Luna Aleksa's Escape

3. Caught in the act.

*Aleksa*

Last night I fell asleep again while trying to settle the twins to sleep. I woke a few hours later to see that Lachlan wasn’t home yet. He must have gotten home even later or slept in his office. I must have needed the sleep though, because today I feel so energized. I guess the last few days have really taken it out of me. I got up before the twins, so I started making waffles and berries for their breakfast.

Today I will go in to work and hand them my resignation. Luckily, I work in a town which is predominantly humans. I was brought up by humans, so when I met Lachlan I pleaded with him to let me continue working in the human town. I got a job working for a realtors firm and worked my way up. Everyone at work is human, and as far as I know, there are no links to the pack, so my secret should be safe for now. Hopefully, later on down the track I can get another job in the industry I love.

As I start making the batter for the waffles, my mind starts to wander to Lachlan. I’m so scared to face him after what I saw but I know it needs to happen. It’s not like I can avoid him forever, I think to myself. I’ve decided that I’m going to leave with the twins tomorrow morning. I’ll tell Lachlan that the twins and I are having a mommy-baby day instead of the usual daycare and work, so by the time he realizes we are gone we should have some distance between us.

The twins are awake now and have eaten their breakfasts, they are all dressed and ready for the day. They are wearing matching tie dyed t. shirts and short sets. Today is Art Day at daycare, so I thought that would be a cute idea. They are also wearing matching tie-dyed caps.

We started to walk downstairs when Lachlan and Sam enter the packhouse. “Good morning Luna,” Sam says. He’s the first to address me. “Good morning Children”, Lachlan says. As he walked past me, failing to greet me.

“How was your trip?” I asked them both. Hoping to make polite conversation, so as not to arouse suspicion.

“It didn’t go as planned, but we don’t have time to talk about it right now. Where are you off to?” Lachlan asks.

“I am just dropping the twins off at daycare and then I'm off to work” I reply casually, smiling. “What time will you be back?” Lachlan asks. “Uhh, probably 6pmish?” I reply questionably.

“Uh OK, well I’ll see you later then” Lachlan replies as he walks off. Sam follows. “Have a great day Luna'', Sam says. “Thank you Sam, you too, don’t work too hard”. I say as I am heading out the door with the twins.

I take my usual route. First I drop the twins off at daycare, and then I head to work, where I hand my boss my resignation. Luke (my boss) is visibly disappointed, but I make up a story about a sick relative and he tells me there will always be a job here for me when I return. I feel incredibly dishonest about lying to my working family. But I forget all about that once the pain in my chest and abdomen starts again. I try to work through it but it is just too much. My boss allows me to finish early today and go home on sick leave. I get into the car and I drive home. I need to lie down, I think to myself.

I park the SUV in front of the packhouse. As I enter, I see the usual people mulling around; the kitchen staff, the maids, butlers, and cleaners, stop what they are doing and stare at me. They looked dumbfounded. And then it hits me. They all know.

I started to ascend up the stairs when my Gamma Caleb pulls me aside “Luna, what are you doing home so early from work? And, where are the twins?” I look at Caleb and the realization hits me, he knows too. He has pledged his loyalty and allegiance to me and he is complicit in this.

“I am not feeling well and I’ve come home to rest, now, if you don't mind...” I say not in the mood for more dishonesty from the one person I should be able to trust.

“Luna, perhaps I should take you to the Pack Doctor? You might be coming down with something?” Caleb suggested. “I really don’t think there’s anything to worry about Caleb, thank you for your concern, but I really just want to rest”. I pushed my way past Caleb and continued to walk to my room.

I hear the sounds, the moaning, the bed thrashing against the wall, they are at it again, I think to myself. This time I’m furious, and I don’t feel like running away. So I decided to walk right into my room. Right into my mate having s*x with my so-called best friend. I stood there in shock, even though I knew what I was walking into. At that moment, they realize they are not alone and turn to me.

Eva is on all fours, completely naked. She has a shocked look on her face initially, but then it turns into a smirk, and it appears that she is clearly very happy with herself. Lachlan, however, has a shocked look on his face, he pushes Eva to the side and gets up off the bed, starting to walk towards me, not caring that he is completely naked.

I stood there in shock, not saying anything. I’m so mad my whole body is shaking. My wolf is screaming out in my head “Say something, do something!” “Mate has hurt us, mate disrespects us!” Amber says in despair. Amber is going wild in my head and she wants me to let her out, she wants to take that smirk right off Eva’s face. But I have to control myself, and control Amber. There are other ways to handle this, I think to myself.

“How, How could you?” I say to Lachlan.

He pauses. Then he takes a breath. “This isn’t what it looks like, Aleksa” Lachlan says. “I can explain everything!” He protests. I turned to walk away, as even though I was mad when I walked in the room, now I just feel broken and I just want to cry. Lachlan reaches to grab my arm.

“Don’t touch me!” I yelled at him with venom. “I can’t even look at you right now!” “And as for you -you were supposed to be my best friend, and what about Sam? How could you?” I said to Eva. Eva says nothing, she just stands there with a smirk on her face, not even trying to cover her naked body.

“Eva, leave this room now!” Lachlan says.

“No need” I said to him. “I will leave, I can’t stand the sight of you two!” I said, and then I ran towards the stairs. I don’t know where I am going. All I know is that I need to get out of here. So I shifted into my wolf and started to run through the trees into the woods.

My bones slowly start to break and reconnect, my paws sprout thick brown fur on them, my claws elongate as they hit the ground of the forest. I ran with wild fury, my heart was pounding out of my chest. I have no idea where I am heading to at this stage. I just know I need to run as far from here as possible right now. I need to find clarity. I do not need to think about what I just witnessed in my own bedroom. As my mind wanders to that place, I feel anger build up inside me.

After running for what seemed like forever, I reached my spot. It’s at the far edge of Evergreen Pack territory, it’s so far from the packhouse, and no one ever seems to come here. This is where I like to go when I need to clear my head. It was a small jewel blue river that was almost crystal clear-you could see the time-worn pebbles glistening under the water. It ran through dividing the forest and packland. With dark and thick forest lining the other side of the river. It was so calming. My head slumped down and I let out all my tears, and before I knew it, I drifted into darkness.

I hear someone yelling at me and my eyes open instantly. “Luna, it’s me Caleb. Please wake up!” Caleb yells pleadingly. I look around at my surroundings and realize I must have fallen asleep.

“Luna - I’m, I’m so sorry.” Caleb says. “I knew what was happening and I didn’t protect you -I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!” Caleb begged.

I looked at him and I took a breath. He is my Gamma and he pledged to protect me from harm, yet he made his allegiance clear when he failed to let me know what was going on right under my nose. He had seen me suffer these past years. He had taken me to countless doctor’s appointments, only to leave with no relief and no real answers. I realize his decision was made out of fear, but I still feel so betrayed.

“What’s done is done, Caleb. While I’m not happy with your actions or rather inactions, I know why you did what you did. I sighed and looked at him with sadness on my face.

“I need to pick up the twins. What time is it?” I asked. Suddenly aware that I have no idea how long I have slept for.

“The Alpha picked them up a few hours ago, Luna,” Caleb said. Looking at me with a look of pity on his face.

I stand up from the edge of the riverbed, and I dust off my three-quarter black and white pinstripe dress with spaghetti straps. I need to pull myself together. I need to get home to Liam and Layla. And, I need to confront Lachlan.

I was hoping to avoid this moment. I was planning to slip out early one morning out of the guise of a mommy twin day out. However, now everything has changed. Lachlan and my so-called best friend Eva know that I know.

Now I will have to play it very close to the vest. I will act like the forgiving and optimistic wife who thinks this whole thing can be put behind her. I convince Lachlan that I still love him and that I want things to work. I will appear to forgive Eva for her betrayal.

I will bide my time. I will convince them that I am willing to overlook this.

And then, I will leave this pack with my babies and we will start afresh. I will not become a prisoner in my own pack. I will not become mistress to the wolf that I was fated to. The one who made me Luna.

I start walking through the woods with Caleb to the packhouse. And I mentally prepared myself for the confrontation with Lachlan.