CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
ROXANNE
If this was death, I didn't want to be restored. Rather, I should have been dead a long time ago.
I was at Lunar Peak. I didn't remember how I got there and everything seemed strange yet familiar. I was healthy again and my skin was robust and my red hair was plaited back. I wore a beautiful and shiny white strapless dress, the skirt was made of peacock feathers. The whole scene was serene and the air charged with vibrant energy and power.
The whole of Lunar Peak was lively and harmonious. Children picked flowers, women wove baskets and men fished.
When did I miss this?
I walked among them but no one spared me a glance. They were engrossed in lively chatter and were just doing their thing.
As I observed their happy faces it was then it occurred to me that I was the only redhead among them. Now it made sense.
They weren't complete.
This was a gathering of the white moon and blue Moon packs — Red Moon had not been invited. This felt like a celebration I was unworthy to attend.
I walked towards the healing stream, its water was known to cleanse and renew. Usually I was never allowed near this place because they deemed me unclean. But today, no one seemed to care. Everyone was too busy in their revelry and I wanted everyday to be like this.
I dipped my hands into the water and drank, a refreshing feeling settling upon me. I saw my brother at the other end of the stream with Chloe and a little bump had started showing on her stomach. He planted kisses on her faces and they looked happy as ever.
Time had really gone by and a wave of nostalgia washed through me. I wished I could partake in it all but I was better off by keeping my distance.
As I stood by the stream, a figure brushed past me roughly, causing me to stumble. I turned to see who it was but they hurried away. All I could see was their flowing vintage dress and long white hair.
“You should be more careful next time,” they whispered but didn't turn back to face me.
You were the one who hit me bitch! You should watch your back.
“I'm sorry,” I whispered in return, but they were already gone.
As I continued with my journey, I sensed something was off. The pack's attention shifted to me and they began to stare at me weirdly. I felt exposed and I peeked down at myself.
Was I dirty? Was I wearing horrible clothing? Did I look shitty? Did I have the head of a squirrel?
Suddenly screams echoed around the area and people scattered, running in fear, while others fell dead. But as they ran they kept looking at me and watching their backs.
What was going on?
I followed their gaze to see what was causing the panic and to my surprise, it was the girl that had brushed past me a while ago that was wreaking havoc on the crowd. All I could still make out was her back but underneath her white hair, I saw a handful of red.
Was she an angry red moon that was pissed they weren't invited? The girl kept hurting people with a skill I hadn't seen anyone possess. How was one girl bringing down a whole army? Anger surged within me when I realised she was targeting the blue moon pack.
Why wasn't anyone doing anything to stop her?
Fueled by determination, I began running after her. As if sensing my presence, the girl began running faster and it was difficult for me to keep up the pace. I stumbled many times due to the intensity of the chase but soon the girl stopped, making it easier for me to catch up.
I stopped to catch my breaths. “Who are you?” I demanded, confronting the girl.
The girl kept her back to me, refusing to respond.
Frustrated, I reached for her hair and pulled the white wig off. A mass of wild red hair revealed itself — exactly like mine.
Try a better disguise next time, girl.
“Reveal yourself to me!” I demanded again.
“Why?” She countered bitterly. “When you're the one causing all of these.”
What? Was she nuts?
“That's not true!” I protested, feeling my heart race.
The girl finally turned around and to my horror I was met with a reflection of myself, only this version was filled with rage and her blue eyes were blazing.
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head, refusing to believe it.
Someone was messing with my head.
I looked back at the people. Was I the one hurting them? This was all my fault? This was happening because of me?
I turned back to the girl, who was me. “What are you? Why are you doing this?”
She began laughing bitterly. Those sorts of laughs that made the hair on your neck stand. She locked eyes with me as she began levitating. “I am you.”
Wake me up. I wanna go back.
“I said, who are you?” I demanded, struggling to grasp the reality of the situation.
Sand swirled around her like a tornado. I lifted my hands to shield my eyes and the only thing I could see through the sand were the glowing blue eyes.
“When it's time, you shall know my name, When it's time, you shall know who I am.”
***
I thought I may have died and found myself standing beside the moon goddess as she whispered words of comfort in my ears.
Or so, I hoped, but the sound of the voices pierced the silence. At first, they were gentle, like a lullaby. But soon they became urgent.
Not the familiar screaming noises in my head but voices talking about me as if I wasn't right there, as if I couldn't hear them. Was it worry, fear or excitement? Whatever it was, I couldn't tell.
It's not yet time to go. Wake up!
Involuntarily my eyes opened as though life had been restored again. Pain suddenly exploded through my body, sharp and unrelenting.
Wolfsbane.
These fuckers were really keen on making me suffer slowly till death.
It was as though my fresh wounds were being coated with it, and the agony was unbearable. All I wanted was to drink my tears, to drown in them and escape this torment.
Two pairs of eyes came into view, causing me to scream out in fright but my screams were quickly muffled when a hand clamped down on my mouth.
“If she bites me, I swear I'll murder you and strip you of your title, Alpha,” a girl hissed, her voice tinged with panic.
“Be calm, we're not even performing exorcism,” I heard Ryker say.
The taste of the girl's hand in my mouth was foul, like decay. I recoiled inwardly but I couldn't move. The scent of her skin was enough to imagine the taste of a rotting corpse.
Ryker’s stoic face came into view as he loomed over me. I hated that perfect jawline of his and I wished I could muster the strength to destroy it.
“How are you feeling?” He asked, his voice cold and detached.
I shrugged, refusing to answer.
How did he think I was going to feel? Satisfied or grateful?
The other girl wouldn't stop talking and I wished I had the authority to tell her to shut the fuck up. She wasn't someone I recognised and seeing how comfortable she was with the Alpha, there was definitely some sort of relationship between them.
“Is she going to get well?” The woman asked.
“No,” Ryker said, his eyes never leaving mine.
“You're not even the physician,” the person protested.
I gulped and turned my head to the side. That was the only thing I could move and my eyes. The rest hurt like an unfulfilled promise.
I tried to ponder on what had happened before I woke up but I could barely recall the events. The only words that kept ringing in my head was ‘when it's time you shall know my name. When it's time you shall know who I am.’
I couldn't make sense of it and I couldn’t overthink it either. All I kept feeling was this stinging pain in my head.
“She's pretty— different from the last time I saw her,”
Their conversation was like a buzzing in my head, distracting me from the waves of pain. I wanted them to leave me in peace, but there was no escape from their scrutiny.
***
RYKER
“She's the weakest in her lineage. She has never been powerful. She failed at every training and was never liked either. Her brother always treated her like a servant rather than family. She was made to scrub and cook. Whenever she disobeyed the Alpha or his mate, they locked her up and starved her of food. She was never given freedom of speech and would get beat up if she made a mistake,” Miles went on and on as he read from his journal.
I clasped my hands together on my desk, “Has she killed anyone?”
“In their opinion, she could never hurt a fly.”
I shook my head, “This can't be real.”
“I want to believe so myself,” Miles said, “That was all I could get, Alpha.”
I tried to understand why she was mistreated for an Alpha’s daughter, but I couldn't get an answer. Now I knew why she was always scared to speak. She had been traumatised by her pack members way too much.
Now that I knew, that was something I needed to change.