Alpha Kael & His Slave Luna

AVA

You've probably heard a thousand stories about werewolves.

For me, it was a bedtime story… Until it suddenly became my reality.

"Listen, Ava-" My mother would start once my father left to scout the area where we had decided to camp for the night…

Not that we were poor. They said we were on a camping trip.

"There are vampires. There are wolves. There are fairies, bear shifters, witches, and many others. But the greatest amongst them all are the dragons."

I'd heard tales from my friends about tales their parents told them on camp trips, so to me, this was something to brag about.

Also, anything was better than staring into the night while trying not to starve to death.

The first few nights, I listened to the stories with wide-eyed wonder, pelting her with many questions.

Honestly, I was fascinated.

We were merely humans. Like most people, a small family of three.

Although I was the only child, I grew up knowing so much love and care, I had no idea what loneliness was.

I lived as a disciplined child who attended a super expensive private school on weekdays and a spoilt child who got whatever she wanted on the weekends.

But Sundays were different—and I mean that in a bad way.

We were atheists, yet my parents made sure we regularly attended the first church mass. I mean, it was obvious they had no idea what they were doing. 

Still, it was a ritual. They would place me before the big statue of mother Mary and my mother would stare at me with some sort of longing, tears spilling from her eyes as she desperately prayed.

Why was Mum crying? Why won't they tell me what's going on?

I would wonder as I clutched my father's hand. He wasn't any different either.

He was a strong and hard man, yet he'd stand still, glaring at the giant statue like he was threatening her to give answers to his greatest desires.

Back then, I had no suspicions. 

I could only see a mixture of what I now understand as desperation and fear in their eyes.

But now, I was sure of one thing:

Whatever they were scared of—

It had begun.

By the fourth day of our trip, the magic of the storytelling had begun to fade.

I no longer cared about the details of humans turning to animals or running as fast as the wind. 

Each day, my responses became shorter, and sometimes I even found myself mouthing the words along, because I'd already memorized them all. 

So it wasn't a surprise when her misty eyes met mine on the seventh day.

"Today, Ava, I'm going to tell you something different. It's about hybrids. The powerful ones formed from the combination of two or more supernaturals."

Tuning her voice out, my gaze drifted to the forest lines beyond the firelight. Once again, my father had left hours ago, and he was yet to return.

Since it was her only cue to end this torture, I knew we'd be going at it for a while.

"These hybrids are stronger than normal supernaturals..." Mum continued. "...wanted by both the humans and shifters. The last one was born a thousand years ago, and it nearly destroyed an entire continent. Ava, are you listening?"

I jerked at the sound of my name.

"Please..." she said softly. "Please listen attentively."

How could I?

I was tired. Fed up with whatever this was.

A week ago, I had fallen asleep with a smile on my face, replaying the expensive tenth birthday party they had thrown me.

I was sure it was going to be the talk of my class the next day and couldn't wait to get to school, but it was snatched away when they woke me up at midnight with just three words:

"We're leaving, baby"

I just wanted to return home... to where it was comfortable... to my friends at school and—

"Ava, are you listening to me?" My mother's desperate voice snapped me out of my thoughts again. "The prophecy says, another would be born, but powers like that should stay hidden. For the betterment of everyone. Don't you think?"

I couldn't suppress my yawn as I asked instead.

"Mum, isn't Dad coming back?"

He never stayed this long.

She paused, glancing in the opposite direction before pulling on a tight smile.

"Soon. He went to get us something to…

She froze. 

“To what?”

"Shh!" My mother hissed. Her gaze became distant, her lips moved silently... rapidly, but I couldn't hear what it was.

It wasn't until a deer sprinted by a few seconds later that her shoulders relaxed, and if I noticed the way her eyes glazed over from a bright blue to their usual brown,

I didn't say a word.

Like I also never questioned why my father returned every night, with freshly roasted meat and the metallic stench of blood reeking all over him.

I was trying to be patient, but I couldn't ignore the overpowering chill that gripped my heart whenever she acted like this.

Do they think I do not notice?

How she does this everytime we settle for the night, and as soon as we pack up the next morning?

I was a child, not a fool.

Even I knew it was absurd to leave a perfectly fine and luxurious life in the city only to start living like fugitives in the woods.

Yet, I never said a word.

After a while, she breathed deeply, then turned to me.

"Did you feel that too?" 

That was another one of her new habits that confused me.

Apart from being bored and tired, I didn't understand what exactly I was to feel, but if I were to be paid everytime she asked me that question since we left home, I'd be a billionaire by now.

Mum’s eyes would sparkle with excitement and fear as she waited for my answer. It felt like she was waiting for something good... something new.

A piece of news that would make her happy, but destroy her entire world at the same time.

Still, my reply was always no.

And as usual, I was going to give the same reply when a surge of unexplainable heat spread through my veins. 

It shouldn't be a surprise. I was always warm despite living in Australia's coldest parts, but this was different.

I yanked off my jacket, wanting relief from the cool air.

"Ava?"

Was this what she meant? What she expected me to feel?

Before I could ask, swirls of different colours burst into the air, branching into a thousand emotions. I gasped as they hit me all at once, clutching at my chest.

Grief. Joy. Anger. Fear. Disappointment. 

I must be feeling a thousand emotions at once. Were they all mine?

Meeting my mother's worried gaze. I realised:

No. They weren't. At least not most of them.

The lines of disappointment were wrapped around her. 

"It's okay, baby.” She comforted, probably thinking the answer was the same. “Give it some more time. It will come."

What would come?

Before I could ask, the sound of her heart racing met my ears.

"Mum... are you alright?"

It skipped a beat. She looked away for a second, then,

"Yes, baby. Why won't I be?"

She's lying.

"And Dad?" I asked and her heart skipped another beat.

"He went to get us food. He'd be back soon."

Another lie.

Yet her face was as calm as ever. My eyes flickered to the subtle tremor in her hands. The way her voice catches slightly when she speaks. The unnatural brightness of her eyes, which I didn't see before.

My god… it wasn't just fear. It was terror.

Her heart was begging me to be safe. But from what?

I shouldn't have asked. Because at that precise moment, the air shifted. And this time—

I was the first to freeze.

Mum's lips began to move again. Her eyes frantically darted around. This time, I could hear her…

She was chanting in what seemed like a foreign language, yet I recognised it.

Protection.

The forest grew darker.

Protection.

Whatever was out there, it wasn't a deer, this time.

Protection.

I could smell the stench of death.

Protec-

"Protection from what?" 

My mother's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "You... You... you heard me?"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. 

"Mum, what's happening?" My lips quivered

"You're fine, Ava. Just... Sh*t. Where's Timothy? I can't... I can't do this alone..."

She was fighting back tears just like I was.

And as if hearing my father's name was the trigger, my breath hitched.

"He's... here." I choked out with my eyes trained on the sight a hundred yards away from us.

How I was able to see that far, eluded me.

But I could. He was fast. His gaze, wild. And he was getting closer at a maddening speed.

But there was something else. Something he didn't need to say because I saw them in his rabid eyes.

Yet, in a low, shaky voice, he whispered,

"Run."