The Long Lost Luna

ZAIYREE I had watched as they killed the only man I had ever truly loved in front of my eyes, and that was the moment that shattered the last piece of me. Death wasn’t new to me. The humans had taken everything else from me just because they decided that werewolves weren’t worthy of this world. When I was a child, they invaded my village, killing over seventy-five percent of my pack, including my parents and my younger sister. They had decided to spare me and my boyfriend, and at first I thought it was the Moon Goddess’s luck that spared me that day. I quickly came to realize it was anything but luck. Those who had died that day were the lucky ones. They were returned to the Moon Goddess’s arms where they could live peacefully. Us werewolves who were left behind were the ones left in hell, forced to live with the pain of their deaths. But it was so much worse than that. The humans who captured us were pure evil, and the mental and physical abuse was almost unbearable. They enslaved or sold the rest of us, and everyday they reminded us that they thought we were worth less than dirt. Jasiah was the only reason I was still able to wake up every day. He was my childhood love, and somehow he still managed to make me smile as we were forced to endure the brutal slave work the humans put me through. Then, in the blink of an eye, Jasiah was taken from me too. The leader of the slaves came into our sleeping quarters, and he tried to take me as his own. Jasiah tried to protect me by lunging at the leader, but instead of saving me from the horrors I inevitably endured, Jasiah was killed in front of my eyes. The leader had his way with me after that, and my entire body went numb. I had lost everything I had ever cared about. I couldn’t take it anymore. My will to live dwindled, and I struggled to get out of bed every day. I wanted to give up, but Jasiah’s voice rang in my head. “One day we will be free. We will escape this hellhole, and we will rebuild the werewolves together,” Jasiah had always been saying. Somehow, he had such a bright future in his eyes, even though we were stuck in a dark world. I wanted to end it all, but I knew that would be a dishonor to Jasiah’s memory. He would want me to live and try to find the world he dreamed about, so instead I decided to run. I planned and watched until I found the perfect opportunity to escape the human compound. I jumped over the fence, cutting myself on the barbed wire in the process. “Release the dogs!” I heard the humans scream the moment they realized I was making a run for it. No werewolf who had ever attempted to escape the camp back alive, but I was determined to change that. I ran into the forest, ignoring the pain filling my body. I had no shoes, and my clothes were just threads at this point, but I didn’t stop running. Jasiah would want me to run to freedom for the both of us. I had to break free and live on, because it was the only way he would stay alive in this world. If I was caught and killed, there would be no one left on this earth to remember who Jasiah or the rest of my old pack was. Humans had never cared about us werewolves. They were the ones who had started the war on us. Their goal was complete annihilation, and we watched it happen over the years. Pack by pack, werewolves were eliminated or taken captive. I had been a slave to the humans for years now, and for all I knew, there were no other werewolves outside of the compound. I didn’t even know if it was possible to revive the werewolves, but I had to use my last breath trying. My feet ached as the ground beneath shredded them, but I ignored the pain, knowing I would only face more pain if I stopped. My life depended on it. I had to run as far away from this place as I could and go into hiding so my captors never got their hands on me again. I heard the guard dogs barking as they followed my scent, and I knew it would be easy for them to follow with the blood slowly trickling from my body. The reality of actually escaping felt grim, but I refused to let myself stop. Either I would escape that prison, or I would die trying. “This way!” a familiar voice shouted. My heart turned to stone as I heard the deep voice echo through the forest. It was one of the worst of my human captors. He did despicable things to the werewolf slaves for fun, and he made others watch. His name was Faxon, and whenever I looked into his eyes, I saw no signs of a soul. Fear filled my body. If he was the one to find me, I knew he wouldn’t kill me–at least not right away. He would make sure I endured the worst pain of my life before ending it all. My chest hurt as the fear filled every cell, making it even harder to breathe. Run. Faster. Run. Run. Run! I pushed my legs past their capability, not even knowing where I was going. I splashed through a stream in the middle of the forest, hoping it would mask my scent a little from the dogs hunting me down. I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape at this rate. If I had any hope of making it out alive, I had to shift into my wolf form, but it had been years since I had the opportunity to transform. Shifting into our werewolf form was an instant cause for execution, so we never took the risk. Knowing my life was on the line anyway, I tried to force my body to shift into my wolf form, but I was too weak. I didn’t have the strength needed to transform, and a wave of despair washed over me. I had no energy left, and my foot hit a rock, causing me to tumble forward, crashing to the ground. The barks of the dogs grew louder, and I begged my body to move, to get back up and run, but there was nothing left. Tears filled my eyes as I feared what was to come next. I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, imagining that Jasiah could hear me. Soon I would join him, and this would all be over. Footsteps grew louder, but these ones seemed to come from the wrong direction. I cracked my eyes open, and I saw a large, gray wolf hovering over me. Whoever this was was the largest wolf I had seen, and I knew he couldn’t be just a normal wolf. This had to be a werewolf–an alpha at that. There was no way he was anything less with his size. My heart raced as he leaned forward and nudged me with his nose. I didn’t know if he was a friend or an enemy, but his touch sent a spark running through my veins. I blinked a few times, trying to figure out who this was. His size alone should have made me fear him, but I found myself growing calm in his presence. He took a step back and started transforming before my eyes. He was stark naked when he finished his transformation, and he was easily over six feet tall. Even as a human, he was huge. He crouched down and easily scooped me into his arms, holding me tightly pressed against his chest. I could feel his heartbeat pounding through his chest, and I could feel his concern for me radiating in the air. Unless I was imagining that. He sniffed the air and leaned towards me. As his face approached mine, my throat grew dry. His lips were inches away from mine, and for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. Instead, a low growl emitted from his lips. “Mate.” His voice was deep and feral, just like his eyes. He looked like an angel and devil as he stared down at me. Dogs barking nearby made his head snap up. He growled again, but this was a different kind of growl. The noise he made sounded like it could kill without even touching anyone. Whoever this man was feared by many. I was absolutely sure of it. Even so, I felt no fear as he held me in his arms. In fact, I felt safer than I had in years. He turned on his heels and started running faster than any human should be able to. Even a werewolf in human form shouldn’t be able to run that fast, but he was not a normal werewolf. The energy emitting from his body told me that much. I didn’t know where he was running or where he was taking me, but I didn’t care. He was running away from the slave owners, and something deep inside of me told me I didn’t have to fear him. I tried to keep my eyes open to know where we were going, to watch my surroundings, just in case, but exhaustion took over me, and soon I found myself drifting to sleep in this stranger's arms. As the world darkened around me, I found comfort in the thought that maybe I would actually be able to escape and live for my own sake and the sake of Jasiah.