The Luna's Gift

Helena & Magnolia

    Helena and Mags take the tunnel from the Daae to the private acreage kept off campus on the city outskirts, reserved for Daae workers and visitors. The forest is the best kept secret in Rome, a full forest within a bustling metropolis, high walls keeping out the unwanted. A single keypad entrance, full time grounds keepers, security cameras, and even a small locker room. Mags and Helena get undressed and slowly start to shift into their wolf forms. Helena’s shoulders leave their sockets, and her spine arches, auburn fur spreading over her body. Helena stretches and yawns, feeling every muscle of her body alert and ready to run. Mags finishes her shift, revealing a beautiful black coat and bright golden eyes. They sprint off, running through the forest, to their preferred spot about two acres in, a small waterfall with a little beach, perfect for Helena’s last evening in Rome for months. They jump in and out of the water, splashing and playing, and once they wear themselves out, they retire to curling up on the beach enjoying the last rays from sunset. After their run, they hit up their favorite gelato place while Helena fills Mags in on her life altering job change. 

“What?!” Mags gasps, “You’re kidding, you’re going to America?! Why?”

Helena shrugs, “Honestly, I don’t even fully understand. So that Alpha from yesterday, the whole big drama is that he named his sister, Artemis, as his successor. So Jonah and the rest of the Tribunal are freaking out.” Helena rolls her eyes dramatically. 

“So what are you supposed to do?”

“It sounds like Jonah wants me to spy on her or something. On the record, I’m there to document this “historical” event, to advise her, to assist the pack etc. Off the record, I’m supposed to send daily reports to Jonah on how Artemis runs the pack, adjusts to being an Alpha, works with the other Alphas and stuff. Then when her probation is over, I have to give a full report in front of the Tribunal.”

Mags leans back in her chair, lost in thought, “that’s so weird…” she says mostly to herself.

“What is? The fact that I’ll be gone for six months? Because I agree.”

Mags replies, “No, no. I mean yes, that sucks, but that book I had to go pick up today. We drove 4 hours to get this book, super last minute, and Jonas specifically requested I don’t open it or handle it, that he got a specialist to restore it. Which I found very mansplainy because we are the specialists, like who could possibly restore an ancient text better than us? I didn’t really think anything of it, other than Jonah being a domineering d**k like always, so of course on the way home I took a peek at the book. It wasn’t some, like, miraculously ancient or important book, it was mostly prayers and rituals, some ancestral trees, and a couple prophecies. Like same ole, same ole ya know? But it was a little different, there was a prophecy at the very beginning of the book that didn’t make sense until now...Goddess what was it--ugh I should have taken a picture. It was something like ‘arises the bow and arrow, for she’ll take over the world etc, men will topple before her etc, the Luna’s gift’ something along those lines. What it was saying interested me, but also the fact that it was partly in English was surprising, most of it was in what I guessed to be Gaelic. And somewhere it said ‘Alpha’--I think this prophecy was about a female Alpha. And I even noticed that some of the clan trees in the book were matriarchal, did you know that before the Peace Treaty, we had female Alphas? I had no idea.”

“Where’s the book now?” Helena asks quickly, a sinking feeling in her stomach causing her to set her gelato aside.

“I delivered it to Jonah, per his instructions. I didn’t think anything about it, you know how Underwolders looooove prophecies, like the only ones that ever come true are the most basic non-specific ones like ‘OoOoOoOo a child will be born in December, with blue eyes’” Mags pantomimes looking as a crystal ball. She smiles and sat back in her chair once again, “what if Jonas believes in prophecies and knew about this one, and what if he thinks Artemis is the ‘Luna’s gift’? I mean, I can’t remember the exact verbiage, but the general message was ‘Womankind shall rise! Mankind shall take a f*****g seat!” Mags shouts, raising her fist in the air.

Helena laughs, “I mean, that makes more sense than just sending me to spy. It’s just superstition, like prophecies, silver bullets, vampires hate garlic, Fated Mates. Awwww is Jonah worried he’s gonna lose his job?” They laugh and make a few more jokes at Jonah’s expense. 

“I am going to miss you for real though. Like six whole months? That’s so long. You better text me and video chat me every day! What am I going to do without you? You’re pretty much the only person I hang out with here.” Mags says a bit solemnly.

“You have Duke!” At that Mags rolls her eyes and laughs. Helena continues, “Well there’s a new intern starting soon I think, and they might be cool, but they better not be cooler than me.”

“No one’s cooler than you.” Mags says, sincerely. 

“I’m going to miss you too. You’re my best friend.” Helena replies, a little teary eyed.

“You’re my best friend too.” 

                                                                                                            ****

    They spent the rest of the evening meandering around Rome, before finally returning home and wishing each other goodnight. Before she fell asleep, Helena snuck out onto the balcony for a little alone time before the chaos of the next couple of months. She curled up with a cup of tea underneath a nearly full moon, and took a moment to appreciate the landscape that she’d looked at most of her life. The sprawling cityscape, the moon casting Her light across the buildings and parks, and in the distance there was faint music from a party. Helena smiles to herself, and closes her eyes, letting her mind drift back to the stranger and her dream from the afternoon.