Daughter of the moon

Chapter 3: GTFO

Alex

“Wake up, sleepy head,” Elric says as he lightly traces his fingers up my arm, leaving goosebumps, his lips kissing my shoulder. “Time to get up.”

“Noooo!” I pull the covers over my head attempting to hide from him, but he pulls the blanket off of me and presses closer into my back. I feel his morning erection on my ass and smile more, knowing full well what his intentions are.

“If you get up, we can shower together. Come on,” he says, giving me a gentle squeeze. “I'll race you.” He places another kiss on my shoulder, waiting for my response like child waiting to play. I purse my lips and squint my eyes, pretending to think about his request. “MMMmmmm... OKAY!” I quickly escape his grasp, hop out of the bed and bolt towards the bathroom door, all before he even has time to fumble and fall out of the bed himself.

“Hey!” Elric shouts as I shut the door on him. In that same instant, I hear an Elric sized thud on the other side. Even in his human form, he still doesn’t understand how to not skid across the ground. “I win,” I call to him while laughing and quickly strip down and get in the shower.

“Don’t be mad,” I say to him, teasingly. “Besides, you always hog the hot water.” He finally makes his way in, grumbling about how mean I was and that he hit his nose. “Ohhh, the poor puppy,” I reply to him, knowing that it’d get him more riled up. Moments later, I hear him get in behind me as I stand under the steamy hot water, soaking in its warmth. I hear a low growl coming from behind me and I can’t help smiling, knowing him and his wolf are probably going ballistic back there. I can’t wait. He’s going to do so many things to me.

I can already feel his presence creeping closer to me and my body begins to tremble in anticipation. Even in this small shower, it’s like he’s hunting me… Stalking his prey… And I just want to be caught. He hasn’t even touched me yet, and I already feel the goosebumps coming back. Suddenly, his hands reach my arms, sending tingles through my body. Even though I know it’s him, even though I feel it coming, when he gets like this, my body just can’t help feeling so submissive. My lips tremble as they start to form a smile. I feel his hands begin tracing from my shoulders down my back and stopping at my hips; he grips the tender area and pulls me, suddenly, bringing me back closer to him. Instinctively, I smirk. I know this game all too well. “Oh,” I say to him, in a condescending tone, “you're just trying to trick me into giving up the hot water. Fine.” I turn around, all too eager to start sucking this man’s d**k to completion, but I pretend I’m a lady for just a moment and go to kiss those pillow soft lips first. I wish I hadn’t… 

“Elric. What—Elric??” His face is sunken in and grey, covered in black veins. His mouth is hanging open, frozen in fear and horror, as black ooze-like blood spills from between his teeth and down his lips. I look into his eyes. Those horrible, disgusting eyes… What did they do to my Elric? His eyes are bloodshot with the same black ooze. Lifeless. Suddenly, I start to feel dizzy, and the world distorts, the only thing I can focus on is his face. Dead. Frozen. Horror. Nightmare. It’s a f*****g nightmare. WHY CAN’T I WAKE UP?! Why do I have to keep losing my husband? Why did you take him from me?! HE WAS MINE! ELRIC!!! 

It feels like my brain is splitting and I just start screaming. My now blood-stained hands are in my hair, pulling at the roots, attempting to rip hair from my scalp that won’t budge. In the chaos, I hear a voice… It’s his. Even though I’m part god, his voice always did manage to overpower mine when he wanted it to. The thought clears my mind enough for just one thing to get through:

“WAKE UP!”

I suddenly jerk and feel myself shoot up from the bed, covers already falling halfway onto the floor as I wake. I look over at the clock. 5 am. f**k. My heart is pounding so loudly in my chest, I can hear it and I’m shaking so bad, I can visibly see my arms and hands struggling to keep still. What the f**k was that? Elric…? Was that—? It felt so real. I swear, I was right there. He was here! 

After a good minute of getting my heart rate under control, I begrudgingly get out of bed and start getting dressed in clothes I can easily move around in. It's going to be a long day of moving. With Caleb threatening to take away Oliver and Lena, I have no time to cry or even process what happened. Our little discussion is still angering me.

Yesterday

“That was an amusing stunt you pulled,” Caleb sneered at me as we were walking away from the dissipating crowd. I looked down and noticed he’d grabbed me by the arm. I guess he really did want me to choose violence. I pulled my arm out of his grasp and stood there, glaring at him. 

“There was something you wanted to discuss,” I responded, flatly. At this point, I was beyond annoyed with him. We hadn't really been civil towards each other since we were teenagers. I guess going from “prodigy” to “wolfless,” then turning down nearly all of his advances really put a damper on things. 

“Yes,” he says with a slightly disgusted look, quickly switching back to his earlier feigned polite demeanor. “I’ve come to make you an offer.” I watched his expression carefully. He may have been a s**t leader, but when he had a plan, you can bet he would find a way to execute it… One way or another. “I decided,” he said with an unnecessary level of pride, “since Elric is gone and you will need more protection than ever… that you and the rest of your family can come and live with me at the pack house.”

I stared at him in amazement; the sheer, unrepentant, brass-laden balls of this man…! “Why would I move into the pack house when I have a house of my own?” At this point, I felt my anger eclipsing my ability to keep up my end of the charade and did what I could to restrain myself. “Tell me,” I continued, “why would I even think about moving into the pack house? Give me one good reason.”

His tone immediately changed to a more sinister one. And much quieter. But, more than that… he seemed happy. Like a trapper, who just found his mark, and only then did I realize it was me. He laid the bait and I fell for it. The self-deluded f**k… “Well,” he began and started walking around me, so unbelievably proud of himself, “you and Oliver aren't biologically related. And we all know how little Lena came into this world… Not to mention, their adoption papers are still on my father’s desk.” He continued to watch me, that evil grin so wide, it was almost painful to look at. “So, as a thank you for keeping our little secret, I’ll let you keep them, if you move in with me.”

“I legally adopted both Oliver and Lena,” I said, any pretense of keeping civil now gone from my voice. “Listen, I don't know what thought process fired across your brain to make you think you could come here, to MY HUSBAND’S FUNERAL, and intimidate me, but I seriously suggest you stop. Now.”

I'm really not in the mood for this, I thought to myself. He is supposed to be our Alpha. A leader. And right now, he is trying to blackmail me into being his little plaything. Once upon a time, I actually looked forward to seeing him. Now, all I want to do is grind his face into the cement until there’s nothing left but, of course, meaty paste. He tried to caress my arm and I pulled away, but he grabbed me again, firmly. I was waiting for this. 

“Damn it, Alex. You WILL listen to me, you f*****g slut. I am your ALPHA. Do you understand me? I am the leader of this pack,” he says viciously, staring into my eyes to drive home a message I’m all too eager to ignore. “That’s right. Me. Head wolf in charge, b***h,” he continued, “and as your Alpha, I will tell you how this s**t is going to work—say something to me right now. I dare you. Just one f*****g word. You know the rule with humans in my territory: No Wolf, No Voice. Say something. PLEASE.” He looks at me, his anger and frustration getting the better of him. I can tell he would love nothing more than to tear the clothes off of me in front of the pack to make a demonstration of me, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction. I allow him to continue, uninterrupted. “You are going to move into the pack house. You are going to be with me. You will mate with me, and you will produce me an heir… Or I will make you watch as I burn down that house of yours, along with everything you ever loved and f**k you in the ashes.”

I felt myself starting to lose control as everything in me started to heighten. I felt the pull from the sources of my power, ready to end his pathetic excuse of a wasted existence. It would be so easy… Barely a whisper could do it, but I want to savor it. He’s earned that much. 

That's when I smelled it. Alcohol. The i***t was drunk. Of course… I rolled my eyes at him and tried to turn away, wanting to avoid any form of confrontation, right then. My abilities were becoming harder and harder to control, although some of them have been suppressed by my grief. With everything happening at this point, I don't know how well I can keep myself from losing control.

He felt me attempt to move away and gripped me harder, then spun me around so I was facing him. Seemingly from nowhere, I felt a sharp pain on the side of my cheek. I was in such a state from it all, I didn’t have time to register that he’d slapped me. He stood there, all rage, pent up aggression, and an ego fit for a cartoon villain with nowhere to exert it except in the face of a woman who could end everything in an instant. He’ll learn. 

“Then I’ll exile you from the pack!” Desperation. Nothing hotter in a man than the stench of running out of options in the face of everything you’ve ever wanted. “I will force you out and Oliver and Lena will stay here,” he continued. “You will never see them again and I will make sure they know how much you didn't wa—aaa! GGaaaa!” I’d lost it. I had him by his throat with one hand, choking him. It would be so easy… The thought came back. Just say the words, whisper them into his ear like a secret wish… Then blow him away like a candle in the wind. You can end it… I fought to regain control of my thoughts. I’m not going to disrespect my husband like this. Not at his funeral. Not today… I. Will. Not.

I dropped Caleb to the ground. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was fuming. I could feel his anger, and see it in his eyes, barely tearing up, but wildly furious; it was like we were fourteen all over again. He’d lost me yet again and just like then, he couldn’t accept it. He wouldn’t. Not until I was on my knees in front of him, worshipping him. He was half a wolf, and one whole coward with a god complex and the audacity to match. He stood on his feet and immediately rushed at me swinging his fists like he was untrained, wild. He was always a bad fighter when he was angry. And since he’s drunk, it’s made even more evident. His punches were easy enough to avoid, but I was in no mood. This needed to stop, before I actually gave in and erased this man. I ducked both of his punches, then wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and slammed my knee into his torso. He let out a yelp, then I gripped him by the scruff of his neck, and in one swift motion, lifted him off his feet then slammed him onto the ground, holding him there. 

It was shortly after that Cedric finally showed up. I was tempted to kill Caleb right then, but I remembered his father. Alpha Travis. One of the kindest men I had ever come to know. He brought me my husband. I knew that Caleb wouldn't try anything else with an audience, so after a few very choice words, I let him go. He wouldn’t be that lucky a second time.

Present

I begrudgingly get out of bed to get dressed, forgoing a shower after that horrible nightmare. I pulled my long, overly curly hair into a ponytail, with the last two hair ties I had. “Mom, please help these hair ties keep my hair up all day…,” I pray aloud, mindlessly. I know she can’t control these things’ f*****g elasticity, but a prayer’s a prayer. I chuckle to myself as I finish securing my hair and wait a moment just to see if the hair ties suddenly start glowing or feel like they change into some kind of super strong material. I only feel my head starting to hurt because I wrapped my hair up too tight. f*****g things… I being cursing myself, upset because I didn’t purchase more when I had a chance a few days ago. 

After a moment of procrastination, I ready myself to begin working. I notice the house is a little cold, since it’s so early in the morning and I begin rubbing my hands to warm myself a little before heading into the hall to nab some vacuum seal bags. I sneak out as quietly as possible, careful to not wake my children, especially the girls. Like Elric, Ollie sleeps like a rock. I’m pretty sure he’d sleep through an avalanche if we’d have let him. That boy. However, the girls, like their mother wake easily and love their sleep. I know how cranky I am when I’m awakened before I’m ready, and that was somehow amplified in Lena and her sister, Maya. It’s either all screams or all apathy and I didn’t have the patience to roll those dice today.

I start with my clothes, packing away dresses, shirts, even those shorts Elric loved so much. I smile at the memory and continue working, bagging up all of my clothes, before starting with his things. In case Caleb decides to come back and make a scene, forcing us to leave faster than we’d planned, I don't want to waste time with things I don't physically need.  I was smart enough to already have emergency packs prepped for the children in case of any attacks from rogues. I had just finished restocking them with fresh clothes that fit them all for our current weather just before Elric died.

As I continued working, I noticed my mother's presence outside the house. I love how she still, after all this time, watches over me. At least now she occasionally makes her presence near me known. I make my way over to my bedroom window and look towards the ground. Off at the edge of the property I see her, sitting on a rock that doubles as a surprisingly comfortable seat. I’ll probably miss that thing more than a lot of our outside furniture. She looks at me and nods for me to return to what I was doing. I smile at her then head back to my closet, knowing she will give me all the time I need to get everything together so we can leave safely. I start taking all of my clothes out of the closet and drawers. About an hour later I have all the dirty clothes and bedding in the corner of the room, the mattress and box board leaning against the wall, and the bed frame disassembled. All of our furniture is lined up as well and I even managed to get Elric’s things in the bedroom. 

I hear a small knock at the door and turn to look and see Oliver peeking his head in. He looked around the room, shocked at how fast it had changed.

“How long have you been up…?” He asked me this with a look of shock and amazement on his face I haven’t seen since the day I told him I had powers.

I motioned for him to come in and shut the door, then answer his question. “About 5… I couldn’t go back to sleep.” His mouth drops at my answer, then he composes himself and continues looking around the room. 

“What about you,” I ask him. “How long have you been up?” I look him over, finally and notice he’s in his combat gear, then get a little worried. “You're not planning on going to train this morning, are you?”

He shakes his head and responds, “about a half hour. I already have most of my room separated for the boxes.” He pauses a moment then looks down at his outfit. “I’m not training, today. I know we’re about to leave the pack and I wanted something easy to move around in… In case Alpha Cal—” “NO,” I interrupt him, and he looks at me quietly, as I continue, visibly upset. “Don't ever call him ‘Alpha’ again. Are we clear…? That man disrespected not only your father, but me as well.” He nods, carefully, and after a moment I gather myself enough to form an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just Caleb… he’s not a good man. Not a good leader. Not like your father… and definitely not like you.” I laugh a little and ruffle Oliver’s hair, then tickle him a little, to hear that precious little giggle he does. Just like I planned, he giggles his little high-pitched laugh and I kiss him on the forehead, then stop, almost forgetting about the girls sleeping. We quiet ourselves then I motion towards the window and tell him some news I knew he’d love to hear. “Your grandmother is outside protecting us.” At that, his eyes light up and he rushes quietly to my window to catch a glimpse of her. He waves at her excitedly. After a few minutes he comes back all smiles, but with an obvious question burning inside him. “Why doesn't she ever come inside?”

“Oh, she does,” I reply. “You just don't always see her.” 

“Well… then, why can I see her now?” 

“Because…” I pause at his question, then take a moment to truly open up to him for a moment. I let out a small exhale then continue. “Because we both needed it. She wanted to let us all know, especially me, that she is here protecting us, and you needed to see that you were being protected.” With that, his face softens and it, in turn, makes me smile. He looks so much like his father… “Now, let's go make sure your room is settled. After that, I'll start making breakfast burritos for everyone.” I wink at him and his face lights up like a beacon.

“YES!” He jumps up, excited at the thought of my breakfast burritos and quickly makes his way to his bedroom as I follow closely behind him. He looks back and asks, “should we wake up Maya and Lena, too?”

“Rule Number 32: Enjoy the Little Things…” Such a stupid movie, but Elric loved it to pieces and would quote that specific line almost any time he could. For him, it was the little things that made him the happiest. The thought brings a sad smile to my face, but I quickly compose myself. Had to be strong for our children.

“No,” I finally respond. “Let them sleep. I don’t want them being cranky all morning while we pack. Come on. I’ll help you get your clothes packed into these bags. We can vacuum them when everyone is awake.” By the time 6:30 rolled around, we had Oliver's room organized and disassembled just like my room.

As we look over his room and we both accept and silently celebrate our victory, we both head downstairs to the kitchen, only to find that Zuri was in the living room taping up boxes while Cedric was filling them with things from the entertainment center, wrapping our photos in bubble wrap. How he resists the urge to pop them is beyond me. Our sectional couch and our recliner are also missing from the room. Zuri looks up from her tasks and smiles at me. I love how warm it always is. She gets up and makes her way to me bringing me into a tight hug. She smells like lavender. It's always so calming. I've loved her hugs since the first day I met her, going to Red Lake with Elric when I was seven. Cedric was always visiting us here at Teine so when he asked our parents if we could go visit his lands for a few weeks, they said yes.

She noticed mine and Oliver’s expressions and explained themselves. “We woke up early. We didn't want Caleb to come by at some point and revoke our invitation to stay here on his land today and wanted at least some of your things packed.”  She smiled happily knowing that she was able to take care of me.

I take a moment to consider her words. I forgot Caleb has the right to revoke his invitation. They would both have to immediately leave if he did that. Meaning we would either have to leave with them then and possibly have to put up a fight or be stuck here. I shake the thought from my head. 

“We had one of the moving trucks brought here at about 5 this morning. We have about one hundred empty boxes we can use. I don't think we will need them all, but I just wanted to be safe. I already snuck into Lena's and Maya's room and started washing their dirty laundry. I didn't think you'd like their dirty clothes accidentally getting mixed up with the clean ones.” Zuri cracks another smile and goes back to working.

The front door suddenly opens, and two men came in, one of them significantly taller and bigger than the other, who I recognized as Cedric's beta, Staton. The other one introduced himself as William. 

“Hey,” William begins loudly, “so what else do you want out in the truck-” “SSSSHHHHH!” Every one of us in the living room quietly shush the man as forcefully as possible, knowing what could potentially happen with the girls. We pause a moment, listening closely to see if the young ones have woken up. After a few minutes of silence Beta Staton grabs William by the ear telling him if he wakes up Lena and Maya, he would be running warrior drills from dusk till dawn when we make it to Red Lake. 

While Zuri instructs the men on what furniture has been cleared to go ahead and make it to the moving truck, I look around and notice that Oliver has wandered off somewhere without me noticing and his father's office door is wide open. I find him already packing up his father’s things, determined to get as much of it packed before we leave. 

“You know we may not be able to take everything right?” I look at him intently, noticing his expressions but waiting to see if it settles in. “We need to have as many things as possible packed before Caleb decides to come.”

“I know,” he says slightly disappointed, “but we are already doing well on time and it's not even 8 am yet. I just want to make sure I get the important things. You know?" 

I make my way over and kiss the top of his head. "Well, only spend about thirty more minutes here. If you get the desk, shelf, and cabinets cleared, let Staton and William move it to the truck, okay? The other truck should be arriving at about 9 am. I'll empty the safe before we leave so go and get the travel safes we have out of the garage."

With that I went to start making breakfast for everyone so we could have food in our system and wouldn't have to throw any more unused food away. There is no way I would be taking anything from the fridge with me. I fried us some chicken, scrambled eggs and made hash browns, sausage, bacon, and some ham. There were a lot of us, and I expected the movers to be hungry as well. When I finished, I set the table and made my mother a plate, but when I walked out to her favorite rock she was already gone. The sun had risen, and she could no longer offer me protection.  She however did leave a note. 

“Thank you,” it said. I smiled and went back in the house, plate still in hand. 

By 9 am we had the large moving truck filled completely full with everything we could besides the kitchen and laundry room on the first floor. Zuri and Caleb went upstairs to coax Lena and Maya out of bed and grab their bedding for the wash. Ten minutes later, a very excited Lena came jumping down the stairs, when she had her first look around the room her eyes went wide. “WHAT HAPPENED!” she exclaimed.

I sat her down and explained to her that we were going to be leaving and staying with Zuri and Cedric. I didn't even get the full sentence out and she was already excited about moving. “I'm gonna go get my stuff animals!” She screamed and tried bolting for the stairs only for me to grab her up and attack her belly with raspberries. 

“Eat first,” I tell her. “Stuffies later.” I pick her up off her feet then place her in her chair, scooting her closer to the table. “OH YEAH! BREAKFAST BURRITOS! MY FAVORITE!” She begins bouncing in her chair with all the excitement she can muster. “TODAY IS ALREADY AWESOME!” With that, she starts stuffing her face with the burrito I had already made for my mother, not caring what was in it. 

I went out the front door and called in William, Staton, and the other movers, from the second moving truck, noticing the first one had already left. “I wanted the first one to already be heading that way before we moved out,” Staton commented. “It’s early out and almost everyone was out late last night for the funeral, so not many people are going to be seeing us this early in the morning.” I smile at his thinking and tell him to get inside before his food gets cold. Zuri and Cedric finally make their way down to the table arguing who got to hold little Maya and help her with breakfast.

I begin shaking my head at the two of them, knowing when it comes to the kids, they really are hopeless sometimes. When we finish, Cedric helps Zuri clean up the rest of the dishes we ate off and dry the ones I had already cleaned as I was cooking. Oliver and I show the guys to our rooms so that they can get started on taking down the furniture out to the truck. Oliver starts vacuuming our seal bags and putting what we've organized into boxes. I head to Lena's room, and I start filling boxes with compressed clothes and as many toys that would fit, Lena right behind me making sure that I get every last important thing. “Do you want to set some toys aside to play on the car ride there,” I ask her. “Maybe go make sure your tablet has movies downloaded on it to watch?” Lena's eyes went wide with surprise and fear as she started remembering the long car ride and how bored she could easily become and bolted to the door to ask her brother where her device was.