Chapter Two

ELLA

"Who is the evil Alpha? Why does he want to take me away from you, and why would I have no choice but to go to him?" I asked, scared to death.

Mom got up and sat on the edge of the straw bed. I watched her from behind, impatient for her to answer.

"I knew one day I would have to tell you this, even though it would be the most difficult thing to do." Mom's voice kept breaking with tears.

"But the Alpha who wants you dead; his name is Alpha Veron Winterbourne."

I felt a jolt in my heart at the word dead. I assumed "take me away" meant kidnapping, not unaliving me.

"Why, Mom?" I inquired, afraid.

Mom wiped away her tears and resumed telling me, still keeping her back toward me.

"He doesn't want you to be his nephew, Luna."

"What's a Luna?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

She spun around.

"A luna is the female leader of a pack and also the alpha's mate."

Mom took my hands into hers. Her tearful eyes went to mine.

"I'm so sorry that I kept the most important part about being a werewolf from you, and that is finding your fated mate—the one the moon goddess made for you—under the full moon once you hit eighteen," she said.

"Is that how you find Dad?" I asked.

"Yes." She shook her head and let go of my hand.

"During the mating season, the full moon glows with a far brighter light; that light is called the pull. It's like a powerful magnetic force that draws you to your fated mate."

"A wolf finding their other half—the one that completes them—is the most beautiful thing, and also the most painful thing when you lose him. I wouldn't dare wish for Alpha Veron, as much as I loathe him." Mom placed a hand over her aching heart.

"It's because your father left a piece of him within me, which is you, Ella. I'm still alive today." Mom lay a hand on the right side of my face.

"I'm sorry that I kept all of this from you, but I thought it was the best thing to do so that you would never be heartbroken, knowing that the one the moon goddess chose for you, you can never be with him because of his cruel uncle." She gazed sadly into my eyes.

"But why, though, Mom? Why doesn't he want us to be together?" I asked desperately to know.

"Doesn't he think I would be worthy of his nephew?"

"Of course you are worthy." Mom softly stroked my face.

"And you not only carry the beauty of a true Luna, but most importantly, the heart."

I held her hand to my face, comforted by its warmth.

"The true reason his uncle doesn't want both of you to be together is that you are the Alpha's daughter from a pack that has been at war with theirs for generations. Your father, no longer wishing for any of our members to die from hatred that had derived from our ancestors years ago, requested a peace treaty with their pack alpha to end the war, which he agreed to, wanting to end it also. But when the former alpha died, his brother made sure to end that treaty with your father's pack, causing the ongoing war between us to start again. After hearing a prophecy from a seer that our pack would be united one day by both heirs of the pack, not wanting it to happen, the evil alpha decided to stop it by ambushing our pack and also killing our seer before the prophecy could spread."

Mom pulled her hand from my face, struggling to continue.

"Your father died trying to protect you, and now I am going to fail him tomorrow, tonight, after he sacrificed his life for you, because I can't protect you."

I had to hold her in my arms.

Her tears soaked my right shoulder.

"You did not fail me, Mom; you have protected me for all of these years."

I now understand why she never wanted me to go too far from our home.

I hugged her tighter, scared at the thought that tomorrow night would be my last with her, and there's nothing we can do about it. I wish at that moment I could stop myself from turning 18 and be seventeen forever.

The rain had slowed down, and through a tiny hole in the house, I saw it was now getting dark outside, which meant I wasn't far from my deathday.

"I'm scared to die tomorrow, Mom." I couldn't help telling her as I too dissolved into tears.

Seeing the surge of pain she was dealing with, I was trying to be strong for her, but I couldn't anymore.

Quickly, I parted from her.

"I don't want to be Luna," I told her.

"Nothing is wrong with being a Luna, Ella. I was once a Luna. Your father's Luna. And being a Luna is every she-wolf's dream when they're expecting to find their mate."

"But I don't want to leave you, Mom." I'm about to cling to her again, but she stops me by both shoulders.

"You're not going to," she said confidently.

"But how will you, Mom? You said there was nothing that you could do to protect me from going to him."

"I have been preparing for this day for years. But I didn't want to go through with this plan, knowing that it is excruciating and would scar you for life. But I'm willing to do so only if you let me."

"What is the plan?" I asked desperately.

My mom turned her head aside, not wanting to look me in the eye.

"I'll have to chain you down before the full moon appears brightly in the sky."

"Do so then?" It didn't sound as painful as she said it would be. Probably for her, at the sight of her only pup being chained down.

Her head turns to me, and I see a chilling look in her eyes, which now frightens me.

"You don't understand the mating season yet, Ella. When I chain you down, you will be so consumed by the pull to get to your fated mate that you will even hurt yourself trying to escape the chains or even die doing so.

My heart skipped a beat.

"And the next horrible thing. Your fated mate will come looking for you, and I will be waiting for him with an arrow absorbed in wolfbane to kill him by piercing his heart. That pain of losing your fated mate may be so unbearable that I may lose you if you survive the chains."

I felt all the blood leaving my face.

"Now you know why I can't do it unless you want me to, because it is too risky," Mom said.

"Do it?" I tried to be brave.

Mom nodded.

That night I was too worried about tomorrow to fall asleep.

Mom hugged me from behind.

Dwelling deep within the forest for my entire life, I had never found life so scary until today.

"Mom," I softly called.

"Hmm," she answered.

"You've only talked about the evil uncle not wanting me and his nephew to be together. Do you think there's a chance my fated mate may not be like this uncle and be against his plan to kill me?" I asked.

"No. He's been raised by his uncle and could, for all we know, be far more evil than he is," Mom replied.

I was paralyzed by fear at her response.