The Rejected's Luna

"Cut his head off".

"But my lady, he's innocent".

"I don't care". Catherine shouted, the color of her eyes had changed to red, she hated being questioned.

"I'm sorry". Her guard apologized as he dragged the man from her sight.

The man who seem to be older than her had disrespected her by gossiping about her with the other cooks, he had been her chief cook but not anymore. She stood up only to feel sand on her feet.

"Nana!" She called out.

"Ma". Nana ran to her, she had heard about Aaron who was beheaded and feared more for her job.

"I thought you took care of the cleaning here".

"Yes ma". Nana responded as she tried not to stutter.

"Then why the hell am I feeling sand beneath my foot". She hit nana's head angrily.

"It wasn't my intention, forgive me". She apologized amidst the pain she felt in her head.

"You know what?"

"Please ma, I will make it clean this time".

"Too late Nana, too late. You're fired, get out of here before I change my mind". She stated as she walked passed Nana who had gone on her knees.

"Please ma". Nana pleaded tearfully as she hoped Catherine would consider her.

"Guards send her out of here, now". The anger she felt had made her nails grow and the color in her eyes was now red.

The picture of Aaron ran through her head, and without a second thought, Nana rose and ran away before Catherine descended on her.

"Good for nothing cowards". She muttered to herself. She didn't know why she felt pissed off but the adrenaline in her rushed so fast.

"Eden".

"Yes ma". Eden dropped what she was doing to rush out though she had eavesdropped on Catherine's conversation with Nana and felt Catherine had been unfair to her.

"Tell the cook to make some pancakes for me which shouldn't be too brown". She waved her hand to dismiss her but noticed she stood like she had something to tell her.

"What is it?" Catherine asked as her eyes rolled at the timid girl who acted like Catherine was a beast.

"Ma, you fired them all". Eden's face went to the ground as she wished silently that the ground took her.

Catherine was shocked, she never knew she had reached the extent where she no longer had a chef apart from Eden. Eden was her junior staff who had barely stayed a month, this was the first time Catherine met her.

"So what am I going to eat now?" She asked Eden with her hands folded in silence.

"I'll try to make the pancakes ma". She mustered up the courage to give a reply.

"Try? Is that still in the dictionary?" Catherine asked, her feet stamping the ground impatiently.

"I'll make it".

"Sounds better". She dismissed Eden who looked relieved to leave Catherine's presence.

***

"Lady Catherine, Lady Catherine".

Alex's voice had woken her up immediately, she wondered what was urgent and hoped it was worth her sleep, Alex wasn't exempted from her wrath. He had been her father's Beta for over fifteen years now, and though he was ten years younger than her father, their relationship was more like close friends.

"I can hear you, say what you want".

"Your father demands your presence". He responded not mindful of the nonchalant attitude Catherine exhibited, he was more used to her character than anybody in the palace.

"Anything the matter?" She asked pretending to be asleep.

"Not my lady".

"Then it's not serious, tell father I'll see him once I'm awake".

"It's about the kingdom my lady". Alex hated the position of being a middle, patching the father and daughter relationship was one thing he couldn't run from. The white pack was his family and he had eyes on Catherine's position for quite some time.

"I insist you tell him what I said". Catherine found herself almost shouting, she wondered why her father hadn't dismissed Alex yet, and left for her she would have done exactly that.

"Yes my lady". Alex left without a word, Catherine had never liked him and the feeling was mutual.

No matter how hard she tried to force herself back to sleep, it wasn't working, the sleep had suddenly disappeared from her eyes. She rolled on the bed till she heard a knock on her door.

"Who's there?" She felt pissed off

"Sorry my lady, but the pancakes are ready".

"Bring it to my room". She recognized Eden's voice.

"Yes ma". She left

Catherine got up as she unlocked her door and went back to her dressing mirror where she packed her hair into a ponytail, she had decided to wear her simple gown to meet her father. She had stood when she saw Eden with a tray in her hands enter her room.

"Lay it on that table". She instructed her.

Catherine walked to the table and opened the tray, she looked confused at the brown pancakes, and she turned to Eden.

"What is this?"

"The pancakes you wanted ma".

"You call what you burnt pancakes?" She felt like dismissing her from her job but realized Eden was the Chef left in the house. Catherine lifted the plate of pancakes and turned it to the ground.

"Clean this mess up". She stepped on it as she walked to her bed.

"Get me an orange juice, that would be all". She fell to the bed, her eyes to the ceiling wondering what her father wanted to discuss with her.

***

"Sweep it again". She looked at Eden through the glass cup she drank her juice from.

"My lady I -".

"Don't worry Alex that's where I'm going to". She rolled her eyes as she pretended she didn't see him.

"Where's he?" She asked him impatiently.

"He's in his reading room". He didn't want to go back to her with the first report she gave him not until he was about her response. He had known Catherine for not just a pretty good pretender but a pretty good liar. He watched her pass him and was grateful he followed his spirit.

The reading room was upstairs and though her father called it a beautiful spot, Catherine called it a wasted spot since it stressed her. She walked with no sense of fear, her father was just like her, and nothing can make her fear him, she thought to herself as Alex opened the door for her to face her father.

"What took you so long Catherine?"

She sensed the anger in her father's eyes, her side eye sighted Alex and the fear in him made her chuckle.

"What's funny?" Don was dumbfounded by his daughter's character, the more he tried to be close to her, the more she proved difficult. Raising her without a mother had been difficult, her mother had died of internal bleeding barely a year after she had brought Catherine into the world.

"Nothing, was weird why you would want to see me by this time".

"I have the right to call you whenever I want Catherine, you can't be bigger than me". He hissed.

"Now tell me what's going on between the staff and you?"

"Dad I don't know". She gave him an innocent look.

"Stop the pretense, Eden told me what transpired".

"That bitch!" She murmured to herself, no wonder she couldn't look her in the face when she served the juice, her father must have interrogated Eden. Catherine knew her father better than anyone and she knew Eden had told him everything.

"Father, I did nothing, they decided to leave their jobs".

"All of them?" Her father sat on his usual chair, his gaze fixed om her without twitching. He had put Alex in charge of the house since he traveled, last night he heard about Catherine's recent action he waited for this day.

"I want them all back".

Alex stood like a statute by the door, he never had the intention to interfere, they were having their moment and he would leave them to it.

"But father they're gone, we could get new ones".

"Whom you plan to throw off soon I guess?" He looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Father it won't happen again". She assured him impatiently, she wondered why Alex went all quiet, her wolf side hated him as he disgusted her.

"I disagree, I think it's better you live in the house with no maids that's enough punishment for the two maids you took their lives". Her father commanded.

"No, dad you won't do that ". Her father was unnecessarily strict with her this morning, she thought to herself as she turned to walk away in anger, she needed some air away from all this.

"Don't you dare walk out on me?" His father shouted at her.

"I'll do whatever I like dad". She walked away without looking back, Alex stood by the door which she walked passed she wasn't expecting him to hold her either, she felt her nails had come out.

"Eden". She angrily shouted at top of her voice.

"My lady". Eden came rushing to it, she wasn't surprised to see Catherine angry. She felt a sting on her face almost immediately which caused tears to roll from her eyes.

"The next time you think of reporting me, you should think of that". Catherine hissed as she walked into her room, closing the door forcefully behind her, she climbed her bed.

***

She didn't know she had slept for so long, she stretched as she checked her time and noticed how far it had gone. She got up from the bed and decided to get some maids for herself, she didn't care what her father thought. Slowly she wore a sweater and a trouser which matched her black sneakers.

"My lady".

She almost bumped into Alex on the way, he looked perturbed which didn't bother her anyway.

"Eden isn't in the house".

"So?" She asked looking directly into his eyes.

"What did you do?"

"Did she report me again?"

"No, I'm just guessing you-".

"Let it slide Alex, I'm off to get some maids". She announced.

"I thought your father warned against that?"

"Does it look like I care, I might be long". She announced while she walked passed him.

"Where are you going?" Alex suspected she was heading elsewhere.

"Hunting, I'm starving".

"Should I come with you or send someone?"

"No, don't worry I'll be fine, just stay with father". She responded.

"Take his advise Catherine, get someone to follow you".

She recognized her father's voice as she turned around to face him. "Father I'm no longer a kid, remember?"

"Ya I know, but promise me, you won't take long?"

She sensed he hadn't known about her mission to get maids for herself, probably Alex would tell him that when she was gone.

"Fine father, you got my word".

"Don't you think we should keep an eye on her"? Alex spoke out immediately after Catherine left them.

"No, there are better things to do, how are you going about our rival, the Black furs pack".

"They are watched from a distance and you got nothing to worry about".

"You should get the warriors ready for attack".

"You got it all covered". Alex gave out a warm smile.

"Any word from the Chefs she fired?"

"She insisted she hired new ones". Alex mustered the courage to tell Don who was vexed.

"She what!"

***

Catherine wasn't scared of anything, she had released one of the carriages to ride on, and she was starving.

"Madam, do you need some help?" One of the drivers who took care of the field came out.

"Do I look like one who needed help?"

"Sorry ma".

"Get out of my sight before you regret coming to ask me". She almost busted out in laughter as she watched the man running off in fear of losing his job. She entered the carriage and headed out of the house, she didn't want to stay long before her father changed his mind.

Asher cave was so mysterious that Catherine yearned to have a look at it, she thought to herself while she brought out the map from her pocket. The road was narrow which are locating the place to be complicated, she heard the hiring sound from the birds, and she had heard tales about humans being frightened to come here. Catherine boldly entered the forest, her eyes were alert, and she spotted some mountain lions. She quietly parked her Carriage to prevent being seen and hid in one of the bushes. A mountain lion showed up again which got her on her feet and chased after it, just then she changed into her wolf form making her speed faster. The mountain lion seems to be slow, Catherine caught up with it just as it was about to turn, she tore his side with her claws which made it cry out loud and slow it's pace. Catherine saw she had an upper hand as she pounced on it and used her claws to slit it's throat. She went for his heart as she threw it to her mouth, it's blood was fresh she didn't realized she had consumed flesh in it.

She headed for the carriage when she heard a screeching sound, she looked behind her to see who it was but saw no one.

"Who's there?" She heard the echo of her voice.

She sighted a cave which was a surprise to her, no one told her there was a cave in the forest. The vultures had taken the remains of the animal she had killed, she turned around as she walked to the cave.

"Who's there?"

Catherine turned around as she sensed she was being followed but saw nothing. The cave looked old and abandoned, she stumbled into a skeleton and discovered it belonged to a human probably killed by wild animals or a werewolf like her. She heard the screeching sound again which made her look back and still saw nothing. It was getting dark, her wolf side had given her the warning to turn around and go home but she insisted she got a glimpse of the cave. She had barely entered the cave when she stepped on another skeleton, she wondered what the humans were doing out here alone, she could barely see inside the cave.

The force of the wind came unexpectedly as it pushed her to the left against the wall of its entrance, her left wrist had saved her from dislocating her right shoulder. The breeze blew in her direction as it unexpectedly sent sand into her eyes, at that moment she struggled to see through things.

"You should go home". She heard the soft voice of her wolf side, she had transformed back to human and suppressed her wolf side from being in control.

"Get off me". Her eyes went red as she fussed in anger.

The wind suddenly stopped but the chirping sound of the birds was nowhere heard. She felt strange while she took some steps into the cave and noticed some carvings on the wall. She took a step closer when all of a sudden a face flashed before her eyes, then it dawned on her that there was a presence in her midst. Her anger rose again which made her take further steps into the cave, it was getting hot inside, and she felt herself sweating profusely. The cave looked deeper than the way she had seen from outside, out of curiosity she walked inside. The darkness didn't stop her from seeing, her wolf's eyes helped her see through the cave. The smell of human decay almost made her throw up.

She had walked farther when she realized she had been struggling to breathe, she face up as she turned around to leave the cave. From afar she saw a figure that resembled a woman but found it difficult to identify her face.

"Who are you?" Catherine was able to hear the echo of her voice. She heard no response as she got closer to the woman, to her surprise the woman made no move, and when Catherine was closer, she no longer saw the woman, it was like she had gone into the thin air.

"Show yourself and stop running". Catherine shouted out.

"How dare you?" A deep voice struck her from nowhere.

Catherine was unable to stand its voice, the echo almost busted out her eardrums. She sighted immediately an animal that looked like a wolf with its two big horns that no longer made it look like a wolf, it stared directly at her as it got ready to pounce on her. Catherine without a second thought started to run deep into the cave till she stumbled on a big stone that made her fall and hit her head on the ground. She raised her hand to feel her head and discovered she was bleeding. The roaring sound from the animal had suddenly stopped, and she held out her hand to the wall to assist herself to stand up. The cave kept spinning in her eyes as she tried her best from falling. With a hand, she supported herself with the help of the wall while she held out the other hand which showed her more direction from bumping into the wall. She wondered where the mysterious creature had hidden and why it hadn't killed her.

She knew she was heading back to the entrance but didn't know how soon. Skulls had been used on some parts of the cave which all the more made it creepy. Nothing but home was where she wanted to go at the moment. She noticed the cave had become hot again as she tried to get some air which proved difficult. Her wolf side tried to out but was too weak, Catherine fell on her with her right hand on her throat and her tongue out while she tried to breathe with her mouth. It helped a little but not enough, she fell to the ground, her face to the roof of the cave.

From where she lay she found it hard to get up, her shoulder hurt even more. Her sight had changed, she no longer saw clearly but blur visions, she noticed the woman in the cave again, she was closer this time.

"I'm sorry, get me out of this place". She was barely audible, her eyes were giving way as she felt slight dizziness. The woman was not the only one the cave, Catherine though weak sensed she wasn't alone. The heat from the cave was excruciating, she would have pulled off her clothes and turned to her wolf side but the weakness took over her. Her wolf side was dying, she felt it, she felt the breath of the woman on her face while she closed her eyes, for the first time she felt fear.

For thirty minutes, the cave had been silent, her body refused to move and her eyes felt to heavy to open, she laid on the ground quietly. She felt something creep into her clothes which didn't make her move, she felt it was a spider with it's feet and speed. It gave her tingling feelings which she hated, she wished she could reach her hand to it and smash it.

As the night grew Catherine felt she would be forgotten in the cave, thoughts ran through her head as she gasped for air which was only getting worst. She tried to fight it but the air had become unbearable, she immediately saw nothing but darkness as she slept off.