CARMELLA:The water trickled off my head and down into the bathtub which I lay inside naked. My mind keeps wandering to a distant place but the thought of knowing my position as Luna of the Dark Moon wasn't safe anymore kept bringing me back.I haven't been more scared of being the Luna than this. I wasn't even bothered when I got betrothed to Damien some years back all because he failed to show forth a fated mate.That was one of the riskiest decisions I ever took in my life— being with a man who didn't feel anything for me. However that decision wasn't enough to make me as scared as knowing I'm about to lose a position I've invested so much into over the years."What do I do, Nadia?" I asked my Gamma who was scrubbing my arm smoothly while I just sat there without moving an inch.This isn't her job. She shouldn't be in here with me. Rather it should be the maids. But lately I've been doing away with them because I wanted the most loyal person in this pack close to me everytime. At l
DAMIEN:As the wind breezed through my face, it made me a bit light-headed. Maybe even worse than when I woke up this morning with no clue why I slept so heavily.I don't remember taking a drink before going to bed so it seems I must have been so exhausted from the duties I had to lay down yesterday in the pack.Hearing multiple footsteps behind me, I knew Riley was here now. So I turn around with my hands still behind my back to face her."Why am I here?" she asks, standing in between the two maids that she has now made to tend to her alone.A frown is etched on her face as she gives me a stare down but I wasn't bugged by her act of trying to make me feel her displeasure."I sent for you obviously," I say, signaling toward the maids to leave. They bow their heads before doing so, leaving me all alone with her. "I felt you might need a demonstration.""Of what?""Of what it might take to be a wolf."She sneers. "I've seen that already," she says icily."But you haven't seen me turn in
RILEY:"Where's Menya? I haven't seen her today," I ask Sansa about the other maid.From behind me, she says, "She's down with a fever, my lady. A rare one. But I'm sure she'll be up and ready to serve you once more from tomorrow."I pick out a wildflower, staring at it as if to study its makeup. But I wasn't able to gauge anything out of it."She doesn't have to rush. Tell her to take her time," I say to Sansa before turning around to see her nod in affirmation.The guards stationed at the entrance leading into the quarters simply stood at their positions like statues. It made me wonder if they were able to move a muscle at all because it looked very difficult to me."What can you tell me about Damien?" I ask Sansa right after I take my eyes off the guards."The Alpha?""Yes... Your Alpha.""I'm sorry but I can't, my lady," she says to which I frown at."Why?" I ask."We have specific instructions not to talk about the Alpha with you.""And who gave those instructions?""The Alpha."
RILEY: Maybe this was the time to believe they were indeed stronger than necessary. My face still hurts so bad from the slaps I received and I'm surprised that I was not able to stand on my feet after the second one. I remember how fear gripped me. How I was defenseless against the Luna. I guess I really wasn't cut out for all of this after all despite living a life where I had to face off bullies and assaulters all because of being without parents and a roof over my head. Sansa already helped massage my cheek with an ointment but nothing has changed. Mostly I felt like I was attacked with an iron at this point. "Do you need me to get you something?" Xavier says just after I wince from the pain. He has been in the room for a while now and was just standing there without a word until now. I couldn't shake my head. But at least I could still talk. "No, thank you. Ow." It was harder than expected. Proved really difficult to even do. "What did you do that was so bad to resort to an a
DAMIEN: "Why did you do it? Even if we haven't reached an agreement, you should know not to touch her," I confronted Carmella inside her chambers the moment I heard about what transpired between her and Riley. "She disrespected me. Was I supposed to just stand and watch her run her mouth? I'm the Luna for crying out loud," she defends "And she's my guest who should be treated right." "Your guest? Or your human mate who doesn't know how to act accordingly? We'll be having my family here soon, Damien. Do you think it's okay when they arrive and find her lurking about? I had to do the right thing." "By hitting her?" "I owe you no explanation, Damien." "You had no right..." I pause, realizing I was about to snap. After exhaling to calm myself down, I say, "You shouldn't have hit her." "Well I did already," she says. "And I'll be glad to do it again." I could feel the tension rising in the room. It was too much. Too much for even me to handle. She wanted me to say foul things and a
XAVIER:"Are you sure she didn't tell you where she was going?" I question the maid whom I know serves Riley now. This was after a wide futile search around the Alpha quarters which led to us discovering Riley was nowhere to be found."She didn't, my lord. I haven't set my eyes on her since helping her apply the ointment on her cheek," the maid says. I could tell she was sincere from the way she was talking as well as gauging the rate of her heartbeat."What about the second maid? Where's she?""She's indisposed and hasn't been able to work since yesterday."I nod. It looks like wherever Riley is at the moment, she planned it on her own. Except she was taken forcefully."You can continue with your work," I tell her and she walks out of my presence, leaving me alone to contemplate where Riley is.I'm in the office assigned to me in the Alpha quarters. But I shouldn't be. I should be long gone from the pack by now and tending to my personal business but now I have to look into this all
RILEY:I'm surprised that I've lasted this long out here. Surprised that I haven't been found yet. It makes me wonder if they were even on the lookout for me at all.However, I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea. The more I venture into the woods, the more I find it tasking. I haven't even found a means of getting out of it. One that would help me figure my next line of action. Instead I keep going deeper and deeper.My legs were dog-tired from not resting them for hours. I just want to find a place to sit at this point but nowhere around is offering that kind of position for me.I stop walking to take a break. My legs could use a minute or two before they start working again."This was a really bad idea," I tell myself while I gasp for air. "I should have stayed back, hatched a better plan. I don't think I'm getting anywhere with this."I hated that the truth was right in my face. Hated even more that I was admitting it to myself. I felt like I wasn't doing anything right and t
DAMIEN:My body was on fire. I could feel pain all over as I tried to open my eyes. So much pain that I worry just how much hit I took during the fight.A peek at the ceiling just after I eventually force my eyes open tells me that I was in my chamber. But I wasn't prepared for what I would see when I sat up.Riley was standing right beside my bed. Her expression was a mixture of different emotions that I was finding it hard to pick the one she was actually feeling at the moment. However one thing I was sure of is that she was relieved."Are you okay?" she asks me. She didn't sound so confident but she still managed to utter the words coherently.I nod. "I'm fine," I say, "but you should be resting. You went through a lot in the hands of those bastards."My voice went cold at the thought of the rogues that I savagely killed in the woods for thinking they could take Riley. I'm still so mad and seeing the bruises on Riley's face and arms were making me even more furious."I couldn't sta