The Wolfless Luna

GRACE Sweats pooled over my head as my fist made contact with the punching bag, “Hyaahh!!” “That was a good punch grace, but you need to put more force into it.” Jim, my gym instructor said. Jim was a muscular guy; he was around in his thirties, but he still looked young, and let me tell you he was handsome, which was one of the reasons why girls were packed or more like often visited this gym. He was a good person by heart, which also made him earn points from the ladies, but you know what was fun. He is a married man with two kids, and he loved his family so much that he would always talk about them. “God can this man get any more perfect.” Yes, these were the lines that ladies often used, but my case was different. I just saw him as a friend and a good person. Though he may be handsome, I don’t have the habit of lusting over other women’s men. Moreover, I’m going to have my mate who will love me, care for me, and will treat me like a queen and vice versa I also want to love the man, care for him, respect him, and treat him like a king. So, why should I think of another man? Okay, did I sound too confident? You all I’m just joking, let me give you a catch. I’m a werewolf, but you know what’s special about me is that I don’t have a wolf. Yes, I’m a werewolf without a wolf. I possess all the qualities that the Moon Goddess grants a werewolf, like speed, fast recovery, sense of smell, and fast metabolism, but it was still less compared to a full werewolf. But at least I was at an advantage among humans. “What are you thinking, Grace? This is the last one today, and then you can go to your class—” he turned around, looked at the wall clock, and said, “You have twenty minutes to finish this and go to your college. So, let’s start.” He threw the boxing glove towards me and I caught it swiftly and were there at the same time, Jim wore his protective gear held the punching bag at steady, and asked me to punch ten times repeatedly. I moved my neck to crack my neck bones and then took a deep breath, as my fist made contact with the punching bag, I saw Jim poking his head out from the side and showing me a thumbs-up sign. As I made my last punch, I put all my energy into that. “Hyaah!!” I plumed down and lied as I was extremely exhausted and the idea of now going to college made me feel exhausted more. “That was a good punch, Grace.” Jim complimented me, he is the sweetest even if I made any mistakes, he would calmly tell me what mistake I made and how I could correct it, unlike my grandfather who would start scolding me. “Thanks, Jim.” I thanked him while standing up. “You know Grace you are the only one who seriously works and puts so much effort into the training. Not even those big guys work this hard like you.” This was somewhat true because since childhood grandfather had made sure to make me learn every possible thing, I could do. Be it taekwondo, karate, or martial arts and it was not just these sports it also included singing, playing instruments, and dancing. Yeah, my life was pretty much always busy. And it’s not like now I’m free, these boxing classes which I’m doing now are only because I didn’t want to lose my practice and keep continuing so I had to squeeze out this time in between my classes. “You know that’s not hard to do. Most people think that being big and bulky means they are stronger but technically it just leaves them with less speed and more places to hit. And most importantly they don’t have the important thing which is required to fight someone which is the brain, they lack the ability to use that big muscle in their head.” Plus, they don’t have the added advantage I have. Obviously, I said this in my head, I don’t want to get caught by humans, especially by Jim. After listening to my explanation Jim gave me again a thumbs up and said, “You know if I didn’t know how powerful you are I would have taken you as a weak kid because of your height.” And here comes the thing which I hate the most someone commenting about my height. In the pack, I was already small among the male wolves who were tall like bamboo trees and could easily tower over me but the female wolves in the packs were also considerably taller than a usual human girl, unless you see a model who is 175cm or more than that. The average height of a woman in our pack was five foot seven inches and I, an innocent child among those models as she wolfs was like a kid with a height of five foot and three inches. Which also gave me a reason to tell them that I was different from them. I glared at Jim and asked him, “Is this a compliment or a taunt about my height.” Jim laughed like Santa Claus, only the big belly was missing, otherwise one would definitely tell that Santa Claus had come. “Not at all, it was a compliment, and you obviously know this child.” And he was right. I knew he was not taunting me for my height, unlike the rest of the pack members. I gave him a cheeky smile which apparently made me look cute according to my close one and I also think I look cute and this height of mine just added to the compliment. “You know this is why I like you; you are spunky and know how to use your brain and that smile of yours reminds me of my daughter and you are like my daughter which adds extra reason to like you.” Okay, you all need to agree that was the sweetest compliment one could get especially one who doesn’t have a father and being told that I remind him of his daughter and I’m like a daughter makes it more special for me. I hugged him and he patted my back, “Okay enough of chatting now go and get changed otherwise you will get late for your classes.” I turned around to look at the wall clock and he was right I only had ten minutes left I needed to hurry especially when I had my class with Professor D’Souza. I quickly grabbed my water bottle and ran toward the locker room. I could hear Jim shouting from behind to be careful. I grabbed my spare clothes which I always bring with me which usually consist of a pair of blue denim jeans, a crop top, and a plaid oversized shirt along with my white sneakers. The bathroom in the gym was not that big but was enough to take a shower especially when I was soaked in sweat. In no way I or anyone would like to go this way to their college. I took a quick shower and changed into my clothes which I bought; it may sound like I’m being narcissistic but believe me I don’t need makeup because of my pale white skin along with my naturally flushed cheeks which gives the illusion, that I have used blush on my face. And obviously, we can’t forget my pink lips. So, yeah overall I didn’t need any makeup which helped me save some time, unlike other girls who at least need to put on foundation, mascara, or lip tint. I bid my goodbye to Jim and ran towards the college; it was not far away and granted with my speed I could reach there within five minutes. It was the time like this when I was grateful for my speed while running compared to a usual human. The only disadvantage was that sometimes I was so fast that I missed my destination and ran past the place, and because of this I had to make a U-turn and again run backward. Honestly, you know the saying that says “Every power has its advantages and disadvantages” and this was the disadvantage I suffered. Luckily today I didn’t miss my destination and reached there just before the gates were about to close, it was a close call. I saw a student in the corridor going to their class, I sprinted toward the building number in which I had my classes. Building number 14, room number 1307. I somehow managed to come to my classroom without pushing or trampling on their feet on my way. Thankfully I reached my classroom just in time otherwise I was going to get a good scolding for being late from Professor D’Souza. She is not that strict in terms of studies but she hates when students come late to her class. She takes our English class and since I’m already ahead of the portion she is teaching so, I usually sleep or relax in her class. Since I’m already exhausted, I can make good use of this class to relax. Oh my God, how can I forget to introduce myself to you all, I kept talking to myself. So, let’s start from the beginning, my name is Grace Isabella Evans, I’m eighteen years old well almost going to turn nineteen. If someone asked me to describe myself, then I would say, I’m the kind of person who likes to do something difficult, I don’t know why but the more it is challenging the more it makes me want to give it a try. In other words, you can say challenges make me tempted. I always wanted something that was going to challenge me and make me rake my brain, but they had yet to teach me anything beyond what Grandfather’s tutors had taught me when I was growing up. Growing up I was not allowed to go to high college, My Grandfather had a tutor appointed for me at home. I had quite a bit of a high-class education and upbringing even though I was not allowed to leave the house, but that all ended when I turned eighteen. While my grandfather still supported me financially, to an extent, it was significantly less than it was when I was a kid now, he only pays for my tuition and gives me some pocket money. But it’s fine with me, now that I can live on my own and I’m no more bound by the shackles of his baseless rules and regulations that he had planned for me. I don’t live my life by his strict rules anymore, not as much as anyway. The only rules I need to follow are those of the pack and that was fine by me. My family once had a very high ranking in the hierarchy of the Silver Moon pack but everything changed after that one incident. My grandfather was the beta of the previous alpha whose son is now our new alpha. However, that alpha was killed in an attack some years ago and the same year his son who is now our Alpha took over the responsibility of the pack. But even being in the family of a beta couldn’t help keep my family from losing face in a massive scandal. “We wolves are a proud people.” Those are the words that my grandfather would tell me every day since I was a little girl. As far back as I can remember. But that pride hadn’t stopped my mother from disappearing for two weeks when she was fifteen and coming back to face her father’s fury. And then, to make matters worse, they found out she was pregnant. She refused to tell them who the father was and it was more like she said she couldn’t remember anything. They naturally assumed that the father was not a wolf, which made me an abomination in their eyes. Regardless, I was still considered a part of the pack, and the previous Alpha had ordered that I shall be treated like any other member of the pack until it was certain that I would not shift like everyone else. Our wolf forms usually show at any time between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. Many believe that the sooner you get your wolf the more likely it is that you will be the strongest among the rest but that’s not always true and we all know how people believe the words so people will be people who will believe in flying words rather than facts so they will compare. Now here I was, nearly nineteen, and still didn’t have a wolf. But you see I still have other factors of wolf-like speed, healing faster, and sensing someone’s presence, everything. I was very much a member of the pack; I was clearly not a human but neither a werewolf. You can say I didn’t belong to any category. I may think of asking of asking my mother the secret of my birth but I can’t since she is no more. If she had been alive, I could have asked her since she may have been scared to answer at that time but she may be less scared to answer now but the ridicule and shame which was given to our family right after she gave birth to me was too much for her to handle and she ended up taking her own life after I was at least two or less than two years old. Yeah, I know this should not be the end game, but this is what happened. The only thing my mother left behind was a pendant that too she asked my aunt, Alicia to give me when I was old enough. I honestly thought that they would give me the pendant when I turned eighteen but they followed her instructions and didn’t give and after my mother’s death I lived with my aunt and uncle, calling them Aunt Alicia and Uncle Jeremy also feels like I’m not giving them enough respect. Honestly, they were like my mother and father. They had two boys who just treated me like their very own sister and they’re the best part of my childhood. Life was pretty amazing for me since I didn’t know who my actual father was nor did he come for me once so I didn’t have any chance to miss them also, I didn’t spend any time with my mother or remember anything particular about her so it was pretty easy for me to get over with the situation and I also had such an amazing people around me that made me feel like I was a part of their family so it was okay growing up. There were still some parts where I felt the need to know like why was grandfather being too strict with me or why I don’t have a wolf like other pack members. Honestly, the only thing I didn’t like during my childhood was the strictness that my grandfather had towards me, sometimes I even used to feel that he hated me. Like he would impose all his rules on me. At one point in time, I felt like he had drilled all the rules inside my head. I was not allowed to leave the house, nor was allowed to go to school and because of that, I was home-schooled. I was made to learn and train in many different things which I don’t complain about but still find unnecessary. I was also taught martial arts, boxing, etiquette, foreign languages, musical instruments, and more ridiculous things. He has ridiculously high standards for me for no good reason. He wanted me to be perfect since he thought because of my mother’s doing my life would be affected and no one would choose me as their mate so he made sure I was good at everything. He paid for everything thinking that one day I would shift by the time I turned eighteen and he could at least marry me off to some good family and also use me to get back some social status back in the hierarchy. But things don’t go as you wish it would. Birthday came and went and I didn’t shift. It became more evident now that I was not going to shift and that I didn’t have any wolf. I was considered a mistake, an abomination that shouldn’t be mixed with the rest of the pack and should be killed. Yet here I’m following every rule of the pack, I still attend all the pack gatherings. I still have to bow my head and kneel in front of the Alpha, but you know what was the irony, I have never seen Alpha. Yet, I still follow all the orders he gives to the pack. His orders were like compulsion for the pack which you can’t more likely wouldn’t dare to defy. And with all that, there were still many high-ranking families who treated me like an outsider, as someone who didn’t belong with them but I was used to it so it didn’t matter to me anymore. You can say I have more or less learned to ignore them and turned a blind eye towards them. Quote of the day: “Staying silent is like a slow-growing cancer to the soul and a trait of a true coward. There is nothing intelligent about not standing up for yourself. You may not win every battle. However, everyone will at least know what you stood for—YOU.”