Servant of the Moon #1 - unedited draft

Spring Charm by Adrian von Ziegler ( at the top of each chapter is a song suggestion from YouTube in Italics)

November 1628 A.D.

Two men in cloaks and kilts stood side by side surveying the land below. It was frozen marsh and evergreen forest, nested between the sea and the bay. The native population only dwelt in a small group far to the north and across the peninsula on the mainland. This would be a good place to start anew, a place free of the crowding of their home isle. It was a place that required hardiness and hard work, it would be a place for wolves. Their Lord Alpha had secured this land from the king himself. It was empty and it was theirs.

Only the wind listened to their words in an almost lost dialect as they surveyed what was below the bluff where they stood.

“Tis a colder clime than moors of home, Gealimir,” the taller one said through his frozen red beard.

“Nay, Ruadhbheithir, tha nip in tha wind be jus’ enough to stir yur lazy arse,” the blonde-haired giant beside him answered, laughing.

“I’ll not be stirrin’ much with my fair Fraocha still wantin’ a lass pup every summer,” Ruadhbheithir sighed. He misses his fiery mate, missed her with his whole soul. Her desire for a daughter, which had given him many passion-filled, sleepless nights, had only resulted in 5 strong sons. She was not to be swayed and he could never refuse her. He rubbed more frost from his beard with claws that looked like they belonged more to a bear than to a man. “Ye be lucky ta have yur sweet Earbah, she be not demanding like Fraocha.”

The golden giant shook his head with a chuckle. “Do nah let her doe eyes an’ soft voice fool ye. My lil’ roe deer has fangs more fierce than yourn, Alpha,” Gealimir responded softly, almost as if he feared she would hear him from across the sea. Then he held out his arm and pointed, “There, there be the bent-armed elhaz your sister saw.”

“Aye. Looks like the Moon be blessin’ her children again. Come then, let’s see the land my cousin has claimed for my new pack.”

Spring in the 1950s~

Three young females joined by the possibility of mating into the packs across the sea, stood on the deck of a steamer headed for the new world. Their chaperon, the wet nurse of one and midwife of the other two, watched the passing waves through lidded lazy eyes. Winter was over and the warm sun felt good to them all. Spring breezes promised change was coming to the northern climes. The captain was a wolf, and retired royal naval officer, charged with delivering his Alpha’s nieces and a best friend to their possible mates.

A brunette named Merida was telling of how she was excited to meet her chance mate, a warrior wolf named Lyallfr MacGealimir. She had met Lyallfr’s elder brother when she was a young lass, but he and her brother had died together in the great world war. As the Alpha’s niece, Merida had written with the news, she was surprised to get a letter back. She and the younger brother had been writing each other for years now. Mail order brides were not a new thing in the human world, but mail order mates were not as simple, because the Moon chose true mates and chance mates for all wolves. Mates either had potential or they didn’t, the mate bond could not be forced.

Merida was hopeful and not just for herself. She had convinced her best friend Fiona to joined her on this quest. Together they had read and reread the old letters and looked forward to meeting the youngest Beta and Master-of-Arms of the New Wemyss pack in person. Fiona was intrigued by the honor-bound, ancient warrior ways, that they let women fight, and give opinions. She prayed to the Goddess to find her true mate so she would not have to return to the lowlands and her father’s arranged mating to a chance mate, a stuffy historian who was thrice her age.

Merida’s cousin, Mary, whined about the constant wind tangling her golden hair and chapping her cheeks. She wanted to claim an alpha mate with her beauty, and it would not do if her hair was ruined or her skin, wind-burned. After their chaperon’s required hour in the sun, Mary huffed back inside. Every day she refused to stay out on the deck for more than the required time, because her carefully manicured beauty might be marred. Merida and Fiona rolled their eyes at her back again. They wanted adventure and true love. They secretly were betting on Mary not finding a mate higher than an omega.

Every afternoon, a few more she-wolves joined them when the tea was served. It was an exciting time to be a female. Those who didn’t find mates in Nova Scotia would be sailing on to Patagonia before traveling on to the land down under, Australia, then sailing the same route to return home with the she-wolves of those lands. Passage had been paid in both directions, just in case a true or chance mate wasn’t found.

The nearly 120 she-wolves were happy to have the opportunity to travel, and hoped to find more than they had left. They hoped to leave the oppressive old ways behind, where females were a commodity to be traded like livestock. Only a dozen of them were Wemyss she-wolves. Most of the she-wolves were from eight different packs scattered across the European continent, from France to Finland.

The she-wolves of the old land bravely crossing the sea, seeking a better future. They carried hope in their hearts.

The higher ranked males of seventeen packs would all be waiting in Halifax. The New Wemyss Alpha took his duty to the old world Wemyss pack very seriously. The two Wemyss packs had remained close, even after over 300 years of being separated by the North Atlantic. This event brought great honor to both sides of the sea. It was the first such gathering since the world war ended. Every precaution and preparation was made to ensure the she-wolves’ safety and comfort. There were too many young she-wolves, and not nearly enough males in the old world country. The two world wars had killed so many, but in the Americas and Australia, she-wolves’ numbers were far fewer than males because of fewer female births than in previous decades. The new world needed females desperately.

Pack wars threatened to break out as mates were sought by the strongest packs and taken from the weaker ones. Times changed and it would be she-wolf’s choice at the North American meet and mate. Ranked she-wolves were no longer just breeding stock traded for alliances between large packs, they commanded their own destinies.

The ship steamed into the port at Halifax. Merida and Fiona were peering through the foggy morning at the bow of the ship. Both wore hooded cloaks made of the Wemyss tartan. Mary, still in her room, had chosen a blue woolen peacoat and hat, much like the French she-wolves were wearing. As the steamer docked, Merida could see the giant Alpha of New Wemyss pack on the dock in his red tartan kilt and sash, with barathea and brogues. Next to him were two blond wolves in similar attire, obviously brothers.

Merida shouted to Lyall and waved manically, throwing off her hood and knocking Fiona’s hood back to with her enthusiastic jumping about. Wolven ears heard her call and Lyall waved back, only for his hand to freeze in the air. Fiona gasped beside her, petrified. Glancing between her pen pal and her best friend, Merida screamed out her happiness. She dragged Fiona down the gang plank before it was even secured. Lyall pushed through the crowd to them and stood breathless as Merida shoved Fiona into his arms.

“Lyall, this be Fiona MacDonah, mo’ best friend,” Merida was bouncing with joy as Lyall and Fionna just stared at each other, unspeaking, in awe of the power of the bond already forming between them.

The Alpha’s booming laugh almost drowned out her words. “Tis be a good omen, when tha first off tha ship has found ’er mate. Ye must be Merida, mo young beta has told me so much about ye. Aye be ’ope ye aire nah disappointed nah ta be young Lyall’s mate.”

Merida bowed her head in respect and smiled in a knowing way, “Nah at all, Alpha Wemyss. I knew before we left, it was more likely ta be Fiona’s lot than mine. She was always asking about tha cologne on his letters, an’ thar was none.” She giggled and gave the Alpha a bold wink.

He laughed again along with Lyall’s older brother, Liam. “Yur Uncle is right, ye will make a fine Luna or Beta, ta be so selfless as ta give up one who would care for ye fur yur friend’s happiness. Ye ’ave a generous heart, Merida.”

“Ye are kind Alpha, but I knew if Lyall’s true was another, I would give leave fur his happiness,” she declared. She and Lyall knew they had potential but, being friends as they were, they wanted the other to find their true mate.

Three days later, Merida and her chaperon packed Fiona’s belongings. Merida had met several potential mates but not her true mate. She was saddened that she would be journeying on without Fiona, but joyful that her friend would know the happiness of a true mate bond. Tonight would be Fiona and Lyall’s mating ceremony. Then Merida would be sailing on to Patagonia. The beauty of this land enchanted Merida and she hoped to come back some day.

Mary had refused to come ashore for the celebration, she had hoped Lyall or one of his brothers or one of the Alpha’s sons would chose her, they didn’t.

The New Wemyss smithy had shown the most potential for her but she refused to settle so low as to marry an unranked tradesman, even though Merida and Fiona both believed he was her true mate. On the dock, Liam stood waiting for Fiona’s belongings. Together, they drove in silence to the fort-like home of the New Wemyss wolves.

They drove miles in silence before Liam finally spoke, “Merida, if ye do nah find yur mate, would ye return ta live with Fiona?”

“Nay Liam, mo uncle is tha Alpha of Wemyss in tha old land, an’ as he has no daughters. I would be mated ta an aristocrat fur an alliance. He only let me come ‘cause it was tha Wemyss clan hosting, an’ it would be disrespectful nah ta send meh.” She tried to keep the resentment out of her voice. She did not want to marry the Chartres beta with his philandering ways. His true mate had left him for having pups with not one, but two other she-wolves, and Merida did not want to be stuck with him.

“Tha’s too bad. Ye ‘aven’t met Raudi, he’s the Alpha’s younger son but more suited to be Alpha tha’ either ‘is brothers. He only needs a strong Luna an’ I kno’ he can beat them. Thay aire all off fightin’ to protect tha Oracles at tha Moon’s Gate. Rogues want tha island and tha oracles fur themselves, but tha Alpha thinks there’s more ta it. He thinks tha’ bas tard brown-coat royals aire behind it because tha Oracles won’t move tha temples ta their lands.” Liam sighed shaking his head in disgust. “I wish meh leg hadn’t gotten maimed in tha war or I’d fight with ’em.”

“Tha royals are a problem in tha old lands too. Thay think thay should be worshiped instead of tha Moon Goddess. Can ye imagine tha arrogance of tha’, thay want tha word of tha royal Alphas to be over that of tha Oracles, who speak on behalf of tha Moon ’erself.” Merida sounded incredulous, yet she was. She just couldn’t believe that a mere wolf, royal or not, would believe they were above the laws of the Moon. “Thay even want ta give tha royals tha right ta claim a chance mate from their true mate, iffen tha true mate be of lower rank.”

Liam shook his head again. “So many good wolves died in tha war ta stop tha wolves who want ta go back to tha dark days. Tha royals were made ta help lower wolves, nah lord over them an’ take thay want. It almost seems like tha war isn’t over.”

Merida had no response, she just nodded. She knew the royals had fallen away from the beliefs in the Moon Goddess and their duty to other wolves. They had become selfish, petty.

As the moon rose, Merida watched Fiona, who was dressed as the Moon Goddess. A white dress and a crown of flowers, she looked beautiful and Merida envied her best friends. Four couples waited anxiously as one by one, the old oracle acted as priestess, cutting the palm of each mated pair with a silver blade, and binding their hands with a scarlet cords. The couples would mark and mate in the privacy of their own rooms while the pack celebrated until dawn.

Bleary eyed and exhausted, Merida thanked the Alpha of New Wemyss for driving her back to the ship. As she boarded, he told her to come back and that she would always be welcome in his pack. He stood on the dock and waved as the ship pulled out to sea. Merida remained at the stern, waving until the land left her sight. Her soul ached and her wolf howled in sorrow, it felt like they were leaving home.

A year later, most of the she-wolves who had begun this journey were happy with the mates they found, but some had come expecting to be chosen first, to become more than the Moon had written in their destiny. They were greatly disappointed. Merida was among them. Some ended up returning to Patagonia or New Wemyss and to their second or third or even last choice for a mate rather than return home mateless and humiliated.

Merida went along with Mary to New Wemyss, only to see Fiona one last time before going to France and her arranged mating.

Mary’s arranged mate at home was a wealthy dairy farmer who had found his true mate and sent her a letter of apology. Mary wasn’t too crushed and had decided to consider the New Wemyss smithy. He was a tradesman after all with some wealth and respect, and she wouldn’t have to live on a farm. She had been hoping for a wealthy mate from a more urban pack or an alpha, but her wolf had refused all she met. Her wolf wanted the smithy, he had sent letters and gifts to every port they stopped in. Merida almost felt bad for the poor wolf to be so smitten with someone as snobbish and entitled as Mary.

Mary had ‘begged’ Merida to stay for her mating because they were family, so Merida had, if only to spend more time with the now pregnant Fiona and Lyallfr. Her best friends had tried to comfort her as she waited her fate, returning to the old world and her arranged mating. That night as the Moon rose, Merida had not missed the smug smile Mary had flashed her. She was mated and Merida was not.

Merida tried to look happy for her cousin, and she was happy for Mary, but she was heartbroken for herself. Soon she would be returning to Old Wemyss and then be sent to Chartres to the beta she had never met, to live in a city without trees and in a home without love.