Chapter 4. The Luna of This Story

"So..." Giovanna encouraged him.

"Your wishes are passed on to them, who feel the immediate need to fulfill them all, because if you feel hungry, thirsty, sad... they feel it too. They feel it too."

"What kind of madness is that?"

"Well... What do you know about wolves?"

"Wolves are animals that live in packs in the forest."

"That's a good definition... Well... Wolves are hierarchical animals. There's Alpha, who is the strongest... Ah... In the past, they were defined by their own pack, chosen because they reproduced the most, but what you need to know about today's Alphas is that they are strong, dangerous and lethal. They are not defined by the number of offspring, but by their birth. Alphas are the only ones who transform people with their bite and they are the only ones who... They can transform whenever and however they want. They are a kind of shapeshifter and are at the top of the food chain and hierarchical position... Then there's the beta couple..." He said and pointed to a man and only at that moment did Giovanna realize, there was a woman between them. And she didn't look friendly. "The Beta couple are in the second line of command. They are like the eyes and ears of Alpha and can communicate with him through their minds from anywhere in the world."

"That makes the invention of the telephone obsolete."

Theo laughed.

"No, if we consider that only the Beta couple have this power of communication with the Alpha... Well... They're not the only ones, but I'll talk about that in a moment... The other three are Omegas, they're ours... They're the soldiers of the wolves. There's no army without soldiers... Those who are here are of the Garou lineage, most of them are. Those who aren't transformed by the Alpha and are born... Like this."

"Yes... I see. You're not talking about wolves. You're talking about werewolves. I've heard this story a thousand times from my superior. And if everything you're saying is true, your story is missing the lone Alpha, a Sigma. Ah! Wait! That must be the one who left!" Giovanna said wryly and started to laugh, until she realized that everyone was silent.

"That can't be true... Can it?" She asked in astonishment.

"Your superior has always known what you are."

"Yes. You know too. An orphan, who was abandoned because her parents were ashamed of the traditional way she came into the world."

"You've forgotten the main character in this story, Giovanna. Have you forgotten who leads a pack? Who marries the Alpha?"

She looked at him, thinking, her head in the negative.

"No."

"Yes."

"I'm the..."

"The Luna of this story."

Giovanna raised her eyebrows.

"Wow! You're not famous because of how carefully you reveal strange things to people, right?"

Theo laughed and stood up.

"I'm not... There are secrets about my life that I'm not yet willing to share with you, but what concerns you... That's it."

"You didn't talk about me! You told me about wolves..."

"That's true. We'll correct that mistake, but... Maybe you'd like to shower first and change..."

Giovanna felt herself turning red and lowered her eyes, looking away from his amused gaze.

"I didn't bring any extra clothes..."

"Gaia will lend you some of them, right Gaia?" He said and looked at the Beta couple's wife, who smiled, looking unexpectedly beautiful, and left. Theo then turned to Giovanna. "Do you need anything else before I leave so that you can take care of yourself?"

"No... Yes... I just... Thank you for not letting me fall to the floor when I fainted." She said without looking at him, but the deafening silence piqued her curiosity and she looked at everyone, who suddenly turned as white as wax.

"What happened? Did I say something wrong?"

Theo took a breath as if seeking patience and then looked at her affectionately.

"I didn't hold her back. I wanted to. But it wasn't me." He said and left, followed by the others, leaving Giovanna alone and not knowing what was wrong with those people, apart from the fact that they were werewolves, of course.

The woman soon returned, leaving Giovanna no time to continue her considerations about everything that had been revealed to her. For her, until that day, everything she knew about werewolves was a fairy tale. Or horror. The superior talked about them as if they were wild, dangerous and emotionless animals. But she herself always romanticized them.

"I hope it fits you..." Gaia said, putting jeans and a T-shirt on the bed. "I'm sorry, I only leave casual clothes here too... These are from one of the... women who work for Theo."

Giovanna stared at her in embarrassment.

"You seem like a nice person, I had a different impression when I first saw you, I'm sorry." Giovanna said, getting up and picking up her clothes.

"I'm not nice, ma'am. At least not with other people."

Giovanna stopped.

"I'm not a lady. E... You're only friendly with werewolves? Is that what you meant?"

"No, 'ma'am'." She said, stressing the word. "I'm only kind to those who are superior to me."

"I'm not superior to you."

"You may not accept being his wife and yet you can still be leaders together. When you're born into something, you may not want to be that something, but there's no efficient way for people to look at you as if you're not what you were born to be."

"Really! You're not unpleasant, but you're annoying! Really? Philosophy now? Do something useful, like showing me the direction to the bathroom, please?"

Gaia smiled. Theo was right. That girl would bring life, joy and novelty to the pack. She didn't even realize that she was exercising the arrogance of a member of the high aristocracy. She was genuinely noble.

"Stay at the end of the corridor, you'll find towels and everything you need there." Gaia said, letting Giovanna pass with a debauched bow.

Giovanna burst out laughing. She liked Gaia and had an intuition that they would be good friends. She found the bathroom and was amazed. It was bigger than the room she shared with three boarders. She saw the bathtub and wanted to experience what it was like to soak in it, but she knew they were waiting for her, so she decided to take a quick shower. But it wasn't that quick. She found some mild-smelling shampoo and soap and couldn't get enough of scrubbing and washing her hair. By the time she had finished, an hour had passed.