My numb fingers tremble as they clutch the pregnancy test strip in my shaking hand. The bathroom mirrors reflected my disheveled self—dark circles under my eyes, my hair sticking out because I haven't washed it in days and exhaustion in my eyes.
The nausea, my aversion for the morning lights, the insatiable hunger, the bone-deep exhaustion—. I'm no child and I know what this symptoms are pointing at. I understand the changes happening to me that I desperately wish it isn't true.I turn the tap, letting the sound fill the silence around me.My shaky hand lifts the test strip to eye level. Two lines.Two stark lines stares back at me, confirming my suspicion.A strangled gasp leaves my mouth and my hands goes to my belly. "No...no..." I whisper and shake my head to deny the truth right in front of me.I can't be pregnant. No. Not when the war is still raging strongly. Not when Dimitri, the love of my life, stripped me of my title and ripped me from his side.My mind swirls to my conversation with Dimitri four nights ago.My hands wrapped round myself, as a desperate attempt to hold back myself from shattering from what I knew was coming. When Gavin, Dimitri's beta came to summon me with heaviness in his eyes, I already knew what was going to go down. I could already guess what our conversation woule be about.But I dared to hold unto a silver of hope. Maybe, just maybe, my intuition was wrong this time. Maybe today would not be the day my worst dear comes to past. But hope cannot divert the inevitable.I tried to not look at Dimitri as I walked into the ceremonial room where important events of the pack happens so that when he deliveres it wouldn't hurt me so much.The Elders of the pack were present and they didn't hide their disdainful eyes as I walk further into the room.I stopped right in the middle while they surrounded me like predators with their sneers."You called for me." I mustered the courage to look at Dimitri. His blue eyes held no warmth. They haven't for a while now. . "Lynexia. You are hereby removed as the Luna of the shadow pack. The Elders council no longer deem you worthy of the postion." He states with no hint of remorse and every single word delivered a brutal blow to my chest.A lone tear trickled down my cheeks. I knew this day was coming so why did it hurt so much?"My final grace to you as your Alpha is you can remain in the pack for as long as you wish." His voice was curt and cynical and it ripped through my skin, cutting through my bone. I had braced myself for this day. I had anticipated for it. It was bound to come.But it didn't reduce the blow of the pain and despair. It didn't also stop the tears that spilled from my eyes.I didn't dare question it. I accept my fate. They decided to spare my life but I knew it was going to be a miserable one for the rest of my godforsaken life. .Back to the presence, the sound of the running tap fills my ear. I crouch down as tears cascades down my cheeks.My trembling hand cradles my stomach.No one will believe the child within me belongs to Dimitri. Not even Dimitri will believe me. They will say it is the child of the Barbarians. They will scorn and spit at my child and my unborn baby will forever pay for the sin it didn't commit.Panic claws my throat. I have to protect my child even if it takes risking my life.Suddenly a thought settles in my mind. Run. Run far away from the pack and never look back. That is the only way to protect my unborn child.With newfound will to live, I stand to my feet. The floor makes a sound beneath my frantic steps as I rush to the bedroom.The only time I can leave is when Dimitri isn't around. In the morning, I hear that there is a meeting with a neighboring pack and Dimitri needs to be there. If I leave now, no one will question me. Besides everyone wants me gone and the only one keeping me here is Dimitri.The only thing that matters to me is the survival of my baby as my hands tears through my wardrobe and I start throwing my clothes into a travel bag I shove only small clothes into my backpack. Carrying too much may slow me down so I don't. With a trembling hands, I pull an overflowing jacket over my head then I slip out of the room.To escape the pack totally, I deduce a plan to set the body of a dead person of the same stature as me on fire. It wasn't easy but I did it. The Alphahouse is always very silent because all the beta warriors are out fighting the war.Then I flee to the mortal world. Werewolves like to refer to human as mortals out of arrogance as if they aren't one themselves. Werewolves have a slower aging rate that allows them to live up to four hundred years.The human doesn't know about the werewolf world, Isles of Kairos, housing vast nations, Aethelgard being one of them. But, we werewolves, we do.Though, it is rare for werewolves to seek the human world because they consider the human to be inferior to them. Low lives. It shows in how werewolves that couldn't shift are treated.A wolfless person is treated like a second class citizen, they are mostly the bitches of the pack, the butt joke and a dumb ground for everyone. They are even treated worse than an omega which is the lowest rank..So no one will think I, a Luna will escape to the human world when they start looking for me. But I highly doubt anyone will look for me. Everyone wants me gone.LYNEXIA Upon getting to the human world I was able to blend in. It was just like the werewolf world but without fangs and furs. A kind family, the Millers took in me and offered me a house in exchange for me working at their restaurant.Dimitri still haunts me up to this moment. I have come to terms with it that though our love didn't last forever, my love for him will never dim. I still think about my best friend, Zephyr. At the beginning of the war, we were both taken while the Barbarians returned me, they didn't do the same for my best friend. I hope that she has been found by now. Deep down, I hope the Barbarians aren't wreaking havoc anymore. Each day, my belly keeps growing and I keep counting down to my delivery day. It fills me with joy and happiness that I will meet my unborn child soon. Now, in my third trimester, every movement is a struggle. A groan escapes my lips as I lift a tray due to the pull in my swollen belly."I told you no more work!" Sarah, the woman who save
Present time. LYNEXIA I lurch awake in terror, gasping for air. Cold sweat slicks my hair to my forehead and chills the skin under my sleepwear. On reflex, my hands extend across the empty bed in search of Felicity. Relief washes over me when my fingers meet with the familiar curve of her small frame. I pull her close and bury my face in her soft hair. The same nightmare of someone taking my daughter away from me has haunted me since the day I gave birth to her up until this moment. I have a foresight power which is an ability to see catastrophe before it happens. My gift is both a blessing and a curse. Because though, I can see the future, I can't avoid the future. I can only prepare ahead for when it comes. Just like the dream I had five years ago about the Barbarians invasion. At the time I had the dream, it wasn't clear but when the Barbarians came knocking on our doorstep, I knew it was the manifestation of my dream. So the dream of someone taking my daughter away from me
DIMITRI Another day, another string of bad events. Or, rather, this is the norm for me now ever since...I shake my head, forcing the unwelcome memory from my mind. No thinking about her. Not going to spare a thought about her. I didn't for five years and I won't start now. Keep deceiving yourself. A voice in my head clamors. Clenching my jaw, I force my attention back to the meeting. The meeting between Moonstone and Shadow pack. Five years ago, desperation drove me to ally with the the alpha of moonstone pack, Alpha Henry. Ever since then, there hasn't been a day I didn't regret my decision. Alpha Henry is notorious for his greediness and selfishness but I didn't have a choice then. It was the only way to drive out the barbarians. Henry's assistance came with a price. A quarter of the Shadow pack's gold.I fulfilled his demands immediately after the war ended. But Henry's request didn't end there. He started by making minor requests like relocating a few moonstone families into
LYNEXIA Never in my life did I think I would step foot into the Shadow pack again after I left five years ago but here I am. In the shadow pack and in front of my dearest husband—wx husband. I convinced myself that the only thing I felt for Dimitri was indifference but the way my breath catches in my throat and the pang pulling at my heartstrings says otherwise. The shadow pack has changed from what It used to be. And Dimitri isn't the same either. He got bulkier and bigger. His piercing blue eyes only hold coldness and he now has a scar that draws down between his left brow. Scar is supposed to diminish beauty but it does quite the opposite in Dimitri. A slideshow of memories hit me but I choke it down immediately.I'm here for my daughter. Only my daughter. Dimitri holds my gaze with an intensity that steals the air from the room. Heat prickles my skin at the emptiness behind his gaze. His jaw is set tight and his face holds no emotion. The silence stretches for what seems lik
LYNEXIA I jolt upright, my hands balling beside me into fists of rage. "Are you insane?" The fact that he has a condition attached to this appalls me, not to talk of the condition itself. Dimitri scratches his jaw leisurely as if he can't be bothered by my sudden outburst. His calm gaze tightens around my gut. He is so unfazed, almost bored while a stream of anger begs to be let out from me. He sighs and says with a bored tone. "Take it or leave it." My mouth falls agape in disbelief, and the space between my brows creases into a deep furrow. I can't believe that I'm witnessing this. "Take it or leave it?" I repeat. The words roll on my tongue like black tar. "This is your daughter, Dimitri. Our daughter. How can you have a condition tied to saving her?" A vein ticks in his jaws and briefly a flicker of something I can't decipher creases his face before his mask of indifference slides back into place. "Are you doing this to punish me? Teach me a lesson?" I ask, my voice cracking
LYNEXIA "I never would have thought shadow pack territory would ever look like this again after the war," I say. The territory of the shadow pack moved from a primitive infrastructure to a more modern one. However, it is still interwoven with nature which is one of the landmarks of the Shadow pack. We connect with nature and seek guidance from it. Gavin's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Well, all thanks to Dimitri's grand vision." His tone holds something I can't decipher. The mention of Dimitri's name is enough to make my stomach churn. "Shit. I shouldn't have mentioned his name." "It's fine," I mumble, digging my shoe into the pebbles beneath me. I may despise Dimitri at the moment, but he is Gavin's best friend. Gavin asks "Want to tell me why you were crying?""I was hoping you won't ask." I focus my gaze down as if the pebbles are the most interesting thing I have ever seen. "Is it Dimitri?" I hear a sharp edge in Gavin's voice prompting me to raise my head. His jaw is clen
DIMITRI I know. It's twisted and sick to make such a deal with Lynexia but I wasn't going to take any chances. Not anymore. I already lost her once, I won't risk losing her for the second time. Even though I hate to admit it, without her, I was miserable. She may hate me now but I can work with that. As long as she is with me, I don't care but her being gone isn't something I can deal with. It is unbearable. Besides, when she is with me, I can win her over again just like I did five years ago. Even before I found out Lynexia was my fated mate, my eyes had always been on her. She had always sparked something inside of me. Being around her always made me feel alive. I thought that the spark I felt towards her was dead by now. I lied to myself that it was dead, that I didn't feel anything remotely for her. But I was wrong. The moment I set my eyes on her after five years, it blazed back to life. Hotter. Stronger. More consumin
LYNEXIA The doctor was able to revive Felicity back but I was told that next time when this happens it may not be possible. I was also told that Felicity has only three months to live if she doesn't get a transplant. I am left with no choice but to accept Dimitri's mind-twisting condition. A twin frisson of anger and hatred twist in my gut towards Dimitri for attaching a condition to help my daughter. Our daughter knowing fully well that I will never be able to turn away. I can't live with everything but not with my daughter being gone. I will lay my life down for her if I can. The tears in my eyes have already dried by the time I get to the Alpha house house. My clothes are also drenched and I'm shivering to the teeth. I'm a fire wolf so cold is something that makes my wolf sick up right there with Dimitri. Not my wolf but me, he makes me sick. I grind my teeth at the fact that accepting this condition will tie me to Dimitri. I hate him so much I want to scratch his eyes out. The