11:The Moon Child And An Impatient Alpha

Arthur marched past his game on the ground and moved cautiously among the trees in the bush as the sound of the baby’s cry got closer.

It caused him to increase his pace and from moving hastily, he had broken into a run, his heart racing with uncertainty.

He jumped over a log of wood and a fallen tree crossing his path before sighting a hill twice his height. He could tell that the baby’s cry was coming from the hill. Could the child be alone? He wondered. Who would leave a child by itself?

Standing behind a tree, Arthur scanned the area with his eyes and he was grateful for the full moon which allowed him to see quite well. He could find no one and neither could he make out any movements from the surrounding area.

Quickly, he breezed forward, covering the space between him and the hill. Then he circled over to the other side of the hill and gasped as he found a newborn baby girl on the lap of its dying mother.

The woman looked to be about his age. She was seated on the ground, her back leaning against the hill. Her eyes were barely open, and her face was sweaty. There was blood around her and she could barely move. Her hands were bloody and she was clutching a small knife in one hand.

He could see that she had been trying to cut the umbilical cord connecting her and the baby. She had already tied makeshift clamps - a thin cloth around the cord in two places just apart from each other.

Arthur quickly retrieved the knife from her limp hand and cut the cord in the middle of the makeshift clamps. The woman barely winced and twitched but he heard a faint “thank you.” from her lips. He gave her an understanding nod and with a great effort, she slowly began moving her head leftward.

At first, he was confused but quickly discerned that she was trying to communicate something to him. He looked around in the direction she was moving her head, thinking with fear that someone was there but he found no one.

“Down.” she managed to whisper and he looked down on the ground at her left side where he saw for the first time, a paper that appeared to have been torn from an old book.

When she nodded, he picked it up and quickly read the words out.

“In turmoil, a child will be born under the full moon. The moon will leave its mark on her. The moonchild is destined to mate the Alpha…” Arthur stopped because the paper did not contain the rest of the words. It had been torn off from that point.

“The words are not complete,” he said, looking from the paper to the woman who nodded as if to say, I know and so he stuck the paper inside the pocket of his slacks. He knew that there was more of the prophecy but there was nothing he could do for now.

Staring up at the full moon, the only thought on his mind was hope for the survival of the woman because he just could not see himself as the right person to raise a newborn baby, especially one marked by prophecy.

Everything playing out was just too overwhelming.

He could not help but keep staring up at the full moon, then at the naked child on her mother’s lap. A gasp of shock escaped his lips as a mark appeared on the child’s inner wrist.

It was a tattoo of the full moon, round but lifelike. The woman saw it too and gave a labored sigh that spoke of satisfaction.

Arthur reached out his hand and touched the fascinating mark. The lifelike appearance of the mark dimmed and it became a regular tattoo. When he looked at the baby’s mother, her mouth was open as she tried to speak.

“Call her Arda.” She managed to whisper. Then her head tilted sideways, her eyes going still as she went limp, giving up the ghost.

The baby’s crying intensified as though she was aware of her mother’s passing. Arthur took pity on the child. He drew a deep breath and sighed before closing the woman’s eyes. Then he carried the baby in his arms and tried to soothe her.

 “Shh-don’t be afraid, little one.” He cooed but the child continued to cry and refused to be comforted.

Still, he kept trying to calm her. “Little one,” He said, “I don’t have much to go on concerning your story and I don’t think that I’m the right person for this job but I will do my best to take care of you. And I’ll start by ensuring that your beloved mother is not buried in this forest. I will get help and have her buried among my ancestors because you are now family…until the time of your destiny comes when you will mate the Alpha according to the prophecy, dear moon child…Arda.”

***

Arthur returned to the present and looked at Arda who was now staring at the mark on her hand.

“So, in the end, she’s like a special freak of nature or something,” Mabel remarked.

“Shut up,” Arthur told her. “And leave this place. I’ve had it with your stupidity.”

“Whatever, Dad. I’m just glad the truth is out. Now we all know who inherits everything.” She stood up and stormed towards the rooms.

“It’s not like your parents are billionaires, you stupid child.” Mrs. Arthur threw after her before they all heard a door slamming shut.

“How long has she known about it?” Arda asked.

“She knew about it since she was eight but not the details,” Arthur responded. “She just knew that you were adopted.”

“Okay. Well, how did she know?”

“Somehow, she accidentally overheard us in the bedroom,” Arthur answered.

“We told her not to say anything.” Added Mrs. Arthur.

Finally, Arda understood why she and Mabel could never get along. Mabel knew she was not family and probably hated that she had to share her parent’s love.

“It’s okay,” Arda said to them. Then she smiled at her father. “Dad please come and sit over here with us.”

He gave her a little smile and came to sit by her so that she was sandwiched between them. Then she wrapped her arms around them both. “You were really brave that night, dad. And mum, I’m glad you didn’t tell him to give me up or something.”

Mrs. Gray gave her a warm smile.

“Seriously, I can just imagine some other woman saying hey, honey there is no way I’m nursing a child I don’t know.”

She had mimicked the voice of a hysterical woman and her parents managed to laugh.

“I love you both.” She told them. "I always will. Nothing has changed.” 

“We love you too.” They both said and her mother placed a kiss on her forehead.

Arda still felt loved. At the same time, she felt empty. She wanted to talk about the Alpha but she changed her mind. There was no need to compound issues. From her research the previous night, everything seemed to be falling in place.

Now, she knew she was not ordinary and that she was fated to marry the Alpha who she believed was a bloody werewolf. That explained Luke’s headaches. But that won’t stop her from trying to find love and live a normal life. She didn’t care about the prophecy, the moon, or the Alpha.

She just wanted to live a normal life, graduate, get a job, find a nice boy, and raise a normal family. The Alpha would have to find someone else. Besides, he was so authoritative.

She couldn’t even imagine being with such a person if he could be called that. She was tempted there and then to ask God to tell her who she offended for her life to be like this but she didn’t want to cause her parents more worry. They had already been through so much.

For now, she would look forward to participating in the birthmark show, try to forgive her friends, face her project and ignore the Alpha-whoever he was. The next time he contacted her, she would tell him to go to hell and burn to ashes.