BLOOD OF THE GODDESS-TOUCHED

CHAPTER ONE

BLOOD RED MOON

LUCAS POV

A loud cry tears through the night; the night is ominous, with a red moon hanging low in the sky.

I watch anxiously as Shara bends over Selene's body.

"Shara, what does this red moon mean?"

I ask, my voice laced with concern.

She has a cloth tied from one post on the bed to the other post, creating a demarcation. Why she even bothered to do such was beyond me. I could still see everything, and besides, nobody else was there with us.

Selene lets out a third shuddering cry, her labour stretching deep into the night.

"Stop your whining, Lucas, and pass me those towels!" Shara says while stopping low to check on Selene.

"Go get the boiling water. It is a bloody red moon and I don't care whatever it means. Your wife is giving birth to a pup and that's what we should concern ourselves with." Shara says impatiently to me after checking on Selene.

I dash out to get the boiling water. I come back to see Selene crying, sweat has covered every inch of her body. I have never seen Selene's hair in the kind of disarray it is now, every strand sticking out like something that was electrocuted.

"Shh, come now, my moon; Shara says you are doing well; just be strong, be strong, my moon," I murmur into Selene's ear while giving her hands a squeeze, which was a mistake because Selene lets out another piercing wail into the night sky whilst grabbing my hands for support and ended up cracking the bones in my hands. I endured it all, murmuring sweet nothings into her ears, understanding that she was going through pain much worse than that.

Shara exclaims suddenly, "Yes!"

"That's it, Selene, the baby's head is out, you just need one more push, and this will be over. One more push Selene." Shara says with excitement.

Selene gives one last push whilst grounding her teeth. She didn't scream or cry this time around; it was as if she was filled with new energy after she heard her baby's head was out.

I kept on rubbing her hands, her hair, her back, wherever I could get my hands on.

A baby's cry suddenly fills the cabin.

Shara exclaims "Yah! You have a strong girl Lucas." She says and cackles with so much joy.

Shara definitely loves her job as a midwife. I am still rubbing my mate's back while waiting for Shara to clean the baby up.

"Where's my baby?" Selene's voice draws my attention.

"Shara is cleaning her up. Don't worry, my moon." I say and give her a kiss on her cheeks.

"I have a daughter?" Selene asks again in a very weak voice that is cracked from all the screaming she just did.

"Yes, my moon you gave us a girl," I say and hug her very close to me.

"The goddess has blessed us, Lucas." She says with a sob.

Shara brings the cleaned baby and places her on Selene's chest while she goes below to clean up the mess from the birthing.

Selene cries as she rubs her hand down her baby's back. She raises her up, and with the candlelight flickering in the cabin, we examine the newest addition to the Moonshadow family. Her hair is a strange colour, I have never seen any pup's hair that colour.

"Selene she has strange colour of hair," I say in a small voice to my mate.

"Lucas, she's still a pup; I've seen pups change their skin colour once they start growing," Selene says with a laughing cracked voice.

I shrug and admire my new bundle of joy, joy bursting in my ribs because I am now a father.

We both coo at the newest addition to our lives.

Shara finishes the cleaning, gets Selene cleaned in the bathroom and then leaves.

I look out the window in the cabin and see that the red moon is gone.

I went into the forest just behind the cabin and killed a deer; I tied it up, carried it and began my trek back to my cabin.

My wife needs to feed well so she can feed Lykaina.

The thought of my baby's name brings a smile to my face.

Selene named her immediately after Shara left.

She has hair like I've never seen before, red with pure white hair mixed in; Selene says she's still a baby, and she'll outgrow it. I guess it remains to be seen.

The weather took a turn for the worse before I could get to the cabin. Strong wind blows debris everywhere, lightning flashes through the night sky, and thunder strikes with a deafening roar.

"What is wrong with this night? Ugh!"

I make it to the cabin just in time to hear Selene scream my name.

"Lucas!"

"Lucas come!"

I run inside immediately with the worst scenarios flashing through my eyes and I come up short because the sight before me is worse than anything I could have ever imagined.

Wisps of silvery light were curling around Lykaina like a blessing, more like a curse, I thought.

Selene was sobbing softly

"Lucas, it can't possibly mean anything can it?"

That question was made moot when Lykaina giggled and waved her hands about, and the silvery light around her twisted and turned, and I turned just in time to see the lightning flash through the sky on the same pattern that Lykaina had just woven flash through the sky, and then the defending reply of the thunder followed immediately.

Selene gasps, "it can't be"

A strong resolve comes upon me.

"Selene, we both know that Alpha Thane will find out sooner or later, and the result will be the same."

"Okay, let us take her and go live in the human world, Lucas; Alpha Thane won't find us there," Selene says with her eyes wide open and looking desperate.

We both know that it isn't going to work; we are blood-bound to the Alpha, and this will make it easier for him to find us no matter where we go.

Lykaina was supposed to be bloodbound to him, too, during her naming ceremony, but I guess that won't be possible.

"Look at me, Selene," I say with a voice sounding strangely strong in my ears, different from the despair crushing my lungs. I must be strong for Selene and for Lykaina.

Selene was still sobbing clutching the baby to her chest like she could hide her inside her body. I guess she would if she could.

"Look at me, Selene!" I say loud, almost shouting.

"We both know that Alpha Thane will find out, and he will find us."

Selene's breath was already becoming more panicked. I feel so bad to have raised my voice on her but I need to be her pillar right now.

"Shara knows we have a baby; the Alpha will be expecting an invitation for a blood-binding ceremony soon."

Selene was beginning to understand the situation. I have gotten through to her thankfully.

"We have to come up with a story. She died Selene, and we buried her in your favourite spot in the forest."

I picked the towel we both bought for Lykaina and the scissors Shara used in cutting the umbilical cord.

"You will take her this night Selene, take her and run. I know this is hard, but this way, Lykaina can live. Our daughter can live and if the goddess is merciful, we will meet her again in the future."

I cut a line in Lykaina's thighs and used the towel to clean up the blood. Her wails ring out through the cabin like that of a selkie. The wind outside howls louder as if in response to her wails.

Selene looks wide-eyed, listening and understanding what must be done.

"I will take this and bury it before the Oak tree, your favourite tree," I say while raising the blood-stained towel up in her face.

"Run to the human world. Lykaina will live. She must live." I say vehemently.

Selene suddenly comes to life, rushes to the kitchen, and comes back with an old-looking basket and some towels.

She gives Lykaina to me, rushes inside her room and comes out in her travelling boots and a jean.

"I love you, Lucas." She says and takes Lykaina from my hands with the baskets and towels and dashes out of the cabin.

I stand there looking lost for a while, listening to the howling of the winds, the windows outside rattle under the onslaught of the wind.

All energy leaves my body, and I collapse on the floor and cry for my daughter, for my Selene and for the life I had planned for my family, which won't be happening anymore because of the hand that fate has dealt us.