Ava.
I felt my teeth clamp unto my tongue and the warm, Iron taste of blood filled my mouth. I couldn't believe it, Zane had just slapped me.
Never in our five years of marriage had Zane ever raised a finger at me, but apparently this night he had thrown all of his principles to the wind.
I took a hand and wiped the blood that was now seeping from a cut on my lips. Not only had I bitten my tongue but the force of the slap had split open my lips.
From the corner of my eyes I could see Nona standing to the side doing her best to look insignificant. I couldn't blame her. Everyone knew how dangerous Zane could be when he got angry..
I turned slowly to face Zane, the shock of the slap still in my system. The part of my face where the slap had landed on felt numb and a weird high pitched ringing filled my ears.
Zane hadn't just slapped me as an ordinary man. He had added his wolf strength to make it even more painful.
"Why?" I asked fixing my gaze on him, my eyes searching his which were now bright amber for the man I once knew and loved.
But what stared back at me was a monster. Zane was gone, replaced by a cold hearted man.
In the semi darkness of the living room I couldn’t even recognize my own husband.
"You ask me why?," he thundered, the veins on his neck bulging as his voice rose. "How dare you touch Cassie, how dare you hurt her."
I felt anger snarl in my head like wounded lion.
In a quick and fluid movement I got up to my feet my eyes flashing amber my fangs bared.
"So you now choose to believe another woman over your wife and mate who has been with you for over five years” I spat in rage,
At that moment that was a mad pounding in my heart and in my head. I didn't care if he was an Alpha and my husband, I had every right to get angry too.
"How dare you.."
"Dare what Zane, dare what. I am your wife and you went ahead to sleep with another woman breaking our mate bond and now you hit me because of the same woman."
"I don't think…" Nonna started timidly.
Zane threw a murderous look in Nonna’s direction, and that shut her up.
"I'm sorry Alpha" she said her head bowed.
The both of us stood watching each other, the fire in our eyes reflecting our sudden hate for each other.
"If anything happens to Cassie and the child, anything at all I'm going to make sure that not only do you pay but your father too.
Up until now the anger I had at that moment was filling my very being, sounding like a buzz in the depths of my head but those very words Zane said filtered past the anger and sank into my brain.
He was going to hurt my family. He was going to…
Zane was coming closer to me now and I backed away from him. The man in from of me wasn't my husband, my husband would never hurt my father over some lies another woman told him.
At that moment I knew Zane was gone and there was no redeeming him.
It had all been a facade then. I could see clearly now that Zane had been putting up with me for five years, waiting, watching for the perfect moment to strike.
I felt the hard edge of the sofa press into my legs telling me I had run out of room to back into. Zane stood a few meters away from me, towering over me, his dark, metallic gaze sending slivers of fear through me.
How could it be that I was now afraid of my own husband.
"You don't know me Ava; you've never known me this…marriage you and I both shared was merely a hoax. I endured it from the beginning, I endured it when I found out you couldn't give me a child."
He paused and goddess I wish he didn't I wanted him to let it all out without stopping because each time his words reached my ears if felt like I as being stabbed in my ear over and over again.
"But no more Ava, from today henceforth your position as the Luna had been relinquished. Cassie asked me not to do this but by your actions today you leave me no choice.
Another stab of the dagger I couldn't see, grief shooting through me. I kept trying to fight back the sobs that were threatening to erupt at any given second as my vision blurred, my eyes itching as I blinked back the tears.
"Zane.." I croaked, the pain too much, the grief suffocating.
"Shh, Ava let me finish. On no account should you call me by that name, it’s only used on the tongue of those I love."
I couldn't hold it anymore; the tears were spilling from my face like a tide. I clenched my jaw in a bid to keep myself from crying out, my body shuddering with grief.
"Finally Ava, I promise retribution as swift as fire itself to both you and your father if you ever go close to Cassie again."
There was a flash of lighting outside followed by a boom of thunder as if acknowledging what Zane had just said.
Zane gritted his teeth, his eyes shimmering orbs of hate.
"Mark my words Ava" He growled, looking at me with such a burning hatred that I felt a shudder run through me.
With that Zane turned and walked away leaving me standing there, numb, watching his broad shoulders and broad back disappear into the rain which had lessened.
I stood there for a few seconds before falling back unto the seat my thoughts a wild mess.
How could it be, this was never the way I envisioned my marriage to turn out. This was never the way I saw things going down, all the future memories I had planted in my head were all crashing down like a stack of dominoes.
The feeling of helplessness was so strong it was shutting me down completely. I felt a hand lightly touch me shoulder and when I looked up Nona was standing beside her eyes simmering with tears..
My defenses shut down, I couldn't be strong anymore. I was done. The tears flowed freely and I didn’t do anything about it. I wanted to cry it all out, too tired to bottle it up.
Nonna put her arms around me hugging me and I let her, sometimes the strong can fall and needed to be comforted. If she was going to be my rock at that moment then so be it.
I just lay limp in her arms but even as my thoughts were a mess, even as my dreams to build a great pack with Zane by his side had been shattered one thought was still forming clearly in my head.
This pack was no longer mine, I would have to leave and I would have to do so quickly before the pack members found out that Zane had cheated on his mate and I was no longer their Luna. .
Wiping my years with new resolve I turned to face Nonna.
"I'll be leaving the pack tomorrow early in the morning before anyone knows I'm gone. I can't deal with seeing another woman with my mate."
Nonna nodded, compassion and anguish in her eyes for me.
"Ill come with you Luna."
"No, you don't need to…"
"Please," Nonna cut me short and I could see she was afraid of staying with Zane alone.
"Fine then, tomorrow morning meet me at the creek. I know a path that will take us both straight to the highway."
Nonna nodded and I watched a tear spill from her face.
"Why are you crying for me? Nonna it’s my battle to fight and I'll fight it all the way like I've been doing" I said, throwing her a weak smile knowing that my words weren't true but no one had to know.
I left the room making my way over to the door. The most difficult part of this night would be breaking the news to my father. I wasn't sure how he was going to take it but I had to do it anyway.
Stepping into the night air I noticed that the rain had subsided to a trickle here and there. I inhaled feeling my nostrils with the smell of damp earth and rain. Closing the door behind me I started toward my father's house which was a few meters from the pack house.
My legs felt like lead and I felt sick to the stomach with dread of telling my father that my husband had cheated on me with another woman.
Standing in front of the house I had once shared with my father before become a Luna I hesitated. My father was a pack enforcer and a highly respected Beta because of how skilled he was. My mother had died while giving birth to me and since then my father had raised me teaching me everything I knew. I knew how to spar, how to fight without shifting to my wolf. In a way he saw me as a son he never had and even though my wolf had emerged as an Omega he had pushed me to move from that rank to the position I found myself now. If I told him this news I was sure it was going to break his heart to a million pieces. I stared at the wooden door my heart heavy, my tongue tied, my knuckles a few inches from knocking on the door. But I knew I had to tell my father sooner or later if I resisted from telling him now it would be delaying the inevitable. One way or the other he was still bound to find out. Gathering courage, I knocked on the door simultaneously hearing laughter from inside the h
AVA. I could feel every pair if eyes in the hall drawn to Zane who stood powerfully tall commanding respect like he owned it. I could feel the tension in the room rising like poisonous gas as it came to settle about us thick with promises of what was to come. I could see Cassie playing with her fingers each of them locking and unlocming against each other as her feet tapped the ground nervously. I could see Zane stare at the pack as he carried his throat getting ready to speak. I could feel my heart beat madly behind my chest as a horrible itch began somewhere in the side of my eyes.I could feel my wolf going melancholy as it too anticipated what Zane was about to say. "I can tell that you are all excited and at the same time confused as to why this ceremony was suddenly called for, but be rest assured it is nothing to worry about." Zane paused as the pack watched him as one. I didn't think I had ever seen that level of concentration anywhere. "The woman you can see seated here
AVA. I hurriedly packed my things into the small box I decided I was going to use for my escape. My father was currently positioned at the door his eyes fixed to the pack hall at the distance acting as a look out. The last thing I wanted was for the gathering in the hall to dismiss and people started filling out. I wouldn't be able to make my escape as effortlessly as I wanted to if that happened. But I knew I was worrying for nothing. The ritual of inaugurating a new Luna into a pack wasn't something that was trifle, it took a good couple of hours. Knowing the pack customs the gathering in the hall were likely to stay there for quite some time as Zane was the meticulous type. Just as soon as I was done with the last couple of clothes I wanted to pack with me I heard a yell rise from somewhere outside. As I listened closer I realized it was coming from the direction of the hall. I felt goose bumps spread across my skin. That didn't sound like a yell of excitement, rather ominous
AVA. I watched as my father dropped to the ground twitching, the gash in his neck spilling blood like a liquid tap. I watched as he switched his eyes to amber willing on the powers of his wolf to try and heal him from death which was fast approaching, hovering over him like a harbinger of doom. I watched as he failed the gash too wide and too deep for his healing powers to kick in. I watched as his eyes turned from amber back to human, the light slowly fading from them. I watched as he tried to call out to me, yet no words formed, his mouth opening and closing like a fish that had just been drawn out of water and was craving oxygen. I watched as he stopped struggling and lay still, his eyes wide open. My rock, my cornerstone, dead. I just stood there barely believing what I was seeing praying, hoping that I was in some kind of bad dream, praying that I would wake up any moment from now realizing everything had been just one heck of a bad dream. Zane stood there watching me, his
AVA When I opened my eyes, the first thing that I could see was darkness. It pressed around me like poisonous gas intent on killing a victim. My surrounding was pitch black. I didn't even bother to move, it would be futile as I couldn’t even see any of my body parts. I just lay there on the ground of wherever it is I was and opened my eyes as wide as I could trying to see if I could make out any shape in the suffocating darkness. Laying down there I knew I was dead, it didn't come to me like a fragment of a thought but rather as a full realization that I was never going to see the land of the living again. I was never going to feel the wind on my fir as I ran, or the taste of food, or the smell of the earth after it had just rained which were some of my favorite sensations. The irony of it? My husband had ordered my own death and my father’s best friend had carried it out; how more cruel could life become. Ava. It jolted me out if my thoughts and I went still, reducing my noisy
Ryker. As soon as I stepped into the pack grounds that night I instantly knew something was wrong. Usually, I kept the patrol of the pack grounds to my enforcers but today was their day off they deserved it; this week had been long and grueling. Fending off vampires from the border wasn’t exactly a pastime of mine but it still had to be done. I opted to do it alone but Tao,the head enforcer of my pack; ever the work alcoholic accompanied me. I don't exactly know why I wanted to take on the patrol work today, maybe it was because I missed the feeling of the chilly night breeze caressing my skin and ruffling my hair or it was because I missed my nightly runs. Either way I just wanted to get out of the confines of the house this night. A few minutes after I started the familiar patrol formation I caught a strong metallic scent in the air and I very well knew what t
Ryker.I leaned towards the door pulling the latch backwards as the door swung open and the woman climbed into the car shutting it."Who is behind you" I asked watching her as I took note of the look on her face."Vampires," she drew out a shaky breath.I looked up past the windows to see black shapes moving towards the car. I could count five, maybe six of them getting closer and closer.I could take them out if I wanted to but I had to think of Tao and the woman’s safety, six vampires would be difficult for wolf to take down even if it was a Beta as skilled as Tao.Tao swerved the car round and the backlight of the car flickered to life as the vampires withdrew, slinking away from the light hissing violently. He gunned the car which shot forward and out of the place. The vampires knew better than to go after the car, they'd be heading right into wo
Ava.I jerked awake; my eyes hurting as I clutched my throat gasping for air, choking, as I tried to draw air into my lungs.I beat around me, my hands trashing the air as I fought something unseen before returning my hands back to my throat, the unseen grip that was wrapped around it still choking me.It took me a few seconds to realize I wasn't in a dream any more but in a room. I calmed down after knowing this.The suffocating feeling I had experienced earlier was gone and I drew lungfuls of air into my body.As I sat on the bed breathing in and out I couldn't remember what the dream had been. Only one memory stood out to me and that was a blade running across my neck.I moved my hands to my neck and touched it, there was a faint scar running from one end of my neck to the other end. I didn't know if I could link the scar with the dream I just had; problem was I couldn't remember how this scar got to my neck.What had happened to me?Why couldn't I remember who I was, what my past l