Touched

Ep.4

18 years ago in the Northern Woods,

She didn't have to look back to see if they were following her. She knew they were coming, whether she could not hear or see them. She wanted so badly that all she had just seen was a bad dream, and she ran until her feet couldn't take it any longer as tears wet her cheeks with regret for leaving behind her friends who had supported her all this time. She knew that she needed to rest after a while, as her body was heavier and more sensitive than usual.

She had to run far and get out of there, at least until she reached a safe spot. This was necessary to protect her and her baby. She had no other choice.

As the stress spread through her body, her body was responding, the hunter inside her wanting to be released. It would increase her speed and allow her to move forward faster and more comfortably. But she couldn't, she could not use her hunter, not now, not in this state.

She touched her baby bump with her hand. It was almost time. A few days later, everything would be alright. She continued to calm herself by stroking her large belly with her hand and began to move deeper into the forest, praying to the goddess that the trees would protect her.

She was filled with hope by the faint light she saw ahead. It must have been light coming from a hut. She wante to giave it a chance, smiling through the branches.

She had never imagined that this would happen when she turned towards the light.

The pain had seized first on her right arm. The arrow grazed her arm and pierced the tree next to her, and the pain that spread through her body knew that it was not a normal arrow.

There had to be some kind of poison on the tip, otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible to burn that much. As she continued to advance, increasing her speed, she could feel that the scrape that should have started to heal by now was not closing at all.

At that moment, the thought that came to his mind filled her with fear.

Wolfsbane.

There could only be one reason why her wounds were not healing and that was this flower. Her heartbeat started to speed up this time as she thought about the harm that could happen to her baby.

If they followed her here, it means that there is no one to be left. She could feel her heart getting heavier with each passing second.

She wanted to scream and shout out her pain. But she couldn't.

Everything developed so quickly no one expected them to make such an attack. They appeared out of nowhere and began to s*******r anyone who came in their way. Maybe she should never have left. She should have tried to help them somehow.

Calm down, calm down. Panicking won't help anyone.

While trying to console herself, she realized that she had come to the edge of a small lake. The tiny hut with a smoking chimney on the other side could be her shelter at least for the night.

Begging the goddess, for the hut owner to be a good person and open her/his home to her. She didn't think she could find another place to stay with this pain.She couldn't bear it any longer, her body was giving away.

She collapsed to the ground with the second wave of pain he felt as she made her way to the cabin through the trees around the lake.

This time, the pain emanating from the thin silver arrow that pierced her right upper leg engulfed her entire body. When she collapsed, the only thing on her mind was to secure her baby.

She felt that she had come to the end of the road as her face was wet with tears along with the pain radiating from his leg to her body.

"I told them you couldn't escape. Sooner or later we'll find you-"

She knew who the voice belonged to, echoing from the depths of the forest.

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and tried to hide her stomach by closing her coat tightly.

If she was lucky, she could somehow trick him and get away from here. She looked around, looking for something she could use as a weapon. But she was surrounded by tiny wildflowers.

It was then that she saw yellow eyes fixed on him in the darkness ahead. She couldn't help the fear that arose in her when he emerged from the trees and showed his large body under the moonlight.

"Excuse me, I may be a little confused. I actually aimed elsewhere." His eyes were fixed on her stomach, which she was trying to hide.

Kyrill grinned as she slid backwards, trying to cover her stomach with her bare hands.

"Don't worry, I have different plans for him."

With the shining silver dagger at his waist, he looked like a hunter slowly approaching his prey. And she could see that he was enjoying every second of it.

"Did you think I couldn't smell you next to the virgins in the temple?"

"You knew this wouldn't work if I stayed. I did the right thing. You should have stopped looking for me a long time ago."

This must have pissed him off when she said it, for Kyrill was suddenly enraged and started shouting.

"You humiliated me, humiliated me in front of my entire pack! You knew that when you left part of my soul would die!"

As he leaned closer to her, she could see the anger rising in his yellow eyes. He gripped her chin harshly, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"You know it's impossible. You're not my real mate, Kyrill"

"Then explain why you've been with me all this time. Used me to warm your bed at night."

He was right. She was with her this whole time.

But that was because she had no other choice.

She had nowhere else to go, no one else she could trust.

She thought she had found his mate, as the goddess was his witness, she thought so. Until he came.

The first time she saw him, she was struck by his blue eyes, realizing that the choice she had made was wrong.

She seemed to have known this stranger from far away for a very long time. She felt alive next to him, she had never felt like this before.

Kyrill was dear to him, but she had never felt like that with him. It was very difficult to find a real mate at the time and, in rituals, most young people leave without hope of finding a mate.

I could select my own mate, she thought, so like Kyrill. They both want to end their loneliness, for once and all.And probably the quickest way possible.

They had heard the selected mate before, but it was dangerous. You have to be sure before selecting someone as your mate.

She disregarded this warning and paid the price.

Just when she had given up hope, she found her mate.

When she was expecting at the least.

On the eve of her marriage...

He wouldn't have understood if she had told Kyrill, he would have done anything to persuade her; she knew that.

But no matter what, as a Luna, she had to stay true to her husband. The last thing she wanted was to upset Kryill.

But she couldn't resist the attraction between them, it was unlike anything else that she felt before.

She loved Kyrill, she admired him, she respected him.

But this was something else.

He was created for her.

She was created by him.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stay away from him as each cell in her body screamed Liam's name.

It didn't take long for Kyrill to find out and lose his temper. His first act was to challenge Liam to a duel to the death.

Liam was a mighty alpha, but the leaders of the peaceful packs didn't stand a chance against Kyrill from the night squad. Kida begged him to flee, trying to persuade him to secretly return to his packs grounds.

But like any lover would do, Liam accepted the challenge and fought to the death for Kida, eventually losing due to a moment of carelessness.

After Liam left, Kida could no longer breathe.

She did not want to eat anything.

She did not want to see anyone.

She wouldn't leave her room and wouldn't let Kyrill come near her.

This made him even more furious. He thought that if he won the duel, he would win Kida too, but with the result of the duel, Kida's heart was destroyed as well.

She felt incomplete, she had lost her mate, and she knew that she would never get a chance like this again.

Shortly after, she knew she had to run away when she found out about the baby in her womb. He knew that Kyrill would be suspicious and she knew that if the baby wasn't his, he would reject him.

Unfortunately, Kida wasn't sure.

There was a possibility that the baby was from Liam. However, she wanted this baby more than anything, there was something that brought her the joy of living again no matter what, and it was perhaps might be the last memory left from Liam.

She had managed to flee the area after leaving a note stating that she had rejected Kyrill as his mate. And now, the man she had been running from for months stood before her.

She knew he had Liam's blood on his hands, she could smell it on him, the scent of death...

She fixed his gaze on her eyes to show that she wasn't afraid of him. She looked at the man she had once loved, hoping to still see a part of him in this monster.

Trying to suppress the sob that came from her chest, she brought her hand to her mouth, not to show that she was weak.

She made up her mind.

Kyrill crouched slowly in front of her, grabbing her by the chin and making her look into his face again. It was perhaps the last time he looked at the beautiful face of the woman he was still hopelessly in love with.

"It was your fault if you hadn't left me-"

"He was your friend. How could you do that?"

The yellow eyes were listening to her without any reaction. "Knowing that what we're saying is true, how?"

"I gave you everything, Kida. I gave you everything you could want. I gave you myself and you threw me away like garbage at the first opportunity."

"You know that's not true." with a gentle move, she held the tiny dagger she had hidden in her boot up to his neck:

"Let me go, Kyrill."

She pressed the knife firmly against his neck to let her know she was serious, and she was startled by the laughter as she followed the trickle of blood from his neck.

"You know, Kida, when you left, I waited for you to come back. I even thought I could forgive you if you did."

Then he ran a hand over her skin which was softer than he remembered.

"You're the reason why I'm like this." He took a glance in disgust over the bump on her belly. "I won't let you have his child. This stain. Disgrace -"

"Kyrill, you don't know that. I tried to tell you, but-"

"Enough!"

"You don't want to regret this for the rest of your life!"

Kyrill didn't want to hear anymore, didn't want her to fill his mind with more of her lies.

She would do it again, leave him at the first chance she got.

He knew that's what the wlotus witches said.

When she was gone, he had to seek help from the species he disliked the most, to find her. And he had finally found her. Now it was time to end once for all.

All the suffering.

He gave her a choice, a second chance.

But she pushed him back again and again.

This was the moment he had been waiting for a long time.

This was the moment that would finally give him the relief he had been searching for all those days, weeks and months.

“This might be yours too —” Before she could finish, Kida felt a pain in her chest.

She didn't have to look to know what it was.

She was dying, and the baby in her womb would perish with her sooner or later.

Kyrill took one last look at the lover as he held her in his arms.

The beauty whose betrayal had shattered his soul.

He wiped a tear sliding down his cheek, he wasn't going to cry for him.

Kida's last words were just mere whispers as the air slowly emptied from her chest and the life slowly sucked out from her body.

This was the moment that would hurt Kyrill till the end of his life.

"I don't want to die."