Dea Della Luna

POV Azeen       The cool breeze from the night was blowing in through the window; the room was dark even though the moon was sending shimmers of light through the small space in between my curtains. Every morning even though really early I awoke at the same time 3:07 am never able to fall back asleep. It’s been this way ever since that night when I was 2 years old and my parents passed away. I was brought to Bella Luna a small town 9 hours away from Summerville where I was born.  The town is small maybe 5000 people live here; it is beautiful but has a 1900’s feeling.  Mom and pop shops lined about 10 streets all surrounding the Center of Bella Luna. In the Center of Town there was this amazing, captivating park. Flowers and Trees throughout, little water falls, benches and picnic tables, and a large water fountain with a statue of the Moon Goddess Selene and one of her horses that pulled her chariot. Bella Luna is in the shape of the moon, which is why it is called Bella Luna. (Beautiful Moon) The streets are all in a circular shape, and unless you live here are very easy to get lost on, almost like a maze.  The people in Bella Luna for the most part are very nice and welcoming, the school kids my age not so much. I’m 18  years old, I turn 19 in 4 days and I have only 7 days left of school, I have 1 friend Carmella, we have known each other since we were 4 years old when her family moved next door to my house. Her parents Elsie and Antonio are such loving people; always showing affection to one another and their kids, they treat me like one of their own as well, I am over at their house as much as possible.  Antonio is the Mayor of Bella Luna and he has been since before I even knew them and Elsie is the Towns head doctor. The town’s people really look up to both of them. Carmella has two brother’s Jake and Luca, Jake is 14 years old and is more on the wild side whereas Luca is 19 and like his father, one day he will take over as mayor for his dad, which I don’t understand because most Mayors are chosen by election, apparently in Bella Luna things are done different. Carmella and Luca are twins and even though they share twin telepathy they are two very different people.  Carmella has midnight black hair, Luca has a blue black color, Carmella’s eyes are blue as the sky and Luca’s are ever green. Luca is strong, and dependable everyone loves him and wants to be near him especially the girls, Carmella is more bubbly, hyper and talkative, all the guys are constantly asking her out. She always says No to them though. Carmella is my best friend and soul sister. Luca and I are not friends; he has always been there for me when it was most needed though. The woman and man that raised me, Bethany and Roger was just that; people who raised me. They have provided me everything that I require to live life for the most part. While their emotional attachment was something to be desired; most kids gets hugs and I love you before bed and kisses on scrapes, I received a Goodnight while they headed out the door to the nearest bar and are you dying, No then why are you crying?  It wasn’t bad to be brought up this way, gave me strong shoulders so to speak, and Elsie and Antonia made up for the lack I received. As I stare at my ceiling praying that one day I will sleep past 3:07am I hear Roger stumbling in the house, then I hear Bethany. “Child come here now” I hear Roger yell I quickly jump out of bed and head downstairs. “Yes sir, what can I help you with?” “Don’t you give me lip Child; do you need to be taught a lesson?” Roger replied Oh goodness they are really drunk this time, “No sir, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.” “Oh roger leave the orphan alone, let’s just go to bed.” Bethany states “No, she needs to be taught a lesson, respect to the people who were forced to care for her.” I just stood there with my hands around my back as the two of them bickered about me, 4 more days then I can legally move out of this house. I am grateful for Roger and Bethany for providing me with a home to live in and food, but they are drunks, some nights after a bar run they would just come home to bed while other nights like tonight, I was usually hit for my apparent disrespect. “Now child, how do you want your discipline tonight” Roger asks I don’t answer as I know this means I’m getting more than just hit, I will be going to school with bruises yet again, and even though Bethany protests she always joins in. Blackness………………………………. This is my favorite place to be on nights like this, I don’t know when I started but when ever Roger is in one of his moods, and I’m about to get beat I always come to the darkness, I see, hear and feel nothing. I’m not scared of being here either, oddly enough it’s a calming place, and it always feels like a warm embrace.  When I finally come out of the blackness I am in my bed again covered under my blanket, I’m not exactly sure,  how I end up here but every time I always come out of the blackness when I am in bed. I go to get up to check the damage that has been done to my face, Its Roger’s favorite spot to hit but I can’t seem to move my legs at all. I reach over to my lamp and tap it to come on, move my blanket and when I look down at my legs I see that one is covered in blood and the other is a shade of dark purple and black.  I use my hands to move my legs off the edge of the bed, to start circulation again.  Hmm Roger and Bethany out did themselves this time, slowly I can feel they blood flowing through my one legs, I grab my pillow and pull of the cover to use to tie up my other leg to stop the blood from flowing out. Weirdly enough I feel absolutely no pain, I never do and usually within a day or two the bruising I have is gone.  Roger and Bethany never remember doing this to me either, it’s like they are black out drunk. I feel bad for them because their life was ruined because of me, they were forced into raising me, not sure how as that has never been explained.  When I turn 19 I finally have legal rights to find out what happened to my parents, their family, and to find out exactly who I am.  Roger and Bethany will tell me nothing, and as much as it hurts to know that I am such a hindrance on their lives, they and I only have 4 more days.  I slowly start to feel my toes on my left foot again so I go to stand, knowing that my right leg would not be able to hold any weight on it, as I stand I can feel this overwhelming feeling that someone is watching me, I turn my head to the window, and Luca is standing in front of it.  “Luca how did you get in my room?” as I say this I forget about my leg and put weight where it should not have gone and started fall to the floor, but before I hit the floor Luca was at my side catching me. “Azeen, you need to be more careful.” He looks down at my bleeding leg; it doesn’t even faze him, not sure if it’s because since I was 4 years old he has somehow always gotten in my window to help me after I have been hit or beaten. To this day he still doesn’t tell me how he does it. My room is on the third floor and there is no stairs or patio near it. Luca carries me to the bathroom that is attached to my room and places me on the counter. “I really wish you would let me deal with them Azeen, you shouldn’t have to live this way.” “It’s only for 4 more days and then I am of age and I can move out on my own” “Whatever Azeen” Luca states as he un-ties the pillow cover from around my leg. "Azeen I think we need to get mom, the cut in your leg is deep and I think it’s broken, the medical supplies you have will not be enough.” I look down at my leg, Luca is right but I don’t want Elsie knowing about what happened, she already treats me so well. “How about we call Carmella then Azeen, she can go into moms medical bag and grab the stitching stuff, some wraps and the boot. Mom won’t notice it missing, the only time she uses that bag is when she is making house calls,  I’ll stop by the pharmacy to get replacements for everything afterschool today.” “Okay call Carmella, but I will replace everything afterschool today and give it to Carmella. One more thing, tell Carmella to use the front door, Roger and Bethany won’t hear a thing, they are dead to the world by now.” Luca nods his head as he walks out of the bathroom to call Carmella. I take this time to turn my upper half of my body to look at myself in the mirror.  My White hair (yes I said White I am what everyone calls Part Albino) is so tangled and full of knots, I’m assuming from Bethany pulling at it, she loved doing that to my hair to twist it and pull it, I had a very noticeable black and blue with a tint of purple bruise taking up half of the left side of my face and my once Silver eyes were now red from the blood vessels being broken. My once red lips were now a pale pink with a mustardy yellow and green around the right corner of my lip, a large cut on the lower lip.  My chest had evident bruising, but I was not willing to pull my shirt down with Luca just in the other room to look, my arms are just as equally bruised, Roger and Bethany really out did themselves this time. “Carmella will be here in about 5 minutes, she’s going to bring over her makeup to help cover up some of these bruises. Are you okay Azeen?” “I will be fine Luca, nothing I can’t handle, within a couple of days I will be back to normal, you know this.” I shrug Luca just looks at me with sadness in his eyes, “You shouldn’t have to handle this though Azeen. You…” Luca reaches his hands up to my face and gently rubs my cheeks while looking in my eyes, “You are very beautiful Azeen and you should not have to have a family that treats you so poorly.” “Luca they are not my family, they are my care takers, seriously its okay.” I remove Luca’s hands from my face even though inside of me I love his touch, though faint it feels like electricity running through my body every time we touch, he makes me feel safe and loved, but it’s not something I could ever tell him, nor will I ever. Especially since I will be leaving Bella Luna in just 4 short days, it’s weird I have lived here for 17 years and never once have I seen some one leave Bella Luna unless they have passed away, people move here but never leave; maybe it’s because of how beautiful this town is, or how pleasant the people are, or maybe I have just never noticed people moving away. Either way I am leaving, I need to know the truth about what happened to my parents, to my family if I had any, and the truth about who I really am. “Carmella” I say as I see her standing in the door way medical supplies in hand. She walks over to me, looks me up and down. “Awe sweetie, they really did it to you this time didn’t they? You know we can tell my dad and he can have it dealt with, you shouldn’t have to live like this.” “No, that is okay like I told Luca I only have 4 more days left and then I will be able to move out, and find out about my parents, and I am grateful that Roger and Bethany even if they are drunks took me in.” Carmella just shakes her head and starts to get to work on my leg, she would make a great doctor like her mom, but she wants to own her own coffee shop. I feel sadness starting to take over my body, thinking about how for 15 years Carmella and her family have been my family; about how I will be leaving them and they won’t even know.  I have to leave before Roger and Bethany come back from the bar, so at 1am on my 19th Birthday I will slip away into the dark, leaving this town and the only people who have ever cared for. I can’t even tell them I am leaving because they will try and convince me to stay, and once they do that I know I won’t be able to go.  I will definitely miss them……….. POV Luca She is so incredibly beautiful if only I could tell her, if only I could Tell Azeen the truth about her and her family, about us and who we are. We moved beside Azeen 15 years ago when we found out that she was here. My father was so upset that he was not notified right away, I never knew the reasons until 4 years ago when my Alpha training started. Azeen’s mother and father were killed by rogues after a surprise attack. The King of Rogues Declan wanted Azeen dead as well and to this day he thinks that she is.  When I questioned my father on why Azeen was so important and what her parents meant to him, it broke my heart. Azeen’s mother Emily and father Isaiah were my Father and mothers best friends, they were Soul connected all four and my father and mother felt the moment they died.  Emily was a hybrid half wolf, half witch and Isaiah Was the full bred wolf and Alpha of SummerVille pack.  Azeen was born a hybrid, but when born was blessed by the moon goddess Selene herself.  When Azeen’s parents passed away my parents assumed she died as well, until one day 16 years ago my father received a letter, it was from Azeen’s father Isaiah, he purposely pre planned this letter to be mailed to my father in the event of his death. Roger and Bethany were the only people that could hide Azeen’s scent and protect her from the Rogue King; I still don’t know why he wants to hurt Azeen.  Before Emily’s death she cast a binding spell on Azeen, only when her true mate is found will Azeen’s wolf and magic come forward. This is why on Azeen’s 19th Birthday I will be leaving Bella Luna for a few weeks to stay with my Aunty and Uncle in Italy; this gives time for Azeen to move into her new place, at which time I will keep full distance away from her. I knew I was her mate for sure on my 19th Birthday, it has been hard to keep my distance, since I was a young boy I have loved her, but finding out she was my mate was the most amazing feeling ever, until my father reminded me that Azeen could never be with her Mate, that she needed to live her life as a human, I would have to mark another she-wolf and take her on as my mate, this would cut all ties with Azeen allowing no risk for the binding spell to ever be broken. To this day I still question what was exactly written in that letter, and today will be the day my dad tells me, I need to make 100% sure that losing my one true fated mate was in the best interest to myself and Azeen. “All done Azeen, you should be good to put pressure on your leg now, with the boot and the extra wraps there should be enough support.” I hear Carmella tell Azeen “Thank you Carmella, if anyone asks I just took a nasty fall down the stairs, everyone will believe it because they think I’m the clumsiest person on earth.” “Let’s get the make up on you to hide these bruises, how do you feel about attending school today? Do you think it’s a good Idea?” Carmela asks “Honestly I think I’m just going to head to the park today and avoid everyone if I can, that way there is no questions from the teachers and looks from the kids.” “Ignore the kids at school, I think it would be best for you to come and that way Carmella or me can help you if you need it, this isn’t like every other time Roger and Bethany have hurt you, they did a lot of damage this time.” I tell Azeen “Luca I will be fine, seriously I will be. I’ll be at the park all day, you guys know that I love it there, I will stop of a Bella Café on the way and grab some drinks and food for the day.” “Well then why not have Carmella or I go with you, I have Spares all morning anyways. Carmella?” “I have classes this morning, 2 of which are tests, but Luca if you hang with Azeen this morning, I will meet you just after lunch break and we can switch out. Azeen I agree with Luca on this you need someone with you, this way works perfect.” Carmella helps pull Azeen of the counter and turns her to face the mirror “All done my beautiful Soul sister, no one will even see the bruises, and its water proof so no chance of smudging it.” “Thank you Carmella, and thank you Luca. I know there is no chance that you will listen to me when I say I will be fine. So I will take your kind gesture!” “Perfect” I say as I clasp my hands together, “Carmella and I will head back to our house and get dressed and eat before we head out. Mom and Dad are probably wondering what we are doing right now.” I lead Carmella out the bedroom door Azeen again says thank you and we head out.