The Reincarnated Luna

Meeting

Once we finally made it back to the main packhouse Eli stopped in the entryway.

"The grounds are safe now if you'd like to go back to your original room." I nodded not wanting to leave Lilly cooped up in a locked saferoom. She deserves to play with people her own age freely and I'll be dammed if I let Alec take that away from her. 

"I'm glad you said that because I've already had dinner delivered there."

There is that thoughtfulness again.

 Once we finally made it into the room everything was how I had left it before we got moved to the saferoom. There were two large covered black plates on the counter.

"Hope everyone likes lasagna," Eli exclaimed while helping me to the couch. "Because that is all we have on the menu tonight. Along with a salad." Lilly began to bounce up and down in place. 

"I guess tuna would be best from Mana?" I tried to figure out what would be best for the little creature.

"Well, we've developed the perfect type of food pellet for their needed nutrients. I had Rowan make sure to bring a bag up here before he went to bed." I nodded as Eli started to get everyone's food together, including Mana's.

"Why does mana need food?' Lilly asked eyeing the lasagna.

"Because he's a growing boy just like you." Eli let out a chuckle as he plated her smaller portion.

"But I'm not little, I'm a big girl!" She made motions with her arms as if she was flexing. I couldn't help but laugh watching the two of them. 

He'd be a great dad.

"Well, we are basically Lilly's mother now." I gulped, remembering that I have to raise her.

I'm still basically a child myself. How am I supposed to raise a kid and run a pack? Save the world?

"With precision."  That is all Selene offered me as we all sat around the coffee table in the living room to eat. As time passed the more I tried to forget about the new overbearing responsibilities, and just live in the moment. Once I went to put Lilly to bed and help her put up her toys I was thoroughly exhausted. I had been walking around trying to get her to tire out for the past couple of hours and my body was becoming stiff. Mana was keeping up with her too, which made me feel a bit better knowing that he was still able to play like a normal pup.

Finally, she crashed in front of her dollhouse and I let out a heavy sigh before lugging her into her bed. There was a low chuckle from the doorway that made me smile. Glancing back Eli motioned for me to follow him out of the room. He led me to the bed where Selene had called me ignorant but I guess that bed is mine now. I couldn't help but smile even more at the thought. 

So much has happened in such a small amount of time. 

I plopped down on the edge of the bed as Eli pulled the covers back. He still didn't lay with me but sat at my side.

"I know you're exhausted," he tucked a stray hair behind my ear, "We need to discuss the meeting tomorrow morning." I nodded slightly and tried to sit up, but he held my shoulders down.

"We can talk politics while you rest." I giggled. He somehow makes everything seem effortless. Suddenly his face became serious again "So how can we change the focus from the manticores?" I paused, glancing over to Mana sleeping soundly next to me.

"Do you remember why we killed ourselves?" My voice came out smaller than I had meant for it to. He froze.

"It's hazy; I think some of my memories are connected to yours as well. I do have somewhat of a grasp on what was going on, but I'm also learning new things every day just like you are."

"So what do you remember?"

"Feeling trapped, like we had no other choice. I also remember believing strongly in the decision. If we had truly perished then we would have lost the war." I sighed.

"That is what I was afraid of. I remember parts of the war, getting wounded," he flinched, showing me that he remembered that too, "but most of all I remember one distant person. I can't exactly put my finger on him, but he was powerful." 

"He feels as if a looming shadow. I always assumed it was the rouge Alpha that had led to this war's beginning, but he is long dead."

"What if it isn't a single person?" Eli looked at me quizzically. "What if it is multiple entities working together?" I closed my eyes trying to dig deeper into Selene's memories. "I  don't know what it is, but I just have a feeling that it isn't someone, but something." 

"These are things we definitely need to find out, but how is this going to help solve the current problems at hand?"

"You've been too busy trying to defend on all sides, instead of forging allies." He looked slightly irritated by my words.

"I don't mean that you haven't been forging alliances, but the Manticores are a mystery to all sides. So is the origination of our current situation in the world. Everyone is so caught up in survival, no one is focusing on finding the route of the problem." Eli placed a tender kiss on my forehead.

"So tomorrow morning we should offer the lab-grown cultures as experiments, and once they're ready for living trials we will put the word out for volunteers. I'll rearrange the funding to align with the computer power it will take." He went to get up and leave but this time I tugged on his shirt. 

"We need to go where it originated. Once we get everything settled here we should head to Nevada territory. Also, don't forget we need a team in charge of releasing the manticores after they are sterilized. People that won't mistreat them."  He nodded once again and kissed my hand.

"I'll see you in my office at 7 o'clock tomorrow. The meeting will start then." I wanted to throw a tantrum and ask him to stay, but we still weren't even technically together. I just watched, feeling my heart ache as he walked out of the bedroom door. Once I finally heard the apartment door close I let out a loud sigh as I balled my fist and slammed it on the bed causing Mana to jump. He started to purr once again and plopped down on my side making his tiny wings poke me.

"What are we going to do with all of this Mana? Saving the world, defeating some looming threat, saving precious lives-" I held the last part on the tip of my tongue. "and all of your lives are precious. I'll make sure that you guys get answers too." I let my heavy lids drift closed, finally letting my tense body rest. Deep sleep consumed me almost immediately.

    Most normal people would need an alarm clock to wake up before 7 am; especially being as exhausted as I was. I was given a sharp blow to the stomach that made me jump awake. I was met with Mana and Lilly running around the large bed and playfully growling at one another. With a heavy sigh, I scooped Lilly up. She continued to bark at Mana all the way back to her bedroom.

"I thought I only had one Manticore, but now I have two?" That got a giggle out of her as she sprinted to her closet. Sooner rather than later she came out holding a sailor's costume shirt and a princess skirt. 

"Really? Let change this up a bit." I went back into her closet and found a blue sparkly skirt that would match the sailor's shirt more along with some white flats. She pouted a bit but changed into the clothes as I instructed since I promised to let her have chocolate chips in her oatmeal. She's still struggling to tell her left from right apart so I had to fix he shoes for her, but otherwise, I let her do her own makeup and hair for the day. 

"I'm a pirate! A pretty pirate!" She slightly pronounced her 'r' as a 'w' and started to dig into her breakfast. I left her and her overcoated blue eyeshadow to go pick out my own outfit. I hadn't worn Eli's clothes long so I decided to keep the shirt on and tuck it in a pair of tight white-washed jeans and put on plain black tennis shoes. Pulled my hair up into a long ponytail and called it a day. I felt like I was going to presentation in front of all of my professors, but realized this is actually much more serious. I took a deep breath before a loud shattering sound came from the kitchen. I rushed in to see Mana and Lilly both on the floor. Mana was licking the spilled food, while Lilly was slapping her fork into it making weird sounds. 

"Lilly!" I rushed to move her and Mana away from the broken ceramic bowl. She started whaling and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I started to let frustrated tears flow as I frantically tried not to let myself get worked up.

"It's going to be okay Alora. Breathe. Things may seem to be stacking up right now, but it feels as if we are moving in the right direction."  Even with Selene's soothing words, I couldn't hold in the tears that I didn't know were building. A light hand patted my shoulder causing me to jump, and Mana to move onto the counter beside me and growl. 

I was greeted with a warm smile from Cora. 

"Hey hun, Sam is already at the office. I decided to swing by and make sure you made it okay." I must have been so upset I hadn't heard the door open. I gave her a weak smile white trying to wipe my face without using my palms. 

"Let's get this cleaned up." She started humming before I could say anything and working away.

"Thank you." Is all I could choke out as I tried to help.

"As I said before I know how shell shocking this can be, especially adding the responsibility of being Luna and taking care of a young kid. I figured you could use some help." We were making good progress in getting the apartment together when it dawned on me. Cora is a tad older than I am, but she and Sam both seem more mature than I could ever hope to be.

"Cora have you and Sam ever talked about kids?" It took her a second before she responded.

"Yes and no. Sam has only begun to find herself. She's been like this for a few years now, and I'll love her no matter how she portrays herself. Her parents weren't the most supportive and wanted her to be a loving husband and father, but that isn't what she wanted." A sad smile danced on her lips.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's okay. Her parents moved to a different pack shortly after, and she has been doing really great. Our tiny family is fine with me. As long as I have her I couldn't ask for much more. That would be greedy of me to ask the Moon Goddess to make something even more perfect than she already has." She threw the towel she was using to dry her hands on the table and gave me one of her award-winning beaming smiles.

"Not to mention we have a wonderful Luna-to-be, and now Little Lilly to dote on. It's almost like fate is smiling down on us." My heart ached but in a good way. It was nice to know that we were wanted here by more than just Eli.

"We probably shouldn't keep them waiting for much longer." I said opening the front door, unable to fight the urge of matching her smile. Cora called to Lilly who happily skipped out of the room.

The walk to Eli's office seemed way too short for me to even try to compose myself for the talk I was about to have. Just in front of the door Cora turned to me and whispered a quick "You ready?" To which I nodded. She knocked twice before opening the door and was quickly let down. I felt the tension leave my shoulders as I let out a heavy sign seeing only Sam and Eli in the room. Sam's face lit up seeing the three of us in the doorway.

"Looky here at my three favorite ladies!" She and Eli both walked toward the doorway we were standing in. I faced Cora who quickly started to speak.

"We all agreed that you could use a bit of a tension reliever so we figured faking you out would be the best option. Don't blame me, blame Eli!" The woman who was so well put together earlier squirmed under my gaze. 

"It helped didn't it?" Sam had a wicked grin before motioning back to the elevator.

"Time to go to the meeting room." I gulped. This time the walk was much longer. We had to go down to the first floor and down a corridor from the library. This seemed like a small office space that even had a receptionist sitting at a desk in front of three glass conference-like rooms. The older but fit woman stood quickly with a clipboard in hand. 

"This way Alpha. Everyone else has already arrived." She motioned to the glass room that had its blinds drawn. 

"Well, this is where we leave. Ready to go to school little one?" Corra peered down at Lilly. I placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair a bit. Mana, who had been following idly by hopped onto my shoulder catching me off guard. I nodded to Corra who gave me a reassuring smile before walking off. Without another word Sam led us into the room with me entering last. There was a large holographic screen floating in front of the wall to the left and a large horseshoe oak table to my right with at least twelve seats. Five of them were already taken by Denver, Rowan, Nia, Isabella, and Walsh. Along with two older looking people who I hadn't met before. One had a pixie cut, and the other was an older man who had a very long white beard and a bald head. Sam took a seat next to Walsh while Eli and I stayed in front of the screen. 

"A few of you know why I called this meeting here today, and the rest of you have no clue. The truth is that Alora here-" he motioned to me at his side, "is my mate, and will be taking the stop as the future Luna." Everyone nodded in unison, the bald man smiled.

"The people in this room also have been notified of the speculation of who my wolf may be. I am also here to notify you that Alora and I share memories from a past life that may be able to shed light on where the war originated. Now we will be taking steps to pursue this lead in the coming months, but first, we need to get a few things prioritized here. " I stepped forward making sure Mana was no longer shielded by Eli. everyone in the room either audibly gasped or cringed. 

"What is that thing doing out of the cages?" I heard Nia whisper among the other whispers that started erupting.

"Now," I started, halting all the chatter almost immediately. My breath hitched as all eyes were trained on me in disgust. Not disgust towards me, but toward the tiny creature perched on my shoulder. "Can anyone here tell me where Manticores came from?" I reminded myself of a science teacher I once had. "No? Can anyone tell me the last time you remembered treating them like actual life forms?" More silence. "I am purposing we begin to focus out studies and testing on decreasing the spread of the manticores by nonviolent means-"

"The Manticores may not be a huge issue for the people who don't travel very far out of the Colony walls, but out in the forests and unpopulated lands, they run ramped." The bald man's tone was steady and calm.

"While that may be true, we should work on repellants. Not lethal means. Eli has begun to work on the budgeting for the new software we will need and the course we will have to change in the lab."

"What about the current testing?" Walsh, the old Alpha (also Eli's father) added in. I was surprisingly calm and taking their questions in stride.

"We will use tissue samples and cultures grown in the lab, and when the tests are ready move to testing on volunteers. Now, this will call for some sort of transparency between us and the pack members but they deserve it. People everywhere are confused, frightened, and hurt. We need to give them a reason to believe in us, and what we are doing here will lead to a future where we don't have to live in walled cities."

"You asking us to work unbiasedly with the Manticores is almost as impossible as asking a Colony citizen to work with Amaruqs." Nia chimed in. I nodded in agreement. 

"We should be better than that." The assertiveness she had in her tone seeped away. "We need to be doing whatever it is too lessen the casualties and maximize our resources. Learning how to peacefully slow down the progression of the Manticore's population is just part of it. One day in the future I would like to start a study program to go about ways to tame them."

"We've already been there, and tried that." Denver seemed a bit amused by the whole situation.

"You haven't tried my way." I looked to Mana who began to nuzzle my neck. 

"Say all of this works," Rowan spoke for the first time, resonating throughout the room. I was still aware of Eli behind me, but I couldn't help but give Rowan my entire focus. "What is the end goal in all of this?"

I gulped, looked at each of them individually. The person with the pixie cut starting to look vaguely familiar. 

"Answers lie within the beginning. We will need all the allies we can get when we travel to Nevada territory."

"Nevada? Nevada is overrun with the oldest hybrids of those things! We'd be slaughtered!" Nia laughed almost in disbelief. 

"I'm asking for you to trust in the changes we will be making to work towards this goal. When the time comes we will be ready."

"Okay." Is all the old man said while smiling.

"We can try." Isabella piped in, giving me a reassuring smile. I knew if I had won her over the rest of the room was sure to follow. 

"If you give me a month you will surely see results." I asked, not pleading but asserting my opinion.

"I guess so." Walsh piped up, giving me a curt nod.

"I, along with a few others in this room have seen what you can do to the manticore's first hand. The least we can do is let you have a chance to change things." The person with the pixie cut lifted their head, and put their oval glasses back on, showing me it was the doctor from the night before.

"She also has my entire trust and support in this. All my resources are hers." Eli added.

"Then why are we even here?" Nia mumbled.

"It's settled then." Denver stood up. "Let us know what you need from us in the future." One by one they all started to file out of the room. Walsh and Isabella stopping at us to get brief directions on their studies. Once they were all gone Eli elbowed me. 

"You did good there kid." I gave him a dry laugh and kicked his shin. 

"It's just the beginning old man."