It has been two years since I became the luna of my pack. I can still recount the day I knew I would be the next luna. It has been ingrained in my mind so much that I’ll never forget it.
I was sixteen when the sound of an alarm howl rang out through the pack. My parents, the previous pack leaders, told me to stay safely within the packhouse. I didn’t listen. I wanted to fight beside them, wanted them to know they could rely on me. That I was ready to be responsible for the pack.
By the time I reached them, it was too late.
The largest wolf I had ever seen threw aside their mangled bodies. Who was this alpha? I didn’t know. They were far beyond anything my parents had accustomed me to.
With the blood on his fangs, the alpha had yet to spot me, but my fear held me in place. I couldn’t move, my eyes still on my dead parents. War had always been something the packs had to contend with, but I had no way of knowing just how deadly it could become.
When the alpha moved on to his next target, I felt a hard body hit my side as someone knocked another wolf against me. That woke me up from my stupefied horror, and I knew I had to either flee or stand and fight.
I decided to fight.
Most everything else that day was a blur to me, but my pack had survived. What happened to the alpha that killed my parents? I don’t know. They didn’t die; I know that much, but I have never seen them again.
Since that day, the war has been on an unsteady truce. So many packs have lost loved ones and needed to recoup and recover. That isn’t to say little skirmishes haven’t happened, but nothing quite on that level since then.
As I gazed over the tombstones that were my parents’ graves, my beta Dereck stepped up next to me. That blond hair of his is all dishevelled, while that icy-blue gaze of his looks at me with tenderness. His hand gently lands on my shoulder, offering me silent support.
“Luna Kyla, we’ve heard news about the new alpha for the Crescent Ruby pack,” Dereck tells me in a mellow voice. They have been our biggest rival in the past, but I don’t really remember anything about the pack or their previous alpha.
As I drag my attention away from the graves, and onto him, I tilt my head to one side curiously. “What have you heard about him?” I ask.
“The only thing I have heard is that this new alpha is stronger than any other we have fought before,” Dereck told me. “I don’t have his name or where he came from. I assume he is the child of the previous alpha, but I’m uncertain.”
I nodded once and returned my gaze to the graves. I wish I knew who had killed them. Then maybe I could find some closure or even revenge. Perhaps another pack had killed him already, and that was why I hadn’t seen him since that day?
I could feel Dereck’s hand move from my shoulder to the small of my back. “I don’t know if he will resume the fight with us, or with the other packs, but we should be ready for anything,” he reminds me of our truth.
We can’t hold on to this uneasy peace forever. Eventually, the fighting will flare up again and the rocky peace will be over.
“Let’s go back into the packhouse,” I sigh out and offer Dereck a warm smile. I don’t know what I’d do without my beta. Ever since we met, he has been by my side as a loyal friend.
He gives me a nod, though his gaze lingers on me somewhat longer. I can’t always tell what he is thinking, but the look on his face now is one of concern. I attempt a small smile. He doesn’t say a word, but he knows this is the anniversary of my parent’s death and is doing his best to comfort me.