The Ripple Effect

I was absolutely entranced by her story, by the raw emotion in her voice and the pain in her eyes as she stared at me. Those eyes glistened with unshed tears, and the flames licked at her face, producing shadows that hid all of her except for that watery gaze.

“What did he do to Aylin?” I whimpered, my voice breaking mid-sentence.

She looked to the fire again, and she reached out. Her palms hovered over the hot flames, but she still did not seem warm.

I couldn’t blame her for being eternally chilled.

“She had just turned one year old, and she grew even more beautiful by the day. She had her father’s eyes and his smile, not that I saw it often... She had his face, too. She looked so much like him, and that was why we called her Aylin—after her father, Calin. People knew she was his daughter, but it was not so obvious that she was mine. In fact, you could find any woman in the pack, put the child in her arms, and say that she was Aylin’s mother.

“But I didn’t mind, because I knew my little girl was mine; that was all that mattered to me.

“Calin and I had a...rocky relationship. It wasn’t as smooth and flowing as mates should be, and half of the nights ended with screaming and physical fights. He always won the fights, because my wolf would not fight against him. He said I was becoming very abrasive, and he didn’t understand. I had been the perfect Luna—up until I became the perfect mother.

“I told him he had a choice to make. I had potential to be the perfect Luna, the perfect mother, and the perfect mate. He could pick two of those titles, but he demanded all three. I told him my service would always be with my people and my daughter. My priorities were to Aylin, then my people, and then to Calin. My wolf put Calin first, but I would not.

“He did not like my answer, and he told me that Aylin was the reason for my insubordination. When he threatened her... I was helpless again. I would have fought him, but my daughter was only an infant. She could not defend herself! So I caved, and I let my wolf take over once more. It was less painful that way. It was like I was simply in a dream...

“But then he started talking about...a son. He said my Aylin could not be Alpha after him. She was too gentle and weak to be Alpha, so he wanted a son. But I told him the council would side with me—she was his first-born. So he said...” She bit down on her lip. “He said that maybe Aylin should just disappear.”

Her eyes jolted to me, and a shaky breath passed her lips.

“I couldn’t....just let him kill my baby. I told him if he hurt her, I would make his life miserable. I would be the worst Luna, and I would be the worst mate—I would treat him as he treated me, a fate worse than death, I told him. I refused to give him a son if it meant my daughter would be harmed.

“I shouldn’t have been so stubborn. I should have accepted that Aylin would not be Alpha, even though it ran in her blood. But I wouldn’t accept it. He said I could not stop him; he would make it look like an accident, and then he would kill me. He would find a woman who wasn’t such a horrible mate and Luna, and he would replace me. He would easily replace me.

“I told him he could tell the pack that Aylin and I had been ambushed and killed, and then he could have his new family. The only thing I needed...was Aylin. He agreed. I was given one week to leave.

“But just two nights after the deal, I awoke bound and gagged, and I was dragged out of the pack house. They only removed my blindfold when I was far into the woods. Imagine my surprise when the man grinning down at me was Calin—the man who had sworn to protect me and our cubs. He had taken the vows, yet he stood here denying them.

“There was a change in plans, he said. I would be the one killed in the ambush, and my Aylin would stay with him. She was a beautiful girl, he said, and any Alpha would be glad to have her as his Luna.”

Her eyes darkened, and a low growl filled her throat.

“He wanted my baby for political maneuvering, and he told me I would never see her again. My wolf... She severed all ties with him in that sentence. Her blind bliss broke, and all she saw was blood and death. We wanted to kill him.

“Oh, how I tried! But that little coward had his goons hold me down! And he took his dirtiest hunting knife and...”

She reached down and lifted the corner of her shirt. Bile rose in my throat. It was the etching of a raging fire, the agitated carving on her hip that I had noticed when I awoke in the femme pack. I had known she hated the man who did it, but I had not even stopped to consider that it had been—

“My own mate had his men hold me down as he gave me a tattoo to remember him by. An out-of-control fire... The design was purposefully intricate, to make the torture last longer. It marked me as an outcast, that I had ‘burned’ my people. It was the second time he had inflicted indescribable pain on me, and it hurt even worse than the marking. But my daughter...

“She kept me going. I managed to drag myself up despite the pain, and I lunged at him. It took five of his men to hold me down, but he said I could have a fair fight. Hardly fair. I was losing blood and hardly able to stand, so all he had to do was sink his claws in deep enough. That’s how I got the scar on my cheek.” She tapped the healed line with a sigh.

“I was a coward. I left with my tail tucked between my legs, and I left my little girl there. Alpha Lori took me in, but you already know that. I could have gone back at any time, gone back to save my little girl. But the thought that maybe she wouldn’t be there anymore... It always stopped me.”

“You’re not a coward. You were brave and smart, Eliana,” I promised her, placing my hand on her arm. “Killing yourself wouldn’t have helped Aylin.”

She shook her head. “No. You said so yourself, Luca. A good mother would do anything for her child, and I stopped far before I did anything for her. I will carry this regret with me for as long as I live, knowing that I failed my little girl.”

“I’ll help you find her.”

“No!”

I shrunk away, and she cleared her throat.

“Sorry. You don’t understand, Luca. If he killed her, and my wolf finds out... She will consume me. You saw me when I attacked that poor man! You saw Ara! She’s... There’s not an ounce of humanity left in her, only spite and rage. It would send her over the edge, and I would never find my way out of that prison again. Aylin’s gone.”

Her gaze drifted over to the girl snoring on the ground beside me, and she smiled slightly.

“But Zeya isn’t. And I want to keep it that way. This time, I won’t run away.” Her fingers brushed over the scar on her cheek. “I’m not afraid of him anymore; there’s nothing else he can take from me.”

“After we sort things with the Shadow Pack, I’ll help you track down Calin. You may not think you want this, but you need closure, Eliana.”

“Luca,” she mumbled, brushing her hand over my shoulder before she stood slowly. “You don’t understand... You’re too much of a good guy to understand.”

She slowly dragged herself away then, but she sighed and turned to face me.

“I’m going to do to Calin what he did to me; I’m going to take everything that he loves, and I’m going to make him beg for death that just won’t come. Then I’ll repay him for everything he did to Aylin.” That same grin crept onto her lips, and my blood froze. “I was raised a killer, Luca. It’s just who I am, and no amount of closure or kind acts of a stranger will change that.”

“I have to believe that’s not true,” I whispered, not that she was listening.

“Some people are just bad; didn’t you say that yourself?” she called over her shoulder.

I stared at the dying fire. Some people are just bad, but Eliana wasn’t bad; she was lost.

She just needed to find her way. And I would never forgive myself if I didn’t help her find it.