Twice Claimed a Luna

Fear of Moving on

A small mirror reflected the body of Selene Ellsworth as she looked herself up and down. A dark brown gown slashed in white in the middle clung onto her body and held up her full breast.

She turned around to get a look at her backside. As beautiful as she looked, a sigh left her mouth.

So much had happened over the last few months for her to be dancing with the villagers and pretending like nothing had happened.

Her pack would be remembered as nothing more than history after being destroyed by a pack of rogues who robbed them of their property and lives.

A glimpse of the memory replayed in her mind. Her parents died in the unfortunate event and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to move on. The voices of her parents as they screamed and the agonizing horror on their faces. She winced.

At her age, most of the girls she knew had found their mates, but she was turning nineteen the next day and there was no sign of her mate among her pack members that remained. For all she knew, her mate had been killed along with most of her pack members.

Drawn out of her deep and dark thoughts by the sound of the door opening, she looked away from the mirror and was met with her best friend's grinning face.

"Farah." She said softly.

"Don't tell me..." Farah stared at her best friend. "Tomorrow night is the full moon festival, and you have yet to find a dress?" Her gaze mirrored a questioning look at Selene.

"I have tried, Farah, but go through my closet and see if it is easy to find something worthy of the festival." Selene threw her hands in the air and retired to her bed with a sigh and a frown on her face.

Farah sighed softly. In her hand sat a small basket with a white cloth over it. Drawing the cloth open, the sumptuous smell of something sweet filled and lingered in the air.

She made her way to her best friend and sat down next to her. I picked up some honey cakes and candles from Marian on my way. Here, I have some. She picked up a honey cake and fed it to Selene.

Selene ate from her best friend's hand without saying a word. Silently, she drank from the cup her friend lifted into her mouth as well. The candles were still warm and fresh.

Farah placed the basket on the ground and took her best friend's hand. "I know, it is hard not to dwell on it." It is far from hard. But it has happened and neither you nor I can change that as much as I want to. Believe me, I do. We are here now, and I need you to think about the future. "If you don't gather yourself together, how will you ever get revenge on those cursed rogues?"

Selene heaved a heavy sigh. What could she do? Those werewolves were rogues! They were trained to steal and attack. Her parents had died before her eyes and all she could do was stare.

Farah continued. "We should be thankful to the dark moon pack for taking us in. "I hear the alpha is quite hot." She had expected a snicker, but Selene was as hard as rock.

If it wasn't for the order of the games that commanded every single wolf to attend the festival that night, mostly for the reason of personality check, she would rather tuck herself under her blanket, eating honey cakes and drinking warm candles.

But an accident had occurred a few nights ago where a member of her pack was attacked, believing he was a rogue or a wolf from an enemy's pack. The games wanted to prevent such mistakes from ever reoccurring and thus their order.

"Listen," Farah tugged her best friend's hand to snap her out of her thoughts. "I have been having this... Strange but wonderful feeling that I might find my mate tomorrow night at the full moon festival, but I cannot go to that dance without you. I will not go without you!"

Selene stared apologetically at her best friend. Farah had always been by her side, she was like a sister to her. What kind of friend would she be if she didn't support her friend who always had her back?

Besides, three weeks had gone by since she joined the dark moon pack, but she had remained behind locked doors without stepping into the sunlight.

Born with a silver wolf, everyone had always told her she was special, but she didn't feel a single bit special.

"Selene," her wolf, Lorelei, spoke to her. "Your fear is understandable, but it might be a good idea to go out and find new friends to mingle with. We will never know until we give things a try. The moon goddess will never leave you alone, she never has, and she never will. No matter how hard things are, you will always have the moon goddess, me and Farah."

The advice of Lorelei had never once failed her in all of her years alive. Once, she had tried to do things her own way, but it only came back to hit her in the face so hard that she would never forget it.

Ever since then, she has stuck to the advice of her wolf, and it has helped her and kept her safe. If Lorelei and Farah were insisting, then it was worth giving it a shot.

She let out a gentle sigh and squeezed her friend's hands gently. "Maybe you are right, I have cut myself away from the world for quite some time now, and it is killing me to be here all day, but I am afraid to go out there as well. Maybe if I give things a chance, they won't turn out to be so bad. Plus, I would like to be there for you when you find your mate."

Farah threw her arms around her best friend's neck and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, I assure you, you won't regret this!"

But Selene felt like she was already regretting it. The only reason she had refused to move on was the fear of being happy and forgetting her parents' pain as they died.

That moment in her life, a young wolf as she was, cursed to watch her very own parents die before her eyes. That was what kept her mind firm on the one thing that she was sure would give her freedom.

Revenge.

Only then could her parents be laid to proper rest and only then would she embrace happiness with wide open arms and a warm smile.