The blood of an Astorian Alpha will make us rise again...
"EARTH TO LYLA."
Lyla's eyes snapped towards Liam's, his holding a look of confusion as Venus paid no mind to them, engrossed in her conversation with her mate. Lyla gave him an inquisitive look, being oblivious to the dozed off state she was previously in.
"You alright there? You've been out of it for ten minutes." Liam stated as he was chewing on his fries.
"Yeah...I guess drinking just threw me off last night. Kept having weird hallucinations when I got home. I don't know, it means nothing." Lyla shrugged it off as if it was nothing but knowing it was anything but. It was plaguing her mind.
After coming home from the senior bonfire at Crystal Cliff, her mind and body was drowned in blurred and drunken thoughts. It felt as if a million voices were speaking at once, their voices holding a sinister yet enticing tone as they lured her into the darkness of their abyss. Instead of being drunk off of the tequila and vodka that still burned in her blood, it was the voices leaving her in a drunken state.
But at random seconds, all the voices would sync into one, all repeating the same line, over, and over, and over again, almost as if they are chanting a spell of the dead. Her last remaining thought was seeing a pair of almost white irises staring into hers, but instead of the light, they held the dark.
Lyla had woken up the next morning as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn't had one too many shots past her limit to send her into an alcoholic frenzy. She had no hangover, no agonizing headache...nothing. Just the remembrance of those voices in her head...and those eyes.
And now here she was, a Saturday afternoon with her usual group, laying in the sun with food varying in different fast food restaurants displayed all over the picnic blanket. Even though no one had a hangover, everyone still craved the typical junk-food munchies. It was six fast food restaurant stops later until they got to where they were now, drowning in junk food and coke cola.
"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you guys!" Venus sparked up, diverting her attention away from her mate. "There was a breach at the border last night. A man from Etherion came uninvited towards the castle while we were at the bonfire."
"Wait, what? Why make an unannounced visit? The Alpha usually lets people from Etherion come in as long as they're accompanied." Lyla said, then glancing towards Liam who only shrugged his shoulders.
"Beats me. I mean, we all know the bad blood between us two but...that still makes it weird. I heard one of the border patrols speaking about it while you guys were getting the food. All I know is that he's locked down in the palace."
While the girls spoke, Liam opened his mind link with the Alpha, knowing full well that this was not meant to be public information. He kept the link open during most of the conversation until Venus grew bored and changed the topic, but only leaving Liam wanting to know more. Why?
"But hey, the Harvest Ball is just around the corner, and then Halloween. Who's ready for the werewolf takeover?" Caden chipped in whilst his arms were wrapped around his mate's waist, leaning his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent as if it were his favorite drug.
Lyla rolled her eyes as she finished her milkshake. "I'll be trapped in my room all day so I mean, it'll be like New Years for me."
Liam poked Lyla's side playfully. "No need to be sour, you know it's only for one night."
She shrugged her shoulders as she knew she should be used to Halloween being the only night she felt at odds with everyone else. It was the only night of the year where her existence must be ignored, but remembered that she isn't one of them. The werewolves amongst themselves pose no threat to one another, but with a human in the mix, it's a recipe for disaster.
Even when Lyla was barely a year old, she would spend most of that day on her own, only to be checked up on every few hours or so to make sure she was safe, fed, and comfortable. It was all she knew that day to be, a day of force abandonment just to keep her existence safe. As a precaution, she would be surrounded by wolfsbane, as well as having juices from the plant itself poured into her formula. Everything was done to keep her safe, yet she felt like a princess trapped in her tower.
"It is what it is. I'm used to it. I just wish I could celebrate with everyone instead of being out casted."
"Once you bear the mark of your future mate, you will be able to join us. Your scent will be masked as us, so you'll practically be one of the pack." Venus stated.
Lyla sighed. "But that depends on whether or not a guy will want to take the human girl under his wing to begin with. Every guy here wants a strong female so they can have a successful bloodline for generations to come in. Having a human tamper with those genetics is just a turn off."
Venus looked towards Lyla with a sympathetic look on her face. In their girly chats that didn't include Liam nor Caden, this was all Lyla could talk about. She was a girl feeling unwanted by the world, and that is possibly one of the worst feelings anyone could experience. No one wants to be alone, even the most-stubborn of them all, like Venus, who used to claim she would be just fine not having a mate.
Now here she was, three years into her mating with Caden and she was addicted to him.
Envy was what Lyla would experience when she would glance at Venus and Caden. She wished and prayed to the Moon Goddess herself to give her someone to love her just as much as he loved her. Or simply just the look Caden would give to Venus would be enough. Just something. Or hopefully, someone.
"Don't worry, pipsqueak. You'll always have me when we're old in our rockers telling the kids to get off the lawn." Liam joked as he pulled Lyla into his side, giving her a reassuring hold making a small giggle escape her lips.
"Now, time to discuss transportation and time schedules for the ball. I am not showing up with any of you late like last year or I will feed you to the vampires in Sweden." And there went Venus.
❖❖❖
Saturday led to be uneventful as soon as the group dispersed. Liam went to training, and as per usual, Venus escaped with Caden to his place to spend the rest of the weekend together. As for Lyla, she went home and submerged herself into the living room couch, and a giant cozy blanket.
A bowl of her mother's stew rested in her lap and she skimmed through the various channels, looking for something to stay situated on. But her mind grew restless as nothing seemed to satisfy her. Instead, she ate in silence as all that could be heart was her mother cleaning in the kitchen.
Her honey eyes stayed transfixed on the window that looked towards the woods as the sun was setting upon it. Even with the sky being golden hues of pink and orange, the weather said otherwise as it had finally started to drop in temperature. Fall was now here as the leaves were no longer remaining on the trees. They were no longer green, but shades of warm colors that matched the sky.
Although they may be dying, death seemed beautiful until the very end. Until they were gone. Until they were brown.
Lyla continued eating her stew as her eyes stayed glued to the window, on the inside looking out. Her heart seemed to slow in pace, as her body grew warm with heat. Her blood felt as if was on fire, making the hairs on her arms stand erect. As much as she felt at ease, she felt intimidated. It was almost as if her barely noticeable animal instincts were taking over her senses...she was on edge.
Her head cocked to the side in curiosity as she set her bowl of stew down on the cocktail table in front of her. She kept the blanket that was previously on her lap wrapped around her slim shoulders as she shuffled her feet towards the window. Her eyes stayed glued onto the forest, not once letting her gaze shift anywhere else. She was in a trance.
But as she got closer, she saw a pair of golden irises that blended in with the changing leafs. They held no threat, and gave Lyla no fear. She felt...confused.
She knew the eyes that stared into her honey brown ones. The same ones that had visited her the night prior. That wolf was back, and this time closer. She wanted to go outside, but her instincts told her not to. It was a battle between her head and her heart. Logic, and well...she didn't know how to explain the other half. Logic and confusion.
The staring continued and felt as if it had been hours since they had looked away from one another. She felt like the prey, the lamb, and the wolf was her predator. But, there was still no fear. Only them.
"Oh shoot!" Shouted Lyla's mother as a dish came crashing towards the hard wooden surface, shattering as it landed.
Lyla was only in her trance, now startled as her heart escalated from calm to running a marathon. She looked back towards the kitchen, seeing her mother pick up the large pieces of glass before looking back towards the window, finding the golden irises gone, again.
She sighed in discontentment before shaking her head, just telling herself it was only an illusion before going to help her mother clean up the shattered pieces of glass that littered the floor.
"I swear this is becoming a weekly occurrence." Lyla chuckled as she retrieved the broom and pan for her mom who only huffed in response.
"Your father is going to kill me when I tell him he needs to go back to the store to buy more plates. Soon enough he's going to be forcing us to eat on paper ones instead."
"Oh the horror. Less dishes to clean up off the floor. Let me submit that storyline to Stephen King. He'd be thrilled." Lyla deadpanned as she helped her mother clean up the mess.
"Always a smartass, Lyla. Remind me to smack your father for giving you that tongue of yours." Her mother, Penelope, tried to be serious, but only laughing as soon as she finished her sentence. She could never harm her mate, nor could she blame her daughter for her comments. "You're lucky I love you."
Lucky is an understatement...Lyla thought to herself, only smiling in return.
Lyla was no moron when it came to how she was brought to the Luna Dea Islands. Her existence never started in the islands of the werewolves, but on a small island called Long Island that resided in New York, her birthplace.
Being brought to this mystery of a home was a stroke of luck, as she was left to an orphanage by a junkie of a mother and a father going in and out of prison. Neither of them knew the fate their daughter was left with after they dropped her off at the orphanage. No one knew that she would end up in the hands of werewolves, a myth, a beautiful myth of a creature.
But being in Astoria left no questions to her mind as this was all she knew. She didn't know what it was like to live with humans. Those two months she spent with her birth parents left nothing in her mind, only darkness.
Her first memories that she could remember began when she was three and meeting Liam for the first time. Then came the attempt of putting her into ballet classes, only to cry as soon as she was on stage, eventually leading to her parents giving up on it all together.
Werewolves was all she knew. And in all her existence, never once had she met another human. Although she was human, and she knew that very well, she felt like one with the people of the Luna Dea Islands. She was the odd one out, the last person picked during dodgeball, the one that received the questioning stares, but, they accepted. As they had no choice in the first place.
Lyla had become the first, and most likely the last human to set foot on the islands. She was history for these land masses, and history meant the past, not the future. Even if she were to have children of her own one day, they would still be werewolves as the genes of those are stronger than a human's.
But in all this chaos and utter oddness, Lyla still felt lucky, she still felt blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. She was blessed to be chosen to come to these islands and be the child to her parents, Penelope and Cedric. She was blessed to have Liam and Venus as her best friends and give her the confidence she needs to carry on with herself, believe in herself that she is meant to be here.
Fate has a weird way of working out, and maybe something more would come from this. But Lyla tried not to dive down that rabbit hole as it was far too deep, and far too dark for her to handle. She was still fragile, still confused and lost with her path as most people would be at her age. She didn't want to cause more mental harm to herself as she was her biggest villain.
We, ourselves, are our biggest enemy. We hold the key to the insecurities and pain to ourselves. And only we have the power to use it against us, to make every day another day of suffering. Lyla was at a constant battle with herself everyday as the seasons would change time and time again.
But, she tried to find the light, the hope that still lingered inside of her. The voice in the back of her head told her to keep the hope lingering inside of her, the light that still tried to shine through the cracks called herself. One can only try for so long and so hard, but Lyla knew not to give up. There was something more out there.
It was only up to time to reveal what that is. But time isn't infinite, and sometimes the time will reverse itself.
❖❖❖
And I hope you enjoyed the first chapter back into Astoria. This is more like a filler/information you want/should take in. But, exciting things are happening very very soon! Also, this is just my first chapter back so excuse the typos and grammar errors. Just getting into the swing of things. Once again, hope you enjoyed chapter five!
-MesmerizingSoul
P.S. Goal 5 Votes & 5 Comments