The world changed. It had to adapt to the disaster humankind had created. Then humankind had to adapt to the harsh conditions. Depending on the region you lived in, it depended on what powers or abilities you gained. For example, if you lived in one of the cities made in the oceans, you gained the ability to breathe underwater longer. The mountain cities had shapeshifters that shifted into different kinds of birds that would carry people where they needed to be. But not everyone gained abilities or powers.

There were people like me. Completely depended on those that protected us. Living in the forest region, everything was made around the trees that protected us. The abilities and powers that surrounded us were shapeshifters of deer, wolves, bears, and any other animal you would find in the forest. No one had any special ability to help them live life here. It wasn’t really needed.

“Luna!” my friend called out to me as she came running towards me. A big smile on her face, “Are you ready for today?”

I had completely forgotten what today was. It was the day when girls around my age had to meet at city hall to meet the shifters who protected us. We weren’t lucky to have any female shifters born in the region for a long time, so the shifters were becoming very slim. We have to borrow them from other regions if anything drastic ever happens.

The mayor of our region tries to find brides for the shifters in hopes that more shifters are born. Sadly, this plan is slowly failing. Most women who marry a shifter never survive the first child's birth and half of the time the baby doesn’t survive either. But those that do survive are either not shifters or can’t have anymore children after their first born.

“I hope I get paired with a wolf,” my best friend beamed.

“He has to like you first,” I joked with her. She playfully hit me as she let out a heavy sigh.

We only had one wolf shifter left in our region. He was strong and pretty well known. But with the last disaster, he nearly died. Doctors were able to save him with a small handicap, but he never went around displaying what that handicap is. The wolf shifter still fights and protects us like he used to. Also, the wolf shifter had a wife before.

She was a beautiful woman that he had known since childhood. They got married when I was a young teen. Everyone in the region was at the wedding and we were sure it was going to last. The only problem is that she wasn’t strong enough to survive the birth. The baby didn’t either. Also, it was during a disaster, which made it worse because the wolf shifter wasn’t even present for the birth. He’s never participated in the selection at city hall because he had found his soulmate, why try to find a new one?

“Do you think he will be there?” my best friend asked.

I shook my head in response, “I don’t think so. He doesn’t see the point in showing up, Em.”

My friend then got a sly smile on her face, “What if he did show up and chose you? Your name is perfect for a wolf shifter family.”

Rolling my eyes, I stood up, “I’ll probably end up in a family of bear shifters. Those are the most common.”

Em gave me a look of shock, like she couldn’t believe what I was saying, “Luna, are you saying that you are just a common girl?”

That was exactly what I was saying. I looked so different from everyone in the forest region due to the fact that my mother got pregnant while traveling to different regions as a nurse. She helped the wounded from every disaster and that was how she met my father. He was a patient but she never told me from which region. Rumors were that he was from one of the blizzard regions because my hair was a white blonde and my eyes were a bright blue. Even my skin was far too pale to the point I looked like a ghost compared to the other girls in our region.

Em was the prime example of what the girls mostly looked like in the forest region. They had long thick dark auburn hair, light tan skin, and dark brown eyes. They also looked a little on the chubby side, while I was a little on the skinny side. In this forest region, you looked healthy with the amount of meat you had on your bones.

“Ember! Luna!” called out my mother. Em’s face twisted in displeasure from hearing her full first name. It made me laugh as I ran to my mother. Em ran closely behind me as my mother waited for us to take us to the city hall for the selection process.

When we arrived at the city hall, it was full of hopeful young women. There were so many that it was obvious that not everyone was going to get picked. We didn’t have that many shifters in our region. Most of the girls were hanging around their mothers, which made me feel bad for Em.

Em’s parents died in a disaster when we were little. Thanks to my mother’s kind heart, she took Em in. I had grown up thinking I was the adopted one and not Em because she looked so much like my mother. It’s also why I got picked on a whole lot.

The sound of the mayor clearing his throat caught everyone’s attention, “Ladies, I know today is an exciting day. But I have some bad news. We need to postpone the selection process due to a thunderstorm coming in.”

Gasps filled the area and some girls even grabbed on to their mothers tightly. Thunderstorms were terrifying in the forest region. They caused fires and trees with homes to be knocked down. Half of the forest burnt down in the last thunderstorm and I’m sure a few families lost some loved ones.

“But to keep your hopes up, we have some guests coming in from the blizzard regions to trade with us. I’m sure they have a few nice young men that would be more than happy to find a wife among all of you.” the mayor announced, being followed by a few squeals of excitement. My mother tensed a little, “Now gather your things and go to the designated caves for your safety.”

My mother quickly directed us towards home. Storms were taken very seriously even if they ended up being just a little rain. We no longer had the technology that told us how bad a storm would be because nature had taken that knowledge out in the first major world disaster. Now we had to be in complete fear of every storm that charged through the forest region. Wondering what homes would be lost and what family members would parish.

Before we got close to the house, my mother suddenly turned towards me and handed me a piece of paper, “I need you to gather these herbs just in case we need them, okay Luna? I’ll take Ember home to pack our things. Meet us at the cave.”

I nodded in understanding and broke away from our little group. My mother taught me all of her knowledge when it came to medicine. It was her dream that I would take over, but I didn’t have the heart for it. Seeing children hurt made me want to cry along with seeing those on their deathbed. Also, blood made me a little squeamish. I didn’t really have a place in the forest region and it made me wonder if I really belonged to where my father is from.

Getting lost in my thoughts, I entered auto-pilot mode and started gathering the herbs on my mother’s list. I knew where some of them were found by heart and didn’t really need to think they were. My body just naturally went to it. But there was one herb that wasn’t growing where it was supposed to be. Confused, I looked around the area.

“Looking for something, Luna?” came the very familiar voice of my good friend, Luke. I looked at him to see him waving the herb I needed in the air.

“How did you know I was going to need it?” I asked him.

He held out the herb towards me, “Your mom always gathers this when there is news about a possible disaster. Also, it’s the farthest from the city. You shouldn’t be getting this by yourself.”

Grabbing the herb from him, I gave him a knowing smile, “Are you suggesting I take an overly friendly bear cub with me from now on?”

Luke was a bear shifter who was lucky to have both his mother and him survive. His line is so lucky that his mother even had a child before and after Luke. But that is as far as their luck went, because she never gave birth to a girl. She only had three boys.

“Link won’t even leave my mother’s side. What makes you think he would follow you around?” Luke complained, making me laugh. Link was Luke’s little brother, as was the prime example of a needy bear cub.

“Do you think Leon would leave his wife to help me gather herbs?” I asked jokingly. Luke looked at me like he couldn’t believe what I was saying. Leon was Luke’s older brother. He recently married last year but was too afraid to touch his wife. Luke and his older brother are big boys. They were three hundred pounds of muscles and Leon’s wife was just a tiny little woman. I wasn’t sure why he picked her, but every man has his reasons.

“You hurt me, Luna.” Luke said with a small pout. Making me laugh more, “I was talking about me. You need me to follow you around to protect you from the dangers of this world.”

Luke had made it no secret that he liked me. He grew up protecting me from bullies and any other harsh comments. There were times when Luke would tell my mother that she didn’t have to worry about me because he was going to marry me and always protect me. My mother would just laugh because she just saw it as a little boy’s fantasy to marry his best friend. But I think the thought really solidified in Luke’s mind when his brother got married.

“Luke, can I be serious with you for a minute?” I suddenly asked him.

He got an uncomfortable look on his face, “I know what you want to talk about, Luna.”

“It’s not fair to you, Luke. Find someone who shares the same feelings. You deserve to be happy,” I tried to convince him. It was a conversation we always had when he brought up the selection process or wanted to protect me.

“But being with you makes me happy, Luna!” he said angrily as he kicked a nearby tree, making it groan in protest. He then looked at me with sad eyes, “I don’t care if you don’t feel the same about me, I just want to be with you. No one else.”

Letting out a sigh, “Luke, you need to think this through clearly.”

The pain I saw in his eyes caused by my rejection broke my heart. It was a look I hated to see because Luke deserved nothing but the best. But I think this rejection hurt him the most because he was ready to pick me during the selection process. He was ready to make me his wife and I wasn’t going to accept it.

“Forget it,” he said mostly to himself rather than to me as he turned and stormed off. I didn’t bother to call after him. He’d cool off and be back to his normal self in no time. Luke just needed to accept that he didn’t need to protect me anymore. It was someone else’s job to do that now.

The loud crack of thunder suddenly reminded me of where I was supposed to be. Looking at the sky in fear, I began to run towards the cave where my mother was waiting for me. I had to get these herbs to her just in case, but I guess fate had other plans. A strike of lighting crashed into the bottom of a nearby tree, making it burn as it fell into my path. Trapping me behind a wall of fire.