Chapter 7

Logan didn’t come home that night.

I don’t know where he went nor was my pride strong enough to look for him. And so I simply eavesdropped my way to knowing his location, but not even the Omegas and the pack members around the house were aware of where he was.

I stare at the vanity, the mirror reflecting the empty bed behind me. The memory of us, a day before George’s wedding flashed before my eyes. Us before his mate arrived.

What a cruel way to take someone away from me, Goddess.

I place the brush down, staring at my own eyes that glared at him with loath earlier. The eyes he last saw before he dashed off, speechless. I don’t think I regret ever saying all of those except for the last part.

Maybe Jane’s the only whore here. Maybe he, too, was trying his best to not fall into the matebond’s pull. What would I do if I were him?

Perhaps the little Luna who’s so adamant of taking away his mate seemed so annoying when she’s only there to fulfill the duty assigned to the mother of the Pack.

These were the last thoughts before I drifted off to sleep.

It wasn’t long though before I felt the room heat up, it was as though the air conditioner wasn’t hitting me enough. I open my eyes, black dots clouding my vision.

No, it wasn’t the room that was heating up. It was my body.

“Aaaaah!” I instantly roll around the bed, the feeling of being burned coursing through my body. I was on fire yet no flames were on sight.

There was only one reason for this.

I pulled my body off the sheets and crawled my way down the floor. My gaze was blinded by dark spots appearing in the corner of my vision.

Tears ran down my eyes as I opened the double doors of the bedroom. “Is anyone out there?!” I yelled out.

The thought of anyone waking up by the sound of my screams in the middle of the night was the least of my worries as I felt my body being succumbing to the nonexistent fire.

What is happening?

I keep asking myself that question, blinding myself of the fact that I have felt this before. This exact same feeling that made me busting my way through the council room with another woman’s hands on my husband.

And right now, feeling it all over again, there’s only one conclusion I could never bring myself to face: Logan is with Jane.

They say an accident happening once is a mistake. The last time with Jane in the meeting room was clearly something Logan would never want to happen seeing how he was so adamant of avoiding his mate despite Jane being butt naked in front of him.

However, the quote doesn’t just end there, they also say that a mistake happening twice is already on purpose.

Could he . . .

No, Morana, rid your head off those thoughts, Logan would have never betrayed me.

Just when I was about to drown myself into my thoughts to deliberately push the feeling away, it came back bursting. This time, a much intense feeling of fire. A witch burned at stake.

Despite the drought I was feeling in the depths of my throat, only one word came out of my mouth. “Please!” I shouted loudly as I crawled out of the room and into the hallway. I saw someone’s back. A warrior from afar was talking to someone I could not recognize.

He was too far for him to have noticed my previous pleas. As though I was in hell itself, I crawled and crawled to the marble floors, pulling my body with my arms. My legs seem paralyzed and the burning sensation was still there, lingering.

I inhaled a huge amount of breath before yelling to the pack warrior’s direction,

“You!” He instantly turned to me, my screams turning into whispers as my body weakened. It took all the energy in me to stay awake from the harsh pain succumbing me from head to toe. This time, it finally reached my head, slowly numbing my consciousness.

An intense headache occurred inside, as though it was enough to split my head open. I would have screamed a hundred times more, but for some reason, I let it bust my head open. That splitting headache felt like a bittersweet escape.

If I fainted together with it, it would slowly lull me off the pain, off the thoughts. And so I let that pain eat me up to the brim until my strength gave in and the arms that were determined to pull my body out of my room to get help finally gave up.

I weakly laid on my back, my breath was the only thing I could hear. The cold marble floor under me seems to be providing comfort to the burning sensation.

I tried my hardest not to think of him until the last moment of my consciousness, but Goddess,

Fifteen minutes. He’s already been in contact with her for fifteen minutes.

I wonder how he felt finally touching his mate? I wonder if he felt the electricity running through him pleasurably just like his daydreaming description of a mate when he was a child.

Because fuck, I’m definitely experiencing the spark he was talking about. A motherfucking hot sparks.

The last thing I saw was the very same warriors I called onto, his lips moving with a worried expression on his face. Oh, I know this guy, he’s someone who works for my father, that probably explains why he looks extremely worried.

Another pair of eyes looked at me,  resembling the Auburn eyes I have. The greatest love I had in my life. A small smile slipped past all the pain I was feeling just from the sight of him. This man, I know fully well, is never going to leave me.

“Dad . . .” I called, trying to reach out to him, before everything turned pitch black.

“As you know, Luna Morana is bonded to the Alpha through a powerful bond when they both swore in the Goddess’ temple to always remain loyal in their marriage. This bond is meant to be exclusive and deeply intimate.”

“We are all aware of how wrong that decision was, Doctor! I shouldn’t have let that bastard marry my daughter!” A familiar tone grumbled in the background, a scorching yell that woke me up in my daze.

I took all in me to lift my eyelids open only to close it up instantly when I felt the blinding light of the sun penetrating through the curtains and into my newly awakened pupils.

My body felt heavy and all my senses seemed to have shut down except for my ears that were still conscious of what the other people in the room were talking about.

“W-well, unfortunately, a breach in that bond has occured. When the Alpha . . .” I could hear the tension growing thick in the air as the Doctor seemed to be struggling to complete his sentence.

“What is it, Doctor?” The familiar voice replied, impatience glinting in his voice.

The man cleared his throat, trying to find the right words that would not anger the person he was talking to.

“When the Alpha . . . affectionately touched another person, it has an immediate and strong reaction on her. As a result, the Luna went through the burning sensation past midnight, both emotionally and physically.” He finally finished speaking.

“Ha . . . so the very reason my lovely daughter here is suffering is all because that bastard cheated?” The other man laughed in response, a mocking cackle. The Doctor remained silent.

I inhaled and mustered the strength to push my head to the other side of the pillow to avoid the sunlight as well as to bear witness of what was happening.

The Doctor, holding a checklist, was fiddling with his pen, sweat beading off his forehead.

I turn to the other man. An old man if I say so myself. His back was on me, yet the gray hair and the familiar posture failed to convince me of not knowing who he was.

“Dad?” The two men in the room turned to me. My voice was hoarse, my throat burning from pulling out that one word.

Auburn eyes as dark as my own, met my gaze. Yet, compared to my tired look, he looks like it’s been shedding tears all night. He ran towards the bed, subtly pulling a chair to my side and immediately taking hold of my hand.

“Morana, my lovely daughter . . . What has become of you?” He assessed my body, from head to toe even though none can be seen as I was still wrapped under the sheets.

I swallowed the breath caught in my throat when all the things that had happened last night came crashing in my memories. Right, I embraced hell last night.

I let my father’s question roll from one ear and out the other and instead, stared at him with my brows furrowed at his sudden arrival.

I tilt my head and met his worried gaze, “I thought you were on another pack to negotiate about business transactions?” I mutter.

“I arrived last night, Morana. I wanted to surprise you with my sudden arrival. Who would have known I’d be the one surprised when I saw you collapse right in front of me.” He explained.

“Do you need some water?” The doctor gave me a glass half full. Without any reply needed, I intensely downed it, the liquid slowly soothing my burnt pipes.

“You should rest for the entire day.” My father advised, his eyes strictly fixated on me.

“But the Luna Game is tod—” The Doctor was about to butt in when my father turned to him, a murderous glare on his face.

Fuck, right, it was supposed to be today. Right when I’m not in the best condition.

Seeing my father’s reaction, I bet I wasn’t supposed to remember the date.

“Dad . . .” I mumble sitting up.

“You are not going, Morana.” He instantly declined.

“You didn’t even hear what I was about to say!” I grumble, the child-like behavior in me slowly coming out in the presence of my father who spoiled me to the brim the moment I laid eyes to the world.

“I know exactly what you’re about to say, Morana, and you are not participating. While we’re at it, how about a divorce?” He smiled, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Dad, that’s not even in my choices. And yes, I am coming. I’m coming to beat that girl out of this pack.” I smiled at him.

It took him a few more convincing before I was actually able to step off the bed and get dressed. Dad was still lingering around out of my room, yelling through the door to tell me that this was apparently not the best idea.

I reassured him to the best of my abilities before heading to the training field.

Everyone was already there. From Omegas, to the Pack Warriors, and all the members of Dark Moon.

They all sat in a chair, facing an elevated platform where the elders were seated waiting for the arrivals of the contenders.

Contenders . . . I never knew I’d refer to myself like that again and unlike back then where tons of women were competing for the Luna position, right now, there’s only me and Jane.

Somehow, my pride hurts knowing I only have one competitor yet I feel as though it’s just me against the world. I thought it would be the two of us against it, but lately, it’s like the heavens placed all the responsibilities on my shoulders.

I raise my head and inhaled a few deep breaths before finally coming out to the crowd. The elders seem to have noticed my presence and stood up to announce my arrival.

One of the elders yelled through the mic, “Our current Luna, Morana Everette-Dion!” All eyes turned to me, some with motivating stares, some with pity, most with nonchalance.

I pulled back the urge to roll my eyes. One particular group of crowds was loud and strangely excited in the eyes of the audience,

The Pack warriors.

“Luna Morana! Luna Morana! Luna Morana!” all of them simultaneously shouted my name. My lips curved with a small smile. My heart raced wildly beneath this thick armor and I stopped the urge to shed any tears from all the emotions I’m feeling.

In an instant, the genuine smile switched when I saw someone pulling something up. My eyes widened, it was a large poster of my face!

With an embarrassed expression, I instantly yelled at them, like how I always would in their daily training, “You idiots! You’re gonna run a hundred laps around the field!” I yelled and they grinned at me.

“That’s why you have to win, Luna!” Their eyes glimmered with genuine excitement. In an instant, my facade broke down and I was already in a fit of laughter while I walked the aisle towards the platform where the elders were.

“Let us all welcome the other contender from the Sage Blood Pack, Jane Woods . . .” My smile dropped as I slowly turned to where they were all looking.

“—together with the Alpha of the Dark Moon Pack, Logan Dion!”

What?