The Broken Luna and Her Playboy Mate

CHAPTER 1 - TO THE PACK - ETAMINA'S POV

The jet rocked gently due to turbulence, but I slept on, It was the first time I’d slept longer than 3 hours since my 18th birthday, but my dreams were not restful.

DREAM

Darkness surrounded Mina as she ran into the forest. Her lungs were burning, but she pushed herself forward.

''Saun!'' Mina screamed out into the black, but no reply came, ''Saun!''

Again, only silence answered her cries, and her chest tightened in panic.

Tears rushed down her face as she paused and frantically looked around, seeing nothing, not even her own hands in front of her face.

''SAUN!!''

She dropped to her knees in despair and cried harder, but when she went to place her face into her hands, light engulfed her, and she noticed blood dripping off of her fingers.

She gasped and jumped up, only to hear a crunch under her feet.

Breathing hard, she slowly looked down. Saun's mangled bloody body was in pieces all around her.

''NO!'' She screamed and jolted awake, ''SAUN!''

Mina could not catch her breath as she tried and failed to push away the memory.

END OF DREAM

''Mina.'' My Mother’s soft voice called out, but I could hardly hear her, images of Saun's body were still flashing in my mind.

''Is everything alright?'' The stewardess came in looking panicked.

''I'm sorry.'' My mother, Anna answered, ''She must have had a nightmare.''

Slowly reality seeped back in and I remembered I was in a seat on my family's jet as we headed to my mother’s hometown in America.

''Mina?'' My mother said again, as the human flight attendant walked away.

''I'm fine.'' I lied and avoided my mother's probing eyes. ''I just need to wash my face.''

''If you need to talk-''

''I don't.'' I told her firmly and got out of my seat and headed for the spacious bathroom.

I looked into the mirror and hardly recognized myself, where there was once colour, there was now a pale sickly skin tone, where there was once joy in my bright blue eyes, there was now emptiness, my hair which I’d always kept up neatly was now in shambles and knots and my clothes where extremely unkempt.

I closed my eyes and splashed some water on my face, but images of Saun's dead body sprang into my mind again, so I opened my eyes immediately.

''Hold it together.'' I ordered myself as I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and walked out of the bathroom.

My mother watched me as I sat back down, covered myself in my blanket, and rolled over. After a few hours, I once again fell into a restless sleep.

I suppressed a sigh as I stepped out of the car 8 hrs later into the glaring heat, not that it bothered me, it was hotter in Australia.

Anna and my brother Anthony had already gotten out and were headed to the boot of the car to retrieve their luggage. The rest of our belongings had arrived the day before and were waiting inside their new home.

I looked up at the manor. Subjectively, it was a beautiful home. It was four stories high, the outside was all dark gray stones, matching the stone driveway, it looked like two homes in one, one directly in front and one off to the side on the right but still connected. To the left of the driveway was a large 10 car garage built yrs ago and was two stories high, complete with a small studio apartment on the second level.

My aunt Kathy, the current Luna of our pack was a car lover and had more cars than she could ever drive, a waste of money in my opinion, but seeing as my family were richer than god, or rather, the Goddess, I guessed Kathy could afford this little indulgence.

I turned back to the entrance directly in front of where they were parked. It could fit 6 people standing comfortably under the stone archway. The manor was huge, with endless rooms and hidden passage ways. I'm sure we could live in this house for years without even running into another person if we wanted it that way, and with everything I'd been through in the past few months, it was a tempting idea. I craved solitude.

A large overgrown forest surrounded the manor with a wild rushing river cutting through it, our home was a hidden gem, hard to find if you did not know the way, exactly why the family liked it.

The manor had been in the family for centuries, passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, or at least that’s what it seemed like to the outside world, a family lie, and now I would have to lie to everyone else as well. I hated lying

The current owner of the manor was my eccentric Aunt Kathy. She was ancient and lived with her butler, Aaron, or at least that's what they told everyone. The family knew the truth however. Aaron was her husband. They'd married many many years earlier and Kathy was much older than she seemed, though in truth I didn't exactly know her real age.

Kathy had a talent for shape-shifting, one of her special gifts. She only pretended to age so that she could stay in one place instead of moving from town to town like the rest of the family, a family, a pack I’d never met. In private, Kathy would look her true age of 30, but in public she was an aging beauty.

My mom, Anna, was the next in line to own the manor, the next Luna, a title she should have taken years ago, but she'd rejected it to be with my human father.

My mother was a pretty woman with long black hair and sun tanned skin, her brown eyes had a welcoming look to them although lately they had been filled with pain, pain I'd caused her.

Mom had run away when she was 19 to Australia with my father, Jonathan. The family didn't approve of him and disowned her, who knew that they were right to do so. Kathy was the only member of the family who hadn't turned her back on my mom, and they were extremely close, though I got the feeling that she had never really warmed to my father either.

I'd always thought my parents had a wonderful marriage but on my 18th birthday in April, 4 months ago, everything changed, and my father had thrown us out, depressed and desperate for something stable my mum had packed up my brother and myself and returned to her old home in America.

My brother Anthony was two years younger than me, but he was growing every day and was already taller than I was. He looked a lot like my father, dark hair, hazel brown eyes and solidly built whereas I was a lot like my Aunt Kathy, both short but curvy, with a slight sun-kissed tanned skin, dark blue eyes and black hair, only mine had streaks of purple through it, my favorite color.

I always felt such a strong connection to the manor, but now that I was back here, it meant nothing to me, nothing meant anything to me right now.

''Mina,'' My mother called out, bringing me back to earth. ''Hurry up and grab your bags, it looks like it's going to rain, we need to get everything inside before it starts coming down.''

I didn’t answer but did as she asked. I'd hardly spoken since my birthday. Every time I opened my mouth to talk I just couldn't make the sounds come out, it was hard enough to breathe, let alone keep up a conversation.

''Is all of my stuff in my room?'' Ant asked grumpily.

Anthony had put up a fuss at first when mom told him we were moving, but he soon accepted with poor grace, though he still refused to speak to mom normally, he chose to communicate with grunts, snappish remarks and glaring looks.

''I've already told you yes.'' Mom's voice rose in annoyance. They'd had this conversation several times already.

''You're here!'' Kathy's voice rang out as she rushed over to us, she embraced my mom, then Ant before crushing me into her body.

I hated human contract right now and quickly pulled away and stepped back.

''How are you feeling sweetheart?'' She asked me as she looked into my eyes. ''Are the growing pains gone yet? How are you dealing with the hunger cravings?''

''Kathy,'' My mom warned, and glared at her. Thankfully, Kathy took the hint and stopped asking me questions. I had no desire to talk about my transformation or anything to do with being a Lycan.

''Well, we'd better get inside.'' Kathy smiled awkwardly and grabbed a bag from the boot. ''The rain will start in 6 minutes.''

''How do you know?'' Anthony asked curiously, but Kathy only winked at him.

''Where's Aaron?'' Mom asked as I grabbed the last two bags.

''Oh, he's out at a coven meeting.'' Kathy answered as we followed her inside. ''They must be running late. Mina’s return hasn't just got the pack excited, the coven are thrilled too, they’ve been waiting for this for years. He should be home soon though.''

I frowned at her comment, mom mentioned that I would be in charge of the coven and our pack when I was ready, no chance in hell…

Aaron was a powerful witch. This fact had been hidden from me until I turned 18 but now no one was bothering to hide any of the family secrets from me, despite desperately wishing I was still in the dark.

I hated them for keeping this secret. If only I’d been warned, I could have avoided everything that had happened, if I’d known I could have saved Saun.

My chest restricted, and my throat ached when I thought of him, so I quickly pushed away any thoughts of him, but my hand automatically went to the engagement ring I had on a necklace and I gripped it tightly, it was my only source of comfort when the pain came.

I stepped into the manor, heading straight for my rooms which were at the back facing the forest.

We had stayed in the old manor many times before, and I knew it like the back of my hand. Nothing had changed since our visit last year. This didn’t surprise me. Kathy liked things a certain way.

I had always hated our visits here. Kathy was always giving me odd looks, as if she was waiting for something. She was waiting for my 18th birthday, when I would come of age and go through the change.

Rage surged through me again as I headed up the stairs, so many times they could have told me the truth, and yet they had all kept me in the dark. The only things they ever told me were about old legends about our family.

Stories I'd thought were crazy at the time, stories about werewolves and vampires and witches and our family and school of magic hidden within the family’s college.

My mom was a professor and took a post at the college. I would be attending it too, while Anthony would be placed in one of the private high schools in town.

I was not thrilled about going to the family’s college, I was set to go to Stanford before everything happened, although I’d had my pick of the ivy’s if I wanted to transfer.

I entered my new room. It was huge, 3 rooms in one plus a bathroom. I entered into a smaller room where a fireplace and lounges sat with sheets over the furniture.

I walked through the room to the second room where my bed waited for me, already made and looking welcoming.

Behind the official bedroom area was a walk-in closet the size of my old bedroom in Australia and to the right was a spacious bathroom.

I ignored all the boxes resting neatly against the wall and headed straight for the bed.

I didn't go down for dinner, insisting that I wasn't hungry when my mum knocked on my door. In truth, I wanted to be alone again, it was exhausting pretending not to be depressed.

I went to bed late, despite being in bed for hours, I hadn't been sleeping, only getting a few hours of sleep every night, but I wasn't in any hurry to sleep. It brought me no relief from my pain.

DREAM

''MINA!'' Saun voice called out in agony. ''STOP!''

Etamina looked down at Saun's face without any emotions, her vision blurred as she watched him choking on his own blood,

She growled and lunged for his throat.

END OF DREAM

I screamed and woke only to find myself shaking on the ground, there were burn marks in a circle all around me as if magic had exploded from my body, this had happened before.

I looked over at my phone and saw that it was 4am. I’d only been asleep for 2 hours. I tried to focus on the clock on my phone, but images of my nightmare broke into my mind and I began weeping into my knees.

''Etamina.'' My mom came running into my room, pulling her night gown on as she rushed over to me on the ground.

''I'm fine.'' I lied, but mom held me as I cried.

''It's going to be alright, baby.'' She hushed me, it had no effect. I felt no comfort in her touch. ''Just give it time, I promise.''

''Mom?'' Came Anthony’s worried voice from the doorway.

''It’s alright sweetheart.'' My mother assured him, ''Just go back to bed.''

Anthony nodded but looked torn as he left, shutting the door behind him.

Once I was in control of myself, I pushed my mum away and got up. Without looking at her, I headed towards my bathroom.

''I just need to have a shower.'' I told her. ''I'm alright now, please go.''

''Mina-''

''Please mom, just go.'' My voice shook, and I walked faster towards the bathroom.