Lady Moonlight

'When the true one reveals themselves under the red moonlight, it shall cause a world of darkness and the start of a suffering.'

The prophecy was made during the Dark Ages. That time, the most monstrous and powerful werewolf called Fallen Beast began terrorizing the nearby villages and killed hundreds of people. The Beast, however, was then killed by a group of hunters.

Feeling threatened, the werewolves attacked them back, dragged them through the village where other villagers ran for their lives. The terrible news forced humans to train to hunt instead of hiding in despair.

Driven by revenge and disgust, the hunters then pursued more supernatural creatures and massacred them mercilessly. Witches were burned, vampires were staked, and werewolves were shot with silver bullets. Fear soared from the big war, sending the signal all around the world that the supernaturals were no longer safe, regardless of where they lived.

The creatures of the night who made it alive gathered once again to make a pact: stay away from each other's lives, avoid killing humans no matter what to prevent another war, and scatter themselves to minimize the chance of being hunted again.

Before parting, one of the oldest witches gave them the prophecy to assure their safety hundred years from then. It became a sacred guide for the supernaturals to survive and live through.

Witches often traveled across the world and avoided staying permanently in one place. Vampires snuck into the big, cold cities and lived alongside the humans. Werewolf tribes chose small towns, dominated by forest, as their hiding place.

To protect ourselves, werewolves were trained to control our transformation, powers, and hunger, repressed the beast inside when Full Moon shone brightly. The most challenging thing was when my great-grandfather, Harold Whitlock, decided that it was best to hide amongst the humans.

Hiding in a plain sight might sound like a perfect plan to protect our identities, he once said. No hunters could track us down if we trained ourselves to be more like our human side. No one would be hurt-not us the werewolves, not the humans.

He was wrong.

***

The round and wondrously bright disc was hanging in the clear and starry night. Chords of moonlight gleamed across the sea of trees. It was that time of the month when the moon would appear more gloriously beautiful than ever.

For werewolves, Full Moon was both exciting and frightening. It used to be a challenging moment for werewolves-half human, half wolf-to face a Full Moon, as it was the exact time when they would turn into their wolf counterpart. Now, hundreds of years after the Dark Ages, werewolves had mastered to control themselves. Full Moon became a celebration of life.

Every Full Moon once a year, the tribe would gather at a small clearing on the hill, with each family bringing a peace offering for the Moon Goddess-which we believed to be the reason why we found each other here, why we were blessed with such a good life. The other Full Moon was still celebrated within the family or pack.

On a Full Moon in one October night six years ago, I had my first transformation. I was only ten that time, and was considered a 'late bloomer' by other werewolves, who had tasted how it felt like to meet their other half at the age of eight. I remembered crying to my sleep because I was made fun of, generally because both my parents were a born-werewolf, where most of those kids had one werewolf and one human parent.

Half-blooded werewolves usually had slow transformation-but I had even slower one. They compared me to my own brother, who was already in training to become an Alpha that could lead his own pack someday.

It usually took eight to ten years for a born-werewolf to be eligible for an Alpha training, but Nathan only took seven. He was exactly seven years old when he first transformed into a full wolf and it impressed the whole tribe. He was automatically in the race to become Alpha once he turned 14.

Mastering transformation wasn't easy, but Nathan nailed it all. Most young werewolves were still learning to shift according to their desire. Some still needed Full Moon to do that, some had a hard time battling for the dominance, and some could not transform at all.

And Thea Whitlock, the daughter of one of the Shadow Striders Elders, was thrown into the last category.

In the middle of the gathering, Nathan's friends came to me who was sitting by the fire. One of them had turned into a small grey wolf and growled alongside their laughter.

"How is it, Little Thea? Still can't turn?" The tallest boy-even taller than Nathan-smirked, showing his white teeth.

"Quit bothering her, Drake!" Selene Preston, the prettiest of them all-mainly because she was the only girl in the group-defended me. It wasn't the first time she tried to do this, but the other boys wouldn't listen. I could tell that she liked Nathan. Otherwise, she wouldn't bother taking a stand for me.

"Nate! Are you sure she's a werewolf? Your parents didn't adopt her or something?" Drake Calloway still picked on me, followed by cold laughter from the other boy and the wolf.

"Stop it, Drake." Nathan came between us. "Why don't we all go to the spring? I heard the Moon Goddess sometimes appears in the Full Moon."

"You still believe that bedtime story?" Bryan Waltz, the one with curly hair, chuckled. He patted the wolf next to him. "I think even Elliott no longer believes it-and he's only ten."

Elliot Calloway growled again. He was in the same class as I was. Calm, reserved, and kind, but he always followed his cousin, Drake, along. One minute he would sit with me at lunch, and the next, he would join this group to laugh at me.

"No, no, I agree with Nathan!" Selene said excitedly. "The Moon Goddess can tell us who we are mated with."

"Boo-hoo," mocked Drake. "But, well, it is better than being here. Full Moon celebration is boring."

The group was starting to leave. I stood up, but Nathan blocked my way.

"You can't come along," he told.

"Why?"

"It's only for werewolves."

The answer unexpectedly hurt me. Nathan didn't stand up for me, he just doubled whatever mockery Drake just spat to me.

Emotions building up inside me. Seeing Nathan chose his friends over his own sister created a big hole in my heart. He wasn't exactly Brother of the Year, but if I could expect someone to defend me, it would be him of all people.

Running into the woods, I finally burst into tears. I didn't want anyone in that gathering saw me crying. They would pretend to care, but they would definitely make crueler comments behind.

'Look at that Whitlock girl-she really can't do anything but cry!'

'I can't believe she's Nathan's sister! Robert's daughter on top of that!'

'I'm betting my whole fortune that she can't transform until she's at least 12 years old!'

All those comments were lingering in my head. I had never heard it directly, but I could see it in their eyes whenever I made an appearance behind my parents and my oh-so-good brother.

I kept running deeper through the trees that I lost track of where I just came from. I slowed my feet, but a sudden misbalance made my whole body stumbled on to the ground.

Lying flat on my stomach, I tried to get up, but I couldn't. I couldn't feel my legs. At the same time, there was some strange patches of hair along my arms. Just like my braided blonde hair, they all turned white, sprouting from every inch of my body. My fingers became shortened, but nails were sharper.

My face felt numb. I could feel that my mouth was getting bigger-no, it was my teeth, growing longer and pointed.

The Full Moon was reflected on a puddle of water in front of me, so was my face. A hairy beast with yellow eyes was what I saw.

If I could scream, I would. My voice was choked in the throat. A split second later, something was pulling my feet, but there was nothing there. Instead, I saw two pairs of big claws.

A sharp pain sear through my body as I felt bones crackled, lengthened, popped through my skin and ripped my clothes.

I was sure my scream tore apart the night, but instead of my voice, all I could hear was a long howl.

My first transformation ever, and my parents were not there to guide me.

I should have known what to expect, but I didn't. How to walk after completely transformed into a furry, four-legged animal certainly wasn't a fifth-grade elementary student would learn at school. With my four legs, I staggered through the woods, looking for a way back home.

Every time I screamed, "Mom!", it all came out as another howl. I just hoped they heard and came looking for me. Werewolves were supposed to have each others' back after all.

The sound of twigs snapping was heard. I turned around, hoping to find at least one of my family members. Instead, I could only see a shadow lurking in the dark, behind the trees.

Something dashed and scratch my left leg. I howled in pain as blood spurted. An arrow was stuck on the ground near my leg. I couldn't run away as the pain seemed affected my way of walking. I tried to limp away from that spot as far as possible.

The whole situation reminded me of the stories my parents always told me about humans. Some humans liked to hunt supernatural creatures. Whoever shot the arrow had to be a hunter. They probably were preparing another one to shoot through my heart.

With the blood kept flowing, I could barely see the woods in front of me. I swore it was just a scratch, but the blood came out as if I was shot through. I moved slower and slower, and in the end, I couldn't walk anymore. I whimpered weakly. I was losing too much blood and none of my family knew I was even here.

Through my blurred vision, I saw someone-a human-got closer. With that height, I thought it was Nathan, but his voice was completely different.

"You got hurt!" The boy almost shrieked.

Panic ran through my veins. When he touched me, I struggled, almost clawed him in the process. He swiftly avoided, but instead of running away scared, he stayed.

"Hey, calm down," he said. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I will help you take care of your wound, okay?"

The boy took out a handkerchief from his pocket. He ran his fingers through my fur to calm me down. It was indeed soothing. I stopped moving so much to allow him to wrap the handkerchief around my wounded leg.

"There you go," he whispered. "I want to take you to the vet, but I don't think they would like it."

His face was illuminated by the moonlight. As I looked at him, he caught my eyes. A pair of beautiful green eyes were staring sincerely at me. His smile bloomed once again, followed by his soft voice telling me that it was gonna be alright... It all lingered on my mind for a brief second.

I heard the sound of the trees rustling even though there was no wind that time. The boy put his finger on his lips.

"Don't tell them that I helped you!" Carefully, he stood up and dust away the dirt. "Bye, wolf!"

And just like that, he left, disappeared into the woods. I had never seen him before. He obviously wasn't part of the tribe because if there was a nice boy like him, I would have known.

He was a human, a kind human, a human that was not like my parents' stories at all.

A human who knew how to treat a wolf right-unlike the werewolves themselves.

***

"Earth to Thea."

Fingers snapping in front of my face made my eyes blink repeatedly. When I finally got back from reminiscing the event from six years ago, I realized that I was sitting on the dining chair with Mom's cooking on the table.

Nathan, who already walked away from the table after bringing me back with his finger snaps, laughed. "Stop daydreaming. It's night already."

I scoffed and continued to devour the steak on my plate.

"Did you hear what I just said, Thea?" asked Dad.

Flash backward to five minutes ago. Dad was talking about how Full Moon was approaching. We would do another celebration, but it was the sixth year for our family to celebrate alone as we moved away from Grassmere, where most of Dad's tribe resided.

"I did, but do we have to do that every year?" I groaned.

"Of course, Honey. It is to show our gratitude to the Moon Goddess for blessing us every day," replied Mom.

"You should be happy that we don't do it every freaking Full Moon like we did in Grassmere," Nathan intruded.

After focusing my eyes on him, I just realized that Nathan still didn't wear any shirts. My parents never commented on it, but it just irked me so much. I got that he finally became an Alpha, but it didn't mean that he had to show his body off to everyone.

"Would you please wear some shirts?" I asked aggravatingly.

"Ashborne is a lot hotter than Grassmere, so please get used to it," Nathan chuckled. "Besides, you're the reason why we ended up here."

"Nathan!" My parents shouted almost at the same time.

Six years had passed, but Nathan still held some kind of grudge to me for separating him and his friends. When he officially became an Alpha two years after our moving, Drake, Bryan, Elliot, and Selene finally joined his pack. Because of the distance, they only met occasionally.

After he graduated, Nathan kept working his way to move back to Grassmere. He failed to contact other werewolf tribes because they hid themselves too well. His decision put him in a small argument with Dad, who was worried that what happened to me back then would happen to him.

The day after my first transformation, I woke up on my bed, covered with my blue blanket. It seemed like I passed out and someone from the tribe found me. The wound on my left leg still stung. The handkerchief was replaced by a cleaner bandage, which I knew was the work of my mom.

I was informed that I was hit by a silver arrow. Werewolves could heal faster, but silver would slow it down and eventually be more harmful than any other wound. Nathan said I should be grateful that it didn't go through my leg. Dad was raving about how there were hunters lurking in the woods that night, but I didn't tell him anything about my encounter with a human.

The tribe was in full panic mode, but none of them had the guts to move away again. Instead, they changed the way they celebrated the Full Moon by minimizing tribe gathering and tried to blend in more with the townspeople. Dad was worried too much that he didn't follow any of the advice. He brought us to leave Grassmere.

I knew it was his way to protect his family, but Nathan didn't like it. He acted colder to me throughout the years, but chilled down once he became the Alpha of the pack. Still cold, though.

"How's school?" Dad asked. Oh, here comes the dodge-away-the-awkwardness question.

"Nobody knows I'm a werewolf, if that's what you're asking," I answered in sarcastic tone.

"Thea, we don't kid around about the prophecy," warned Dad. "You should still learn how to control your power. As far as I know, you still can't shift smoothly."

"Shifting is painful, Dad. I can't fight pain."

My bone chilled at the thought of the transformation process. As a kid, it was much more painful, but at least, I had a whole month to get physically and mentally ready for the next Full Moon. When Dad taught me how to control the transformation, I no longer needed Full Moon to turn. But, if I wanted to turn, the pain still soared through my body.

"Yes, you can, Thea. It's all about training," he insisted. "Nathan could do it because he trained intensively-"

"I know-God!" I almost slammed the table frustratingly. "As long as I can transform any time I want, I am safe, okay? I will be a normal teenager if you don't push your training agenda. I'm not becoming an Alpha and I never will-so, please, take it easy on me."

The dining room became quiet after my quick rant. Before Ashborne, I was this one little kid that was always picked on. The late bloomer, the useless sister, and the daughter my parents probably never wanted to-I've heard it all before. It mostly came from Nathan's friends, but he did nothing to correct them because he agreed to some extent.

Now, after my first transformation, I felt a lot freer. I felt like I had this big space to express myself, not shadowed by my Alpha brother, or pressed by my dad's status at the tribe as an Elder. Moving to Ashborne had been a great choice, at least for me.

The tense atmosphere died down when the doorbell rang. I glanced at the clock above the threshold to the living room. Five minutes past 8 pm. I was going to guess who in the right mind would come this late at night, but when Nathan ran to the door, I knew who it was going to be.

"Hey, Babe," Nathan opened his eyes and a girl with long beautiful hair that I had always adored jumped into his embrace.

"Oh-good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock."

Realizing that she became a center of attention from the other three hosts, Selene Preston released her hug and bowed a bit. She was wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt with a pair of denim short pants. Her hair was tied in ponytail with a yellow hairband. Standing next to Nathan, she looked completely pale compared to his tanned skin and dirty blond hair.

"Hello, Selene," Mom stood up and greeted Selene with a warm hug. "Nate, why didn't you tell us that Selene was visiting?"

"I was just in the town for a couple of days. You know, looking for houses or small apartments," Selene said.

"Houses?" I chimed in. "Are you moving here?"

"That's what I'm planning to, yeah," she giggled. "I'm way past college and stuff so I'm just looking for a job here, in my boyfriend's town."

Selene wrapped her arm around Nathan, in which he responded by pecking the top of her head. I guessed, her attempts of being nice to me paid off well-she officially became Nathan's girlfriend at the very night they visited the spring.

I heard Nathan told my mom about the night the pack went to bail on the Full Moon celebration to go to the spring and proved the fairy tales about Moon Goddess. He swore he didn't hear any of my howling that time because they were trying to make an offering so the Moon Goddess would appear before them. However, while the Goddess didn't appear, Selene was convinced that Nathan was her mate.

It didn't take long for him to agree. The new couple also didn't have a long time to embrace, as one of the tribe leaders came to the spring and warned them about the possibility of hunters coming there. The group dispersed-and that was the last time Nathan ever saw his friends again before becoming an Alpha two years later.

I always knew Nathan was overreacting about the moving. He was just angry that he couldn't spend a good time with his new girlfriend that lived hundreds of miles away. He was worried that in the new place, he couldn't get anyone to join his pack. Thanks to Dad, his old friends and girlfriend finally could join the pack.

"Funny because Nathan was planning to go back to Grassmere," Mom glanced at my brother. "You really didn't tell us anything, did you, Nate?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "I thought you'd be happy if I didn't go anywhere? Selene agrees to move here, so I don't have to tell you anything."

"What about your mother, Selene? Is she okay with that?"

"She couldn't be happier that I will live in the same town as Elder Whitlock," Selene smiled.

"Oh, come on now," Dad, hearing his old title was mentioned, finally got up on his feet. "I'm not an Elder anymore, Selene."

"You still are for most of us, Sir. You left the town way too soon," said Selene.

Maybe it was just me, but I felt like she was indirectly calling me out. Of course, Thea was the sole reason why Nathan was separated with his future pack for years and why Dad lost his Tribe Elder title. Thea destroyed this family's connection because of one single scratch on her leg!

I was taken aback when another fingers snapped in front of me. This time it was Dad's.

"See, Dad? She never focuses," commented Nathan derisively.

"Sorry," I whispered. I didn't have the energy to respond to Nathan's childish remark. "What is it, Dad?"

"Change of plan for Full Moon celebration," said Dad. "I think it would be nice to invite the whole tribe here."

***