The Luna He Forgot

Everything was slowly fading away. I collapsed onto the cold floor, my body too weak to hold itself up. My vision blurred, and through the haze, all I could see were her feet approaching me. Then she knelt beside me, smiling. My eyes widened, my heart hammered against my ribs, desperate to keep me alive, but my body was already beginning to surrender. A cold shiver tore through me as the room seemed to grow distant. Am I… dying? “Yes.” Her voice was almost gentle. “Yes, you are. You’re on your way to Hades.” Her deep aqua-blue eyes pierced into mine. She smiled wider, revealing the faint tips of her wolf teeth. “Sister…” the word barely escaped my lips. I reached for her, she recoiled as though my touch disgusted her. “I’m not your sister, you pathetic pig.” Her smile disappeared. “I am a Luna. You are a filthy human. And yet the King chose you over me.” She said, her eyes burning with hatred. “But it’s nothing we can’t fix, is it, Axia?” I tried to breathe, I couldn’t. My lungs were failing me. She watched me struggle, almost fascinated by the way my body slowly stopped fighting. “Just a little alteration,” she whispered. “A small correction to the story.” Her smile returned. “I’ll become Luna, just as I was supposed to.” She leaned closer, “And you?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You’ll be long gone and forgotten.” A tear slipped from the corner of my eye. I had always known she disliked me, she had been cruel to me for as long as I could remember. But I thought…I thought that’s what sisters were like. Mean to each other, jealous, sometimes cruel. Yet somehow, I had always mistaken it for love. My vision blurred again and the room slowly started to disappear. The numbness started from my fingers, then to my whole body. Memories began flashing through my mind, and as I laid there I slowly understood I was going to die the night before my wedding. And the last thing I saw was my sister smiling as the darkness swallowed me whole. Three Weeks Earlier I sat beside the washhouse with my hands buried in freezing water, scrubbing the same stain for what felt like the hundredth time, It refused to come out. The sun hadn’t risen yet, and the morning air was bitter enough to make my fingers ache. Mist clung to the grass, it was early dawn. I scrubbed harder, still nothing. “Mother will kill me if I don’t get this out.”I sighed. Mother had insisted I wash her clothes and my sisters’ clothes myself. She always said the maids couldn’t be trusted with noble clothing. I looked down at my hands. It was red and cold, wrinkled from the water it had been drenched in. A strange laugh escaped me. Family. Sometimes I wondered what that word actually meant. The house belonged to the Vale family, one of the oldest werewolf families in the kingdom. Everyone inside those walls was a wolf, except me. I had discovered that when I was thirteen, watching my sisters leap across the courtyard and land several feet away without breaking a bone. I’d watched them see in complete darkness or heal from injuries that would have sent a human to the grave. At first, I’d thought they were simply extraordinary, but then I realized they were supernatural. Werewolves. And I was not. My sisters, Alexa and Ava, had inherited gifts that made them even more unusual than ordinary wolves. Alexa, the eldest, was an Alpha. She had inherited our father’s dominant blood and possessed an unusually powerful wolf. She was also beautiful, painfully. Her long silver-brown hair, golden skin and sharp features made people stare whenever she entered a room. But Alexa’s greatest talent wasn’t her wolf, it was finding new ways to make my life miserable. Ava was different. She could barely be bothered to notice me, She had only one obsession, which was becoming Luna. She had spent years preparing for it, learning royal etiquette, studying pack politics, practicing the ancient dances performed before the royal court…you name it. And most importantly, waiting for the Alpha King to choose his mate. She believed that woman would be her. Well, everyone did. After all, why wouldn’t the King choose her? She was a wolf, extraordinarily beautiful, powerful, noble…everything a Luna was supposed to be. And then there was me. I looked down at the water and stared at my reflection. Strange curly silver hair, an unusual violet eye color that makes me stand out like a sore thumb, and deep brown skin. No glowing wolf eyes or supernatural strength, just very human. I sometimes wondered why Father had adopted me in the first place. When he was alive, he had never treated me like a burden. He had been the only person in this house who made me feel like I belonged, but now that he’s gone, whatever protection his presence had given me disappeared with him. ——————————————————————- I dipped the cloth into the water again, scrubbing as hard as I could. The stain finally began to fade. I smiled faintly. “There.” Thud! Something hard struck the back of my head. “Ouch!” I whipped around, rubbing the sore spot. An orange rolled across the stone floor. I didn’t need to look up to know who had thrown it. Alexa. Her footsteps approached leisurely, stopping beside me and looking down at me as though she’d merely interrupted a servant at work. “Mother wants these finished before breakfast.” “Good morning, Sister.” I forced a smile despite the throbbing in my head. Alexa merely rolled her eyes. “Why are you up so early?” I asked, turning back to the clothes. “I thought you were sleeping in today” I said. Mother sent me to get a few things for the house” Alexa responded. She glanced at the growing pile beside me. “It’s my duty.” Then she smiled. “Besides, Ava will be busy with the King, my hands slowed. “The King?” Alexa looked at me. “You haven’t heard, Stinky?” I shook my head. She gave a little laugh. “The Alpha King is choosing his Luna tomorrow.” My heart skipped. “Tomorrow?” “Yes.” She picked up another orange from the basket beside her and casually tossed it from one hand to the other. “There’ll be a banquet tonight at the Pearl Palace.” The Pearl Palace. I’d heard stories about it all my life. The royal palace was said to be the most beautiful place in the kingdom, its towers covered in white crystal. I’d always wanted to see it. Could I ever see what existed beyond these walls? Maybe—just maybe. If only I could experience one night of freedom, I thought to myself. Alexa smirked. “Now we all know the only place you belong…” She leaned toward me. “…is the washhouse, so stop daydreaming and start scrubbing.” She said as I watched her disappear through the doorway. I looked toward the distant window, the first rays of sunlight were beginning to break through the darkness. The Pearl Palace was somewhere beyond those walls, and for the first time in years, I wondered what it would feel like to simply…leave. I looked down at my frozen hands, and then at the enormous pile of clothes. It looked almost impossible. I kept staring at the opened door. Perhaps one night of freedom wouldn’t hurt. Even if I knew exactly what would happen when I came back. Before I could change my mind, I was outside. My heart pounded as I glanced over my shoulder. The house stood behind me, enormous and silent. For as long as I could remember, those walls had been my entire world. I gripped the fence and hurried over, nearly tripping when my dress caught on one of the iron bars, landing on the other side with a soft thud. I froze to hear for footsteps. Great, nobody had seen me. I let out the breath I’d been holding and turned toward the city. Then I looked back at the house one last time. It suddenly seemed smaller from here. Or perhaps I was finally beginning to realize that it had never been as big as I’d believed. “This is stupid,” I whispered. A nervous laugh escaped me. “It’ll be fine,” I told I tried to convince myself. “They’re going to be too busy to notice me anyway.” I looked toward the distant city again, where the first signs of excitement were already beginning to stir, and I ran and didn’t look back.