Ruthless -ON HOLD-

A Good Luna

Author's note: SO I'm sorry for taking so long to update and I know it's not an additional chapter, but it's part of the re-write I'm doing for this story. I was all over the place before and now I'm trying to make this book into one cohesive unit. I lost an entire chapter I was working on, and had to write it from scratch. So this has been majorly edited to keep the plot going from the previous chapter. I'll be going through the rest of the chapter to re-write them to fit the same plot as this, and THEN I'll be adding more to the story. I'm sorry again for taking so long and want to thank you again and again for staying with me! I love you all! <3 -Al

Most female wolves in other packs don't have the privilege of choice like we do in mine. Ours is amongst the few Common packs who've progressed to accept female rights and to recognize that a she wolf is still a wolf, no more, no less. Equal. There are packs who've not yet accepted this "new" way of thinking, choosing instead to enforce the old ways, Recluse packs, as we call them, who refuse to conform. Choosing instead to treat she wolves as currency, used to settle debts and form Alliances with packs who pose a threat to them to prevent them from going to war or to bind two packs together to defend themselves against a third party threat. I think of those wolves now, those she wolves who do not get a choice, who are born and bred to accept that they are less than man. Who are beaten at the will of the Alpha, not appropriately punished in accordance to pack law. I think of them and feel ashamed of my sadness. I think of how much choice I have, even in this lose-lose situation, I can still choose.

Every pack has its own laws, and until the Council of Elders (comprised of outdated Alphas, chosen by the Elders before them) either dies out and is replaced with more progressive thinking wolves, each pack will continue to create their own laws instead of abiding by universal laws for all packs which don't yet exist. City packs were the first to forge the new order, leading a revolution of change decades ago. Most Common packs followed not long after and completely revised the laws to include female rights, the Common packs who haven't completely adapted are in the process of it. There's only one known Recluse pack in history to ever adapt to the new order: Bloodhound. Cole's is the only one, but rumor has it they only changed their laws to allow females to be trained as the males are, creating a larger army to have at his disposal. The majority of the laws still remain the same, and females are treated as unfairly as possible in many other ways. This is why the Alliance must be formed by union: because to Cole, I am currency and he is owed a debt and in need of a Luna if he wants to keep his status as Alpha.

Any and all Alphas who are unmated by their fifth year in command are automatically deemed by the Council as unfit due to the lack of a female leader to handle the day-to-day operations of the pack, such as resolving conflicts and providing sound council for the members. At least in Common and City packs. Recluse packs use Lunas like their personal breeding machines; their only purpose is to carry on the bloodline. After the fifth year without a mate, they're either challenged for the position or stripped of their rank and title by the Elders themselves. Which is why Recluse packs still use women to settle debts, so they can always find a suitable mate in another pack, given they don't want one from their own. Last I checked, Cole is finishing up his fourth year, and I have the feeling he'd rather die than end up anywhere but the top. The fact that he gets to take a female of a successful and progressive pack, the Alpha's daughter no less, as his bitch is just a bonus for the bastard.

Becoming a Luna isn't the problem. There was never a time when I thought I wouldn't be a leader, it is my birthright. I never thought, however, that this is how I would come to leadership. I had planned on becoming Luna of this pack as soon as I was eventually mated to a suitable male who was approved to be the next Alpha of Guardian. But rogues, by definition, follow no plans, and it's because of their attack that I'm in this fucking mess. If I choose to go to war with rogues, or even Bloodhound rather than to form the Alliance, I would be a selfish shit wasting lives I have no right to expend. And I have been trained from birth to accept that a Luna's first and foremost responsibility is to put the pack above everything and everyone...including myself. Selfishness does not a good Luna make, so says my mother.