DANCE IN THE MOONLIGHT

A Daughter’s Inheritance

When Valeria arrived dormitory that night, she found Irene awake. When she asked why she wasn't sleeping, Irene told her that Lucas had come.

"I'm scared, Valeria," Irene said quietly while standing by the window. "We were just girls struggling to take the university exams next year; look at what we're going through now."

Valeria was tending to her feet, which had been injured by things she stepped on in the forest. "I've already entered a path of no return, Irene, but please stay away from that man. For mercy's sake, don't let him influence you."

Irene looked out at the moonlight silently. In truth, she had already crossed that line...

"What are you going to do, then?"

Valeria wanted to leave the city and settle down with her mother. "Honestly, I don't know anything. I just..." She looked at the full moon just like her friend. "...I just want to get away." She took a deep breath; she wanted to take a shower to rein in her thoughts. "I'm going to shower."

With slow and quiet steps, she left her friend by the window and headed to the bathroom. She began to look at herself in the mirror. The clothes she was wearing belonged to Lucian. Valeria slowly sniffed the shirt.

'It smells so good...'

Angered by how good it smelled, Valeria quickly pulled the shirt off and tossed it aside. She saw that the symbol on her left chest was quite different from Lucian’s.

While Lucian’s was black, Valeria’s was red.

After softly touching the symbol, she threw herself under the hot water. The hot water relaxed all her muscles. She involuntarily closed her eyes, and he came to her mind again... She wanted to know what he was doing. The words he said before leaving the forest were still on her mind.

'I can't stay away from you, Valeria. Otherwise, I'll die.'

Lucian was constantly talking to her about the possibility of dying. Since she had completed her transformation, the risk of him dying should have disappeared, yet he had said it again. She remembered the moment he had pulled her into the empty classroom. She could still see the anger he felt then. And what had he said then?

'If I stay apart from you, I’ll turn into a monster.'

She just couldn't understand Lucian. Sometimes he acted close and swept Valeria off her feet, and sometimes he saw her only as a chance for survival. She wanted to know what he was thinking. For once, she wanted to hear his thoughts. But as far as she knew, mind-reading only existed in vampires. They could hear the thoughts of whomever they wanted.

Wolves, on the other hand, could only hear the thoughts of the person they were bonded to.

Valeria suddenly opened her eyes. Lucian sometimes answered the things she was thinking. In fact, not just sometimes, but most of the time. How could he do that?

There was only one way to understand this. Valeria put a single thought in her mind: 'I want to see you in the corridor in 10 minutes, Lucian.'

She finished her shower quickly out of excitement. She tied her silk robe neatly. She looked at herself in the mirror after drying her hair.

Would he really come?

Taking Lucian's clothes in her hand, she held the doorknob with a trembling hand. One part of her desperately wanted him to be there, while the other part was afraid of him being there. Because if he was here, it meant Lucian could hear her thoughts. And if he was hearing them, he also knew that she liked him.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. She felt disappointed because he hadn't come; the corridor was empty. This meant that Lucian didn't hear her thoughts—meaning he wasn't bonded to Valeria. Even though this possibility saddened her, she tried not to care too much. She began to think of the positive sides. Lucian didn't know yet that Valeria loved him and couldn't hear her thoughts.

But then, why did he say he couldn't stay away from her?

Valeria felt like her brain was about to explode; she wanted to stop thinking about these things and go to sleep. However, she wasn't sleepy, and morning was approaching. She wanted to get a one-week medical report for herself and leave early. Even though she wasn't sure if one week would be enough for her, this was all she could do.

***

When Lucian went up to the roof of the school, he found Fenrik there.

"Why are you awake?"

"Because of Elara."

"Is she okay?" Lucian asked with concern.

Fenrik merely nodded. "She felt so terrible that she barely managed to fall asleep."

Without saying anything, Lucian began to look at the forest just like Fenrik.

"What happened to you?"

"Valeria completed her transformation."

Fenrik’s eyes widened. "And?"

"She's an Alpha." Fenrik looked as if he had swallowed his tongue in surprise. He was overjoyed, but also stunned. "You should have seen her, Fenrik... her eyes..." Lucian spoke with a bittersweet smile.

"It sounds like things didn't go well?"

Lucian shook his head. "She told me not to come near her anymore. I had told her my mission was only to turn her. She said my mission is over."

"Why don't you tell her the truth? The Alpha can no longer enter her thoughts."

"She's an Alpha too, Fenrik. If she learns that I can hear her thoughts, she can block it. I can't plant thoughts in her mind anymore, anyway..."

Fenrik took a steel flask out of his jacket pocket; after taking a few sips, he handed it to Lucian. What both of them wanted, without realizing it, was the same thing: to numb their brains a little bit.

"Fenrik..." Lucian focused on the ground. "Valeria is calling me."

"What do you mean she's calling you?"

"She connected some pieces. She wants a definitive answer from me about everything I've told her. Worst of all, she's going to her mother's for a week tomorrow."

Fenrik took a large gulp from the flask and grimaced. "Let her go. Maybe she'll learn something about herself there."

"What do you mean 'let her go,' Fenrik? I can't stay away from her!"

"Then go with her."

Lucian was afraid of following Valeria. She was an Alpha and had now fully turned into a wolf. She could catch his scent. Taking all the risks into account, he decided to follow her. Lucian could not stay away from her.

***

When Valeria saw her mother, she realized how much she had missed her. As soon as her mother opened the door, she hugged her tightly.

"Where did this surprise come from? Why did you leave school?" Her mother was both surprised and happy.

"I missed you so much, Mom. I just wanted to be with you for a bit."

Immediately closing the door, her mother began dragging her daughter into the living room. They both sat on the sofa at the same time, and Valeria leaned her head on her mother's chest. Her mother immediately began stroking her hair. Internally, Valeria wondered if her mother knew anything. While still lying on her mother's shoulder, she asked:

"Mom."

"Yes, dear?"

"You told me you were about to die when you gave birth to me. Do you have any idea why it was such a difficult birth?"

Her mother’s hand, which was stroking her head, slowed down. Valeria realized she knew something.

"Because you were a very special child."

Valeria sat up. "Can I look at the photo album again? I think I miss my father more." Valeria spoke with a smile.

Her mother immediately got up and went to her room. Valeria could hear her opening the drawer. Although she liked this ability, there were times she wished she hadn't heard things.

She could hear her mother sitting on the bed and flipping through the pages of the album. Suddenly, she stopped. Valeria focused even more on her mother to hear why she had stopped.

'Our daughter is here, my love... Her scent has become just like yours... I'm going to answer her questions now.'

And then, the sound of a kiss. She guessed her mother was kissing a photograph. She missed him too. She might have been torn away from her father when she was little, but her mother... she had been torn away from the man she loved too. Her eyes filled with tears at this missing piece of her life. But as soon as she heard footsteps, she wiped her eyes.

Her mother came to her and gave her the album. She left her alone, saying she would bring something to drink.

Valeria noticed she hadn't seen this photo album before. There were pictures in it she was seeing for the first time. The photos of her mother and father were mostly taken in a forest. While browsing the pages, she stopped on one picture. Her father was turned away and shirtless in this picture. Valeria saw the symbol on his back. Since the picture was black and white, the color of the symbol wasn't clear, but it certainly wasn't black.

Suddenly, the door began to knock. After her mother left a cold lemonade on the table, she went to open the door.

Valeria turned around as soon as she caught Lucian's scent; what was he doing here?

"It seems you have plenty of questions cluttering your mind, Valeria. I've come to answer them."