Julia’s POV

My heart was pounding in my chest, and sweat soaked my body as I ran. I knew that running was probably futile, but I didn't have a choice.

I quickly hid inside the closet as I heard the footsteps of my pursuers.

“You fucking bitch!” One of them yelled in fury. He was pissed.

My heart pounded in fear as I remembered how I had kicked him between the legs and slammed his head with a lamp stand so that I could escape and find a place to hide. I knew they could sniff me out easily, but I just needed to buy some time.

I hurriedly dug into my purse and brought out my phone with shaking hands so that I could call Darren, my mate, for help.

The phone rang several times before he finally picked. “What?” He sounded so annoyed.

Maybe I had interrupted his special time with Tamara, his long-lost love, who he had finally found after so many years. I ignored how my heart clenched at that thought.

“Darren, please I need your help, there—”

He cut me off abruptly with a growl.

“What the fuck is your problem? Why are you bothering me? Stay the fuck away from me! Don't disturb me again, even if you're about to die!” He disconnected the call.

My heart dropped to my stomach as I stared at the phone in horror. This couldn't be happening. My hand shook badly as I dialed his number over and over, but he didn't pick the calls.

“Found you bitch,” were the last words I heard, before everything went dark.

~

~

A week later, the Red Moon Pack was in a state of shock, as the remains of a pregnant female werewolf were found at the pack's border.

As the pack’s task force investigated, it was revealed that this murder was an open taunt to the pack, a blatant mockery.

Alpha Darren, the alpha of the Red Moon Pack, and my mate, was leading the pack's task force for the investigation of the murder.

If only he knew that the victim, the woman that was cut into several pieces, was his mate, his mate that he had yelled at in hatred.

After the killers had cut me into pieces, they scattered my body at the pack's border. It had taken the pack patrols a whole day to find the scattered body parts, and the pack healers spent three days and nights trying to join them together so they could identify the murder victim.

I hovered over them, unseen by anyone as I stared at my disfigured body in horror. It was then it finally dawned on me that I was actually dead.

My head was crushed so badly that I couldn't even recognize myself. Some of my body parts were missing, as they were not found by the pack patrol.

The only part of my body that wasn't totally destroyed was my uterus.

However, the healers were horrified as they found out that my uterus had been torn open, my unborn baby has been removed, and a mysterious powder had been placed in my uterus before it was sewn back crudely.

Darren stared at my body with a look of disgust as he tried to control himself from vomiting. My mate couldn't stand the sight of my disfigured body, and he didn't even know it was me.

The pack’s head healer, Richard, began to give them the details of what they had found.

“The victim is a member of this pack from the pack's tattoo that was found on her left shoulder. She was probably between twenty two and twenty five years old. According to our findings, she must have bled to death after the terrible abuse that she must have gone through. The marks on her wrists and ankles suggest that she was restrained.”

He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, before he continued. “It also looked like her head was slammed by a blunt object, and her body was bruised brutally.”

The healer paused again, running a hand through his hair. He looked so disturbed at what he had found.

“She was pregnant, and from what we saw, her uterus was torn open crudely and roughly. While she was alive, the killers opened her womb, removed the baby and put a mysterious powder in her uterus.”

The healer sighed and his voice became heavier. “There’s one more thing that makes this crime even more twisted. We couldn’t find any trace of her scent. Whoever did this erased her scent completely, now her loved ones, her family, or her mate won’t be able to identify her by her scent.”

When the healer finished explaining the details of the murder, everyone's faces were green with disgust or red with fury.

Beta Sean Rivers, Darren's beta, snarled in anger. “Why would anyone do this?! Such a cruel act of evil!” He bellowed.

“To a pregnant woman!” Sam, a member of the pack's task force, added in disgust.

“And to our pack member!” Jim, another member exclaimed in fury.

With everything going on, Darren stayed silent; his eyes were darting from left to right as he thought deeply about what the healer had just told them.

He leaned down towards the mysterious powder, and his nose flared as he smelt it.

“This is Moonfire.” He declared slowly.

Everywhere went silent as he mentioned the name of that drug.

Julia's POV

Everyone remembered ‘Moonfire’. It was the most addictive drug in the werewolf world, but it was also deadly when taken in its purest form. So many members of the Red Moon Pack had died as a result of consuming moonfire.

After several years of investigation, the Red Moon Pack were able to find the main producers and distributors of this addictive drug about four months ago. They were a group of rogue wolves that called themselves the Bloodhounds.

There was a fierce battle between the Red Moon pack warriors and the Bloodhounds, and the rogues were overpowered and killed, while all the moonfire in their stores were totally destroyed.

However, as they stared at the disfigured female body, it all pointed to one thing—the Bloodhounds were back, and they most likely wanted revenge.

I watched them as they murmured among themselves.

“The Bloodhounds?” Sam asked in horror, “It couldn't possibly be.”

But Beta Sean was already nodding as he also came to the same conclusion.

“It has to be, it makes sense. That's why they targeted a member of this pack and displayed it this way.” Sean surmised.

A pack warrior walked into the room, with a box in his hands.

“Alpha,” he said, bowing respectfully, “Luna Julia sent something to you…”

I hovered over them, watching in curiosity.

Darren sneered at the mention of my name. “I don't want anything from her. Anything she sends, I want you to throw it away.” He ordered with a snarl.

My heart broke at the hate in his voice.

The pack warrior paused, looking confused as he glanced at the box in his hands and at Darren.

“Including this?” He asked.

“Yes, throw it out.” Darren ordered.

Beta Sean sighed at his friend. “Come on Darren, you can't still be mad at Julia all these while. What happened to your mother was very tragic, but have you ever wondered if Julia was really at fault?”

I shook my head hopelessly as tears ran down my face. Yes, Darren, have you ever thought about that, or are you too blinded by your hate?

Darren clenched his jaw. “I don't fucking care,” he growled, but he collected the box from the pack warrior and opened it.

He lifted the transparent jar that was inside the box, and everyone in the room gasped in horror as they stared at the contents of the transparent jar.

Darren quickly let go of the jar as though it had burned him, and the jar fell out of hands and broke into pieces. Inside the jar was a fetus—a very lifelike fully formed fetus with a very eerie look on its face.

The healer bent down and picked it. “It's not a real fetus,” he declared, and everyone released a collective sigh of relief.

However, Darren’s eyes blazed with fury, “That fucking bitch!” He roared, “This is just her trying to get my attention!”

I never sent that to him. Why would I? I felt like yelling at him that I didn't send that, but there was no use: they wouldn't hear me.

Everyone stayed silent as they watched him boil in anger. They were probably thinking that I was a crazy bitch that would do something as crazy as this.

Sean shook his head with a thoughtful look on his face. “No, Luna Julia is not someone that will do something as sick as this. Maybe you need to talk to her; there must be a mistake somewhere. Call her or go home and speak with her.” He advised.

Darren scoffed, “She’s just a crazy bitch, there's no mistake in anything. She has been trying to get my attention, and she won't get it. Besides, what is she trying to say? Huh? That she's pregnant? She's a bloody liar! Always lying!” He spat in disgust.

Tears ran down my face freely as I sobbed at his venomous words because it felt like I was bleeding in pain inside.

Those in the room kept quiet and just stared at him as he ranted. “She can never have my children! Never! I won't allow it!”

He snatched the doll from the healer's hands and flung it into a nearby trash can with a growl.

At that moment, I wished I could be anywhere but there, as his words pierced me. I didn't deserve to have his children; maybe his long-lost love was the one who deserved to have them.

Darren took a deep breath to calm down before he continued speaking in a calmer manner.

“Look, let's focus on what's important. What we need to do now is to focus on this murder. We know the people who might be responsible, but we need to identify the body and inform the family. It's a pack member, so check for any missing pregnant woman in the pack. Then we'll start working on making those responsible pay for this.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Everyone murmured and rushed into action, then Darren excused himself.

He took out his phone and searched for my number in the list of blocked numbers. He dialed the number, and it went to voicemail.

“Is this how miserable you have become? You're sending me a lifelike fetus? What message are you trying to send? You better stop being a crazy bitch! Because that will not get you my attention.”

He didn’t know the truth. None of them did.

I was already dead. The disfigured, lifeless woman on the table was me.

They had to know... but how....

I was just a ghost now.