The Luna's Vengeance

“KILL IT.”

Under the bright shine of the moon, deep into the forest of Flamma was a boy who was reluctantly following his mother as she trudged deeper.

Cold wind blew, shaking the leaves of the high trees, night owls could be seen on some branches, a quiet noise of the night that was being disturbed by the persons walking.

They stopped at a high cliff that made the boy dizzy when he tried to look below. He closed his eyes tightly, he focused his attention on his mother who was towering over him.

“Kill it,” she repeated.

He looked at his mother with uncertainty, he was afraid to speak up because she looked angry, her eyes wide, her brows almost touching, her stance making him cower. Is she angry at him? What did he do?

“M-Mother...?”

He flinched when she took a step toward him. He felt like something hurtful would happen once she touched him. He'd never seen his mother angry before, and he's very scared right now.

“Are you deaf?” his mother said in exasperation. “Or are you stupid? Did you not understand a word I said?”

He took a small step back in instinct, very afraid. He clutched the hem of his shirt as he gnawed on his bottom lip trying to think of something to say.

When he cannot think of anything, he shook his head, lowered it, trying to avoid looking at her. Why is his mother furious? Why is she talking to him like that? He can’t understand it.

“Why are you even my son?” she asked, puffing air. “You will become an alpha in the future. You will be powerful. Everyone will bow to you. You cannot afford to be stupid and weak. You should not let emotion rule you. You need to be trained now that you are still young.”

His mother always told him that he will become an Alpha just like his father. His father is the most powerful werewolf in their pack, so he needed to be strong too. But the little boy just wanted to play with his small dog and cuddle with it.

He cried out when his mother grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Look at me.”

The boy could not look at his mother because he could feel the tears in his eyes and his mother always hated it when he cried.

“I said look at me!”

He winced when he felt his mother’s nails dug in his chin. He did not dare cry out. It would be more painful if he cried. Reluctantly, he stared at his mother’s fuming eyes.

“When I tell you to do something, you do it right away, you understand?”

He nodded, unable to speak.

“You will one day replace your father as the Alpha of this pack. You need to be strong, you need to be hard, you need to be wise, you need to kill your emotions. Do not let your emotions rule over you.”

The boy trembled, he might not understand what his mother was saying but he was becoming afraid of it. It feels ominous.

“Now, you need to kill your dog.”

He understood her words but he could not understand why.He shook his head. “I love Astra!”

“And that’s why you need to kill it.”

“But…But…” tears fell from his eyes. Why was his mother telling him to kill Astra? He loves Astra to ashes.

“You need to kill it to become strong.”

He shook his head again. “I will get strong. But I will not kill Astra! I love Astra!”

He didn’t see the slap coming, it rang in his ear as he almost lost balance at its impact. With terrified eyes that were wide with disbelief, the boy stared at his mother.

But he could not see his mother. All he could see was a monster telling him to kill his beloved dog.

The dog whined behind him, sensing something wrong. It nudged his leg trying to comfort the little boy. He went on his knees and hugged the dog to his chest, not wanting to let go.

“First step in getting stronger is to kill your dog, Asher.”

He shook his head aggressively. “No!”

“Asher!”

“No! I will not. You aren’t my mother. You’re a monster. Why are you going to kill Astra? Astra is a good boy. He loves me. Even when mother is angry with me, Astra loves me.”

“Is that so? You will not kill it?”

“Nuh-uh.”

The small dog continued to whine while he hugged it tightly to his chest. His heart was beating fast, he could hear it loudly, he could not hear anything else.

He shouted when his mother grabbed his nape and grabbed the dog by her other hand. He fought fiercely, kicking and pushing, crying out unintelligibly.

His mother succeeded in breaking them apart, with a strong hold on his nape, she raised him over the cliff. He cried loudly, afraid of falling with the endless pit below.

“Mother!”

He saw his dog biting his mother’s dress, trying to drag her away.

“Astra…”

Astra bit his mother’s leg when she didn’t let him go. His mother shouted out in pain, and almost dropped him. He felt his heart drop below the cliff as his mother struggled against Astra until she kicked him hard, making the dog roll away, whining in pain.

“You will kill the dog or I’ll drop you here?” his mother asked, angrier now. “Your dog dies, or you die?”

Fresh tears fell from his eyes as he struggled in his mother’s hold. He didn’t want to choose. He didn’t. But his eyes were getting blurry, and he could not breath properly in his mother’s hold.

How could he choose? Astra loves him because he tried to save him from his mother. He knew Astra loves him, and he loves it back.

“Choose wisely, Asher.”

She shook him, he cried out and closed his eyes, heart heavy with the decision he needed to make. He didn’t want to choose. But he also didn’t want to die. He’s just a kid, he’s afraid to die. But Astra needed to die for him to live.

“I’m not gonna wait forever for you, son. Choose now, or I’ll drop you.”

It was hard to open his mouth, it was very stiff. And his body was trembling nonstop.

“K-Kill,” he sobbed. “Kill Astra.”

The dog whined, as if it understood his choice. More tears fell from his eyes as he sobbed uncontrollably.

His mother dropped him on the ground, but his legs didn’t have enough strength to hold him. He fell, the stones under his knees and hands were nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

“I’m waiting, Asher.”

He could not see properly as he walked on shaky legs towards his dog who was cowering in fear.

“I’m so sorry, Astra.” he whispered in a trembling voice. “I love you. I’ll always love you.”

The dog whined.

The small boy, who was only seven, picked up a big, heavy rock, but his heart was more heavy. He smashed it on the dog he loved with his young heart.

* * * * *

“Asher. Asher!”

He blinked and looked at her friend, who was looking at him weirdly.

“What?”

His friend’s brows almost touched as he looked him over, a small frown on his lips as he thought for a while.

“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling. But you seem more…lonely.”

“I am not.”

“What happened to you? You were sick for a month. I heard my neighbor say they thought you caught a strange disease because the pack doctors can’t heal you.”

Asher was told by his father, the Alpha, that he was sick for a month, but he could barely remember it. He cannot remember the time he was sick.

“I don’t know.”

They stopped talking when a small girl with white hair, and eyes of different color passed by. Her head hung low, and she tripped on a small branch. She didn’t cry out, but Asher could see the tears forming in her eyes.

He wanted to go to the kid but something was making him stay still.

The little girl turned to their direction and fear was reflected on her eyes when she saw them. She ran away without glancing back.

“Sierra is weird.” Zion, his friend commented, eyes following the girl. “Why’s her skin so white? And her hair’s also white. Old people should only be the ones with white hair.”

“You’re being mean.” he scolded Zion.

He stopped when he saw his mother across them, looking at him directly, eyes that spoke volume. Asher avoided her gaze, his insides twisting uncomfortably.

“Asher, I’ve been meaning to ask this since before,” Zion said, looking at him. “Where’s Astra? I haven’t seen her since you got sick.”

“Astra?”

“Yes, your dog!”

A flash of memory crossed his mind, he went pale. His insides rising to his throat. Before he could stop it, he vomited, eyes stinging, mind racing with memories.

“Asher!”

“DON’T you think she’s the cutest?”

She could hear around three people around her, saying baby words that she could not understand. She only knew they were trying to coax her.

She blinked her eyes open and saw three people hovering over her. It made her uneasy. Because she cannot speak yet, she cried, waving her small hands and kicking her small legs.

“Ohh…baby, I’m here. Mommy’s here.”

Sierra opened her eyes, her heart beating wildly in her chest, she was sweating. She sat== on her bed, her body heavy.

What was that dream?

Was the baby her? Was that her mother? Is she…is she proud of Sierra?

She felt her throat tighten, her eyes stinging. Did her real parents love her? Why did they leave her then?

She knew her parents died because they fought in the last war. They died as heroes of this pack. They are respected within the pack, but why doesn’t her packmates extend the respect to her?

Why do they treat her badly? She didn’t do an