CHAPTER 0

CHILD OF THE MOON

EPISODE 3. THE NEXT LUNA

The young princess froze in her spot. She heard ringing bells in her ears. Her vision became blurry due to the tears. Then there's the pain her mother feels. In a matter of seconds, Luna Diane's eyes changed from electric blue to a gray color. She then smiled at Ayla who cried out for her.

Then Dardan lets Luna Diane go who slipped onto the ground. He wiped off the blood from his chin and looked over at Ayla.

"You're next," he said and ran over to the young princess.

AWOOOO!

A howl was heard from afar which stopped Dardan. The young princess turned around to see both her father and uncle in their wolf forms. They both ran towards Dardan with their sharp teeth and long claws ready to protect the heir of the Lycan Kingdom. Ayla watched as her father, the wolf in midnight black fur, jumped into the air and bit the vampire's right arm while her uncle, the wolf in golden brown fur, checked on her for a few seconds before helping his older brother out. Then the young princess looked back to where her mother was. She hurriedly went over to Luna Diane who is holding on tightly to her mundane life. Her gray eyes stared softly at Ayla as the little one got down on her knees beside her mother.

"Mommy..." Ayla whispered, her eyes brimming with tears, "Please, stay awake, okay? Daddy and Uncle Seth are here. They'll take the vampire down! So please don't go. Don't leave us... D-don't leave me."

Luna Diane weakly smiled at her daughter and said, "My little moon, I am sorry... If I had been a better mother, then you wouldn't have to go through this. Everyone didn't deserve to go through such pain from tonight and the past month. I haven't been doing my job as their Luna. But you, my little moon, you are their hope, our hope. It's too early to give you the rest of your gifts, but they will protect you from your enemies. Give me your hands, Aylina."

The six-year-old was processing everything all at once. So many questions were running through her head. But she gave her small hands to her mother. Luna Diane took hold of them and in a few seconds, a bright light appeared between her and her daughter. It wasn't like the light from earlier in Ayla's quarters. Instead, it was a beautiful kind of light that glowed gently like the moonlight. Then a light blue orb came out of Luna Diane's chest and floated towards the young princess.

"Ayla, listen well and repeat the words I say through our mind link. Are you ready?" Luna Diane spoke up, still with her soft yet weak smile.

The young princess nodded her head. "Y-yes, mommy."

I, Aylina Helen Van Lupine, a child of the moon...

"I, Aylina Helen Van Lupine, a child of the moon..."

Accept the gifts bestowed upon me...

"Accept the gifts bestowed upon me..."

And the destiny to be the... next Luna.

Ayla's eyes widened at what her mother said through their mind link.

"I'm to be the next Luna?" she whispered in surprise.

Luna Diane's smile faltered for a bit but she nodded her head to which Ayla continued.

"And the destiny to be the next Luna."

Then the light blue orb floated towards Ayla and entered inside her body. Her body temperature went back to normal and her eyes went back to being its golden brown color.

"You did well, my little moon..." Luna Diane exclaimed as her skin started to become cold.

Ayla noticed the new changes to her mother and panicked. "Mommy, you're cold!" Her words reached the Crown Prince and Third Prince who were able to stop Dardan in time but the blonde vampire had escaped before they could kill him. The two brothers then transformed back to their human forms and ran over to the Crown Princess.

"My love," Abel spoke up as he gently took his wife into his arms, "Oh Vargr! Diane, you're freezing cold!"

Seth quickly took his cloak off and placed it on top of his sister-in-law. Then he kneeled down beside Ayla and wrapped his left arm around her small frame. "Abel, dear, I know that we both promised to live our lives till we're gray and old. I am sorry. I don't think we'll be able to keep our promise," Luna Diane said as Abel shook his head and tightly hugged her.

"Please, don't do this to us, Diane!" He begged, tears falling down his cheeks, "I can't lose you, too. Ayla and I can't lose you."

The Crown Princess placed her hand on his cheek and whispered, "Keep our daughter safe. She is destined for many great and fortunate things. Promise me, Abel, that you'll protect her."

"I... I promise you I'll protect our daughter."

Luna Diane then smiled at him and Ayla one last time. "I love you, my prince. I love you, my little moon," she thought through the shared link, then her eyes shut lightly, her hand on the Crown Prince's cheek fell, and a second later, her soul left her mundane body and returned back to her father's side.

The entire kingdom was in mourning the next day. But every wolf and lycanthrope that is alive were highly on guard. 

Hundreds of lives were lost, along with their Luna's. Even when things are like this, strict orders were given to protect the Royal Family, especially the young Luna-To-Be. There were many events happening in the Lycan Kingdom for the next week. From the funerals to the clean-up of the vampires' bodies and the up-coming coronation for Crown Prince Abel who will officially take the throne. It's rather quick but Dardan and his army of newborn vampires are still out there and anytime they will come back for the young princess's blood.

"This is for the best, Your Highness," Deuce, the Royal Aide and Beta of the Crown Prince, explained as Abel stared at his reflection in the mirror, "Once the coronation is over, we can all continue with the mourning period. This is what the late Luna wanted. When you are crowned King, then we'll be able to protect Princess Aylina."

The Crown Prince sighed. He knows that Deuce is right but his daughter hasn't been the same since that night. Honestly, everyone hasn't been the same, even he himself had changed. Yet he wasn't so sure of postponing the mourning period. He lost many of his people and their families must be in total loss. He just hoped that everything would work out this time. He wished that his family, people, and those from the Vampire Kingdom would live in peace after this war against Dardan.

"Tell me you're not having second thoughts," a voice spoke up from across the room.

Abel and Deuce turned to see who it was and were surprised when they saw the Second Prince, Cain, standing by the door with a smirk hanging on his lips.

"Cain? You made it!" The Crown Prince called out as he walked over and hugged his twin brother.

The Second Prince chuckled and hugged him back. Then they pulled away and Cain gave Abel a sad smile. "I am sorry for your loss, Abe. If I had come back sooner, then... Dee would probably still be here."

Abel's eyes twitched when he heard his late wife's old nickname. It's been a while since he last heard it since Cain is the one who usually called her that. But because his twin had been guarding the Dark Forest and searching for Abel's twin sons for the past couple of years, the Crown Prince felt a little overwhelmed with the old nickname. But that's not the only reason why.

"Yeah... Diane... Maybe..." The Crown Prince muttered under his breath as he looked away from Cain.

Then Beta Azim came walking inside and almost bumped into the Second Prince.

"I'm not dreaming, right?" He asked when seeing Cain in the flesh.

The dark blonde man smiled and gave the young Beta a side hug. "Nice to see you, too, Az!" he said with a teasing wink, making Azim blush madly.

Then Deuce faked a cough, helping his fellow Beta out, and asked, "Beta Azim, why are you here and not guarding Princess Aylina?"

Beta Azim pushed himself away from the Second Prince and nervously answered, "Ah, about that... Princess Aylina isn't in her room."

"WHAT?!" The Crown Prince bellowed and exited his office, leaving behind a nervous Azim, a shocked Deuce, and a confused but worried Cain who then raised a question.

"Talking about the young princess... Is it true that the late Luna transferred her powers to my niece?"

"Yes, Your Highness. It is true," Deuce replied to which Azim nodded his head.

The Second Prince looked away from the two and hummed, "I see."

"Ayla? Where are you? Please, speak to me."

The Crown Prince called out through the shared link with his daughter, but the princess didn't answer him. Abel was worrying and panicking non stop as he went through every nook and corner of the palace. He was imagining the worst case scenarios and in the end he fell to the ground onto his knees as he muttered under his breath, repeating the same words again and again.

"Diane, I am sorry. I am sorry. Diane. I am sorry. Diane."

It was only until he heard the soft voice of his youngest daughter.

"D-daddy?" Ayla stuttered in fear when seeing the situation her father was in. She walked over to him and placed her hands on his face. Abel slowly looked up to face her and in relief, he cried. Every negative thought and feelings he had went away as his daughter wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. "Daddy, I'm sorry if I worried you. I wanted to answer you earlier through the link, but grandfather wouldn't let me."

Abel gently pulled away from the hug and asked with furrowed eyebrows, "What do you mean, Ayla? Your grandfather? Are you talking about Vargr? Can you talk to him?"

"One question at a time, daddy," the princess huffed, putting a warm smile on her father's face.

"Right. I apologize."

Then Ayla continued, "Yes, it was Vargr, and he had reached out to me earlier. He said that the gifts that mommy gave to me might be too much for me to handle. So he gave me this," the little girl in a simple, black-and-white dress, took something out from her small pouch and handed it to her father, "Grandfather told me to keep this with me at all times. He said it's a gem that will hold most of the powers within me, and once I'm at the age where I can manage them, I won't be needing it."

The Crown Prince's face turned pale when seeing the moonstone in his hand. Then he took the small pouch from his daughter, placed the precious gem back inside, and sternly looked at the princess before saying through their shared link.

"Aylina, my little pup. You must not show this to anyone. Do you understand me? This moonstone is rare and many people have tried looking for it. Please, don't tell anyone that you have one, okay?"

Ayla was confused. It was written all over her face but she replied back to her father with a nod and the Crown Prince picked her up into his arms and stood up.

"I promised your mother that I would protect you. It also looks like the Ancient Wolf God has blessed you, too. This makes it even more dangerous for you, Ayla," Abel thought to himself as he walked down the hall with Ayla protectively in his arms.

Then he stopped in his tracks when Ayla spoke up through their link.

"Daddy... Is Uncle Cain here?"

"Yes, sweetie, he came back from the Dark Forest earlier today. Why? Would you like to see him? It's been years since you last-"

"Don't trust him, daddy. Uncle Cain... His energy is different."

"Ayla, what do you mean his energy is different?"

"He changed. The Second Prince is no longer someone we know."

Hearing such words from a six-year-old left Abel in shock. Especially, when his daughter just called her uncle by his royal title. He was just about to ask her about his twin but right across from the hallway is Cain.

"Brother..." The Second Prince said with a dark aura surrounding him, "Can I hold my favorite niece? I've missed her, you see."

And Abel understood right away what his daughter was trying to tell him. "Who are you? You're not my brother." 

Cain smirked and eyed the princess before saying, "Looks like I've been caught," then something horrific happened. 

The Second Prince's face changed, revealing an unknown person to the Crown Prince and his daughter.

"My name's Silas. It's truly an honor to meet the Future King and Luna-To-Be!" 

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🌙 A/N:

Haii LUNÉS and ENGENES!!

Sorry it's been a couple of weeks since I last updated. I'm about to be busy once again with uni but no worries! I have the next parts of the prologue. :>

I hope everyone is taking good care of themselves.

🧡, k.