The Alpha's Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger by Ejiofor Dorcas

63 To a past and a future…

Lyla

It’s been a year and six months since that night…

Everybody has a turning point – a point where they become stronger or suddenly take up a cape and become a hero. Well, me… I wasn’t interested.

I wasn’t interested in becoming a hero for the people who mocked me, who shamed me for what I had no part in creating. I mean, if I am going to sacrifice my life and my peace, it should be for people who are worth it right?

That night had defined me in ways I still struggle to grasp. The dark memories had hovered in my mind like shadows, always present, though I had learned to push them away. I didn’t allow myself to think about the horrors, the danger I had escaped or the truths I’d uncovered about myself.

After that chaos, I and Nanny had moved far from the life we once knew and started afresh. For months, I uld wake up in the middle of the night drenched in a cold sweat with my puls racing, trying to shake off the nightmares that seemed too real.

Simple things became a challenge for me walking alone after sunset, staying home without Nanny, even sleeping with the lights off. But I had fought back, not with grand gestures of bravery but with small, everyday acts of normalcy.

No matter what the world expected of me, no matter the whispers of my lineage or my supposed destiny, I chose to be content being human. I made up my mind to never ever take up any responsibility.

I never looked up the news reports about that night. Never questioned Nanny about her real identity, never attempted to connect the dots that might have explained why 1, of all people, had nearly married a 100–year–old evil.

The only thing I was interested in these days was tackling my monthly heat while trying to be a

normal adult.

Today, standing in front of my full–length mirror, adjusting my graduation cap on my head, my reflection stared back at me. I was graduating from high school and it was a milestone I couldn’t

ignore.

All I could see was a woman who had thrived despite the trauma, who had channelled all her energy into her studies, instead of chasing answers to a question I didn’t want to ask.

My phone chimed with a notification and for a brief moment, my heart leaped, hoping it might

be him.

unconsciously to my chat history with Nathan, scrolling through two years of one–sided messages that had formed a digital shrine to a

made to me that night – now where was

a past

sent him was three months ago: ‘Remember when you said we’d always be friends? I guess

me. I thought about our last chat together, wondering what I might have done wrong. But

understand what I did wrong. Two years of wondering if somehow I’d hurt you without realizing it. Today

be here.

trying to still

like me, you could have just said so. You didn’t have to ignore me. I want you to know that I won’t bother you

sim card from my phone, snapping it cleanly in half before dropping it into the small wastebasket

my final tie to my

weeks. “Are you ready sweetheart? We’ll be late! Let’s take some pictures before

quickly and adjusting my makeup, making my final adjustment to my graduation cap, I

I took the stairs two at a time. I saw Nanny waiting at the bottom, camera already in hand,

“My beautiful girl, all grown

who had been more than just a Nanny – who had been my constant, my saviour and my strength. Despite everything we’ve been through, Nanny has never faltered. She had held

wouldn’t have done it without you,” I

dhing that

all on your own. You rose above everything that happened to focus on building your future instead of dwelling in the

ceiling, blowing on my eyes. “Stop, Nan!” I chuckled shakily. “I don’t want to ruin my

and we’re

first time in a long time, I allowed myself to feel proud of how far I had come. Despite the nain the heartache and the fear I had made it to this moment I had fought

ΠΗ

C

a past and

was stepping into the

It was a symbol of our fresh start. I posed with my cap and gown against the backdrop of blooming roses and swaying

sweet scent was a reminder that beauty

time.

enough care and

with joy as she adjusted the camera