The Elvish Luna

[Nessa P.O.V.] I have long dreamed about having my own wolf, the part of myself that my parents adored. The mate bound was something that I yearned for, knowing that they loved each other more than life itself. Even now, daydreaming about my potential future mate. I could never fully picture what I wanted them to be, and that was bothersome. Even my best friend, Addison, knew what she wanted in her mate. “Come on, Nessa!” Addison, or Addie as she preferred me to call her, yelled at me as her giggles were lifted across the air to me. I could barely see the dark brown strands of her hair streaming through the trees in front of me. Addison was a beautiful girl, even though I didn’t swing that way I was not ashamed to admit it. Her eyes were envious as they reminded me of the soft, light blue of the river that flowed through our territory and her skin was deeply tanned. It hadn’t been confirmed but I suspected that she had some Native American heritage in her family somewhere. She looked like our Luna, who was full Native American, which only confirmed my suspicions. We were out in the woods, making out way to our favorite picnic spot to celebrate the day we became best friends. We had become best friends near the border of the land that we call our territory, deep in the heart of the woods of central Oklahoma. We lived bordering another werewolf pack that we were incredibly close to through our Alpha’s mate, Luna Nayeli coming from their pack. “We are almost there!” I called after her as we chased each other to the meeting spot we had when we were ten, almost eight years ago now. It was also when the two of us found out we shared a birthday, despite being adopted. Once we got there, we settled into preparing the picnic for the two of us, putting the blanket out and unpacking the sandwiches that my mother and I cooked for myself and Addie. I enjoyed cooking, so I often made enough food for both my family and Addie’s family because no one in her family was good at cooking at all. Addie loved it, and it is partly why she cannot stay mad at me for more than a few hours. It is quite funny how easily she will cave over a disagreement if I offer to make her favorite foods. We enjoyed each other’s company for the next few hours, intending to spend the night together and shift for the first time together. We both were eager to meet our wolf counterparts, knowing that Addie was thrilled to finally be coming of age and hoping that she would meet her mate within hours of becoming an eighteen-year-old. Personally, I thought thinking you would meet your mate immediately was ridiculous. Though I knew that it happened, it was more likely that you wouldn’t meet them for years after you turned eighteen. The only person I know who met their mates at the tender age of eighteen was our Beta, who met his mate when she turned eighteen because she was the former Alpha’s daughter. While we were out at the border, I kept seeing patrols of three werewolves, two in wolf form and one in human form though none of them were people I recognized immediately. It was not surprising that I didn’t as my parents were middle to low tier Omega’s in the pack. My mother worked in the kitchens, and was quite close to Luna Nayeli, as the Luna adored my mother’s cooking though she preferred mine more. The Luna couldn’t wait until this weekend, when I would be allowed to work in the pack kitchens. My father was a pack warrior, keeping himself fit during the morning training routine though coming home and teaching the routine to my mother and I as well, making us some of the more fit young werewolves in the pack. I enjoyed the cardio step work outs along with the ten-mile run, which was being used as a substitute for the five-mile run in wolf form that I could not yet do, and the yoga that I added onto the end making me more flexible than a lot of people in the pack. The warriors knew me by sight and would likely have told my father where I was, making sure he wouldn’t worry that Addie and I had gone off somewhere dangerous. Neither of us had a clock or a phone with us, so we could only guess what time midnight would roll around. I laid back to look at the stars, the twinkling of them making me smile as I watched the heavens. I wasn’t into astrology though my teachers had tried to teach me constellations. None of them ever stuck in my mind. I always thought that learning about the stars was a waste of time, not that it mattered. What surprised me when I looked up wasn’t where the stars were, but that the moon was full and bright, shining its full luminescent effect over the world. I had not expected my eighteenth birthday to fall on a new moon, but something told me that was both a good thing and a bad thing. I could almost hear the soft sounds of singing in a language that I couldn’t recognize, as my eyelids fluttered. It had been a long day of training, school, and homework. I was tired and staying up until midnight had begun to take a toll on my body. It was not long before I drifted off into the dark abyss that was called sleep. [Addie P.O.V.] The sound of Nessa’s breathing grew slow and shallow, and I glanced over at her, realizing she had fallen asleep. I shook my head, unsurprised at her inability to stay up until midnight for our joined birthday. I knew her father gave her the warriors morning training just before school, and she had straight A’s, and never missed a day of class. She would be the perfect mate for whoever the moon goddess chose for her, and I hoped that it would be an Alpha as she would be an amazing Luna. Midnight rolled around not even an hour after Nessa fell asleep, and I felt my awareness expand to hold something else though it felt natural too. I had hoped it was my wolf, but the silence for the next minute had me on edge as a headache began to form which stopped just as quickly as it had started. “Hello, Addison.” The voice said in my mind, both soothing and unique in her cadence in my mind. “Are you my wolf?” I asked her, my thoughts edging into excitement as I hoped that the answer would be yes, and this was signaling my first moments of being an adult in our culture. “Had you not left your phone at home, you would know it is past midnight, So yes, silly. It is.” My wolf answered, teasing me at being so excited to get out here with Nessa to celebrate our birthday together that we both just left them at home. “AHHHH!” I practically squealed at her, before calming my own thoughts. “What is your name?” “My name is Keti, but before we finish our pleasantries, I do have some news for you Addie.” Keti caught me off guard with the news she must share with me. “What is it?” I asked her cautiously, fearing the worst. “Nessa is not a werewolf.” Her answer came quick, catching me off guard as my eyes snapped to the sleeping figure of my best friend. “What?!?!?!”