Moon Bound

(30)The Last Resort |Scarlet's POV|

It was a common belief amongst the moon children that mates were salvation. Medicine to old wounds and new, they'd light up the world when you folded, they'd raise you up when you fell, they'd lead you with a hand clasped around yours when you didn't know the way.

For the moon children the bond meant magic and love; to me, it was a quick fix for the sickness in our world.

A future defined by the Moon.

Mom died eight years ago. That day, sitting by her bed as she whispered to me those shameful secrets, I could still remember it with such clarity I could almost convince myself it was just yesterday that it happened, that she revealed it.

The truth.

"He's not your father, Scarlet. He's my mate but he isn't your father," she had said, her frail hand shaking while holding mine.

"Mom?" Just a child back then, I couldn't understand what she was telling me.

"Jackson... he's not your father." Lips that could hardly move, her voice was so weak it was barely a whisper that came out.

"I can still see him when I look into your eyes. You have the exact same eyes, Scarlet... the exact same eyes," she choked, the speech breaking off into a sudden fit of coughing.

"Here, let me help--"

"No." She swatted away the hand holding the tissue. "You need to know. I need to tell you before it's too late. I must be the one to tell you..." her words trailed off as another spasm shook her body.

The shame.

"I met my mate first but it was your father... he was the one I fell for... I'd lie to Jackson and sneak out to meet with your father, Scarlet." She sighed.

For minutes long, I just looked at her, at the shining tears in her blue eyes as she tried to keep them in, those memories she was remembering swimming in the pools.

"We'd go dancing or stay out just watching the stars while he told me his stories. We'd make love while Sky whispered sweet nothings in my ears. And the next day, I'd go meet the mate who showered me with presents. Jackson would visit my parents' house every day back then. He talked with them about our mating and our future together and every time he did, I looked into his eyes and told him I wasn't ready. I'd tell him I wasn't ready and then I'd go meet my lover until..."

The guilt.

"Until one night, he just didn't come. I'd wait for him for weeks but he wouldn't come. My belly grew. I started wearing bigger clothes, tried to hide it from Jackson who would say that it was alright, that he could wait until I was ready, that he understood. But regardless of how blind her was, people eventually started to notice the changes in me. They would ask me if I had gained weight and I'd say it was just nerves. And then they stopped asking."

The misery.

"I would hear them whispering around me if it was my mate's child I carried in my belly. I would see Jackson secretly glancing at me when he thought I wasn't watching. Once and then, I would catch him saying that it was his child but then I would see them glancing at me with that kind of look on their faces that said it all. They knew he was lying.

"They would call me a whore and a cheater behind my back but they'd always make sure I was close enough to hear it. And I wouldn't do anything. I would just keep my head low and avoid their eyes."

Just like the words she was saying, feelings spilled out from her eyes. Her small face, just an older version of mine, contorted with pain.

The pain that she had finally allowed herself to share.