The One

The Beginning

*Maihra's POV*

It was dark in the room and Clyde's gentle snore filled the air as he slept, holding me, his arm resting on my round stomach; we were expecting again, and he was always so protective of the precious lives I carried, filling him with hope each litter, that he slept holding them. He was my mate, the leader of the Whitecrest Nightstalker pack, the strongest, most gentle of giants in North Carolina, the pack would defend the Alpha and Luna until their dying breaths, and I just happen to be the Luna of this pack, and I wouldn't be allowed to just waltz out the front door unnoticed, especially because of the precious cargo I carried, the future of our pack.
    It was a bit of a struggle trying to gently slide from under his strong arms, but in the end, I managed to slide out of his grasp and looked back at his sleeping form, I felt sad that I was leaving him. The giant figure in front of me was the gentlest soul I'd ever come across, I took an extra moment to conjure the meeting of our wolves.
***
   I was nervous attending this years mating ball, I had just turned eighteen and Blister, my wolf, was buzzing with excitement at the prospect of meeting our mate. Me and Blister weren't particularly.... friendly... with other wolves in the pack. We were of course one of the only gamma females in the pack to have reached the title of Pack trainer and Guardian of the Luna in 25 years and the youngest at only seventeen years old. Most males in the pack had in my middle school years gloated about how there hadn't been a female guardian in almost 25 years in the pack, which only led me and Blister to seeing a challenge which we accepted early.
    Now today, only seven months since receiving my new title, I could lose it in my current pack, The Golden Nightingale Pack, and have to go live with my mate in another pack and have to start all over in the hierarchy, which was another welcome challenge to Blister, but not to me.
    'Focus' my mom linked me as she smiled as guests from packs around the area were entering the hall.  Me and my mother were the greeters this year 'how fun' Blister rolled her eyes as she spoke, 'stop blister we can't laugh only smile and wave' I internally chuckled to myself.  I was quickly stirred from my conversation with my wolf as a new smell entered my nose, pine and a whisk of ocean breeze, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling a second, inhaling once more.
    Blister almost pushed for full control as I had to hold myself back from shifting as she howled 'MATE, MATE, OH WE FOUND HIM MAIHRA!' I quickly opened my eyes and found a handsome man staring directly at me from the bottom of the stairs where he was climbing out of the back of a slim grey limousine, he had beautiful dark brown eyes that shimmered amber with the presence of his wolf. I had been skeptical of the ball before this moment but when he came up to me and bowed on one knee, I knew it was the best day of my life, for the man kneeling in front of me was none other than Clyde, the next alpha of the Whitecrest Nightstalker pack... which meant me and Blister would become the next Luna of his pack, and that was a title that held the utmost respect in the wolf world.

                                    ***
    Being snapped back to the present by Clyde rolling over in our comfy bed, it was hard to steel myself against the idea of crawling back into his warm embrace once more.  Back when our wolves happily screamed mate, we as a pair could not have been more tailored for each other, the moon goddess chose well with us and everyone supported us.
If only I hadn't lost the first two litters, I thought mournfully.  The twins must've felt the shift in my emotions because they began to move around, causing me to catch myself on the dresser, gasping, one of them had kicked my spine. Clyde stirred a little, but I covered my mouth and bit my tongue as I struggled to stand straight again, but relaxed my hand when Clyde started to gently snore again. I made my way to our bedroom door, this was going to be the most challenging aspect, getting down the flight of stairs between me and freedom, without making a sound, as not to alert Misty, our Seer, if she knew I was leaving, she'd mindlink Clyde immediately.
    I crept down the stairs in my silk nightgown as quietly and slowly as I could, which paid off.  I managed to creep down the stairs and out the door without alerting any of the pack members in the house. As I turned from closing the door, I saw all the beauty nature brings out at night, the twinkling of the fireflies was just breathtaking, and the crickets' sang their songs while the owls hooted and hunted.
I slipped out of my nightgown, and folded it so my wolf could run with it, then I shifted with the pups for the first time since I grew pregnant, which would've been dangerous for any normal wolf, luna's had more strength and power due to being mated with an Alpha, it still wasn't a great idea for me. Determined, I pushed the the pain of the shift as I felt my pups shift with me, which is more dangerous for the mother than the pups, gritting my teeth I embraced the pain, I couldn't take a car or the  whole pack would all hear the engine roar to life with our heightened senses.  With great sorrow I finished the shift, heaving, I gave Blister full control as I retreated to the back of my mind and wept. I grabbed my gown and ran into the woods, away from the pack, so that I could protect my pups, this litter was different, I could feel it.
My instincts told me to run and so I did against mine and Blister's better judgement, we ended up settling in Tennessee; as a rogue it was one of the states with low wolf pack population, making it safe for lone wolves to live, many rogues lived their lives peacefully there making it well into their fifties and sixties, which was record holding for packless wolves.