Liberty (A Barren Luna)

Chapter 2

"Come here dear, give me a hug," She said with her long slender arms outstretched for me to step in between. As she squashed my body to hers I made eye contact with Luke who was smiling as he watched us, holding his mothers large suitcase. She stepped back out of the hug, one hand reaching for my stomach which she rubbed with a smile on her face. Knowing my stomach was empty, I flinched at the reminder of my miscarriage causing a confused look to slip onto her features.

"Mum, why don't you go and get freshened up while we get dinner sorted?" Luke said, noticing the awkwardness threatening to dominate the atmosphere. This was a welcome relief as I found myself nodding in agreement.

"Luke, don't treat me like a fragile old woman. You look like you need a good filling up and I'm going to achieve that by showing Anya here a few of your favourite dishes,"

"There's no need for that mum, you know you already showed me how to make them," He said with a short chuckle which I loved to hear. His words fell on deaf ears however because she was already in the kitchen fishing out ingredients to make dinner. I felt slightly lesser because while this woman probably had thousands of well known recipes at her dispense, I was still learning the ropes though the use of a cookbook since all I had been accustomed to was bread and grainy soup. Thankfully Luke was a very good cook and we shared the responsibility happily.

Luke went upstairs and I lingered at the kitchen door watching this woman move with speed as she had assembled all the ingredients she wanted within a few seconds. She was now making a kind of white sauce which simmered over the fire in a pan.

"Anything I can help with?" I stepped into the kitchen rubbing my hands together. She simply looked at me with a smile.

"It's alright dear, but you can cut up these vegetables for me. When Luke decides to come down he's going to chip in too,"

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Hours later we all sat at the dining table with plates of steaming hot lasagna in front of us. Klair had baked a large batch even though it was just three of us, and unsurprisingly Luke had managed to eat half of it without any issue.

"When I went to my room, I noticed that the room for the baby looked quite scanty.. you guys do know the baby could come anytime?" She said with laughter in her voice causing me to tense up and freeze on the spot. Luke didn't meet my eye, and his fast eating had now slowed down.

"I don't mean to intrude, I know things must be busy for you Luke concerning the pack and business wise, but Anya surely you have some things picked out?" She didn't seem to notice the change in our body language as she kept taking forkfuls of lasagna into her mouth.

"I was ordering them on the day I lost the baby," At this she froze, her eyes darting between Luke and I with her eyebrows creasing. A look of realisation washed over her followed closely by an ounce of guilt. Luke tried to reach for my hand but I snatched it away and left the room, going up the stairs. A tear threatened to fall as I walked into the room which was meant to be for our child. It was half done, painted and floored but missing the essential furnishings. I placed my palm on the wall and took a deep shaky breath while staring at the corner where the cot was meant to be in. The room was a baby blue colour, not because I was expecting a boy but because it was my favourite colour. The floor was linoleum, but we planned to put a large rug as a finishing touch. 

I was not alone in the room. I felt her presence as she came in and stood next to me with slow, careful steps.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have been so insensitive,"

"It's okay, I thought you knew,"

"Luke never told me, nobody ever tells me anything around here," She said with a sigh, "I just want you to know that there will be many more chances for you to have a child, it's not the end of it all," My heart constricted because she didn't know of my state.

"Luke is a strong leader, I knew he would be as I watched him grow. He would always try and protect us. When his father was killed, he took it so well and tried to be a rock for the pack. He stepped up to the plate without complaint. It was a glorious day, and I saw that this was the start of a new chapter for the pack. However, Luke is just 20 and his age coupled with his freshness to the Alpha position causes doubt to enter the minds of neighbouring Alphas and other enemies of the pack. He has no successor, so they're going to want to attack as soon as possible so If they eliminate him they have complete control," The guilt rose up heavily within me, I felt my shoulders being weighed down.

"I've been found to be barren. I'm sorry I can't give your son a successor," I said painfully, but the frustration allowed some iciness to slip in as she stood shocked.

I stormed out of the room once again, pushing past Luke who tried to grab me.

"Get away from me, you should've told her instead of making me relive my pain," I spat out, looking into his guilty eyes. I forced myself to turn away and enter our room, locking the door firmly shut before sliding down as he tried to get me to open it. I closed my eyes, wishing this all would go away, wishing things would be normal.