Ch.3: THE ENCOUNTER

Lyn didn't have much to pack. Just a few pieces of clothing. She left her reading books. She would become a rogue after this and there was no point in carrying things that could slow her journey to….

Lyn remembered she had nowhere to go. She would be lucky enough to live just a few more months. Being a rogue means being ready to be a hunted monster. You either run and hide for the rest of your life or die at the hands of another werewolf.

“Auntie, I'm sorry,” Lyn whispered, clutching the red pendant on the necklace she wore around her neck. It was a present from Lycia on Lyn's seventeenth birthday. Lyn celebrated her birthday with just Lycia, with a big cake and beautiful number seventeen candles. That night they both joked and ate cake until their tummies were full.

It is one of the sweetest and happiest memories for Lyn. Lycia was everything to Lyn and not being able to attend her funeral made Lyn's heart ache again. A tear dripped down her left cheek, but Lyn wiped it away quickly. For the sake of her aunt, who had kept Lyn's life, first of all Lyn had to survive, to make sure that Lycia's struggle was not in vain.

Lyn took another breath. She then took her small bag filled with clothes and crossed it over her shoulder. However, before she could take another step, her aunt's hut door burst open. Lucas, Ruth and three of their friends pushed their way inside, surrounding Lyn.

“I'll be leaving soon, don't get in my way,” said Lyn warily.

Ruth chuckled, crossed her arms over her chest and walked over to Lyn. “And you think you can walk away alive. How could that be?”

Ruth slapped Lyn causing her to jerk backwards. The pain in her cheek increased again, almost unbearable.

Lyn ventured to look at Ruth. She is no longer a member of the pack and being a rogue means she is free from rules. “You can't kill me, Ruth.”

Lucas pushed forward and grabbed Lyn by the neck. “Alpha and Luna were too nice to let you live and that's their business, but I don't care about that.” Lucas strengthened his grip while Lyn clawed for air. “Aunt Lycia didn't ask me not to kill you, damned bitch! So stop using Aunt Lycia as your escape from death!”

Just when Lyn felt she couldn't take it anymore, Lucas released his grip and tugged Lyn. The girl staggered backwards and her back hit the edge of the table. She tried to stay standing while one hand rested on the table. Her breath hitched.

Lucas and Ruth's three friends lunged at Lyn and started beating her. Lyn tried her best to retaliate, but her limited strength didn't make it easy for her. They kicked, slapped and punched her. Someone ripped her arm off with a claw. Lyn was already bleeding when Lucas told his three friends to stop.

Lucas turned half of his arm into a wolf shape, approached Lyn and smiled evilly. “Your destiny is to die, Lynexia.”

Lucas moved quickly swinging his wolf arm, intending to reach into Lyn's heart, but his movement stopped just as his claws had just penetrated Lyn's chest a few centimeters.

“Lucas, stop trying to kill that damned girl. Leave her.” Alpha Ordovic mind-linked him. Lucas froze when he heard the next sentence from his father. “Someone poisoned your mother. Come here quickly!”

Lucas pulled his wolf arm and turned it back to normal. He looked at Lyn acutely. His hatred deepened.

“You're such a thorn in the flesh, damn wretch,” he growled.

Ruth and her three friends looked at Lucas in confusion.

“Luke, what's wrong? Why are you stopping?” Ruth asked.

Lucas was still staring at Lyn. His expression becomes caliginous. “Father forbade me to kill her and… someone poisoned my mother.”

Amidst the pain, Lyn was secretly surprised too. While the five of them left the hut, Lyn didn't know what to feel when she heard that someone poisoned the Luna… her mother. On one hand, there was a bit of worry for her, while on the other dark side, she felt grateful that whatever was happening had made Lucas stop trying to kill her.

Lyn wondered if she somehow had hope that everyone in the Moonstone Pack would get hurt.

Lyn shook her head weakly, driving the thought out of her head. The most important thing now was that he had to get out of here, before Alpha Ordovic changed his mind.

Running in a state of near death is not something easy. Lyn staggered, tripped several times and almost stepped on a deadly scorpion. The sky was still cloudy here and there, but luckily a bit of full moon light made it through to the earth. Dim light is better than none. Lyn kept walking deeper and deeper into the darkness of the forest without looking back.

Suddenly her feet tripped again. Lyn fell down. The thorns dug into her palms and she couldn't hold back her inner pain any longer.

It had been a long time since she last moaned out loud in pain. Lyn couldn't take it anymore. She limped trying to stand up, then sat on the root of a large banyan tree. The dark clouds moved slowly until finally they no longer covered the full moon above. The forest was now brighter than before, but Lyn didn't have the energy to continue any longer.

She cried silently.

“Auntie, I'm sorry,” Lyn voiced inwardly. “I want to live, for the sake of your struggle and love for me, but I don't think I can. Aunt, should there be a heaven for me to be with you, let’s live a happy life together. I'm sorry that I have burdened you all this time, Aunt. I love you.”

From a distance came the loud roar of a wolf. Lyn's consciousness began to erode little by little. When she was barely conscious, she saw a shadow of someone approaching her.

“Please let me die quickly and don't hurt me anymore,” Lyn muttered so softly, in sync with her breathing.

“I can't hear you clearly. Could you please repeat?”

It was a man's voice. Lyn's ironic laugh sounded very weak. Who was this person to have time to ask a dying person to repeat herself? If this was the end of her life, Lyn didn't want to feel tormented for too long. She wanted a quick death. She is tired of being bullied and humiliated.

Using what was left of her strength, Lyn tried to open her eyes to see clearly who was the man in front of her. As soon as her eyes could focus, a pair of dark red eyes greeted her. Her stomach suddenly jerked. The feeling was not a feeling of pain or wanting to vomit.

Something inside her seemed to awaken.

Her olfactory senses caught a sweet fragrance that she had never breathed before. As if gaining new strength, she straightened her back, seeing clearly the face of the man in front of her. Lyn was amazed without even realizing it.

“You… what were you talking about?” the man said again, waking a stunned Lyn.

Lyn blinked. Her emerging strength receded and she became weak again. “I—” this time her nose caught another scent. Her breath hitched. That scent… is unmistakable.

“You—?”

The man in front of her stood while his eyes were still on Lyn's whole body, wondering what the girl had been through to make her look like that. “You look like a shit, Miss.”

Lyn's laughter burst out in an instant. That sentence was perfect to describe her situation now.

“Thank you, I guess.”

Lyn winced as the pain from the wound Lucas had inflicted on her chest surfaced. Lyn bent down, then spat out a fresh blood clot. The man immediately helped her. The sweet fragrance filled Lyn's senses again, this time more intoxicating.

Lyn falls unconscious.