The Luna's Sacrifice

Chapter 4: A Desperate Cry

*Zana's POV*

I open my eyes, and the first rays of sun have not yet appeared through the window. A few seconds later, the pain in my body reminds me of the beating that Dad gave me last night. I suppress a moan of pain in my throat. If only I had already gained my Lycan, I could heal faster, and my suffering would be just a bad memory. But, while that happens, I have to hold on and cry in silence. Many times I've felt surrendered to the pain while Lina tended to my wounds; she is the only good thing I have left. The quadruplets have been sent away with the excuse of taking care of their territories, and Huitz is almost never here. Dad has taken it upon himself to always keep him busy, away from home, 'away from the traitor'.

I couldn't sleep thinking about Dad wanting to get rid of me, send me away from the valley. I can't, I don't want to! I can't go. I have to catch whoever was behind Mom's death, and I'll never be able to do that if they kick me out of here.

"Think, Zana, think!" I say to myself, trying to find a solution. Huitz! Yes! Surely, he has already arrived to be prepared for the pack's banquet! Maybe he can talk to Dad and convince him not to send me away from here. But how do I get to meet him, how do I get to his side of the castle? Dad has forbidden me from leaving here.

"I got it!" I go to take a bath with salts and herbs to heal my wounds and finish putting together what could be my last chance to remain in my pack.

"Lina, I need your help. It's very risky, but I need to see my brother, I need to see him, I have to talk to him," I tell Lina with pleading eyes.

"But Zana, your father has forbidden you..."

"Technically, he forbade me from going out, but he never said that no one could come in, and he hasn't forbidden you either."

"Zana, I don't think that logic applies to Alpha Yowalli, and if someone discovers it, not only us will be in danger, Huitz also could put his future at risk."

"You're right, I don't know what I was thinking," I respond to Lina with a feeling of defeat, frustration, and absolute sadness.

"Okay, I'll do it, but I don't know what can change. You know that when your father makes a decision, there is no one who can make him change his mind."

"Yes, I know, only Mom had that power. Since she's gone, a part of Dad died with her," I say between sobs, without realizing it. Lina leaves the room with her body covered with a shawl. As she crosses the door, the guard posted at the entrance immediately begins to question her:

"Who are you, identify yourself!"

"It's me, Lina," she answers, adjusting her shawl a little to show her face.

"Where are you going, woman?"

"I need to go to the healer. The princess needs more ointments to treat her wounds."

"Hurry up, it is forbidden for you to wander around freely."

"Yes, thank you."

Lina walks away, and I let out the air I didn't know I was holding in my chest. Now to wait.

While I wait for an answer, I decide to continue practicing for the banquet. If I still have the chance to make Dad proud of me, even if it's just a facade for the visitors, this might be the only time I can be treated like that again, like the daughter of the respected and feared Alpha of the Nahual pack. This will be the first time that leaders of other packs will set foot on our lands since Mama's funeral rituals. After that day, it is an open secret that Papa hates anyone who does not belong to the pack and maintains all relations with foreign packs to the slightest, bartering and business between merchants have decreased, and that has greatly affected our pack, but Dad refuses to listen to anyone other than Xali... that witch has him under a spell.

I go to the chest where I assume my anklets are, but for some reason, there is only one of them. I search the room without finding it; I wonder if it has fallen somewhere in the garden. Carefully, I peek my face through a crack between the barricades that have been placed on the windows. It's useless; I can't see practically anything around here; I'll have to send Lina to look for it when she returns.

But why is it taking so long? Nerves are taking over me; I can't do anything but curl up in a corner and hug myself, trying to contain my trembling body.

I don't know how much time has passed, but suddenly I start hearing noises from the other side of the door, and after a few brief moments, I see Lina, and behind her, my brother. My brother! Here! As I quickly get up from the floor and throw myself into his arms, my words drowned in my crying, unable to come to the surface. Huitz hugs me and gently caresses my hair, trying to comfort me.

"Shh, shh, calm down, don't cry; tell me what happened? Why are you locked up?"

"It's Dad; and Xali, they want to send me away, they want to get rid of me," I say through tears. "I need your help, please, I know that I have no right to ask you for anything, but I beg you, I don't want to leave, I need to stay here, I need to find out who is behind Mom's murder."

"Zana, are you still thinking of that? It's been 5 years; nothing you do is going to bring her back to us; no one could find the damned murderer, not even me. Only you were present, and you could never give an explanation for what happened."

"I swear by my blood, I did not kill Mom, I swear by all my generations. Why doesn't anyone believe me?" I cry desperately.

Without any shame, I fall to my younger brother's feet, and in my desperation, I hug myself at his feet, asking for mercy and compassion. He, surprised, tries to lift me up, but I refuse; I hug him with my forehead pressed to the floor.

"What are you doing? Did you lose your mind? Get up! You are the first daughter of an alpha; you should not kneel before anyone other than him."

"I don't care; nothing matters anymore; you will be the heir, you my brother, the youngest, will be the new leader, so I am not ashamed. Please help me, and I swear by the Moon Goddess that I will always be grateful to you, help me so that Dad does not give me away to another pack and keep me away from here."

"You know that Dad is never going to change his mind, right? It doesn't matter if the entire pack asks him to; if it's already decided, there will be nothing I can do. But I will try to speak with him, for you. After all, you are my only sister."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I repeat incessantly. Suddenly I feel a little dazed and dizzy; I think I'm going to faint.

Huitz takes me in his arms and places me on my bed. I hear him speak briefly with Lina before leaving. When we are left alone, Lina is crying silently while she tries to make me react, but I feel that my mind is falling further and further away from reality, and I am plunged into darkness.