~Noelle~
When the boat comes to a stop, my body jolts with its minor rocks and tremors. During the ride here, I must have fallen asleep. I had this crazy dream that I was abducted by a big, burly giant. And only one of those was a dream.
The abduction was a dream. I came willing. For Micah. And also due to circumstances. He was going to take me by force, and if I had managed to convince him to leave me alone- I strongly doubt this was even possible- another alpha will come for me. Who knows if that might be the leader of the Baton boys.
I have seen them twice nevermore, so it must mean their pack isn't so far from where I stayed. My body shivers, creating goosebumps all over at the thought that I had been unknowingly living next to a monster like that.
I could sigh but that would only draw in attention. These people already hate me, and I'm yet to understand why. I'm the one who was bitten, I didn't want this. I don't want to join a pack. They could wake up one morning and just choose to use me as food.
I might be over exaggerating.
Dante rolls Micah into his arms, she's so small in them. A man this huge could break my neck with one touch. What did his parents feed him?
Horses?
Standing next to him, I feel tiny. My head is stopping underneath his pecs, right in his tautly built abdomen. I don't think he's at a normal height for men. Every one on this boat is no more than half his size, and the men I'd seen on TV when I was younger were never this tall.
"Come with me." Lynx's voice steals me away from my thoughts. This kid destroyed my normal happiness, and I only blame her half way. She was thinking of her dad. How lonely do you gotta be for your kid to try matchmaking?
She slid her small fingers around mine, dragging me towards the small planks. Laid out like a makeshift bridge. I had to tilt my body to the side to be able to walk alongside her. The planks were sturdy, but fear still grew larger in my heart. There are wolves on this land. Lots of them. I'm in foreign territory.
There is no way I can not be afraid. What if I'm being led to a trap and he doesn't help Micah? What if they kill her, lock me in a small basement and make me into fuel for their alpha?
Or worse…. what they make me have 'the unspeakable' with him?
Lynx squeezes my palm, my eyes slithered down to catch her staring at me with a solemn look.
"Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you."
Thank you for those not so reassuring words.
I can't exactly say that to a kid. I opted for something nicer.
"I'm in a different place, I can't just act like this is home."
Confusion covers her face, and she pushes out her bottom lip in a pout. My heart rocked against my ribs, nearly choking me.
"But it is your home. From now on. You'll be a part of my family. With my dad, and me. You could be my mom." She beams out with a cute smile, and I want so badly to explain how terrifying everything she just said is to me. But I don't. I don't think I was this naive as a kid. Lynx is a sweet kid, I can see that- time will show me who she really is- but I am no mother.
I don't know the first thing about raising kids. I don't want to have a kid. Telling her that will probably put more than a pout on her face, so I think bite my lips and bottle my words.
Not to mention her giant father. If I make his daughter cry, my tombstone will read- her lies Noelle Clarke, without the E. She was a girl. A foolish girl.
Focusing all my attention on the road, I noticed some carved hand prints on the floor. We only walked for a few minutes, from the docking harbor through a narrow path covered with trees.
There's a large gate, made of something sharp and it smells like the strangest concoction ever made. Three people lined up behind it, eyes glowing and fingernails longer than normal. They're preparing to shift, but why?
Do they think I'm a threat? I wouldn't say I'm not, I have killed a lot of brainless with effort, and recently I took out five of the Baton Boys. The thing is, what can I do against an entire pack of werewolves? Scratch them with my hopes and dreams.
I clicked my tongue, touching the roof of my mouth.
Dante walked ahead of us, waving at the growling men. Animals. I'm going to be living with animals. Great! Thank you universe, you really showed me that life can only get worse.
The gates make a screeching noise as they're pulled apart, Lynx refuses to release my hand. I sigh to myself, and walk with her. Trying to take in as much detail of the pack as I can. It's dark, the stars are shining. But there are lamps, lighted up by- are those fireflies? Oh! Cool! I didn't even know people could do that!
The Moonraiders pack is different from what I expected, and the name sucks. Granted I've never really seen an actual pack land on the another side of the state, I don't think it's this civil and beautiful. The plants are fresh and healthy, the homes are built steady and decorated to fit the owner's taste, based on what I can see from first glance.
It's like a small town in the middle of a massive jungle.
I ignored the bad looks I was getting from the people sitting outside their homes. Everyone seems to have noticed me, I stick out like a- what phrase would work for this? A needle in a haystack isn't enough to convey how different I feel.
My blood rises, and there's a thick emotion stuck in my throat. I haven't seen people. This many living, breathing, infected people in my life. It's mortifying. They don't want me here, I know that. I can see that, I can feel the burn of their eyes on my skin.
I can also feel...numbness in my foot.
Something's wrong, I whisper-yell in my head.
My eyes are showing me something, those fuzzy lines appear again and before I can even process what's happening, my brain short circuits and my vision goes dark.
~~~~
"Do you think she'll ever wake up?" I hear a voice whisper. It sounds like a lady, she's at a close proximity to me.
"Did you see her eyes? That purple color was sick, and the shape of the half moon! I wish I had them." Another one speaks, but in a much higher pitch.
"Oh yeah, it would be wonderful to be a Luna because she makes it look so fucking great." Love the sarcasm on this person but what in the world. I peel my eyes open, blinking against the bright burn of the lights. They're too bright, why am I staring right at them? Where's the sunlight fighting its way through the boarded up window…
My body shuffles, and it occurs to me that I'm laying flat on my back. On a soft, and comfortable surface.
Which is strange to say the least. The bed in my bungalow is tolerable, at best. Nothing this comfy. My back feels like it's resting on clouds. A new feeling, I'm not sure how to respond to this.
"Good, you're awake." The sarcastic lady says. My head turns to the left side to stare at her. The first thing I notice is the lack of a mark in her bare arms, and shoulders. She could be a zeta. Or not. At this point, I'm starting to wonder how I made it all these years.
"What happened to me?" My voice is groggy and rasped with sleep.
"You passed out. I don't think your body is handling the infection well."
That has me forcing myself to sit straight up. The first thought in my mind is a rude response about how is a body naturally supposed to handle an infection. I shove it to the ends of my mind, and pick on something else. "Am I going to die?" I should have hidden the fear in my voice but I didn't. The female stares at me for minute, contemplating what to tell me.
The sarcastic lady answers after the other one takes too long. "Normally, when the infection changes your genes to that of a Luna, you can go on with your life with no need for an alpha. But you're not giving the chance because an alpha will immediately snatch you up. Yours is reacting differently, it's like a call for our leader to mark you. And until he does, you're going to faint more. In simpler terms, you need an alpha to survive."
Instant dread, I am truly cursed.
Just perfect. I fall back down, my head snuggles nicely into the soft pillows. I've never felt pillows this soft, and warm.
To tell the truth, I didn't know they existed.
"Why am I so cursed?" I asked out loud. Not only did I end up as a Luna, but now I'm being told that I need an alpha to live. My parents should have named me bad luck. It would have been a foreshadowing of my future.
"I don't know, you'll have to ask alpha Dante. You're definitely different, but then again, so is every Luna. Get some rest, the alpha will be here to see you, and your dog- I know you're going to eventually hound me about her and I don't need the temptation to beat you to a pulp-" it's confirmed, she's most certainly a zeta. The red eyes should have given it away. I must be out of it. "Your dog is with the vet, you can see her once the alpha is done in here."
Huh? What does she mean by that? My curiosity must have shown in my face because she laughs, a full hearty one. Her head tilts back and her shoulders shake. Heat fills my cheeks with embarrassment, I don't know how to socialize. I haven't seen people like her. I haven't talked to them. Is it always this weird? I feel judged, and it makes the hairs on my skin stand.
I feel out of place. I wish I was back in my bungalow.
Alone with Micah.
The woman to my left speaks, she looks just like this woman. Either they're identical twins or I've lost my fucking mind. "Don't worry um-"
"Noelle." I answer for her, and she gives me a thankful stare.
"Right, Noelle. You don't have to worry, the Alpha says he'll fix the problem with your- you know." She made weird gestures with her hands. My response was a hopeless expression, I haven't the slightest clue what she's going on about. I don't know anything about being a Luna or why mine is so different it's making my head fuzzy, changing my vision and making me pass out to the point where I NEED the alpha to act quickly. I was fine before he showed up. Besides that horrid smell, I was doing okay.
Blurry vision is nothing.
The lady to my right sighed, her red eyes held something unreadable in them. "You don't need to know how to be a Luna because our alpha won't use you." I couldn't help it, I snorted at that sentence. Both of them glared at me harshly, making my stomach clench and unclench anxiously.
What did I do wrong? They don't just expect me to trust their alpha, do they?
In case they aren't clear on how this work, Lunas are prized treasures. To be used, and then discarded when they're too weak to offer any more. Or the more common option, death. The doctor said a Luna will only die when the alpha does, I think he lied. I don't have an explanation, something just tells me that part was a lie.
Why would I trust information given to me by one of the people who started this epidemic?
A low creaking sound filled the silence of the room, I glanced up to see that same man from yesterday. His large form covers the space of the door.
He'd changed his clothes, I noted. Then proceeded to internally die, of course he changed his clothes. It's practically morning right now, it's the next day. He wouldn't wear the exact same thing two days in a row unless it was necessary, which in that case I don't judge.
People don't have access to clothes sometimes. Life is difficult.
Calm down, Noelle. You're acting like a lunatic.
'Leave us.' He didn't voice out this command like all the other words sprouted by him, it floated into the private spaces of our minds and for some unexplainable reason, my spine tingles with a feeling I've never had before. In my head, his tone is deep, gravelly, and sounds a tad like a soothing melody.
I could listen to him talk all day. The only issue is, I don't trust him. He's invading my privacy. Oh yeah, and his daughter ruined my life.
The women nodded, and then walked towards him. I watched as his thick fingers touched their necks. They gave him a small bow, and a smile. I raised an eyebrow in question, what was that for? A sign of superiority? God, werewolves are weirder than I thought.
He retracted his hands, I watched the brunettes file out of the room and close the door firmly behind them.
Err- hold up, whatever he wants to do…does he have to be alone with me?
With the doors shut, my panicking grows.
'No, I don't need to be alone to do this, but I figured you wouldn't want to be embarrassed while I marked you.'
My mouth gaped, how- again!! "Dude! Stay the hell out of my fucking mind!"
This guy has some balls, he actually shook his head. Flatly telling me no, and he dropped his gaze to that blank expression that made me want to sucker punch him right in his friggin face. I took several deep inhales to calm the rage that seemed to be brewing from somewhere within me. I'm not an angry person, at least I don't think so. Again, I have had no civilized encounters with people. Talking or getting to know anyone would have been stupid. I was out here to survive, not to make friends.
And yet life threw me here. Fuck this.
He strolled closer to the bed, taking a seat on the edge next to me. My body immediately tensed up, liquid heat rolled down my back like hot lava had been poured on it.
What is wrong with me? I'm reacting to his body heat? What?!
His sliver eyes held me in a hypnotic trance, I couldn't look away even if I tried. And for good measure, I didn't try. My fingers twitched in their spot between my legs, call me weird, but I want to touch him.
Why?
'That's your Luna reacting to the call of an alpha.'
And now, I want to punch him. Way to ruin the moment.
"What in the world dude? Stop- give me some privacy for fuck sakes." I spluttered out, slapping a palm over my face. I know if I was staring at a mirror right now my cheeks, right up to my forehead, would be a bright red color.
He rolled his eyes, and I held my breath. Feeling as if breathing would make him any less handsome. I shook those thoughts away. This man is nothing more than a creep invading the space of my mind.
My safe zone.
I don't understand why he feels need to do that, he has a mouth and I'm pretty sure there's a tongue in there so he can talk.
Why is he choosing to do this instead?
My eyes had squinted into a hard glare without me even knowing, and once again his face lacked any form of expression angering me even more. I huffed, leaning leisurely against the headboard with my arms folded under my breasts.
Fuck this guy. I don't care if he has the emotional capacity of a cockroach.
"Just get this over with."
'What do you think I plan on doing? I need to bite you, and you need to do the same. I wanted to put you through the mating rituals to help you relax, and adapt to the being in a pack, but your body is reacting oddly to the infection. More so than it should.' He explained, but that didn't make me move.
It only provided me with questions.
"Whoa, why do I need to bite you? And what the fuck is a mating ritual? Are you guys going to hook me to something and sacrifice me?"
Instead of answering, he leaned in, dipping his face into the space where my neck met my collarbone. His right arm was on the bed next to my hip, while the other held me by the arm to keep me still. His hot breath fanned my skin. The heat coming from his body seeps into mine. It was the warm kind of heat that made me want to cuddle up close to him, just to get more of it. His scent enters my nose making me squirm against his heavy weight, it smells fucking amazing. There was a rumble in his gravelly octave as he whispers into my mind. I heard the drop in his tone, and it sounded almost husky.
The brush of his beard against my skin is tantalizing, my brain struggles to hear his words.
'I don't need a Luna. I don't want one. The risk I'm taking by bringing you into my home shouldn't be forgotten. I have a child, and people to protect. They count on me. They rely on me. I don't know you, and I'm bringing you into our safe haven because my daughter took your life away from you. If I bite you, that means I own you. If you bite me, then you get the same claim. Me solely owning you doesn't sit right in my chest. And no, it's not because I'm nice or anything. It's because I detest the idea of owning you, so I'm trying to even the grounds. Buck up, drop the tough girl attitude, and sink your newly grown out canines into my neck so we can get this over with and I can pretend you don't exist.'
The squeeze of my heart, and the way my breathing increases surprised me but not as much as the revelation of what he was saying. It was an unofficial rejection.
Did I just get rejected? By a man I barely know? And why does it hurt so much? I shouldn't care, but it stings. There's a stabbing pain in my heart, and my confusion as to why it's there adds to it. I bat my eyes to force back whatever embarrassing tears were about to slip free. A distant part of me wails from the hurt, I'm even more confused.
I opened my mouth to say something, whatever that was vanished from my head the second his teeth sunk into my skin. My breathing grew louder, my ears numbed only filled with the heavy pounding of my heart against my ribcage.
At first, I thought he was going to drink my blood or something, but he simply bit down. His teeth pierced my skin deeper, breaking it to the point where it bled, and he dragged it to the side. Extending whatever he was doing. A shudder ran through my body, and I brought a hand to slap over my mouth.
Do all Lunas react like this while being marked? I don't know. I don't know anything, nobody explained this part.
My brain slowly stops working, and I find myself enjoying the unusual mix of pain and pleasure. He pulls his head back, from corner of my eyes I can see his tongue peaking out to run over the mark. It is long, and thick, and I can't process words. My insides suddenly feel hot, like it was on fire and I need to cool off.
'There, now your turn. Just do what I did.'
I told myself to think about it, but my body was already obeying his command. My mind shouted for me to stop and think about my next move, why I reacted that way and….no, I don't want him to do it again. That would make me a psychopath, wouldn't it? I felt my tongue swipe over my suddenly dry lips, the alpha- Dante I remember his daughter had told me- pulled at the collar of his shirt, giving me enough room to bite into his shoulder blade.
He is a large man, his upper body is bending down to my level. Being this up close to him, I appear tiny and fragile compared to his mighty stature. Heavy muscles, and tall height.
And for whatever reason, I find him alluring.
When the almost metallic taste of blood touched my tongue, I wanted to pull back but my body was following the orders the alpha had given. I mimicked the movements he had made on my skin, and when I was able to drag my head away. I reached with my tongue out to run over the wound. It healed up nicely, forming just two long gashes. It didn't look so bad, something in me soften at the sight of it.
It was quickly shattered when Dante began to talk.
'Good. We're done, you're feeling protected by my mark. That is normal for a Luna, depending on the alpha. This is your room, I'll have someone show you around the pack tomorrow and explain your duties to you. There will be rules you are never to break, going into my room is one of them. I'm letting you stay here, in my home, because Lynx asked. Not for any other reason. She'll come get you when breakfast is ready.'
Soon the tempting heat was gone, the spicy musk felt like a far away fantasy.
I said nothing as he left, and I shimmied my way down the bed upon hearing the door click shut.
Letting my head rest against the pillows, and drawing the covers up. I try not to think about what just happened by forcing my body to sleep. I'm still tired so that was easy. I don't want to think about the pain that came from his rejection, the pleasure and safety that came from his mark, or the fact that I'm still in the same clothes I wore yesterday.
No, I'd rather not think. Thinking isn't good right now.