Whispers From the Moon (Complete - Editing)

Chapter 23

Hadrien

My voice died out, as did the voices of the other wolves, as an echo of our broken song seemed to whisper in the breeze. Inside me, the place that had always been occupied by Loup was empty, leaving me cold and alone. The area in my chest where my heart once beat was an empty chasm of darkness with its broken pieces digging into me painfully like shards of glass lodging themselves deeper with every breath. Nyra was gone, after everything; the months of searching and planning; sleepless nights; clinging desperately to my last threads of hope for her... all for her to end herself. Her body had been put through too much, her mind could no longer cope with who she truly was, leaving her body and wolf helpless to its tortured thoughts and acts.

I still remember that moment that will forever be seared into my memory like a burning brand. The sickening crack of her wolf's neck snapping, the searing pain that shot up my spine and the agonising cry of Loup as the link between them was severed. His pain and sorrow hit me like a brick wall as he retreated from my mind, the link between us closing up and the loneliness consuming me, leaving me hollow and empty. As Nyra herself was still alive at this point, I was not as badly affected, it was more the sudden loss of Loup that struck me in those first minutes. I remember Red trying to take me away from her whilst I struggled to stay with her, until the rock came flying at my face and darkness consumed me.

Only, it wasn't darkness. I was back in that dark place of nightmares. Loup stood beside me, a  broken look in his eyes as he stared at two figures intently. I turned in the direction of his gaze, and my heart stopped. Trinity stood over Nyra, gazing at her human in a combination of love and sadness; waiting for her time to come. Loup whined softly and tried to approach her, but an invisible barrier stopped him. He turned to me helplessly, whimpering in pain for his mate and I knelt down beside him, burying my hands in the thick fur around his neck. He pressed his forehead against mine, his silver eyes meeting mine and finding strength in them. We were both broken, but if we had each other, we might just stand a chance... maybe.

At that moment, a searing pain shot through my chest where my heart once beat. I cried out, doubling over in pain as Loup whimpered helplessly, licking at my face in a futile attempt to comfort me. I turned back to the figures, and felt my last hopes crumble away. Nyra was slowly getting up, a bewildered look on her face as Trinity greeted her sadly; her eyes forlorn and broken, feeling a similar pain to ours. I expected Nyra to break down as I watched Trinity break the news to her, but she did the complete opposite. Her gaze hardened, the ice that I had become accustomed to in the training videos slammed down on her eyes, creating an impenetrable wall. She laid a hand on Trinity's scruff, allowing her wolf to guide her into the inky darkness. Loup began to panic as they grew ever smaller, barking frantically and clawing at the barrier in a desperate attempt to reach them.

As their distant forms finally disappeared, I felt myself being forcefully dragged back into consciousness by Loup, back to the dismal reality. I was thrown to the back of our mind as he wrenched us free of the two wolves' grips. He sprinted towards where Nyra and Trinity had been covered with a blanket, shifting as he ran as his instincts took over him. His mind was no longer the wolf I had known all these years, his thoughts were primal and animalistic as a need to protect what was his overcame him and tore down all common sense. He nuzzled their bodies, and when no response came, he began to whimper and whine, terror filling his mind. I tried to reach out to him, but he had placed a barrier between us, preventing me from communicating with him. When the wolf within him finally came to terms with the grim reality, the emotions what slammed against the wall were worse than before, the wild animal not able to comprehend why this had happened. I was glad that the wall was there now, I might not have been able to cope with the pain.

What happened next was something I never expected, and something I had only ever heard one other werewolf do in my lifetime. He threw back his head; and howled. Every piece of our shattered soul was thrown into that one, low, heartbreaking note as above us, the full moon gave off her pearlescent glow, taunting us with broken promises. As one by one, the wolves around me joined in on our song, what remained of my heart swelled with something distantly related to joy as these wolves showed their support for us and mourned their lost Luna in the most sacred way possible. Because, unlike regular wolves, werewolves barely ever howled, it was reserved for only rare occasions; usually as a way of mourning. But a chorus of howls had only ever been heard twice before in werewolf history, and those were to mark the passing of the first werewolf king and then the Oracle 19 years ago. The only other time I had heard a howl, was on Nyra's Birth Night when we found each other; something that was meant to be a blessing but was instead a curse.