Defiant Sunshine

The Awakening

The moment she mentioned Alia still in bed, resting. Elena threw in a barrage of questions like a concerned first-time parent.

“What? Is she alright? Didn’t she sleep well? Is she sick? Does she have a fever we ought to know about? Did you inform the pack doctor?” Afraid that the Luna would worry for nothing, Tamia quickly cleared out the air.

“No, she’s fine, luna. She just needs a little more rest, that’s all. She won’t be having breakfast with you today.”

“Oh…Okay. You may be excused.” Elena stood up, ready to head upstairs to go check on Alia. She was worried sick that the poor girl might just have been bullied by her eldest son again this morning. Alec caught her wrist, knowing where she was heading.

“Let the girl sleep a little. She might just have been too tired. Sit down and finish your food first. We’ll go check on her if she’s not up within 2 hours. I promise,” he gently coaxed his wife.

Looking towards the top of the stairs,

“2 hours?” her skepticism was evident as she hesitantly took her seat.

“Yes darling, just 2 hours” Elena allowed her husband Alec to feed her while she kept stealing glances up the stairs.

________

Sometimes waking up late has its advantages and other times…not quite.

After being dragged by Elena off the bed, Alia had to freshen her tired self up in order to go have afternoon tea with her. Sitting in the middle of the peaceful garden was a beautiful green and huge oak tree. It’s a perfect blend of majesty and coziness. The wide, spreading canopy provided plenty of shade for them to relax under, and the gnarled trunk added a sense of age and history to it. Plus, the leaves usually turned a beautiful golden color in the fall, which was perfect for the pack’s temperamental climate.

Elena was staring at the grumpy Alia with a small smile on her gracefully aging face. Elegantly taking a sip from her teacup, she cleared her throat to catch Alia’s attention.

“Made any new friends?” she eyed her calmly. Elena saw her good friend Gennie in Alia’s every reaction and action. The only difference was her beautiful and petite appearance. Ginnie was a beauty, no doubt, but Alia was literally more beautiful than her mother. Her Auburn hair added to her beauty, lighting up her already delicately pearly skin. Her friend had muddy brown hair with tanned skin.

Elena was contemplating whether Alia took his father’s hair and skin or someone in her family line had such beautiful features. Alia looked pretty with every expression on her face made that it saddened Elena she wasn’t her daughter-in-law. She was cunningly smart too, like a fox. Alia was the ideal daughter-in-law Elena wanted. Smart, resolute, respectful, strong and beautiful. She ticked all the daughter-in-law boxes in Elena’s mind.

Frowning, Alia sank into the chair a little, looking at the warriors training on a different field than the one at the entrance. This field was placed at the far back of the pack house for reasons unknown to Alia. Maybe it was more advanced and was for warriors already serving the frontline at the pack borders. Or maybe it was for older and stronger warriors who could take hard-core training. She wondered which reason would it be, suspecting the latter?

“No…” she stirred her tea a little before taking a relaxed sip as a sigh escaped her mouth right after.

“Fair enough. It hasn’t been 24 hours yet. You’ll settle in well. Soon.” Her cup hovered below her lips before taking a quick sip, placing the cup back onto the table as quickly yet flawlessly as she had drank her tea. By this time Alia was no longer listening to Elena, she was staring at someone’s back who stood a couple of metres from them. It was Brandon. Alia had never seen him in training, nor had she seen him involved in their previous pack much. Looking at his toned back that rippled through the black tight t-shirt he was wearing, Alia couldn’t help but feel her body slowly heat up.

She watched as he moved his arms, barking out instructions with a stone cold face to the trainees, which she heard none. She watched him flex his biceps on the sides of the training field as his sweaty tanned skin glistened under the sun. Her throat went to try while her stomach made an unusual flip.

Suddenly, he turned, locking his eyes with hers. Alia could feel his stare boring into her soul as the heat in her body intensified.

Threateningly spreading through her body like a wild, sinful fire. His gaze was…. different. His usually cold and glaring eyes had turned dark, yearningly devouring Alia entirely. Like a meal he had never had, yet he’d been craving all his life. The world seized to exist as they got lost in the electrifying chemistry. It surged between them, sending shards of sparks in the air.

“Alia...” A distant voice sounded, yet she was still stuck staring at Brandon.

“Alia!” hearing the voice more clearly now, Alia snapped out of her trance followed by a small gasp coming out of her already parted lips. Her head snapped to the side, only to see Elena’s frowning face. She looked a little worried, like her mother used to look. Clearing her throat, Alia looked at Elena for a while.

“Uh…what was it you were saying, luna?” Alia asked awkwardly, knowing pretty well that she wasn’t paying the slightest attention to this entire time.

“You okay?” Elena c****d her head to the side with a knowing looking fleeting look through the moment, before turning into a soft yet unreadable look.

Sneakily looking back at the field, Brandon was already gone from sight.

Leaving Alia with a pang of disappointment. Shifting her gaze towards Elena, she found Elena already looking at her like a worried mother would. Of course, all of Alia’s actions didn’t go unnoticed by her. She sat there wondering how long would it take for Alia to figure it all out? How long would it take for her to put each and every piece together? Will it be worth it or will she regret it all?

“I’m fine” Alia gave her a small yet forced smile before taking a sip of her tea. She stole glances at Elena, wondering if she had noticed her forced smile. Or perhaps she chose to ignore it.

What Alia didn’t know was that Elena was already lost in her own thoughts. She vaguely responded with a distant hum as she stared at her tea while she slowly stirred it.

Silence befell them as Alia drifted into her own thoughts about all that has happened in such a short amount of time. When suddenly the wind picked up a little and she hears a faint whisper.

Alia looked around but found nothing strange in particular. She was about to lean her head back a bit when she heard it again, the whisper. But this time it was more audible than the last time. She scanned her surroundings one more time, but found nothing. Thinking that she might still be tired, Alia decided to go take a little rest.

“Luna Elena, may I please be excused?” she respected the luna too much to just up and leave without informing her. To her, leaders as good and caring to their people deserve much more respect than what they’re served, and she intended to do just that.

Furrowing her brows, Elena leaned a little forward with worry written all over her face. “What’s wrong sweetie? Do you feel unwell?” she prepared herself to check if Alia was alright when Alia raised her hand up respectfully.

“I’m fine, just feel a little tired, luna.” She gave Elena a small smile, hoping to reassure her that she was fine. Sitting back down, Elena requested Alia be escorted to her room just encase. She was too worried about her abnormal behaviour, thinking that her goddaughter might not be feeling too well. She didn’t want to take any chances with Alia. She was special to her. She was all she had left of her very good friend. For the short amount of time Alia had been there, she had already crept into Elena’s heart, securing a large enough place in Elena’s heart for herself without knowing it. She had won herself a daughter, and she didn’t want to lose her.

Never.

Halfway to the pack house garden doors, Alia stopped abruptly, hearing an ear-piercing scream that messed with her hearing. She crouched and covered her ears as hard as possible. She was trying to keep the piercing scream from causing her any more pain than she already felt in her ears at that moment.

But even with her hands covering her ears. Alia could still hear the painful scream, as clear as ever. It sounded much like she hadn’t protected her ears at all. Her ears were painfully ringing, like they would burst at any second.

Starting to feel dizzy, Alia opened her eyes and looked up. Straight ahead, there they stood. Four blurry silhouettes floating a metre above the ground. They stood right in the edge of the forest, looking at her with their scotching, fiery eyes. Looking around, everything was an intense blur but they… they were as clear as the piercing scream that was tormenting her, painfully. They looked more like possessed smoky skeletons, with dark smoke covering them up like clothing on a human body. Alia could somehow see through them when the smoke fluttered, moving around like a whirlwind, trying to cover as much as possible.

The scariest part was when she felt some sort of familiarity towards the three smoky beings. Alia stared at them through the pain as tears silently streamed down her cheeks. Her forehead veins could be seen as she struggled to contain the severe pain she was feeling. She couldn’t take the excruciating pain no more.

“Please!... make…it…stop!” Alia pleaded through gritted teeth, feeling the pain pull her in and out of conscious. As if they heard her pleas, Alia suddenly felt a burning sensation right in the pit of her stomach. It felt like she was burning from within, with nothing to extinguish the painful flesh-eating-fire she was experiencing. The powerful sensation rose to her chest, quickly spreading inside her to the rest of her body, like acid eating at her flesh, giving her no chance to heal. As quickly as it spread, it constricted twice as fast.

Causing Alia’s eyes to roll back in as if she were out of conscious for a few seconds. Her chest glowed a seemingly familiar colour — blue! Just as Alia looked like she had passed out. She opened her eyes with a heart wrecking scream. Her eyes had turned a shade of blue, like the time she had found Brandon dead, saving his life in the process.

The bright blue light from her chest instantly shot right up into the sky, as her screams echoed throughout the pack. It sent a rumble through the earth, reaching several small packs close to the Blood Ville pack.

Awakening an existing chaos!