The Chosen Luna

CHAPTER 1. The just-risen sun shone softly on the streets, bringing with it a flurry of morning activity. “Get up son, the people seek your presence at the pack,” With a jaw-dropping voice, Agnes, Alpha Lewis’s aged mother screamed, halting his deep slumber. “Mother, what have you done? I’m not ready to see anyone right now,” Alpha Lewis rubbed his bleary eyes and frowned at his mother. Leaning forward, he glanced through his window and caught a glimpse of the large multitude wailing outside his pack. “This is ridiculous! Mother, it’s barely 7 am. Are they jobless? No insane person leaves his abode, hovering over the street like a thug. Discard them now. I wish to retire to my bed,” Lewis shouted and fell back to sleep. “That’s never gonna happen. A fair hearing would do just fine. I suggest you go hear them out. They’ve been out there crying for hours.” Agnes implored his nonchalant son, who wasn’t bothered about his wailing people. “It’s fine. I’d go check them out.”. After a prolonged silence, Lewis finally agreed. Upon sighting him approaching, the wailing increased. Some scrubbed themselves on the ground as an ocean of sweat emanated from their eyes. With corpses scattered on the ground, Lewis already knew his Pack had been plagued by a disaster. Amidst the loud cry, he was mute and unmoved. He just placed his hands behind him and observed the situation. After his thorough observation, Alpha Lewis finally uttered, “I need a volunteer to explain the reason behind this nuisance. I don’t recall inviting all of you to my pack.” Lewis flared up with rage, displaying the veins on his neck. He talked endlessly while they listened tirelessly. “Thank you, Alpha.” One of them signified, volunteering himself to speak on behalf of everyone. Pointing to the ground, “These corpses are enough evidence that this pack is in its ruins. Do we fold our arms and watch death lay its icy cold hands on us? Of course, not. We now depend on other packs for survival. Our crops and animals are dying prematurely. What have we done to deserve this torment? The full Moon Pack wasn’t known for these misfortunes. We were the most feared, powerful, and industrious among other packs. What changed?” narrating the ordeal, a middle-aged man wept uncontrollably like a toddler. “Are you done talking? All of you need to understand that I’m neither the moon goddess nor guardian. I’m just an Alpha. I do not possess any superpowers to stop this calamity. I can’t save you. Be gone from this place, this moment! All of you,” Neglecting their woes, Alpha Lewis declared and returned to his chambers unbothered. “Come back here, Lewis. You can’t abandon them at a crucial moment like this. You’re so despicable,” Agnes followed Lewis immediately, striving to make him resolve the situation, but he declined, shunning the cries of his people. “Mother, did you plan this? Whose side are you on, huh? You still don’t get it, do you? I am helpless in this situation. Please, I wish to return to sleep,” Lewis avoided the drama and pretended as though his Pack was at peace. His attitude stuns her. She watched helplessly as he snored like a dragon. There was nothing she could do to convince him anymore. With disappointment hoarding her face, Agnes stepped outside and granted Lewis his privacy. A few minutes later, Ariel the moon guardian showed up in her dreadlocks, all dressed in her red robe, holding a staff in her left hand. Narrowing her gaze at Agnes, Ariel demanded, “I wish to see your son. I brought him a message from the moon goddess,” “Yes, the mood guardian” Agnes bowed and shuffled to the Alpha’s chambers to summon his presence. “Oh, no. Not again. What does she want? Isn’t it too early for this?” “Silence, son! You dare not speak about her in such a manner. You must go see her now,” Agnes spoke with authority. It’s always different whenever the moon guardian is involved. Nobody keeps her waiting, not even the Alpha of the New Moon pack. Lewis gradually got off his bed and stepped out to respond to Ariel’s call. The pack of wolves was already going to face their problems alone, knowing the Alpha would never intercede for them. “What do I owe this pleasant surprise?” Sitting on his throne, Lewis inquired. “I have brought you a message from the mood goddess. The pack is in ruins. A catastrophe awaits your household and, if not averted, might pose a threat to your life,” Ariel divulged, looking sideways. “Threat to my life? You speak in parables, moon guardian. What has the moon goddess said this time? I wish to know. Your silence hurts my soul,” Lifting his head, Lewis became more interested in the situation because he was about to be affected. He’s never been this scared all his life. Without being told, he knew his life was in danger. “Many years ago, your great-grandfather led a battalion of werewolves and invaded the human nation, where they slaughtered their men and enslaved their young girls. During the process, he r***d a sick old woman to death with her cry to be spared. Before her death, she placed a huge curse on the full Moon Pack that would last for generations to come. It’s quite unfortunate that you, Alpha Lewis, will die before the age of 30 if this curse isn’t lifted,” Ariel revealed the shocking details that stunned Lewis and his mother, leaving their mouths in a fly-catching position. It took them some moments to realize that. “This is a joke, right?” Lewis questioned. Fear and anxiety rubbed his face in the mud. His heart pounds heavily like the drums of war. “I wish it was, my Alpha. Be not dismayed, for there’s a solution,” she allayed his fears. “There is? Spill it already. What are you waiting for?” Lewis sparked. “You will journey to the human city and disguise as a peasant to find a human chosen by the moon goddess. And when you do, bring her home and make her your Luna. She must get pregnant and bear you a son. Only then would the curse be broken.” “No, that’s not possible. Why must it have to be a human? We have so many beautiful female wolves in this pack. Anyone else could be chosen to break the curse. How do I go find someone I barely even know? It’s never gonna happen. Now you'll go tell the moon goddess that I’m not interested. It doesn’t even make sense to me. A human?” Lewis shook his head in disbelief, shunning the words from the moon goddess. He can’t imagine himself going undercover just to find a human to break the curse placed on his pack. He’d rather die than embark on such a dangerous journey. “She’s the great-granddaughter of the woman that cursed this Pack. The moon goddess has chosen her to uplift the curse. For the ways of the moon goddess, is not the ways of men, my Alpha. The moon goddess has made it easier for you. There’s a star-shaped birthmark on her wrist. Just find her and bring her home safely. Failure to do this will attract sudden death in your household and royalty will be wiped away from your clan completely. The goddess has spoken,” Ariel further disclosed and disembarked the pack, leaving Alpha Lewis alone with millions of questions to ponder. “Why me? I don’t deserve any of this. Why do I have to suffer for the sins of the past?” He asked rhetorically as the question echoed back to him. Now everything is beginning to make sense to him. His great-grandfather died before turning 30, his father, before 27 and now Alpha Lewis is just 27.Technically, he’s got less than 3 years before he vanishes from the earth’s surface. “I’ll do it. I don’t have a choice. I’m too young to die,” he finally agreed after pacing around his pack, breathing heavily as though he were being cashed by a ruthless dog. His mother was pleased that her son had finally agreed to accept the challenge. She encouraged him and wished him well. “Nathan, go get everything needed. You'll see me off to the riverside at dawn tomorrow. Hurry now!” Lewis instructed one of his male wolves. “Yes, my Alpha,” Nathan departed for a different route. While Lewis was planning to embark on a journey that’d see him break the curse, Nathan had other plans and was secretly plotting against the full Moon Pack. For several months, he’s been working with Alpha Aurelius of the dynasty pack, feeding him with sensitive information about the full Moon Pack. Nathan became Lewis Arch’s enemy ever since he snatched his girlfriend from him. Now this was the perfect time to have his pound of flesh. Hurriedly, he reached out to Alpha Aurelius over the phone and disclosed Lewis’s plan to break the curse.