My hand was on my belly as I hummed the song I used to sing to my child when he was inside me. It was a lullaby my mother used to sing for me.
“I couldn’t even hold my child properly,” I whispered. “I am sorry.”
“Apologies don’t fix anything.”
“Yeah! It’s my karma. I deserve it for everything I did. I swear…” I murmured. “I swear I didn’t know Frederick was the one who started the war between the five packs. To be honest, I never cared for anyone but him. Can you blame me?”
He didn’t answer.
“No one ever treated me well. I tried to not hurt anyone but back then, when I thought Frederick could be killed, I gave it my best,” I sighed. “I miss the sky. What do you think he’ll do to me now?”
“He’ll execute you. He has no use of you. There were a few werewolves here but they were all executed once they weren’t useful.”
“If only he killed me when she tossed the corpse of my child next to me. The worst is suffering with everything I knew all at once. Betrayal, being used like a pawn all this time. I feel nothing now. The rage is all spent now.”
“So you intend to go down without fighting.”
“What’s the point of fighting when I won’t be able to do anything?”
“If I was in your stead, I’ll make sure to drag everyone with me. Go down like fireworks.”
“Ammm… How can I do that?” I turned my head, looking at him. He was lying on the ground, playing with something in his hand.
He sat, grinning. “Spill their secrets and let them fight between each other. Do you know how many secrets do they have?”
He started telling me about them. I was shocked. What he told me made me laugh. How did he know about them when he was imprisoned here?
And then, after a few days, I was called to the outside. I saw the sky after so many months. Such a beautiful moon in the sky!
The warriors took me to the forest. I recognized this place. I visited it once, when Frederick executed a lot of werewolves. He said they were the traitors that belonged to the Bloodmoon pack. I smiled the entire time, humming my song. The warriors kept throwing me glances as if I was crazy.
They pushed me to kneel in front of the entire pack. I looked around, still smiling. I waved at Catarina when I saw her. Her eyes widened. After knowing her secret, she looked disgusting. In the entire pack, a few of them were considered innocent.
“Our last guest finally arrived,” Frederick rose from his seat, spreading his arms to attract all eyes on him. “Since everyone is here, we’ll start Ebony Bronfall’s execution,” he turned his gaze on me. I kept humming. “Do you have any final words, Ebony Bronfall.”
Did I have any last words?
I had plenty.
“Yes, I have final words,” I stopped humming. “I thought I was supposed to have one last meal before my head flies. Why am I not getting a last meal?”
I heard murmurs between the crowd. Well, I truly wanted to eat something good. Probably, everyone was wondering why I wasn’t freaked out. I wondered that too. Maybe it was because I lost it. Everything came down on me all at once so it crashed my mind.
“Are these your last words?” Frederick asked.
“No, they are not. I am simply asking for my right. Everyone you executed had a one last great meal and I didn’t have any. I demand my meal.”
“If you’re doing this to buy time, you’re wasting it instead. Do you have any last words, Ebony?”
I could feel his frustration. There were a lot of eyes on us. It was perfect. I should go down in flames, like fireworks.
“I do. May I speak?”
“Go on then. Let us know what you think you need to say.”
He didn’t think I had things to say. Well, if Adolphus didn’t tell me about their secrets, I wouldn’t have said anything.
“Great!” I shouted. “Ammm… I looked around and found Catalina again. She glared at me but I didn’t care. I waved at her. “My final words for Catalina is this: you’re so dumb for marrying someone who has STD. He’s been spreading that around like wildfire. That tingling you felt between your legs, ladies, is just inflammation, you should go check yourself with the pack doctor. Also, no wonder you sleep with your brother Catalina. It should feel nice.
“Elder Alexander killed his own brother to steal what he has now. To think that he is that shameless to do that because he loved his brother’s mate. Yuck! How does it feel to take someone else’s mate? Does it feel nice? At least, I didn’t know that the Alpha isn’t my mate. I was used all this time. I have a reason.
“Nialliv,” I pointed my finger at her. “You like it when you have a lot of men wooing you, right? Is this why you have a child out of wedlock? If I remember right, it’s a girl. Is this why you killed my child? It’s because he could have been the next Alpha. I see,” I nodded and attempted to keep speaking but Nialliv yelled.
“What are you talking about?” she yelled. “I didn’t kill your child. Your child was a boy indeed but you gave birth to it dead,” she just used ‘it’ for my child. “Also, it’s not the Alpha’s child you were cheating on him. That child would have never become the next Alpha.”
Frederick threw a glare at Nialliv. I was satisfied enough that I burst into laughter.
“Whatever keeps you sleeping at night, Nialliv. By the way, do you know that your mother hated you? What do you expect from a girl who likes to not listen to her good-hearted mother? Especially when her husband beat her to a pulp each time she talked. Anyway, It’s quite displeasing to know that you tried so hard to be kind in front of me. I always found your face fake. As for her wolf, no one ever wondered why the great Nialliv never shifted in front of anyone? I sh-“
“Kill her,” she yelled. “Finish her already, Frederick. Dad, she is spouting lies. She is doing it on purpose to harm me,” she cried.
“Wow! I didn’t know you could spill tears this quickly. You know, Frederick, she is…”
I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t even see someone move. I was suddenly between the teeth of a large wolf.
I hummed.
I kept humming even when my body was thrown on the ground and everything faded into darkness.
I wanted to spill more beans but it seemed game over for me.
I didn’t know why I stayed behind but I did. I looked at my dumb self. My body lay on the ground, dead, drowning in a pool of my own blood. The black wolf howled and everyone followed him, like a ceremony, as if I was a criminal. Maybe I am. “Is it true?” Frederick growled as soon as he closed the door behind him. After throwing me in the pit, burning me, everyone retreated to their houses. I heard them talking about me like a proper criminal. I protected all of them. My actions led them to have better lives. Now, I was the scorned soul who was everyone’s enemy. No one saw me as me. The thought made me sad. I followed Nialliv to her room, where I found her with Frederick. He was angry. “She was lying, Fred. I swear. I don’t enjoy having men all around me. I am faithful to you.” “And your daughter?” Nialliv lowered her head, thinking. It seemed she couldn’t deny her daughter. She placed her hands on Frederick’s chest and slowly raised her head, showing her pitiful face. One of
It takes a moment for any life to flip over and change.I should’ve known no one was trustworthy. Adolphus got his revenge by getting a deal from Nialliv. I died. He lived on.I held my fist to my heart, hitting repeatedly. It hurt. Waves of pain rushed all over me, making me feel alive and at the same time, I felt lost. The memories flashed before me from the moment my parents died, even what I saw after I died.“Show them what you can do, Ebony.”Two hands grabbed my shoulders, steadying me. My heart hurt more, my eyes refused to open and my body trembled. It took me a while to take in who was in front of me.Long black hair that never lost its fiery, natural colour, hanging in waves around some kind of shoulders. There was a face I didn’t recognize at first. The tears rushed to my eyes and didn’t waste time spilling over.“Ebony,” her voice looked worried. For the first time after a long time, I missed this voice and how it worried about me.“Ebony!” the voice said again. “Ebony, t
I sucked in several breaths and started my usual ranting in my head. From the receptionist to the one who was responsible for the whole fiasco: Frederick Jenkins. I needed to remind myself that this was all a purgatory to stay still. I should stay strong to cross over. Being stuck in a place like this would be horrible.Those facts helped me remain strong and not let him get to me.He was the devil, reincarnation of all evil, an arrogant bastard and a sick jerk.My gaze finally strayed to the devil himself. It looked like he was already here. Before, my aunt left and I had to look for a cheaper room all around town. I managed to find one at the end of the day. Luckily, it was a small town.There was a sitting place around a warm hearth.Frederick Jenkins, the devil. Luke Carter, another devil. Easton Hudson, the third devil and the last, maybe he was their minion.They were the big three. They stuck together like glue and their associative packs were also powerful in the council. Abou
My surroundings came back to focus. The soft light from the lamp because I didn’t want to wake my aunt. The comfortable bed that I forgot how nice it felt.And then, rain. It was raining like I remembered. These parts experience rain a lot. It was the most lovable weather for me. The smell in the air, it was intoxicating.I searched for how the purgatory worked on my phone. There was nothing in it. No matter how many times I twisted what happened in my head, I couldn’t understand it. There was one reason why he was there. He was already there.My aunt woke up around 7. She stared at me as if I was mad. It was until she did that, that I realised I was sitting in a pose, holding my pen as if I was smoking. I smoked before. Sometimes. When I had things to think about.She slapped my shoulder.“Get up! Get up! We have a busy day today and you’re acting like a delinquent already. Stop this madness! I didn’t raise you to be like this. You were a shy, beautiful girl. What made you act like t
I had two thoughts in my mind when I looked at Frederick approaching with his charming smile. First, I felt so good with this girl that I was sure we’d become great friends if we had the chance when I was alive. It felt wrong to me, especially when I knew this was the purgatory. I didn’t want to feel what I lost all those years because it would make me miserable, only because I never tried looking around. Second, if this was the purgatory and I was supposed to see the perfect choices I missed, why was I forced to deal with this bastard again? Shouldn’t he stay away from me? “I am Alice,” she told me. “This is my name. Keep it in mind. I will leave now. Good luck.” “Where are you going?” my voice came out desperate, which wasn’t intended. Did she just give up on me in front of my enemy? Maybe we weren’t meant to be friends. I want this purgatory to end now. “Frederick,” I whispered to myself and I was so happy that he didn’t get to hear me because I just messed up. He didn’t int
The next day, Alice came to visit me. My aunt hugged me so hard that I was about to suffocate. Seeing her alive, in front of me, brought tears to my eyes. This is my reality now and I should protect it. I shouldn’t let her die again, because of a stupid accident.“You don’t know how worried I was,” my aunt cried. “I felt like I was about to lose one of my children. Stay away from the roads from now on.”“I can’t believe she pushed you on the road just like that,” Alice said. “I had to run as fast as I could to stop that car but I couldn’t. The world stopped for a moment. I thought I’d have to bury you the first day you came to Saulville.”I swallowed my pills. “I am fine. The pack doctor did a great job. By the way, you didn’t introduce your full name to me. You’re not just Alice. Aren’t you? You have a last name.”My tone was accusing her of keeping a basement secret.She laughed.“You’re right. I am Alice Avery,” she smirked mischievously. She still kept the last part of her name a
When my aunt parked the car, she was mesmerised. The Remington family house was big and built in a way to allow a lot of trees to grow. Saulville was also a town with a lot of vegetation. Werewolves liked being basic, using nature as it was.“I can’t believe Petra used to live here,” my aunt whispered. “Let’s get over with this! I am sure your aunt won’t close the door on your nose.”We moved to the house and I knocked on the door. Three knocks. My aunt wanted to add more but I explained that they were werewolves. They had great hearing senses, unlike us.As expected, a woman opened the door. Before my aunt could talk, she mentioned to us to follow her. I was surprised. The first time I came here; they closed the door on my nose. Aunt Freda was baffled; she couldn’t believe the woman didn’t ask us anything. I had to stop myself from explaining to her. I hated that she didn’t know about all the rules.Well, the Remington fought in the war and not many of them survived. Frederick sent t
These words sealed my fate.My own breathing picked up pace, accelerating, my mind not knowing what to say, the hair on my nape rising on high alert.“You know what, never mind. It’s impossible.”“I am sorry.”I lowered my head, feeling truly sorry about my recent behavior. Because I thought it was purgatory, I didn’t see the need to control how I acted. It must have been confusing to her. No one could change drastically in one day, unless she was acting…“No, you don’t have to. I can see that you were acting all this time, keeping your thoughts to yourself. I am not mad. You tried your best to keep it together after your parents died. And I tried too. No one is to blame. We’re just surviving.”“I am the same Ebony, aunt. I merely woke up. Being naïve won’t take me anywhere. I should rely on myself. It’s not that hard once I get used to it.” And I was used to it. “I want you to return home and take care of yourself and my cousins. I want you to not worry about me. I am strong enough t