FLASHBACK
Reela stood there in the cover of her mother as if trying to hide away from the strangers in the room. They were at the visitor's lounge, with her father. She held her mother's hands so tightly when her father beckoned on her to come closer. She wouldn't leave her mother to go join her father and that stranger. She was hoping her mother would hold her forever, but she took her hand and led her closer to her father instead.
"Momma!" she almost cried. Stella just gave her a reassuring nod as she passed her over to her father. A boy sat from across the table, he looked calm, but his eyes were scary, even for a boy his age.
"Hi! My dad said I'll marry you!" the boy said out loud. Then he flashed Reela a smile which she could barely return back. He did not seem to care about the elders in the room, he stretched out his hand to her. "come with me let's go play outside," it came as a surprise to Reela, he did not look like he was friendly. But he left his chair and walked around the table only to drag her with him.
He didn't know his way around the house much, but he led Reela anyway, even though she grew up in that house, and knew its every corner like the number of her fingers. She pulled away from him abruptly, "why are you holding unto me like that?" she asked, rolling her eyes at him in the process.
"Because I like you! Dad said I'll marry you," he said. But he looked like he was confused as those words left his mouth.
"But I don't like you and I don't want to marry anyone!" Reela retorted. He shook his head as if in denial. Just then, Reela heard her father's voice. He was calling her name. She took the boy's hands this time and ran away with him. They ran into the garden, and hid behind the flowers.
"Shush!" Reela placed her index finger against her lip, am indication for the boy to keep quiet. After a while, she turned to look at him, "What's your name again?" she asked as though she had asked him before.
"Gordons!" he said.
"Gordons, you have fallen for me!" she said with a smile on her face, while his head dropped to the ground, his face had turned red.
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PRESENT
The party was over, everyone had dispatched to their various locations, with a few staying back, but not at Alpha Cain's – Alpha Rufus and his wife already booked a luxury room at the hotel owned by Cain. Alpha Rufus and Cain were not just friends, but also business associates. And their primary aim for attending the party was beyond celebrating or congratulating the new Luna of the Red Moon pack.
Yenka even saw them to the hotel, and left after they were settled in. She drove back to the house, her mind on everything that had happened within the last few days. Nothing had prepared her for what happened at the hall. She parked her car by the side of the road as she hit heavily on the steering, till her hands went numb. Flashes of what happened at the hall after she was crowned as the new Luna kept coming into her head. It was like an imprint, she could not get rid of it no matter how hard she tried.
"I was going to save her!" she muttered, a tear sliding down her cheeks. Then another, followed by a flood of tears. She could literally see Heca slitting her on throat, her eyes almost bulging out of its sockets as she laid lifeless on the floor. "I was going to save you!" she muttered. But that was not the actual reason she was crying. She had gotten a sad news during the party, one that almost ripped her dead heart out of her chest; her mother was dead.
She looked up in the mirror to see her face covered in black fluid that had made a pattern on her cheeks. She took out a tissue and wiped her face clean with it. Then she stepped out of the car, meaning to get fresh air. The party had lasted for the whole night, it was almost dawn, Yenka thought she could as well just stay out till she felt better. She was enjoying the quietness on the road, no vehicle in sight, nor wolf.
"I could kill you right here and make you pay for what you did to Heca," Yenka was startled, she was not expecting anyone to be there. Yet, she tried to maintain her calm, she tilt her head up a little.
"Am I supposed to be afraid?" it wasn't a question, she was rather bold, her eyes steady on Gus's face, even though it was barely bright enough to capture his look.
"You were never a part of this pack. You came in three years ago out of nowhere," Gus said, taking a few steps towards her. "Heca showed you compassion and even talked Cain into letting you be a member of the pack; this is how you pay her!?" he growled. Yenka's smile dropped immediately she realised her neck was caught in Gus's hand.
With his hand wrapped around her neck, he lift her off the ground. Yenka tried to struggle to free herself but could not. Seeing that she could not help herself off Gus's grip by her strength, she wore a smirk on her face, her mind spiralling through a thousand option on what to do next.
Just then, someone came to her rescue, slicing Gus's wrist with her knife. She was swift, it was Vivian. Her eyes were dark, ready for the kill. She looked at Yenka from the corner of her eyes just to see if she was okay, while maintaining a protective stance.
Gus got angry, his wolf threatening to come out, both to fight and to take Yenka with him. But he was not going to let that happen, not anymore. He drew in a deep breath and decided to retreat. He ran back into the woods, his wrist bleeding from the cut Vivian gave him.
"She's no ordinary person!" he muttered as he got into the woods, promising himself to avenge Heca and prove to Cain that Yenka was evil.
"She is our mate!" his Wolf growled angrily, right before sensing someone else in the woods. It didn't smell like a member of the pack.