2 - Joining the Force

“So, what now? What are you going to do with your life, Andrea?” with his dark brown eyes, Joe, my best friend since we were children, asked me what I wanted to do with my life.

It got me thinking …

Since it was hard to live as a Luna who had different kind of eyes from those usual Lunas who had blue or green eyes, with the addition of the whole Liberty City already knew me as the last Nasriantra who was rejected by my spouse, there was nothing I could think but to be powerful as a warrior.

I was thinking of joining the werewolf Force where I could train and get insights on how to find proof to prove that Tobias wronged me and took my revenge on him. I didn’t want to wait for my father to come home as we never knew when the slaughter troops would come home.

As my father was one of the leaders who would wipe the rogue werewolves outside Liberty City so that they wouldn’t threaten the citizens inside Liberty City. Hence, it was the reason the city was called Liberty City. It was to free the citizens from any threats like rogue werewolves.

What made those rogue werewolves dangerous, was not because they went rogue. But because among them, there were war wolves whose bites were so dangerous that they could kill werewolves instantly or even worse, those who were bitten if they were strong enough to counter the venom, they would be war wolves as well that couldn’t be guaranteed they would still live as civilized humans in their human form.

The worst thing that could happen to those who were bitten by the war-type rogue werewolf was they couldn’t turn back to their human forms. They’d forever wander and hunt anything that had meat and could be eaten outside Liberty City.  

The day my father with the slaughter troops left the city to kill as many rogue werewolves as they could, was considered the day of their deaths. They would either come back alive or be gone dead.

That was the reason I was called the last Nasriantra from my clan. Because it was just obvious to think that the troops had already dead so we would never know when they would be back or even worse, they would never come home.

But in my heart, I still felt my father’s presence in this same realm. He was somewhere outside Liberty City as sometimes I could smell his specific scent of sandalwood, the only thing he carried everywhere and he sniffed it so often that it became his scent.

He said that the scent of sandalwood calmed him. And his scent was the one that calmed me.

I felt safe whenever I smelled the scent of sandalwood. It felt like my father was around and there was nothing that I was afraid of if he was near.

Thus I finally made up my mind to join the Force. With the Salutary skill, I had to help my father's slaughter troops later, I thought it was better to weaponize myself with higher-level fighting skills as well.

Besides fighting in wolf form, it was obvious to make my human form useful on the battlefield as well. I could be the one who cured and in addition, I’d be a warrior as well as the Nasriantra clan had always been the warriors, thus there were only a few females left – my mom was – and now I was.

The rest of the Nasriantra clan members were warriors, thus they were out in the woods outside Liberty City to eradicate rogue werewolves.

Now it was my time to be one of them, to be the real Nasriantra so I told Joe,

“I’m gonna join the Force, Joe. Will you come with me?”

Like being struck by the lightning in broad daylight, Joe’s big dark brown eyes almost popped out of their places as he was so shocked by my answer to his question earlier,

“Huh? WHAT?!“

“With our skills as Salutary, we can be useful for my dad’s slaughtering troops, Joe! If we join the Force, then we would have better combat skills. Can you imagine if Salutaries like us could cure the warriors in my dad’s slaughtering troops, and we could help them as well in combats if we train in the Force? What do you think?”

I hoped Joe could agree with me because I tried to show him my being interest in joining the Force. I didn’t forget to put my enthusiastic bright face as well to convince him so bad.

And there it was, that look, his gaze that I swore there was a hint of love for me, more than just childhood best friend or I was just imagining things.

I could see the care he showed in his eyes. His big dark brown eyes were like a blanket that could calm me on those rainy days.

“Look … Andrea, are you sure about this?” Joe stared straight at me for so long that he was willing to wait for my answer forever. He let me take my time. Then he took my left hand and put it in his hands while rubbing my knuckle gently.

If I didn’t realize we were childhood and forever best friend, I’d be mistaken for him for loving me more than just best friends. I was about to open my mouth to answer but he stopped me halfway like he knew I’d answer with something we both wouldn’t like.

“Andrea, you’re born to be a great Alpha’s Luna. Don’t you think you’ll be wasting your youth and beauty if you join the Force? And what will you get there … in the Force? I promise your mom to take care of you before she died. If I let you join the Force, don’t you think she’d be disappointed?”

Joe’s eyebrows were almost like a uni-brow, it was his mark when he was thinking so hard. I knew my answer that was about to come would disappoint him. But I didn’t care as I needed to find purpose in my life which was more important than Joe’s promise to my mom.

I needed to be sane. I didn’t want to be the sitting duck that would be taken by anyone who wanted to mock the Nasriantra clan. I had to stand up for my clan’s name.

“I think mom would want me to find a purpose for my life, the only life I have now without my dad, Joe. I am alone, now. We both know that we don’t know whether my dad and the whole Nasriantra clan would come back alive or not. I don’t wanna just wait … I want to do something.”

Joe squeezed my left hand. I swore I could feel his warmth and love when he said,

"You're not alone, Andrea. I'm with you and I'll follow you wherever you may go. At least, this is the thing I can do to prove that I'm keeping my promise to your mom. Besides, we've been together since we were children. What kind of a man I will be if I let my favorite girl since I was little, does anything on her own?"

His warm smile, again, had never failed to calm me.

"But I have to graduate from the institute first, Andrea. Then I can join the Force. Will you wait for me?"

I actually couldn't wait for Joe to graduate from the institute. The faster I joined the Force, the better I'd be a warrior since I didn't know when my dad would be back. I wanted to be ready when he returned, which meant I had to act immediately.

Joe was like sniffing my intention to ditch him when surprisingly he said,

"Don't you dare join the Force without me, young lady! I warn you!" he widened his big brown eyes like he was threatening, which he wasn't. It was just his way to show me that he was being serious. I knew that he was joking. Underneath, he was indeed being serious.

I only smiled and nodded. Later that night, I left a note for him and his mom, then I flew to the Force camp and registered as a warrior.

Joining the Force wasn't as easy as saying it. I knew it before I joined it. But I didn't prepare that it was harder than I thought it was already hard. It was a way like way harder than I thought.

Imagine I had to crawl from the lowest rank of the werewolf Force because there wasn't much she-wolf or a Luna to join the Force. If I could say, I joined the world of the Alphas. The feeling was like I trained myself to be the alpha, which I wasn't.

I only wanted to sharpen my skills in combat and be useful both as a warrior and a Salutary.

Joe didn't come to see me right away in the Force camp because it wasn't easy to see the Force apprentice. Especially those who just joined and in probation. The only way to see me in the camp was for Joe to apply as a warrior. 

I knew that Joe would come one day after he graduated from the institute. No matter how mad he was at me each time, he would always forgive me and help me in the end. I believed it was the reason my mom entrusted me to him. 

Joe might look like he was timid, but he was a reliable best friend that I could always count on.  

I was lucky enough to be able to join the werewolf Force easily because there were times when Lunas or she-wolves couldn't join the Force. Thanks to Esmeralda, the first she-wolf with green eyes joined the Force. Now she was the general next to an alpha-to-be, Hunt Gursala from the Beta Gursala clan.

Rumors had it at the Force camp that Esmeralda was considered the direct descendant of Aife, the great-great-grandmother of a war werewolf who was said to have the strength of ten Alphas and the beauty of the Moon Goddess herself.

Esmeralda was indeed a beauty with a plump but strong body, jet-black wavy long hair, and bright green eyes just like her name. What people didn't know was that actually, the direct descendant of the great Aife was the Nasriantra clan. And only the Nasriantra clan and Xander Wardwell, the secret warlock of Liberty City, knew this fact.

Though I had never met Xander myself hearing from my dad that he was the key to all anomalies happening inside Liberty City. But it was a story for another day about Xander now I needed to focus on what inside the Force camp was. 

I didn't know how the Force camp could come up with such a rumor about Esmeralda. My guess was it was a way for her to reach a higher position easily. I hadn't been close to Esmeralda yet, so I couldn't judge what kind of she-wolf she was.

All I knew, was when I saw her practicing, she was indeed strong for a she-wolf. If she wasn't a Nasriantra and she could be that strong, that gave me the idea that I could be stronger as I was the direct descendant of the Great Aife. But this was a secret that I'd bring to my grave.

Only the Nasriantra clan and Xander knew this fact. I was the last Nariantra, at the moment. So even though I hadn't started my training, I knew that I'd reach the same strength as Esmeralda's, even stronger. 

But it wasn't Esmeralda that caught my attention, it was the male wolf next to her, Hunt Gursala, who was said to be the next Alpha, as the Moonlight clan, the highest authority of Liberty City, lost their only son, that left only King Moonlight as the Alpha.

Hunt Gursala caught my attention when the first time I saw him. Even from afar, I could see his sharp eyes with more surprisingly, glowing gold just like my eyes.

With that same thing we have in common, it was like we were drawn to each other as he took his time to stare at me when he saw me for the first time. I was sure, we had the same awe when we saw our eyes look alike.

I was lucky, Hunt was scouting around to see the new faces at the registration desk.

"Name?" the blond man taking notes at the registration desk didn't bother to look at the person who applied to be the Force member. He kept on taking notes.

It was my advantage but I knew as soon as I said my name, he'd be looking at my face. The last Nasriantra finally came to be the Force member. I didn't care, since the whole city already knew that I was dumped by Tobias Edmund. 

If Tobias was famous because of dumping me, let my name be famous as the fiercest warrior. That should give him a little horror so I said,

"Andrea Nasriantra..."

And as I thought before, the blond man taking notes finally lifted his face and met my gaze. He smirked while saying,

"Wow... the famous Andrea Nasriantra, what are you doing here? Desperate to find a mate? You won't find anyone here as everyone knew how Tobias dumped you..."

But before the blond man finished his sentence, that was the time when Hunt interrupted us. In other words, I'd say that he was rescuing me from the blond man who mocked me.

"Andrea Nasriantra... are you here to apply as a Salutary? We need more Guardians to take care of the wounded warriors..."

I was speechless as he knew that I had been studying as a Salutary. The blond man was as speechless as I was, he didn't know what to do so he just stared at the two of us.   

I chuckled then I asked, "How do you know that I study as a Salutary? And who are you?"

The blond man was widening his eyes and signing, showing that the six feet tall good-looking man with black hair who spoke to me was an important person. But I didn't care, I'd let the tall man introduce himself as I was still a she-wolf. The 'She' that every man had to show some respect.

The blond man moved his back to the shadow of the tall man so that the man couldn't see him signing me. He was also trying to mouth a name, which I didn't catch at that time that he was the famous Hunt Gursala. His reputation preceded him, but I didn't know what he looked like until he introduced himself.

"Forgive my being rude, Lady Andrea. I'm Hunt Gursala, the son of Gursala, Beta clan to the Alpha clan, Moonlight of Liberty City... " He answered with a smile to-die-for. There was a hint of dimples that I didn't know a man with a strong face of a warrior would look so sweet with a hint of dimples.

His sharp big nose was so perfect, placed above his magnificent cupid bow. Hunt's full lips were just the right proportion on a flawless chin with a seamless picture-perfect jawline. His straight eyebrows were just faultless not too thick nor too thin. Hunt was the true definition of an impeccable werewolf being.

The more appealing thing was his eyes. His eyes were glowing gold just like mine. It was just like meeting my mate, though it should be the male wolf who stated that. I knew that I could be drowning in those bright eyes.

I now had seen the 'were', I believed his wolf would be as beautiful as his human form. Hunt looked like a royal and a warrior at the same time. He suited the Gursala name so well. This became one of my motivations to be a strong warrior just like him because I was a Nasriantra.

Gursala dan Nasriantra were the clans that were supposed to be as strong as each other. Nasriantra protected the outside of Liberty City, and Gursala protected the City's perimeter by having the werewolf Force.  

Hunt's next line awoke me from my daydreaming admiring his looks.    

"Hope that answered your second question?! The answer to your first question was your reputation precedes you, Andrea Nasriantra. Though you didn't finish your study at the Salutary Institute, the news told us that you were top of the class along with your best friend, Joe Akhmedov. And where is he now?"

I was so shocked, in only our first meeting, Hunt knew everything about me. Did the alpha-to-be always like this? Knowing everything? It was love at the first sight for me. 

-to be continued-