Revenge of The Blood Moon Alpha

EPISODE 09-Flashback II

Mercury POV

Oh. My. God!

I couldn't put into words how much fun I was having right now. I was like a fish in the lake while my mother sat and read one of her favorite romance novels. Swinging from vines and splashing massively in the water below. I'd even cannonball into the water after sprinting from the bank.

My mother would occasionally yell at me, advising me to be careful.

Even if I'd wished for it, I couldn't have asked for a better day.

The light beamed down on the lake, reflecting its splendor in every direction. Birds sat atop the tallest trees, tending to their young or communicating with their kin. Fish of different hues and sizes swam freely beneath the surface, unconcerned about their surroundings. If I do so so myself, it's quite magnificent.

That was how the rest of the day went. I was hungry at all times. I merely sat on the blanket with my mum for a little to eat before returning to the lake after the meal had settled.

“What time is it, Mom?” I asked, my face stuffed with a cheese sandwich.

She paused in her reading before closing the book and marking it with her index. Then, because she wasn't wearing a watch, she took out her phone and checked the time. I'm sure she reasoned that bringing her phone rather than her watch would be more practical. She'll be able to communicate with the omega in charge of Jonas' safety and keep an eye on Daria in this way.

“It's 3:30 p.m. now,” she answered softly. “Are you ready to go?” With her brown-rimmed glasses curtly resting on the bridge of her nose, my mother inquired.

I pushed myself up from the blanket, my hands caressing my sides. “In about fifteen more minutes.” With a shake of my head, I expressed my dissatisfaction about leaving so soon.

“But stay close,” she requested.

“All right, mom.” I was on my way once more.

Around my mother, no matter how old I was, I was always her little girl. In spite of being a teenager, she never treated me any differently from her younger daughter, and I didn't mind.

Jumping, bouncing, and swinging in the water, I had completely forgotten about time. My skin was all wrinkly, like a prune in the summer, due to the time spent in the water.

I was eager to return home after a great day on the lake. I reached the blanket where my mother was supposed to be sitting, shaking off as much water as possible from my body. She was supposed to be there, but she wasn't.

I looked about as far as my eyes could see, desperately searching for her. However, I came up empty-handed.

The last time I came out of the water, everything was still the same. Our food containers had already been packed by her. Her glasses were on top of her book, which was open to the page she was reading, and her cellphone was still in the same place. But she wasn’t

"Mom?"

Suddenly, I became frightened. There's no way she'd leave me here and everything else unattended! “Where are you, Mom?” My voice quivered as I yelled. My body began to tremble as tears threatened to fall.

There was no way to tell if there had been an incident. Our belongings remained in the same spot. So, where did she go?

I started walking, unsure of where my feet would lead me.

The sun was burning. Its blistering rays are burning my skin, which I'm sure will be completely burned by morning. My swimming suit would undoubtedly be tattooed on my skin.

“Mom, please respond!” The more I moved away from the water, the more I called. There has been no response yet. Where could she have gone in the brief time I was in the water? And without even informing me.

That's when I detected the smell of blood. I had no idea where it was coming from, but the scent was strong, indicating that it was close. So I ran. I was watching for any signs of a struggle or my mother.

“Please, Moon Goddess, don't let anything bad happen to my mother. I implore you!” As tears flowed down my cheeks, blinding my eyesight, I prayed. I was so terrified that I almost fell over a fallen log.

I hadn't spotted it at first, and if I had continued sprinting, I would have missed it. A tattered piece of cloth hung loosely on the branch to my right, blowing in the breeze.

It didn't matter that I hadn't yet found my wolf. My heightened senses were still present. I took the fabric from the branch quickly but cautiously and smelled it. It was, without a doubt, my mother's.

I looked around, scanning my surroundings for anything I might have overlooked. Broken branches, footprints (if another human was present), or paw prints are all possibilities.

That's not the case.

I continued but came to a halt when I noticed a puddle of blood about three feet away. My mind immediately began to imagine the worst-case scenario. What if it's the blood of my mother? Was she seriously injured, or worse...dead?

'No, Mercury, don't think that way.' In my brain, a quiet voice whispered.

I begged my limbs to take one more step forward. The prospect of seeing my mother's lifeless body lying there sent me on a roller coaster rush of emotions.

Nothing seemed to work. My lips felt as dry as the Saharan desert, my knees were all unsteady, hardly retaining their balance, my arms shook violently at my sides, and no sound came out of my mouth no matter how many times I opened it to speak.

Even the jungle was deafeningly quiet. You couldn't hear a bird's chirp or a deer's stride. Nothing.

'Please move.' I begged my body, but it felt like I was speaking to a brick block.

Finally, my body began to move again, and I drew nearer to the blood. My ears were now deafeningly loud as all of the blood in my heart pumped.

I drew closer, blocking off my thoughts, and the blood drained from my face. My mother was lifeless on the ground, surrounded by her own blood. Her hair was bloody and matted together from a jagged slice from what seemed to be a knife wound to her throat. Her eyes remained open, gazing up at the void in the sky.

She was dead. My mother… was dead.

Realization dawned on me and I shrieked, "Mom! Don't leave me, Mom! I can’t live without you! Please stay! No! Mom!"

The words exited my mouth, but they were incomprehensible to my ears. My mouth was moving, but I had no idea what was coming out. Then comes... a scream. I screamed some more.

A piercing scream burst from within me, sweeping across the forest like a sonic wave, waking everything in its path.

I dropped to my knees and scuffed the dirt under my fingernails, begging and praying that it wasn't true.

'She can't possibly be gone!' I attempted to reason with myself, but what good would that do? My mother's lifeless body was there in front of me.

'How could this have happened?! We were giggling and conversing one minute. Then mourning her death the next. How? Why?!'

I lay beside her, clutching her lifeless body to my chest and wailing like a small child who had just misplaced their favorite blanket.

Someone then roared. My vision was clouded as a result of the tears, and I couldn't tell who the person was. But I didn't have to, obviously. Quickly... It registered as the roar came from my father.

He howled his anguish to the heavens. He had lost his mate. The woman gifted to him by the Moon Goddess, and now she was taken from him so brutally.

My father knelt beside us, pulling my mother's body close to his for the last time, to feel her warmth. He sobbed uncontrollably. Then he cried some more, shouting and screaming for her to open her eyes, shaking up the forest floor.

He bawled more the tighter he held her body. Soon after, members of the pack dashed over to where we were, howling their woes into the sky as well.

My body had been completely taken over by shock. I was trembling, but I had no idea what was going on around me.

"You did this!" My father screamed at me in response. His pupils condensed into slits.

What? No! I would never do hurt my mother. I could never. How could he blame me for this?

I shook my head and shrieked, "No, I didn't kill her! It wasn't me who did it!" I cried into my hands as I clutched my knees to my chest. "I didn't kill her! I'd never do it! You have to believe me!"

The agony in my heart was unbearable. I had already lost my mother to a brutal attack, and now I was being blamed for her death.

"So, who did it?! You're the only one here! Is this your way of thanking us for loving you?! You heinous beast!" He let out a gut-wrenching howl.

And then my heart broke into tiny bits all over again.

"You are dead to me!"