Alpha and Luna Rising

Chapter 1

May 20, 2025

Present Day

Avalon’s POV

As my history teacher prattles on about the werewolf civil war of 1950, I get lost in my thoughts. “Today marks seventy-five years since the Treaty of Bonds was signed, which ended the werewolf civil war of 1950. Selene, the moon goddess, and Edward McGuire, general of the rebel army who was very close to defeating Goddess’s army and would have decimated the werewolf population, negotiated, wrote, and signed it. It created a new mate system. Can anyone tell me the change?” My teacher asks.

She looks around the classroom and says, “Ms. Stone, am I boring you to sleep, or perhaps you would like to answer the question and show me you were paying attention?”

I take a deep breath to form my words before I reply, “Before the civil war, Selene gave us our mate, and to reject your mate is to have been rebelling against her. The treaty states that mates will court each other for two weeks. After courting, the mates separate for two weeks. After those two weeks, they gather for a ceremony with family and friends to either reject or accept each other.”

“Excellent! Nice to see you were paying attention,” Mrs. Smith replies before continuing her lecture,

“Nice save, runt,” says Marcus, the Gamma’s younger son. That is why I hate having a teacher call on me. It draws attention to me when all I want is to be invisible.

Marcus isn't the first person to make fun of me. Besides calling me runt, my pack's favorite names are fatso, lard, and shrimp. They also love kicking and punching. Teachers do nothing to stop them, as our alpha makes it blatantly clear he detests me for being different.

I’m a four-foot-ten-inch werewolf. So, I don't blend in well due to being a foot shorter than everyone else. Another strike against me is that I'm slightly chunky, while all the other girls are slender and athletically built. I try to blend in by hiding behind my long brown hair, and my chocolate brown eyes happen to be my favorite feature about myself.

As the bell rings, I take my time gathering my things to allow the hallway to clear up. I hope that I can get to my next class trouble-free. Before stepping out into the hallway, I check to see if the coast is clear. The hallway is empty, so I head to class. Next thing I know, someone is shoving me up against the lockers, which causes me to fall to the floor. “Where are you going, runt?” Marcus's familiar voice rings out while he places several kicks to my side.

“To class, sir,” I say in between breaths while looking at the floor. I learned many years ago to keep my head down and address all blood-related relatives of our upper-ranking members with respect, as they tend to leave me alone quicker if I do.

“Depends on whether you plan to embarrass the pack any further by daydreaming in class,” he says with a few more kicks to my side.

“No, sir, I would rather not embarrass the pack,” I manage to say between gasping breaths as the kicks have left me battling to breathe.

He runs away just as the late bell rings. I try to stand up but can't, so I crawl over to the lockers and use the handles to pull myself up. Praying I can at least make it to class and sneak in, I start staggering down the hallway. I’m a few doors away when Principal Adams’s voice rings out, “Why aren’t we in class, Ms. Stone?”

“Sorry, sir, I had to use the restroom!” I lied to make things easier for myself.

“I’m giving you a pass this one last time, Ms. Stone, based on your family’s standing with the pack. Next time, it will be detention for you.”

“Thank you, sir,” I say and head straight to class. Thankfully, I’m able to slip into a back desk. The teacher notices me, and, thankfully, she quietly marks my presence.

The rest of the day passes without further incident. Once the school dismisses us for the day, I run home. I take this long route home that my peers never use. After arriving home, I start and finish my homework. This house is the only place where I feel safe, loved, and wanted.

I live with my parents, Roy and Lois Stone. My dad is the pack's beta and is well-respected among the pack. My mom is also a well-respected and active pack warrior. We live in a large, two-story, six-bedroom house with an office and a wraparound porch.

Also living in the house with my parents and me are my two younger siblings, Tessa and Jameson, and my older sister, Aura. Tessa is currently in the sixth grade. She is a ball of energy and the light of everyone’s life. Tessa, the baby of the family, gets everything her heart desires.

Jameson is a sophomore at our high school. He is Mom’s and Dad's little prince or baby boy. Although he’s not spoiled like Tessa, James gets away with a lot more than any of us older siblings ever did. He spends most of his time hiding in his room, playing video games when he isn’t out training or at school.

Aura is three years older than me. She hasn’t found her mate yet. She is beautiful, which causes many male werewolves to try to court her and be her chosen mate. Aura has told me that she wants to find her destined mate. She tends to visit our brother and his mate often.

William is the oldest sibling and the future beta of the pack. He lives in a wing of the pack house set aside for the Beta with his mate Lorraine. A few years ago, William went with Dad to visit a sister pack, and he met Lorraine there. Last year, they got married in a pack-wide ceremony. Unfortunately, I had to sit in the back despite both my and her family protesting to keep me upfront with the family. However, Alpha Garrett ordered that I be in the back. He reasoned that I would draw attention away from the bride due to my looks. So, Lorraine and William had a special photo session before the wedding with me.

Garrison Woodford is our alpha in training and my crush. There isn’t a girl in this pack who doesn’t dream of being his mate, including me. Although, I don’t care about being the actual Luna of the pack. He has been my brother’s best friend for as long as I can remember. Every time I see Alpha Garrison, my heart starts to beat faster, and there’s this fluttering in my stomach.

While thinking about my family, I’m trying to work on my mystery novel. Time escapes me until my mom calls, “Ava, I’m home. Will you, please, come help me get dinner started?”

“Sure thing, Mom,” I holler down.

While preparing and cooking dinner, Mom and I dance and sing together. Once Dad gets home, he sits at the kitchen counter, and we all tell each other about our day. Eventually, my siblings trickle in, and we hear about their day over dinner. Once dinner gets cleaned up, Mom surprises me with a cake for my 18th birthday.

After the cake, we all go outside to train. Dad trains with me one-on-one while my siblings pair up and mom watches them. Occasionally, he asks Mom or one of my other siblings to join us. As I can’t train with the pack, this at least gets me used to the different fighting styles. Dad thinks I’m the fastest out of the pack, but it’s hard to say as I’m not allowed to partake in any pack events.

During training, I start feeling feverish and achy, and my head starts aching. Dad, noticing my sudden change, comes running over. “Are you okay? What's wrong?” He asks

“I don’t know. My body hurts all over, my head feels like it’s splitting in two, and I feel chilly,” I answer.

By this time, everyone comes over, and Mom says excitedly, “Her wolf is coming!”

William says to Mom and Dad, “I will contact Dr. Jones,” and then looks at me and says, “Congratulations on your wolf.”

Everyone starts to congratulate me. An hour or so later, my head feels as if it’s going to explode, but the pain goes away, and I hear a voice say, “Hi Avalon, My name is Star, and I’m your wolf. I know it hurts, but stop fighting, and it will help accelerate the process and lessen the pain.”

My parents have been reassuring me that everything will be okay and trying to get me to relax. However, hearing my wolf makes me forget the pain because excitement bubbles up within me that I have a wolf. I forgot about the pain. “Hi, Star!” I say to her before excitedly yelling, “I can hear my wolf.”

“That’s wonderful, peanut,” Dad says.

Mom has the widest smile on her face that I have ever seen. “Pumpkin, that also means you have almost completed your first shift,” she says.

It took several hours for me to shift into my wolf. She is a reddish-brown wolf, the size of a regular wolf. She took the chance to happily run around the woods, exploring for a few hours with her family flanking her. After several hours, we all head back to the clearing, and Star gives me back control. The shift back is quicker and less painful.

Aura puts her arm around me and says, “The next shift won’t be nearly as painful.”

Dr. Jones cuts in and asks a few questions. As I answer, she writes down my responses. She always seems to be taking notes when it comes to me. Curiosity finally wins out as to why. So, I take this opportunity to ask her. “I hope you aren’t offended, but I wanted to ask you. Why are you always taking notes around me?”

“No offense taken. It’s because I want as much information as I can gather for future doctors and patients who might arise who are just like you.”

I nod to her, and Dad and Mom say, “By the way, don’t let anyone know that Avalon has gotten her wolf.”

“Why?” we all ask.

“The pack doesn’t deserve to love her with a wolf when they couldn’t love her when they thought she wouldn’t have one,” they say.

“Okay,” we all agree.

The pack doctor even agreed before leaving. We all head for bed, with William and Lorraine heading to their place at the pack house. Several hours later, Mom comes to wake me up. She gently shakes me while saying, “Come on, peanut. It's time to get up and go to school.”

“Do I have to go?” I groan.

“Of course you do; now up and ant’em,” she replies. She leaves my room to wake up my little brother and sister. Slowly, I pull the covers off myself and get out of bed. I go to my closet and pick out the blandest outfit to help me stay invisible. I walk to my en-suite bathroom. Every room in the house has its own bathroom, which is pretty sweet and helpful in getting ready for school in a big family if you ask me.

I have been counting down to my high school graduation day. Despite all the bullying, I’m a straight-A student and the top student in my class. However, I won't be giving a speech at my graduation because I got passed over for the valedictorian or salutatorian title. The two top students falling after me will get the titles instead. Who would want to listen to a shrimp like me?

My family intends to celebrate me being top of my class in a family celebration. They also plan to celebrate that I have earned full-ride scholarships to many pre-med schools in the country. I will attend Stanford University starting this fall, as it is across the country.

As I’m crossing off another day on my calendar, Dad knocks on my door frame, and with love and concern shining from his eyes, he says to me, “Remember, don’t tell anyone about your wolf.”

With that, I leave the house, and as I walk to school, I thank the moon goddess for my wolf and family. While praying to Selene, I also begged her to save me from my current nightmare. I never imagined the nightmare I call my life getting worse.