A TWISTED FATE FOR THE CURSED LUNA

~ELENA~

I paced around my vast living room anxiously, as my eyes drifted from my phone to the wall clock that hung on the wall.

It was exactly 2:45 am and my husband, Derek, was yet to arrive home. His phone switched off, making it impossible to know his whereabouts.

I can't recall how many times I've called his best friend Sabastine and asked about his whereabouts and he gave me the same response of "I haven't seen him Elena," but I dialed his number again.

His line rang out, but it diverted to voicemail and I hissed, throwing my phone to the sofa provocatively.

I buried my fingers in my hair, frustrated and out of ideas about what to do and how to find Derek.

It is so unlike him to not be home by this time of day, if anything came up he would have called and informed me.

His secretary wasn't picking up my calls, which added to my frustration.

Or should I inform the police about his disappearance? A thought popped up in my head and I quickly reached my phone to dial 911, cursing myself for not doing that ever since, but my intention was interrupted by an incoming call from an unknown number.

I stared at the caller for a while, scared and confused about if I should take the call or not.

What if Derek has been kidnapped and the kidnappers are calling for ransom? My subconscious screamed as I felt a lump stuck in my throat.

What is money I can't pay if my husband's life is in danger, I thought and shoved the negative idea away before sliding my phone to answer.

"Hello," a female voice mixed with anxiety and hurry sounded as soon as the call connected and I swallowed hard.

For some unknown reason, I was practically fidgeting and scared, but I responded with a "Hi"

"Please am I speaking with Mrs Elena Mac-Odell's?" The caller said, her tone more serious and strict this time around.

"Yes you are, please who are you and why are you calling me?" I asked. My patience was wearing off and my voice was barely above a whisper.

"I'm a nurse from Amanda special hospital, Ma'am. Your husband got involved in a fatal accident and your presence is needed at the hospital, immediately" The lady announced, and I froze for a moment, but I quickly regained myself when I kept on hearing her voice from the phone.

"Uhmm, yeah.... I will be there at one" I stuttered after I wiped the tear that successfully ran through my cheek.

I quickly grabbed my car keys, slid my legs into my slippers, which didn't matter to me if I wore them correctly, as I stormed out of my house with my dog (Suki) barking to accompany me, but I ignored her and pressed on the accelerator and zoomed out of the parking lot.

"Oh moon goddess, please save my husband," I muttered as I kept on accelerating at a rapid speed. It was late, so there weren't many cars on the highway.

The continuous ringing of my phone grabbed my attention and I quickly tucked it out of my back pocket whilst controlling the wheels.

I saw it was the same number from earlier and I answered the call.

"Hello Mrs Elena..." the caller from earlier said to me and paused in her speech.

"Yes, what is it? Talk to me!" I shouted at the caller when I noticed she was hesitant to say what she wanted to say.

"Ma, your husband has just been confirmed dead," she muttered, and my ability to think came to an abrupt halt.

"What!" I screamed as I tried to control my tears, my heart rate and also the car wheels at the same time.

I was still trying to process what I had just heard when I noticed a bright beam of light ahead of me as I used my hands to block off the lights, peering into my eyes.

My heart almost jumped out of my chest when I lowered my hands and saw a jeep charging towards me but before I could do anything, the unexpected occurred.

"Elena"

"Elena"

"Is she dead?"

I heard the echoes of my name, but my eyelids fluttered open weakly as soon as the last statement filtered into my ears.

It was too dark to make out anything but a familiar scent hit my nose instantly as I tried to stand, but I was pinned back by an unknown force.

My head was banging as if it would explode as I tried to make out about what happened minutes ago, then it dawned on me and my eyes enlarged-I got hit by a car and got into an accident.

"There you are," a voice said, accompanied by the rustling of leaves and several other movements, then a bright light illuminated a certain area beside where my car landed.

" Please help me," I muttered, to whoever owned the voice, but then it clicked, and I remembered who the voice belonged to.

It belonged to Derek, my husband. But how is he alive? I asked no one in particular. No, that can't be possible. I guess I'm the one dead cus' how the hell am I hearing a dead person's voice?.

I lifted my eyelids and stretched my eyes out of the shattered car window, and there he was in flesh and in body.

My eyeballs enlarged as if they would actually pop out of their sockets when the light, which I didn't know where it came from, assisted in making his face visible to me in the dark woods where my car crashed into a tree.

"Hello, wife." He said with a smirk dancing around his face.

"How are you not dead?" I muttered, and a painful cough followed my words and I spat out a mouthful of blood. My head was banging as if I was present at a band conference.

"I know you must think I had an accident and must be dead now. Well, look who had an accident herself and will be dead in a few minutes," he snickered, and a voice I would always remember even in my next life laughed out loud and appeared in front of me. It was none other than Jacob-my stepbrother.

A being who wouldn't seize any opportunity, as long as it involved making me suffer. But how come he is here with Derek? My mind spurned with various questions that demanded an answer.

"Surprise, almighty Elena", he muttered and clapped his hands in a mocking manner. I shuddered in response to his loud voice and fear gripping me when I saw his venomous eyes as i struggled to get out of the car, but I couldn't no matter how hard I tried.

He leaned closer into the car through the shattered glasses and grabbed my neck.

"You were too stubborn, Elena. Very stubborn. If only you had quietly given up the assets which grandfather transferred to you in his will when I told you to, just maybe you wouldn't have made me go through the stress of bribing Derek to marry you, and also you wouldn't be suffering this fate today." Jacob said gruffly to me. Each drop of his statement felt like adding salt to a wound. It felt like I was stung by bees as I struggled to break free from his tight grip on my neck. He was literally choking me to death and I saw thousands of colors appear in my sight.

"You don't have to stain your hands with her dirty blood, son." Monica, my stepmother's voice sounded out of the blue, and she pulled Jacob's hands away from my neck.

I let out a loud cough after Jacob withdrew his hands as I tried to recover from my near-death experience. My whole body felt excruciating pain, and I was bleeding uncontrollably on my head and abdomen.

My eyes trailed from Derek to Jacob and then to Monica, as I felt a hot trial of fresh tears run down to my chin partaking in my mystery.

I couldn't bring myself to believe that I didn't mean anything to Derek, my childhood crush turned lover, who I loved and cared for with everything in me.

And also the fact that our marriage of 1 year was nothing but a complete facade planned by my step-family, who I thought I had outrun and finally settled for a happy life, made my heart bleed.

Why?

All because I didn't agree to give up my assets which I inherited from my late grandfather (Mac Odell's).

My name is Elena Mac-Odell, and I'm a werewolf, an identity which I've kept hidden for years because of my late mother.

My mother was a werewolf named Mirabel who got married to a human being after she left her pack for reasons she didn't tell me about before she left the surface of the earth.

I've been living as a human in New Orleans for as long as I can remember. Undetected by other werewolves thanks to my scent-blocker which was given to me by my mother. Unknown to my husband and my best friend, Charlotte, I'm a werewolf like them, and they don't know that I'm aware of what they are.

Thinking about it now, It's so funny to know that my step-family trusted Derek and saw him like a human being like them-Scumbags.

"Come here Charlotte. Come say hi to your best friend so that she doesn't get angry at you in future life," Derek's statement pulled me back to reality. I saw him wave his hands and I watched him with hope that he was joking.

Soon Charlotte appeared out of the dark into the small place that was illuminated with their torch, and my breath hitched.

I could now see Charlotte in flesh and blood as she moved closer to Derek and wrapped her left hand around his waist before placing her head on his broad shoulder. The same shoulder which I rested on every night, and also the shoulder which I saw as my safest place to rest and drift off to sleep each time I came back home tired.

Just the sight of Charlotte with Derek made me want to puke, and I vomited thick red blood instead. My mind lingered back, and I remembered the voice that made me regain consciousness.

"Is she dead?" Damn, it was Charlotte's voice. Did she really want me to be dead? Or was she concerned? I couldn't tell. Everything felt so unreal to me.

I was literally running out of breath and losing my vision at each passing second, but the people that surrounded me cared less as they found solitude in seeing me wince in excruciating pain.

Charlotte didn't have to say anything because the eyes I fixated on her rendered her speechless.

How cruel can this world be to find out that the people I trusted and could die for actually wanted me dead and out of their way.

"Ha ha, I never knew you could look this pathetic. You really should have considered what would happen to you when you were enjoying my birthright, Elena." Jacob's voice was laced with anger and happiness as he looked at me. I could see his eyes, and they looked very cold.

"Your mother was a complete slave and slut who didn't know her place. She even went as far as seducing my father, and he got her pregnant. I despise you, Elena, and I wish death for you more than anything else," Jacob spat at me and my heart constricted.

"I think you inherited your stubbornness from your mother because she was Stubborn too, just like you are. It's quite unfortunate you both would have to die the same way," Monica added to her son's speech and my chest knotted.

They killed my mother and all my life I've always said she died through an accident.

"Okay guys, enough of the chit-chatting, It's time we finished up the job," Jacob muttered and my heart constricted. What did he mean by finishing up the job?

"Goodbye, best friend," Charlotte muttered finally, before they all moved away from the window to the back of the car. I think I heard something like a light.

Soon, the car started rolling down with me struggling to get out of the driver's seat, but to no avail. I felt as if I was tied up to something invincible.

I was literally seeing my own death as the car kept rolling deep into the dark woods.

After seconds of trying to break free from whatever was withholding me captive in the car. I finally submitted to my unfortunate fate, with clenched hands and closed eyes.

I prayed to the moon goddess to grant this poor orphan a second chance before darkness surrounded me like a fog.