The Luna of Lunas

[Imogen's P.O.V.] “RUN!!” a voice in my head screams, startling me awake. Faolchú, my dog, well more he’s like a wolf, hence his name, is already awake, alert, and lying low beside me. He knows better than to growl. We’ve been in this forest long enough to know what is out there. His heckles are raised and his tail stands in a straight point, tell-tale signs there is danger nearby. He has been my lifeline since I found him a couple of weeks after arriving here in the USA. I know better than to question his senses, still, something doesn’t feel right. “GET UP AND RUN!” It's that voice again, a voice I haven’t heard in years. I have no time to dwell on an unwelcome reunion. I start hastily shoving everything I have in my rucksack. No need to dress or put on shoes, I’m already wearing them. As I said, I’ve been here long enough, I know what is out there. Strapping on my rucksack, Faolchú and I start to move. Usually, we move slowly, they are attracted to sound, but something deep inside of me is telling me I need to run. “TO THE BORDER!” What border? We’re in the middle of nowhere and we’re definitely not near state lines. Suddenly, the smell of burning hits me. I’ve smelt this before, but the smell is now tainted with the smell of rotting meat. I break out into a run, Faolchú right on my heels backing me up like always. I have no idea where I’m running to, but again, something inside is guiding me. The heavy sound of paws on the forest floor behind me is getting louder. S***, they’ve never followed me before. I take my knife out of my boot. I found it a few weeks after arriving here, just before I found Faolchú. A silver knife seemed like an odd choice at the time, but something drew me to it, so I bought it. I’ve never had to use it before. Faolchú let out a howl, making me turn instinctively. I was just in time to see a wolf, too big for a normal wolf and its eyes were glowing red. It had stopped running, now it was stalking me, looking at me as if it was appraising me. Slowly we started circling each other. I have no idea how I am going to get out of this, but if I am, I’m going to have to trick it. I turn to run, keeping my knife out of sight but securely in my hand. The giant wolf takes off after me, swiping Faolchú with its claws as it comes. I hear his yelp and it feels like something has a grip on my heart, but I can’t let it stop me if I want to get back and help him. “Focus”. Yes, I need to focus. I finally narrow in on a tree perfect for what I need. I run straight to it, jumping high. My feet make contact and I’ve given myself enough momentum to spring myself back, right over the wolf’s head. Just as it pounces, I drive myself into the ground, sliding across the forest floor, my knife facing upwards. It slices across the wolf’s stomach, drenching me in blood. Unimaginable pain rips across my chest. “Trust them.” That’s the last thing I heard before I felt something warm licking my cheek and darkness took over. - [Unknown P.O.V] “Should we help her?” a guard to my right asks. My wolf is telling me to go to her, but I can’t disobey orders. We’ve known the rogues have been out there testing our borders for the last few weeks, and we’ve known she’s been out there. We’ve just been ordered not to interfere. Unless the rogues cross the border there is nothing we can do, and we certainly cannot risk ourselves and the pack for a human. Still, my wolf is urging me to help her. He’s on the verge of begging. - I feel like I know her. I’ve been on patrol, probably more nights than I should have been, but I can’t keep my eyes off of her. When I first saw her, I thought she was a ghost. Her milk-white skin stood stark against the darkness of the forest. It wasn’t until she looked right in my direction, her gold-green eyes almost yellow in the dark, that I knew she was human. I kept an eye out for her. I kept visiting the forest, following her scent. She was making her way around our pack border without even knowing it. It wasn’t until I finally caught sight of her in the daytime that I realized her hair was raven black. It was so black that against it her skin glowed, almost as if there was an inner light illuminating her. One pure silver streak of hair broke the darkness that surrounded her face. I’m snapped out of my thoughts by snarling. The rogue is getting closer. I can’t just leave her. Her and that stupid dog, or wolf, or whatever it is. Just as I am about to step in, I feel my father’s wolf beside me. 'Wait, I want to see what she does' he mindlinks me. I look back and see her running full pelt toward a tree. What the h*** is she doing? I have to say that she is fast. Faster than I’ve ever seen a human move. Out of nowhere, she is flying through the air, right over the rogue. She runs again, throwing herself to the ground, sliding right under the rogue, and cutting it right through the middle. How did she do that? I never even saw a knife. The rogue’s huge body is collapsed on top of her. It’s dead. How can it be dead? She must have used silver because the rouge isn’t healing. She is human. How could she know we are only vulnerable to silver weapons? “Protect her” my wolf whispers in my head. Just like that, I see the light leave her eyes. -------------------- [Duncan’s P.O.V.] “GO HOME!” “S**t Alistair, you don’t speak to me for a month and then this.” Alistair, my wolf, has been off and on with me for five years now. Ever since we left her. She wasn’t our mate. I loved her, but I couldn't even tell her about us, about me, because she wasn’t my mate. “You could have told her”. “F*** Alistair, I couldn’t. You know I couldn’t, it’s against our laws.” “Go home.” Just like that, he goes silent on me again. It’s not like wolves to go against their human counterparts. They are a part of us. But Alistair has been blocking me out, only coming out to berate me for my choices or when I really needed him. I’m an Alpha, I need my wolf. My father is convinced that when I find my Luna my wolf will stabilise. So that’s what I’ve been doing the last two years, travelling to different packs hoping to find my mate, but Alistair doesn’t want his fated mate, he only wants her. I want to go home. I’m sick of looking for something I don’t believe is out there for me. Just three more months, six more packs, and then I can go home. “Alistair, only three months until we can go home.” I call out to him, hopeful for an answer. I’m met with silence, so I do the only thing I can do to get some peace and that’s to sleep and dream of my moon. I’m dreaming of the first time I met her. - I was in a dingey bar, no pub – she’s corrected me too many times to make that mistake, what we were in was a pub. Her silk skin stood out against her raven black hair. It was as if a spotlight shone on her as she walked through the bar – no pub. She carried herself too well to be a human. She was graceful and kind. I don’t know how a person moves through a crowd of drunk people kindly, but she did. I hated all those people she touched. Always so gently and always with a “sorry, beg your pardon”. Well, with her accent it was more like “beg yar pardon”. I wanted her touch. I wanted to be the only person she touched. She ordered a beer, no pint – she told me here that it’s a pint. Her voice was like warm tea and honey. Even over the noise of the pub I could hear every word she said, werewolf hearing has its benefits, but the only word I wanted to hear was 'mate'. Even though I could hear her, I couldn’t smell her over the stale beer and tobacco that laced the air. I just needed to smell her and then I would know if she was my mate. There was no chance of that here, so I did the only thing I could think of. I needed to make her look at me. Casually, I knocked a drink off the table. It fell in the lap of my friend and, just as I hoped, I got the reaction I needed. He immediately stood up cursing, attracting a few cheers and a couple of courses of “taxi!”. I felt bad sacrificing a friend like that, but the moment her green-gold eyes met mine, all the guilt left me. I never heard the word 'mate', which disappointed me. She was everything I would ever want. I was just about to give up when a pint came to our table mysteriously. It was placed right in front of the friend I had spilled the drink on. Bartenders don’t deliver drinks here, so I had to ask who sent it. When her table was pointed out, she locked eyes with me again, raised her pint and winked. Who was this girl? - [Imogen’s P.O.V.] Darkness. All that surrounded me was darkness. Am I not supposed to see some kind of light or something? The last time I felt like this, all I had was pain, searing blinding pain. “It’s not your time” an ethereal voice sounded behind me. Wait, how could it be behind me? I don’t even have a body. Do I have a body? Why can’t I feel anything? “Sleep now, my child. I’ll give you a dream to remind you why you’re here.” - I was at my favourite bar back home. It was packed but I could feel someone watching me. Something about that excited me, I felt on odd warmth all over my body. I was being drawn to a table in the far corner. My body was moving before I even knew it, then my nerves took over and I headed to the bar instead and back to my friends. Out of nowhere, a guy in the corner started making a ruckus. He was soaked from the waist down, but he wasn’t what caught my attention. My eyes met the most vibrant green eyes I’ve ever seen, even brighter under his dark tousled hair. A shadow of a beard highlighted his strong jaw and accentuated the most perfect lips. My eyes travelled down across his broad shoulders, his shirt was tight, I could only imagine how little pressure it would take to rip it off of him. I wonder what he was hiding under the table. What is wrong with me? Warmth turned into heat all over my body. I tried to avoid meeting his eyes again, but I didn’t miss the smirk he had on his gorgeous face. Something about that smirk got under my skin, it dared me to do something bold. I sent a drink to the table and couldn’t help but raise my pint and give my own cheeky wink. I wanted those green eyes firmly on me. The next Monday, I was standing at the coffee cart in my college building when I felt a presence behind me. I don’t know how I knew he was standing there but the hair raised on the back of my neck. He wasn’t close enough to feel his breath on my skin, but my skin still tingled. Why was he here? He completely towered over me, even his shadow was intimidating. He gave his order right over my head, which irked me. That stunt he pulled at the bar was childish, but charming. F*** who is this guy? I felt the need to irritate him the same way he irritated me. “He’ll pay” I called out as I took my order and left. I don’t pay for coffee at this cart, but he doesn’t know that. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking at him again. I may have added some hip sway as I felt his eyes on my ass, but I would not indulge him.