Alisson's Escape

A House Of Her Own.

Alisson stood to the side and watched as the pack warriors moved her things to Henry's house. Her parent's small cottage seemed even smaller with six huge men occupying the space. Alisson's mother hovered around the working men, occasionally giving out commands and biting remarks.

She was taking her newfound authority a little too far, but Alisson had better things to deal with than her mother's entitlement.

She would be moving into her new home today and she didn't know what to expect. The Moon Shadow pack's settlement was made up of cottages, each belonging to a family until the children grow up and move into their mate's house or build their own.

Like other werewolves, they did whatever they could to separate themselves from the humans, because they saw them as weak and destructive beings.

There was an agreement among all werewolves that human beliefs and practices were vulgar and disrespectful to the Moon goddess, so they should be shunned and kept at a distance. Even the laws and politics of wherever a pack settled were not to be acknowledged.

Alisson did not fully understand the divide between them, all she knew was what had been told to her when she was a pup; that the laws of man do not apply to wolves. She wasn't aware of the true extent of that saying, but she imagined she might find out when she officially became Luna.

She straightened up from the wall she was leaning against with furrowed eyebrows and a hesitant expression. Her mother walked towards her with shiny eyes and a stutter in her step; the heels she had forced her feet into were a size too small and were sourced from the back of her closet. Alisson could see she was trying (and failing) to impress the high-ranking women of the pack, even though on a normal day, they would stick their noses up at her.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked in a forced high-pitched tone and a distracted look that said she didn't expect Alisson to say anything but 'yes'.

Alisson wondered what her mother would do if she said no. Maybe her face would turn that shade of red that comes right before the gnashing of her teeth, or maybe she'll get so worked up she'll change into her blue-eyed, grey-coloured wolf and run off howling and snapping at whatever gets in her way.

Her mother is quite expressive when she is upset, which is why Alisson thanks the Moon Goddess every day for giving her her father's temper.

She followed after her mother and the waiting men as they marched towards her mate's home; cars were out of the question because they were a menace to their ears and noses, and made the younger wolves skittish and tense.

She played with the cuffs of her wrist-length sleeves and focused on the soft tap of her black flats. Her mother and Luna had decided (without informing her) that she should start dressing more Luna-like, which led to her being squeezed into a blue long sleeve dress that stopped at her ankles. It was lined with buttons down the front with a high collar and hugged her figure well, causing her bust to be beautifully outlined. She could see the appeal in it and liked it but did not see herself dressing like this every day.

Their group was quickly drawing attention and Alisson was getting flustered, she was used to blending into the crowd and being looked over and like any other person she had wished for someone to see her as special and outstanding, but she always thought it would be her mate who would make her feel that way, not a crowd of strangers she grew up with.

She leaned forward and hid her face under the protection of her brown wavy hair, she didn't need this right now. The brunette glanced up at her mother (who was strutting with a smug look on her face and her nose up in the air) hoping to find some comfort but discarded that idea immediately. In her mother's present state of mind, she would probably start giving a speech to the crowd if Alisson went anywhere near her.

Arriving at Henry's cabin was done with much fanfare. They were followed by an excited and noisy crowd, calling out well wishes and advice on mated life. They gave her more information than her mother has since this whole debacle started.

She stepped into the two-storey house and marvelled at everything she saw. The crowd of wolves had left and she was now alone with her mother (who refused to leave with the pack warriors).

"You should get settled in," her mother said carelessly as she caressed an old-looking vase with intricate markings on it. It looked like an heirloom worth a lot so she could see why her mother was so enchanted by it.

She walked up the stairs while touching as little as possible, her mother's scent would be all over that vase and she didn't want Henry to think she was like her (touching things without permission). She lifted her nose in the air and inhaled slowly, she caught the scent of her things and followed it to the room the warriors placed them. The house was far bigger than her former home, which wasn't surprising as it belonged to the future alpha.

Future alpha's usually moved out of their parent's house when they turned eighteen, to live on their own. It was expected of them and while no one will raise their eyebrows at a normal pack member if they decided to live in their parent's home past eighteen, they will at the future alpha.

It just wasn't done, he was the embodiment of independence and fearlessness, every one of his actions was expected to represent those characteristics and to do anything but that was considered treason.

She knew the responsibilities that came with being Alpha and Luna and she was not sure she was ready for it. Henry had trained his whole life to take the position of Alpha and she just found out she was going to be Luna, yesterday.

The room suddenly felt stuffy and smaller as she stumbled into the bathroom, everything was moving too fast, and she needed some room to think and decide. She didn't know anything about her mate, her in-laws or her position and her parents didn't seem to care about how she felt, they were too busy celebrating 'their' success.

She turned the knob of the tap, hoping the sound of running water will calm her down like it always did, only to flinch away from the sink with wide eyes at the lack of a creaking sound. Her old bathroom's faucet always made a creaking noise when water flowed, she had gotten so used to it that hearing water flow without hearing the creak first, startled her. The sound of running water seemed more like a foreboding one as she looked around the bright bathroom in an almost mad way. It followed a colour theme of white, brown and gold like most of the house and possessed a detached and impersonal air, like the person who lived in it and made use of it could care less about adding anything personal.

It all seemed so wrong to her, not just the bathroom; with its slick tiles and sophisticated design that was the complete opposite of her childish sticker-covered bathroom, but the whole mating. She had not even received her mating mark yet and she was already getting cold feet.

Disgust and shame gripped her so suddenly and painfully, that it felt like an actual person wrapping their hands around her neck. How could she think such a thing? The Moon Goddess blessed her with the gift of a mate and what did she do? Spit on it and make it look like something was wrong when everything happening was perfectly normal.

She slapped her hands on her cheeks until they began to sting and turned off the faucet as the pain ebbed away. She looked into the mirror and was met with the picture of a teary-eyed girl. She rubbed at her eyes roughly with the cuff of her sleeves and took several deep breaths.

She was here and that is all that matters, she was going to adapt to her situation or die trying. She turned towards the door and walked into the room, it was large but not uncomfortably so. It contained the same colour theme the other rooms in the cottage seemed to follow; eggshell white walls with brown borders and if you look close enough a faint leaf motif drawn in gold paint. It was inconspicuous enough that it didn't stand out, but Alisson knew it was her favourite part about her new home. She giggled softly and allowed a soft smile to rest on her face as she traced the design with her finger.

She could make this work, she would make this work, she thought to herself, determined. She just has to find the bright side of things.

"Find the light in the darkness," she whispered out loud.

"What was that?" Came her mother's voice from downstairs, startling her back into the present and making her realise how long she had spent in the room.

"Nothing!"

Her mother probably heard her crying (which was inevitable with werewolf ears) but didn't see the necessity of checking up on her. She felt slightly hurt by that but didn't linger on it for too long. After all, she was no longer under her mother's care, she should not expect her to come running at every minor inconvenience she suffered.

She skipped down the stairs, feeling a refreshing giddiness and sudden strength. She took note of the gold leaves that trailed the walls and assured herself it was the Moon g

Goddess's way of comforting and assuring her.

She decided to, first of all, get rid of her mother and then become acquainted with her new house.