The Heartless Alpha's Beloved Luna Novel

---- Chapter 86 Avery's POV The Full Moon rose above Nightwolf for its first night. | heard a few excited howls as the younger pack members transformed and took off to the woods to enjoy their first-night revels. More mature wolves would enjoy tomorrow night, taking the opportunity to indulge their wolf forms and reaffirm pack hierarchies and relationships. The third night was traditionally the mating-moon, where those who were close to mating heat, or wanted to be, would take the opportunity to embrace their fertility and expand families, or just enjoy intimate moments with their mates.

And | would do... none of that. My wolf never manifested. | was just me. | knew she was in there somewhere, but for whatever reason, | had never transformed. So while they ran around under the full moon, feeling the late spring wind in their fur and howling their wild spirits into the sky, | would be marching into the woods with my books and my spell ---- components and trying to do my first ritual to the Moon Goddess. The books Sofia had given me were fascinating, but hard to follow. They were handwritten, often with notes scribbled into 'the margins.

There were star charts, and lists of correspondences. My eyes glazed over reading through the lists of herbs and crystals and incense scents to choose for specific outcomes. | even got bogged down in a chapter that went into the fascinating history of poppets. Did you know that poppets could be stuffed with straw or corn husks or fabric or teeth? It all depended on the outcome desired, the intent of the magic user. It was literally enchanting. But | didn't understand how all of this intersected with my magic. | was no sorceress. I'd never done anything intentionally in this way.

Sofia had given me these resources to teach me something, | was sure of it. | wasn't interested in becoming her acolyte, but | was interested in finding out why the Moon Goddess had touched my life in this way. So, | had picked a ritual that was just... joyful. | was a little confused about some of the ritual steps, but maybe if | could just spend the time trying to commune with the Goddess, to ---- connect to her power, maybe she could tell me why the hell she had interfered in my life so directly.

| admit, though, | felt more than a little self-conscious as | took a blanket, a bag of candles, a lighter, some herbs, and a few odds and ends and marched my happy ass out into the forest. | felt pretty vulnerable disrobing, but the ritual primer recommended doing so to show sincerity, connection, and to help the ritual feel more sacred. | wasn't sure why | cared, honestly. In these woods, the only other people who would be running around would be in wolf form. Wolves didn't care what people were, or weren't wearing. They operated entirely on vibes.

And unlike the other night when Gideon had to save me, | wasn't far from Nightwolf village. One good scream and a half dozen warriors would come running. | was just barely beyond the tree line, down a nice wooded slope. This area was gorgeous. | hadn't truly appreciated it until now, but the woods around here were thick and wild, and teaming with wildlife. The books had described all sorts of complicated magic, but what I had picked was simpler than that. No chalk inscriptions were required, no archaic language. ---- | stood, hair unbound, naked, and lifted my arms to the rising moon.

Around me were a few candles, strewn herbs, and a single smoldering incense stick I'd stabbed into the moist earth, but otherwise this was exceedingly simple. So why did it feel so terrifying? | took a deep breath and remembered the times | had felt the Moon Goddess' presence before. The way she had floated down in my dreams. The way the moonlight had felt like water in my hands. There weren't any words required. | focused on my gratitude, my appreciation for her watching over me, and a little bit of my confusion, but happiness, at being able to use her gifts.

Slowly, the moonlight trickled through the trees and draped across my body. Although it was a somewhat damp and chilly evening, | felt warm. It was like standing in sunlight. After a time, the light faded away, and my candles blew out. | stretched, feeling like | had been standing there for hours, or maybe just a few minutes? The moon had disappeared behind the clouds, or below the tree line.