A Pup's Questions

Solar trotted through the trees, stopping every few yards so Luna could catch up. "She really must have just came out of the den." Solar decided. The pack really didn't wait another second before chasing them out of the camp.

"So if you're my father then why did you leave mother and I." Solar didn't know how to answer that question. Should he tell the truth? Should he lie? Which is less painful? These question raced through his mind like fleeing caribou through a canyon.

"Ma said you were exiled but wouldn't tell me why." If Luna already partially knew the truth she might as well know the rest of it Solar decided.

"Well, that's a long story. There's a tradition that dates back to the creation of wolves themselves. Our ancestors worshipped the moon more than we do now. They said she was a goddess and named her Luna."

"Like me?" Luna interupted.

"Yes like you." Solar laughed, "On the first ever cursed night our ancestors went crazy. Their beloved goddess, who gave them food to hunt and a place to rest, was gone. A black hole in the starry sky replaced their goddess that night."

"But the moon is still here." Luna tilted her head confused.

"Let me finish." Solar batted her with his tail affectionately, "The wolves broke into chaos, an apocolypse, until the moon rose in a sliver the next night. They soon realized a pattern. Every 14 days or so, after the moon vanished, it would fight it's way back to full view in the sky. After the moon shines full the shadow fights back for another 14 days until the moon completely disappears again. The wolves learned how to predict the shadow moon and Luna's moon."

"That's cool and all but what does it have to do with your exile?" Luna looked fascinated but puzzled at the same time.

Giving her a stern look he replied, "I'm getting there. What did I say earlier?"

"Okay I'll be quiet." Luna frowned.

"Good."

"Anyway, the wolves also saw a pattern in births. Pups born on Luna's moon were always bigger, stronger, and white."

"Like you?" Luna blurted out.

"Yes." Solar growled, annoyed.

"Raising pups is more annoying than I thought." Solar sighed, "They decided that wolves born on Luna's moon would become leaders of the pack, alphas, betas, etc."

"Okay... " Luna rolled her eyes. But what does any of this have to do with your exile? If you were a leader of the pack then why did they exile you?"

"Seriously stop asking questions!" Solar snapped. Luna looked away.

"I'm listening."

"Good. Now the wolves never wanted to know what a pup born on shadow moon was like so they designated certain days for the alpha and his mate to, well, you'll learn about that much later. The point is, they made it so no pup was ever able to be born on shadow moon, fearing that, like pups born during Luna's moon, a part of its magic would be transferred to the pup."

Luna looked horrified, already guessing what Solar was going to say, "One tragic day an alpha mated early. He thought it would be fine but his pup was born on shadow moon. It's pelt was stained black like the shadow in the sky and as it grew up the pack had corrupted. Successful hunts were a dream and many starved. They decided the shadow wolf was the problem and exiled him along with his ma and fa. The packs luck returned and all was well. It never happened again."

"Until me." Luna whimpered and refused to look at her fa, "Then why did you leave so much sooner than ma and I?"

"They made it tradition for the whole family to leave, a sleep after the pup was born. But the alpha also got a final decree before leaving. Mine was to not exile you or Sirus until you had opened your eyes and able to walk. In other words, until you were out of the den."

"So that's why ma kept me in as long as possible. But I snuck out earlier today and they started chasing me away from ma." Luna's whole body shook as she realized it was her fault she was separated from Sirus.