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“I am Maria, Luna to the ancient moon pack of Eastwood.”

 Six months ago, my pack respected and chose me to lead them in combat but instead, I drove them to their deaths. They followed me but I led them to a turmoil that has killed my mate and now, I have been rejected.

"I am a Luna to no one and to nowhere."

The remnants of my pack seek to annihilate and to force me to surrender my status and authority. And despite all of that threat, it is difficult to hide who I am because I have the mark of a crescent moon right at my forehead.

The mark stands for a curse and anyone who tries to protect me will fall by it. The pack members believe I am the one who made them fail because of what I am rumored to be and they will stop at nothing until they cast me out of the surface of the earth.

Since I was young girl, my parents abandoned me in the care of my grandparents and when I turned twelve, I was told that I would one day rule the ancient pack along with my mate because I am the chosen Luna.

Now, I am nineteen and still do not understand them or why anyone would choose me to lead them. But in time I accepted my responsibilities. I learnt to communicate with my mate so there would not be divided loyalties between the pack members.

There were several other females in our pack that he could choose to be his mate. Yet, he chose me even when there was never growing attraction between the both of us. And because he did, the pack members learnt to respect me even when they believed I wasn’t fit to have their luna.

Why me?

Why did he have to listen to my strategies on how to win the war? He took my advice after naming me as his Luna before we ever mated. It seemed like being proclaimed Luna had nothing to do with him, it also seemed like my right.

It is just the same as what my grandparents said when they were alive. They always told me I would be Luna. How did they know the alpha would ever even choose me?

“A person with a perturbing family like I, a cursed spot on my forehead to prove it.” Max knew it and he still chose me.

"Maybe, it has to do with the crescent moon mark that I bear on my forehead." I was never a normal wolf to begin with, I had visions of things that were to come but I didn't see this coming.

I stop walking after several hours when I see a diner at the other side of the river. I have been on the road for two weeks, running and not looking back, trying to erase my scent.

I have nothing in Eastwood anymore but I'm not sure where I have to run either. I begin to cross to the other side of the road because I'm starved and I'm out of resources to eat too.

It would be efficient for me to rest here for the night and continue my trip but I have to be careful because there are other packs looking for me. I'm not sure what method they would use in killing me but I would want to guess either.

Alpha Max, the man I assumed to be my mate trusted me to find a way to defeat rivals that were trying to dominate Eastwood's territory. He believed in my strategy, something I didn't want to voice out but he trusted in it.

“The pack members never cared for me, not even once.” But because of him, they showed me esteem, thinking the alpha sees something in me. At a corner in my heart, I know they saw me as the Luna who has done nothing for them and now, they have a reason to come after me.

“A rejected Luna.”

“First, I enter into the store right next to the diner to grab a few things that I would need for my next lodging.” I slowly open the door; there is a hood over my head, hiding my ginger hair and the marking on my forehead.

"No one really pays me attention to me when I walk in and that is a good sign, the last thing I want right now is unwarranted attention from common folks or anyone at all."

I grab a basket and start placing toiletries into it, I pick up some snacks that would do some good for my journey and fruit drinks. As I pass the shelf, I see scented candles and it reminds me greatly of my grandparents who did everything to protect me.

I pick a candle in memory of them and I am about to head over to the counter to pay when I see a hoodie that is on sale. My current clothing is what I've been eating for the past weeks and I am definitely in need of something new before I move to another state.

The hoodie looks my size as I grab it but another hand grabs it too. I look over to see who it is. He is a towering, muscular person who is putting on a sun glasses, his presence reminds me of someone and there is something that reeks familiarity even when I am sure that I have never seen him before.

I don't want any trouble nor complicated affair and so, I let go of it.

You are letting it go without a fight? He asks, his voice is mastery and rich, too baritone for a nobody.

I don't answer. I turn away and begin to head over to the counter choosing to not spend time in conversation with a stranger.

After I check out my items, I barge out of the store in a different way than I came in without looking back for any reason. I head over to the diner to grab myself lunch as the sun becomes blistering on this fateful day.

As I enter into the diner, I see the man walk towards a truck which he starts and then, he leaves the premises.

_____________

I step out of the bathroom of the motel I just lodged in, a towel around my bed as I put on a new t-shirt while looking at my old clothes. I went back into that store and bought the hoodie that was on sale along with some shorts and two shirts.

Finally, my hair can receive air and I do not have to put a hoodie over my head when I'm alone in an hotel room. I use the already damp towel to clean my hair and then toss it over the table to devour her lunch.

I turn on the television grabbing the brown bag that is beholding my sandwich, bread toast, eggs and nuggets. I take a mouth full of the sandwich and chew slowly even when I am hungry to the core.

My eyes are placed on the screen of the television but I'm not listening to anything that is being said or done. As I'm chewing my food and taking a sip of my drink, tears rolls from my eyes and I am used to this part where it all comes crashing down.

I spend the day moving as fast as I can to get away from sight because I know where they would be looking. At this point they know I would want to leave the state or country, it is impossible for me to leave by flight because I know how many higher have access to stop me.

"So, I am doing this by road and hopefully, I would be able to catch up to a cousin of mine who waits for me at the borders of Lakecity, a state that is close to Eastwood." Once I do that I'll not have to do this all alone. I just have to get through it.

I think to myself after eating. Then, I take out my phone whose battery is dead; screen has been cracked thorough many occasions. I plug to into the charger and wait for the battery to load because there is nothing else I have to do; I don't care about what is going on in the television screen.

When my phone turns on, the first thing is a picture that a friend of mine took of me in school. "I just turned nineteen two month ago, and a friend of mine..."

"Well, my only friend took this picture of me and it was the last day I saw her in school." I smile just reminiscing about the moment and it makes me laugh.

It was my birthday and I decided to do something pretty with my face since I always made my hair scatter all around to hide the birth mark on my forehead.

And on that day, I brushed my hair, wore a skirt, and used a lipstick. My friend, Georgina, adored me throughout that day and for the first time boys in school actually noticed me.

I was too shy to speak to either of them but it was good to know that they felt somewhat attracted to me that day. The smile on my face is impeccable as I look at it, it is the year I spent without my grandparents and look at what my life has turned out to be.

I place both of my hands onto my eyes to clean off tears. I head over to my messages and there are a lot of unanswered messages from Georgina that I couldn't even reply cause what would I say to her.

“I am a werewolf, a Luna and I have a pack of brutal pack members who are shaking the earth to find me and exterminate me because they think that I am curse.”

And, they are not wrong.

"Everyone around me dies." They always die.

“I text my cousin telling her of where I am currently and when I would be able to reach the borders of Lakecity.” Fortunately, I was able to grab my cards and everything I need for the journey to another state.

After doing that, I leave my phone to charge and I head over to windows. I do a routine check all around certain axis which I have learnt being a Luna turned rogue for two weeks now.

"Next, I head over to the door and make sure that it is locked." I put my ear on the door, listening for anything, anyone.

After being sure that there is no scrupulous thing, I pack my bags, storing everything that I would need in my backpack in case I had to be on the run immediately.

I climb on top of the bed when I'm sure everything is where I need it to be and then, I close my eyes. It doesn't take minutes before I fall asleep.