The Unwanted Luna

Amelia

I could hear voices speaking but I was in too much pain to open my eyes. At first I was puzzled on why I would be in such excruciating pain but within minutes I remembered everything that happened making my eyes pop wide open. I knew that I had accomplished my goal and that I was probably dead right now, there was no way I would have survived that fall especially in my weak state.

I slowly sat up and looked around and my eyes landed on two bulky men wielding swords staring at me as if I were an alien from out of space.

They continue talking but it is so low that I can't tell what they are saying so I give up and continue surveying my surroundings.

Unlike what I am used to waking up to when I lose consciousness, this place is quite different.

To begin with it is not as dark and lifeless. It is a field, full of grass and flowers. At a distance I can hear the soft sound of water flowing so I guess there is a river nearby.

It is also sunny and has a bunch of people milling around. This place, wherever it is, is really beautiful and lively, the total opposite of the dark place I was used to.

Everything was absolutely beautiful but what puzzled me most was why I was still in pain. I could feel my body mending itself but I still had cuts and most of my bones were still broken.

I thought there was supposed to be peace in the afterlife, no pain or sadness or shit like that, so why the hell was my body still broken from the fall?

"Lia?" I would recognize that voice from anywhere.

I turn my head afraid that if I do it too fast then everything would disappear and I would be back in the dark void hoping to hear her voice just once more.

But standing right there beside me is my mum and next to her my dad, looking healthy and lively. They seem to be glowing, a very different picture from the last time I saw them.

I want to stand and throw myself at them but I can't but I don't need to because they kneel down next to me and hug me.

"Heavens, it is you, it is really you, we have missed you a lot" my mom says brokenly and I can't help the tears that flow down my face. It has been so long, too long and I here they are with me.

"Mom, dad..." no other words can come out of my mouth. I am just happy and overwhelmed. We let each other go and just stare at each other, soaking each other in. I had truly missed them and seeing them is a gift.

"I am sorry baby...that we left you and your sister the way we did" dad tells me, I can see that it still haunts him having to leave us at such a young age.

"It is okay papa...you don't have to apologize for something that was beyond your control"

"We know that, but seeing what the pack and Bianca put you through tore us to pieces. It was horrible seeing all that was done to you and not being able to stop it. I hated it and I hated the pack for what they did to you after" mum chimes in.

The tears that had stopped began flowing once more. I take their hands and just hold them in mine, having missed physical contact with them.

"You could see everything that was happening?" I asked them shocked that there was a possibility they had witnessed everything that happened to me, and also afraid that there was a chance they saw Xavier and I being intimate.

"Yes, we could...And just like your mother said, what they put you through was absolutely disgusting. I am ashamed that I was once associated with that pack"

"There was nothing you could have done, both of you...and it is all in the past now, it doesn't matter anymore. Have you seen my son?" I ask them trying to change the subject knowing deep inside that it was true, there was nothing they could have done. The beautiful smiles that break free from their lips are breathtaking. I could already tell that they love Tristan and my only regret is that they never got to meet my beautiful baby boy.

We talk for a while about everything under the sun and I am just grateful and happy. This is what I had imagined my afterlife being like, with my parents and now that I know I can watch my baby grow, it just made the future look a bit less scary. "We have to say goodbye now Lia" dad says after talking for what seems like hours and hours.

"Bye? Why? I just got here" I was confused.

"Because it's your time to leave, you don't belong here" the melodic voice startled me because it appeared out of thin air. I turn to look and find the moon goddess standing there.

She looks as enchanting as she did the last time I saw her.

She takes my hand and helps me up. I feel power surge through me and then watch in amazement as my wounds begin to heal. Within seconds all pain is gone and my body is fully healed. "Isn't this the afterlife? And aren't I dead? I don't see how I don't belong here then"

"Yes, this is the afterlife but technically you are not entirely dead" she tells me.

"What do you mean that I am technically not dead? How can someone be technically not dead? It is either you are or you are not" I start pacing while panicking, if she tells me that I went through all that pain for nothing I will honestly lose it. "I guess I butchered that explanation, you will have to excuse me for that"

"What the moon goddess is trying to say is that you are in between...you are in transition" my mom says making me all the more confused.

"Yes darling, and this is where we say goodbye because we can't join you in the next part, this is where we belong so we can't leave" my dad added but nothing they were saying was making any kind of sense.

"We love you baby and we always will, never forget that even as you step into the next chapter of your life" mum wipes the tears that were running down my face. I didn't want to say goodbye to them, especially now that I had found them.

"You have endured so much and you came out stronger. We are proud of the woman you have become despite the shit that was thrown at you. Keep growing baby girl" I didn't know I needed to hear those words, until I heard my father say them to me they were oddly comforting. "And if you ever get to meet Bianca again, tell her we love her" mum tells me just as I hug them a final goodbye.

I honestly don't want to let go, I just want to stay here with them. Live out my afterlife in this peaceful paradise.

"It's time to leave Amelia" the moon goddess tells me.

I let go of my parents, only to see them with tears. I know it is not easy letting go of your child, I would know because giving up Tristan was the single most painful thing I have ever done. Letting go of Tristan undid me but I know given the chance I would do it all over again if that means he would never have to see me as the monster I would have surely become if I had stayed.

I tell them I love them then I let go of them and take the moon goddesses' hand and within seconds the paradise I had begun enjoying disappears till nothing of it is left behind.

A clearing appears before me and there is nothing there except a big slab of rock, it almost looks like those rocks in movies where sacrifices were made.

"Why are we here moon goddess? And what did my mom mean by being in transition?" I ask.

I really want answers because I detest being confused and in the dark and the way things seemed, I am the only one who had no idea what was happening.

"You can call me Selene, after all we will soon be equals...and about transitioning, it means exactly that...you are in the process of becoming something more than just a werewolf or human"

What is it with people not giving me straight answers? What is it with the riddles? I mean it wouldn't actually hurt them if they just told me what I needed to know.

I feel a presence joining us and I turn only to find a very handsome face with a pair of red glowing eyes staring at me and standing near the big rock.

"Aaah, you are finally here Nolan, let's begin...we don't have a lot of time before the window of opportunity ends" Selene says while pulling me towards where Nolan was.

He gives me a warm smile before he beckons me to lie on top of the rock but I refuse.

"I am not getting on that slab until you tell me what the hell is going on and why the hell am I not dead when I should be dead and in the afterlife with my parents?" I was honestly getting angry and frustrated.

"Look, we don't have a lot of time to do this okay? So can you just lie down" Selene tells me clearly frustrated too, join the club.

"No, I am not going to, till you tell me the truth"

"You are not dead because we saved you Amelia, your death would have caused the end of the world and we couldn't have that...I promise to explain everything once the ritual is done but for now we need to help you ascend before they figure out where you are and come after you to finish you off"

There it was that word again, ascend. None of what they were saying was making sense and I was doubtful even if one of the persons there with us was the actual moon goddess.

"Do you trust me?" Nolan asks me in that husky voice that is doing some weird things to me, but for some insane reason, I did trust him and I do not why.

I give him a nod then go and lie on the slab of rock like I was expected to.

Both Nolan and Selene begin an incantation in a language I am not sure I have ever heard.

I begin to tell them that nothing was happening before I felt a surge of energy burst from deep inside my core.

My bones begin breaking and I let out a scream. What was the need of getting healed if I was just going to break my bones all over again?

I let out another roar as my body begins to rearrange itself.

I know this is like shifting but at the same time I know I am not shifting into a wolf, this is something else entirely, something bigger and more powerful. It seemed like it took forever but I know it's probably just a few minutes.

Finally the pain fades and I stand but on all fours. The once clear blue sky has turned black as if it were night, everything is heightened, clearer. I can feel the power thrumming through every fiber of my body.

I look at Selene and Nolan and they both have huge smiles on their faces. Then shadows, creatures and people I have never seen start appearing then one by one kneeling before me, whispering;

"All hail the dark goddess"