Luna's Revenge

Chapter 3

"Daughter, your time has not yet come."

I wasn't sure that I'd really heard the words. The last thing I remembered after all was Marcus snapping my neck. It seemed likely as not that what I heard was just my mind trying to make sense of what had just happened as it was slowly starved of oxygen while my body shut down. Nothing that I experienced in the coming moments was very likely to be real, and not long after I suspected I wouldn't be experiencing much of anything at all anymore.

The voice I heard, or didn't hear, was a woman's, an just happened to be exactly what I always imagined the Moon Goddess' would sound like.

When I woke up a few moments later, I thought that that too was some sort of halucination. I was back home and back in my bed... except something was off. The room was a little more clean and a little more bare than I remembered it being. It was more like what it had been like shortly after Marcus and I were first married.

That's when I spotted it... my wedding dress!

It laid there in a mound on the floor, precisely where Marcus had thrown it after practically tearing it off me on the night of our wedding.

At first I wondered why my dying mind brought me back to that particular moment. As sleep began to leave me and my senses cleared, however, it became increasingly clear that I wasn't dreaming or hallucinating or anything like that. My senses were simply too clear, too sharp for that to be the case.

No, somehow I had actually traveled back in time to the night of my wedding!

"Your time has not yet come..."

The words echoed in my mind. Had the Moon Goddess or some other force intervened to bring me back in time? Was there something I was meant to do, some order I was meant to set right?

Or maybe I was just going insane...

Whatever the case, I'd find no answers sitting there in bed!

Just as it had been on my real wedding night, I was alone. While my husband and I had been able to consummate our relationship, it wasn't long before the man was called away on urgent business for the pack. He'd been the alpha for a bit over a year at this point, and it was the type of job that demanded much of a man's attention, particularly when he had a war to wage. Even his wedding night wasn't safe.

I had sympathy for my poor, overworked husband when he was called away all those years ago, but no more. After the final words he spoke to me where he confessed to being responsible for my father's death, any affection I may have once harbored for the man was lost.

I'd thought my father's death to be a natural one. He was too young, for sure, but he passed in his sleep and like everybody else I assumed his premature death was a consequence of the great deal of stress he'd lived his life under. The life of an alpha is far from an easy one, after all. Marcus' future confession however made me suspect poison or something equally nefarious was the true cause of the elder wolf's death.

Not sure what to do, I did the exact same thing I'd done on my wedding night. I got dressed and stepped outside for some fresh air.

It was a brisk, cool evening, not unlike the one I'd only recently experienced. I was reminded of how much I'd wished to assume my wolf form, but that accursed necklace kept me from doing so. Then it dawned on me that it would still be some time before Marcus forced me to wear it! I could become a wolf again!

I didn't hesitate to seize the opportunity. I closed my eyes and focused. It had been too long since I'd been able to avail myself to the Mood Goddess' blessing, but for a werewolf changing one's form came as naturally as breathing. It wasn't long before I found my body shrinking and contorting. After only a few moments time, I became the majestic silver she-wolf I'd longed to be for so very long!

In my excitement, I found myself bolting into the forest. I knew I shouldn't. Marcus had been called away due to trouble in the war with the Crimson Moons, and it was entirely possible I could find myself in the midst of a battle. I simply didn't care though. I couldn't bring myself to waste that opportunity, and I certainly didn't give a darn about breaking any of Marcus' rules!

I didn't give any thought about my destination, but never-the-less soon found myself approaching a place of great significance. It was the sacred grove, and my first thought as I realized where I was was that I should turn back. None were permitted the enter the sacred grove save in the company of the Alpha. It was sacred precisely because that was where the Alpha went to commune with the Moon Goddess, and it was considered disrespectful for another to enter that place as anybody but the Alpha would be deaf to the goddess' words.

I didn't turn around, though. I'd heard the Goddess' words myself as I was saved from death and brought back in time. Surely she had some design for me, and I very much doubted Marcus would care to ask the Goddess on my behalf!

Just the same, while I resolved to stay the course, I slowed and returned to my human form. If I was going to approach the Goddess, I'd muster every bit of reverence I could in the act, and rushing in head-long in wolf form didn't seem conducive to that.

There was a small clearing between the forest proper and the grove, and as I made my way through it I thought I heard a rustling. Remembering the potential danger, I stood very still and tried to listen. Like all werewolves I had excellent hearing, and I thought I could make out the sound of somebody else in the sacred grove! For a moment I feared it must be Marcus, but that didn't make sense. If there was a battle with the Crimson Moons, surely it would be elsewhere and Marcus would be there!

I'd soon discover who the other person was, though. As I said, werewolves have excellent hearing, and so it shouldn't have been surprising that the person in the grove heard me just as easily as I'd heard them. It was too late to run, so I resolved to stand my ground and confront whoever the trespasser was. And after only a few short moments, I'd get the opportunity to do just that!