Sunlight filtered through the curtains waking Alcina up from a peaceful sleep. She sat up confused and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The Alpha never let her sleep in. Would she get punished for it? A realization hit her as panic started to set in. She was in the red dawn pack and no one would be angry. Since she had no clothes Alcina washed her face in the en suite bathroom and headed down stairs to find alpha Xavier. She made her way into the kitchen to see Annie cooking something.
"Good afternoon Luna." She looked up and smiled as Alcina entered. "You hungry?"
Before Alcina could protest her stomach growled. She nodded sheepishly and Annie smiled before passing her a plate stacked with bacon, sausage, pancakes, and french toast. Her eyes went wide with shock.
"You don't have to eat everything. Just make sure you get full." Annie told her, seeing the look on her face. Alcina mumbled a quick thank you and sat down to eat. She managed to get half the plate of food down before she started feeling full. She didn't want to seem rude so she tried to eat more before a hand came over her shoulder and grabbed a piece of bacon which caused her to flinch.
"That's quite a bit of food for someone so small." John, the beta said, moving into view. Alcina just nodded and tried to hide her embarrassment. "What did those people do to you? You hardly speak and flinch at the smallest movement. What did they do to break you?"
"Everything." She replied. "They did anything they could. Anything and everything."
Alcina eyes glazed over as she remembered the daily torture and abuse she endured. Anything that wasn't right was blamed on her. When things got broke, it's was her fault. The years of slavery and abuse took the happy, smiling child she once was and killed it with no remorse. Her memories flitted to the things Brent had done to her and she shivered in disgust.
"Tell me more about you. I want to know who my Luna is. Truly who she is." John said staring at Alcina intently. His stare made her slightly self conscious.
"You really wanna know? I was five, playing in my front yard, when they attacked. They slaughtered my entire pack in the streets. Women, children, even babies until there was almost no one left. Alpha Zane found me in my brother's tree house and threw me out of it. He broke my right arm that day. He decided that they would show 'mercy' to one and only one." Alcina rubbed her right arm at the memory. "It wasn't too bad at first but then something changed. Any little thing that went wrong, even if it was alpha business, he beat me. Then the Luna started, and next was Brent, their son. He would- he."
Alcina tailed off as she tasted something vile in her throat. Her heart aches and her body tensed as she thought about how to explain it. Luckily someone was able to save her.
"I think that's enough John. Aren't you supposed to be training the juniors?" Xavier said emerging from the office by the stairs. He sat next to Alcina and grabbed a piece of bacon as well. Alcina felt her embarrassment fade as she looked at her mate. With him near, the world was a perfect place. John groaned and stood up from the table, bidding them goodbye, then went to the training grounds. Once alone Xavier looked at Alcina and smiled. He felt his chest get heavy as her stared at the small woman before him. Her eyes shined lightly with a golden brown color, hair black as night, and pale skin. To anyone else she looked like anyone else but to him she was the picture of perfection.
Xavier wasn't a fool. He knew that there were prettier women. He had met a few who would be considered better looking but they weren't her. Even as skinny and pale as she looked, he thought she was beautiful. Her birthmark added to her beauty, as did the little simple when she smiled.

"When would you like to have your ceremony? It's supposed to be done on a new moon to represent a new Luna coming to the pack." He asked to break the silence and Alcina almost choked on her orange juice.
"I'm sorry. What ceremony?" She coughed clearing her throat.
"It's tradition for the new Luna of a pack to have a ceremony to welcome her into the pack. We have a feast, dancing, and presents. The night ends with the Luna, alpha, and pack guard running through the center of the pack so that her scent is known and everyone can see her wolf. It usually happens after she's been marked and mated to the alpha, but that is entirely up to you." He answered quickly seeing her panic stricken face.
"How about on the next new moon? It can all be done then." She replied mentally panicking. She needed to learn to love her new life. Part of it will be to be Xavier's mate in every sense of the word. She knew it was normal to get marked by her mate so why did the thought scare her? Was it the lack of knowledge? "Xavier?"
"Yes?" He replied.
"What exactly happens when you mark me?" She asked, her cheeks slightly pinked.
"You don't know?" He sighed feeling bad for her. This was something wolves are taught when they turn twelve. "I allow my wolf partial control and bite into the soft skin of your neck. The process is supposed to be mostly painless and allows us a closer mate bond. I will be able to feel what you feel and since we are a Luna and alpha, we will have a mind link when we aren't shifted."
Alcina nodded feeling slightly better. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again.
"I want to learn to fight." Alcina said shocking Xavier.
"I'm here to protect you and this pack. Why would you need to know that?" Xavier tilted his head slightly. She turned a light shade of red.
"This is my pack, my home now. I wanna help protect them from what happened to my old family. I wanna be useful." She replied dropping her eyes to her food. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks.
"You can have and do anything you want. I won't stop you. I want you to be happy. Truly." He said grabbing her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. She began to feel a little better. Maybe life was truly turning around for her