Ancient Moonlight

The Lycan King

“The Lycan King?” I gasp out. “What do you mean? None of the Kings have bothered coming this far out in generations, much less considered a claim for a village girl this far from the capital…what is happening right now?”

The servant gives me a look, but says no more. Simply resuming our trek into the clearing. I follow automatically, barely even aware of the steps I’m taking. My mind is roiling, how could this be? Did Theron make some sort of political alliance? Am I the price he is paying for more benefits from the royal family? Nothing makes sense, and its in this daze that we arrive in the clearing. Stepping through the brush, the sight of platform still in place from the failed bonding to Theron is almost enough to bring me back to myself. But it’s the realization that I am standing in the exact place that Cassian took his last breath that fully pulls me back into the present. Whatever is going on, whatever the reasoning, I need to be fully aware. Regardless of the rest, one thing is crystal clear. I am being exchanged from one pack to the next, and to the Royal pack at that. I am a pawn, and I need a clear mind to determine why.

From the opposite side of the clearing, two figures emerge. One I recognize easily with his shaggy reddish brown hair and the gait I’ve become accustomed to over the years I’ve been trained to be mated to him. Theron. Walking next to him is a much larger man, with long blonde hair that reached past his very broad shoulders. As they approach, the servant who escorted me takes his leave quietly. Slipping back toward the village, through the forest the way we came. I had the impression there would be no return trip for me.

The difference between the night I was meant to bonded to Theron and tonight is staggering. The moonless sky of the former is now replaced by a bright sky, a nearly full moon shining down and illuminating the space. I’ve been able to feel my wolf closer to the surface these last few days, and despite being kept alone in my room, I know that the night of the change is nearing. Not that it matters, even with the extra strength provided by a full moon, I know I stand no chance against an Alpha, much less two Alphas one of whom is from the Royal pack.

As they come closer, I realize until I know what I meant to do, the role I am expected to play, subservience or at the very least submission to both men is in my best interest. I hate this. I bow to them both anyway as the climb onto the stage to join me.

“May I present Aurelia, formerly expected to become the new Luna for this village,” these are the first words I hear from Theron since we stood naked under that New Moon, watching his father die just feet from us. The first words I have heard directly from him in the weeks I have been kept behind lock and key. The first words since our entire reality was shifted. He is now my Alpha, and even though I am not a native to this village, I have been raised to be a member of this pack, and my instinct is screaming at me to bow, kneel, grovel if necessary. I have been trained in all the ways a woman can make themselves useful, but nothing prepared me for the reality of seeing him person.

The man standing next to Theron looks down on me from his impressive height, a small smile tugging at the corners of this lips. “Aurelia, the name of the dawn, an interesting name for a woman with moonlight in her eyes.”

My head snaps up, Cassian was the only one who ever referenced my name in such a way. I look up, and up, but can’t force myself to make eye contact with the newcomer. “The Lycan King I presume?” I breathe out through my anxiety and discomfort.

Once again his lips turn up just slightly, as if amused by me. “You presume correctly, I am here to take you home.”

“I am home!” I snap, after almost two decades of being told to go home, that I wasn’t a true member of the village pack, the words don’t even register as anything other than a jibe. Regardless of how I had been treated in the past, this village, these people, were the only home I had ever known.

“No, Relia, he’s taking you to the capital. Your new home.”

Looking at Theron now, the words he just uttered combined with the look on face tell me my earlier musings were correct. I’ve been traded. I don’t know what Theron has gotten in exchange, or why this Lycan King would be willing to part with anything for the likes of me, but I know without a shadow of doubt that it is true. I’ve been purchased. Maybe not with money, but with favors.

The realization takes the wind out of me, and I lose what little will I had to fight the inevitable. “When do we leave?” The words come out a whisper, directed at the ground beneath my feet rather than either man in front of me. I expect Theron to explain, to tell me how giving me to this stranger will benefit the village, how I am going to make the lives of his people better. What I don’t expect is a finger dragging down my cheek before hooking beneath my chin to force my eyes upward. Even then, I expect the eyes I meet with my own to be the familiar brown of the villagers. The brown eyes of Theron I’ve looked into all my life. Instead the hand belongs to the Lycan King, and when our eyes meet I see my own reflected there. Eyes of moonlight, eyes I’ve seen no where other than a mirror my entire life.

The Lycan King has my eyes.