Luna Audrey

Prologue

-10 years earlier-

I watched from behind the couch as they took my mother's body away. Even I knew that wasn't my mother anymore – just a deteriorating shell of who she was before her last breath. Everyone spoke in hushed voices, not wanting to catch my attention or startle me, "the child."

I'd been told my mother was very ill, suffering from a rare disease that was becoming increasingly infamous in the werewolf community. I didn't understand it. I didn't understand all of the big words and the explanations about her illness, and I certainly didn't understand her death.

Why would the Moon Goddess take my mother away from me?

I felt hot tears forming in my eyes as my mother's body vanished from sight. She was really gone. I would never see her again. She would never braid my hair, read her novels to me, or comfort me during storms, ever again.

It was just me and daddy now. At least I still had him.

Once all the people had left, I crept out of the shadows and went searching for my father. He was a stern man, but he loved mother and I. We were both hurting now, but we had each other.

I rounded the corner to his office, following the dim light of his desk lamp and found him seated in his chair with a glass of brown liquid pressed to his lips. I could see, even from the hallway, that his eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was disheveled.

I quietly entered the room, not wanting to startle or upset him further. When I was finally within arms-reach, I gently rested my hand on his shoulder, wanting to comfort him and feel some kind of comfort in return.

My mother had always been the comforter in the family.

His head jerked sharply in my direction, his eyes dark and full of anger. A low growl gradually erupted from the back of his throat, and in one swift movement, he reached out and struck me across the face with the back of his hand.

"Don't touch me, bastard child!" father yelled, allowing his glass to drop to the floor and shatter.

I stood there, both frozen and dumbstruck. My father's demeanor and actions caught me off guard and caused me to lose myself further to the negative thoughts and emotions that'd been consuming my mind.

I'd seen daddy angry before, but never like this. He was angry with me. He looked at me as if I was the cause of his pain and suffering...had I somehow been the cause of mother's death?

Of all the pain I was enduring, that thought hurt worst of all.

Little did I know; the pain was only just beginning.

Chapter 1 will be up sometime shortly after Luna Hana is completed.