The Gypsy Luna's Beginning

Chapter 6 - Past to Present

Rieka

At first, we were surrounded by the same darkness that I had seen before. It was as if I was in an empty void all alone, and if it wasn't for hearing Maeve's breathing next to me I would have sworn that was the case.

"Lupa?"

Silence. She was void from my mind, like the darkness surrounding me. I wasn't shocked, it seemed like whenever I have these moments she's nowhere to be found, but frustration sat in all the same. I went many years of my life not knowing that she existed and ever since she awakened, I don't like it when I can't reach out to her, despite how much she might irritate me at times.

Muffled voices started rising in the distance, slowly getting clearer as time moved on.

"Aunt Rhi?"

"Shhh Maeve." I put my finger to my lips in a 'be quiet' motion, though I don't know why because we were still in complete darkness and there was no way she could have seen my action.

"John, are you sure that this is really what you want? What if Jennifer changes her mind?"

Finally, I could make out what was being said, but I didn't recognize the woman's voice behind the words.

"Mom, stop. Jennifer is long gone and means absolutely nothing to me. She rejected me, and made it known she would never have the new Alpha of Gypsy Moon as her mate. I don't care if she comes crawling back on her hands and knees, if she can't accept me, if she can't accept this pack, her rejection was nothing short of a blessing."

I immediately recognized the man's voice, knowing that it belonged to my dad. I smiled as soon as I heard it and a light started forming in the distance. I reached out where Maeve was standing and managed to take hold of her hand, pulling her with me as we walked in the direction of the light.

"Aunt Rhi, where are we?" Maeve's voice was barely above a faint whisper, as if she were afraid someone would hear her, but more than likely making sure I wouldn't hush her again.

I continued leading us towards the light with Maeve's hand in my own. As we got closer, the darkness around us started to fade as if someone simply reversed the dimming switch to brighten a room, and I realized we were walking down a street in a very familiar town. I released Maeve's hand, knowing that she could now see where to go.

"We're on our pack lands, Maeve. But back before we became Gypsy Rain. Back when we were Moon Rain, before this land actually belonged to us. This is Gypsy Moon. This, this is my pack, my family's pack. And you don't have to whisper, they won't hear you and I won't shush you again."

"And if by chance both of your second chance mates come into your lives?" The voice I now understood to be my grandma's was heard clear as day, though I couldn't see my dad anywhere. I paused long enough to feel the wind blow towards the direction where I remembered seeing the fire take place, and that was the direction that I led Maeve.

"My answer will be the same. This is love, mom. I know with all my heart that this is it. Giselle is the only woman that there is for me. Nothing will change my mind."

A larger, but modest and rustic-looking house caught my attention. I walked up to the front porch, placed my hand on the door knob, and took a deep breath, slowly releasing it before letting myself into the house.

"Aunt Rhi! We can't just go walking into someone's house!"

I turned to look at a shocked Maeve who was still standing on the other side of the doorway. "Maeve, trust me, no one knows that we're here. It's fine. Plus, this is my parents' house. This was my home."

Maeve peaked her head inside the doorway and looked around before walking inside, as if she were checking that the coast was clear and that I wasn't lying to her. I respected her for always erring on the side of caution, unlike her brother.

"You better be, because if you break her heart, Goddess help you, your father and I will both hunt you down. Do you understand me?"

I followed the voices of my grandma and dad into the kitchen, where they were both sitting at a homemade rustic wooden table with a cup of coffee in their hands. My dad was as handsome as I remembered with his dirty blonde hair a little messy on his head. Tears quietly rolled down my cheeks knowing that he gave his life for me, for the future.

"I never would have thought that you'd love a rogue more than your own son." My dad gave my grandma a smug and sarcastic smile and as the light from the window shown on his face, I noticed his eyes sparkling different colors on top of their light blue background. My grandma was a beautifully fit woman with long light brown hair that had traces of grey running through it.

"Don't be a wise ass! You know your multiple great grandparents were rogues when they started this pack, right?" Grandma took a sip of her coffee and it reminded me of conversations that I had with Gram years ago, the emotions hitting me in my stomach with everything they had.

"Yes mom, I know about who I am named after. I heard the story a hundred ...."

"And guess what? You're going to hear it a hundred and one! They were banished simply because the Alpha's snotty son didn't want an Omega for a mate. Being pure didn't matter, Amara was different, she was gifted. They were afraid of that and rank was all that they cared about. But they didn't want anyone else to have her, either. So, when Jonathan became her second chance mate, they had to flee to survive. They met other rogues along their way. Some good, like the Sangoma family, some not so good. Julia helped encourage them all to start Gypsy Moon. Every time they wanted to quit, every battle they faced to keep everyone together, she was right there to make sure they didn't give up."

I quickly wiped away my tears as Maeve gave me a comforting hug. I became so wrapped up in what I was witnessing that I honestly forgot that she was still there with me. I nodded my head, reassuring her that everything was fine.

"Mom! I know. Believe me, I know. Why are you telling me this again anyway?" My dad leaned back in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Because I want you to really think about it and understand what this pack is about. We got to where we are because of not giving up, even when we were desperate to. We've made great sacrifices, we've learned valuable lessons, and we stand up for what's right instead of taking the easy way out. I want you to remember all of that when hardships are thrown at you, because there will be a time when you have to do what you don't want to in order to do what's best in the long run. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah mom, I get it. Basically you're saying that since I'm the first son from a long line of first born women that happen to be Lunas of their own pack instead of going to their mate's, that Giselle is actually more important and more loved than I am. You know, you could have just told me you wished you had a daughter. It would have been quicker." Grandma quickly stood up and smacked my dad's forehead. "What the hell was that for?!" He furrowed his brows and rubbed his forehead in pretend pain.

"Quit sassing me and go get ready for Giselle's Luna ceremony. How on earth I ended up with a smart-ass son is beyond me!"

Maeve and I watched as my grandma went out the back door and my dad stood up from the kitchen table and went upstairs to what I assumed was his room. I stood there quietly for a few seconds staring at the stairway he had just walked up when a cool breeze blew through the house.

"Come on Maeve, it's time for us to go outside." I turned around and walked towards the front door with Maeve right behind me.

"Where are we going now?"

"I don't really know, but we're wanted outside."

"By who?"

"By nature, by them, the past, spirits. I just know to listen to what they say."

When we left the house, the sky immediately became dark and the full moon glowed, illuminating everything.

"We want to thank you all for being here for Giselle's Luna ceremony!" A man's voice could be heard following a bunch of cheers, drawing my attention to where the top of a large oak tree could be seen above the neighboring houses.

I quickly made my way over there with Maeve right behind me. When we turned a corner by one of the houses, my dad was standing next to my mom under the tree, holding her close to him. She looked beautiful wearing a simple sparkling white dress with her silver blonde hair wrapped in a loose bun on the top of her head. My grandma was standing on the other side of my dad while a man that looked similar to my dad, so I assumed to be my grandpa, was on the other side of my mom.

"It is truly a blessing from the Moon Goddess to have Giselle Augustus in our pack, it takes a truly special woman to accept our son and agree to stand by his side as well as live with him." Laughter erupted as my dad turned and gave my grandma a dirty look for her choice of words.

"Please enjoy the after party as your Alpha and Luna go on their honorary moonlit run!" The small crowd cheered as my parents held hands and lifted their arms in the air.

A sharp whistling noise went flying by my head. It was like slow motion as I watched an arrow make a straight line directly towards my grandpa's heart. I watched in disbelief as he fell backwards, dead as soon as the arrow hit him.

The expression on my face had to have matched what I saw on my parents' and grandma's. Screams could be heard as those who could not shift and fight started running for their lives. My dad knelt down next to my grandpa, checking him for any signs of life.

"Aunt Rhi ...."

"There's nothing we can do, Maeve. This is in the past, and the past can't be changed. The only thing we can do is learn from it."

As my mom and grandma turned to make their way towards my dad and grandpa, two more whistles flew through the night's air. I covered my mouth as my grandma landed in a heap on the ground with an arrow in her chest, and I heard Maeve gasp as my mom caught the second arrow intended for my father with her human hand, snapping it in half before shifting into her beautiful white third form.

My father quickly shifted into his midnight black third form, growling in anger and heartbreak. I followed their eyes to the roof of one of the houses behind us as two men leapt to the ground, shifting into dark brown wolves midway.

Among the dozen pack members that stayed behind were my parents' ranking officers, and I immediately recognized the black hair and fair skin that belonged to Cassey, Damian's mom. There was a handsome man with black hair that stood next to her, and I assumed that had to be Derick, her mate and Damian's dad.

I also noticed a couple who looked similar to Sam and Roxie, and I gave Maeve a little nudge and pointed at them as they shifted into their wolves, one a rich caramel color, the other a dark beige. "They are distant relatives of yours," I informed her as I looked at the other pack members who stuck around. Only about eight of them shifted into wolves, including my parents. A couple shifted into kelpies, while the others had to either have some type of magical abilities or were vampires as they didn't shift at all.

"Show yourself, Darren!" My father's deep third form voice drew my eyes back onto him as I watched him and my mom make their way to stand with the others.

"You know, Johnathan, you shouldn't have taken what never actually belonged to you!" A tall, lean man with tanned skin and black hair walked between the two wolves who were standing as his guards.

"I'm not an object, and I will never belong to you! Our rejection was mutual!" My mom's voice hissed in disgust through clenched teeth.

"Ok, I might have acted a little hastily on that. I didn't realize what ...."

"It doesn't matter what I am! You rejected me for being a rogue, and I happily accepted!"

"Giselle, stop. You two do realize that I have you surrounded, don't you? It was easy to slip into this small town pack of yours. I may not have been able to bring my entire pack because of the moon, but even with the few I could bring, you're still heavily out numbered."

"Stop running your mouth, Darren!"

Darren growled as he shifted into a dark brown wolf, and I couldn't help but scoff at how similar he was to the archer wolves. Around three dozen more dark brown wolves immediately surrounded my parents and their small group.

I could sense Maeve's tension in her body and realized how difficult this must be for someone her age. "Remember, Maeve. We're not really here. Even if you tried to help, it wouldn't matter, it wouldn't change anything."

"I don't like this, Aunt Rhi." Maeve's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Neither do I, but I wasn't born yet when this happened, so it must work out."

Maeve let out a gasp as the wave of dark brown wolves leapt towards the small group. The sounds of teeth snapping, growls, bones breaking, yips of pain, and angry horse squeals echoed in the night. But as quickly as the small battle began, the bodies of the dark brown wolves were flung in every direction. In the center of the small group of misfits were two women. Cassey, and a curvy woman with dark blonde hair. I smiled, knowing that magic had been used.

Darren's wolf looked around in panicked shock, but before he could even think about tucking his tail between his legs and running away, my dad had his clawed hand around Darren's neck. With one squeeze, Darren's neck was broken and his body fell to the ground in a heap. Seconds ticked by that felt like minutes as everyone took in the sight of the event that had just unfolded.

"What the hell do you think you two are doing here?!"

Maeve let out a startled shriek as we both whipped around, though I knew the man who the voice belonged to before I even saw his face. But before I could say his name, I heard a whisper escape Maeve's mouth that I hadn't anticipated on hearing.

"Mate?"