Lunae and the Wolf’s Deception

A Wolf’s Call

Come one, come all

And hear the tale

A man so trusting

Yet to no avail

He wooed a woman

As he sold his wares

She fell unsuspecting

Into his snare

Now as he tempts her

With a future of love

The mask is sliding

Held by a single glove

 Prologue

As I lay in his arms, gazing up at the night sky, watching the stars dance and captivate us, my heart held only one wish—that by the end of this year, I would be wed. And the man whose arms held me would be a candidate I could very dearly love as a husband.

I would have a man who would love me unconditionally—much as I had seen the others in my village find. Someone my older brother would not frighten away before an offer could be made. Someone who would not hesitate to flaunt past the barbaric customs of our village.

No matter how often I spoke the words to my brother, his response was always the same. Those repetitive words echoing through my mind, “If he does not fulfill his obligation to the village, then he has no role fulfilling any to a home of his own.”

I knew the meaning held value, but the way Elof went about it was more than infuriating. Over half the village had moved on from this tradition, and yet, with our late father being the last of the chiefs presiding, Elof refused.

In his mind, a man must make an offering to the entire village before making one for the hand of a maiden. Only once this was done would she be free to accept him.

Never mind that women made their own way now. These roles were expired, and there was no changing that. Yet, as Elof sat as the head of his own household, his wife and brood of children by his side, it was easy for him to hold fast to the ways of the old.

If I were a more cunning woman, I could trick him somehow. I could pull the wool over his eyes, and he would be none the wiser. But I was not a cunning woman.

I was simply Lunae, the twenty-three-year-old spinster who watched her friends marry one by one, knowing she never would.

So, as a star streaked across the heavens, I closed my eyes so tightly, spots appeared in the corner of my vision, and I made my wish.

Let me find love. Let me no longer be Lunae of the Western Tribe, with an obligation and a role. Let me simply be Lunae.