The Innocent Luna

Chapter 2:Mia

Present Day:

Thirteen years since the fire and our pack is back to as normal as it can be without a luna. The buildings were all rebuilt, the land was restored, and the pack is bigger than it was before. We have all grown up, some of us quicker than others, but the pack is thriving now. We have done what we can to stay strong together and thus building a pack that is stronger than most.

My siblings and I have done our best to help our dad since mom’s death. We miss her every day, but we try to remember her in the good times we share together. Since her death, things have been interesting. We adopted a cat, named Precious, and we have made a family out of the neighboring pack. Things were really good and they were about to get better…

“Happy birthday Max!” I scream at my baby brother as I rush into his room with the family cat, Precious, following close behind me. She is a beautiful little tabby cat that has been with us for about five years.

I can’t believe how time has flown by. I remember it like it was yesterday that he was a tiny baby toddling around the pack house. He has certainly turned into a young man instead of the little boy he was. He looks like our father with black hair, green eyes, a strong jawline, and broad shoulders. He is only five foot, six inches tall, but he is still growing at 13 years old.

“Thanks, Mia.” He says as he yawns and tries to rub the sleep from his eyes. “What’s that smell?” He asks.

“Your favorite, pancakes. I asked Cookie to make those today since it’s your birthday. Also, we are celebrating tonight after you get home from school. You lucked out with it being a Friday and the Friday before spring break too.” I say and rush over to him. I pulled him out of bed. “Now get dressed! We can’t be late for school.”

Since mom’s death, I’ve taken on the role of mother of the family. This means I make sure my siblings are up and ready for school and they are fed and put down for bed at a decent hour. I also make sure that their homework is done, their rooms stay clean, and they practice good manners and hygiene.

Our Beta’s mate, Alexis, took on the role as interim Luna until dad finds his second chance mate or he takes a chosen mate. When we ask him about both scenarios he just shrugs his shoulders and keeps going. The first year after her death was the hardest. We constantly saw Alpha Alex and his mate Luna Lisa over here. They took us on when dad just couldn’t keep it together. We spent many years with them and the twins as like a second family. They made sure that we all had Christmas presents, Easter baskets, and birthday parties until I became old enough to take on the responsibility. Luna Lisa and Beta Alexis have done their very best to take me under their wings and teach me how to be a good Luna and run a household. It’s a lot harder than it looks. They even took the time to teach me about the United States packs and territories.

There are typically four wolf packs per state. Some states, like Texas, have more at six. Other states, like Rhode Island, only have one pack for the whole territory. We are the pack in North Alabama. We are bordered by territories in Mississippi, Georgia, and Southern Tennessee. The other three packs in our state are all nearby, but they are smaller than even the ones who border us from the other states.

Packs are similar to cities and towns depending on the size of the pack. Our pack is the largest because we have over 5,000 pack members. Our city and territory borders one of the largest cities in North Alabama. The other three all have only about 1,000 pack members each. Our pack makes money with our investments, crops, and businesses that are owned by my father, technically. Because of this, we are able to take care of the whole pack and provide housing, food, and other necessities for our family and pack members.

The pack members work as well. Most of them have jobs and careers that bring in money to help the pack. The ones who have careers that can be utilized in our community as well, such as doctors, nurses, techs, and other necessary jobs, have jobs in our pack as well. They are used to staff the pack hospital. We also have an orphanage that is run by several pack members to help the children who have lost their families. Our pack is one of the only packs in the United States that takes in orphaned children.

I make it downstairs to find Milly already up and dressed for school. She has her black backpack thrown over her chair at the eat-in table. We normally did breakfast and dinner here since the pack house had it. It also made things easier on Cookie. She is our hired maid that lives in the pack house with us.

Only the Beta family and Alpha family resided in the pack house. The rest of the pack had houses spread across the territory that were all modern and up to date. We are one of the few packs in North America who have running water, electricity, internet, and cable available to all pack members in their private homes.

Milly is going through a goth phase at the moment. She has been wanting to dye her hair black, but dad finally put his foot down with that one. He was okay with getting her ears pierced three times each so she could wear several rows of earrings in her ears, he was even okay with the excessive amounts of makeup she chooses to wear, he was tolerant of the fake tattoos she placed on her body every day too. He drew the line at dying her hair. She was a natural platinum blonde, just like our mother. Out of all of us, she ended up looking just like her. The blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and a small frame. She was about five feet four inches tall. She hated how tall she was. States a good wolf should never be this short. I would always shrug my shoulders and tell her that is just how the Moon Goddess made her.

“Good morning, Milly. Have you eaten yet?” I ask and walk over to take my seat at the table.

“Yeah. Oh, how big is this party going to be tonight?”

“Yeah, how big is it going to be?” asked Max as he walked through the door. “You know I’m not a huge fan of parties. I always end up feeling lost in the crowd.”

“Not too big. I just invited the family and your friends from school. I did the calculations and it’s going to be only about ten people. Smaller than Milly’s party was for sure.” I say as I remember just how much work I put into my little sister’s fifteenth birthday party. It was a total blow out with a hundred people. She wanted everything black and gray.

“It’s not hard to have a party smaller than Milly’s.” He says as he loads his plate with pancakes and sausage links. He is a growing boy for sure as I see him scarf down every bit of the food and go back for seconds.

I take my seat at the table and add pancakes and sausage to my plate. I savor the flavors of them together with the syrup as dad walks in. He heads straight for Max with a huge grin on his face.

“Happy birthday, son!” He says as he pulls him into a huge hug. Them standing side by side, you could truly see the potential for growth in him. Dad looked just like him, only taller at about six foot, three inches with gray hair speckled through his black beard and hair now. His emerald green eyes showed pride as he looked at all three of us and a lone tear made an appearance in his eye.

“It has been a long time coming.” He says with a choked voice.

“What has, dad?” I ask as I stand to comfort him.

“You. You kids are growing up so fast on me. Max is thirteen and officially a teenager. Milly has her driving permit now. And you… You get your wolf and have your first shift in two days.” He says. “Not to mention you will be graduating at the end of the school year and moving off to college or to live with your mate.”

“That’s right… I will meet my wolf in two days.” I say in awe. I totally forgot that my eighteenth birthday was Sunday. I always seem to forget that Max was born two days before my fifth birthday, and I put my own needs on the back burner to take care of the others.

“Do I have to plan a party for myself?” I ask. I hate having a party for me. I love planning them and hosting them, but I hate having all the attention on me.

“No, that is being taken care of by others.” Says Beta Alexis as she and Beta Felix walk into the kitchen, hand in hand as always. I guess dad is going to throw an intimate party for me too! Their son, Lucas, and daughter, Layla, followed close behind. Lucas and Layla are twins. Both of them just turned eighteen a few months ago and got their wolves, Ray and Sunshine respectively. Layla is, also, my best friend. She has been there with me through all the good, the bad, the ugly, and heartache and pain of losing my mom. She is more like a sister to me than a friend really.

“Happy birthday, Max,” They all say in unison. He blushes sheepishly as he thanks everyone.

“Now, hurry up kids. You don’t want to be late for the last day before spring break.” Says Alexis. She really does like to take on the role of mom for all of us. She even gave me and Layla the s*x talk together. That was an interesting three hour conversation.

We all hurry and finish our breakfast and race to the cars in the garage of the pack house. It only takes fifteen minutes to get to school, but Alexis is very strict about being on time is considered late and being early is considered on time.