A Luna's Flame

Chapter Sixty-Two

Author's Note: For a heightened experience, I would suggest listening to 'What Was I Made For?' by Billie Eilish for the next two chapters.

The bitter wind turned my tears icy as they rolled down the curves of my face as I bathed in the moonlight, inching closer to the end. I softly closed my eyes as I blocked out all of the battling voices for a moment of serenity. As the pebbles, my toes pushed, tumbled over the edge, waiting for me to join them, warm memories played behind my eyelids. I remembered the stolen moments of running through the trees, free from hateful stares and threatening insults. I reminisced on the meals Noah would split with me, hidden in the shadows of the building, listening to his event-filled days. It was the first time I had tasted what he called a braised beef shank. I was so full and warm that day. I thought back to my time sunbathing by a babbling brook on the outer edge of my old pack. I had just collected the last of my mother's requested herbs and took a moment to soak in the peace that always welcomed me in the wild. Just as I lifted my foot, ready for an everlasting break from the torment of my crumbling reality, a favored memory reminded me of everyone who was good in my life.

My mother had pushed the couch that hid the gap in the floorboards to the corner of the room while Noah set up his stolen radio. I could still feel the smoothness of the dial under my fingertips as I looked for the right song. My mother was dressed in a flowy, basil-colored dress that kissed her shins. Noah had tossed his tie on the couch before unbuttoning the first two buttons of his dress shirt, sighing in relief. He adorned a well-tailored suit, hinting at his day full of attending the Beta classes that he hated, but his father always ignored his complaints.

On the other hand, I wore a simple knitted white shirt with tiny floral designs and a pair of worn jean shorts with a hole that rested on my lower thigh. The heartwarming smiles and jokes hid the tear stains in the corner of my mother's eyes, the stinging redness that was painted across Noah's face, and the pain from the hidden wounds that ran along my spine. On days like this, when the world was just a bit too harsh, I relished dancing the worries away with my best friend and mother in my quaint but loving home. The vibrant laughs reverberated in my soul, even when it felt empty. I smiled softly as the tune filled my ears as my foot rose to take my final step.

"Noah, please forgive me. Enyo, I am sorry for dragging you down with me. You've always deserved more. But I need my mother. She's the only thing that clears the madness," I silently apologized as my tears turned violent as they rushed from beneath my eyelids.

And with one breath—

"Lisy!"

I shook my head in defiance. It's not real.

"Lisy, baby, please!"

"You're not real!" I shouted as I squeezed my eyes tighter, placing my foot back onto solid ground.

"Calista, please come from the ledge," my mother begged behind me.

I opened my eyes as I bawled my fists in anguish, hesitant to turn around.

"What have I done to deserve these mind tricks? Have I not suffered enough? Have you not taken enough already?!" I asked out in desperation as I looked up at the moon.

"Lisy, please turn around," she pleaded.

I took a deep breath and turned around, only to fall to my knees. The rocks cut into the delicate skin, but I was numb to the pain. My mother stood in front of me with tears brimming in her grey eyes as she regarded the shell of a person that her daughter had become. Her onyx curls were pinned back from her face, giving moonlight to her flawless, almond skin. She wore a silver gown that seemed to pour stars from its seams that pooled around her hemline, kissing the ground. She looked healthier than I had ever seen her as she stood tall before me.

"Please...please don't be another trick. I cannot handle another," I begged as my voice cracked, my fingers scraping against the hard ground beneath me.

"Aww baby, this isn't a trick," she said as a tear twinkled as it fell from the corner of her eye.

I carefully got to my feet, trying my best to hold myself together.

"I'm so sorry for every—" my mother began before I ran into her with full force.

She was quick to catch me and hold me close. And the pieces I tried so hard to gather tumbled from my puffy eyes as I fell apart in her warm embrace.

"I am so sorry for how everything, Calista. I should've been here to protect you, but—but I couldn't even protect myself. Please forgive me, baby. I failed you," she hastily whispered as she rested her head against mine as sobs shook my body.

She softly positioned me to look up at her, her thumbs wiping away my tears. I looked up at her with bated breath.

"I'm scared to blink or the voices...they'll take you away again," I whimpered as I heard the echoes of the malicious voices at the edge of my mind.

Her bottom lip trembled before she kissed my forehead softly. Clarity and silence slowly swept through my mind as an alien force ventured through my fragmented mind, searching for someone. And then I could hear her once again.

A low whine echoed through the emptiness of my mind as my wolf called out my name with a hoarse voice into the darkness around her. She had been calling for what must've been a lifetime.