The Mute Luna

Chapter 1: The Letter

“Carter.” Someone yelled excitedly.

No answer.

"Carter!"

No answer.

“CARTER!”

Silently groaning, Carter threw her arm over her eyes, hoping the noise would go away so she could fall back asleep. After a moment of silence, she snuggled back into her blankets and warm bed, trying to go back to sleep. Her blankets seemed to hug her as did her mattress. Not only that, but she liked the way she could not feel pain, not be cold or scared. She liked the way she felt warm and safe when she slept. It was like she was finally escaping reality for just a little while, to forget all her troubles and issues and just be happy. She didn't want to wake up and lose that.

“Carter,” The voice said again. "Come on, wake up, we're going to the lake."

She was still half asleep but she knew whom the voice belonged to. She silently groaned again but moved her arm from her eyes and opened them to see a lanky, tall boy with wavy black hair and shining green eyes leaning over her. His features were soft and his smile was gentle and kind, brightening the room. 

He smiled when he saw she had woken up.

“About time, sleepyhead.” Joey grinned. "It's almost eleven in the morning." His voice was comforting and soft as he touched her cheek.

A small smile lifted onto her lips and she grabbed her small white board on her desk, next to her bed with her black marker. 

'I like to sleep in.'  She wrote and showed it to him. She stuck out her tongue as he chuckled.

''Well sorry, sunshine, but I have awoken you from your deep slumber and we're going to our lake today so deal with it." Joey laughed at her fake scowl and picked her up in his arms, spinning her around and making her drop her white board.

She silently laughed as always, her body vibrating against his built arms.

It had always been like this.

Though she faced a lot of pain and sadness, Carter always had Joey there with her to protect her, make her smile and help her to eat and sleep better. He had always been there for her when no one else had and though she told him as much as she could, she was thankful for that more than anything else. They were so close, in fact, that they had both graduated early so they both lived in the pack house together, located in Red Wood, California, a small town hidden in a thick forest of woods. Their pack wasn't very large but everyone was like a family and not much conflict happened with the lack of neighboring packs. 

Every day, Joey would come to wake Carter up and they would go off to cause trouble both in town and in the woods. And though she did not speak like every other girl and was extremely shy, Joey had stayed with her since they were young and never left her or made fun of her like others did.

He sat her down on the floor and patted her frizzy hair down. “Okay, go take a shower or get cleaned up and whatever, and I'll meet you downstairs.”  

She nodded and picked up her white board and marker as he left to let her change. Her room was small but nice, painted light blue and decorated with pictures of her and Joey and her father, along with a few drawings and paintings here and there. She had grown up here, this room always being her home. 

Carter's eyes landed on a picture of her and Joey in seventh grade, eating a pizza bigger than both of them. Joey had eaten half of it in five minutes and she had just sat there and laughed. Seeing the memory, she sighed and nodded. At times, she had to remind herself that this was really home. And that for once, she had something that wouldn't be taken from her. 

Making her bed in a sort of messy way, Carter opened her curtains, then went in her bathroom with a change of clothes.

As the shower warmed, Carter undressed and looked in the mirror to inspect her looks, hoping they had changed somehow magically overnight.

Her hopes were ruined.

Her long blonde hair was in a frizzy halo around her pale, sunken face and pale blue eyes. Her pale lips were cracked and colorless, and bags hung under her eyes, her body tiny and too thin, her ribs visible. Both her arms and her legs held no muscle and her bones seemed to jut from her body at awkward angles.

A silent sigh escaped through her nose. Why couldn't she have tan skin and a strong body? Why couldn't she have a pretty face or smile? Why couldn't she be beautiful like some of the girls in her pack, who could shift into a beautiful and strong wolf?

Why couldn't she speak?

The last question made her shudder. It was not as if she ever tried to speak or make a noise but for good reason. 

She sighed and looked at the floor, feeling tears well in her eyes. How long until she would finally be healed? How long until the broken girl she was, changed into someone she could finally stand to look in the mirror at?

Once Carter cleaned herself up about ten minutes later, she changed into a pair of wrinkled blue jeans and a white tank top with her own gray beanie, since Joey refused to share his black one. She then brushed her teeth and made sure she looked decent enough to be seen. Once she was sure she looked decent enough, she left the bathroom, grabbed her white board and marker, and walked out of her room into the living room next door.

The entire house was beautiful. Three floors of beautifully painted portraits of wolves hung on the beige colored walls, gold trim lined the ceiling and floors with the fluffy red carpet leading a path through the maze of doors, most of them rooms of pack members, down to the grand staircase of marble stairs, leading down into the foyer. The front doors were huge, made of oak with ancient symbols of wolves carved into them, their handles golden and round.

Many adults in the pack had left for their own jobs along with many teenagers while children played outside with their mothers watching from nearby and discussing things like food and pack gossip. Joey waited in the kitchen at the counter with two plates of pancakes and bacon with two glasses of milk. He sat across her as she sat and handed her her food. 

“Eat up, sunshine.” He said, digging into his own food. She grabbed her white board and wrote. 

'Thank you.' She wrote and showed it to him.

He smiled and spoke around a mouth full of food. ''No problem, sunshine. Now eat up.''

She nodded and ate hungrily, calming the monster growling at her in her belly. After about five bites though, her stomach felt full, as if it was about to burst. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, hands holding her small stomach.

Joey noticed and his eye brow furrowed. “You should eat some more, sunshine. Don't want you to go hungry.” He sounded concerned.

Carter simply waved her hand in a carefree manner but he wasn't having it, putting more pancakes on her fork. He held it to her lips and waited.

After a few seconds, she sighed and gave in, letting him feed her bit by bit.

"See?" He smiled when they finished. "All better."

Carter only blushed. Though she was used to Joey helping her most of the time, she still felt embarrassed about most of it. 

They talked for a few minutes, Joey supplied most of the conversation except for the occasional answer on the white board from Carter. He did the dishes afterwards, then they put on their shoes and headed outside into the woods, where most kids were playing war and hide and seek.  

The woods were Carter's favorite place. It was always so beautiful and though her wolf was dormant, she always felt close to her wolf there. The towering oak trees built strong and beautiful stretched their long leaves and branches out over the ground, creating a canopy of green leaves over the ground, creating shade. Golden rays of sunlight found their way through some of the leaves and illuminated the small flowers and soft grass on the ground. Honeysuckle bushes sat here and there, sending the sweet smell of honey and flowers into the air.

Joey spoke once they got further into the woods. “Let me shift and I'll give you a ride to the lake.”

She nodded.

Carter was used to riding on Joey's back when he was a wolf. Since her wolf was dormant, Carter had been unable to shift or even speak with her wolf or through a pack mind link. So, Joey and her father helped her. 

It wasn't as if Carter had not tried since her wolf became dormant. She had tried many times but it always felt like something was missing, like a piece of the puzzle was gone. Every time she willed herself to change, nothing happened. She accepted with some difficulty a while ago that she would probably not shift again for a very long time.

Joey turned and went behind a large boulder to save his clothes and Carter heard him grunt as he shifted into a large black wolf that trotted out from behind the stone with clothes in his mouth. He nudged them into her arms and crouched down so she could climb on. She sat on his back gently, though she was very light, and wrapped her arms around her best friend's neck with the white board and clothes still in hand.

Once he was sure she was steady, Joey took off in a run through the woods. Carter kept her eyes closed to avoid getting a headache or getting sick because she was not very used to the fast pace. She held on tightly to the objects in her hands until she felt him stop.  

She looked up to see the forest give away to a beautiful crystal blue lake, sunlight reflecting off and on to the smooth pebbles laying on its bank, the calm cool water gently moving through as swans and fish swam. Trees bordered the clearing the lake sat in but in the distance, Carter could see mountains peeking out. One tree in particular leaned and twisted over the water, its long vines hanging down like the rope swing tied to one of its branches over the water.

She hopped down off Joey's back and to the edge of the water on the bank of the soft green grass. The smell of fresh water and rustic earth reached her nose and she breathed in deeply, listening to the sounds of nature around her. 

A cold nose bumped into her hip and she turned to see Joey giving her a wolfish grin. she smiled back and laid in the soft grass with him next to her. She laid his clothes near him in case he wanted to shift back and put her white board nearby. She relaxed into the grass and picked a nearby daisy, waving it in front of her face lazily. 

They stayed like that for a while, just relaxing. It felt wonderful. 

"You know, I wonder how many pancakes I can eat in under a minute," Joey wondered aloud as they both walked into the house for dinner. They had spent the day just laying around in the hidden place they both shared, sleeping and occasionally playing in the water. Carter rolled her eyes at his silly question, though she knew the answer was quite a lot. 

'Probably a lot.' Carter wrote.

He laughed. "Yeah, but we can see tomorrow." He sounded determined, making Carter already worried that her best friend would choke. Perhaps his head stone could say:

DEATH BY PANCAKES.

She silently laughed and went over to the freezer to find a pizza. Most of the pack was still out and everyone usually ate by themselves or with friends and ate what they wanted. Joey found it first and threw it in the oven. 

But just as they started discussing what kind of pizza was better, someone came in. "Hey, Cart." The Alpha sighed walking in. Bags hung under his eyes and he looked tired, though his eyes were lit up as they landed on her. He gave her a small side hug and nodded to Joey.

Joey bowed his head. "Alpha, sir." His tone was respective and slightly nervous, though he had no reason to be.

Carter's father laughed as he strolled to the fridge to grab a bottle of soda. 

"I've told you a hundred times, son." He said. HIs smile was kind and confident, the smile only an alpha could have. "You don't have to call me that. I may be your Alpha but you only have to treat me like that when we're at meetings or in public. Right now, I'm just your best friend's father."

Joey nodded with his goofy grin. "Thank you, sir."

Carter's father turned to her, suddenly looking tired again. "Hey, Cart. We have to talk." A ball of anxiety suddenly welled in her chest at her father's words. Her father was almost always cool and funny and never very worried much. Maybe tired but never very worried.

Carter looked at the floor, shoulders tensed. 

'Why?' She wrote on her board, her handwriting messier from her nerves, which were now raw.

Her father managed a small smile. "Don't worry, Cart. It's not bad news, I'm just scared you will be nervous." He looked at Joey. "You can stay, this involves you too, but I'm sure your parents will tell you." He took something out of his pocket, a white letter with blue writing and a silver stamp. 

Looking at it, Carter felt as if a weight had just settled in her chest. Something about the envelope seemed elegant but dark, holding a fear Carter had been pushing to the back of her mind for a long time, now revealed in front of her.

"The letter came today." Her father said.