winter of orphic love | ot7 poly | ✓

Chapter 3 Distractions

"I can't believe it," Amber whispered in shock, "who could have thought..." She turned to the woman at her side, grabbing onto her arm, "We have another Luna."

I grimaced at those words. It made my stomach twist with shame and anger. I don't want this. I don't want to be a Luna! I shrunk into myself as the two Lunas inspected me, staying close to the dining room doorway behind me. I no longer felt comfortable in my own body, and I hated the way they were looking at me. The way everybody was looking at me.

When I entered the Main House after my transformation, I felt the eyes of everybody in the pack. My parents managed to find me in the woods, and brought me back to the House soon after. The Alpha intercepted me, having heard the news from Namjoon, and immediately took me to his private quarters. They decided I would be trained by the two Lunas instead of continuing class with the other human children in the pack.

Nothing was the same. I was a late-blooming Luna. It is the literal worst.

"I always had a feeling she would be one," the other Luna commented. Her silky black hair came over her slender shoulders. She was beautiful by design, but I assumed that was her strange power at work. Lunas and Sols were beautiful in the eyes of their beholder; it's just their nature.

"We've only met a few times," Amber began and held out her hand to me. She smiled kindly, "My name is Amber, this is Rainy. We will be spending a lot of time together."

She looked excited. How could she stomach this life?

I never wanted this. The life of a Luna was one bound by the pack. The other members of the pack used her for emotional support and therapy. And their very nature yearned for it. It's sickening.

Even the thought of becoming my pack's Luna, the pack I considered family, made me terrified. I didn't want to be used by the people I trusted for their personal gain.

I didn't take her hand.

Rainy studied me for a moment before sighing. "Oh Amber, give it a rest. Can't you see the poor girl is still frightened?"

A rush of pride flared inside of me. I glared at Rainy, disregarding the fact she is my elder, and snorted through my nose. "I'm not," I claimed.

Rainy quirked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Really?" she asks sarcastically. "Then why do I smell fear on you?"

That's another issue. I'm a werewolf like them now. I am no longer a human.

"That's from earlier," I lied, "it just stuck to my clothes."

Amber smirked. She withdrew her hand and retreated to the back of the dining room. She opened a cabinet and brought out a loaf of bread. I watched her through the corner of my eye.

"Let's get started," Rainy began in a matter-of-fact tone. She gestured to the long table behind us. "We have much to discuss. I wasn't expecting to take on an apprentice today, but the Alpha has cleared both our schedules."

Amber set the bread on the table. "Not like we have much to do." She rolled her eyes, "Being a Luna is such a taxing business."

I bristled.

"I can tell you're absolutely thrilled," Rainy said. She sat down at the table and cast me a level look. "But I am sorry to disappoint you, we don't sleep with every werewolf in this house. Contrary to popular belief, Lunas and Sols hold quite a lot of power in the dynamics of the pack, and that power does not stem from the bedroom."