Child of the Moon: Ch. 1 Pt. 1

I scream and fling myself out of a nest of blankets, startling the man that was laying next to me from a deep slumber.
"What's going on, who is it?!" He says as he grabs his sword and draws it from its sheath, ready to attack. His ice blue eyes turning silver as he scans the tent's interior. I scream again and fall out just as Thomas opened the flap.
I land on my back, eyes shut and gasping for air. I hear voices, groggy from sleep, starting to talk in alarmed tones. Just as I start to get my breathing under control, I hear a woman all but screaming at Thomas to get something. She places her arms under mine and lifts me up to rest against her. I feel something cool be placed against my lips, I open my eyes to find a canister of water being given to me. Opening my mouth, I let the water drain into my throat with long exasperated gulps.
"Hush now, everything's alright." I hear the woman say and feel a hand being placed against my brow. With just that little gesture and those words of comfort, I recognize the woman. Alaina, our group healer and my dear friend. She was pixie-like and had short hair. Even though we didn't meet until after our villages were destroyed, it feels as if we were like sisters.
"How is she, is she alright? Was it the dreams again?" Thomas's mate, Janika, asked as she rushed over wearing one of my brother's shirts. She was a tall, red-haired woman with delicate features.
I clear my throat as a way to tell everyone that I'm alive. "I'm okay." I go to sit up but a hand comes from nowhere and pushes on my chest. I look up to find the man that was sleeping next to me. My mate, protector, and the love of my life, Rowan Shadowbaine.
Rowan had dirty blonde hair and semi-rugged features, but they just made him look irresistibly sexy. He grew up with Thomas and I, and somehow my mother always knew that we were destined to be together. "You need to stay down and rest for a minute."
"Please just let me sit up. This isn't exactly comfortable... No offense, Alaina."
"None taken, but he's right. You shouldn't be trying to do things on your own immediately after having an episode," she said, concerned.
"I'm fine, honest. It's not like this is the first time that's happened, you know." I go to sit up again, but Rowan's hand doesn't move. "Please." I look at him and see his eyes go from silver to ice blue, showing me that he's relaxing. He sighs, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He removes his hand and slides his sword into it's sheath. I finally sit myself up, "Thank you."
"You're not as indestructible as you think you are, you need to be more careful," Thomas said, using that 'I'm older and smarter than you' tone that he's used against me since we were little. The sad part about that is, he was right.
"We're all just looking out for you, Veig," someone said.
Hearing my nickname, I turn toward the voice. My eyes find and settle on a mated couple that were a few yards from where I sat, it was Dante and Vanessa. Dante and his brother, Dalis, were from the village that was on the opposite side of the Mashiev Forrest from Thomas, Rowan and I. Vanessa, on the other hand, is from one of the villages that were in the mountains.
"Andrea, can you go and wake Dalis up for me? It's his turn to do the rounds," Alaina asked. Dalis was Dante's twin brother, but he was also Alaina's mate. He had a tendency to be thick-headed and slept like a bear. Andrea tipped her head in acknowledgement and walked away to retrieve the aforementioned bear.
After a few minutes, Andrea and a drowsy-looking Dalis emerge from one of the tents, he looks up and says, "What'd I miss?"
Before Dante could pop off with a smart-ass remark to his brother, I said, "Not much, I just had another episode is all. Nothing to serious."
"You've been having them more frequently than you used to, that's not a good sign. Something bad is going to happen soon," Vanessa said. I turn to look at the tall blonde.
After clearing my throat again, I stand up and say, "Will everyone stop being so paranoid? I'm just fine, there's nothing bad that's going to happen to me. Not since my eighteenth birthday is coming up and with it being on the full moon. I'll come into my full power then and nothing will be able to touch me."
"The Ganshi' got your mom and grams, don't forget that. They almost got us too, so don't take things so lightly," Rowan said as he moved next to me. Draping his arm over my shoulders he said, "You can't keep treating things like they're not important. We're some of the last survivors of our kind, and we need to keep our High Priestess alive. Whether you like it or not, we're you're Guardians and we'll protect you 'til the end." He leaned down to kiss my forehead.
Sighing I say, "I hate it when you play the Priestess card. You know that, right? Okay, I'll start taking things more seriously. You can't really blame me though for trying to act like things were normal... As normal as they can be anyway." Turning my face to Dalis, I tell him, "It's your turn to take watch. And thank you all for trying to protect me, but the dreams aren't going to hurt me." 'I hope.' I think to myself as I brush Rowan's arm off my shoulder and head back into my tent.
As I lay down and curl up with my blanket, I start to cry silently. Through my sobs, I didn't hear when Rowan and Thomas came in.
"Hey, don't cry now. I'm sorry for being such an ass, I just worry about my baby sister. We haven't exactly had the best of luck lately with finding other survivors and I'm starting to wonder if we're the only ones left," Thomas said as he knelt down and hugged me. It was a little awkward since I was curled up on the ground. "Everything's going to be okay, sooner or later. We're going to make it through whatever's going to happen." With that, he stood up, nodded at Rowan and walked out to join his mate for some rest.
I stop crying as Rowan rested his blade against the side of the tent and laid down next to me. Wrapping his arms around me, he pulls me toward him and whispers in my ear, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I'll give my life to protect you from harm, not only because you're my High Priestess but because I love you. You're my life, my very soul and the air I breathe."
I sigh as I snuggle into his strong, warm chest. "I love you too. It's just so hard being the High Priestess of our people when I'm only seventeen and have no idea as to what I'm supposed to do."
"Then we need to go to the Great Library of Altani, they have histories on every living being." He places his hand on my face and caresses my cheek with his thumb, "We'll figure this out, I promise."
"But we don't even know if the Library still exists. What if it was destroyed, all the records lost forever like our home?" I ask as I place my hand over his.