The Ghost Lioness of Phantom Moon

A young woman was on her way to a new country after she lost her family. She needed a change to try to get the pain of their loss out of her heart. She left the United States and was moving to the United Kingdom. Nothing more than a small duffle bag and the clothes on her back, Nova Chrollo was hoping to start a new life. The ship she was on docked in a small town and she went on her way once she was on solid ground again. She wanted to steer clear of the larger cities when possible, to avoid hunters. She was a shifter, and was still young. Nova was twenty-five with medium length light brown hair, dark brown eyes, stood at 5'6", and had light skin. After a couple weeks of wandering through the forests of the United Kingdom, she was stopped by four werewolves in their wolf forms. They snarled and bared their teeth at her in warning, she had wandered too close to their borders. She bowed deeply and sat on the ground. "I mean you no harm. May I speak with your Alpha? I did not mean to trespass. I am only looking for a place to live for a while. Once I can get a steady job and get an apartment or something, I'll be on m y way." she said in a calm voice. The wolves stopped snarling, but did not shift to their human forms. The one directly in front of her tilted his head as his eyes glazed over. Once they were cleared, he huffed at her and motioned with his head for her to follow. She nodded and slowly stood. Nova followed the wolves into the pack, the other wolves surrounding her. They stopped outside of a large house that had three stories and a large green yard. The door opened and a tall man walked over to her with a slightly shorter woman on his arm. Nova bowed in greeting. "Welcome to the Forest Claw pack. I am Alpha Thomas Jones. This is my mate and Luna, Amanda. My guards tell me you are looking for a place to live temporarily. Join us for dinner, we can talk then. It's not often we get non-wolf shifters here." he said. Alpha Thomas was 6'8" with tanned skin, short black hair, and bright blue eyes. Luna Amanda was 6' 2" with pale skin, long red hair, dark green eyes, and a spray of freckles across her face. She smiled warmly at Nova and offered her hand. Nova was hesitant to take the hand offered to her, but the luna grabbed her hand gently and led her into the house. "There's no reason to fear us. If you had meant harm, I'm certain you could have killed at least two of our guards while they escorted you to the pack house. I swear no harm will come to you while you are here. Come, let us get you cleaned up. I don't mean to offend, but you smell as though you had been living in the woods for days." Luna Amanda giggled. She had a slight Irish accent, where the Alpha had a strong English accent. His accent was like a proper English, not like the cockney she had heard in movies. "Thank you for helping me, Luna. I didn't introduce myself before. My name is Nova Chrollo." Nova said in a soft voice. She hadn't spoken much in the couple weeks she was wandering. Her throat was dry from lack of proper hydration. Luna Amanda led Nova to a large bathroom on the ground floor of the house. There were several separate shower stalls with solid walls and curtains, like what she saw in public swimming pools in the States. There was also a large tub that was similar to an in-ground pool. There were baskets of soaps, shampoos, and conditioners on benches near the shower stalls. "This is the Omega bathroom. Some of our other pack mates use this restroom for the tub. Many of us treat it like a hot tub. It's really quite wonderful. Feel free to use it yourself. Once you're clean, one of the Omegas will bring you to the dining room. What are your measurements? I'll bring a change of clothes for you." Luna Amanda said. Nova told her the sizes of her shirt, pants, and underclothes. She said they don't usually wear shoes in the buildings. Alpha Thomas was wanting to try some traditions in Oriental countries. That was part of the inspiration of the Omega bathroom setup. Shoes weren't an issue for Nova, she had lost them after three days. She stepped into a deep mud hole and had to leave her shoes behind so she could get out of it. While she was in one of the shower stalls, Luna Amanda called out that she was leaving a change of clothes on the bench for Nova. Once she was done in the shower, Nova dried off and dressed in comfortable clothes. She stepped outside of the restroom and saw the Omega that Luna Amanda said would be waiting for her. "Greetings, Miss Nova. I'm Alicia. I was asked to bring you to the dining room. Did you have a pleasant bath?" she asked. "It was wonderful. Thank you." Nova replied. Alicia smiled brightly and chatted with Nova on the way to the dining room. She mostly told her about what life in a wolf pack was like in the UK. Nova told her of what she knew of wolf packs in the States. "Are you not a wolf? I can tell you're a shifter, but my sense of smell isn't quite strong enough to distinguish different animals." Alicia asked, her head to the side and a confused look on her face. "No. My apologies. I'm a werelion. We live in prides. They are matriarchal and normally much smaller than a wolf pack." Nova told her. Alicia's eyes lit up and she gripped both of Nova's hands in hers. "Oh my Goddess! I've never met a werelion before! This is so exciting!" she bounced. Someone cleared their throat and Nova turned her head to see Alpha Thomas and Luna Amanda standing at the head of the dining table. Alicia ducked her head and released Nova's hands. "I'm sorry Alpha, Luna. Miss Nova is here for dinner." she turned and ran down the hall. Nova hoped she wouldn't get into trouble for that. Once Alicia was out of earshot, Luna Amanda said, “Please forgive her. She is very excited about meeting different supernaturals. Have a seat, Miss Nova.” Nova sat and replied, “Thank you for allowing me to get cleaned up and giving me food. I hope she won’t get into any trouble. My pride was very strict and any behavior like that would have gotten someone into trouble.” Luna Amanda assured Nova that Alicia would not be in trouble for her behavior. “I’m sorry, Alpha and Luna. I was raised by those strict rules and I’m not sure how much of the world operates by those same rules. I can see already that this pack is very different. I’m glad for that. I hated the rules in my pride. It was one reason I was glad my mate was human.” Nova stopped talking because her voice started to crack when she said mate. Tears welled in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. Luna Amanda had a saddened look in her eyes and stood to move next to Nova. “You’ve been hurt. It’s still recent for your pain to be this apparent. How long ago did you lose your mate?” she asked in a soft voice, holding Nova’s hands in one of hers and using her other hand to wipe away fresh tears. “One month. I couldn’t stay home anymore. It hurt too much. I couldn’t go anywhere without being reminded of him. I packed up all I could carry in my duffle bag and got a ticket for the first ship across the ocean. I got here about two weeks ago and I’ve been wandering the woods since. I’m sorry.” Nova cried. Luna Amanda wrapped her arms around Nova and let her cry for as long as she needed. Alpha Thomas had an Omega gather their food and return it to the kitchen until Nova was ready to eat. After about twenty minutes, Nova’s cries turned to sniffling hiccups. She blew her nose in the napkin on the table and smiled softly at the Luna. She thanked her and let Alpha Thomas know she was ready to eat. Fresh food was brought out and served. It was roast beef on freshly baked slices of bread with mashed potatoes and beef gravy. Nova moaned as the food touched her tongue. It was the best meal she had eaten in a month. After the meal, Luna Amanda and Alpha Thomas led Lovynia to their office on the second floor. Alpha Thomas sat in the large chair behind his desk and Luna Mnanda sat in the chair beside him. They motioned toward a chair in front of the desk and Nova sat down. “Now, Miss Nova. You told my guards that you were looking for a temporary place to call home until you can afford your own place, correct?” Alpha Thomas asked. “Yes, Alpha Thomas. That is correct.” she replied. “As it happens, we have an empty house not too far from here. It is a single family home and is fully furnished. It has two bedrooms, a walk in bathroom for the master bedroom and a second bathroom across the hall from the second bedroom. A fully furnished basement with a washer and dryer already hooked up. A two car connected garage with a door leading into the kitchen, a dishwasher, and garbage disposal in the right side of the sink. What do you think?” he asked. Luna Amanda pulled up pictures of the inside of the house with the large fenced in backyard. Nova’s eyes widened at the sight of the house. “I can’t accept this. There’s no way I could afford this. This is too much. I really appreciate this, but I can’t accept.” “It won’t be free. If you would be willing to join my pack as an ally, I could offer you a job as a guard. Our guards have houses like this all through the pack lands. The ones with larger families have larger houses. It would be a trade of sorts. You work for the pack, and we provide you a house. A fair trade here, and in other packs. If you also want to find a secondary job, you are free to do so. You can talk with the Gamma tomorrow and see what schedules are available for guard rotations. You can sleep here for the night if you like. We can show you to a guest room on the top floor.” Alpha Thomas said. Nova looked at Luna Amanda who gave her a nod. “Alright. I’ll accept this under those terms. I work for your pack, and you provide housing for me. Thank you, Alpha Thomas and Luna Amanda.” Luna Amanda jumped up and gave Nova a hug. “Welcome home, Nova.” she said.