The Chronicles of Moon
Chapter 27

Good intentions

Moon’s head is killing her when Ben, Zach, and Chris rejoin them in the office. The men all start talking, but Moon isn’t listing. She catches a few words here and there. Ben agrees that leaving, for now, is the best thing to do. She sees him glance at her every now and then and she pretends she’s okay.

When Jess and Emily also enter the office, the noise is more than Moon can stand. She slips out of the office and to her room, with everyone distracted. Washing her face and taking something for her head, she sits in the bathroom, staring at the mirror.

“You need to tell me what to do. I just don’t know how to fix this.” Moon says to the empty room.

The room stays silent, but her head is still killing her. She doughts she can hear anything through the pain. She walks into her room and lies on her bed, hoping it will stop hurting.

Just try and sleep. The voice is back and sounds less angry with her now and more sympathetic. Moon tries but replaces it hard to sleep with her head pounding like it is.

Colin saw Moon leave the office, and after telling Chris and Zach to return home and start getting things ready on their end for the influx of pack members, Colin slipped into the hall. Following the scent of rain and honeysuckle, he was happy to follow the smell anywhere. Still, when Ben called his name, he had to suppress the annoyance he felt.

“Colin, can we talk for a minute? Just me and you about Moon.” Ben is standing at the office door. Everyone is gone to begin preparing for the move.

When Ben says he wants to talk about Moon, Colin’s curiosity peeks, and he follows him back into the office. Ben closes the door, and Colin can see Ben is struggling to figure out what to say at first. Ben walks to his desk and pulls out a bottle of scotch. Ben offers some to Colin, but he declines.

“You said you wanted to talk about Moon.” Colin presses, trying to get Ben to just say what’s on his mind.

“I do. It seems you are her mate, right?” Ben almost seems like he’s stalling. Colin looks at him blankly and raises an eyebrow. He’s close to leaving the office when Ben sits in the office chair, staring at the wood grain of the desktop.

“How is she? I know her, and she’ll pretend she’s fine even when she’s not. She is like a sister to me, and I haven’t always looked after her like I should have. In fact, we were a bit mean to her as kids. But how is she? Can she talk to her wolf? Does she know her wolf’s name? anything?”

Colin narrows his eyes at Ben, “What aren’t you saying? You didn’t just want to ask me how she is. What does it matter if she knows her wolf’s name? And no, she doesn’t. She is having trouble connecting to her wolf. What do you know, Ben?”

“More than I was supposed to know.” Ben sighs and downs the glass of scotch he poured as Colin questions him. “Alpha Mark always said Moon was special, but as a kid, I just thought he meant it as any father or grandfather would. If anyone met her, she seems ordinary, and well, she’s just Moon. I was about ten, and I heard Alpha Mark talking to my dad, his Beta, about Moon. He said he was worried about her and he needed to do something. She was having dreams, and Alpha Mark took it as a sign, I guess. Alpha Mark was a little eccentric, but he was worried. Moon was getting her wolf. She even started shifting in her sleep. Alpha Mark was concerned and wanted to do something to stop her from shifting. I didn’t hear what they planned to do. Moon ran in, and they stopped talking.

I stayed up that night, and she was sleepwalking. Alpha Mark followed behind her. She went to the woods, but I swear to you, that ten-year-old girl shifted just before the tree line. She was so white she looked like she glowed in the moonlight. She howled and took off into the trees, Mark behind her the whole time. After that, a few odd people my dad knew showed up. I watched for days to see if Moon would sleepwalk again, but she never did. I asked my dad about it; he acted like I was crazy and told me I must have dreamt it. I didn’t dream any of it.

I tried asking Moon about it and what the weird people wanted with her, but she didn’t even remember them at all. I was starting to think I was nuts. So, I just forgot about it. Moon never got a wolf, and for a long time, I thought I really did dream the whole thing but now. I don’t think I did. I don’t know what they did to her, but Alpha Mark was worried about her. He didn’t want anyone to replace her. He hated taking her to other packs with him. He protected her like someone may steal her from him. We just thought it was because she was all he had, but…” Ben shakes his head. “I think she may be a white wolf like the stories, and that scared him. He didn’t want someone else to have her and use her. He didn’t want anyone to know what she is.”

Colin is standing in shock for a long moment collecting his thoughts. It makes him angry to think that they did something to suppress Moon’s wolf intentionally. It’s cruel to Colin that Mark would even consider something like that just to keep people from knowing what she is. And if she really shifted by the time she was ten, that is unheard of.

“Who would know what happened to her, Ben?” Colin is forceful as he stares at him.

“My dad.” Ben answers quickly, “I’m sorry, Colin I really thought it was something I dreamt or made up as a kid. I had forgotten about it till yesterday, and she nearly shifted.” Ben looks solemn and regretful sitting at the desk.

“I don’t blame you. I just want to know what happened to her.” Colin is kinder with his tone.

“Well, if she is a white wolf, she will be hunted for it, people wanting to use her or even kill her. With the power she is supposed to possess, she would never be safe, and Mark knew that. I think he had good intentions. He was a good man.”

“Well, this will have to be something we work out after we get everyone safely moved. Tell me your dad is alive and here?”

“Well, he’s alive, but he and mom left the pack. To be with my sister.” Ben grimaces.

“Perfect,” Colin says sarcastically. “We are going to need to replace out what he knows.”