Tangled In Moonlight (Starlight Trilogy Book 1)

Chapter 1: The Guest Alpha

The splash of cold water being dumped on me made me jump out of bed. I saw the alpha holding the bucket and cast my head downward. Don't look the alpha in the eyes, you'll get a beating. I shoot that thought out of my head, I'd get a beating whether I'm behaving or not.

"We have an important guest coming today. You're to clean every inch of the pack house before he arrives. And I expect you disappear straight after your chores are completed. Because you've been obedient and have completed your chores, you have permission to go for runs in the forest." Alpha said. I nodded.

I get dressed and go about my business. As I worked, I listed off all the things that I wasn't allowed to do when Red Bone has guests.

Don't speak unless spoken to. Don't look anyone in the eyes.

I made breakfast quickly so I could move onto making sure the pack house was spick and span before the guest alpha came. The last thing I wanted was to get a beating or have the permission I was given to go for runs taken away from me. It's been ages since I've been allowed to go into the forest on my own.

I haven't been in the forest since I was five years old... the same age I was when I lost my family in a house fire.

I finished all my chores long before the guest alpha arrived. Because I had some time to spare, I spent that time baking cookies and cakes in case any high ranked pack member had friends over or was hungry and I wasn't there to make them something to eat.

In the living room, I heard the alpha talking to someone, I presumed it was the guest alpha and went to the attic. I grabbed the picture of my family that I've somehow managed to hold on to for twelve years and as quietly as possible, snuck out of the pack house before anyone heard or saw me. Like I always did when the pack had guests, on my way out the door, I grabbed plastic sandwich bags, stuffing them into the pocket of the old jeans I was wearing. I don't know why, but I always grabbed them. It was a weird habit I guess.

I went to the one place no one every bothered to go to anymore, the place where my childhood home once stood. Because it was so far from the pack house and so far away from the pack's town, no one bothered to clear away the ruins of the house.

It brought back memories from twelve years ago. I moved through the remains of the house, happy memories flashed before me. A five year old me being chased by my father, my mother was there, so was my brother. While my father entertained a five year old me, my mother helped my thirteen year old brother with his math homework. We were the happiest family ever.

Then the memories of that night flashed before my eyes. The big angry flames surrounding me as I clutched onto a picture of my family and my teddy bear as I tried to find a way out. At five years old, I knew that something was off. I should've heard their cries of terror when they woke up, shouldn't have I?

A tear slipped from my eyes as I remembered everything that happened that night and how it got me to where I am. Was the Luna really concerned about me or was she more concerned about what I could do to earn my keep to stay in the pack?

When I think back to that night, Luna never really showed any sort of emotion. But she was quick to notice the photograph I was holding, and she was quick to try and take it from me. It was like she knew something that I did. Something that night made me uneasy, I don't know why but it did. I just didn't know what.

The cause of the fire was never found. Pack member started to speculate. Most thought that it was an electrical fire and that was what the cause of the fire was put down as. For years, the Luna tried to convince me that there was a severe storm that night and that lightening struck my house thus setting it on fire. But I knew better, I remembered everything from that night.