The Luna Within

Chapter One

***PERSEPHONE’S POV***

The thuds are getting louder like they are overhead of me. I step back into the cave as quietly as I can. I am praying silently in my head that this bear will just turn around and get his midnight snack somewhere else.

The thuds are just overhead of me. I can hear the creature sniffing the air and I keep praying that being in the woods for a week won't become a disadvantage at this point.

Whatever this animal is, it completely REAKS of rotten garbage that has been baking in the summer heat in Florida. WOW! Horrible!! I mean I've never been to Florida but I heard it's God awfully hot there.

It sounds like whatever animal I have found myself listening to has already run off because now I hear small steps, like from a person. It might be a hunter that scared it off. But I still don’t want anyone to find me. I’m basically a child. They will take me back to the town and back to those homes I came from. I am breathing so loud that if this person doesn't see my breath from the cave they will definitely hear it. I cover my mouth with my hand and lie down on the dark cave floor in an attempt to delay being found.

The cave is small, almost like a decent-sized cubby more than anything. I keep getting so lost in my thoughts that I don't notice a dirty older man walking into view. Wow, the moonlight is surely helping my vision tonight.

This man is about 5'10" with dull brown hair that looks like it hasn't been washed in weeks. I can't make out his face yet, but his clothes are worn and torn in some places. So, it's safe to say he is probably not a hunter. Maybe he is homeless?

Thinking to myself, I probably do not look any better from my journey.

Suddenly, I hear, "Hello Kitten, I know you are around here somewhere. I mean you no harm, I just want to help you." There is no way I am coming out of this literal hole willingly. And Kitten? Really? That’s a little pervy. And plus it’s like he assumed that I am a girl?

I look up and he's no longer standing a few feet in front of the cave anymore. It is almost like he vanished. I wait for what feels like forever before I move around. Then, I stand up, dusting the dirt and foliage off of my clothes. I know I've been in the woods a week but I am still trying not to look like it. Right as I am taking steps out of the cave, I am snatched up by the dirty man. His touch makes me want to hurl, his smell could send a skunk running for the hills, and his voice makes my bones just want to turn to dust. Nothing about this man screams that he “wants to help you” more along the lines of he “wants to help himself”.

"Oh Kitten, you finally came out to play." He says as he has one arm around my neck and one around my waist with my back pressed against his chest. I am trying to think of a way out of this situation.

"First off, SIR, my name is NOT Kitten. Secondly, please take your grimey hands off of me. I am just looking for my friends." I say with a calm and straight face. There's no way I am telling him that I am alone in the woods, at 15 years old. I might be young, but I damn well ain't dumb.

He just chuckles, and then sniffs my hair. "C'mon Kitten, play nice. I can smell you aren't old enough to be out here alone. And you also don't smell like anyone has been around you for at least a week. So, tell the truth." He is tightening his grip around my neck, his disgusting and hot breath is against my skin and I almost vomit on the spot from it.

I have to think fast. I take the heel of my foot and lift it so fast and high that it connects with his groin area. He immediately lets me go, and doubles over in pain. Almost howling. What the fu.ck?

Without hesitation, I dart as fast as I can through the woods. Even though I am oddly able to see through the woods at night, everything is a blur and it feels like I am running ninety miles an hour.

I make the mistake of turning around to make sure the man still isn’t following me, and end up running into a BRICK WALL! I fall down hard, landing flat on my a.ss. What the f**k is a brick wall doing in the middle of the forest?

I look in front of me and that is when I see two bare feet leading into ripped blue jeans and a muscular man with no shirt on. He's not one of those sculpted guys with a ten pack, but he's got a 6 pack of wide abs dotting his torso, which in my opinion is even hotter... It's really, really hot...

WAIT!!! WHY THE HELL AM I THINKING LIKE THIS?? HE COULD BE WITH THIS CREEPY GUY!!!

I quickly scurry to my feet and look around, stepping back slowly. I hear steps from behind me and I turn around to see the creepy guy running up to me. He catches a glimpse of the hot man with beautiful hazelnut brown hair and golden honey eyes.

They are beautiful.

And he looks scared of the hot guy for a minute, freezing in place.

"What the hell are you doing on my land, Justin? You were banished, remember? This means I get to kill you now!" He says in a sexy growl. Wait a fu.cking minute. He's gonna murder him?!?! This has to be a joke, they gotta be friends playing some stupid game.

Creepy Justin turns pale but he sticks his chest out, trying to look unfazed and unafraid.

"Come on now Apollo, I was just running after my little Kitten here and I didn't realize we ran onto your lands. I'll just take my Kitten and we'll be on our way now. " He reaches to grab me, and I snatch my hands back.

"I already fu.cking told you, JuStIn is it? My fu.cking name is not Kitten, you creepy perv!!!! And I most definitely do not belong to you. " I holler at him with a growl. Where the hell did that come from?! Was that me?? Oh god, I've turned into an animal…

"Well Justin, it looks like your little w***e doesn't want to be yours anymore. HaHa!" The handsome guy chuckles. His laugh was cute, but it definitely didn’t distract me from what he just called me…

"Who in the fu.ck do you think you're calling a w***e!? You don't know me and you don't get to call me names either, pig!" He looks at me astonished. But my days of tolerating bullies and harsh beatings are over. So if I get murdered by a hot guy for defending myself, then so be it! At least it'll be because I stood up for myself. The hot guy looks pissed, but doesn’t say anything right away?

“Speechless, are we?” I sneer at him.

Serves him right!

***APOLLO’S POV***

Did she just f*****g yell at me AND call me a pig?? She should be able to feel my Alpha aura. I can smell that she is a werewolf, but she's not cowering like that pervert Justin. Who, by the way, has nearly soiled himself.

"Listen. LITTLE GIRL! I don't care what or who you are. You are both on my land uninvited. Which means that you are trespassing and, in conclusion, means that I have every right to kill you both. Plus, you just challenged me, so that makes it even easier." I snarled. My wolf Hercules is getting pissed off at me when it should be the other way around.

‘Stop being such a d**k to her, Pol. I like her. She has spunk.’

‘She also has no respect, Herc. I am not going to be disrespected by anyone, we are almost the Alpha, remember? Letting rogues disrespect you because they’re hot.’

‘I knew you'd like her too.’ He barks in my head.

‘I think she is hot, but I didn’t say I liked her.’

I roll my eyes and cut the link, looking back at the girl. She's chewing her lip. Obviously thinking about how to get away from here. I wanna reach my thumb up and pull the lip from her teeth but I refrain from doing so. I scowl at Justin, who is still standing in front of me. I grab him by the throat, lift him off the ground, quickly flick my wrist and you can hear the bones snapping in his neck. I feel satisfied that this scumbag has been dealt with finally.

Damn, I'm hungry now. I think to myself as I look at this brat in front of me. She's definitely not missing. She ran away from wherever on her own. Was it another pack? But she doesn't smell like a pack. Smells like humans. However, I can definitely sense that she is a werewolf.

I am still so baffled by the fact she doesn't feel my Alpha aura.

"What is your name, little girl?" I ask, c*****g an eyebrow at her. She looks pissed still, but not scared. Hmmm interesting.

"First off, I bet you aren't, but what? 2 or 3 years older than me? Even though you look grown, I can tell by your words you're not that mature. So STOP calling me little girl. Secondly, my name is Persephone. I think your name was asshole?" She said as she giggled. I liked it when she giggled, but I don't let anyone call me an asshole. Especially not some little frail female that is only good for baring pups, pleasure and a good meal. And occasionally good bait to lure enemies.

"I've killed people for less, Persephone." I reply, growling huskily beside her ear. Now it is my turn to snicker. The color drained from her face a little bit, but she never cowered. I'm impressed by this little she-wolf.

"C'mon, I will take you back to my pack house. You can shower and eat, maybe even figure out where you're going or where home is? I won't kill you, since obviously you are new around here. It wouldn't be fair to kill you without you being fully aware of all the rules. Which you obviously aren’t. But I won't tolerate being disrespected, not by you or anyone else." She looks like she wants to accept my offer, but she's wary. I mean I am a stranger, but little did she know she'd not only get those things but also me. I will never force a woman, but seriously, who can resist me. I look like a perfectly made specimen, or so I'm told. I'm 6'3" with shiny brown hair that is shaved into a fade with a little bit of long hair on the top and golden honey eyes. I'm also as ripped as any Alpha can get.

But I'm told I look better in a suit. I guess I got lost in thinking about how good I look because I noticed that Persephone was on her tippy toes, snapping her finger in my face.

‘Maybe she's right about you being a pig, hahahaha. ‘ Hercules chuckles in my head.

‘Shut it mutt! And I prefer the term dog.’ I growl at him, before cutting the link.

She's still eyeing me like I have 5 heads.

"What's your answer, Persephone?" I ask her.

"Oh, so you're back from your little trip? Haha, as I was saying, I guess I'll go with you. I don't have much of a choice. Better than staying out here and being eaten by that damn bear I heard earlier. Also, if you don't want disrespect from others, ASS-POLLO, how about you don't give it to them? You do not know me at all to be calling me a w***e to some perv I am running from." It was an awkward silence for a moment, I glared at her with a small smirk playing on my lips... I am amused so far. But I roll my eyes and hide my smile to keep the muse.

"Welp, alright, let's be on our way. Also, the first sign of funny business from you, your cojone will feel worse than his did 15 minutes ago. I might be small and young, but I am no pushover! Plus, I have questions. Maybe you'll be the one I can get some answers from. Like why the fu.ck is everyone in this forest in the middle of the night?" I laughed out loud, so hard too! Damn, she's funny. hahahaha.

"I'll answer what I can in the morning. Let's go. Oh, have you shifted yet?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"What do you mean shifted? Like my decision to come with you? No, I just made that choice. I'm going to stick to that one for now." I looked a little shocked, more than enough because of this little she-wolf. This is going to be a lot of fun, I think to myself!

‘Herc, I don't think she has her wolf yet. She looked at me funny when I mentioned a pack too. But she didn't cower when I killed Justin. It's kind of weird. '

‘I know that's strange, but I am also very fascinated by her. Maybe she's my mate. I won't be able to tell until her wolf comes forward on her 16th birthday. But it could be her. I feel a strong connection to her already. And I like that she doesn't take your sh.it either.‘

‘Not that I would complain about her body being underneath mine, but you know me, I don't like to be exclusive with anyone. I am not the tied down type. Plus, her smart ass mouth would drive me crazy! And someone like her getting chased and almost caught by that scumbag, Justin, of all people. How weak can you be?’

'No, she would finally keep you in line, make you stronger, smarter and much less of a d**k. And she probably would've gotten away if you hadn't stood right in front of her. Bout broke her neck when she collided with you. '

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Damn Wolf.

I look over at her as we walk and catch her looking back at me before she quickly diverts her gaze. She is pretty gorgeous. Even though it's night time, I can see everything perfectly with my werewolf eyes. She's about 5'3". Her hair is wavy and dirty blonde. I usually hate blondes because they look so fake, but I like her hair. All natural. Her eyes, though, are pretty soft light green. Nice full D-cups, and a round butt, I could just -. Uggghhhh, I shake away my thoughts.

'I think she could be the only one we give pups to, if she's lucky. But I'm not giving up my side pieces for one pup maker forever.' I chuckle.

'Uh huh dickhead, we will see. If she is our mate and you try to touch any one of those sluts, I will use every bit of strength I have to make your d**k stay soft. And I'll make your life miserable. ' He growled back at me.

'But like, don't you already make my life miserable! hahaha.' I love messing with him.

Hercules cut the link so that I couldn't talk to him, but he left it open enough so that he could see her. He really is fascinated by her. And strangely, I am too.

Well, either way, once she turns 16, I will have her in my bed. And if she's my mate, she'll give me the perfect heir, but I'll still have fun with the other girls too. I get whatever I want. I am the Alpha after all. It affords me all kinds of benefits. She-wolves whenever I want, money, power and respect. I am almost like a celebrity around here.

'Yeah, you are even more full of yourself than any celebrity or other Alpha I have ever met. Goddess! Your ego is bigger than the damn forest itself. hahahahahahaa…'

Oh well, win, win situation for me.