15

CARLA' S POV

"Asclepius was the progenitor and first Alpha of the blue moon pack as it was his bite that transformed the colony of human settlers living here into the first betas and omegas of whom we all in the pack are descendants of today"

As I sat with a book and pen in hand, sitting in a well lit but dusty room with a very round man in front of me; my history tutor named Walter whose clothes seemed to be too tight for him as he jabbered on about the exploits and victories of the mighty asclepius whom we had all heard of as pups, I almost dozed off. Since becoming Luna, I had never found my history lessons to be enjoyable in any sense of the word, each one was assuredly almond more dreary than the last.

"I hope you are listening majesty" he said, as he paused his monologue to cock his head at me with an inquiring look about him. "I know you must think these lessons dull and uninteresting but they are important, if you are to rule" he said enthusiasm gushing from his voice.

"Not at all Walter that is not the case at all" I said as I lied through my teeth. "I am paying keen attention to your insightful treatise on the life of magnificent Asclepius" I said hoping he would not catch the hint of sarcasm in my voice.

"Excellent"! He exclaimed clapping both of his hands together with glee as it never occurred to him that anyone else but he would be less than overjoyed at a two hour session on the history and origin of werewolves in the Northern Plains.

"And now we continue, as I was saying, Asclepius was—-" I didn't even bother trying to focus as it was all so incredibly boring I even forgot to take notes at all and just stared all glassy-eyed at Walter as he endeavoured to explain all the difficulties Asclepius faced in trying to set up a werewolf government for the pack. My head had begun to ache already.

Finally the lesson on history was over. After so many grueling hours, I was more than ready to get out of that stuffy and dustu room, and after packing my things and scheduling my next lesson with Walter, I was excused and I walked out of there as fast as I could. Grateful for the fresh air, I breathed in deeply as I tried to ignore the incessant pounding in my skull, the headache that had emerged as something inconsequential now roared in my head demanding that I ignore it no longer but I still had classes, dancing class being the most immediate and it held at the West tower of the castle so I could not make any detours to cure my headache or I would be late.

As I crossed the courtyard I accidentally locked eyes with Dawson and all the memories of our encounter a week ago came flooding back in a horrific torrent.

He had slept with me while I was drunk, taken advantage of me,used me. Exactly what I swore would never happen had indeed happened and I was pissed.

He had sworn he did not know , that he had no clue , that I had seemed so coherent and level headed that night. I wanted to believe him, I did but the problem was that I could not remember anything of what I did that night save for after Smith took me to my room. So there was no way to verify the truth of what he said.

I averted my gaze and walked by as quickly as I could and headed up the flights of stairs that would take me to the west wing tower.

In all truth and honesty I could see myself sleeping with Alpha Dawson but the fact that I did not consent to it or did not remember consenting to it just made it feel all wrong. One minute I am putting on my night dress and going out for some air and the next I am waking up to his face smiling down at me. I would not term it rape exactly since we were now in a union as Alpha and Luna and since he had no reason to lie to me about the whole thing, but I just could not get it out of my head.

That feeling of regret and remorse was all I felt as I climbed the never ending stair case leading up to my dance class. Remorse for my weakened resolve, remorse for my pathetic situation, regret at the life choices that got me bound to a man that professed his undying love for me with words and used his actions to drive me away..

Finally, heaving and panting I finally reached the topmost landing and headed left, down the passageway ringed with unlit torches on braces, with windows on only one side of the hallway. I walked down it to meet maestro Farrell the castle's resident dance and music expert, already ready with his cane sitting at a desk at a corner of the room. The desk and chair with a huge organ piano were the only pieces of furniture in the room.

"Welcome Luna Carla, you may leave your things besid the desk over there" he said using his cane to point at where exactly he meant.

"We are going to work a bit of your footwork today ,as it is imperative you get the dance steps perfect in time for the feast" the maestro said as he dropped his cane carefully on his desk and walked over to me as we began practicing.

Usually, I loved dance class as it was a new experience for me considering we the servants knew nothing of dancing like elites at a proper event because of our poor background. But today I just felt so tired, both he and Walter pushed usually hard today, probably to get me ready and prepared in time for the feast.

Ever since I had been told what the feast was exactly and who it was usually held in honour of, I had tried to get it cancelked. I spoke to each and every body I felt had the authority to put it to a stop, I even found myself asking Alpha Dawson who told me that it was out of his hands.

He tried explaining that the feast of moons went back to the first wolves of blue moon pack and it was a traditional rite that had been observed for hundreds of years, but the calm and logical explanation for nothing to assuage my hatred of a celebration held in honour of a title I did not want or care for, which was forced on me without regard for my feelings or my choice.

"No no no no you are doing it all wrong" said maestro Farrell, you tuck your left arm in first, put your left leg forward and stretch out your right arm before you do the twirl' he said beads of sweat beginning to run down his face and mine as well.

This was the sixth time he was correcting me on this move but for some reason I just could not get the hang of it today as my head and eyes swam from the incessant headache I had previously developed.

The name of the dance was 'swan's embrace' and it contained a series of complicated movements that took a lot of time and effort to master.

"You cannot power your way through this dance my Luna" he said as he proceeded to effortlessly execute the move. "It is called the swan's embrace for a reason, you must be gentle and unassuming, your moves should be graceful and free"

"I know" I said beginning to get angry now.

"You must do more than know my Luna" he said. You must be precise. Again from the top" he said as he clapped his hands to signal I start.

I practiced and practiced but could not seem to get it and after much instruction, received only with frustration on my part, I had had enough of twirling and turning.

"We're done" I said to the maestro, packing my stuff and heading out of the door to shouts of "my Luna wait"! He said "the session's not yet over we still need to go over more moves"

"I am done for the day Farrell, see you tomorrow" I said heading downstairs with a fury for my last lesson if the day…. Combat.

I dropped my things with my maid servant, downing some bread and wine before I headed out for the glades in the woods where I and Smith had our sparring lessons.

I and Smith were cool now, he had confessed his feelings for me which was a bit weird to be honest as now at times things tended to get a little bit awkward between us as we could not be as familiar with one another anymore, not just because of the new feelings dynamic but also because of Alpha Dawson.

His threat against the life of Smith rang in my ears to this day. I could not risk it and neither could I take the chance.

So we both maintained some distance from one another and remained friends in secret, though I always felt grateful to know he was in my corner and that I had a friend I could rely and count up on if ever I needed one.

As I walked through the trees, sunlight piercing just a few places here and there in the canopy of leaves, I saw Smith through the trees flipping a dead branch that had fallen, turning it in the air over and over as he kept his other hand on his waist.

He turned to face me , probably hearing my footsteps all thanks to the dead leaves which I inadvertently crushed with a crackling sound as I walked.

"You look tired" he said ) with patronizing smile on his face, while still keeping one hand on his hip.

"You bet" I said grinning despite the headache and building nausea I felt.

"I just want this to be over so I can get a good night's rest" I said as I took my usual spot in the sparring circle.

"Oh it will be…." He said with a mischievous smile on his face as he readied his stance "...... with you on your ass and your face in the mud"

"Oh you wish" I said before attacking him..

"You are definitely better" Smith said as we both threw punches at each other with increasing velocity.

"I am impressed your rate of growth seems to be larger than anyone I have ever known before"

"What did you expect"? I told him "when I had such a prick for a teacher" I said grinning at him as I attempted to sidestep him for a kick in the gut which he easily avoided.

"I think that prick deserves some props though" he said as he tried to unbalance me with a sneaky jab to the ribs. I grunted but i held my ground , retaliating with a brutal kick following up with a blow to the chest which drove him back a bit.

"Owww" he said clutching his chest "I take back my earlier comment of you lying in the mud, sheesh" he added smiling.

"That will….. that will" I stuttered starting to feel ill.

"Are you okay Carla"? Said Smith, concern written all over his face.

"I don---i--i don't know" I said clutching my head with one hand and using the other to try and steady my self. The ground was swimming and everything seemed so far away and near at the same time as the persistent headache flourished to a crescendo.

"I feel sort of dizzy I think" I said as I stumbled "plus I feel like I am about to vomit".

He walked over to me " well I think we sh–" but I didn't hear the rest as I fell abruptly to the ground while Smith yelled my name "Carla"!!!

I closed my eyes and blacked out.