A Mother's Worst Fear.
1289 Words
Luna’s POV
“Stop it! Please, stop it!”
My voice came out loud and broken as I screamed between them. My hands shook as I stood in front of my children. My heart felt like it was torn in two.
Ryder and Ethan stood only a few steps away from me, their eyes burning with anger. Their fists were tight. Their teeth were sharp. Their wolves were close to the surface.
The ground around us was broken. Trees were torn apart. The air smelled of blood and rage.
“Mama, please!” one of the children cried behind me. “Make them stop fighting!”
I could hear the fear in their voices. My babies were shaking. They were holding onto each other, hiding behind my back.
I could feel their small hands clutching my dress. That pain hurt me more than anything else.
“Ryder,” I said, turning my head slightly. “Please.”
He looked at me, but his eyes were not fully his. His wolf was fighting to take control. His chest rose and fell fast. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
“Move away, Luna,” Ryder growled. “He started this.”
Ethan laughed, but there was no joy in it. “You always say that,” he said. “You always act like you are better than me.”
“You came here to hurt my family,” Ryder shouted. “You will not touch her or the children.”
I turned to Ethan. “Ethan, please. This is not the way.”
His eyes softened for one short moment when he looked at me. Just one moment. My heart skipped. Something strange pulled inside my chest. It was strong. It was painful. It was warm and cold at the same time.
That pull… it scared me.
“Luna,” Ethan said softly. “You feel it too, don’t you?”
I froze.
Feel what?
Before I could answer, Ryder stepped closer. “What are you talking about?”
The pull in my chest grew stronger. My breath caught. I placed a hand over my heart. It felt like something was waking up inside me. Something old. Something I had forgotten.
“Enough!” I shouted.
The moment the word left my mouth, a sharp pain exploded in my head.
I screamed.
Images crashed into my mind like fire.
A dark room.
Cold stone walls.
Candles burning with blue flames.
My hands are tied.
My body is weak.
Two voices whispering in the shadows.
“She will not remember,” one voice said.
“The bond must be split,” the other replied.
“No,” I whispered as I fell to my knees. “No, no, no…”
“Luna!” Ryder shouted.
I gasped for air. My head felt like it was breaking open. I clutched my chest as the memory grew clearer.
I saw myself lying on a hard bed.
I was pregnant.
So tired.
So weak.
A woman stood over me. Her eyes were black. Her smile was cruel.
“One child will live,” she said. “The other will be claimed.”
“I only carried one baby,” I whispered out loud.
The fighting stopped.
The world went quiet.
Ryder and Ethan stared at me.
“What did you say?” Ryder asked.
I lifted my head slowly. Tears ran down my face. My whole body shook.
“I never carried twins,” I said again. “I carried one child.”
The children behind me went silent.
Ethan took a step back. “That’s not possible,” he said. “We are both here.”
“I know,” I cried. “That’s why I am scared.”
Ryder knelt beside me. “Luna, look at me,” he said gently. “You gave birth to two boys. I held them in my arms.”
I shook my head. “That is what they wanted us to believe.”
Ethan’s face went pale. “Who wanted?”
The pain in my head slowly faded, but the fear stayed. I stood up slowly, still shaking.
“There was a ritual,” I said. “Someone took part of my child… or created another.”
The children whimpered behind me. I turned quickly.
“No, no,” I said softly, moving closer to them. “You are safe. Mama is here.”
“But Mama,” one of them asked, tears in his eyes. “Are we monsters?”
My heart broke.
“No,” I said firmly. “You are my children. Nothing will change that.”
I pulled them into my arms. I held them tight. I breathed in their scent. My babies. My heart. My life.
Ryder stood up slowly. His eyes moved between the children and Ethan.
“This changes everything,” he said.
Ethan let out a dry laugh. “So what are we then?” he asked. “Brothers? Enemies? Or lies?”
I looked at him. That pull in my chest returned. Stronger now. It tied me to him the same way it tied me to Ryder.
“I feel a bond,” I admitted. “To both of you.”
Ryder stiffened. “That’s not possible.”
“I don’t understand it,” I said. “But it’s there.”
Ethan stepped closer. “You feel it because it’s real.”
Ryder growled low. “Stay away from her.”
“I am not your enemy,” Ethan snapped. “Not today.”
The ground shook slightly under our feet. The air grew heavy.
I raised my hand. “Please. Stop.”
Both men froze.
They looked at me in shock.
I swallowed hard. “I don’t know how I did that,” I said.
“You are stronger than you know,” Ethan said quietly.
Ryder looked at me with worry. “Or someone made you strong for a reason.”
That sent a chill through me.
“Who would do this?” I asked. “Who would take my child?”
Silence.
Then Ethan spoke. “The Shadow Coven.”
My blood ran cold. I had heard that name before. In whispers. In nightmares.
“They deal in dark magic,” Ryder said. “They steal children with power.”
I hugged my children closer. “They will not touch them,” I said.
Ethan nodded. “They already did.”
I stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“You remember one child,” he said. “But I remember waking up alone in the forest. No mother. No pack.”
My heart ached. “You were alone?”
He nodded slowly. “Until they came for me.”
Ryder clenched his fists. “This is why you came back.”
“Yes,” Ethan said. “For the truth.”
I felt dizzy again. “Then what are you to them?” I asked.
Ethan’s eyes darkened. “A weapon.”
The children cried softly.
“No,” I whispered. “Not my child.”
Ryder stepped closer to me. “We will protect them,” he said. “All of them.”
Ethan hesitated, then nodded. “Together.”
I looked at both men. My heart was confused. Fear mixed with something else. Something warm. Something dangerous.
Love?
No. I pushed the thought away.
This was not the time.
I kissed my children’s heads. “Mama will never leave you,” I promised.
But deep inside, the memory echoed again.
“One child will live. The other will be claimed.”
My hands trembled.
If I only gave birth to one baby…
Then who is the second child?
- Writer
