Moon Child

As the sun set Dawn and Kane stood together in the woods, a look of confusion darkening her face as he led her farther away from the pack. When they were completely alone he stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"How long have you been one of us? A shifter."

She looked around them, wondering why they had to have this conversation in private. Was this supposed to be a secret? Everyone already knew she wasn't born into this life. Did he think she might be more comfortable out here? Her past wasn't an easy topic to talk about, but she didn't think the woodsy scents would calm her nervous jitters.

"About five years I think."

He looked surprised, and suddenly he wondered how old she was. It hadn't mattered up until now, but looking at her heart-shaped face he thought she might be younger than he realized.

"How old are you Dawn?"

She shrugged, running a hand through her hair nervously.

"We didn't really celebrate birthdays in the old pack, but I'd be twenty-one."

Turning to face him she raised an eyebrow.

"What about you?"

He realized then that he had severely taken his birthdays for granted. He hated the whole thing, cake, and presents and embarrassing childhood stories told by his sister. It was all a bit much for him, but now he wanted to hit himself. He scoffed at an opportunity she had been refused for at least five years.

"I'm twenty-eight."

She nodded, thinking it over. So he was seven years older than her. That wasn't that much, not compared to her old pack. She wondered if her mother and father would've approved of her being with an older man. If they knew Kane she was sure they would be happy for her. He was like an angel in this mess her life had become.

He was watching her reaction to this newfound knowledge of his age. She didn't seem to mind and even smiled.

"What are you thinking?"

She looked up into his eyes, tears blurring her vision.

"My parents. I think they would've fallen in love with you too."

He was clearly surprised. How could she be so sweet, so loving in the midst of such painful thoughts? Her parents, humans, must have lost hope by now. He was sure this old pack of hers had kidnapped her, left her family in despair. Here she was, safe and thinking of them still.

He pulled her into his arms, holding tight as he kissed the top of her head.

"You're an angel, Dawn. I don't know what I did to deserve someone so good."

She wrapped her arms around his waist, tears wetting his bare chest. She felt the same way about him. A year ago she had been praying for death, but instead, she received a miracle. An Alpha mate who wanted nothing more than to protect and love her.

...

They spoke of their parents for some time, but it wasn't long before the tough subjects had to come to the surface. Dawn wasn't able to control her animal half and that was a problem. Hazel had rescheduled the ceremony, giving them two days and one night to get down to business. Would it be enough time? He doubted it.

"You want me to what?"

There it was. She doubted Kane's sanity, and he knew it was bound to happen.

"I need you to be truthful to me Dawn. Please, I need to know why you don't shift."

She frowned, shaking her head.

"I don't understand. I already told you, it's because I can't control it. I'm afraid of hurting someone."

He nodded, sitting forward as she sat in front of him on the forest floor. That might be part of it, but the way she didn't quite look him in the eyes spoke of the lies she hid behind her half-truths.

"I understand what you told me, but I just can't see the truth in that. Sure, you might be a bit out of control, but that doesn't explain it. When you need to heal, or your body is trying to shift, you would rather be in pain and risk serious injury than change. People don't endure that kind of pain unless it's for a very good reason."

She frowned, her words shaky.

"I don't want to hurt anyone. Isn't that reason enough to deal with the pain? Wouldn't you do anything to protect the people around you?"

He sighed, moving a hand to rest over her knee.

"You know how a pair form a bond, is that new knowledge to you?"

She nodded, confused by his train of thought. Two shifters come together in their animal forms, creating an everlasting bond that can only be broken by death. He had explained it all to her. Had he already forgotten?

"Dawn, in your old pack did they ever..."

She froze, hands clenching as she realized what he was getting at. He wanted to know how damaged she was. Would he look at her differently if she spoke the truth?

"...force you to change?"

She remained silent for a moment, then removed his hand from her flesh and set it aside as she spoke. She hated thinking of how many men had touched her, caused her pain. Surely he would think her disgusting as well. Used and defiled.

"If I was bonded wouldn't you know so? Like you said before, I wouldn't be able to be here without him for long."

When he stayed silent she stood up, turning her back to him and looking into the trees. It would be so easy to run. Right?

Even as she thought it she internally hit herself, nails digging into her upper arms. Run? To where? To be alone or get caught and dragged back to hell? No, Kane needed the truth. So, closing her eyes tight, she fell into the dark memories that haunted her sleepless nights.

"I was sixteen when he forced me into your world. I was a virgin, raised up to value myself. What a waste that was. Every female in the pack was forced into their wolf forms and raped by the alpha."

She felt his claws dragging along her flesh in that moment, making her nauseous.

"It was a form of control for him, the ability to link himself with all of us so that we would never want to leave."

Her hands shook as she thought back to how many times she had almost died from the torture. They had only laughed, blood covering their claw-like hands.

"There were a few like me, fighters. He would allow us one shift, one time to feel the monster living inside, then the second shift would be his. The night he took me I was left barely alive to change alone, unaware of what was happening to me. When I shifted I thought I was in hell, that my bones were being ripped from my flesh as some sort of demented torture. I just wanted it to stop. I wanted to die."

He felt sick to his stomach. This couldn't be real. How could someone so cruel exist? It would be his life's mission to find the bastard responsible and make him wish he never existed.

"He came back for me the next day, when the sun was out and I had just found my way back to my human form. He dragged me back to his camp and threw me in a tent with a few other girls. Some were covered in blood, some looked dead already. All of them were scared, except for one."

Lavender, the girl with ink black hair. A woman who saved Dawn's life at the end of her own. That was a face that she would never forget, her cheeks hollow and her eyes begging to roll back into a beaten skull.

"She had been there for years, and she wasn't going to make it much longer. Before they took her that night she told me one thing. Don't shift."

She had no idea what the woman had meant, yet she made it her sole mission to live by those two words. She could remember how angry the men got when she refused her animal half.

"I didn't think I could stop it. My bones kept breaking and healing and there was so much blood. They kept screaming at me to shift, hitting and kicking until I thought I might pass out. Still, I held onto myself. I refused him, and for that he hated me. I don't know why he kept me alive, I tried to run so many times it seems ridiculous to think he kept simply bringing me back."

Her eyes were silver, face a shade paler than normal. Looking into the trees once more she could remember the times he forced himself onto her. He made it as painful as possible for her. For that she wished him the worst of deaths.

"When I ran this time he didn't follow. Maybe after all these years he finally got tired of me. I don't know. I just...I kept running."

Kane stood, but kept some space between them. It was clear she didn't want physical contact at the moment.

"Your nightmares, are they of the pack?"

Her soft nod had his heart aching. He wanted blood for her pain, and damn it all if he didn't get it.

"Dawn, how many girls were there?"

Tears slipped down her cheeks, her whisper broken and pained.

"Dozens, when I first got there. When I ran this time there were only a couple left. They kept hurting them. Every night they would come for us. If they weren't raping us they were bleeding us out. Most of them didn't last past a year. I...I tried to end it myself so many times. My body just kept healing, and no matter what I tried I couldn't die. I..."

Kane couldn't take anymore. To think of a world without her had his heart begging to be ripped out of his chest. He turned her around and pulled her shaking form into his arms, the tremor in his muscles making him clamp down on the inside of his own cheek to stop from cursing. He didn't want to frighten her.

"Shhh, that's enough. I won't make you say anymore. I'm so sorry."

She held onto him like he was her only lifeline. Maybe he was in that moment. She felt lightheaded, but a slight breeze stopped her from passing out. He had been right. In the middle of the woods, alone with only Kane around, she was able to open up about the past. With him she was able to speak of the torment she was subjected to for so many years.

With him, maybe she could heal.