A Luna's Power

Chapter 7: Changing The Old Ways

-James-

I was looking over at Chris and Kate sitting together with their child. Kate had given birth only a little over a week ago and it had gone beautifully yet I couldn’t help but feel cheated in some way. I was happy for him, of course, but when I looked at them, they just reminded me of what I had lost. They had gotten a son... Of course, the Goddess was just that cruel, right? And just beside them sat Rider and Selene with the twins. So happy too …

I took a sip from the drink in front of me. the dinner had started off awkwardly but at least it was now warm and full of talk and jokes. Selene’s sister Lara had barely even survived through the first meal. She had stormed out of here like something was chasing her. I saw the hurt look on Selene’s face before I had seen the queen follow Lara. She had come back not looking that happy. Their conversation clearly didn’t go very well, but I didn’t expect the queen to have been able to convince her to come back. Lara was … she was something else. She did not break for anyone, and I believed when she had made her mind up about something, very few things could change it. Though, I had felt a need to be the one to go after her and tell the little fire wolf to speak nicer to her sister.

Selene had come a long way and was serious about creating a good relationship with her sister, but Lara, besides her determination and power, was like fire, her treatment of her sister was cold. I did not like that. The little female clearly didn’t realize how important any sort of friend or family relationship was. I had not even understood it clearly until Rider saved me and brought me here. She was in a very dangerous position. A lot of people followed the old way with a luna needing an alpha to rule and a female certainly did not belong on the council, but now Lara was doing the complete opposite. She was ruling on her own and she had a seat on the council. That made her pretty much a target.

Sh*t, just the thought of it had my hand tightening around the glass and suddenly... the glass didn’t fall apart but I saw the long lines that spread along its clear surface and heard it protest under my harsh grip. I had forgotten how strong I had gotten. I let go of the glass hoping no one had noticed. I looked around and luckily no one had.

“Are you okay?” Damian asked beside me in a low voice.

I gave him a small smile and nodded.

“Just fine,” I said.

The truth was, I was not. I was worse than ever! Seeing Lara brought a lot of old memories and feelings back, but also new and powerful ones. The need to claim her had … I had almost done it just because I wanted to. I had just wanted to have her right away. I needed her right away. I needed to make sure that no one could take her from me, and while it came as no surprise that I didn’t want a mate, I was very surprised when she had asked me to reject her.

I was still unsure as to why she was so determined for me to reject her, yet while I had sworn I would never have another mate but Jane, the very thought of rejecting her was … I felt sick to my stomach and my wolf growled darkly inside of my head, like he was saying if I ever said those words, he would make me pay for it.

I hated him for it though. Why would he ever want anyone but Jane? Jane was perfect. She always had been. She was the strongest, the kindest, the smartest, the most brilliant mate. She had saved me, and she had loved me. She had even loved the animal I had been. She had looked past it and wanted to build a family with me. It was actually a big dream of hers to become a mother, and while I had not been very certain in fear of losing her, I would give her anything she would ask of me. So, we passed her heat together of course, and she got pregnant. And still … I lost her. Not even to the pregnancy like I had feared, but to an attack that was meant for Octavia.

I tiredly rubbed my eyes before getting up from my chair, silencing the entire dining room, but I did not look at anyone as I walked away. I just needed some air. If I continue to sit there, my thoughts would only spiral more out of control.

As I walked through the hallways, I heard a small tapping sound beside me and looked down to find the orange furball running beside me, clearly determined to make me her new plaything, since Evan wasn’t here anymore.

“Don’t you have something better to do?” I asked.

She just looked up at me before continuing to look where she was heading.

“I am not that lonely I need you beside me!” I told her.

But even if I told her quite clearly, I did not want her to follow me, I still held the damn door for the little cat, as I walked into the fresh spring evening air and continued to walk over the big grass area leading to the forest.

“Okay, you can go back now. As you can see, I am not having a mental breakdown,” I said as I stopped and looked down at her.

She just looked up at me before placing her butt down on the grass.

“You are a strange cat. You know that?” I asked.

She just continued to stare at me with her yellow eyes.

“You really must be missing Evan so much if you go find someone who reminds you of his dark mood,” I sighed.

“Meow!”

Without a warning, she suddenly jumped from the ground, forcing me to catch her, and then she got herself comfortable in my arms. I tried putting her down, but she refused to let go. It was exactly like Evan!

“Hey!” I said. “Let go!”

But she refused to! Even if I lowered myself a little, shaking my arms and trying to unfold them so, she couldn’t be carried by me, it didn’t work. She just put her claws into me before climbing higher up and then resting over my shoulders, while purring loudly, telling her she was very satisfied with her new place.

“I told you to let go!” I said.

She didn’t listen and just purred louder.

“You have got to be kidding!”

Her purring only got louder, as she rested on my shoulder and rubbed her face against my neck. I sneered annoyed and tried moving away.

“I really hope Evan comes back to take you away.”

She clearly did not care about how rude I was being to her. She had chosen me as her new little thing to spend her time with and I had no say in it.

“Fine …” I finally said before reaching behind me and grabbing her by the neck, pulling her off when she wasn’t prepared and put her on the ground. “But you are not being carried by me. I am sure you will do good from some walking.”

“Meow!”

She certainly did not like what I was insinuating, but I did not really care. At least, I had accepted her presence. I walked a little back to the castle, but I had no intention of going inside. I just found the stairs leading to the castle and sat down. Little Diva climbed the steps and placed herself down beside me and as close as she could get before demanding I pet her. I did as she told me and ran my hand over her fur. She purred, pleased.

“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered.

Little Diva looked up at me shortly before I ran my hand down her back.

“I will never love anyone else …”

She suddenly moved up on my lap and rolled herself together, so she became a little fat ball. She clearly found the new position so much better.

I sighed and leaned my head back looking up at the sky, that was getting darker and darker. For some reason the darkness only made a fear grow in me. It had been a dark night when Jane had been killed too. The darkness only reminded me of that, but it also made me remember some things … back when I had been a wolf. I did not remember a lot, but a few things had gotten back to me. I remembered killing animals and eating them, but while the taste still somehow lingered making my stomach do a flip, what scared me was the memories of the people I had killed. The other wolves I had come across and who had not understood when I had made it clear not to get close to me …

I remembered killing them.

I remembered the fights.

I remembered my claws and teeth going deep into their skin.

I remembered the whimpers and howling and the taste of their blood.

I tried forgetting about it. I tried not to think too much. I had enough to deal with, like remembering about Jane and her death, I did not have to remember the death I had caused.

“I am not a very pleasant person,” I told the little cat.

She lifted her head and looked at me. Her yellow eyes once again watching me with this intensity that almost made it seem like she could understand me.

“I am actually worse than Evan.”

She just continued to stare at me, waiting for me to continue.

“It’s true. He might have had a darkness in him created by Elena, but I became an animal. I gave over to my darkness. Completely.”

“Meow!”

“It’s true!” I said. “Jane was the one who saved me and made me remember what it was like being human. She brought me back to life. Without her … I really am nothing but that animal.”

Suddenly the little cat sat up and jumped off my lap, looking almost offended at the things I had said. She walked towards the house and then stopped in front of the door, looking back at me, demanding me pretty much to open the door for her. I sighed but got up from the ground and walked over to her, holding the door for her and then closing it before returning to my seat and looking up at the sky again.

“I am not sure how long I can keep going,” I whispered. “ I miss you too much. I need you …”

-Lara-

I stood in front of the mirror, pulling my red hair back into a ponytail while my eyes locked on mirror-me. I tried my best not to let my nerves control me. I would be sitting in front of some very powerful alphas today, and they could smell fear from miles away. I refused to be afraid. I refused just to be a little luna, who tried playing the big bad wolf. I was strong. I was powerful and I would show them today, just how powerful. I would not show any weakness, and if they thought they could find any, then they were wrong.

“Luna?”

I heard knocking on my bedroom door and took a last look at myself. I wore my usual ripped jeans and boots and a shirt that had three of the top buttons open. My guns in my holster on each side of me and a knife in my boot. I took my leather jacket and pulled it on and then my gloves, which covered to the middle of my fingers, and then I walked over to the door.

“Jasper,” I said and opened the door. “Can I help you with something?”

Jasper was a tall and broad blond beta, who had these strange eyes. Not the color, but the way they seemed to be able to read your very darkest secret without you having to tell him. It often made it very hard to look at him, but I refused to bow to any alpha, so why a beta?

“Should I come with you today?” he asked.

“You think I need someone to hold my hand?”

“I think you will be up against a lot of alphas today. Maybe some backup would not be bad,” he said.

I shook my head and walked past him, but he just followed right behind me.

“I don’t need any. I will be doing this meeting on my own, showing them that I will not be scared away and that I do not need any sort of support.”

“But luna-“

I stopped on the stairs, looking at Jasper, who was a few steps higher.

“Keep an eye on things, that is the only thing I ask of you,” I said. “I don’t need you to come with me.”

“You don’t expect them to try to hurt you?”

“With the king there? Selene is mated to his brother and mother to his niece and nephew. His protection extends to me as well,” I said.

Jasper crossed his arms, his eyes getting even more intense, and it made my skin crawl, but while I should probably do what my sister suggested, I refused to think I could not keep him in control. I knew my father still held power, but I would soon strip every inch of it away from him, taking it for myself.

“I thought you said you didn’t need protection,” he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him, walking a few steps up, so we were at eye-level. I trapped his with mine, and even if he was strong for a beta, I was still a luna, and he couldn’t keep the contact forever, slowly lowering his eyes.

“I don’t,” I said darkly.

Then I left him there on the stairs and walked down to the next floor before going to the garage and finding my bike among the cars.

I got on it and turned it on. Then I put on my helmet, leaned over the bike and drove out of there, just as the garage door opened.

It was not a long drive, and the building I arrived at looked like something out of the nineteen hundred. I almost wanted to laugh at the sight, as I typed in the code for the gate and drove into the parking lot where I parked my bike and took my helmet off. The building was this incredibly boring dark brown color that had me shaking my head before I let the helmet hang on one of the handles and then got off the bike. There were a lot of cars already parked here, making it clear to me that I was probably the last one to arrive. Good, that had been my intention. Making them wait.

I smiled as I took the steps on the stairs, leading up to the building, two at a time. I walked through the big doors and then came to a very beautiful entrance hall, with a staircase curving in a half circle leading to the next floor and a big chandelier hanging over my head. There was a reception as well where a young female sat. Of course, I thought. We couldn’t be anything but their secretaries, right?

She quickly noticed me, and her eyes grew big from the sight of me. I probably looked like I came to rob the place or something.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Has the council meeting begun?” I asked.

She nodded slowly.

“Great,” I said with a little smile.

I quickly walked over to the stairs and started to walk up to where the meeting was being held.

“Wait!” the young female called. “You can’t go up there.”

I ignored her, as I walked down the long, beautiful hallway with dark golden walls and these beautiful portraits and statues. It was all very old, but I could not care if these males in the portraits had done something magnificent in the past or had held some kind of high position. Today, a female would make history.

It was two big brown doors with golden handles, I came to. Two big males stood in front of them, looking at me confused before glancing at each other. Then one of them held up their hand.

“You can’t go inside,” one of them said.

“I have a seat,” I said.

They clearly did not believe me.

“You need to go,” he said.

I sighed, and then pulled one of my guns, aiming it at him and making him back away.

“I have a seat,” I repeated. “I am going in.”

I turned to the other, shooting him a hard look that had him looking at the ground. Good, now they knew what a luna could do. I placed my gun back in my holster and then grabbed the handles, pushing the doors open and making them hit the walls on the other side, so it echoed in the giant meeting room before they closed behind me.

Everyone turned their heads. All the alphas were gathered around this huge, long table with the king at the end of it. There were also a few betas and other trusted men in here standing closer to the walls, while the king’s most trusted men stood right behind him, ready to protect him, which meant … James was here. While everyone looked at me, his eyes were really the only ones I noticed, but I tried to remain strong and just put on this smug smile on, while walking over to the chair, placed at the other end of the table.

Really, only the queen should sit at the other end of this table, but since she wasn’t here … I pulled the chair out, making sure it scrapped against the floor and made an awful noise. I then sat down on it and placed my arms on the table while folding my hands in front of me. Then I ran my eyes over every alpha in the room. They all had the same shocked expression and the same question in their eyes. It was the most satisfying thing I had ever seen.

Only the king and Evan, another trusted male of the king, did not match their expressions. The king leaned back in his chair, smiling a little at the scene I made. I probably wouldn’t be allowed to do it a second time, so I made sure this one counted.

“Sorry to make you all wait,” I said, clearly not meaning it.

“What the hell?” one of the alphas around the table said.

He turned to the king, looking at him, waiting for an explanation, and soon the rest did too.

“We have a new member,” the king said.

“What?!” they all said.

I smiled at all of them before leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms.

“She is the ruler of her father’s pack,” he said. “The seat is hers.”

“But she does not have an alpha at her side,” another one said.

“Well, no,” the king said. “But there is no law against a luna on the council.”

He quickly met my eyes, and I knew he saw the gratefulness in mine.

“My king, she needs an alpha.”

“Actually,” I said, making everyone turn to me. “I don’t.”

“But you do. That is our way.”

“I am here to change that way.”

Everyone got dead quiet, even the king looked surprised and confused as to where I was going with this. It felt better than I could explain, to surprise all these alphas and show them exactly how powerful a female really could be. I wanted them to fear me. I wanted them to see that whatever they threw at me, I could take, while I made a change for every female out there.

“I want you all to change the law that says that whatever male or alpha I choose, will not be given my power or my pack.”

“What?!”

It was written in the old laws, that whatever male the luna chose, if she had no brothers to take over as alpha, he would get the power and position she had and become alpha, and if he was already an alpha, he would just get the power and the pack. He would take the control from her, and she would no longer be the one in charge. I wanted to change that. I wanted the power to always stay mine. No one could take it, and it was clear none of them liked that, and it only made me smile bigger, as I threw my legs over the side of the table and got really comfortable, making them see that I did not fear them or their reaction.