Word Count- 2,687

-Esme Hilltop-

Esme, sitting on her lumpy couch, watching Wolf News again. Alpha Mason isn't on tv this time; it's Tyler Blackwood, his Beta. Tyler looks worn out and weary. Tyler looks like he's five years older than he is. As Esme sits here and thinks about it, her Alpha looks just as worn out, if not more. Tyler is standing next to Jessica Wolfmen, with dark shadows around his eyes. His once-bright eyes are dull. It saddens Esme that her Alpha and his Beta are this weak. It makes her think about what the rest of them look like. Most of them are not mated, and they're all getting weaker. Mated werewolves are much stronger than the unmated werewolves, they need their mates to feel whole and strong.

***

Tyler is tolerating Jessica as he announces a big party that everyone is invited to. Tyler looks like he's out of breath just standing there talking to the cameras. The make-up team did the best they could to make him look more alive. Mason and Tyler had this confidence in them and the attitude to match. Now, it's completely opposite, looking sad and weak, from just a few months ago, when she saw Alpha Mason and Tyler Blackwood.

Esme hated seeing Mason and Tyler like that. She always had a big crush on her Alpha when Esme was growing up. He was a brat as a kid; they went to public schools together. His parents made him go to public schooling for a short period. With the years and experience, Alpha Mason became a kind-hearted man. The men she saw on the news didn't look like that at all; their skin color was even dull like their life source was leaving their bodies. Esme really hopes he finds their next Luna; she will fix everything.
With this new bomb drop of a party now, she thought it was time to invite her friends over to her one-bedroom ranch. They'll have plenty to talk about, with this party and the rogue problem, followed by the curfew. Unfortunately they didn't get together yet to talk about her dreams or the rogue problem yet.

The last time they had a curfew was when they had a rogue problem, and Esme's dad Joe got hurt badly. The rogues took advantage of Alpha Crimson being a new alpha. He never let that happen again, which makes her wonder.

***

It's been a few days since the announcement of the dance and a week ago the curfew was announced. Esme heard a knock on the door snapping her out of her thoughts. Esme's friends are here. She gets off her old lumpy couch to open the door. Marisa would walk in on her own, but Cassandra and Chelsea should be here too. They won't just wander in Esme's home. The girls' went into a group hug, and Esme thought her lungs would leave her.
They finally let go, and they walked down the hall into her room. "Okay, what do you think of this new curfew?" Marisa asked while playing with her strawberry blonde hair. "Worried, we haven't had a rogue problem in a while," Esme said.

"Yeah, since your father got hurt," Cassandra said.

"Yeah, you're right. When Alpha Crimson became alpha, they took advantage of Alpha Crimson," she told them.

"So the big question, the curfew, is there going to be the night of the party, "Marisa commented.

"Did you not watch the mandatory news watch?" Chelsea asked.

"No, I don't watch the news. I can't stand Jessica Wolfmen," Marisa replied.

"I don't like her either, but you should have watched it," Esme told her. Cassandra and Chelsea nod in response in agreeing with her.

"To answer your question, there is no curfew the night of the party," Cassandra said.

"Well, that's good," Marisa commented.

"What's everyone wearing?" She asked.

"Well, the invitation says it’s formal," Marisa answered.

"Does anyone have a formal dress?" Cassandra asked. Everyone shakes their heads in response.

"Well, since no one has anything to wear, we should go to the mall," Marisa suggested.

"Best idea you had," Chelsea commented.
"Haha, very funny," Marisa said in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, let's get going before it gets too crowded with everyone going; it will be packed," Cassandra said, changing the subject. It's in the middle of the afternoon, so the chances of it not being crowded is slim.

***

They all pile in Marisa's car and head out for the mall. When they get there, it's already packed. There is hardly any parking; Cassandra was right. They end up parking in the way back; walking back with big dresses will be fun. Luckily it's a beautiful spring day, and they aren't walking in the cold.

The girls' walked into Macy's first, and everyone had the same idea. Hardly any room to walk around. "Want to try Macy's later?" Esme asked. They all shouted yes, and they started to push people out of the way.

They eventually make it out of there, the girls' walks to JC Penny's, and they will start there. It isn't as crowded as Macy's; there is room to roam. After walking around, they found the formal dresses in the back and their fitting room next to it. There is the right amount of people in the formal section, and multiple fitting rooms are filled. None of that stops Marisa from looking at dresses.
She finds a rack that no one is looking through, and they all browse through them.

Marisa pulls out a dress that would be perfect for Cassandra. It's a short purple dress with silver rhinestones on top and poofy at the bottom. Marisa must have read Esme's mind; she shows it to Cassandra. She goes and waits in line for the fitting room, which they would share.

The rest of them continue looking for dresses. Chelsea pulls out a long dress with a low cut front. It's got a slit up the leg, and its straps have rhinestones on them. It's also a sexy red and perfect for Marisa. Just Chelsea and Esme left. She continued to look, and Esme found her a long blue dress with a little slit with a rhinestone belt. Esme shows Cassandra the dress, and she loves it. She runs into the line and goes to Marisa and Cassandra. Esme continues to look for herself. They come out in their dresses, and they look beautiful in them.

Esme's friends stop and help her look real quick so they can get dressed together. Marisa pulls out a beautiful green dress; the top part has rhinestones, long and poofy. She loved it! Chelsea and Cassandra go in change first. Marisa and Esme go in, and she waits until she's done because the dress is that big. Marisa then leaves, and Esme puts on the dress. "You look so pretty!" Cassandra said as she came out to view standing in the mirror.

"You look like our Luna," Chelsea, she says grinding ear to ear.

"I'm not Alpha Mason's mate," Esme told them. She says this out loud, but not how she feels on the inside. Esme hides her blushing as she's pretty sure she is his mate. Esme doesn't bring this up in public with a lot of people around. Yes, all of them are werewolves, but the alpha and luna are like celebrities to normal ranks. Everyone wouldn’t leave her alone, if they would hear about it, and word would spread fast.

"We will know at the party," Marisa said, smiling. Esme rolls her eyes in response, and she changes out of the dress. She doesn't need new shoes; Esme has some that would match. Her friends don't need them either, so we go-to jewelry.

Cassandra, Chelsea, and Esme go with stud earrings while Marisa finds some hoops. They all go light on the jewelry, knowing they wouldn't want to wear heavy stuff for long. On the ride home, they were all tired. So Esme was debating on telling them about her dreams if it was the right time.

***

They park outside her ranch, and they stare at Esme, waiting for her to get out. "I've had dreams," she blurted out. It didn’t come out like she planned.

Marisa smiles at Esme and asks, "what kind of dreams?" Her mind always goes to sex when she says it like that.

"The kind where I was thinking about talking to the Moon Goddess Luna," she admits. Thinking about awful visions of everyone gone. The forests are burnt away and the river dried up. No more life on the planet.
"Are they that serious?" Cassandra asks.

"They are pretty scary dreams, and I would say so," Esme tells them.

"You have to wait until the next full moon," Chelsea reminds her.

"The next one is in two days," Marisa reads her mind. As Esme didn't know off hand, as she didn't keep track this month. Normally she does, but the stress is getting to her.
"Two more nights," she told them.

"Keep us updated, Luna," Cassandra said. They always say Esme is the next Luna of this pack. She says her goodbyes, and she walks up to Esme's ranch; it's a one-bedroom ranch. So no one is above or below her.

***

After having Esme's friends over and going to the mall on short notice, she's tired. Esme sighs as she puts her pajamas on and brushes out the knots in her hair. Once she finished getting ready for bed, Esme lay underneath her covers, thinking. With everything that has been happening, she has a lot on her mind.

Esme doesn't think she will be sleeping well for a while, at least until this all blows over. Esme stares up at the ceiling, wondering what her mate is doing. Disrupting her thoughts, she hears a voice in her head, "Esme, I have tried to warn you of the dangers for our world. You should have heeded my warnings. This is your punishment."

Before Esme can react to the voice in her head, the agonizing pain starts. The wonderful Goddess they pray to is forcing her to shift. Esme screams as she feels her bones begin to break; it's unbearable. It hurts more than shifting for the first time. Her skin is in a thick layer of sweat, from her bones breaking and cracking. Esme's back is hunched; She's on all fours, after falling off of her bed. White fur comes out of her skin, and hands and feet become paws. Esme's voice starts to crack from screaming. The pain stops, but the police sirens get louder.

After Esme finishes shifting, she jumps out the window, shattering it. She runs towards the forest, to where they ask for forgiveness. Esme had wronged her, she didn't heed the Goddess's warning, and now she's punishing Esme. She has no choice but to run to her now as she took away Esme's human form. She's pretty sure she's stuck in her wolf form for a while.

***

Esme runs out of town, and the streetlights begin to blur and disappear. As she runs to the forest, more trees come into view. The moon is high in the sky and almost full. The Moon Goddess might just ignore Esme as she ignored her for two moons now. The forest gets thicker as she gets closer to the river and the meadows are. They go over to the river to pray to her; it's where she hears you the loudest.

Esme is almost there, to the river where the moon shines the most. "Hey, stop; where do you think you're going!" Someone shouts in the distance. She ignores them and keeps running to talk to the Goddess. She saw it in view, and howled as loud as she could, Esme barely made it.

Esme makes it to where they speak to her, "Please let me turn back to human. I'm sorry I was going to be here during the full moon," she pleaded with the Moon Goddess.

"No, Esme, I have been warning you for two moons now; this is your punishment," she answers her.

"I thought they were nightmares, please, I'm begging you," Esme pleaded again.

"What's done is done; you will have to earn back your human form. You never liked being an albino wolf; you need to embrace it. You need to learn how to love yourself, Luna, if you're going to lead this pack. They need you to be there for them to survive this war that's coming," she says.

"I'm what?" She asked.

"You're the next Luna, my dear, I know you sensed it, but you can't be scared anymore; brace who you are," the Moon Goddess says and disappears. Esme sob uncontrollably as to what just happened and what was just confirmed. She couldn't believe what the Goddess said. Before Esme can really understand what she had told her, Alpha Mason's Higher rank men yell at her, "turn back into your human form now!" Esme tries her luck and shifts; nothing happens. "Final warning, shift now!" The man screams at Esme, ordering her to shift back. The men try to force to turn, it usually would work, but these aren't normal circumstances. The Moon Goddess’s power is preventing her to shift back into human just like she warned her. Esme has to earn back being human. After not shifting back for them, she feels an electric shock go all throughout her body, and then everything goes black.

-Cassandra Underwood-

After the day with her friends and bought a dress so she can meet her mate. Esme, one of Cassandra's closest friends, told them about who she thinks her Mate is. Esme told her that it could be the Alpha. Cassandra always knew there was something special about her friend, especially being a albino wolf.

After they dropped off Esme they drove off and dropped off Marisa. They watch her go into her house, and drive off back home. "Do you think Esme is the next Luna?" Chelsea asks her twin sister.

"I've always known she was special since I saw what her wolf looks like." Cassandra thinks back on the memories. When a born werewolf turns sixteen the next full moon will be their first shift. As soon as Cassandra found out she looked up all the spiritual reasons why.

Chelsea does the speed limit all the way home where the two of them are roommates. With the curfew she doesn't want to make it on a cop’s radar. They hadn't realized how late it's gotten, and Chelsea follows every rule, well with Cassandra in the passenger seat.

They get home and they hurry up inside, and put their dresses away. They get ready for bed, as they both have work in the morning, as fashion assistants.

-Anna Rivers-

Anyone who lives in the pack house didn't get sleep last night. Werewolves who watched around the territory found a white wolf howling, and all night they tried to force her to shift. Anna hardly got any sleep last night. It was soon found out that the wolf was the next Luna of the pack, so Anna's brother was angry. The whole pack heard his commands.

In the morning the other three Alphas arrived at the pack house, so did Anna's mate. In the early morning she runs all the way to the foyer, following her favorite scent. The scent of pine trees, and she's staring at an Alpha. Anna can tell he's not pleased about who his mate is, or rather his second mate. Guilt and sadness was the look he had, and that saddened her for him. Anna even felt a bit of guilt because she was running down flights of stairs in excitement. She senses this won't be an easy journey for both of them.

Callum, the Alpha's Beta, drags him away to a different room, and Anna gives them the space they need. She waited twenty-two years to meet her mate, she can wait a day or so to talk to him.