Nightfall

Nightfall 6: Full Moon

"Your first life fades when the snow moon shows its face..."

EURUS

"Itigil mo na. Kaya kong maglakad," mariing wika ko. Tumatambol ang dibdib ko dahil sa kaba. Hindi ordinaryong pusa si White. Imposibleng makaligtas siya sa pang-amoy ni Eclipse. Kailangan ko siyang mailayo kay White sa kahit anong paraan.

"Why are you so stubborn?" salubong ang kilay na tanong niya. Hindi pa rin niya itinitigil ang kotse. Wala siyang balak sumunod sa 'kin.

"My parents will get the wrong idea. Just stop here," inis na wika ko. Mariin kong hinawakan ang kanang pulsuhan niya. Malalim siyang bumuntonghininga at walang babalang nagpreno. Nilingon niya ako. There was no humor in his eyes. He stared at me with bored eyes.

"Who cares about your parents?" walang konsiderasyong tanong niya.

Tiningnan ko siya nang masama. "Siguro wala kang mga magulang kaya ka nakapagsasalita nang ganyan," inis na sabi ko. It was my time to get out of the car. His eyes became distant.

"We're different. What humans consider as family can never be family for us. We can easily break trust for power," he answered. "Some werecats are ambitious."

I chuckled. "Humans are ambitious too," mahinang wika ko. Why was he taking this seriously? Something was off.

"Loyalty is everything in your pack, right? Like werewolves? It's something I read in books," nag-aalangang saad ko.

"We're not living inside a book. This is not even a movie. This is real life," naiiling na sabi niya. Halata sa mukha niya na ayaw niyang ipaliwanag sa 'kin ang lahat. "Those you trust can break you the most."

"Did your parents break you?" mahinang tanong ko. I should go now but I couldn't sate my curiosity. "Hindi ka ba kabilang sa kanila? Do you belong in another pack?"

"I belong in their pack," mariing sagot niya.

"That's odd. Mas lalo mong ginugulo ang isip ko. What's your rank? I mean, alpha, beta or omega? Something like the rank of werewolves?" I sounded like I didn't have any ideas at all.

"I hate it when you're bringing up those werewolves," he growled under his breath. Pinigil ko ang tawa ko. Of course, werecats hated those werewolves. I didn't think there were werewolves in this part of the world. There was an agreement between us that we would stay away from each other as much as possible. Our territories were already determined. Final. Werewolves would never cross our borders and we would never cross theirs. We did that to avoid bloodshed.

"So, what's your rank?" I asked with impatience. I slowly opened the door. Baka magbago pa ang isip niya.

Pinag-aralan niya ang anyo ko. Tinitimbang niya kung sasabihin ba niya sa 'kin ang totoo o hindi.

"I'm the beta," he answered honestly. He didn't falter. He didn't consider me as a threat. I secretly snorted. Kung alam lang niya kung ano talaga ako.

Hindi ko kilala ang mga umatake sa pamilya ko. Maybe I could get some information from him.

"So, your father is the alpha?" tanong ko pa. His eyes turned blank. His grip tightened on the steering wheel as he nodded.

"You don't like him?" kunot-noong tanong ko.

"I don't like his ways," he answered. Iniwas niya ang tingin sa 'kin.

"How can you transform? Do you have a spirit cat or something? Is it possible to unlink yourself from those things?" I curiously asked.

Umigting ang mga panga niya. Tiningnan niya ako na parang nababaliw na ako. "Ang dami mong tanong. I do have a cat inside me. But I never tried to unlink myself from it. It will become the death of me."