Beneath The Blood Moon {TMT #2}

Chapter 19

No. No. No. No!

I squeezed my eyes shut and dug my fingers into the moist forest floor.

This is a dream. It's all a dream, I chanted in my head with a desperate will for it to be true. But it was all in vain. This cannot be happening!

For the third time within that hour, I raised my head and let out another heart-wrenching scream that tore what was left of my heart to shreds. The piercing sound echoed throughout the woods and cut through the serenity of the night's atmosphere.

But I didn't care. Not while I was relieving the pain that had me in such a fierce grip.

I slumped my head towards the ground and breathed heavily after I'd let it all out, blocking out all my senses as I registered the sight of my mother's corpse in my mind over and over again.

My throat burned from straining it too hard, but the pain in there was nothing compared to the kind of burden I was feeling within my chest.

I would've stayed in that position throughout the night if not for Albus' sudden nearness and his low, wary growl which vibrated from within his massive chest. Those had me snapping back to reality.

I removed the torturous image out of my mind and instead concentrated on my surroundings in order to grasp any sort of potential danger. But then the minute I did, a scent - an all too familiar scent - invaded my nostrils with such an intensity that the immediate intrusion overrode all other scents lingering in the air.

Instinctively, I stiffened at the sweet smell, but after a second of my memories quickly falling into place, all sorts of emotions bombarded me at where I knelt on the ground.

"Hello, Kara." He then travelled his gaze briefly to the creature I stood in front of. "Dad."

The wolf behind me growled at the reference just as I fisted my hands deep within the earth to keep from lashing out at my father whilst gritting my teeth in an attempt to keep my outward expressions in check. There was no way I was letting that monster see my tear-stained cheeks and eyes that I was sure were a deep crimson, although it was likely that he'd heard my scream.

Nevertheless, I kept my eyes closed, not having the strength to look up in case my gaze drifted towards my mother's dead body once again.

I couldn't feel, hear or smell any of the other pack members in the area. It seemed as if he had come alone and made sure that not a single soul followed. And truthfully, I was immensely grateful for that.

My voice was calm while I asked, not giving any emotion away. Just as I wanted. "What do you want?"

"I should be asking you that," my father said. But it wasn't his statement that had suspicion suddenly eating at my brain, it was the manner in which he'd spoken, the amusement in his tone, that had caught me off guard.

Isn't he supposed to be in immense pain? I thought, confusion whirling in my brain. Why doesn't he sound like he's mourning the loss of his mate? Or maybe he's already gone mad.

Wanting to see for myself, I slowly opened my eyes and gazed up at the man standing in front of me. However, it wasn't his face that immediately captured my attention, but the object gleaming in his left hand.

The moonstone? But he won't have any reason to hold it unless...

Subsequently, all colour drained from my face before I looked up to stare into Dad's cold eyes, my lower jaw slightly dropping in horror.

"You did this?" I whispered in shock, not knowing whether to believe it or not because it seemed all too surreal to be true.

Dad, nevertheless, confirmed my statement with a small shrug and a toss of the moonstone from one hand to another. "Looking for this?"