The Downfall of the Luna

Chapter Six: The Tale of the Second Moon

*Not edited*

James was taking the Luna on a walk. A damn walk like a little boy would take his puppy on, but instead the little boy was walking a wolf around the empty training grounds with a rope lead tied to her neck. It had officially been a week since James had pissed off the Alpha with his special connection with the Luna, and young James had finally convinced the men to let him take the Luna out of the pack house. They had moved her to one of the rooms in the pack house and Alpha Pearce had stationed guards outside her door and window to ensure she wouldn't escape. She still refused to shift, so her wolf form was still chained but instead of the interrogation room she was simply chained to a foot of the couch with plenty of room to move around the room. James had been spending most of his time with her, and had brought her a peach cobbler that his mother had made. No one could resist Mary Anne's peach cobbler, not even his rogue mate.

He couldn't figure out what it was, but there was something about James that his mate had taken a liking to. They had tried seeing how she would interact with some of the other pack warriors' children, but they didn't seem to have the same effect on her. She wouldn't try to growl or attack them but she also wouldn't let them too close to her or let them touch her. But the children's reactions were even more strange. Most young pack members would run straight to their Luna and fight others for her attention, but instead her wolf seemed to speak to them and as soon as they were in her presence they would just sit by the door and watch her. It was unheard of for a Luna to have her motherly aura calm the pack children to such an extent, and it was just adding to the mystery surrounding his mate. But young James was the special exception and her aura seemed to call to him to always be near her, she truly had accepted her role as pack mother for James. The only thing the men could think of was that maybe because she had tried protecting James in the clearing, her wolf had imprinted some need to be with the boy. She still wouldn't let the Alpha or any of the men near her, and she still wouldn't fucking shift, but she would do just about anything with James. He even started to take his naps with her, and Alpha Pearce would sneak into the room and lean against the wall as he watched the young pup sleep nestled into the glistening fur of his mate.

Unfortunately that was during the day, and at night it was a completely different story. As soon as the sun set and the moon started its climb into the starry sky, even James couldn't calm the Luna down. She would pull and resist against the chain as she tried everything with her might to get through the window. Once she ran out of energy she would howl her sad song towards the moon, until her throat was dry and no more sound could come out. It was heartbreaking and it was slowly destroying the spirits of the pack, which had been lifted and rejoicing for their new Luna. They heard her cries towards the moon and many had started shifting into their wolves at night to join in her call even if they didn't understand why, their wolves felt the bond to need to howl with their Luna.

The Alpha hadn't spent so much time looking at the moon in years, but he was desperate to try and understand his mate so he now spent his nights staring up at the sky. He would do anything to be able to get her to stop her cries to the moon, they were slowly breaking his heart and his wolf couldn't stand it. He would also do anything to get her to shift, but he doubted that was happening anytime.

As they walked through the training grounds, trailing a few yards behind the young boy and his Luna, they listened as James spoke about his training to the wolf. He was about to reach the age where he would learn defense, so he had been training with his dad and practicing on his speed. They all were waiting and holding their breath because they knew that before the walk was over the child was going to ask the Luna to shift. They had tried everything to get her to shift and she refused and so with lots of coaxing and promised of baked treats from his mama, James had finally agreed to ask the Luna. It shouldn't have taken any coaxing, because the boy should've done it as soon as the Alpha asked but apparently the young boy was starting to let his loyalty lie with the Luna and had been hesitant. Jackson had been slightly embarrassed, but none of the men including the Alpha could blame the young boy. His natural instinct was to follow his Luna.