The Human Luna

Prologue

They were only children when they had first discovered the legend of the Human Luna. As nine year olds, their parents had taught them that they should never go out seeking the secrets of the pack; because they were hidden for a reason. "Soon, you will be invited to learn the knowledge only the elders know." The young girl still remembered when her mother had first told her that. When she questioned why it was prohibited for her, and young children alike to know such things, her mother had answered, "There are some things in this world that a child does not need to know. All a child needs to know is that they are loved, cared for, and protected far more than they realise."

Running through the dark forest with her best friend, holding a hefty book in both hands, the little girl had abandoned what her mother had said to her, knowing full well the consequences she would face if she were caught. The boy running beside her had stolen the 'Book of Truths' from the Alpha's office, which was easy for him, as the Alpha happened to be his father. The both of them had been planning this escapade for weeks; tonight was the night they ceased the chance to unravel the secrets of the pack themselves.

"How long do we have left?" The boy asked, trying to catch his breath with short, powerful gasps. His feet were bare, and the top he was wearing was beginning to tear from all of the trees he was bumping into.

The young girl stopped suddenly beside him, eyes searching the clearing they had just come into. Her dark hair cascaded down her back in tight curls, and the boy stared in awe as the light from the full moon gleamed across her face, as if the Moon Goddess herself had shun a torch on her from heaven. The nine-year old boy was so transfixed with his best friend, he didn't realise she had left his side to head over to the far corner, which was enclosed by a ton of jagged rocks.

He followed suit, and sat opposite the girl, who already had the massive book sprawled across her tiny lap. She beamed a small torch across the italic handwriting, being very careful not to tear the already worn out pages.

"Are you going to read it out loud?" The young boy said, squinting his eyes when the girl pointed the torch at his face.

"Scoot closer, I'm only going to read it out once," she replied.

He didn't hesitate to sit next to his friend, and was grateful that it didn't matter that he was at a close enough distance to wrap his arm around her shoulders and hug her.

It was at this moment the young boy wished he had paid attention to his reading and writing classes during the past summers. As the youngest son of the Alpha, he felt he had a duty to match the expectations of his dad, and impress him much more than that of his two older brothers. Right now this wasn't possible, as he was finding it hard to even pronounce the easiest words in the dictionary.

So without speaking another word, he listened intently as the girl beside him read the first page of the stolen book, running her index finger over every word as she spoke them out loud...

"May glory and power be upon the Alpha of our pack, his chosen Luna, and the Moon Goddess herself." As the girl uttered these words, both of them crossed their arms over the chests in a battle-like manner, mimicking the soldiers they had seen many times in training.

"For centuries and centuries our kind has been led by the leadership of both an Alpha and his Luna who was chosen by the Moon Goddess herself. Although from time to time, both of these roles have been taken on by different individuals, the tradition itself has remained the same. It was a strong belief, held my many, (even the founding fathers and sisters of the first pack known to our species), that both Luna and Alpha had to be born with the blood of a werewolf. Throughout time there have been cases of half blood leaders - Luna's and Alphas with half of the blood which is known to humans, and half of the blood that exists within the werewolf kind; but even still, they had the blood which belongs to us, which makes them one of us.