“Good evening, Luna Ava.”
Hello, mom,” like his friend, Ramsey greeted, but then he placed his head down. Seeing the look on her face, he was already aware of what he’d done wrong. Meeka also spotted her mother walking behind Luna Ava. The queen was angry, and her mother had already given her an eye signal from behind not to say a word.
“Why would you do that to us, Ramsey?” Ava cried as she reached where the two children stood. She crouched down so she was on the same level with her son, and then she pulled him close to her, scanning his body for any injuries. Thankfully, there was none. Now, back to the scolding.
“Why do you keep running away from the nursery? Do you know that there are many dangerous places in the pack house? Do you know you could end up getting hurt with no one watching you?”
Ramsey’s head remained bent as he apologized, keeping Mr. Winslow out of sight with his two hands holding the teddy bear behind him, “I’m sorry mom,” he muttered.
Luna Ava then turned to Meeka, of course should also share in the blame, “and you. Why did you wander off so far into the woods with him by this time? What if you’d unknowingly stepped into another territory with traps, or even worse, bandits?”
“I’m sorry, Luna Ava. I promise we didn’t wander in too far. We just picked up a few fireflies, and when I saw the moon come out, I knew it was time for us to head back, I would never let Ramsey get hurt, I promise.”
Ava could see the sincerity in the little girls eyes, and she could also see that Meeka was almost in tears, maybe she shouldn’t have been too harsh on her, but no level of protection for Ramsey’s life should ever be taken for granted. He is Lucas De’ Clan’s only son, and Lucas De’ Clan has many enemies.
Suri felt the need to intervene now, at least if not for anything, but on behalf of her daughter.
“I am sorry, Luna Ava. I should be the one to blame for all this. I am the adult here, and I couldn’t take all necessary precautions to ensure that Ramsey would play safe. I did tell Meeka to return with him when the moon came out, and she did as she was told. Still, that’s no excuse for the amount of trouble you’ve had today because of this. I am so sorry.”
Ava was tired, and she didn’t have the strength in her to drag this any longer than she should. Ramsey was fine, and all parties had apologized. It was time to put this matter to rest, and of course, do well to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
***
It was way past bedtime for Ramsey. As the majority of the evening was spent in search of him. After bathing her son and giving him dinner, Ava was in the middle of tucking him in when she heard that her husband, Alpha Lucas De’ Clan had returned.
“Oh, that’s great,” Ava replied as she dismissed the servant who had come to tell her. “You can tell him where I am so he knows where to look for me.”
“Okay milady,” she replied before walking out.
It was very unlikely for him to return at such late hours, but that wasn’t the part that bothered Ava the most, as she should even be thankful for the delay because of what happened today.
“I’m sorry for running away today, mommy. I just wanted to play with Meeka for a little while longer,” She heard the sound of her son’s voice then, which disturbed her thoughts. Ramsey was lying on the bed where she sat, clutching Mr. Winslow.
Ava sighed as she raised the thick blanket over his small chest, “you should always listen to the nursery workers, Ramsey. They don’t hate you, please don’t run away from them next time. They are only there to keep you safe.”
“Yes, mommy,” Ramsey De’ Clan nodded obediently.
Ava knew it was then and there that she ought to put the matter to rest finally. She knew that after the scolding she’d just given her son, it might be a while before such occurrence repeats itself again. Besides, she didn’t want Lucas hearing about any of this, at least not tonight.
She decided to read him a bedtime story, in order to change not just the topic, but also the mood of the atmosphere. Ava prefers to read the stories from a book to him, but Ramsey always chooses his favorite story.
“So what story would you like to hear, darling?” Luna Ava asked as she stood up and went over to the small shelves in a corner of the room, where a few story books were arranged. She shouldn’t have bothered to stand up, because Ramsey never chose to hear any of those stories. He always loved to read the one from Ava’s mouth, the story that Ava had gotten tired of telling him over and over and over again.
“I want the tale of the bro-ken wolf!” Ramsey answered excitedly, his smile revealed a small hole in his mouth, were a tooth was missing.
Ava knew better than to argue with her son, she knew it would be a waste of time trying to read any of those books to him, as he never got tired of hearing his favorite story. She smiled and returned to the rocking chair by his bedside, as this was a story she didn’t need a book for, a story she’d witnessed herself.
She began.
“Once upon a time, there was a human, a male human, cursed by a witch to become a wolf. He became a very powerful alpha, he conquered territories, defeated the rogues, and took all the distorted pack members to live as refugees in the largest, most beautiful sanctuary you’ve ever seen.”
The excitement on Ramsey’s face doubled, as he knew she was getting to the best part.
“He found his mate, and the two of them fell in love, they were even about to marry. Then the evil witch came back, she was angry that this human she’d cursed only became better and not worse, she hated the fact that this cursed wolf was so loved by thousands of people whose lives he had changed. She wanted to see him suffer, she wanted to kill him.
“So she knew that the only way she could do that was to fight the love that existed between this former human and his mate. She didn’t succeed, as her evil plans only led to her downfall. She died in the process, and then this former human became free forever. He married his mate and then the had a little baby together, a cute little baby cub.”
By this time, Ramsey was bursting full of giggles, he knew where his mommy was headed. Ava continued.
“This little baby cub’s name is Ramsey…”
“And that’s me!!!!” Ramsey shrieked as he uncovered the blanket, dropping Mr. Winslow so he could begin hopping up and down his small bed, as he couldn’t contain his excitement any longer. Ava didn’t know why this story that should have happened to be a bit scary for a five year old cub happened to be Ramsey’s favorite. He never got tired of hearing it, and he expected that his mom should never get tired of telling it.
“Of course darling, it’s you,” Ava beamed as whenever she told this story, it always took her back to the days of struggle, to the days she never thought she’d overcome, but look at how everything turned out in the end; she’d been a Luna for five years, and the days she spent with Ramsey and Lucas happened to be the best days of her life.
“Mommy?” Ramsey’s voice disturbed her thoughts again.
“Yes, darling?”
“Can you tell the story again?”
Of course, she should have expected that Ramsey wouldn’t be satisfied with only hearing the story just once, but that’s all he’ll be getting from her tonight.
“Little darling,” she yawned. “Mommy is tired. Mommy needs to go to bed just like you. It’s way past bedtime.”
“Awww,” Ramsey sulked as he dropped down, finding Mr. Winslow again.
“I promise, I’ll tell the story twice tomorrow if I tuck you in early.”
“Okay,” Ramsey sighed with sad eyes, eyes that brightened up again the moment he saw his daddy walk into his bedroom.
“Daddy!!!” The little cub got up again, leaving his teddy bear again as he ran into the waiting arms of his father, the alpha, who then scooped him up in the air, giving him a helicopter ride on his back. Luna Ava smiled, watching father and son play.
“Welcome back, my love,” alpha Lucas turned to her after tucking Ramsey in. She got up from the chair to hug her husband, who then kissed her on the cheek.
“Hope you were good today, little Ramsey?” Lucas asked his son as he turned to him again.
Ramsey might be young, but he knew enough not to put anyone in trouble, “yes daddy, I played with Mr. Winslow and my friends today. We even caught fireflies!”
“Well, that’s good. I’m glad you had fun.”
“Thank you, daddy!”
The two parents turned off the light after kissing Ramsey good night, but not after he returned the greeting.
“Good night daddy, good night mommy. I love you.”
“We love you too son,” they replied before leaving the room. Ramsey’s room wasn’t far off from theirs. In fact, it was Ava’s former room, near to the alpha’s chambers. It’s now been redecorated as a room for the young cub, with a smaller bed and a rocking chair, along with decorations of cartoon characters from young wolf tales. Ramsey had moved here after he’d clocked two, as close to his parents as he could get.