GHOSTLY ENCOUNTERS

My heart sank deep into my stomach listening to my beloved say those hurtful words to me. Sudden trembling seized me and by the least struggles, tears effortlessly left my glands flowing down my cheeks; the sorrow which I had long forgotten came crawling back.

“You can’t do this to me Erick. I beg you.” But my mate didn’t seem to budge; the look on his face clearly pointed out that his mind was made up. He was going to reject me.

“This is beyond me Lyla.” He said and grabbing me by my shoulders he looked deep into my eyes and whispered “I truly love you Lyla but I cannot have you as my Luna.”

His grip was so firm, his gaze still melted my heart, but looking at him say those words made his touch cold. The agony of being denied the soft touch of my mate hit me like a cannon.

“Why Erick? Why?” My voice was whimpering. My lips feeble but there were so many words unsaid. A whole year of bliss was about to come to an end.

“The Elders Lyla.” My mate said in a low tone, then he unhanded me and moved away turning his face from me. “They think you are too weak to be the Luna of Moon Blood Pack. They say they can’t accept you as Luna.”

“And you. You reject me too?”  

Erick found no words to respond, he only took a gaze at me; I could feel the pain in his eyes but his stare taunted me, his silence sent cold jitters into my body.

“You will be fine Lyla. You are stronger than you look.”

“You are my strength Erick; you are my confidence.” More tears flowed, my heart tightened and its beats harkened to the rhythms of sorrow that played in my mind.

“The sooner we get along with this; the sooner we move on. We have to get this over with Lyla.”

Erick’s crimson eyes reflected comfort but as I gaped, the coldness of his feelings glared back at me. He stood firm on his resolution, his eyes took periodic glances at me refusing to oblige my plea. Who would have thought that the only one who brought me so much comfort could be the source of my pain?

“I, Alpha Erick of the Moon Blood Pack, reject you Lyla daughter of Kyle, the Beta of Moon Blood Pack.”

I felt empty as those words hit my ears. I perceived a sharp pain in my heart. Our bond had been severed. Erick hid his face from me but from his jawline, I could see the reflex of regret. He left me immediately and went away without turning back.

 I lay on the floor, shoved by the soreness that stroke me when my mate rejected me. Seeing him walk out through the door made me gasp. Extending my hands towards him, I made an attempt to call him back but the weakness which invaded my bones shut me up; I found no strength to beckon on my sole protector.

My father Kyle Bardolf was the Beta of Moon Blood Pack but he disappeared two years earlier leaving me to the mercy of his mate and her daughter who relegated me to being their slave. I faced severe maltreatment from them until my mate saved me.

My father had an unusual relationship with my mother; the kind that was abolished. Werewolves were not permitted to bond with humans who were not their mates as given by the moon Goddess but those rules were defiled by them. My father met my mother in one of his usual trips to the Human world on official duties and they fell in love.

My mother got pregnant with me and decided to keep it not minding the grave circumstance that could result from her decision. I only heard stories about her from my father; she died while giving birth to me, I was told that her immunes were not strong enough to withstand the pressures of my werewolf gene.

My father knew that taking me along with him to the Pack would only result to my death, so he put me under the care of Nuns in an orphanage. He visited whenever he could which was usually within few months but the taunts of the other children who bullied me for having such a petite stature tormented me.

We were taught a lot by the Nuns in the Orphanage; how to read and write and the basic knowledge about things that existed, including topics on calculation and creativity but we could never see beyond the four walls that barricaded us from the outside world. We were enclosed in what almost looked like a fortress; an ancient church abandoned but reestablished for the purpose of raising children like us.