. Apostasy . A Luna's Struggle

Mature 18+ content, violence and war, abuse

Anulla had been born on the night the moon turned to blood, the night the mad alpha who ruled the great kingdom to the east had burned his luna and daughter to death. Wheatland had not attacked the next day as many had, and had gained the right to parley for peace on the condition that they surrender half their crops as tribute. The late Luna Cassiopeia had promise the Alphas of the northern, western, and southern packs that she and her court would weaken the kingdom enough that the Monarch Sade and his army could be overcome. It was a false hope because for every mated, ranked warrior the Luna and her she-wolves had killed with their mass suicide.

The Monarch Sade had replaced each dead one with two unmated and crueler ones. After years of war and conquest, the old Monarch had turned on his allies and loyal subjects. Packs were not just subjugated, but everything that made them who they were was destroyed and replaced with Monarchy teachings.

-^^^^-

The whole pack had been in the fields harvesting when the horn sounded and everyone ran. The 10-year truce with the Monarch was at an end, most were surprised it had lasted this long. Her father had shouted at her to take her little brother and flee to the caves above the lake. That he loved her. It was the last time she had seen him alive. They had lost everything in the battle against the mad king.

The surviving children were rounded up and forced to watch every surviving male above the age of ten be put to death. All the ranked females including the Luna and Anulla’s Beta mother had been beaten, stripped, and put in stocks, where they were raped daily, as was every female over the age of sixteen. Every mature female was forced to wear red collar, the sign that they had to submit to any male at any time and obey any demand made. The only perversion the Monarch did not allow was the molestation of children. Every sixteen-year-old’s virtue was considered a commodity and valuable tribute to the Monarch.

The children and she-wolves had then been forced to finish the harvest without rest, food, or water. The worst two weeks of Anulla’s life was just the beginning of her nightmare. The entire harvest had been taken to the central kingdom except enough to seed next year’s crops. There was nothing to eat except beans and whatever roots, weeds, and berries they could scavenge for. Many children died, too many females suffered a fate they considered worse than death and killed themselves, sometimes taking their younger sisters or children with them to the Moon. But no one was allowed to pray for them or even speak of the goddess during those terrible times.

A cruel and vicious beta named Randolf was assigned to the territory and spreading the teachings of the Monarch. After the harvest, the children were forced to go to ‘training’. Every day before and after class, the boys who were their siblings and packmates were forced to cane the girls as they ran to and from class. The classes taught the girls how to be properly submissive; to never speak, or look up, and to always obey any male because they were weak, and males were strong. The boys were trained in how to be dominate, to control and hurt any female who dared look up or speak, that females were a weak, evil group and not to be trusted. They were taught to only respect a male that outranked them and never question a higher wolf. Her mother as the lone surviving Beta female was given to Beta Randolf, he forced her submit to the most humiliating punishments and made Anulla watch every time he raped her mother or let another warrior do so. Her mother had to walk around almost naked with a large ball bound in her mouth, even when the snows came, and was forbidden to eat or drink unless Randolf fed her from his hand. Then one day after she bit him, he cut out her tongue. Both Anulla and Tomas were forced to watch as Randolf punished their mother with the whip and be put in the stocks again.

While her mother was recovering, the only other ranked female, the Luna of Wheatland, had been found raped to death, which was forbidden. According to the mandates of the Monarchy, females were allowed to be ‘trained’ to the point of death, not actually killed. Only Anulla knew Randolf and his two closest wolves had been the ones to kill the Wheatland Luna. All three had forced themselves on her at once and she had suffocated. Anulla knew she would never forget the horrors she saw that year. The old Monarch had punished Beta Randolf for the Luna’s death then the Monarch Sade punished every surviving female for being weak like their Luna.

The first year faded into a second and then another. Every year the she-wolves who turned sixteen were taken to the kingdom center for their ‘four years of service’, Anulla didn’t know what that meant but she was terrified of it.

One night after Anulla had turned ten, Randolf came into her room and touched her body. When she had cried out, he had left his fist print on her ribs. This went on once a week for months, every time he threatened to kill Tomas if she told. One night she found another young she-wolf crying in the kitchen, they shared the same bruises. Soon Anulla had discovered that there were many other young girls receiving the Beta’s special training. After he would leave their rooms, Anulla would take them ice or balm. Often they cried together but told no one else out of fear. The Beta did everything to them except take their virtue, bragging that he was ‘preparing’ them to be proper she-wolves during their time of service.

Over the years, Tomas became more and more distant and one day he hit their mother, called her a whore, and said she deserved all his new father did to her. Anulla saw something break inside her mother. Tomas, who was the living reminder of their lost father, was turning into one of them. Her mother had always held on to the hope that the Monarchy would fall, or they would escape. She left the room and returned moments later with something wrapped in a cloth. Her mother forced her brother to accept a hug, then he cried out and stiffened strangely in her arms as she sobbed.

Anulla gasped as she felt her brother die. She was terrified when her mother faced her, so many had killed themselves and their children, but instead her mother had kissed Anulla with her scarred, bruised lips. She told Anulla through her wolf, she loved her, that she would be blessed to have a powerful mate someday, and to run toward the mountains and not stop until the sun set in three days. She said she was sorry that she had not stopped the Beta from forcing Anulla to drink his seed last week and how she was planning on killing him before it could happen again. Anulla realized that her mother thought his abuse had only just started.

Before Anulla could tell her mother the truth, the Beta rushed in to see Tomas dead. While her mother fought him, Anulla ran to Sonja and Keira’s room. The two 15-year-olds and twelve year-old ran into the night as the pack she-wolves howled their Beta female’s death. Many females died that night fighting those who had sought to enslave them. Several ran and burned the unharvested fields, destroying the harvest. They had been born free she-wolves and they went to the Moon with heads held high.

-^^^^-

When the Monarch Balthazar arrived the next day, he raged at the severely wounded Beta, beating him worse than he had been beaten the night before. He ordered all the females’ bodies burned and the ashes scattered in the field. As one body was carried by him to the pyre, he smelled something tantalizing.

Back in the packhouse in the Beta’s quarters, was a small bed. His wolf prowled and snapped, he must find this female.

After hours of searching, he discovered she wasn’t among the dead and she wasn’t among the living. He had to find her. She belonged to HIM.

Many people assume that children who are being physically and sexually abused will always tell a trusted adult. THIS IS NOT TRUE. The majority of children never tell when the abuse is happening if ever and often, if the abuse comes from a person in a position of trust of authority the abuse is never revealed.

Current scandals in the Boy Scouts of America and Catholic Church have shown that abusers can be left in places with access to children for decades. Sometimes children are coerced into acting in a sexual manner with adults or they are threatened with physical or emotional harm.

Many times, when a child speaks up, the abusive adult explains it away and the child is left feeling shamed and as if no one believes them.

There are three steps to prevent this,

1) if a child confides abuse to you. Have them talk to a doctor or councilor immediately;

2) keep the child safe from the adult in question while abuse is investigated, (but don't aggressively confront them no matter how frustrating)

AND MOST IMPORTANT

3) contact the authorities and give them all the info and let them arrest this person. (do not attack or harm the offender

SAFE2Tell.Org has links and phone number for most states in the USA