The Trapped Luna

Stella threw the blanket off herself excitedly. It was her birthday and soon she would meet her wolf and hopefully her mate. In the Black Moon pack it was tradition to shift as soon as your wolf woke up and participate in a pack run. It was so the wolf half of you would accept the pack as theirs also. What kind of wolf would she be? Would she be red like her mom or black like her father? Stella looked fondly at the picture of them on her vanity as she brushed her hair. They had died when she was still a baby, so she hadn’t actually met them. But her grandparents had raised her lovingly. The smell of sausage was wafting upstairs to her bedroom making her stomach growl. Stella resisted the urge to race downstairs and went to her closet instead. Today had to be perfect. She had carefully chosen the dress she wanted to wear today. “Don’t put that on before breakfast, you’ll get grease or syrup on it.” Her grandmother said from the doorway. “I hadn’t thought about that, I’m just so excited!” Stella twirled across the room towards her grandmother and threw her arms around her. “Do you know what time it will happen?” She shook her head, “We were traveling when you were born so we don’t know the exact time. It will be today though!” “The waiting is so hard. Especially now that it’s so close.” “Well come down and eat so you can finish getting ready.” Stella shoveled food into her mouth trying desperately to finish quickly. Today wasn’t only the day she would meet her wolf, it was also the day she could be accepted as a member of the pack. She hadn’t really spoken to anyone in the pack before. She was homeschooled, her grandparents had gotten overly protective of her after her parents died, but today she would finally meet everyone. The day dragged on and on but Stella still hadn’t even felt her wolf move. Something felt off, she knew it wasn’t right. Shouldn’t her wolf have stirred at least a little? That night the pack gathered together. It was the first time Stella had gotten to go to a pack function. They would wait together as a pack for her wolf to wake. Time ticked by, and whispers began to form around her. All the sudden she heard someone in the crowd yell, “Mate! She’s my mate!” Her heart leapt, surely it was time now. As a young man rushed forward she felt nothing. No pull. No bond, and still her wolf slept. “What’s wrong?” His eyes searched her face. “Nothing,” she whispered to him. “I’m sure she’ll wake soon.” The pack Alpha stepped forward, “How amazing is this? The bond these two share is so great he can feel it while her wolf still sleeps. Let us howl and awaken the beast inside her so that my son may claim his Luna!” The pack shifted and howled together. Into the night they howled, but Stella’s wolf did not wake.