Fall of the Luna (completed)

Despair

Thiago’s POV

                My hands trembled as I sedated Kayla so that she’d take longer to wake up after the surgery and had more time to allow her body to heal. She looked so at peace in her sleep and my heart yearned to take her and her pup away from all these. I’d never forget that afternoon when I first saw her in the class that I was a TA in. The way her smile seemed to light up the room and the empathy she showed for others when they had to work together to dissect dead bodies left a deep impression on me. I could smell her fear as we uncovered the bodies and teams were assigned. Yet, she didn’t show any signs of her misgivings on her face. Instead, she was encouraging team members who were uncomfortable with the task at hand and assisting them where she could. I knew from those first moments that I laid eyes on her, that she is a special shewolf. Little did I know that she is special beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

                Becoming a TA at a human medical school was the only way for me to be away from my pack but not become rogue. I didn’t believe in the Moon Goddess and all the stories about her gifts. If anything, a fated mate sounded more like a curse to me. I’ve learned after the death of my mother that my father had tried to cut off her contact with her family because they didn’t belong to an ally pack. Even though we had some contact with my grandparents and Uncle when I was a pup, it was sporadic and infrequent. As a new pack member, life wasn’t easy for my mother and even as a young pup, I could tell that she struggled. She wasn’t able to continue teaching as she had done in her old pack and I learned later it was because the Elders didn’t want foreign teachings in our schools. Despite how unhappy she was, she didn’t leave because she loved my father dearly and it became impossible for her to leave when she had me. The mental stress ate away at her and my father did nothing to help her. If anything, I suspected that my father distanced himself from her so that their bond would become weaker and when my mother passed away, my father recovered spectacularly fast. So fast that he’d take a chosen mate less than 3 months after my mother had passed.

                From that point on, I stopped believing in the Moon Goddess. She took my mother away from me even though I pleaded with her every night to grant us her protection. Her gift of a fated mate had pushed my mother into the pits of hell, eventually robbing her prematurely of her life. My father’s new mate was neither caring nor cruel towards me. It was more like having one more person live in our house and nothing else changed. My father continued to pay me little attention and I threw myself into my studies, determined to find a way to leave this life behind. I wanted to leave my pack and live a normal life with no duty or destiny given by the Goddess. In the end, I figured out the only way to do this without risking my life, would be to live amongst the humans by having a job in their territory and continue to pay my monthly dues to the pack. It was difficult in the beginning living amongst humans. Werewolves are pack animals and we don’t do well for long periods without communal life. It was also hard on my wolf that I wasn’t able to shift and let him go for a run every night. With a full-time day job and the nearest unclaimed forest a one hour drive away, I could only afford to let my wolf out on the weekends.

                Luckily, I got to know Aldrnari during one of my weekend runs. It was strange at first and I wouldn’t lie to say I wasn’t afraid of her. In the good night stories for werewolf pups, witches were evil and their fire is deadly to us. Even though I stopped believing in the Moon Goddess, old habits die hard and I couldn’t help but wonder if those stories had some truth to them. To my surprise, Aldrnari had admitted without a second thought that indeed witch fire was designed to kill werewolves and she told me the history of our kind. I found it hilarious that both sides have stories about the other side and many times, things don’t really add up. Her easy nature helped us to become friends quickly and we would meet up every weekend when I came to the forest for a run. Witches were secretive creatures and I never pressed her for more information about her family or where she stayed. In return, she didn’t press me about why I was living away from my pack and even gave me some potions that would help my wolf to cope with my new life.

                My new life was refreshing. I felt liberated. My best friend is a witch and I was living amongst humans, pushing the boundaries of what the supposed Moon Goddess had intended for my kind. After getting to know Kayla though, everything changed. I witnessed her resilience as she made grand plans for her pack and I could tell from the respect shown by her pack to her, that she had a huge role to play in the way that they were prospering. Her eyes would light up when I told her about overseas medical missions and I could tell that she had dreams beyond her pack. I was a little disappointed when I learned that she’d rather stay with her pack and her mate instead of exploring the world and living out her other dreams. I became even more convinced that she was headed down the wrong path when she continued to choose her pack and her mate even after her mate’s pup from another shewolf showed up. But she taught me to see things in another way, that sometimes duty could also be just as fulfilling as realizing your own dreams. Honestly, my heart was torn between saving her from my mother’s fate and trying to have some faith in her beliefs.

                That fateful night when Jake told me to prepare a surgery room to handle a situation was the last straw for me. When I saw him rushing into the room I’ve prepared with Kayla in his arms, my heart shattered. It was like reliving those moments of watching my mother suffer because of her fated mate and finally allowing the pain to consume her. I fought to save her life and the life of her pup, knowing how much this meant to her. Thankfully, Aldrnari was with me that night. She had insisted to help when I told her about my cousin’s strange request and I didn’t want to involve any humans but at the same time, I couldn’t pull off the surgery on my own. I didn’t know that witches were also healers, but she had brought along an Elder from her coven who was their most experienced healer and together, they had helped me to keep both Kayla and her pup alive.

                I tried to confront Jake that night but he was an Alpha and much stronger than my wolf. In the end, he only told me that his pack was taken from him after an Elder and his Beta betrayed him. Their betrayal had also cost him Kayla and he was her rightful mate. His crazed eyes were enough to tell me that his words could not be trusted but he was also the only family that I’ve left from my mother’s side. I didn’t want to lose him, nor did I want to hurt Kayla. As if I wasn’t torn enough between the both of them, Aldrnari revealed to me that Kayla was no ordinary shewolf. She could sense that Kayla had powers even though they were dormant now. It was strange because no werewolf was supposed to have the powers of witches. The Moon Goddess was fair in her gifts and she had gifted werewolves supernatural strength and speed, while witches had control over the element of fire to protect themselves against werewolves and other creatures. Aldrnari became convinced that Kayla was a piece of the puzzle that could lead her coven to find their High Priestess to restore balance to the supernatural world. Why she thought that was something that she couldn’t let me in on, apparently it was coven secret and I decided to trust her. After all, we’ve known each other for over a decade.

                I silently cursed myself for not answering my phone when Aldrnari had called me. If I was there, Kayla wouldn’t have managed her failed escape attempt and neither she nor her pup would have been in danger. Goddess knows how relieved I was when the tiny pup cried, and Kayla’s condition stabilized. I made a mental note to myself to check up on Aldrnari later today, now that I’m sure both Kayla and her pup are fine. Aldrnari had gone into hiding after Jake accused her of helping Kayla to escape. His face was unreadable as I walked out of the surgery room with the now clean pup in my arms. Instinctively, I held the little pup close to me, afraid that Jake would harm the pup of the Alpha, who he claimed had stolen his mate from him. To my horror, he commanded me in his Alpha voice to kill the pup. Every fibre of my body was struggling to defy him but the Alpha command was compelling me.

                “Please, Jake, don’t do this! You don’t have to do this! He’s just a little pup, he’s innocent!” I pleaded desperately as I felt my body at its limit of defying an Alpha command.

                “No, I can’t let anything come between Kayla and me. Not even a little pup.” His voice was cold and void of emotions. I knew there and then that there was not an ounce of empathy left in him. My mind raced, trying to find a good reason to convince him to let the pup live.

                “Don’t you want revenge on Alpha Finn? What would he do if you told him that his pup is dead but in fact, his pup was right in front of his eyes the whole time, only that he couldn’t recognize him?” Bile rose in my throat as I disgusted myself with the plan that I just came up with, but I focused my energy on saving this pup’s life.

                “Interesting thought, continue,” Jake said as he stared intensely into my eyes, searching me for any traces of betrayal. “There is an orphanage at the Gold Moon Pack and we could leave the pup at their doorsteps. Aldrnari can redeem herself by going there to drop the pup off and they wouldn’t suspect her because she’s human. Don’t you have a way to mask scents? I know you do and that’s why no one has found us here yet. Use it on the pup and even his own father won’t be able to recognize him.” I could see that Jake was considering my proposal and finally, he agreed. I dropped onto my knees, completely spent from resisting an Alpha command. Before Jake could change his mind, I quickly called Aldrnari to tell her of my plan to save Kayla’s pup.

Jake’s POV

              It’s been two days since we sent the mutt’s pup to his pack’s orphanage and a gift to announce the death of his pup to him. I have to give it to Thiago for coming up with such a brilliant plan and now I’d just have to focus on rebuilding my relationship with Kayla. She is supposed to wake up today and I had set aside all other plans today to spend some time with her. Just as I was approaching her room, I could hear her screaming and shouting at the warriors guarding her door to let her out of her room. The wooden door was rattling and I knew that her wolf must be back now. Cursing under my breath, I ran to her room and tried to quickly do some damage control. If her wolf is back, even if I’ve masked her scent and suppressed her mate bond with that mutt, it was just a matter of time before her wolf is able to overcome Martha’s spells and contact that mutt or her pack. If anything, having seen her wolf fight all those years ago, I wasn’t convinced that I could defeat her.

              “Stop Kayla!” I yelled at her, trying to come up with ideas to handle the situation. “If you ever want to see your pup again, stop!” That got her attention and her eyes ceased to glow. “Where is my baby, Jake? Please, give him back to me,” she pleaded desperately and parts of my heart ached to see her like this. I realized in that moment that we needed a fresh start. It was the only way. Her pleas were becoming more desperate, as she must have realized that she couldn’t read my thoughts. I smiled and thank the Goddess for letting me find Martha’s spells and potions intact before I had to go into hiding. “Drink this and wait here. If I don’t see you here when I’m back, you can forget about ever seeing your pup.” I handed Kayla a small bottle with enough sedatives to put her out for a few hours while I gathered Thiago and Aldrnari for their help in my plan. Those two imbeciles thought that I was a fool but little did they know that I had already figured out what Aldrnari is. I had seen how that little witch covered up her tracks when she ran away after Kayla’s escape. It had the same scent of the spell from Martha which we’ve been using to cover our tracks. I hate witches but if I have one to make use of, I wouldn’t pass up that chance.

              As Kayla’s body went limp from the sedatives, I gently carried her to the bed and stared at my little mate. Soon, we will both have a fresh start. Before I left the room, I commanded my warriors to replace the wooden door with a metal door. I’ve seen Kayla manipulate the air, water and the earth and I guess that something studier to prevent her escape again wouldn’t hurt. When Aldrnari and Thiago finally showed up, I went straight to my plan. “I want you to wipe out her memory, Aldrnari. And don’t lie to me, I know what you are.” I could see the witch’s eyes widened in shock and then darting to glare at Thiago, who’s own face was getting paler by the minute. “I can’t do that, Alpha and you should know that if you weren’t able to find anything from Martha’s spell book to do this,” she said in an oddly calm voice.

              The little witch was right that nothing in Martha’s spell book was useful for my plan but I was sure that that only spoke about that witch’s limitations and not the limitations of magic. Determined to carry out my plan, I decided to make a deal with her. “I don’t care what you do, but make her forget everything and start afresh with me. Do it and hide us from that mutt Alpha. In return, I’ll give you everything that Martha has left behind.” I know that Martha was no ordinary witch and there has to be something valuable even to her own kind in the things that she had left behind. Just as I had expected, Aldrnari’s eyes lit up and she stretched out her hand and made a small cut on it before extending it to me. I did the same and we made a blood pact to seal our deal, ignoring the protests of Thiago.