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

146 The Manifestation I

Lyla

I was in the middle of a clearing. The moon was shining brightly… so bright that if I reached out for it, I would touch it.

The stars shone with such bright intensity that I’d never seen before, pulsing with the rhythm of my heartbeat… the forest was quiet except for the quiet chirp of crickets in the distance.

“Lyla…

A voice called out to me, filling the space with warmth. For the first time since my second cleansing, I felt at ease. As if a voice calling my name in the middle of nowhere was the most natural thing I’d ever seen–like I’d been waiting for my whole life without realizing it. Slowly, I turned towards the source of the voice.

But I saw Mother Liora pouring water over my head in a ceremonial gesture. Beside her, Nanny clasped my hands so tightly that I could see her veins popping out from under her skin and she had a serene aura around her.

But something was not right.

Something didn’t feel right for a moment.

I was standing here and Mother Liora, Nanny and I were standing a short distance away from me, barely acknowledging my presence.

How was I standing in the clearing while simultaneously standing in front of Mother Liora and Nanny?

I squinted, letting the moonlight illuminate the scene just to make sure the person there wasn’t me, but then, I saw her clearly… it was me alright. Similar features, the same dress… everything

was the same.

I tried to move forward, to close the gap between the two versions of myself, but I was rooted to the ground. I opened my mouth to cry out, but no words would come out.

“Lyla…”

The voice called again, closer this time.

–

I felt a light brush against my leg and when I looked down, blue eyes brilliant and piercing stared back at me. Hidden in my shadow and from the moon’s glow was a magnificent wolf. Her fur shimmered like liquid starlight, tinted with sparkles of silver and gold.

Under the moonlight, she looked nearly white, but on a closer look, she was a paler colour between silver and white. Her legs were long and elegant, nearly as tall as mine, and her tail was unlike anything I had ever seen–it ended in a forked tip, resembling two branches joined into a longer stem.

She was breathtaking. Ravishingly beautiful–probably the most beautiful wolf I’d ever seen. I thought Nanny’s wolf was beautiful, but this creature was something else entirely. She was art brought to life as if the Moon Goddess was so intentional in making her.

100 The Mandestation!

The wolf circled my legs, her lithe body brushing against me. She rubbed herself against mine, nudging my hand with her nose, urging me to touch her.

I felt so connected to something as I did now. I felt a

the ground, stroking her fur as our gaze met again, sending a shiver through my entire body as if she knew

murmured, rubbing her

“Did you get lost? Where

She nudged me again, this time with more insistence,

wanted to do

you?” I murmured

head, her gaze was filled with an intelligence that felt almost human. Her eyes flickered for

I chuckled. “Is

she took a

deep

voice again when it came loud and

one, bound by the

eyes widened. “Oh! You’re in my head… you’re talking to

eye

been talking to you for years, literally… you listen to every other

covering my mouth. “I don’t

You must do it today. I’m tired of sitting around doing nothing and you need me more than ever. It’s a shame

trying to wrap my

the ground in front of me. “Now, you should name me… thanks to the cleansing, I can fully come to you, but I must have a name. Do you remember the reason I

about the Moon Goddess is not responsible for making you.”

#sala kat wa

24

4

Mandestation

to be called? Do you have anything in

blurt out anything, you can only name me once. Once you call me by a name, there’s no going back, you can’t

scoff. “You have an attitude,

for years. My legs would love to run too

honestly, I have no idea how they name

name of something or someone that has really stuck long

speak when she filtered into my mind, her voice stopping me

I gave her an apologetic smile.

“You should give me a name that matches my appearance. Imagine meeting Lax or Ragnar answering

or Ragnar?” I

wolf and Nathan’s wolf, respectively.”

didn’t think I was up to discussing my messy love life. “How about

only words in your