We all sat in the simply built hall, eating our food in almost silence, apart from the occasional whispers or coughing, we all looked so defeated and empty. The room was bare, with just a few lamps on the white painted walls and mahogany tables set around the room, though only few of us filled them.
There was only one hundred of us here, which felt like nothing compared to the five hundred we had been used to mingling and living with every day on our pack. We didn’t know if they were all dead or if more got out but ran for the nearest human town instead of here, we didn’t even know what would become of us, where our future lay and if we’d ever be able to set foot on our old pack lands again. Everything had been ripped away in the blink of an eye and we had more questions than answers
Aunty Emma, Uncle Max and a few others kept suggesting we moved on, and at first I felt the same way. We could use our blending ability to our benefit and live within human territory. But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds, if we move, we have to cut off our wolves. No more shifting, no more running through a forest or laying out under the sun in our wolf form. We’d have to act and live without ever freeing that part of us, which was half of who we were, and we’d be slowly letting our wolves spirits die inside of us, seizing their existence. Our wolves would feel the pain and so would we. Not to mention, the chance of finding your fated mate were gone, nada, nothing! If we ever wanted to find love, we’d have to find it with a human and never reveal what we were and where we came from, and we knew right now, there was no one here that was fated to each other, apart from the few couples we had.
I had to act as Luna, although I felt far from deserving that title, in fact, it was never given to me, I’m technically only Luna if my father died along with my mother. My stomach would churn at that very thought, and I hoped with every ounce of my body that he was still alive! But without knowing for definite I had to try and establish some sort of rule here, some order if we were to stay, if we leave, then soon enough I would become nothing to them as we all lead our separate lives.
“You’re so lost In your head”. Lacey whispered next to me. “You’ve barely eaten!”. She pointed out, looking at the untouched food on my plate.
“I am lost!”. I admitted quietly back to her.
“I think we all are”. She replied with the same glum and disheartened look we all had. In all our years of friendship, even when a guy had broken her heart she never looked as crushed as she did the last week we’d been here. “Why don’t we get some air!”. She suggested and I nodded as we got up from our seats and left the hall.
She put her arm through mine as we walked around the village that felt too quiet and almost desolate with not enough people to fill it. We seemed to see more cows and sheep in our fields than people.
“What are you frowning so hard about?”. She asked in a quiet voice as both of my brows were harshly furrowed.
“Just thinking about what to do now”.
“Do you still think we should leave?”
“Well, either option is pretty bleak”. I sighed. “Too much is at stake either way”.
“That’s true”. She agreed
“If we stay, I’m worried that it’s only a matter of time until they find the doorway to the tunnels and they come after us, I don’t think we’d ever feel safe here. But if we leave….”
“We leave a lot behind”. She finished my sentence for me as she gave me an understanding look.
I know Lacey was grateful that her mother was still with her, but her father was one of our guards and just like the others, he was left behind. We only had seven guards with us, the only ones that were shoving people into the tunnels to get as many out as possible, carrying any injured and protecting us all the way in case we were followed. Unfortunately her dad was one of the guards that charged along with my father and his beta, and we knew deep down it was futile hoping that they survived.
“If we leave, Lacey, we leave everything! We’d have to live the rest of our lives pretending that our past didn’t exist, and once we lose our wolves, I think we would start to really forget. At least here, we can still be us, and in a way it makes me feel like we’re still connected to sun pack”.
“I know what you mean, and could we even be happy that way? Living with humans?”
“Well, that’s the problem isn’t it. Would we be happy or just surviving? But surviving isn’t really living is it”.
“I just wish things would go back to the way they were!”. She exhaled dejectedly.
“Me too”. I agreed as flashes of me laughing by the river in the sun with other pack members came flooding back. “I have to decide something, and I have to decide soon! We can’t live as we are with so much uncertainty, I’m just so glad my grandfather left plenty of provisions stored here”.
“Yes, although I can’t say I’m too keen on whoever chose the clothes!”. She chuckled as she picked at her baggy grey top.
“I don’t think any of us are going to look glam any time soon”. I giggled with her as I squeezed her arm in mine, so thankful that she managed to rise a smile out of me. But it also placed fear in my chest, the thought of us being found and something happening to her.
We had both decided to spend the night in the house she was staying in with her mum. I had told her about my constant nightmares, and she confided in me about her crying every night. She didn’t want to leave her mum alone, so we sat on her bed and played an old game of cards that we used to play when we were kids, keeping each other company hoping tonight we’d both actually sleep.
Me and Lacey had spent hours talking in her bed, she cried, I cried but we comforted each other knowing we felt just as scared and lost as each other. My aunty and Max had been trying to give me advice and guide me, but it was Lacey that understood the most, the turmoil I was feeling from having to lead the rest of us. She held my hand when I told her I couldn’t wrap my head around this being the way I had become the Luna…. And Luna of what? I could even sense that no one here really viewed me in that way apart from the guards, even then it was only out of loyalty the need to protect me. If anything they were doing a better job so far at keeping us safe than I was. So far all I’d done is cry and be so indecisive of what was best for us all. I felt like a pathetic excuse for a Luna, nothing like the strong and capable Luna my mother was.Even though me and Lacey had talked until we fell asleep, it didn’t stop the nightmare from reoccurring as I woke up in sweat and tears but having her
We spent three days walking and hiking through muddy terrains, grass several feet taller than us, we pushed on through in the stormy rain and winds, sleeping and resting under make-shift shelters we’d quickly thrown together. If that wasn’t bad enough, I don’t think my pack were too keen on how strict I had become with them. I understood that we were all hungry from walking so far every day, but they’d scour through the only food rations we had bought with us as if we had an endless supply in the bottom of our bags! They’d refuse to move when it was too wet or cold or winge about how dirty their shoes and clothes were, and sometimes I nearly lost my patience! I’d try so hard to remind them how vital it was that we kept moving, that we had enough food to last before I went back to the village for more. I’d tell them how we had faced much worse than what we were now. So many times they had shown just how privileged and sheltered they were whilst under my parents rule, and if I had becom
After seeing my own mother killed right in front of my eyes, and watching the Sun pack being torn apart, I never thought I’d be able to smile again. But no matter how devastating and tough things were for us all, we’d managed to find our own way to survive, and bit by bit, we had begun to see brighter days ahead of us.After six months of endless trips back and forth, putting together new homes, adjusting to our new, simple way of living, our new territory was beginning to thrive with laughter and hope.We had several homes built now, and even though they looked more like shacks compared to what we used to live in, it never stopped everyone celebrating with applause each time one was finished and ready for its new owners. So far, all the homes had been given to the older members and the couples with children. But the sleeping area for the rest of us was slightly upgraded with more privacy, each bed sectioned off with curtains we pulled from the windows in the village and more sheeting
I looked on with a smile at the three new houses built and one of them I especially assigned to Lacey and her mother. I could see her old cheery self, coming back as she encouraged her heartbroken mother to be just as delighted as she was. She held her mother’s hand and led her inside to marvel at the furniture we’d managed to bring from the village.There was so much to feel more positive about now. In just two weeks we’d gotten better and quicker at building more homes and our hunting, along with the traps were keeping us all well fed. But there were still times throughout the day or night when it was all quiet that some of us would reflect on what we’d lost. Lacey’s mum, Annie, would cry a lot, missing her mate more than she could really bear, and of course, she wasn’t the only one to have lost someone she loved. There were quite a few of us here that would talk about the ones who didn’t escape, the guards that put their lives on the line with my parents. None of it stopped us thou
The following night everyone was feeling more cheerful and merry than usual as we tucked into the array of fish we had caught from the river. We sat around the fire feasting with a sense of pride in how much we were progressing, and I found my restless nights weren’t occurring as often as they used to. Miles away from our old pack, we were starting to see a future ahead of us, one in which we were safe and no longer grieving from the tragedy that had kicked us all down. There still wasn’t a day that passed where we didn’t think of it, or ask ourselves why it had to happen, but at least now, we didn’t feel as though we were looking over our shoulders every minute of the day and night.I didn’t tell anyone though, not even Lacey that I’d see that man’s yellow sinister eyes glaring right in front of me, whether I was awake or sleeping, they’d just appear right in front of me. I’d be busying myself with hunting, training, assisting with the house builds, gathering whatever we needed for t
The man’s hands suddenly grabbed my waist and yanked me off of his shoulder, causing me to fall to the floor. He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, as his friend just ahead opened the secret doorway… Shit! My heart thumped. I’m back! “Get to your feet now!” The man glowered as he tightened his grip.I gingerly got to my feet as he pushed me forward into the main hall, and I gulped at the foreboding feeling lurching in my stomach. My eyes darted toward the entrance doors at the spot where my mother had been ruthlessly killed. I inhaled a deep breath, pushing away the tears that were springing to my eyes. This room had always felt so bright and elegant, a place to socialise, dance, gather for plays and candlelit dinners my parents always arranged. We’d held so many ceremony’s here for fated and chosen mates, or mixers as a chance for all the singles to get better acquainted. But now, it looked so gloomy and dark, it had lost it’s joy and cheerful memories.They led me through
“Get in there!” The man ordered as he pushed me into one of the cells. I scraped my knee against the rough gritty stone as I stumbled in. “The day your alpha decides to kill you, I’ll be first in line to see it”. He sneered, clearly he was still pissed I had shattered two of his teeth in the tunnel.“He’s not my alpha!” I retorted, imagining all the ways I’d love to kill them right now.“Well, you’re down here, and he’s up there, so, I think you’ll find he is and will always be your alpha”. “And the day I decide to kill you, I’ll make sure it’s slow and excruciating” I seethed as he locked the door, standing on the other side of the bars.“And how are you going to do that, now you’re stuck in here with the rest of the pieces of shit?”. He grinned. “Play nice with your new friends!” He added before walking away, swinging all the prison keys on its chain.As soon as he mentioned the word ‘friends’, I turned around to see I wasn’t in the cell alone, but only one of them I recognised.“B
My first night in the cell was a real awakening to the horror they had all been living through. There were points in the night that you could hear the desperate wails and sobs of women held in the other cells in the building, or the sounds of someone being dragged out by a guard, then thrown back in. Everyone would tense the moment the main door opened, and you’d hear the sounds of footsteps coming for any one of us. I had no idea what they were being dragged out for in the middle of the night, and I chose not to ask any of my new cell mates, as they kept as still and quiet as they could, hoping not to be picked.Our morning breakfast consisted of stale bread, and a cup of tepid water to share between all five of us. The four of them practically flung themselves across the floor the moment it was placed through the bars. They shoved their share of the bread into their mouths, and each took a sip of water like it was a rare delicacy, passing around the cup, then anxiously waiting for i