Selene POV
For soone who has not slept for the better part of this week, I was wide awake until it was dawn.
I hadn’t slept a wink. I spent the night, tossing and turning, my mind racing with too many questions and no answer. By the ti it was dawn, I felt restless. I had sat at my window facing the east of the Moon Whisper pack land until the sun ca up. I couldn’t think... I was too numb to process anything. I couldn’t feel either. For the first ti, there were no answers to all of my questions.
Pushing myself away from the window, I decide to go for a walk. The pack house was still quiet, the usual hustle and bustle were yet to begin. Except for a few ogas going to the duty posts still looking sleepy-eyed. I needed fresh air, a mont to clear my head, to escape my mind working on an overdrive.
I dressed quickly in warm clothes and slipped out of the pack house before anyone noticed.
The morning air was crisp and the sky was still a soft blend of pink and orange... it was a brief mont of peace before the activities of the day would start. I strolled through the pack lands, loving how quiet it was before the chaos. I t a few soldiers returning to their houses after their night shifts or going to replace the other soldiers who had been there all night.
I continued aimlessly. There must be sothing that I was missing... a puzzle... more like.
My feet carried along the familiar paths of Moon Whisper. I passed through a small, quaint forest, mostly used for farming rare fruits and herbs. It was owned by the Pack Healers community and eventually found myself at the children’s park.
It was deserted, as I had expected this early, with only the faint chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves to keep company. I spotted a bench under the shade of a large oak tree, its wooden surface looked shiny and new and it was facing a small lake.
Gratefully, I sank onto the bench, letting out a deep breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. My body felt heavy, my mind fogged with exhaustion. As I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, I only wanted to rest for a second... recover a bit and then resu.
I strolled towards the direction of the children’s park and finally spotted an empty spot facing a small lake. I dropped on the pack bench, wheezing, trying to catch my breath.
I was just going to close my eyes for a few minutes, recover for a bit and then start back for the pack house but...
That mont was fleeting...
When I opened my eyes again, sothing strange happened. I wasn’t at the park anymore. The bench, the trees and the morning sky had disappeared. Instead, I found myself standing in a dimly lit room, the air was thick with tension. In front of stood my father, , his expression was stern but conflicted. Beside him was my mother, heavily pregnant, with tears streaming down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably.
"Mother? Father?" I whispered, my heart pounding in my chest. I tried to move towards them but my feet felt heavy, like they were stuck to the ground.
My father stood stiffly, his hand resting on my mother’s trembling shoulder as if he was trying to console her but he couldn’t. My mother clutched at her swollen belly, her sobs growing louder, more desperate. They were facing an older woman; soone I had never seen before. The woman had long silver hair and a weathered face, her eyes were hard and unfeeling. She wore a flowing black gown that shimred even in the dim light. It was a sharp contrast to the sorrow radiating from my mother.
"Please," I called out, my voice breaking. "What’s happening? Mother, what’s wrong?"
But no one responded.
The air around us felt thick with sothing I couldn’t place, sothing ominous. I watched as the older woman raised her hand, gesturing to my parents with a commanding presence that unsettled . My father nodded grimly, but my mother shook her head violently, her sobs turning into wails.
"I can’t! I won’t! she cried, her voice echoing painfully in the room. "I’d rather give my life than have this life taken away from ."
The words made no sense to , it was as if they were speaking in a language I didn’t understand, sothing ancient and foreign, like whispers from a forgotten ti.
My father tried to calm her, speaking softly in the sa language but his words, too, were lost on . I strained to understand, to catch even a fragnt of their conversation, but it was as if their voices were muffled, distorted by so unseen force.
"Mother, please!’ I begged, stepping forward. "You have to speak loudly? I can’t hear you. What are you talking about? What’s going on?"
I reached out to touch my mother but my hand passed right through her, like I wasn’t there. Panic surged through my chest. It was as if I was trapped in a drama, watching a mory that didn’t belong to but was still painfully familiar play.
The old woman spoke now, her voice was low and commanding, and her eyes flashed with exasperation as if she was tired of talking about the sa thing over and over again. But to , it sounded like so alien language. My father responded to her with another curt nod, his face etched with guilt while my mother shook her head again, screaming in anguish.
"Don’t do this! You can’t!" her voice cracked as she fell to her knees, clutching her belly. My father knelt beside her, whispering sothing that seed to calm her montarily but there was still sadness in her eyes.
I watched, helpless, unable to do anything, unable to understand them. I wanted to scream, to demand answers, but I couldn’t. I hadn’t been speaking all along in my mind. I could form words; I couldn’t make my mouth speak. The sense of despair in the room was overwhelming, almost suffocating .
Without warning, the old woman moved toward my mother, her hand outstretched as if she were about to do sothing. But before I could see what happened next, I felt a sudden jolt – a firm hand on my shoulder, pulling back.
Startled, I blinked and the vision dissolved, thrusting once again to the park. I gasped, my chest heaving as I tried to gather myself. The lake in front of ca back into focus, the bench was beneath the towering oak tree but the mory of what had just happened felt too real to be a vision.
"Selene!" a voice called softly, pulling fully back into the present.
I jerked and turned, my heart still racing. Kneeling in front of , his expression etched with concern was Lucius.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his brows were furrowed in worry.
I blinked at him... when did he co here? "Lucius?" I breathed; my voice still shaky.
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