Geo
I did nothing wrong, but the tip of the whip lashed my skin and left yet another mark. The pain is unbelievable but I’m not allowed to make a sound, not even a shriek. I kept gritting my teeth and biting my tongue until I eventually gave in and screamed.
“Shut up!” The guard screamed at my face.
“I did nothing wrong!” I cried out hoarsely, tears of pain and anger streaming down my cheeks. I really did nothing wrong, I did not steal, nor did I kill, I fell in love and expressed that love, how could that be so wrong though? Was it because it was so different?
“Really? You mated with another she-wolf and that is a crime against the Moon Goddess!” He thundered as he strikes again and again until darkness engulfed me.
The soft mattress underneath, jolted me awake because it was so different compared to the cold hard floor of the prison cell that I passed out on after that tremendous whipping. I opened my eyes and was instantly blinded by the natural light, flooding the room that I am in. I heard hurried footsteps and then a door banging open before a feminine figure appeared in front of me.
“Geo… You’re awake now, thank goodness. Please lay back down.” She said with a worried tone, pushing me back to the bed gently, as I tried to sit up.
For a while, my mind was blank, and I almost didn’t recognize her until my hand tingled the moment she took it in hers. Anne. It’s Anne. A mix of emotions rumbled inside of me but I choose to not say anything. Then my eyes finally adjusted to the light and I can finally see her clearly, her face worried yet unhurt, unscarred, and unharmed, unlike mine.
“Anne…” I breathed out.
She pulled me into a hug but I stayed still, not daring to hug her back. “Oh Geo, I thought I’d lost you… I thought they’d kill you…” She muttered in between sobs.
“They tortured me.” I started off, my voice a lot more firm now. “They tortured me for mating with you. Yet, they didn’t harm you.” There I said it, my voice filled with gloom because of the betrayal that I felt. I mean, why was I the only one punished when I didn’t even force her to do it. In fact, she was the one who persuaded me, but then again, she wasn’t even scratched. And when they took me… She didn’t even try to defend me! “Why? Why Anne?” My voice became louder now as I pushed her away.
She sobbed and wasn’t able to answer my question immediately. She didn’t have to though, because I heard something else in the room and my blood ran cold. A third heartbeat. A heartbeat within her. She’s…
“How?” I asked, looking intently at her stomach. How can she be pregnant? I can’t possibly impregnate her, we’re of the same sex after all, the sole reason why our union is against the will of the Moon Goddess, yet how?
“I… I don’t know Geo…” She mumbled not even looking me in the eye. I know she’s lying. It’s impossible for her to not know at all. I looked at her exposed neck and still saw the mark I made and I just lost it.
“You cheated on me and slept with a male wolf.” I stated, in a tone so calm, even I am afraid of how calm it has become.
“Geo…”
“You cheated on me and slept with a male wolf Anne! Yet I have to endure all of that beating for us! For you!” I snapped at her, almost releasing my wolf.
She coiled away, frightened. “I’m so sorry Geo, it was an accident. Please forgive me. Please, I’ll get rid of it. Please, I want to be with-“ Before she could finish her trash of an apology, I stopped her.
“Did you hear yourself? You’re going to get rid of it? The child is innocent Anne, he/she has got nothing to do with the mistakes you made, so unless you want to commit a crime worse than our same sex union, you better think twice and be smart about it!” I stated. I can’t take this anymore. I was about to stand up when my legs felt like jelly and I fell on the floor.
Anne rushed beside me and helped me up. “Geo you’re still weak, please lay back down and let me take care of you.” I don’t have much of a choice really, I have to let her help me because I have no one here, just her.
I may not be an orphan, but in the Silver Moon Pack, I might as well be. I was sent here to became a slave just a year ago because my family suffered from starvation and my parents can’t provide for us anymore. So they gave me and my siblings away to different packs to work for them and be given food and a proper shelter. All would’ve turned out well if I wasn’t like this. If I wasn’t a she-wolf who is also interested in another she-wolf. But then again, this has to happen.
As I let the wounds of the whip heal, I also forced my heart to heal itself from the wounds caused by Anne’s betrayal because honestly, I don’t know if anyone else would accept me the way she did, so yes, I stayed by her side all throughout her pregnancy.
“Are you sure about this?” Anne asked, caressing her protruding belly. At the ninth month of her pregnancy, we decided to leave Silver Moon and its close-minded residents to raise the child somewhere I believe would be more peaceful, and that is here, in the middle of the woods of the free lands.
“Of course.” I answered. However, I know better than being really sure because truth be told, I still can’t forget about her betrayal yet, the child has nothing to do with it. I knocked at the green door in front of us and on the third knock, the door opened, revealing my mother.
“Glory! My dear…” She exclaimed, engulfing me in a bear hug. “How have you been honey? And who is this?” She trailed off, looking at Anne from head to toe.
“Ma, this is Anne, my girlfriend.” I stated.
“And ummm, she’s pregnant?” She just had to ask, making Anne uncomfortable.
“Yes Ma, can we come in? I’ll explain everything inside.” I said and she reluctantly opened the door wider so that we can enter. The familiar mixture of my family’s scent greeted me as soon as I stepped foot in the living room and I smiled sadly. “Where’s Pa?” I asked.
“Out for hunting. You can stay in your room honey, your sisters aren’t around anyway.” Ma instructed and I led Anne to the room at the end of the hallway, the room that I used to share with my sisters before we were all sent away.
“Here, you can put your bags in this cabinet. Do you want to rest? It was a long journey after all.” I said and Anne just plopped down on the bed exhausted when I was the one who carried her pregnant butt all the way from the Silver Moon Pack to the free lands where I grew up. Yes, I was born a rogue, I didn’t belong to any pack until I got to work in the Silver Moon, and life has been tough up until now. I sighed and placed Anne’s bags in the cabinet and let her sleep as I went back to the main hall where I saw Ma preparing something in the kitchen.
“What are you cooking Ma?” I asked.
“Oh nothing, just boiling water. Anyways, is she… Asleep?” She asked in a hushed tone.
“Yes Ma.” I answered, sitting down on one of the dining chairs and she followed suit, after turning off the stove.
“So Glory, tell me everything.” Glory. She’s the only one who still calls me that up until now, even though she knows my preferences but I let her be because she’s my mother after all. With a sigh, I told her everything about the Silver Moon Pack and Anne.
“Oh… And you are here because…” She trailed off after my narration.
“Because they wouldn’t accept us and we don’t want that to affect the child.” I answered with yet another sigh.
“But honey, the child is not yours…” She said.
“I know Ma, but it doesn’t matter, at least now we’d actually be a family.” Right when I finished that sentence, the kitchen door suddenly opened and my father dashed inside as if something was wrong.
“What’s the matter?” Ma asked, standing up abruptly.
“I smelled foreign scents-“ My father stopped in the middle of his sentence when his eyes landed on me. “Geo… You’re here…” He exclaimed, giving me a side hug.
“Yes Pa.” I said with a smile.
“And you’re not alone.” He said with a stern voice as his gaze turned behind me and I looked at what he was looking at to see Anne, clutching her stomach.
“Are you okay dear? What happened?” Ma asked, being the first one to approach her.
“I… I think it’s my water… Ahh!” Anne screamed and I rushed beside her to help her sit on the couch.
“I think she’s about to go to labor.” Pa said.
I, for one, doesn’t really know what to do, but surprisingly, my parents does. I mean, why wouldn’t they be? Ma gave birth to all seven of us at home because we’re too far from the hospital and we can’t really afford it.
After about an hour of Anne screaming and squeezing my hand as if her life depends on it, we heard a small cry and Ma held out a healthy baby girl.
“What would you name her?” Pa asked as Ma placed her on Anne’s chest.
“Gwen…” I whispered.
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