was huge. One side of the room had every weight machine you could imagine. There was also a boxing ring, sparring dummies, treadmills, elliptical, stairmasters, and row machines. One wall was covered in every weapon imaginable carefully hung up. Reiz patted the floor of the boxing ring,

"Shift here tonight, you won't be able to explore, but you can get to know your wolf and safely shift back."

"Thank you, sir," I whispered back.

"You may have noticed that my Alpha voice didn't actually work on you earlier, you chose to listen, you weren't compelled. Don't let anyone know that you are Luna-born. It puts a target on your back. If I give an order in my Alpha voice, follow it so that no one suspects anything," Reiz explained.

"Okay," was all I said.

"Mira," Reiz started.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"We would go to war for you, for any pack member. I've watched you grow for the past ten years now. I think of every pack member as my child, but you and Faye and Damien are special to me, almost as special as Fallon. Please, be safe," he sounded choked with emotion.

"Okay," I said, hot tears falling down my cheeks. I missed my parents every day, but Reiz had been good to me and I often thought of him as a stepfather. It was nice to hear he thought of us in a similar way.

The pack was transformed over the next few hours with balloon arches, twinkling lights, and fabric in our colors, red and gold, draped over everything. The party was in full swing as midnight approached. I recognized a few kids I'd graduated high school with earlier this year as kids from the old pack that'd invaded standing around awkwardly. They never really knew how they fit in here. I squeezed by them as they tried to become shadows on the wall to get to the training room.

I carefully took off my clothes and folded them. My n*****s stiffened from the sudden temperature change and I held my breasts until I heard the clock clanging out the midnight hour and a roar from the crowd outside. "Happy Birthday, Mira," I told myself as I got down on my hands and knees. My body was on fire. My fingers shortened while my fingernails turned long, hard and black. My face felt like it was exploding as my nose stretched and my teeth sharpened. Every bone screamed out in pain as they broke and reorganized themselves, and my skin itched as white fur exploded out of every pore. As quickly as it had started, my shift was over and I stood on four perfectly white paws. All of my senses were heightened and I felt powerful.

"Go," I heard my wolf speak into my head for the first time.

"Where?" I asked.

"Find Fallon," was all she said. She was a wolf of few words, apparently.

"I can't go out there like this, they'll think I'm attacking," I explained.

"Then shift back," she sounded frustrated.

"I kinda wanted to go for a run, explore!" I replied.

"How? We're inside. Want Fallon!" She said.

I shifted back reluctantly and quickly dressed. She had a point, I couldn't exactly enjoy being a wolf in here. I decided to go ahead and try to sniff Fallon out now that my senses had fully come in. I found him outside talking to some she-wolf and felt a growl escape from me when the most intoxicating scent in the world filled my nose: blackberries with a hint of burning wood. It's what he always smelled like, but now it was making me tingle all over. He turned with a hungry look in his eyes.

"Mate!" My wolf shouted at me.

Fallon's eyes were black with desire. I didn't even feel my feet move but suddenly I was in his arms and he was kissing me. My body shuddered, leaving behind delicious goosebumps all over.

"Hey, we were kinda talking here!" The she-wolf from earlier grumbled.

I broke our kiss to snarl at her but before I could, Fallon spoke,

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I've found my mate," he said, never taking his eyes off of me.

"But-" she started.

"The arrangement is void. I would still like peace between our packs and am open to a treaty, but it'll be without a joining marriage, " he said plainly.

Oh s**t, this was Sarah Meretrix. She was the Luna of the Darkwood Pack, a pack on our western border. Fallon's and her parents had arranged a peace-treaty-marriage between the two of them should he turn 21 before finding his fated mate. Her's had been killed at their ascension ceremony.

"Congratulations, Fallon. A mate is a precious thing. Don't let her out of your sight," she replied before walking away.

"Mira, I-" Fallon started to say when I cut him off.

"Can we talk upstairs?" I asked, my wolf showing me images of positions that didn't look like we'd be talking in.

"Of course," he breathed, gesturing for me to lead the way.