Chapter 1 Prologue
Premises of Greenbell Pack.
Nora.
My heart shattered as I stumbled upon my mother's lifeless body in the moonlit woods. The sight was too much to bear, and my world collapsed around me.
“Mother?” I clutched her lifeless form, tears streaming down my cheeks, as I struggled to come to terms with the cruel reality of me being an orphan once again.
With my father's passing since I was little, my only family was my mother, the esteemed Luna of the Greenbell pack. Now, left with my heartless stepfather, I feel utterly alone and vulnerable.
“You said you were going to go see Xavier.” I tried to swallow the grieve and shock but it was avail. A part of me don’t want to believe this was true—this has to be a joke—an expensive joke with my mother’s throat slit open.
Looking down at my mother’s dead body, I make a vow to myself, “Whoever did this to you…” I sobbed, feeling the searing pain in my heart… “I promise, they’d experience a slow, painful death until they beg for the gift of death.”
As I wept and whispered words of disbelief and grief, my stepfather, Herman, arrived on the scene, instantly pointing an accusing finger at me.
“Nora? What the hell did you do? You killed your own mother?” The voice I dreaded to hear barked behind me. The sudden urge to attack him and rip his heart out stream inside me but I subdue it.
Making eye contact with my step father made the anger escalate. The accusation he just threw at me made me hate him more—that’s if I could go any further with the abhorrence I already felt toward him.
“You bitch,” he insulted while he forcefully pushed me off my own mother’s body. “You killed your mother because you want to become the Luna of Greenbell—you’re not qualified for such position. You’ll never be and I will make sure of that.”
The searing look he threw at me sent chills down my spine. Despite the blurry vision, I could see how much he hates me and everything that’d disrupt him from making my life more miserable. He has been nothing but brutal to me. He’d accuse me of the slightest thing and turn me against my own mother.
The pain intensified as he callously dragged my mother's body back to the pack house, likely planning to spread lies and blame me for the heinous crime.
Despite the numbing shock, I knew I couldn't stand idle while my mother's memory was tarnished. I firmly believed that no matter how much my stepfather loathed me, I would never harm my own mother. And my mother, being a powerful Luna, was not someone who could be easily overpowered.
Looking up the now gloomy sky, my tears cascade down my temple. I close my eyes, making more tears to gush out like a water dam. I was in so much pain that it felt like everything happening in me right now wasn’t true. The pain was almost too much to grip.
“Nora? Oh, my God. Nora?” It also felt like a dream when I heard my name being called. My head was still hung up, staring at the angry clouds that were about to outburst to show sympathy to me losing my mother. It seems like nature is the only thing that cares to show concern to how I was feeling.
I felt the warm arms wrap me in a hug. I let out a heart wrecking sob—I needed that hug to clear up my burning throat. Nature isn’t the only thing that cares about my mother’s demise after all. I still have few people in my life that cares about me.
“Herman just announced the Luna’s death to the town.” Lizzie held me tighter as though she was eliminating the sting I was feeling. “He’s lying, I know he is.”
Lizzie shifts back and peered at me with a subtle and concerned look. She grabbed my face in her palm and sighed. “I’m so sorry,” she mouthed. There wasn’t anything to say after this. There wasn’t any word she’d tell me right now. There wasn’t anything to be done to bring back my mother. If only there was.
“We need to go right now. It’s about to rain,” Lizzie said worriedly and grabbed my hand.
Moving away from my sight, my eyes fall upon a man that was standing behind Lizzie from afar and watching us. My heart throbbed, falling to the floor—he had the most attractive eyes I’ve ever seen. The look he threw at me was disturbing that I had no choice but to look away from home and follow Lizzie home. He might be a threat, he might be the one behind my mother’s death…
Lizzie held my hand firmly as we make it out through the tall trees. I was still in shock and yet to fully believe that I was completely an orphan and left to face the scary world alone. I don’t even care about the accusations my step father was already throwing out back home. Whoever knew me knows I wouldn’t hurt a bug left alone kill the only person I loved the most.
It began to drizzle before we could reach the gates. I don’t care if I’d drown in the rain—it wouldn’t be the first I’ve been drenched with rain. I loved rain especially the times I went out hunting with my mother and get caught in rain before we could return home. It’s always fun running and laughing while trying to catch our breath and reach home at the same time.
The drizzle turned into a heavy downpour and suddenly, there was an aura of grey around me. It was a fog that wouldn’t rise or fade. A single warm tear rolled down my cheek, as I walked with lizzie like a dead-beat girl. A giant hole found a permanent home in my heart. My life would never be the same. I looked like death and the consequences that came with it.
“We’re almost home,” Lizzie said in an assuring tone. It didn’t at all comforted me because I have nothing waiting for me back home—I have nothing to be excited about anymore.
I sniffed, my tears matching the rhythm of the rain droplets as they fell to the ground.
“Whoever did this to my mother. Whoever killed my mother must experience a slow and painful torture until they beg for death.”
It was pouring cats and dogs—hard to see or hear but Lizzie had to halt and look at me. She could see through me—I was hurting so bad. It’s shocking to hear me say that because I was always subtle and forgiving. I barely talk back or let things get to me.
My quest for the truth began, vowing to unveil the real culprit behind my mother's murder. My heartache fueled my determination, and I know I have to seek justice for my mother, no matter the cost. With every step I took, the darkness surrounding my mother's death seemed to grow deeper, and I would have to delve into the shadows to uncover the devastating truth.