She Chose Me

She Chose Me
Lila’s POV

A reject. That was what I was now. Thrown out like trash. Forgotten. And why? Because I wanted more. Because I refused to stay weak. Because I reached for power they didn’t think I deserved.

Fuck every single one of them!
Fuck Ivy.
Fuck the king.
Fuck that old smelly witch.

I was going to make every one of them choke on regret when I finally win.

I wandered through the forest with no direction, no plan, nothing but rage keeping me warm. My hair was wild, my clothes torn, and where my other hand used to be…nothing but a filthy stump wrapped in a damn cloth. 

My jaw clenched. Dante couldn’t see me like this. No one would follow me in this state. I needed power. I needed a way. I can’t bring myself to go to him when I’m still a failure.

“Someone!” I screamed into the void. “Someone fucking help me!”

“Why won’t anyone help me?!!” I screamed again and again.

Yet, nothing.

The wind died. The forest held its breath.

Then…footsteps that didn’t touch the ground. Rustling movements as though from all directions of the forest.

I turned…and froze.

My mother stood between the trees. Her skin was pale and stretched too tight, blood staining her dress as if she had never washed after death. Her eyes were wide, glassy, furious. She didn’t blink. She looked exactly the same way I last saw her. The way I made her look.

Next to her…my little brother. The boy I once hated for always choosing Ivy over me. The only one who made me feel small next to my sister. His throat looked bloated and his body white as though he’d been soaked inside a river for ages. He stared at me with betrayal locked in his dead eyes.

My breath caught. “No. You’re not real,” I whispered. “You’re dead. I killed you. I fucking killed both of you!”

Then more appeared.

One by one, like nightmares stepping into the open. People I had eliminated when Connor still believed in me. When I was untouchable. When I could make bodies disappear and blame ‘rogue attacks’ and ‘accidents.’ Pack members. Omegas. A girl who made the mistake of knowing too much. An elder who didn’t listen. I tore them out of existence…and now they were here. Surrounding me.

I asked for a fucking help, and what do I get? These fucking dead fools, staring at me like I’m a feast hell prepared for them.

Some had broken necks. Some had caved-in skulls. Some had no eyes. Blood dripped down others’ faces like tears. They did not speak. They just murmured…low, constant, wrong. A sound made of death itself. It crawled into my skull and clawed at my sanity.

I stumbled back, my good hand flying to my ears in my attempt to stop the voices, but it was pointless. I could hear them inside me. “Get away from me!”

They didn’t move like living things. They slid closer. Close enough that I could smell the rot in their clothes.

I backed away, tripped, slammed into the ground, and scrambled back on my one elbow. My heart hammered, breath ripping from my lungs. Their hollow, broken eyes followed me, full of blame I refused to feel.

“I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!” I screamed, throwing dirt at them. “I killed you! I fucking killed you all…LEAVE ME ALONE!”

They didn’t stop. More crawled between the trees. Their murmurs rose, overlapping…a whispering storm built from hate.

I stood up, turned and ran. Branches clawed my face. Mud and stones tore at my feet. Pain split through my body but I kept running. No matter how far I went…they were there, right behind me. Appearing ahead of me. Behind me. Beside me. Hunting me.

“STOP IT!” I screamed. “STOP FOLLOWING ME YOU LOSERS!”

Their whispers grew louder. My name twisted in their dead mouths.

Lila… Lila… Lila…

I fell to my knees. I clutched my head, as if I could rip them out of my mind. “GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!”

They closed in…forming a circle around me. Their heads tilted at unnatural angles. Their dead eyes burned into me. My mother stood in front of them, watching me fall apart. And for the first time, I saw it…she hated me. 

Took her long enough. Deep down, I think she always hated me. She was just too weak to admit it. She was just like the rest. I only gave her what she deserved.

I was about to scream at them again when suddenly…silence.

I slowly looked up.

They were gone.

But I wasn’t alone.

A figure stood ahead…glowing, radiant, blinding. I couldn’t see her face, but I knew who she was.

The Moon Goddess. It has to be.

My blood turned to ice.

Had she come to destroy me? Was this the end?

“No,” I choked, shaking my head. “No…no…no…this is not how I go.”

I dropped to my knees and bowed. “I’m sorry,” I said…though I didn’t mean it. “Forgive me. I…I was lost. I can change…I can be better.”

Her voice wasn’t spoken. It moved through me like a current…calm, powerful. Her words echoed in me though her lips didn’t move.

And what she gave me…wasn’t punishment.

It was an answer to my prayer.
A path.
A method to survive. To rise. To win.

My eyes widened. My lips slowly curled.

She gave me the way out of this misery.

The power I needed.

The way to kill Shina and absorb her power myself. Only by getting Shina’s power will I be able to finish off everyone else. 

Just imagine all that power to myself.

When her light faded and the forest returned, I rose slowly. My fear died. My spine straightened. A smirk cut across my face.

Now…I would face my mate.
Now…I would return stronger.
Now…I would burn them all.

The Moon Goddess chose me.

Finally…I would be the better twin.