"Do you love her?"

"Yes."

"How Much?"

"Does it matter?"

"Why does it not?"

"Because it wasn't enough, to make her stay."

***

The older woman sat at her small table.

Different herbs and flowers hung from the ceiling, strung across the small cabin- drying out within the dying light.

She sighed softy as she grounded fresh herbs together, inhaling the scent.

The water boiled steadily over the fire, making a soft gurgle as the bubbles rose.

She continued within her work of grinding and pressing various types of herbs and flowers. Her actions were interrupted by a knock across the door.

Wearily she got up and went to it.

Just another traveler, she thought as she opened.

A heavy presence settled over her as she took in the figure of the tall dark man. He loomed over her doorframe, his head rising above the top, looking down at her.

She gulped back whatever fear the sight of him caused and opened the door more, allowing him access to come in.

"Welcome," she said, as she watched the stranger bend his head down, stepping into the small cabin.

She felt cramped suddenly with him inside. It became all too apparent to her how small her house was with his dominating presence.

He looked around the room curiously, before settling his sight back to her.

"How can I help you?" The woman asked, wiping her hands across her apron and sitting back down at her table. She waved her hand, inviting him to have a seat with her.

He sat down, folding his to long legs under the table neatly before he faced her.

"I'm looking for someone," he said. The woman repressed a shiver at the voice. It was deep, deeper than a regular man's voice. And commanding. She knew right away that he held a certain level of power.

"Who are you looking for?" She questioned, looking curiously at the stranger.

He gazed at her hard, as if looking for something within her features before speaking, "I'm looking for the mother of 'little moon child.'

The woman stiffened and looked at the man in surprised.

"W-what?" She asked. She quickly got up and grabbed a knife, holding it out. She doubted though that she could defend herself against this dark stranger. Power just seemed to radiate off him in waves, without his conscious effort.

The man held up his hands, trying to show that he meant no harm, "Are you who I am speaking of?"

The woman shivered as the man looked intently at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied, though her actions had already given her away.

"I don't mean you any harm," the man said, his deep voice trying to be soft within the small cabin.

"Who are you?" The woman demanded, "Why are you looking for me?" She stood tall, still holding her knife as she glared at the man. He would have to take her fighting if he wanted her. And he would never get information out of her.

"I am Alpha Jay of the Alba Rosa Pack," the man said, standing and extending his hand. The woman eyed it, not taking it.

Jay sighed before sitting back down in his cramped chair.

"Why are you looking for me?" She asked. The name did not register to her. She was secluded within the woods, but sometimes travelers she tended to gossiped about various packs. She had never heard of Alpha Jay or the Alba Rosa pack before, though something about the name seemed to sound familiar.

"I've been searching for you for years now," Jay said.

The woman tentatively walked towards the table before sitting back down. She noticed the weary lines of age that were within Jay's face- something that she had not taken note of with his dominating presence overpowering her senses.

"Why?" She asked again.

"I was... I am your daughter's mate."

"My moon child?" The old woman sucked in a breath of air as she realized this man had seen her daughter, maybe recently.

"You have seen my moon child? Is she okay? Is she here?" She leaned her head to look out the window, hope fading from her face as she quickly realized that her daughter was not there.

"No...When I met her she went by the name... Daisy."

The older woman smiled. Perhaps she had acquired the name because of the necklace she had given her.

"That still doesn't explain why you're here," the woman said sharply, coming back to the reality that this man had been searching for her.

"I...It's hard to describe this, but I was hoping...that you would come back to my pack with me."

The woman laughed as she took in this information.

"I haven't left this place in almost 30 years. What makes you think I would leave now?"

Jay pulled out a cellphone from his pocket and flipped the screen open, "This," he said.

The woman gasped as she looked at the picture he showed her.

A smiling boy with black hair and bright blue eyes, laughing as Jay held him.

"Is this..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

"This is your grandson. Atlas."

The old woman felt tears surface into her eyes as she stared at the picture.

"He is hers?"

Jay nodded, folding the phone back before placing it in his pocket.

"He is ours."

She look at Jay then. Really looked at him. The dark circles under his eyes. The age lines upon his face.

"She left you too, didn't she?"

Her words seemed to make whatever support within Jay collapse. He looked down at her with a sad smile. A smile that broke the old woman's heart.

"How old is he?" She whispered.

"He just turned three."

She closed her eyes as the truth sunk into her.

"My daughter...she left you both?"

She opened her eyes to see Jay starting out the window.

"She had left me. The moon calling her away. A few months later a woman came with Atlas in her hands. She came at the request of a woman called Wanderer, saying he was mine. I ran tests- DNA and all the works to make sure. He is our child."

"And...you haven't seen her since?"

Jay shook his head, smiling that same sad smile.

"I've realized now that there is no use waiting. I cannot bear to be left hanging on, waking up every day and wondering will she come? I can't live a life like that. And I need a mother figure in Atlas's life. I need someone to help me raise and love him. And when I thought, I remembered you-," he turned to the older woman, his eyes examining her. "I remembered what she had said of you. That you were within a cabin, healing travelers. So I starting asking around, trying to find you. Took me almost a year, but then, here we are," he waved his hand, motioning around the cabin.

The woman looked up at Jay. "I didn't think she could have a mate," she admitted, "I thought she was blessed enough."

"Obviously I needed the blessing," Jay said, a bitter smile on his face now, as if thinking back into a past memory.

He pulled the top of his shirt down to reveal two small punctures. In-between was a small crescent moon.

"This appeared on my mate mark once Atlas arrived."

The old woman got up and the mark closer, she nodded, the mark confirming to her that this man was indeed her little moon child's mate.

"This mark means that you have completed the mating ceremony with someone who is moon blessed," the woman explained, "You have declared love for each other, marked each other, and now have shared an offspring."

"Wonderful," Jay said sarcastically, releasing his shirt to cover up the mark, "I forgot to ask, since she never mentioned it, what name do you go by?"

"Nova," the woman said.

"Nova," Jay stood taking one of her hands in his, "will you come back with me and become a part of my pack? Will you help me raise your grandchild? My son? I cannot promise the return of your daughter. I cannot even promise that you will be happy there. But I can promise you safety, food and shelter from my house."

Nova nodded in approval at the man, and his fine speech.

"I accept," she said.

She quickly poured water over the fire, and gathered various herbs from her stock. Jay helped her pack her medical equipment and supplies, and load them within his truck.

"How far away is your pack?," she asked.

"We will have to stop at a few packs along the way. My pack is a four day trip from here."

"You drove all this way to meet me?" Nova asked.

"I have driven longer to meet other healers, hoping in vain that they would end up being you."

She nodded again at his wise words.

She looked back at the cabin she had lived in the majority of her life. She had raised her moon child within it, had met so many travelers there, and helped save lives.

"I am sorry she left you," Nova said suddenly.

Jay paused in his packing to stand by the woman.

"I am sorry she left you," he answered.

The woman shook her head, "I begged her not to. I told her that the moon did not need her to give her entire life away. I asked her to stay. To stay with me. She just laughed. Laughed in my face and called me her foolish mother. She said she felt pride at being chosen by the moon. Then I asked if she would come back. If she would visit me. She answered honestly and said no. It broke my heart."

Jay hung his head as he listed to the sad story.

"I figured out later, in a vision from the moon, that she was not moon blessed. The moon cried with me as we watched her crush hearts and leave packs behind without a second thought. The moon cried and pointed to her and said, "moon cursed."

"Moon cursed," Jay said, tossing the words around in his mouth.

"I asked many a traveler after that what they knew of moon cursed. Many knew nothing of it. But one man told me something. He said that to be moon cursed meant you lived your life as a slave to the moon. Constantly upon her whip as she commanded you to her bidding. Never a life of your own, but a life of hers."

"For years I used this as an excuse that this was the reason why she left. Why she had been so cruel to me. I realized though, that she was conscious of her actions. Did she want to leave you?" Nova asked, turning to Jay now.

Jay shook his head, "I would like to think she didn't. She told me she loved me before she disappeared. She told me we would always be under the same moon. But she told me she had to go. She had to do her will. So a part of me also thought, that she had no control."

Nova looked up at the shattered man. He had picked himself back together, but had poorly glued the pieces in.

"I stopped thinking that when she left her only child upon my doorstep. I could not forgive her for abandoning her own flesh and blood. I could not forgive her for saying it was the moon's pull or the wanderlust within her heart. No mother should leave their child."

Nova nodded her head as she silently agreed. Her little moon child. How she had grown.

Jay silently opened the truck door for Nova. She sighed and gave her cabin one last smile.

"I'll miss this place," she said.

"We can always come back and visit," Jay answered.

Hope you enjoyed!

If anything confused you about this update don't hesitate to ask

(and btw can I just say woooowww a lot of you guys are incredibly smart *claps hands* for guessing correctly!?! (I'M SO PROUD OF MY LITTLE READERS *CRIES*)

Until next time,

Loves,

/////WORLD_JOY_/////