Tara’s wolf hunted and killed a coyote after two hours. She ripped the animal to shreds and took out its thigh bones.
Afterwards, she buried the animal and headed on to find June. With a look at the sky, she figured she had a bit of time to carry out her plans before midnight.
June scoured the woods, pondering on the words – beneath the darkened veil, where the world above has lost its trail.
She looked at the dark skies thoughtfully. “Where has the world above lost its trail?” She voiced her concerns, asking the empty sky.
“There you are.” She heard a familiar voice and turned around. “Looking for this?” Tara whipped out a bone with a smirk in place.
June felt her heart stop. She couldn’t believe it. “Is t-that?”
“Don’t be a fool now, Augusta. I won this round and the last one. I defeated you.” She said with a cynical look.
June’s feet were stuck to the ground, unmoving as she thought on the implications of her loss.
“As much as I would love to let you experience the feeling of defeat, I’m afraid you remain a threat to me for as long as you’re alive.”
June stepped back when she saw the deathly look in Tara’s eyes. “What are you doing?”
“What I should have done a long time ago.” Tara bared her fangs and her claws shot out. “This world would be a better place without you, Augusta.”
“You shouldn’t have come here.” Tara moved to pounce on her but June stepped back, missing her by the wind.
“Run!” June heard the commanding voice of Augusta, turned around and ran like her life depended on it. Because it did.
Tara pursued hotly after her, letting her run until she got into the thick of the forest.
Meanwhile, Zeus remained at the border of the shadow pack. He felt a disturbing and paralysing feeling of fear.
Within minutes, the fear increased and he realized the feelings were not his own. They were getting passed through the mate bond.
It felt like Augusta was sending signals to him!
Which meant that June was in danger. Zeus’ eyes shifted and he moved to enter the woods but Georgina stepped in the way.
“You can’t intervene.” She said firmly. “Not until midnight.”
Zeus pushed her out of the way, causing her to stagger backwards and lose her balance. The others who stood around, waiting for the results, felt fear strike their hearts.
“No one tells me what to do.” He roared, and continued on his track, using his heightened senses to search the area.
“If you step in, she loses.” Georgina said, eyes angry. “The moon goddess hid the bones herself.”
“This is the moon goddess’ way of assessing her choices. The ultimate test of character. If you go against the rules, you are placing your mate at the losing end.”
Zeus halted in his steps. “What are you talking about?”
“If you go after her, you break the code of conduct and disrupt the moon goddess’s selection.”
“I can’t tell what that will spell for the ladies who have put their lives at risk to find the Luna bone.”
“Who knows? She might be doing well on the task.” Georgina said, taking a stand. “You’d hate to be the reason she fails, Alpha.”
Zeus was conflicted by her words. Although his body was filled with unadulterated fear, he couldn’t step in.
June’s determined expression from before flickered into his mind. He couldn’t ruin it for her. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
A part of him still believed she was not in imminent danger but he knew things were tough. Whatever the case may be.
Meanwhile in the woods, June tripped on a tree branch and fell on the ground.
“Gotcha.” Tara stood before her. Breathless and cynical. “Any last words?”
June tried to get up but she kicked her to the ground, pressing her feet to her neck.
“Kill me already!” June spat, struggling to breath. “End it now.”
“Ooh! Desperate to die, are we?” She scoffed. “It sure does look good on you.” She pressed her feet deeper into June’s neck.
“Maybe if you beg me, I’ll make it quick and painless. I have a position to claim after all.”
“You might kill me but I rest assured that Zeus will never look at you the way he does me.” June spat.
“You’ll never feel him deep inside you, muttering sweet nothings into your ears as he claims you as his. Spirit, body and soul.”
Tara kicked her guts and June let out a howl of pain. “You sure know how to beg for your death..”
“I’ll die anyway. I might as well get a few things off my chest.” June gritted. “Zeus will probably kill you first. He won’t need a soothsayer to know you killed me.”
“I’ll be waiting for you in the afterlife.” June said with finality, resigning to her fate.
“Who says I will be killing you with my hands?” Tara suddenly said, surprising June.
“What?”
“There are many ways to catch a fish.” Tara tutted. “As much as I’d love to drain you of life with my bare hands, I have a better plan.”
Tara dragged June by the hair across the woods. “You see, while I was training for this event, I came across something interesting.”
June couldn’t speak as her body was manhandled through the woods. “The moment I saw it, I reckoned this was the best punishment for people like you.”
“People who show up to steal from others.” Tara roughly let go of June’s hair.
“Get up!” Tara hissed, forcing her to her feet. “Here’s where it gets interesting.”
“You have five seconds to save yourself.” Tara said. “Run away and never come back.” Her eyes turned darker as a wolfish grin made its way to her face. “Or die.”
June could barely walk straight. She tried to leave, and tried to reach anyone through her mind. It was an emergency approach.
She didn’t want to die.
At that moment, June realized she would be fine if she wasn’t Luna. She’d be fine if she ended up losing. But she couldn’t just die yet.
The repercussions of her death were too big to ignore. Her mission, Zeus’ sanity, and most importantly, Rafael. She wanted to reunite with him sometime after this nightmare.
She wanted to build a life with Luis and her entire family. She couldn’t die. She just couldn’t.
June ran away from Tara, unknown to her, she was running into a trap. A quicksand spot was right on her path and she dived into it.
She got stuck immediately, and began sinking. Fear struck her heart as she tried to get out, which worsened the situation.
Tara approached with a winning smile and June begged for her life. “Please! Help me! Don’t leave me!”
Tara was done with her. After having a good look at a sinking June she turned around and said to her hearing.
“Rot in hell.”