LOGINLYDIA~ “I don’t know about this, Lenard.” The seamstress whispered, unfortunately she didn’t need to as I could hear her words all too well, “I don’t know if I can lend a dress for tonight.” Uncle Lenard patted her shoulder with his usual cadence, one which brought nothing but reassurance to the person that needed it, “Relax, Ivina. It’s for tonight. We’ll bring the dress back in— “No one would wear my dresses if they find out I gave it to the cursed one.” She cut him off, “I have children to feed.” Lenard frowned deeply, “Do you all think this way? She’s cursed, she’s not plagued. She can wear a dress and nothing would happen after. I know this, because I live with her in the same home and I’m perfectly fine..” “You don’t know that.” She snapped, looking over her shoulder and sending me a death glare before her focus returned to my uncle in law, “I heard she touched Farmer Alin and he lost most of his harvest. His kids have to beg at the market for food
Chapter Twenty-three—The Night ball(2)~LYDIA~ “I don’t know about this, Lenard.” The seamstress whispered, unfortunately she didn’t need to as I could hear her words all too well, “I don’t know if I can lend a dress for tonight.” Uncle Lenard patted her shoulder with his usual cadence, one which brought nothing but reassurance to the person that needed it, “Relax, Ivina. It’s for tonight. We’ll bring the dress back in— “No one would wear my dresses if they find out I gave it to the cursed one.” She cut him off, “I have children to feed.” Lenard frowned deeply, “Do you all think this way? She’s cursed, she’s not plagued. She can wear a dress and nothing would happen after. I know this, because I live with her in the same home and I’m perfectly fine..” “You don’t know that.” She snapped, looking over her shoulder and sending me a death glare before her focus returned to my uncle in law, “I heard she touched Farmer Alin and he lost most of his harvest. His
Chapter Twenty-two—The Night ball ~LYDIA~ I wasn’t lying when I told him I didn’t know where I heard the song from, but I was lying when I omitted the part about the woman I always saw whenever I sang the sad tune. She was always in my dreams. A beautiful damsel with white hair, pale skin, and a pair of blue eyes thot shone under the moonlight. For a while I thought it was an image or the goddess herself, but even I knew I wasn’t that much of a lucky Luna. The woman. I felt what she felt. I understood her sorrows, and I knew she understood mine. She was alone but whenever I sang the tune, her lips would curve into this beautiful smile, almost like my voice made her feel at peace. In return she soothed my heart, I always felt better after she disappeared leaving a trail of flowers behind in my memory. It was all good, until Tanner barged into my room, demanding to know where I’d heard the song from. I could barely sleep after that interaction. My mind drifting to the hea
Chapter Twenty-one—The singing Luna He gasped loudly, “That’s not….that’s not possible.” I rubbed my temple, “I wanted to believe it wasn’t. You need to have seen them, uncle. The blackened eyes, the frosted lips, the pale skin. It’s back and it’s taken over the ones uptown.” “But the…” he stuttered, “The prophecy. It clearly said— “At this point we need to ignore the prophecy.” I wanted to snap but the ghastly look in his face reminded me of the pain he went through whilst tending to my mother, he was as shocked and terrified as I was. Silence loomed between us for a moment. He stared at me with a question now, “The girl….” “Yes?” “You don’t think she’s responsible for this, do you?” I paused, “I— “Tanner I know that look in your eyes,” he said, “You’re not planning on doing anything rational, are you?” I raised my hands in mock surrender, “What would you have me do exactly?” “Not try to get rid of your mate.” “Cheek
Chapter Twenty—The dying wolves(2) ~LYDIA~ She’d warned me and I paid her words no heed. I knew my day of retribution was coming, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon, immediately and right after I left the market to get back home to get started on dinner. Uncle Lenard had to excuse himself, he wanted to pay a visit to the seamstress, wanting to get a glimpse of his outfit for the night ball. He also asked if I wanted anything, which had me shaking my head as the nightly festivity was one I didn’t plan on attending. So I got my basket ready to head home. The walk was simple, the pack’s people moved out of my way as usual, I almost whistled a jolly tune halfway through my journey back to my new home. Then Cecile appeared, She looked angry. The plastered smile on her face was nowhere to be seen. It was the look of pure spite, the one I was used to before she put me through her rigorous routine of torture, the same ones father looked the other way about. “Cec
Chapter Nineteen—The Dying Wolves ~TANNER~ Two Dead. Three sick. Four with the very same symptoms. I’d thought being called uptown would be about some land dispute, only to find Imelda waiting patiently for my arrival, with a sullen look on her face as she explained the nature of the situation. “The elders called this to my attention,” she muttered, “They saw a vision from the goddess.” It was all too familiar—the chapped lips, the blackened eyes, the faint red lines across the crease of their foreheads. It was cruel, painful, with each victim coughing up an asinine amount of blood till they can take it no more. I watched in horror as she showed me one of the bodies. It took a while to get rid of the forming crowd, pushing my way through as we both reached the focal point of the circle, “He’s the son of a distant relative. He’s only a poor boy, and now he’s gone.” I shook my head, unable to fathom this happening all over again, “It can’t be.







