The Rules

We stand quietly and wait. The camera pans across the women as we stand waiting for the king. I notice the camera lingers on the other contestants for a longer time than they do me.

The producer smirks at me; I don't need time on screen; it isn't down to the public who is Luna. So, him purposely cutting my time down is fine with me.

I watch the door open, and the king walks in with Alpha Kellan. His eyes scan the contestants as he makes his way to the stage. He barely settles on any of them for longer than a few seconds. Then he reaches me and stares; I shift uncomfortably; no doubt this is him noticing I have no wolf.

He steps onto the stage and keeps his eyes on me the entire time. I try to be confident and look back. Yet, it cracks, and I fail. My eyes drop quickly. I'm so used to having to kneel to Alphas and Betas. I don't even feel like I should look at him without permission.

"Ladies," William calls our attention back to him. "After the rules are explained, you will face your first task. Each candidate will be sitting with the news crew. You will be asked questions, and the scores will be based on who grabs the audience's attention; the better you do, the longer you will get."

Well, I've failed. The producer already hates me. No matter what my answers will be, he will cut it quickly.

"You will all be staying in one hall; each of you will have your own room, along with a maid and guard. You may be the future Luna and queen, so you need to get ready for that reality." William stands and discusses the rules.

Every single one of us listens. We listen to the areas of the palace that are off-bounds if less the King, Prince Kellan or their personal guards request us to go there.

We are expected to behave in a manner that the Luna would, both inside our rooms and outside. Regardless of if we're alone or not. No contact with the outside world. We're not allowed to listen or watch the TV.

The rules seem to go on forever before William steps back. Alpha Prime Darius, the King, steps forward.

"All candidates are required to attend each meal on time. From time to time, Prince Kellan and I will also attend." He steps forward slightly. "Each candidate that is here has an equal chance to win. It is solely on your efforts and abilities throughout the competition. If you fail, you only have yourself to blame."

Alpha Kellan steps forward. "As you are aware, Alpha Prime Darius, your king, will select one candidate to be his Luna and, ultimately, the queen. However, I may myself pick a candidate to be my Luna."

"How will that work?" I hear one of the women, and he chuckles.

"Do not worry. I will not sweep you away from my brother. I will…like him and get to know you personally. At the end of each round, if I feel someone should stay, who would be suited to me. I may save them from leaving that round, but that does not mean they will be chosen by me in the long run."

So, even if someone loses, they may be saved by Alpha Kellan. I just assumed he would pick the one who came second.

"Okay Ladies. The order of your interviews will be selected at random." I watch William pick up a small box from the table. Opening it, he reads.

"Astrid, please come take a seat. Ladies, we request that you stand and wait your turn, but keep the noise down to avoid disrupting the filming." He walks away, and the women begin to sit. Moving, I join them and feel eyes on me.

Alpha Prime Darius is staring at me. I notice Alpha Kellan is whispering in his ear. So he's talking about me, I am guessing? I watch Astrid as she is interviewed. She seems to be doing well. Twenty minutes later, she stands and joins us.

"Next up is." William selects a box. "Aurora." I watch her stand and walk to the cameras.

It feels like hours. The women have been in front of the camera anywhere from five minutes to half an hour each. So far, I'm yet to go. I feel like this is set up so I would be last, and they would have a reason to cut mine short.

Both Darius and Kellan have left.

"Hi." I turn to the woman next to me. I believe her name was Sage?

"Hey." I give her a small smile.

"You should be next, right?" She looks at me, and I nod. I can't not be next. Everyone else has done theirs.

"Good luck; unfortunately, none of the questions for the candidates were the same." I nod at her words.

"What is your name?" She looks at me.

"Elara."

"It's nice to meet you, Elara; I'm sorry about earlier." She nods towards the other women.

"It's fine." It's far better than how I have been treated in the past.

"Considering they are here to become Luna to the king, you would think they would realise their actions were not very Luna-worthy." We both chuckle, as she isn't wrong. The way they acted wasn't how a Luna would.

"I am amazed; some of them have trained for this their entire lives and seem to forget that training. I couldn't imagine the king’s Luna acting like that." It was shameful, in private, yes. In front of a room full of people?

No, that wasn't how a Luna would react. I wonder if they realise that?

"Okay, Ladies, thank you for your participation. You will now be guided by your maid back to your rooms." The producer stands and looks at us.

Where is William?

"Sir, you haven't interviewed everyone." Sage smiles. He glances around and then at me.

"We interviewed who matters." He stands and tells them to pack away.

"No, you have not." I watch William walk over. "I trust that I don't need to remind you that it was the king's orders that each lady has a chance." He picks up the box and opens it.

The producer nods and sits, his frown quickly aimed at me.

"Elara." William points to the seat, but now I wish I wasn't doing it. Something tells me that the producer is going to ask questions that won't be appropriate and are set to ridicule me.