Blood Moon's Tears

“My mom died when I was just a baby,” Veleena confessed. “My dad killed her along with some other members of her pack. He was jealous and he burned down the house, trapping everyone inside.” Lele’s eyes widened in shock, unable to comprehend the weight of Veleena’s words.

Veleena continued, her voice trembling with emotion. “My ability was awakened when I touched my mom’s necklace, and I saw everything from one of Grandpa’s memories one day. I remembered what happened when I touched my mom’s necklace.”

“I’ve been told I look a lot like my mother, from my grandpa and Uncle Lucian.” Veleena revealed, “I also saw you that day from Mom’s locket. You were in her memories, which is why when you came to the pack, I was excited and wanted to play with you and go hunting.”

The realization struck Lele like a bolt of lightning. The resemblance between Veleena and Kirsi was not just a coincidence. Veleena was Kirsi’s daughter, her own flesh and blood.

“All the things I never got to do with my mom,” Veleena said, her voice quivering with unshed tears. “I thought since you were close to my mom and you were so nice in the memories she had of you, that we would have gotten along. I guess if I remind you of my mom, then you wouldn’t want a constant reminder of her. I’m sorry again.”

“A tear rolled down Lele’s cheek. ‘No, I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t know about you. I didn’t know my sister had a child; I thought it was a coincidence that you looked so much like her.’”

At that moment, a sudden cracking sound echoed through the forest, drawing their attention toward the packhouse. Lele’s senses heightened as she recognized the scent that drew nearer with every passing second.

“Uncle!” Veleena exclaimed as she ran towards Lucian with a beaming smile.

Lucian’s brow furrowed slightly. “I tried to reach you, Vel. Why didn’t you answer?” he replied, his gaze shifting towards Lele, who stood a few paces away.

“I was busy having fun with Lele. Besides, you could have asked Chase, he saw us running around.” the six-year-old answered.

Lucian noticed her quick-witted response and chuckled. “I see, spending time with Lele has made you a smart mouth. Alright then, are you hungry?”

With thoughts of hunger settling in, Veleena eagerly agreed when Lucian offered to take her back to the packhouse for dinner. She dashed ahead, leaving Lucian and Lele to walk together in the dim moonlight.

As they strolled side by side, Lucian inquired, “What about you, Lele? Are you hungry?”

Lele waved it off, replying, “I’m fine.”

However, there was an underlying tension in Lele’s demeanour that Lucian couldn’t ignore. “Well in that case, how about I walk you back to your house.” He offered.

“I’m fine. I can handle myself. After all, I’ve been doing that for the past 6 years,” Lele responded, avoiding eye contact.

Lucian felt a pang of hurt, unsure of why Lele was pushing him away again. “What’s wrong? I thought we were getting closer, now you’re back to pushing me away? Was it something I did?” He questioned, his face still held a cold look but his hurt was evident in his voice.

Lucian waited for a response as he analysed Lele who did not even look at him as she passed by him, making her way out of the forest.

“Was it something I didn’t do then?” Lucian asked, seeking clarity.

Lele’s voice trembled as she confronted him. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?” Lucian questioned, wanting her to give him more information about what she was really referring to.

Lele turned to him, her expression unreadable. “Tell me about your family, Lucian,” she requested.

Lucian’s heart skipped a beat. “My family? I told you about my family,” he replied hesitantly.

Lele pressed on, her voice firm. “So then who are Veleena’s parents?”

Lucian’s body tensed, and he looked away. “Vel’s parents aren’t important. It has nothing to do with us,” he deflected.

Lele wasn’t one to back down, and she continued probing, “Oh? So does Veleena really have her abilities?”

Lucian halted in his tracks, unable to mask his unease. “What did she tell you?” he asked cautiously.

Lele met his gaze squarely, her words cutting through the air like knives. “Depends on what you want to know. Do you want to know that she told me what happened to her mother who just so happened to be my sister?” She revealed. “Or maybe how the person behind her death is her father? Oh, maybe you want to know that her father did not pay for his crimes but was instead let go with a slap on the wrist for murdering an entire pack and the whole incident was covered up by your father!”

Lucian’s heart sank as he struggled to find the right words to defend himself, but Lele’s anger was palpable.

“Lele, what my brother did does not mean that I am the same,” he pleaded.

But Lele unleashed her frustration. “Is that the reason you didn’t take your father’s position on the council? Your responsibilities would have been to take care of your father’s incompetence to punish his son, wouldn’t it?”

“The sins of my family don’t define who I am as a person, you need to remember that.” Lucian tried to reason with her.

Lucian stood there, paralyzed by the pain in her voice. The truth that he had hidden from her had now come to light, and he could feel the fragile threads of their relationship unravelling.

You sure about that? You are every bit of a hypocrite as your father was,” Lele’s voice trembled with anger and hurt. “Ignoring the fact that your brother still hasn’t paid for his crimes of destroying one of the Wolfen society’s most well-respected packs!”

Lucian’s heart ached as he listened to her accusations. He had tried to protect her from the painful truth, but his intentions had only caused more pain.

“You knew who I was when I came here the first time, didn’t you?” Lele continued, her eyes blazing with fury. “You deliberately didn’t mention your brother because you knew what he did. So much for trying to build a good relationship, right? What good is it if you keep secrets?”

“It was to protect you! That’s why I didn’t say anything,” he pleaded.

But Lele was done listening to excuses. The dam of emotions she had kept locked away for so long now burst forth in a torrent of rage and anguish.

“Protect me? When the f**k did I ever ask you to protect me?” Lele’s voice cracked, her pain raw and unfiltered. “The worst thing that could have possibly happened to me did six years ago, and you think telling me what I’ve been trying to figure out for the past couple of years is going to hurt more than you keeping it from me?!”

“Lele,” he whispered, reaching out to her.

But she cut him off, her voice laced with bitterness. “No! Don’t you dare try coming up with a sorry excuse for the man that you are. I despise you. Like father, like son.”

Torn between her wounded heart and the lingering flicker of love, Lele turned away, retreating into the dark corners of her shattered trust. The week that had begun to show a glimmer of hope had now descended into a cavern of desolation. The wounds ran deep, and the journey to forgiveness seemed insurmountable.

It was the last night she would be staying in the pack and she couldn’t wait for the break of dawn so she can just go back and lock herself up in her room at the Fading Rose. Because of this, Lele stayed up all night after she packed her things and at the break of dawn, she made her way back to the Fading Rose where she happened to arrive at the same time as Kenji. His presence brought a glimmer of comfort amidst her emotional storm.

“Lele?” Kenji’s voice was filled with surprise. “Were you stalking the bar waiting for me to come back? What are you doing here so early?”

“I just needed to come back,” she replied, her voice tinged with sadness.

Kenji sensed her distress and gently probed, “The week didn’t go well, did it?”

Lele didn’t reply. Once the sound of the door clicking open was heard, she pounced on Kenji nearly knocking him to the ground as he pushed the doors open.

“By the Goddess, Lele, what is going on?” He questioned trying to remove the vice grip she had on him from behind.”

He stopped when he felt his back get wet and heard soft sniffles coming from her. He sighed deeply and tapped her arms for her to loosen her grip. Once she let go he turned around and pulled her in for a hug, patting her head slightly.

“Please don’t ever leave me with him again,” she pleaded, her voice trembling. “Don’t ever leave again, please. I hate it. It hurts so much.”

“I won’t leave you, Lele,” Kenji reassured her. I’m not going to ask you to tell me what happened. If you want to talk about it then you can tell me when you’re ready. How about this? To cheer you up you can try helping me serve tonight yea?” Kenji suggested, trying to lighten the mood. “The bar’s been closed for a week so I’m going to have a lot of people coming in to get their fix once word gets out that I’ve returned.”

Lele sniffles a bit more before lifting her head to look at Kenji. “But I don’t know how to make drinks,” she admitted.

Kenji smiled, understanding her hesitance. “You don’t need to make drinks, leave that for me. If it just requires you to pour some shots or something plain on the rocks then you can do that, it’s simple enough for you to handle right?”

Lele nodded. “I guess.”

“Okay, well, help clean up a bit and we can practice your customer service until opening time.” He said, rubbing her arm slightly before returning to the door to close it.

Lele seemed to be handling orders well considering how busy the bar actually was. The few hours Kenji had her practising really helped. They had gotten a lot of new customers this time around and Kenji did his best to keep Lele’s workload light. Time seemed to slow down when the middle of the night came and Eirena walked in. Squeezing through the slightly crowded bar, she took a seat at the bar’s counter directly in front of Lele. Once she fixed her hair out of her face her eyes met with Lele’s when she turned around from grabbing a bottle of whiskey.

“Lele?” Eirena’s voice trembled as she uttered her name, hoping against hope that she was not mistaken.

“Eirena?” Lele’s eyes filled with tears, her voice cracking as the word left her mouth.