Pink Moon

Chapter 1

I was running faster than I had ever run before. My powerful legs pumped me forward, accelerating faster still into the pitch black night, forward into the unknown. The wind’s icy tendrils snaked their way around my body, seeping into my muscles, threatening to halt my quickening pace. Yet there was an almost undetectable force urging me forward, begging that I continue.

Faster. 

I could feel my claws gouging the soft earth of the forest with every step I took. There were no sounds other than my pained panting. I could faintly make out the soft glow of the moon in the clearing ahead. The cold was setting in and seeping into my bones. I didn’t have much time. Three strong bounds and I would reach the clearing and bask in the brilliant glow of the moon. I would find what was pulling me here.  I would see what I had been running for. 

BANG. BANG. BANG.

***

5 Years Later

I awoke in a cold sweat. I heard three sharp knocks against my bedroom door. I ran my hand over my forehead, pushing away the damp hair that had collected there. The knocks sounded again, a little louder.

I attempted to clear my dry throat. “Come in,” I rasped.

The door squeaked open into a small slit and my twin's curious face peeked through. 

“Hey sleepy,” Sebastian said, stepping through the door. “I heard some noises when I walked past your room so I wanted to come check on you. That was some dream, by the looks of it.”

He sat on the edge of my bed and gave me a kind smile that I couldn’t help but return. Some people would fight with their siblings until their ears bled, but not Sebastian and I. We were more than just siblings; we were best friends. We had a weird twin sixth sense when it came to each other's emotions. 

“Thanks for checking on me, Seb. I feel like I’ve been awake all night. I had that dream about me running again.”

“Did you get any farther this time?” He asked, his eyes flashed with concern.

I shook my head. “I always wake up at the same spot. I can’t help but feel like it’s trying to tell me something.”

“I know it’s hard, but try your best to put it to the back of your mind for now. Another reason I came to get you… you overslept again. We have to leave for school in exactly,” —he paused to check his phone— “19 minutes.”

I stared at him in horror and jumped from bed, practically tackling him in the process. “Why do you do this to me? You always wake me up at the last possible second.”

He feigned a hurt look and brought his hand to his chest. “Moi? I would never do anything to make my baby sister's life harder. I’m just trying to save your ass before Mom comes up here and beats you for snoozing your alarm.”

“Baby sister? Really? You’re like 2 minutes older than me,” I rolled my eyes at him but couldn’t hide the smirk that played at my lips. I rummaged around in a drawer trying to find something half decent to throw on when I heard him squeak the door back open to leave.

“Oh and Rhea? Please don’t forget to brush that mop on your head.”

“Get out!” I screeched, throwing a rogue shoe I had found, narrowly missing him and bouncing off the just closed door. 

Even though we were twins, we couldn’t be more dissimilar. He inherited our mom’s high cheekbones, soft jaw, and hazel eyes. He had my same olive toned skin, but his hair was a light golden brown that fell in soft waves against his face. He also had a natural Alpha aura paired with a friendly personality that was enough to make anyone feel comfortable with him immediately. Not to mention make any she-wolf swoon at the sight of him.

I, on the other hand, had a few more issues when it came to socialization. I had a short temper and a quick wit, which my mother deemed a deadly combination. In place of my mother's more delicate features I held my father’s: wavy, ebony hair that just reached my waist, forest green eyes, and a sweep of freckles across my sharp nose. I was tall for a woman, roughly 5’7, and was blessed with generous curves. 

I looked myself over in my full length mirror. I had chosen a pair of black leggings and a pale yellow t-shirt that I tied into a knot just at my belly button. Not bad for 19 minutes, I thought. I remembered to do a quick few strokes in my hair, grabbed my bag, threw my door open, and bounded down the stairs.

I took the stairs two at a time, dodging an omega carrying sheets just as my left foot missed the second to last step, causing me to slip and fall flat on my face at the foot of the stairs. I tried to stand, cursing as I rubbed my forehead. I looked up to find a few of my pack members trying to hold in their laughter. Among them was my mother, walking towards me slowly, glowering. I cast my eyes downward, cowering away from her form.

“Grace is a virtue that a Luna can’t afford to be without. It would do you well to remember that.” She turned on her heel, focusing her attention on the small group of pack members that had stayed to watch our encounter. 

“Do you all not have somewhere else to be?” She snapped in her Luna tone. 

They immediately bowed their heads, mumbled their apologies, and fled in opposite directions out of the room. 

Glancing back at me over her shoulder, “Your brother is waiting for you outside. Try not to fall again on your way out.”

I picked my bag back up, flung it over my shoulder, and opened the front doors of the pack house to find my brother leaning against his truck.

“Goddess, it’s about time, Rhea. We’ll be lucky if we get there before the first bell now,” Sebastian said. 

I threw the back door open, tossed my bag in, and yanked the handle of the passenger door, sliding in and slamming it behind me. I glanced at Sebastian who was watching me with a concerned expression. He turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. 

I leaned my head against the window as we drove through the winding mountain roads. Sebastian glanced at me every now and again, but ultimately left me to my own thoughts. I kept replaying the words my mother had said this morning in my head. 

My mother was a highly respected Luna, known throughout the neighboring packs for being unbelievably kind and welcoming. Our pack cherished her and our father valued her insight on important pack business. Truth be told, I envied her; she was the picture perfect Luna, but I could never live up to those expectations. As the Alpha’s daughter I was expected to learn the values and preferred characteristics of Lunas. I was supposed to learn how to be an Alpha’s perfect compliment. The main problem with that being I didn’t want to be anyone’s Luna. Many of the powerful Alpha’s viewed their mates as property; a thing they owned and kept around for the sole reason of keeping their wolf sane and strong. Their mate was their destined partner, but rarely were they treated as an equal. I’d even heard stories of Alpha’s beating their mates to a bloody pulp and locking them away, shattering every fiber of their being. Keeping mistresses to satisfy their desires, never marking them or accepting them as their Luna. I didn’t want to walk one step behind my Alpha for the rest of my life, living like a prisoner instead of being free. I didn’t want my soul to shatter every time my mate hit me or was with another she-wolf. My father was a rare exception to this rule and had taught my brother to hold the same values; the fate of his mate would be the way the Moon Goddess intended. I couldn’t say the same for my fate and the only way to protect myself was to make sure I never had a mate. 

“So… you want to tell me why you’re pissy or do you expect me to read your mind?” Sebastian asked, breaking through my thoughts and pulling me back to reality. 

“Oh, ya know, the usual. Falling down the stairs. Not living up to Mom’s expectations.”

He cast me a sideways glance. “Don’t talk like that. You know Mom thinks the world of you. She’s just uptight right now because she’s planning the party.”

“Party?” I asked, knitting my eyebrows together. 

“You can’t mean to tell me that you forgot about graduation. Not to mention our birthday the day after,” he scoffed. “Kind of an important one. The big 18. Our first shift. Finding our mates. Me taking over the pack. Ringing any bells?”

My eyes widened in recognition. My birthday was in 3 weeks. I had completely forgotten. I groaned internally and rested my head back on the window. My worst fears may be realized sooner than I had thought.