Luna of Conquest

HIDEAWAY

Kayleigh felt her skin burn, like it was on fire. If she moved a limb it was met with resistance like she was underwater. Any move she would make was a struggle as her limbs felt heavy. It was as if she was trudging through thick and sticky sludge. Every motion took so much effort to make it was exhausting. Frustration filled her veins as she used every bit of energy to take each step forward. She had a mission. She had something she had to accomplish and there was nothing that would slow her down doing it. She was not quite sure how she got here but she was not going to let it stop her. The last thing she could remember was the anxiety hitting her and running off to an isolated location away from anything breathing. however still found her and managed to calm her down. After that then marked each other and then...

That was right. We had marked each other then I went into heat, and we did it. Oh my goddess we had sex. I smashed my hands into my face in embarrassment. We.... Oh my... I heaved a sigh as I moved my hands to either side of my face. How am I going to face him and not feel nervous doing so? Ugh, I don't know but I could feel the bond, complete and strong. I could actually sense him. He was nearby but yet nowhere near me. I moved my arms to my side and closed my eyes. Focusing, I tried to sense where he was located but I got nothing. All of the training I got from my parents, aunt and uncle may not work. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, but what I saw took my breath away.

In a clearing surrounded by tall old trees at the center an old tree stretched out from underneath a large stone. It sat atop a small hill where a cliff resides to the one side. A spring departed out the side about a foot from the top down into a small pond below with crystal clear waters. Colorful autumn leaves filled parts of the tee branches and scattered across the bottom of the pond below. I knew this place. It has been almost ten years since my sister and I have been here with our cousins, but it was a place that was special to us all. It was at the center point of our pack's borders. This section of land was where we could be free from our pack's problems as the alphas' daughters. We would go there to relax most of the time and vent our issues at the moment with each other. Other times we would train by ourselves or with each other, trying to get stronger and better. The only one out of our parents that knew about the spot was Aunt Lilith, mother of our cousins and Luna of their pack. Our families' packs were next to each other. Each covered thousands of acres inside their borders. The bigger cities inside the lands were claimed as neutral grounds for any pack or rogue wolf. But if they go outside that area, they would be subjected to attacks from border patrols.

Our homeland, it was no longer home. I wondered what happened to it. Is this section of land still untouched? If we went back, would it still be untouched? I walked towards the pond. The familiarity of my surroundings just naturally had me gravitating to it. It was calming to be here again. As I got closer, I realized there was a figure at the base of the tree, two, a female and a wolf. I briefly paused on a step, and then continued cautiously closer. The female sat up there staring into the distance not acknowledging her approach. The wolf, however, I could feel its eyes staring at me from the corner of its eye. It wasn't till I was almost at the edge of the pond that she finally looked down towards me. I stopped at the edge and stared up at the figure. We stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Judging, gauging what the other was capable of or what was the other's intentions. Strangely enough my nerves started calming down like her presence was more of a protective figure. I could not think of who she could be to have a presence like this. There were very few that gave me these types of vibes. She was someone extremely powerful and of high status. Her hair was long and seemed to be almost a silvery white color. There were hints of other colors that seemed to appear when the light hit at different angles. The shade of red appeared, and her familiarity struck a chord. Who did she remind me of? It was like I knew her from somewhere.

As we stared at each other I felt a nose touch the back of my hand. I retracted my hand to my chest, turning towards the figure beside me. It was the wolf that stood beside her. When did he get there? I didn't even hear him coming. He was shades of grey with a few spots of black on his backside. Scars scattered his body no doubt from fighting all his life. I stared into his grey eyes, and something clicked.

Grandfather?

There were some old photos I came across once, it was when my sister, cousins and I when we were young pups. We were putting bows across the fur of a large wolf with scars that scattered across his body, looking anything but pleased. An older lady sat there laughing hysterically at the scene before her. My father later told us it was our grandparents. We were barely five when they passed away after a rogue pack attacked our pack and our cousins' packs. Nobody could figure out what was the reasoning behind the attack or the aim for the attack. What we do know is that it took many lives between the two packs. It also took the lives of our grandparents, which was the harder hit for the packs. They had connections to both through the Alpha or the Luna. I cautiously moved my fist down towards the wolf hoping he would not bite me. To my relief he did not. He gave my knuckles a quick lick before moving a few steps closer and sitting next to me.

I remembered the woman and looked up to the cliff to see she was no longer at the base of the tree. My head instantly whipped around to try and locate where she had disappeared. After a few minutes I finally located her at the base of the hill walking over to me. I grew stiff and nervous as she grew closer. The wolf beside me huffed, like my nervousness was irrational. I eyed him briefly wondering whether to believe him. She reminded me of Amarilys. She didn't look threatening but there was something that told me she was powerful. I pressed my lips into a tighter line. I still could not figure out what is going on. Here I stood back at our secret spot. The tree on a cliff, the crystal-clear pond below. The wall of trees that surrounded the small meadow. I felt like I made a jump to the past. It was a bitter-sweet moment. It made me wonder how our cousins were doing. If our sister pack took the loss hard. I missed all of them.