A Luna's Power

Chapter 2: A Meeting

-Lara-

I turned my motorcycle off before removing my helmet and hanging it on one of the handles on the bike, yet I stayed seated, as I watched the big castle in front of me. I had not been here since I was looking for my sister … who I had not seen either, since she came back. Had I really let almost nine months go by? We had just gotten to May. The weather was getting nice and warm yet I felt cold inside. No, maybe not cold. Just closed off. I had been for many years. It was how I had survived in that damn house where nothing I did was good enough in my father’s eyes. And my mother? She just sat quietly on the sideline not saying a thing, barely even looking at me. And my sister? She was the perfect daughter. She was the most beautiful and unflawed female in the entire upper-class society. I, on the other hand, was too intimidating. Too powerful. But shouldn’t a luna be intimating? Shouldn’t she be powerful? I certainly was not going to let anyone else tell me what to do.

I swung my leg over the bike and stood beside it just debating whether I really should be doing this, but I had to. It was my best shot at getting a chance to talk to the king. I needed to do this, and so I walked towards the stairs leading to the entrance of the castle. I stopped in front of the giant doors and knocked. I waited for a little while and then one of them opened.

“Lara!” my sister said, happily pulling me into a powerful hug.

She must have seen me coming. I smiled a little at the thought. It was nice to know she had been waiting for me.

“Okay, now you are starting to suffocate me,” I said and patted her back a little.

She pulled a little away, placing her hands on my shoulders.

“Well, what did you expect?!” she said. “I haven’t seen my sister in nine months; I will be hugging you all the time this whole evening.”

“I can’t wait,” I laughed as I walked inside.

She closed the door after me before placing herself beside me.

“Come, let us go into the living room and talk.”

I followed her and, the first room we came to, we walked inside and sat down. The room was giant, and it was just the two of us. Selene placed herself on one of the couches that formed one of the big seating areas and held out a hand towards the couch besides hers.

“Sit!”

I walked over there and sat down, yet I felt a little uncomfortable. To be honest, I was not sure how I felt seeing her again. She certainly had changed though. Her voice and the way she sat was a lot more powerful. She wasn’t speaking in that polished voice or sitting with her back straight and her hands folded in her lap, but instead, leaned against the back of the couch and placed a hand under her chin to support her head.

“So, tell me everything,” she said and smiled.

“Everything?” I asked.

She nodded enthusiastically.

“Well, the pack is doing good,” I said.

“Yeah, I heard, but how are you doing?” she asked.

“Good.”

“Good?”

I nodded a bit confused about why she sounded disappointed at my answer.

“Yes.”

“Is that all I get? I haven’t heard from you for nine months, and all I get when I ask how you have been, is … good?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Lara …”

“What?”

“Come on!” she said and reached over to push my knee a little. “Tell me! How is it living back at the house on your own?”

I looked away a little. Selene did not know I did not spend my nights in the house because when I did not work, I had nothing to distract me from, well, the bad memories and the loneliness that never really went away. Even when she lived there … I felt alone.

“It’s fine.”

“It’s fine?”

I nodded and looked at her again. She rolled her eyes and leaned her head back before looking at me again.

“Well, did you meet someone?”

“Meet someone?” I asked.

“Yes, like a male?”

“Are you asking me if I have been dating?”

“Yes! I mean why not?” she asked. “I wished I had not spent all this stupid time on being the perfect little female, who mated with only one alpha and had lived my life. I am certainly going to let my daughter date.”

Was this the same sister I grew up with? I wondered, as I looked at her with my mouth half open. That just made her laugh, as I continued to stare at her shocked.

“You should see yourself,” she laughed. “You did not expect me to say that, huh?”

I shook my head. I really didn’t.

“I have changed,” she said when she calmed down a little.

I smiled a little at her and nodded.

“You certainly have.”

She returned my smile, just before the door to the living room was opened and in came …

“Rider?”

“Sorry, I did not mean to interrupt beautiful. I was just checking if your sister had arrived,” he said and walked over to her and kissed her before turning to me. “Hey, I am Rider.”

He held out his hand and I reached over and grabbed it, nodding at him shortly. It was kind of strange I had not met her mate. While I knew who Rider was, I mean, everyone did, I had not officially met him, even though I had told Selene to go be with him. But it had clearly not been the wrong thing for me to do, since she was so happy and had changed so much. Only for the better, of course.

“I know,” I said.

He looked a bit confused at me that I had not tried introducing myself, but I figured he already knew me. I was his mate’s sister after all.

“That’s my sister Lara,” Selene said with a smile and shaking her head a little.

She was used to me being rather cold. I had always been that way. Or no, that was not entirely true. I had also always been weak and very quiet. At least under my father’s rule. I had not dared to step out of line. At least not for many years, but once I learned I would never get my father’s approval, I decided to do what I wanted to, which only pushed him to hate me so much he had been willing to sell me off to some old alpha, just to benefit himself.

“So, I hear you just had your birthday,” he said.

I nodded.

“Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.”

I was not much for talking. Especially when it came to pointless talk. It was why I never attended those awful parties the upper-class loved so much or really any party at all. I just worked instead. I tried proving myself constantly as the luna I was.

“I can’t wait for you to see what I have ordered dinner to be, and I have a present too,” my sister said happily.

“Sorry present?”

“It’s your birthday!”

“No, it was my birthday, and you know I don’t celebrate it,” I said.

“Because father would always forget it. Now he isn’t here anymore! We can celebrate it.”

I sighed, shaking my head before getting up from the couch.

“Selene, I did not come here to celebrate.”

She looked at me confused and so did Rider.

“I came here to talk to the king,” I said.

“What? Why?” she asked. “Is something wrong? Is it father? Has he done something?”

I shook my head.

“No, he has not done anything. I just want to have a meeting with the king.”

“But it is your birthday,” she said.

“No, it was my birthday. Today is Friday, and I want to speak to the king.”

“Then why not just ask for a meeting?” Rider asked.

“Because it could take weeks, even months, before I get a chance to speak to him and I want to meet him now.”

“You are Selene’s sister; I am sure he could have pushed you forward.”

“I don’t want special treatment. I deal with my own things, and now I want a meeting with the king.”

“And why do you want to speak to my mate?”

I turned and saw... Sh*t, that was the f*cking queen! The toughest female I had ever met. I had admired her from the first time I saw her. She was exactly who I strived to be, yet as she stood there in front of me watching me with her powerful silver eyes I felt speechless.