Luna Clara's Revenge

Clara Today is the day. I’ve dreaded it since my father announced two weeks ago his intent to include me in his disgusting group of ‘Enticements’, as he calls them. As the daughter of his concubine, I always knew he would never accept me as an heir. That’s the privilege bestowed on my half-brother, his child with his Luna. I always hoped to be a warrior. My mother was a warrior before my father, the Alpha of the Crescent Pack, decided to mark her as his own. My pack has a long history of misogyny. Females are used for s*x, power, and trade. On occasion, a female proves herself during training and is allowed to fight… until she finds her mate. After that, she is domesticated and usually not seen outside of book clubs and game nights. That was not the future I desired. I used to be close to my mother. I was spunky as a pup and we would spend our days playing and running. She taught me how to spar at a young age and my father would laugh and beam with pride when I would pin males during fights on the playground at school. She was beautiful, and as the Alpha’s last addition, he spent most nights loudly enjoying her. He would let me come to training in the mornings and my older brother, Joshua, would run laps with me and we would spar on the side of the field. We were very close. We talked about becoming warriors and planned on me being his Gamma and leading training once he took over as Alpha. The current Gamma, Gamma Benjamin, would pretend to fight us during training and let me pin him. He would bring me muffins his wife baked and when Joshua and I got in the way, he would tell us where he hid them, and we would run off to find them and have our breakfast. His son was a few years younger than I was and spent his mornings before school filling the watering stations at the training area. He was often included in our hi jinks. His name was Sam and Joshua always said he would make an amazing Beta. My life seemed perfect. I was going to be the Gamma of the Crescent Pack, leading it with my best friends until I found my mate. Then he would take my position. That last part wasn’t ideal, but it was reality. Hopefully, I won’t find my mate for a long time… My alarm went off and I begrudgingly rolled out of bed. My mother flung open my bedroom door and threw a dress at me. “Take a shower and put this on! You should already be done. Your father will be here soon! And don’t you dare let some stupid alpha tear that dress, it’s my favorite!” “Yes, mother,” I said. I hurried into the bathroom and started the shower. The hotter the better. I just want this day to be over. It would just be today, right? I don’t have to stay there, do I? Mist…. We don’t have to stay, do we? I ask my wolf. I don’t know. But we do this together. She had been trying to convince me to run away for days. Well, years if I am honest. Ever since my father added a new, younger concubine, Sarah, my mother has been in pain every night he spends with her. He still loved having me around and that made my mother jealous. She started making up stories of the ‘troubling behavior’ I was displaying. My father had no tolerance for that. He had high standards for Alpha children. That’s when the beatings started… He would punish me and ‘reform’ my behavior. That reform must have taken a lot out of him because he would no longer have the energy to go to Sarah’s house. He would spend the night with my mother instead. That’s when it clicked for her. Punishment for me equaled pleasure for her. I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around me. Quickly, I dried and curled my hair, put on makeup, the lace lingerie set my mother had come home with, and the black dress she had thrown at me earlier. It was knee length with a slit in the back which went up far higher than I was comfortable with. The top was lace with sleeves that went down past my elbows. I felt the lump in my arm as I slid the shoulders of the dress up. The scar having just healed, the lace felt uncomfortable. The memory of my mother dragging me to the pack clinic to meet my father spins through my mind. “I don’t understand why I need a checkup; I feel fine.” “Stupid girl! Hurry up or we will be late! You know your father hates to wait!” “But why is he meeting us for a doctor's appointment?” “Shut Up!” When we walked into the clinic, instead of checking in with the receptionist, we walked straight to an exam room where my father and the pack doctor sat waiting. Neither looked happy. “Sit down, Clara.” Said my father. “The doctor will be inserting a contraceptive device into your arm today.” “Contraceptive? Why do I need that?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was 21, mate less, and not allowed to leave my house. That was when I learned my life would change forever. “You have been nothing but a disappointment to me. I used to think you would be valuable to the future of this pack by holding an honored position. It’s clear you can only be valuable to me in one way now. I want to purchase land from the Red Savage Pack. I will be taking you with me and offering you as an enticement with my deal.” My heart started beating through my chest and the air seemed thin. I have often seen these ‘Enticements’ return to pack land after being offered. Empty vessels of the women they once were; bruised, scared, and disheveled. He wouldn’t really do that, would he? Just then, the room went black. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, and I heard my father say, “put it in her left arm” before a dark silence settled over me. When I awoke, there was a lump on my left arm halfway between my elbow and shoulder. It was much larger than I had anticipated. I can’t remember seeing anyone with these lumps before. Maybe it’s new? I had just finished zipping the back of the dress and sliding on my heels when my father opened the bedroom door. “Ready?” “Yes.” I said, trying to control my breath and not let the tears spill out of the corners of my eyes. I followed him out of my mother’s house where I saw a line of black SUVs. Standing outside of one was Gamma Benjamin. I saw that he had a black eye as he shot a sad smile and look of concern to me. I knew the source was my father. Gamma Benjamin never stopped treating me with kindness and often intervened if my father chose to beat me in public. It’s probably the main reason I am no longer allowed to leave the house. I get in the car my father points to and we start the drive to the Red Savage Pack Lands. What kind of name is that for a pack? Most packs choose a name reflective of our tie with our mother, the Moon Goddess. What type of wolves are these to choose to include ‘savage’ in their name? I look out the window, trying to find some last moments of peace and beauty before what lies ahead. “Almost there, Alpha. We are approaching the gates now.” Said the driver. I looked ahead and saw huge wrought iron gates. The sun is setting and there is a mist rising from the snow outside, creating an eerie scene. Mist starts stirring in my head and I start getting restless. My heart beats faster and I start looking around frantically searching for what has my wolf so on edge. “What is it Mist?” I asked her. “MATE!” Mist screams in my head. It can’t be. There is no one around. It certainly isn’t my father. My heart beats faster and I can no longer control my body. Mist wants to run. She wants to shift and go to her mate. She wants to be saved, rescued. My father looks at me and yells, “Hold still, stupid girl! What’s wrong with you? Don’t you dare embarrass me in front of this Alpha or you know what your punishment will be!” I can’t hold Mist back in my mind. She is starting to take over. “MATE!” I screamed as I tried opening the car door. I don’t care if it’s moving. Well, I might, but Mist doesn’t. She’s preparing to shift. She will lunge from the car, away from my father. Away from the pain, the beatings, the starvation and manipulation and straight to our mate. “f**k!” My father yells as he attempts to pull something from his pocket. He grabs hold of me by the hair and yanks me back into the seat. He holds me down flat across the length of the car as his hand finally emerges from his pocket holding a remote. Mist is yelling in my head, “Shift, Clara. We have to get out of here now!” I start to give way to the shift, feeling my bones start to readjust and feeling power surge through my body just as my father presses a button on the remote. Pain, no… fire starts burning through my veins in my arm and radiates throughout my body. Silence and calm settle over me. “Mist, what happened?” I asked my wolf. “Mist…. MIST?!” There’s no answer. I look up at the smirk my father is wearing. “Stupid girl. This better not ruin this deal.” “Pull over.” He yelled at the driver. As the SUV reaches the side of the road just before the large gates, my father steps out of the car. Two warriors walk up and climb in on either side of me. My father gives them instructions, “Take her home and put her in a cell. Chain her just to be safe.” Chain me? What have I done? Why can’t I go to my mate? And where is Mist?…