Lucy’s POV
Breaths were frozen in the still air. People of Moongrowl and Bloodbath stood, looking up at Shaun and I, standing right at the market square. We had called up an urgent meeting days after to bring to their attention the execution of Finn Vinci, son of the man who had been trying for years to murder the triplets because he wanted to gain possession of Moongrowl.
Ahmad had come to watch the execution as well, and when I saw him, his eyes expressed anger as he looked at the tied, kneeling Finn, whose face was coated in tears and sweat.
“Please, please, please,” he kept begging under his breath, shaking terribly. He was now in a sleeveless top and his cotton underwear. His hands were tied together with rope secured so tightly that it would have been almost impossible for him to get free.
During his interrogation, he had confessed that he didn’t have a strong wolf like his father or sister; so weak that he was considered an outcast. This was the reason why he had not received as much respect from his family. To them, he had been a weak link, someone merely just there to be treated like a servant and nothing more.
His execution drew near, and after the people were informed of the crimes he had committed alongside his father and sister, they soon started to demand for his head as well.
The poisoned people during the Moon Festival had been healed up, fortunately, thanks to the help of Katrina and the oher doctors working hand-in-hand to come up with a cure that could neutralize the wolfsbane poison. No one died, thankfully, but some had expressed more serious symptoms, and had to be taken to the hospital to recuperate.
I personally would have preferred for him to have been kept in a dungeon for the rest of his life, so that the thought of his dead father and sister would drive him crazy. So that as time went on, he too, would have started to beg for death. It was the best he deserved for being in on a plot that has led to the deaths of his aunt and uncle.
The quest for power made people do terrible things. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Vladimir had killed the triplets’ parents just so that he would have gotten access to the title of Alpha.
So much evil, merely for the pursuit of power. Had it been worth it?
“Give us his head!” the people at the square demanded, angry. They threw their fists into the air and stomped their feet in some kind of battle choreography.
As their chanting continued, so did Finn’s trembling. Now, his face was not only coated in tears, sweat and dirt, but his nose had started to release a steady stream of mucus that ran out of his nostrils and touched the strands of hair constituting his stringy mustache.
“No . . .” he kept begging, shaking his head as two guards picked him up by the arms from the floor and pushed him up to the podium of the market square.
As soon as he came into full view, the roars increased begging for death. They turned violent, and nothing could have prepared us for what was coming next.
Then, the rocks came. The first one hit him right between the eyes, sending his head hurling back on his neck. The sickening resounding crack echoed even through the chanting calling for his blood.
“That’s for my sister your family almost killed!” a tall woman in an apron said, pointing a finger at Finn.
Her action was replicated by other members of the pack, until those of us close to him also on the podium had to shift away to avoid getting hit by the onslaught of rocks as well.
Stone after stone was thrown, until all that was left of Finn of a bloody, shaking mess with broken bones.
But still, he was breathing. Somehow, no rock thrown had struck a killing blow.
“Death is too good for him!” someone screamed from the crowd, and this seemed to resonate with everyone present.
When the people were satisfied, they dropped their rocks of their own accord and remained in wait for the next thing we wanted to tell them.
Shaun walked up to the podium, head held high. Under his directive, a groaning Finn was dragged off the podium, leaving a trail of blood on the ground.
We had discussed this part days earlier, and even without any sort of persuasion on my end, he had wholly agreed.
Seth was the one better with words, and might have been a better choice for this sensitive information that Shaun wanted to pass across, but he wasn’t available.
“Wolves of Moongrowl!” he said loud and clear. His voice echoed across the square, making those who had been previously murmuring go silent. “I stand before you today as one of you. As your brother.
“When we came to this pack several weeks back, I had never imagined that we would have faced situations such as this, but life obviously had other plans, and now, here we are.” He paused, looking straight into the crowd without a trace of fear or nervousness. “Years ago, my father stormed a pack and slaughtered many, bringing only the defenseless as evidence of his actions. As much as he felt justified in it, I believe that it wasn’t the best thing he could have done. Children became orphaned because of him, and I know that many of you are aware of this.
“But today, I have come to tell you that it all ends here, and now.” His eyes found mine amongst the crowd. “From today, all slaves from Bloodbath are free people. Vladimir Vinci, my uncle, started this war because of his own greed. But now he is no more, and we will no longer spread malice and bitterness amongst our kind.”
The crowd went very silent. Truly, they hadn’t been expecting such news.
“If you have people from Bloodbath living under your roof, set them free. They now possess the same rights as each and every one of you from Moongrowl. We will keep no innocents as prisoners anymore.”
I closed my eyes and allowed the wave of relief to fully wash through me. This was it. The very thing I had been fighting for since I had fallen into the hands of Daven.
My people were finally free.
People in maid uniforms stepped forward, taking off the aprons they were wearing and throwing it on the ground energetically. Others, who perhaps lived with people who had been oppressing them for years, broke away from their previous masters and stepped forward as well, clapping in a very familiar pattern I had grown up with. The claps made the tune of a song we often used back home in Bloodbath to celebrate our own Festival of the Moon.
Someone touched my shoulder, and I turned to see Rosa. Her eyes were full of tears as she smiled.
“Thank you, Lucy.” She pulled me into a tight hug crying even more, but I knew that she was nothing but relieved.
“It was the least I could do, Rosa. I knew that I couldn’t let this opportunity that I had been given waste. It had seemed impossible for so long, but now . . . I’m glad I was able to make it happen.”
“We’re actually free. At least,” she said, breathless with joy.
Of course, some people weren’t happy with this development, and expressed this through their murmuring and eagerness to leave the square.
“To see that this rule is adhered to, all homes and workplaces will be searched, and if any Bloodbath member is found still in your home against their wish, you will face severe consequences. Thank you all as you cooperate.”
As people left the square, people from Bloodbath remained, which was obvious by the look of relief and pure joy on their faces. They approached me, one after the other, and touched my shoulders, a sign of companionship in our pack.
The more they came, the more it felt like a dam inside of me was about to burst.
A middle-aged woman finally came up to me, and touched my face. From her confident gait and the sparkle in her eyes, it was clear as day that even in slavery, she hadn’t lost her shine.
“Young one, you have done well,” she said. “Your father would be proud of what you have just achieved.”
At the mention of my father, tears started to roll down my face. At the very least, I had honoured his memory by setting his people free.
“Now that we are free once again, this means that you are now our Luna, as the last surviving member of Alpha Harris’ family. You have more than proven yourself capable of helping us rebuild and thrive.”
For years, I had thought about nothing but the day when I would have finally freed any people and granted them safe return back to Bloodbath. I had been so consumed by that very goal, that it was the first thing that I thought of when I woke up, and the only thing I saw when I slept. It kept me moving, and it gave me a drive and motivation.
But along the way, the triplets had come into my life. Through the ups and downs we endured, something inside me changed. When the transformation started, I couldn’t tell, but I knew that my destiny lay elsewhere.
Rosa was still by my side, so I turned to her with a knowing look. “Rosa . . .”
When she looked up and noticed the look on my face, she shook her head immediately. “No. I can’t take your place. That title belongs to you.”
“Once upon a time it might have, but things have changed.” I glanced at Shaun, who was busy speaking to some guards at the edge of the square. Merely looking at him made something warm bubble inside my chest. “I’ve changed.”
I turned to the woman standing in front of me and took her hand. “Thank you for seeing me as worthy to take on the role of Luna of Bloodbath, but I think there’s someone even better. One who will always put you first. Rosa.” I turned to my friend and touched her shoulder. “Without you, Rosa, this would never have been possible. For this very reason, with the power bestowed in me as the last surviving member of the Harris family, I hereby name you as the Luna of Bloodbath. With you, life will find our territory once again.”
For a moment, I asked myself if I was doing the right thing. Maybe I should have just followed them back to Bloodbath and helped them rebuild. But I got no answer from within. The only thing I knew for sure was that my life had changed, and things were different. I didn’t know what the future held, but I didn’t want to live in a future where a part of me would always feel missing.
And so it was settled.