The Secrets of the Panther

IZZY

I woke with a start from a loud screeching noise.

“MUMMY,” screams Allie.

I woke up with a start and shot up from where I was lying. I glanced around to see where I was. It was pitched back, but something was moving next to me.

I looked over to my side, and Allie still moved around with her eyes closed. “MUMMY,” she screamed.

I move closer to her. “Allie,” I say, gently rubbing her arm, and her eyes fly open. She stares at me momentarily, but her arms fly to my neck.

I wrap my arms around her. Allie trembles in my arms as I hold her; I close my eyes and nuzzle my face in her neck. Her scent takes over me, but all I can feel and hear is her racing heart.

“Mummy,” she says quietly. “Please don’t let them take me.”

I say nothing but hold on to her tightly.

My daughter was afraid, but my mind was trying to adjust to what she had just said, and it clicked. She had another nightmare.

After holding her a few minutes, Allie moves back and looks at me. Her eyes were rimmed with unushered tears.

My heart breaks as I stare at her.

Puna was awake and alert, but she had said nothing. I could tell she was closer by, but the way Allie held my gaze made it hard to feel her pain.

“Mummy,” she says.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” I say smoothly. I place my hand on her cheek and gently caress it. She leans into my hand, and the ushered tears flow from her eyes as she closes them. I watch her as my heart breaks more.

My poor child.

“Allie,” I say to her. Allie opens her eyes and stares at me. “What’s the dream?”

Allie says nothing, only stares at me.

“Mummy,” she says as she pulls away from me.

“I remember what happened to Toddy; I was scared,” she says. I look at her, and I caress her cheek more. “Please tell me what you saw, sweetheart,” I tell her.

Allie moves away and sits on the pillow. She pulls her knees up to her chest but rests her head on top of her knees.

Allie doesn’t speak for a moment but lets out a low breath. “It always starts when uncle Toddy and Kat are making me and Archer run out of the house. Kat was scared, as she had a phone call from Auntie Alice. She told us we needed to run and hide. So we left the house,” she says as a tear escapes her eyes. “Toddy was carrying me while Archer held onto Kat’s hand.”

She takes a deep breath in and out and speaks once again when she is calmer.

“When we got to the other side of the forest, there were six men. They all had red eyes, looking at all of us. They circled us, and Toddy put me down and moved me to the middle of Kat and him. Archer stood in front, but the men circled us, hissing,” she says. “After a few moments, one man talks, but Toddy growls, and the other men fight Toddy and Kat. He told Archer and me to run. We were about to when three men grabbed uncle Toddy, but the man grabbed Kat and bit her neck. She fell to the floor, and Toddy was crying.”

Allie’s tears flowed freely now, and I tried to hold it together. I could sense Puna closer, her heartbreaking at the entire story that Allie was telling us.

“I ran, mummy,” she says, her voice failing. “But Archer and I stayed behind a tree and watched as the men hurt Toddy.”

She cries more.

“There.” she snuffles. “Was loads of blood, and Toddy was on the floor.” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Find ɴøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Allie was sobbing more, but I knew this was hard for her to tell me. It was hard to hear, but I needed to know what she saw or what she had been dreaming about.

“Archer and I ran,” she says between her cries and sniffles. “We ran, but the man grabbed us.”

Allie looks at me, and my heart breaks in two.

“I could smell Todd’s blood on him and Kat’s,” she says quietly. I move closer to Allie and pick her up into my arms. Allie nuzzles into me and cries.

“I dream that the man will come for me,” she says into my chest. “I know you killed him, but what if someone else comes for me and kills you or even Daddy?”

I place my hand in her hair and stroke it. “Nothing will ever happen to you, sweet girl,” I say to her softly.

Allie moves and looks at me. “How do you know?” she asks.

I stare down at her and move her hair from her face for her to look at me. “I won’t let it,” I say to her. “Daddy and I will protect you and keep you safe.”

Allie looks at me, but she seems unconvinced. “I don’t want to dream about them anymore,” she says. I stare at her, but she carries on.

“I dream about grandad and what the woman did to him,” she says quietly.

I stare at her, not saying anything. I knew if I spoke, my true feelings would come out. I was holding back so many emotions that I didn’t know if I would explode.

I didn’t want to scare Allie, and I had never had to deal with my emotions before; this was all new to me.

Puna was there, but she wasn’t saying anything.

Allie moves back to me and places her head on my chest.

Puna stirs and comes closer. “you want Lena to take the memories away?” she says as she looks at Allie’s head.

I say nothing. She knows what I want to do, but Puna sighs. “I think you should, but we should tell mate first,” she says.

I stare back at her. I know I should tell Blake, but he has so much going on with the Red Moon pack I was trying to figure out whether to. I held Allie for a moment, but I glanced at the clock on the side. It was ten p.m. I knew Allie wouldn’t go back to sleep, not knowing that the dream was there. I pull Allie back and stare at her.

“How about we watch frozen?” I say to her.

Allie stares at me for a moment but nods, saying nothing.

I move Allie further up the bed.

I moved off the bed and walked over to the TV. After finding it, I placed the film on and made sure it was quiet.

I glanced over my shoulder at Allie; she had moved back onto the bed and had the covers over her legs, waiting for the film to start. I pressed play on the film and walked over to the bed. I sat back down next to her and leaned back into the headboard.

Once the film starts, Allie hums the tone. I looked over at the bedtable and grabbed my phone. I tried to ring Blake, but he never picked up, and it went straight to voicemail.

I sigh.

I look through my phone, and I land on Lena’s name.

I glance at Allie, her eyes glued to the two princesses singing. Do you want to build a snowman?

Puna was close. “Text her and ask her,” she says as she returns to humming along to the song.

I pull up Lena’s number and text her to come to the room. I tried ringing Blake once more, but there was still no answer. Once I had, I placed the phone on the bed.

I can’t wait till he comes back, even if it is tomorrow. Allie needs to sleep; I know she will be like this for a while.

I knew how she felt as I was the same; I eventually had insomnia as I refused to sleep. I don’t want that for my child.

I will let her have her memories back when she is old enough to understand everything, but now she’s nearly five. That shouldn’t be for a child to deal with.

I was pulled away from my thoughts, more like my overthinking. There was a light knock on the door, and I moved off the bed. I walked over to the door and opened it.

Lena was standing there in her PJs. She gives me a small smile, but she glances at Allie.

“She had another one,” she says.

I nod.

Lena stepped into the bedroom, and I closed the door behind her. Allie looks up and smiles at Lena. “Auntie Lena,” she says. “Come and watch Olaf with me.”

Lena smiles at her, “in a little while,” she says and looks over to me but glances back at me. “Mummy needs to talk to me for a moment, but I will come and see him.”

Allie nods and gets back to the film.

I stare at her, but Lena looks at me. I never move my eyes from Allie. “You need to take her memories,” I said to her quietly so Allie couldn’t hear me.

I glance back at my friend, and she looks at me and sighs. “I will, but Izzy,” she says. “This is not a permanent solution.”

I nod. “I know, just take them away,” I tell her.

Lena looks over at Allie, but I keep my eyes on my friend. “She remembers everything, I mean Todd and my father,” I say. “She thinks they will come back to get her.”

Lena says nothing.

“Lena, she is too young to deal with all this,” I say. “I will let her have her memories when things have died down and there is nothing out to get us.”

Lena looks back at me, but she says nothing.

Puna stares back at her.

Lena moves from me and walks over to Allie. I watch Lena move onto the bed, and Allie nuzzles into her, placing her head on her shoulder.

I didn’t move as I knew she would do it; her magic was building up.

Lena closes her eyes and places her hand on Allie’s head. She mutters a few words, and Allie’s little eyes close.

After a few moments, Lena’s eyes open, and she moves Allie into position as she sleeps.

Lena moves off the bed and walks over to me. As she gets closer to me, she glances back at Allie.

She sighs, says, “They have gone,” and looks back at me. She stares at me. “You need to make sure you do as you say, or this will change her fate.”

I stare back at her, confused. “What do you mean?” I ask her.

Lena stares at me but closes her mouth.

“Lena,” I say quietly to her.

“Her fate needs to be her own,” she says. “Everything she has been through, the war, and what she has witnessed will make her who she is, but I understand why you want the memories gone. I was all for it, but something about your lives was altered after the war. We don’t know what is in store for Allie, especially as her powers were rare and never like yours.”

Lena looks back at Allie but turns to walk toward the door. But she stops and looks at me once more, but I say nothing.

“You need to tell Blake,” she says. “You don’t want him to find out about anyone else.”

I frown. “It’s only between you and me,” I tell her. “Who else will know?”

Lena sighs, “Izzy, everyone knows what your feelings were about doing this, as you mentioned earlier. You need to tell him, or it will cause problems for you and Blake,” she says.

I nod, and Lena opens the door. “I will see you tomorrow,” she says and walks away.

I close the door behind her, but I can’t help but glance back at Puna. Her green eyes stare back at me. “What do you think?” I ask her.

Puna stays quiet for a few moments before she speaks. “You have tried to get hold of him; we will try again in the morning,” she says. I can’t help but nod at her.

“As for Allie’s fate, I think we should wait a few months to deal with it,” she says.

I say nothing.

I glance back at Allie, who was snoring soundly in the bed. I could hear frozen play another song.

I know our fates have something to do with our ancestors, but what the hell is in store for Allie? I have no clue. I stare at my daughter briefly but soon walk over to the bed. I need to sleep.

“You need sleep,” says Puna. I glanced at her as I climbed into bed. “You are going to be Luna tomorrow,” she says.

Fuck, I forgot all about that.

I could feel my stomach go into knots, but Puna snickers. “You’ll be fine,” she says. “No one will mess with you; they know you are powerful. No one will do anything; if they do, they will have me to deal with.”

I stared at her; I should feel okay about what she said. Puna always has my back, but something was getting at me.

Was I good enough to be their Luna?