MOONLITE SECRETS

"Mom, did you see it?" Despite my attention being on the cutting board, I couldn't help but listen to Eryx's excited voice as it carried into the kitchen. My thoughts were elsewhere, but my hands were moving automatically as they cut through the vegetables.

I glanced at him, but my focus remained fixed on my work. "See what, sweetheart?" I asked, sounding more informal than I felt. I had developed the habit of distraction throughout the years.

I sensed a change in the air as he emerged in the doorway, his footsteps getting closer. I always knew to brace myself when I heard the faint thud of his trainers on the hardwood floor.

He said, "The moon," in a softer tone. "It's... different tonight."

I stopped, the blade dangling in mid-air. His words made my stomach knot, even though I had heard the same thing-felt the difference.

Eryx had always been observant and insightful in ways that frequently alarmed me. I put down the knife and used the dish towel to wipe my hands. I answered, "Go on, look at the moon if you want," thinking that my informal demeanor would conceal the uneasiness I was feeling. "Just stay inside, okay?"

It wasn't like him to respond right away. He was standing there, staring at me with an expression I couldn't place as if he were holding something back when I looked up from where I was at the counter.

"You're worried," he addressed them. "I can feel it."

I mustered a smile as my breath caught. Concerned? Not. Just the typical motherly fare.

Eryx narrowed his eyes as if he could see right through my mask. "This is how you've been all week. What's happening?

I took a swallow. I had not been preparing for this conversation. "Nothin', my love. It's simply..." In my throat, the words grew softer. How could I describe the sensation, the mounting fear that had been eating away at me for days?

It was nighttime. The recollections were constantly evoked by the nights.

I cleared my throat, trying to seem less like a woman afraid of what was about to happen and more like a mother. "How about you go finish your homework? Inside, you'll feel more at ease.

He frowned even deeply, but then he nodded. "All right, Mom, but I'm being serious. You are not deceiving me. With a hollow sound as his body lightly brushed the doorframe, he turned and left.

As I watched him leave, there was a tension in the air that I couldn't get rid of. Halfheartedly, I returned my attention to the counter and finished the meal. The minutes passed between my thoughts as the clock on the wall ticked louder. I detested how quiet the home felt. I wanted to think I was in charge of everything. However, I wasn't.

I had been away from the pack for five years. Because I had abandoned the life I was meant to live.

However, I was aware that some things were unavoidable even in the protection of the human world.

---

After supper, Eryx was already engrossed in his studies when I quietly kissed his forehead. The chamber was filled with the soft hum of streetlights outside, which kept the night company.

I watched him for a long time at his door. My son-my handsome, intelligent son. However, there was something there that I was unable to identify yet.

I could feel the chill come in through the glass, a brisk wind that always preceded a significant event.

I noticed, but he didn't.

That night, the one I couldn't forget and the one I'd worked so hard to bury, came back into my mind for the hundredth time that night. Although it had only been a few short years, it felt like a very long time ago. It had all altered in a single night spent with him.

---

My fingertips lightly touched the ancient locket around my neck. Since the birth of Eryx, I have worn it. It was a souvenir from my past that had belonged to my mother. A reminder that I couldn't hide my true self.

I couldn't help but wonder now whether that past was returning to haunt me and us.

Eryx's voice shocked me as I was about to snuggle into bed after a long night.

He said, "Mom," from the other end of the corridor.

His footsteps approached before I could react, and I could hear him hesitating outside my door. He was never uncertain like this. Eryx was powerful, sturdy, and self-assured.

He was standing there with his hand on the door frame when I opened it just in time.

"What is it, sweetheart?" With my heart racing, I asked, already anticipating the answer.

"There's something out there, Mom. I observed it.

My breath caught. "What do you mean, something?"

His face was pale in the dark hallway light as he entered my room, his eyes wide. "I felt it, but I'm not sure. It feels a bit like a pull. I can't get rid of the feeling that something is off.

The anxiety that only arises when you know something is off but are unable to identify it made the air feel heavy to me.

It was occurring once more.

A tremendous boom reverberated from the back of the house before I could respond. A harsh snarl was heard after something-someone-slammed into the window.

"Eryx, get back!" I grabbed his arm and dragged him into the hallway while I yelled.

However, he resisted. "We must see," Mom said. We are no longer able to ignore it. He tightened his hold, and his expression was unmistakable. Willpower. Fear.

And another thing. A darker one.

I realized then that I couldn't keep him from knowing the truth indefinitely.

I uttered the frantic words, "Stay close," hardly realizing the anxiety in my voice. I suppressed the panic that was rising in my chest. Not quite yet. Not when I needed strength.

However, the lights flickered before I could respond.

In the corner of my eye, a black, flowing shadow moved. When I turned, I saw a person I knew too well standing in the doorway.

My heart stopped beating.

Cassian.

---

The figure in front of me was real. It was not possible.

His familiar presence filled the room like a wave, and his wide frame filled the doorway. The weight of him-of everything that had preceded him-was heavy in the air.

"Eryx," Cassian whispered in a low, menacing voice. "It's time."

What is the time for?

Before I could even comprehend what he had said, I heard a low growl outside, closer now, as if it were surrounding us. It wasn't by itself, either.

"Eryx, run!" It was too late when I let out a scream.

He was already a victim of the night.