Turned hearts

Luna strolled through the moonlit forest, her senses heightened by the night. The cool breeze whispered through the trees, carrying the scent of pine and earth. As a werewolf, Luna felt at home in the wilderness. She relished these moments of solitude, away from the prying eyes of the human world.

She twirled in excitement,"Mother Nature sure is beautiful tonight", she thought to herself,But fate had other plans for her that night. As she ventured deeper into the forest, Luna's sharp ears picked up on a distant rustling. Curiosity piqued, she followed the sound until she stumbled upon a clearing.

There, bathed in the soft glow of the moon, stood an unclad fellow staring deep into Luna's soul.Its a female but I just couldn't wrap my head around why she is in the forest at this hour and why she is staring at me.Her dark hair fell messily over her forehead, and her eyes sparkled with a mixture of wonder and fear. Luna's heart skipped a beat as their eyes met, a mix of emotions flooding through her.

Maya, a fellow werewolf, had unknowingly wandered into Luna's territory.She had heard tales of Luna's encounters with humans but never expected to come across her in the flesh. Luna, torn between her loyalty to her pack and the urge to find out who this strange female is, chased her through the forest.

" What are you doing here?" Luna asked, her voice filled with concern.

Maya hesitated, her gaze shifting from Luna to the ground. "I couldn't stay away. I heard rumors of a human in our territory, and I had to see for myself."

Luna's heart sank. She knew that their pack's rules forbade any contact with humans, as it could jeopardize their existence. Yet, here they were, standing face to face with a choice that could alter their lives forever.

Just as Luna was about to speak, a twig snapped in the distance. Their attention turned to the sound, and they both knew that their decision would have to wait. Another werewolf, a stranger, emerged from the shadows, his eyes gleaming with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

"Who are you two? And what are you doing in my territory?" the stranger growled.

Luna and Maya exchanged a glance,"we mean no harm",Luna stated.

With uncertainty in her voice, Maya replied, "We're just trying to protect what's ours. And it seems like you've stumbled into something bigger than you can handle."

The stranger's lips curled into a sinister smile. "Well, then tonight's meal is definitely fine! Two lost females and one is unclad what a befitting meal this will be he said as he walked to and fro fixing his gaze on both of them.

Luna felt her wolf at its peak ready for war but she tried to silence it and as soon as Maya's wolf came to life hers purged out too without warning for the very first time.

Maya jumped on the young man and in a few seconds his remains were littered all over.For the first time in a long time Luna didn't have to be the one to lead a full attack.

"What kind of wolf is she?" Luna thought to herself, still amazed by the scene that just unfolded before her very eyes.

Slowly Maya morphed back to her original.

Wow, Maya! That was incredible! I've never seen someone shift and attack with such ferocity. You truly are a force to be reckoned with.

Maya's eyes sparkled with a mix of pride and excitement. "I've been training for a while now, honing my skills as a werewolf. I never thought I'd have to use them in a situation like this, but I'm glad I could protect us."

Luna nodded, a sense of gratitude and relief washing over her. "I'm grateful to have you by my side, Maya. We make a formidable team."They both smiled at each other.

"Let's get you dressed shall we?"Luna asked with a smile.

"No,let it be,I don't want to be a bother"Maya said.

As the adrenaline subsided, Luna's thoughts returned to their original quest. "Now that we've dealt with this intruder, let's head back to my territory. I want to introduce you to the pack as my friend. They'll be thrilled to meet you!, you're one of us now".

Maya's smile widened, and she nodded eagerly. "I would love to meet your pack, Luna. It's an honor to be welcomed into your territory."

Together, Luna and Maya made their way back to Luna's territory, where the pack eagerly awaited their return. Luna introduced Maya to the pack, and they were greeted with warmth and excitement. Luna couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as she introduced her brave and loyal friend to her pack.

"So we now recruit stranger now Luna?" A strange voice said from the back of the gathered crowd and everyone made way for him,it was Blake Luna's brother.

He made his way through the crowd walking with a fierce aura as he stood in front of Maya staring straight into her eyes.

Maya stood there in fear of his height and powerful stare,she looked down and didn't make eye contact.

"Hey! Move back Blake let her be.

She's my friend, and she's proven herself to be brave and strong. She fought alongside me tonight, and I couldn't be prouder to have her by my side."

The pack members gathered around, their eyes filled with curiosity and respect. Blake, a tough and stoic member of the pack,still stood in front of Maya staring deep into her eyes.

Maya turned her gaze at Luna's pack, feeling a sense of belonging. "It's an honor to meet all of you. Luna has told me so much about each and every one of you. I'm excited to get to know you all better."

Blake, with a hint of arrogance in his voice, looked at Maya and asked, "And who might you be? What are you doing here, intruding on our territory?"

"For God's sake Blake I just introduced her to you a ...just as Luna was about to finish her statement Maya cut in."let it be Luna he has every right to know".

Maya, unfazed by his arrogance, met his gaze with a calm confidence. "I'm Maya, Luna's friend. I'm here because Luna invited me. We fought together, and I've proven myself to be a valuable ally."

Blake's expression softened for a moment, a flicker of something more than arrogance shining in his eyes. "Luna's friend, huh? Well, she's lucky to have someone like you by her side,but I am not falling for all this"

Maya smirked, knowing there was more to Blake's words than met the eye. "Oh, I know Luna appreciates it. And who knows, maybe we'll end up being more than just friends."

"We'll see about that. But for now, I suppose I can tolerate your presence."he said and made his way into the forest and few males accompanied him side by side.

Blake, Maya and Luna returned to the palace and Blake could not stop staring daggers at maya who was lost in a little conversation with Luna,

"Why must she follow us to the palace?" Blake questioned with a frown on his face as Luna stopped turning quickly to his direction.

"And why won't she? Can't you see she was stranded on the road with no where to go!" Luna said while maya just chuckled to how they fought with each other continuously.

"You two should stop already! I won't be staying too long here,I just need a place to stay till I get myself together." Maya replied before walking ahead of the both of them.

"You must really be becoming a charity now, you are just paving way for strangers to freely roam in our territory and now the palace." Blake whispered to Luna before also walking ahead as she stood there staring at both of them with a frown, she knew she wouldn't be making any mistakes with maya but why does Blake keeps acting like she picked up a wanderer about to destroy her peace. She thought, unknown to her that everything she had just seen from maya was all staged as a way for her to enter the place and also gain Luna trust.

Later that night she return back to the spot of the incident and the man who Luna had seen him fought was in a perfectly good shape,

"You did a good job." Maya said, throwing a few cash on the wolf who smiled while counting it.

"No, you did a perfectly good job maya, you were able to trick her into thinking you scattered me in pieces which wasn't what exactly happened." The wolf responded, pocketing the money as he walked away...the wide smile still on his face.

"Now phase one was successful, time to put in the next plan but Blake seems to be making everything go astray, I need to do something before he goes ahead and ruin it all." Maya thought to herself as she walked back to the palace.

She silently entered the grand hall to admire the throne she was so thirsty of when she saw Luna sitting on it going through a few files, she was about to run back away but Luna had already seen her.

"You are still awake?" Luna questioned as she smiled awkwardly, waking up to the throne where Luna was seated going through the files scattered all around the table.

"Yes,I was searching around for you but couldn't find you." Maya said to Luna as she smiled to her excuse.

"That's weird, I was also searching every corner for....I even sent my beta to find you but he said he couldn't find you." Luna said making maya heart immediately skip a beat.

"We must have missed each other while I searched for you too."

"It's fine Maya, whenever you don't see me just be well aware that I am in the council room sorting out some political issues."Luna replied still fully concentrated on what she was doing.

"Why can't you leave the political part for Blake to take care of?" Maya asked making Luna chuckle,as she stared at maya.

"You are stranger here that's why you don't know much about me and Blake." Luna mysteriously replied making maya frustrated as all she wanted was Luna trusting in her and telling her everything.

"You can still tell me, we are friends." Maya said.

"I wasn't planning on not telling you, everyone knows about why Blake can't handle anything concerning the throne." Luna replied, just then her beta walked in staring at maya weirdly.

"Are you Maya??" The beta asked.

"Yes...."

"But, but I saw you just few minutes ago coming out of the forest just after a wolf ran off." Maya stared in shock at the beta and then Luna who now had a suspicious look.

"What were you doing there..."Luna got cut off short as Blake walked in.

"I guess she finally listened to my warning and decided to leave, why did you even return?" Blake asked Maya who immediately found a perfect excuse to cover up why she went back to the forest.

"I was scared I guess and I wouldn't want to leave Luna and disappear after she did me a favor by helping me when I was in need." Maya replied boldly, secretly also thankful to Blake for his hatred towards her as it had just helped her survive Luna suspicion.

"It's fine Maya, go and take a rest now...including you Blake I still have a lot to do." Luna said returning to her work as the beta also left before Blake pulled maya out of the room.

"Don't ever make my sister worried about you, and you know very well this is why I would hate you more." He whispered to Maya who just stared at him with a firm grin.

Luna was soon finished with signing some files and approving some of the pleas from the pack memebers when she stared at the time and it was already few minutes past midnight.

"I must have really lost track of time." She murmured to herself before getting up from the throne, stretching her body but she still felt like her bones were stiff in ways she couldn't express...she decided to take a stroll since that would be the only solution since the reason she had a stiff bone was because she was in one position for too long.

She stepped out the hall and from ther walked out of the palace gates without any of the guards seeing, she was curious to see the place where Maya had slaughtered a wolf juts hours back.

Blake returned to the council halls to tell Luna to postpone any signing till the next morning and go take a nap when he noticed the files were all arranged but Luna wasn't anywhere there.

"Luna!!!" He yelled in fright,

"Where is Luna!!" He barged in furiously on maya who was about to sleep.

Luna slowly walked towards the forest as she felt a pull like something was calling her into the forest, she turned back ti the palace one last time time before finally entering the forest where she finds the fight scene from earlier clean, there wasn't even any blood stain on the floor just pieces of cloth.

She was about to get suspicious of how everything turned out to be but decided to blame the disappearance of everything on the wild animals that lived and roamed the forest, she turned her stare back to the palace as though she was planning to return there when she turned back again to the pull she felt calling her inside the forest,

She really wanted to postpone whatever was calling her till another time but Luna was very known for her thirst of always wanting to quench her curiosity.

She paced slowly and carefully towards whatever she felt pulling her when he nose caught a very extra ordinary scent and decided to follow it deep into the forest.

And to he surprise it landed on a person who was laying on the floor looking tattered with on few clothes on him and his skin seemed like something that wild animals had played widely with.

"Who are you!" She nervously called out to the stranger but he didn't bother moving all he did was breath in and out heavily.

She was about running back to the palace to call for help when the stranger suddenly whispered.

"Help me...food..I...I might die." He murmured trigggering Luna emotion from within.

"What happened to you??" Luna asked moving closer to the stranger and just as her hand touched his chest she felt something that made her pull back immediately.

He..he was human, he was a human whom must have fell victim of a wandering wolf, and he was dying.

"Water...I need water." He said to Luna who suddenly felt scared and stood up immediately.

"I would be back with water and food just be strong and don't die." Luna said to him and without waiting for a reply ran off back to the palace but as she got closer her pace suddenly ecause slower and quieter.

One thing was for sure to Luna, Blake mustn't find out she was trying to help a human who she knew nothing about and the guards but also not find out or else the words would get to the ears of Blake and that won't be good.

She hurriedly sneaked into the palace and ran to the kitchen as it was filled with different amount of food, she picked up a bag nearby and filled it up with food that contained the whole bag.

After making sure she had packed all the necessities needed for the stranger including a first aid box she ran out of there but unknown to her, Maya was just stepping out of her room to have a glass of water to calm herself while the other men and Blake went out to find Luna again when she saw Luna, she couldn't believe it..the same woman they were searching for was standing right there trying to sneak away.

Luna quietly sneaked back out of the palace, she ran as fast as her leg could take her back to the forest and found te stranger still laying helpless on the floor.

She dropped everything she had with her and immediately help this guan stranger to seat as she fed him the food she had just stolen away from the palace, the minute the human saw the abundance of different food he suddenly had the energy and began eating everything and for the first time he replied Luna.

"Do you like it, the maids were already asleep so I couldn't get you something hot to eat." Luna said to the stranger who smiled.

"It's fine...thank you so much I thought you won't return." The human said to Luna who smiled... er eyes jut couldn't leave his body and she felt herself being so pulled towards the stranger who was busy eating to gain more strength.

"What is your name?" Luna subconsciously asked.

"Ethan, my name is Ethan."he replied, returning to his food that he continued to savor while Luna silently admired him despite how tattered he looked.

"My name is Luna." She said to him, she slowly began to feel comfortable in Ethan presence when she saw the sun slowly rising.

"Oh no!! It almost morning!!" She exclaimed frustration standing up to leave.

"Ethan, I need to leave just find a place to hide till I come back to get you tonight." Luna replied, Ethan nodded affirmative to her words before she ran off, and sneaked back into the palace, she ran towards he chambers unknown to her that Blake had already went around the territory searching for her,

Where have you been?" Luna jumped back in fright to see Blake sitting front of her room calmly as his stared at her kinly.

"I went for a strol." She replied about to walk away but Blake pulled her back.

" that was a very long strolling you did there." Blake sarcastically replied making her know he didn't believe any of the words that her came out of her mouth.

"I am serious, my bone became stiff from signing all night long and I decided to go stretch it out and when I ran so I meant going around like a stroll." Luna replied before walking out of Blake presence.

She heaved heavily after entering her chambers as she was happy Blake didn't suspect a thing as her thought wandered back to Ethan who was all alone in the forest and most especially a land he knew nothing off.

He made the decision to go back by nightfall and check up on him with some and towards nightfall told her maid to make some extra food so by nightfall she packed them all and after making sure Blake was asleep she stepped out of the palace, but could feel someone following her.