Chapter Twenty One: An empty Street

Layla's Point Of View

When my mother told me she had the solution to all this, but I would have to get to the ritual ground late. She took me to her room, leaving the maid that came with me in the living room, I was still perplexed. My mother knew of such things and she has never said a word to me.

It took me several minutes to take in what was before me; it looked like a chanting room with different portions boiling, I moved back and was about to run out when my mother said, "And where do you think you are running to? Are you no longer interested in becoming the next Luna of this kingdom?".

But I couldn't respond as I stared at the woman right before me.

"Who are you?" I asked immediately. I was afraid to get my voice heard. I didn't know what else to think or say as I stood and wondered. I had lived here all my life without knowing this kind of love existed.

"You do not have to know who I am, except for the fact that I am Your mother and I will do anything for you to achieve whatever you desire. Here, here, drink this," she handed over to me the colourless liquid she scooped from the boiling pot right before me

"What is this?, and why should I trust you? I didn't know this part of your life; why should I trust the other parts? I do not know." I was looking at her, refusing to take the liquid she was handing over to me.

"Well, this will help nullify the mark on your forehead, as it will shine like the others before the moon goddess. She knows you are an intruder, but the law has stated that she has no right to reject you when she sees the light.".

She said as she caressed my cheek and strewed the cup towards me, "So, my child, the choice is yours now, to either choose to be the next Luna or die not being one," mother said, staring right into my eyes. I collected the portion and drank it.

It went down into my stomach with no taste of any kind. I began to feel dizzy, I asked, "What have you done to me?" I said, trying to stand up, but my mother held me down. "Calm down, child, and let it do its work; in no time you will feel better.".

Mother said as I stared right into the room scared. I felt uncomfortable for some time before I got myself back and made my way right out without any hesitation. I headed back to the palace with the guard and maid.

I got back to the palace in no time and prepared for the ritual, and to my surprise, no one was called out as we all made our way back to her room after the encounter with the moon goddess. She was not only beautiful, but perfect.

She was the definition of a perfect world, but I was still driven by the occurrence at my mother's home, which I had no one to explain to me. For now, I will have to focus on winning to be able to spend a day with the alpha, and with that, I can seduce him to fall in love with me.

This I told myself as I took off the gown, made my way right into the washroom to wash off all the sweat, and then headed back to my bed. Only then did my maid leave my room. Sometimes I feel mostly pitiful for her.

As the only time she gets to leave is when I retire to bed and nothing more, I said to myself as I obeyed the call of nature. The bed was so soft that it was easy to sleep in it for hours and lose the desire to get out of it and get on with the daily activities. I laid down and in no time, I was dozing away.

"Ralph, wait up for me," I called out to him as he looked back and smiled. "You will have to catch us," he said, referring to him and our child. I noticed my belly was slightly swollen as I tried to run after them, but I needed to slow down.

As the baby was too heavy to run around with, after so much chasing, Ralph finally came to me and hugged me and kissed me. I didn't know what else to think about this perfect life that I have been living.

"Come on, let's go for dinner," I said as I held on to our son, who was a replica of Ralph. I was so happy as one of the maids helped me with my dress, and we headed right to the dining hall to get ourselves settled for dinner.

We chatted and played while eating as we took our son to his room. I sat in a rocking chair as I watched Ralph read a bedtime story for our son without so much love. In no time, our son slept right off, and we made our way right to our room.

Ralph held my hands and we headed to the room. As we laid down, he cuddled with me as we slept off for the night. The next morning I woke up to an empty bed beside me. I didn't think much of it as I stood up and went in search of him.

But as I walked through the hall, everything seemed overly silent and empty. I woke up in the throne room, and there was no guard. Neither did I meet a maid. On my way down there, it took several minutes for me to calm down as I made my way to the nursery.

Where my son was to be but everything was empty, I called out, "Helloo, Ralph." I called, but my voice only echoed back and forth towards me as I ran out of the palace. I checked my stomach; there was no baby in there anymore.

I ran all the way home, but I didn't meet a single soul. It was silent, and everywhere was empty. What's going on? I asked myself as I got there. I knocked hurriedly on the door, but no one answered. I turned the door knob, and it opened.

I went right in to meet and empty my home; no one was there. I was beginning to get scared. I screamed in my voice, as I couldn't bear to see this anymore. What was going on?

I jerked up and screamed at the top of my voice and was held down by the maids as I opened my eyes to see that I was now surrounded by the alpha and his dad and the maids, who were looking terrified at the moment; it was all a dream after all.