The Howling

Chapter 19 (Luna's POV)

I leaped away from Fuma, toward Ava, with my teeth bared. I was about to catch her left hind leg when I felt the Moon Supreme's teeth cut into my flank, dragging me back. I howled in pain and fury and turned on him. 

He ordered, in the double timbre of the Alpha, "Stop!". My legs seemed to buckle under me. I jerked to a halt, only managing to keep on my feet by sheer willpower. He turned his gaze away from me. He commanded, "You will not be cruel to her, Ava. And you, Taki, will do as you are told." Taki's front knees folded, and his head fell forward under the weight of the Alpha's command. 

The Moon Supreme paced in a tight circle around the two of us. He said, "We cannot risk a war. Even if you are our strongest fighter, Luna." My knees trembled; I struggled to hold myself upright while the voice of the Alpha lashed at my will. The tension had everyone's fur standing on end. Only Taki and I were still, the eye in the center of a storm of bared teeth and flattened ears. 

Taki's nose was almost touching the ground, bowed under the Moon Supreme's commands. I felt his pain. For him this was a betrayal-surely if our pack was truly family, they would help. There was no resistance in him, however. He would obey no matter how much it hurt him. He had no other choice. And what choice did I have? When the Alpha spoke, the pack followed. I braced myself as I breathed, "No." The Moon Supreme snarled and stopped pacing in front of me. He stared into my eyes and a deep growl slid between his teeth. 

The Alpha decreed, his double voice blistering with the heat of his authority, "Yes. There are no loopholes tonight. You, Luna Wang, will not start this war. You, with the rest of the pack, will stand by and do nothing. You are obligated to protect this pack. That is why you exist. You will perform this obligation."

My shoulders hunched as the edict crushed me. My legs collapsed, and I was on my belly under him. No member of the pack could refuse the Alpha. K let out a worried half-bark, and almost came forward, but a piercing glare from the Moon Supreme made him stop. Taki whined quietly in my ear. I felt his wordless plea for me to get up, for me to get this over with and be done with it. 

I reached my mind out to my pack, feeling the fear starting to cloud their thoughts. Automatically, I pushed up from the ground and shook out my coat. Nicholas and K huffed in relief. Taki touched his nose to my side once. I just shook my head. I couldn't concentrate-the compulsion to follow orders felt like puppet strings hooked into all my muscles. So what if the Moon Supreme was wrong now? There was nothing anyone could do. Except.

No one could dispute the Alpha's decision-except for me. I hadn't earned anything. But there were things that had been born in me, things that I'd left unclaimed. I'd never wanted to lead a pack. I didn't want to do it now. I didn't want the responsibility of all of their fates resting on my shoulders. The Moon Supreme was better at that than I would ever be. But he was wrong tonight. And I had not been born to kneel to him. 

I had been born to be Alpha of the South Moon Order. The bonds fell off my body the second that I embraced my birthright. I could feel it gathering in me, both a freedom and also a strange, fulfilling power. I knew I'd always listen to EJ, though. He was more of a leader than I could ever be. I was straight and strong as I walked to where the Moon Supreme stood, planning with his advisors. He turned at the sound of my advance, and his black eyes narrowed. 

I said again, "No." He heard it right away, heard the choice that I'd made in the sound of the Alpha voice resonating in the way I spoke. He jumped back a half step with a shocked yelp. He cried, "Luna? What have you done?". I said calmly, "If there's no answer about where I came from, then I will make my own answer. I won't follow you, Your Majesty. Not for something so wrong. I know what you've decided. But you don't decide for me, not anymore."