Remember

Chapter 15: A Flashback

I felt numb. The pain hadn't yet hit and my mind had yet to comprehend the enormity of the situation.

They were dead, my parents, and yet the world continued to spin unchanged. There was no monumental event to mark the monumental change in my life. I was now an orphan, yet I still felt the same.

There was a stillness in the air as I allowed myself to be alone with my thoughts for the first time since it happened. I listened to the rush and gurgle of water from the falls to my left. A light mist continued to cover me, chilling my skin and tying me to reality. Preventing the nightmare from replaying itself over and over again in my head.

My every waking moment since the attack had me replaying it inside my head. The rogues snarling as they surrounded Bryce and I. My only instinct was to protect him, and I would have failed. Those precious seconds that my parents gave us to run to safety. The change that viciously ripped into me so young. The responsibility that now rested on my shoulders.

Perhaps that was what hurt the most. I had failed to protect my best friend and now I was expected to someday protect the entire pack. I was the Alphas' daughter who had failed.

The snap of a twig behind me shook me out of my thoughts. The familiar gate that followed allowed me to relax. Bryce moved quietly to sit next to me.

I shook my head, I should have known. Nobody else would have noticed when I wasn't at my Uncle's Alpha ceremony. He was being initiated as the new Alpha until I came of age to take on the mantle myself.

Neither of us spoke, there was just solace in each others company. I don't know how long we sat there, side by side, but never speaking. The fog hung to the ground and water in the early morning light, isolating it from the rest of the world.

Finally, Bryce broke the silence. "It's not your fault." He whispered to me, his silver eyes emploring my own.

I scoffed before I replied. "But it is. I wasn't strong enough or fast enough. If I was then we could have escaped without them dying! It's all my fault! I will never be a true Alpha!" I barely noticed the tears that had begun cascading down my face as I spoke.

I buried my face in my hands, my tears streaking paths down my face. Bryce's arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me towards him, holding me tight.

"We are just kids Asteria, don't forget that. Yes, someday we are expected to lead the pack, but we still have time to learn. You are not a failure. You are the youngest Lycan to ever shift, not to mention one of the best fighters in the pack. You are many things Asteria, a failure is not one of them."

For a while we just sat there, curled in each other, finding solace in the company of a friend.

As the fog began to lift the isolation of the falls began to lift as well. Reality and necessity came crashing back to me.

"We need to get back to the pack," I said, breaking the trance that surrounded us.

Bryce sighed but then nodded. We both got up and began the trek back to the pack.

Before I stepped into the house that once belonged to my parents, and now to my uncle, Bryce grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. "Anything you need Asteria, I'm here for you. I promise."

The solemn nature of his speech spoke to me, a promise that he would never break, and die to keep.

"Thank you." I kissed his cheek before taking a deep breath and stepping through the doorway.

Nothing could have prepared me for the sight that greeted me whenever I did. Standing over top of my Aunt and one of the elders from the pack was my Uncle. His eyes glowed the same red color as the rogues and the same madness oozed off of him. The belt in his hands was a weapon of pain and destruction to the two people lying beneath of him. The crack of the belt through the air and the accompanying screams of pain sent me flying into action.

Before I knew what was happening I was standing between my uncle and the two members of my pack that he was hurting. My lips curled into a snarl as I stood toe to toe with him. I didn't know what I was doing, I had only instinct to guide me, and in that moment I knew that I had to protect them, that I had to stop their pain, no matter the cost.

He met my gaze inch for inch, his will trying to push me to submit, but my beast couldn't recognize the authority of a mad man.

His hand came up and slapped me. My head cracked to the side but I remained upright. I would never kneel to him. In the next instant, I felt the belt crack against my back, tearing through skin and muscle and bone. Each crack of the whip was agony, but I dare not scream out. I couldn't give him the satisfaction of my reaction.

With his entire attention fixed on me, I let my thoughts spread to the two people who lay forgotten to my left.

"Run. Run home and do not return."

I felt their respect in my mind as they moved slowly away. Away from pain and misery. Away from the man who called himself Alpha, yet was no alpha.

He was not fit to run a pack, to provide the leadership that it required. Yet at the same time, neither was I. I was just a kid, no one would recognize my authority, not yet at least.

The beating continued the crack of the whip mixed with the scream of my flesh. My every heightened sense was cataloging every instant. The smell of blood and sweat and their constant dripping onto the floor in a slow and did rhythmic pace.

I retreated into my mind, I became an observer to my own pain as my thoughts continued to race. I couldn't ascend to be Alpha yet, I hadn't yet come of age nor was I strong enough to defeat him in combat, yet.

As my thoughts continued racing to and fro, I found only one course of action. I would have to endure, I would protect others from his rage and run the pack from behind the scenes. It was the only way.

Well that got intense! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please comment to let me know what you thought. I want to improve and the only way is through feedback. Also, don't forget to vote! See you next week!