Virago

10. Rehan Cortel

HalfMoon pack was just as I remembered it to be. Clear sky, fertile lands and curious wolves. Some wolves had russet-coloured furs and some were white. The pack my mother was from.

When I had been young, my mother brought me and my sister here often. I remembered the falls by which I played and the hunting that happened at nights here. Gradually, I was taken away by my father to be his heir and I stopped coming here.

The best house was given to Cailan and his father. After all, who would not? Axel was busy being the host, meticulously arranging what Merikh Aresis asked. His second in command led the twins and Ryker to their fighting arena, which I was sure they loved.

Meira looked at me and then at the receding companions. After a minute, she turned her feet and walked away with them.

I sighed. It took us five days to reach from MoonSong to here. DarkMoon pack was just a day from here. I was so close, yet so far. Unable to go to my pack myself. Have a Beta who would bow to MoonSong in a heartbeat.

As much as I yearned to go back to my pack lands, I knew better. There was a reason why Cailan wanted me around. They were afraid that I would rebel. After FirstDawn, MoonDust and MoonLight pack, my father had brought our packs among the ranks. One of the toughest fighters came from our lands. Not to mention, after my mother became the Luna, she turned the far-stretching wastelands into fertile land. The very land MoonSong scorched to death.

But not going to DarkMoon did not crumple me as much as coming to HalfMoon. A pack that I had once called home was so unfamiliar to me. Yes, there was not much difference. Not much change.

But I saw it in the eyes of the wolves here. Something had broken. Something had happened.

A pack that danced all night to the tune of the night winds moved about as if they were porcelain dolls that could break at the light touch of a breeze.

When shadows crept in and the sun bade her farewell for the day, young pups rushed to their homes and the unmated females dragged themselves back to a place they well knew. A few mated females dared to walk out, and they did so with their mates.

Few lamps were lit and thick oppression struck down the pack lands.

This pack that was so carefree about their security for they had a witch’s protection was reduced to hiding in their homes.

I sighed looking at the darkening sky. The Moon was waning and still, it cast an unearthly glow with the long shadows.

I stepped out of the house, into the gardens where I had once played with my sister. Peonies now stood in the place of hydrangeas. Ahead of me, a female caressed the leaf of a plant as she whispered something to the wolf next to her. I tried to be as quiet as possible when I came, but her ears still caught my movement.

She waved her hand and dismissed the young wolf and came up to me. She had her blond hair in an exquisite bun that was held by a hair net made of blue stones. Her blue eyes sparkled under the twilight and her lips curled in a smile. Raia always said that she had poor taste in fashion but now seeing that light blue dress bring her best features out, I knew Raia’s fears had not come true.

“Rehan,” she called. “I did not expect you would come with them this time.”

I smiled. “I had to, Luna Naina.”

She froze for a minute and then smiled sadly. “I am not Luna to you.”

Naina was my cousin from my father’s side. Though we were distant, Naina and my sister were very close. When I met Raia, the three were as thick as thieves and caused quite a lot of headaches. But then Axel came to my pack for a meeting and they met.