Ordesa Valley, Spain
“Thank you for all your kindness thus far, Renaud.”
The man named Renaud had just finished hanging his fleece coat on the wall when he heard the sound of someone engaging him in conversation. He turned around and saw his bearded male friend packing his belongings into a backpack. Renaud stared at his friend for a moment and then asked, “Are you going back to your pack, Alpha Chris?”
“Not yet; I have to investigate who was behind this attack, and you don’t have to call me that anymore. Our status is equal now.”
Chris grinned slightly at the statement that had just come out of his mouth. He assumed that Renaud was probably trying to keep him from leaving the man’s cabin. A few months after the tragedy at the waterfall, their relationship had become close again after several years apart.
With deep wounds and several broken bones from his last fight with the vampire, Chris almost lost his life when he fell from a height. Chris would have been grateful if Renaud had found him lying weak in the river downstream.
“I can only say to be careful with every step you take. The betrayal that happens to the werewolf race must be related to the Supreme Alpha, although in my case, I was betrayed because of my Luna.”
“Have fun, my friend. Our lives are long; a lone wolf like you can easily find satisfaction out there.”
“Let me take you to the forest’s edge.”
Renaud shifted into a furry wolf, followed by Chris, who shifted into a wolf with dark grey fur. The two walked leisurely until they reached the forest boundary. The white-furred wolf merely bared its fangs and said with a mind-link, [Be careful on the path.]
*
“Jenny, come on,” Edith persuaded Jen.
“Don’t call me that, Luna. I really hate it; that stinks. If you weren’t my Luna, I’d bite your neck.”
Jen and Edith are chatting in the cafeteria. Edith is persuading Jen to accompany her to the city library. No matter how sweetly Edith persuades Jen, the girl is adamant that she’ll be bored in that bookish place.
“What exactly are you going to do with Edith?” asked a voice from behind where they were sitting.
“Sorry, Alpha Seth. I got the wrong end of the stick,” Jen said with a rude snort.
“Are you girls leaving?”
“Girl things; boys don’t need to know.” Jen replied with a snappish tone.
“We’re going to the city library. I asked Jen to accompany me, but she’s very difficult to persuade. Seth, could you ask her to accompany me with your authority?” Edith said as she tugged on Seth’s arm.
“Shit! Now you want to team up with this brat, By the Moon Goddess.”
“It’s my pleasure, baby. Jennifer Shum, I order you to accompany your Luna to the city library!”
“Yes, Alpha! Happy, now?”
Seth just chuckled; the next second, he was already whispering something in Edith’s ear: “This has a price, baby.”
Edith’s eyes widened; she knew what payment Seth meant. Her face turned red, and Edith immediately covered it with both hands.
“Are you guys mind-linking?” asked Jen after observing the two making unusual movements in front of her. Jen squinted her eyes and looked at the couple in turn.
“Just look under the table if you want to know what they’re doing,” added Jadden, who arrived at the table where the three were.
Jen lowered her head and looked at Seth’s hand, which was already roaming between the thighs of Edith, who was only wearing a knee-length skirt. Jen rolled her eyes and sighed roughly.
“By the Moon Goddess, how many times have I said it? Ah, the second time. The third time, I don’t want to catch you guys mating in the gym.”
“Quiet, little on! Go find a mate, so you won’t be jealous of us.”
Jen gritted her teeth and looked away, while Jadden laughed out loud at the reaction of the people in front of him as he whispered to Jen, “I think Julian will have a little brother soon. Wanna bet Jen?”
“Bloody werewolf! I’m not in it.” Jen said as she stood up and walked away.
“Jenny, wait! I’m coming,” said Edith.
“Hurry up before I shapeshift here and have a duel with your Alpha. It’s just like him doing that in front of me. I’m just waiting for the mate I adore so much like a white horse prince in a fairy tale, dammit!”
“‘Tis done; don’t worry about it.”
Edith felt lucky that Seth could use his authority on Jen. Even though it annoyed Jen to bits, Edith began to enjoy her role as Luna, who would always be granted all her requests by the Alpha. “Why would you want to be his mate anyway, Edith?”
“I don’t know; love doesn’t need a reason, does it?”
“Do you love him?”
“Absolutely, I love him.”
*
Edith had closed her mouth many times because she felt sleepy. She felt very weary because she had not found anything about the whereabouts of the vehicle. Next to her, Jen was also looking drowsy with her hands clutching her stomach because she was hungry.
In the distance, Edith’s eyes caught a man leaning against his car. The distance from the library exit to the pavement was not so far, so Edith could confirm that the man was Seth.
But Seth was not alone; in front of him was a woman who was touching his chest and smiling mischievously. Seth gently brushed the woman’s hand away, but the woman repeated it again.
Edith felt the anger from within. Her body trembled as she saw how the woman was flirting with Seth. She felt the pavement on which she stood become as fragile as a lake covered with a layer of ice in winter. The ground shook violently as Edith felt the anger take over.
“Luna Edith, what’s wrong with you?” said Jen, who saw the strangeness in Edith.
“Kuchko!”
Jen saw the pavement around them forming cracks, extending in a straight line all the way to where the woman teasing Seth was standing. It sent the people around them running for their safety.
The woman screamed in pain when one of her legs was caught in the crack made by Edith. Hearing the woman scream made Edith grin as she walked towards the woman. Edith lifted the woman up without touching her.
She made gestures in the air with both hands and said it in a language that Seth didn’t understand; he only knew it was one of the Slavic languages, not the Russian he knew.
Seth saw that she couldn’t make a sound, and her hands were clutching her neck. Jen ran towards Edith, trying to stop her by lowering Edith’s hands, but to no avail. Edith’s strength prevented her from doing so.
“Alpha, what’s wrong with Luna?”
“Her alter ego-she’s jealous! I’ll persuade Edith to dampen her anger; when you’ve got that woman, immediately take her away from here!”
“Yes, Alpha!”
Seth tried to approach Edith, who was still torturing the woman, with the ‘no-touch gesture’. He grabbed Edith’s hand, which was hanging in the air, and blocked Edith’s eye contact with the woman.
“Baby, it’s me. Put your hands down; everything will be fine, trust me.”
Edith blinks her eyes. She looked at her hands and then looked around. Edith saw a woman sitting on the pavement with her body showing great pain. Edith turned her gaze towards Seth, who was looking warmly at her. Edith lowered her hand and felt tears falling down her cheeks.
“Now, Jen!”
Jen quickly led her away and disappeared. Seth took Edith into his arms and soothed Edith, who was still crying.
“I’m so angry, Seth. What did I do?”
“You’re just expressing yourself; it’s okay; it’s just a small earthquake; nothing to worry about. Let’s go home!”
“Where’s Jen?”
“Jen can go home by herself with her four legs.”
“I’m sorry, Seth; I turned into an evil person. I almost killed someone else.”
“But you didn’t, baby. You’re not an evil person, either. Now let’s go home and calm yourself down.”