The Luna's Revenge: Chosen as his breeder, Born to rule

”I promise you, I don’t know anything about the kidnapping. I promise you,” I kept telling Lucian.

My heart was beating fast, and I didn’t know what else to say.

”Okay, we believe you. We just wanted to confirm you’re not involved,” Beta Kael said.

”I know you couldn’t do such a thing, Selene. You know me better than that,” Lucian said.

I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or tense. Could they be playing with me? I asked myself the question over and over.

”We must find the wolves who decided to go rogue,” Lucian said. I nodded in agreement.

”I’m more rogue than they’ll ever be, and I’ll find them. But you’re coming with me,” he said.

I was starstruck. ”I’m going with you?” I asked, just to be sure I’d heard him right.

”He said you’re going. The Alpha doesn’t like repeating himself,” Tessa said.

I nodded. This had come out of nowhere, and I wasn’t ready for it.

”Get ready. We leave in fifteen minutes,” Lucian said.

I went back to the room where we stayed.

”Lucian said I’m going with them to find Leah and Freya,” I told the girls in the room.

”Ohh, for goddess sake, they must be long gone by now. The Alpha should let it slide,” the locksmith girl said.

”I wonder,” was all I could say back.

”You have to go, Selene. You can’t disobey the Alpha,” the locksmith girl kept saying.

I almost started crying. I didn’t want to be the reason Leah and Freya got caught. That would be a scar I’d carry forever. They should take me instead. I never thought my life was worth that much anyway.

They all gathered around me. ”We know you have this group’s best interest at heart,” the locksmith girl said, watching the tears well up in my eyes.

She wiped them away for me and pulled me into a hug. ”You’ll be fine. I trust you, and I believe in you.”

The rest of the room joined the hug. I felt their warmth again, and it felt even better this time. It gave me courage and strength I couldn’t explain.

I went out to meet the Alpha so we could leave. I didn’t want to be late.

Kael and Tessa were already outside, waiting by the car.

”You kept us waiting, Selene,” Tessa said.

I was four minutes early. I didn’t understand how that made me late.

”But you gave me fifteen...”

”I have a different definition of early,” Lucian interrupted.

”Maybe I should welcome you to Winterwood again. Welcome.”

We climbed into the front car, a jeep built like the ones used for actual hunts...strong, solid, unshakable. I sat in the back seat with Tessa. Kael drove, and Lucian sat up front.

The road looked gray under the weather, foggy despite the hour, even though it wasn’t early morning.

”Where are we heading?” Beta Kael asked.

”Let’s check the mountain areas first,” Lucian said. I wasn’t familiar with the mountains of Morvaine, though I’d read about them. Cold, and crawling with lions...many of which had been killed over the years, from what I remembered.

I hoped, quietly, that we wouldn’t run into any predators.

About twenty minutes later, we stopped and climbed out of the vehicle. We laced up our boots so we could walk the forest floor without fear of catching a foot on something sharp.

The Morvaine mountains in the Winterwood district were infamous...known as a place where wars had once been fought.

There was no way Leah and Freya would hide here.

Were they really that reckless? Or would it have been the smarter move, precisely because no one would expect it?

We searched for hours and found nothing.

I stayed alert, watching for loopholes, for tracks, for anything that might give them away. But there was nothing. Leah and Freya must have been sharper than I gave them credit for.

By evening we were still searching. We’d passed the mountains and moved into the forest.

”My king, we’ve looked everywhere. Maybe they’ve been eaten by a wild animal or something,” Tessa said.

Lucian didn’t answer. He ignored her completely, like she hadn’t spoken at all.

”My king,” she called again.

”Keep quiet.” His voice cracked through the forest, loud enough to shock me.

”They’re still alive,” he said, stepping close to her, finger in her face. ”They escaped my entire guard. They’re not that smart. I will find them today.” He kept yelling.

Tessa lowered her head, refusing to meet his eyes.

She had to be someone important in Winterwood, for Lucian to be so hard on her.

”I’m sorry, Alpha,” she said.

”I don’t want your games right now, Tessa,” he said, and kept walking.

Darkness fell. Kael switched on a torch and handed me one from his bag. Everyone carried a light as we combed through the woods. I had no idea where we were anymore. I didn’t know anywhere outside a book.

I’d only ever toured the world through my library. My mind was the only plane I’d ever flown.

Then we heard it...strange sounds, but unmistakably something. Something alive.

”Careful, there’s something in the woods, Alpha,” Kael said. Lucian pulled a weapon out immediately. The sound was not friendly.

I hadn’t even known he carried a gun. We all froze, waiting to see what would happen, trying to place where the sound was coming from.

”Stay alert. It can strike any second,” Kael said again.

”Probably a bear,” Tessa said, raising her own gun. I was the only one without a weapon.

The sound closed in, and just as something lunged at me from the side, Lucian stepped in front of me and raised his gun at the creature. A mountain lion.

Before he could fire, it slashed him...so fast it was a blur, pouncing in the blink of an eye. He got a shot off anyway, and Kael finished the job, firing until it dropped for good. It was massive, and the sight of it turned my stomach.

Lucian went down. And it was because of me. He’d been hurt saving me.

Me and Tessa dragged him aside. He was bleeding from his shoulder and stomach...the claws had torn him in several places, and we had to cut his clothes away to see how bad it was. He groaned, low, trying not to make too much noise.

Seconds later, more sounds tore through the woods. This time it sounded like something running.

Kael shot up from the ground and took off after it, disappearing deep into the trees.

Then came two gunshots. Me and Tessa gasped.

A minute later, he was dragging two bodies back across the ground.

We couldn’t see their faces until I pointed my torch at them. Leah and Freya. I froze, disappointment crashing through me. I hadn’t expected them to actually get caught. Their faces were hollow, hopeless. Both had been shot in the foot.

”Tessa, Selene, get Lucian to the car, now. We’ll be right behind you,” Kael said, still dragging them across the ground.

I swallowed the tears and the disappointment burning in my throat. This isn’t going to end well, I thought to myself.