Fall of the Luna (completed)

Broken

Kayla’s POV

        The cold water of the river chilled me to the bones but it was nothing compared to the void and coldness in my heart. When Jake appeared in front of me with Jacob as his hostage, I knew without a doubt that I had to save the pup, not just because as Luna, I had to protect my pack, but more importantly, because this pup was Finn’s pup. Suppressing all my fears, I had offered myself as a hostage instead and Jake accepted my suggestion a little too happily. I should have known at that moment, that I had underestimated him as he then injected me with something that completely subdued my wolf. Unable to shift or wield my powers, I was completely at his mercy and so was poor little Jacob. I could tell by his faint breathing that he wasn’t doing well. I was determined to save my mate’s pup so when Jake threatened Finn with our lives, I was prepared to fulfil my duty as our pack’s Luna.

        Yet, nothing had prepared me for the scene that played out in front of me. Seeing Lynsie begging for her pup’s life and the hesitation on Finn’s face made me feel more and more like I was the third wheel and they were family. The fact is, they were a family and perhaps without me, they could live happily as a family. And when push came to shove, Finn had chosen Jacob. Those words were like a thousand knives, slicing my heart slowly into pieces. In those short few seconds, I felt like the cursed little girl again, rejected and unimportant. It had taken me years to finally allow myself to believe that I was deserving of my mate and his love but everything came undone in those short seconds. When the shot rang out and echoed into the night, I was hopeful that it’d finally all come to an end. Something warm flowed down my legs before the bone chilling waters engulfed me. I felt a pair of strong arms dragging me even as the rapids carried us further and further away from the place I called home. Images of the past few years flashed in my mind and I wish that I at least have had the chance to bid my brother and his family goodbye.

        I wanted to tell them that I had tried my best but it simply wasn’t enough. I had given up my own aspirations for the good of our pack and I had done everything that I was supposedly destined to do. The forest had recovered and our pack was strong but my time had come. As I allowed the darkness to take over, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief, that I’d never have to face the pain of not being chosen by my mate, or the devastation of never having my own pup.

 Jake’s POV

        My heart was pounding as adrenaline rushed through my body. The rapids were carrying us downstream much faster than I could hope for and soon we’d reach the rendezvous point that I’d arranged with two of my pack members. Suddenly, the smell of metal filled my nose and under the bright full moon, I could see the waters being stained red. No, that’s not possible! I had fired into the air as a distraction to allow us to escape. How could Kayla possibly be hurt? Frantic to make sure that she was alright, I swam as fast as I could and when we finally came ashore, dread filled me as I saw blood trickling down from between her legs.

        “Move! We need to get her back to our safehouse right away!” I hissed at my pack members. Without further delays, I rushed towards our safehouse in the SUV prepared for our escape while the two of them drove in separate cars all in different directions to confuse anyone who’d be tracking us. Our safehouse was a penthouse apartment in the middle of human territory since I figured we could cover our tracks best here as long as we laid low. Blood dripped across the entryway of the penthouse as I ran in with Kayla in my arms. “Thiago! Come here, right now!” I screamed for my cousin as I carried Kayla into the emergency surgery room that we’d prepared for this occasion, in case something went wrong. Quickly, Thiago and his assistants got to work but to my horror, he told me that Kayla is pregnant, or rather she was on the verge of losing her baby.

        Gripping my hair, my body slid down onto the floor. Why was she carrying that mutt’s pup? Moon Goddess, how happy would I be if she was mine and carrying my pup! There was no way that I would allow another enemy of mine to walk this earth. “Kill it!” I roared at Thiago. To my annoyance, he was silent for a few minutes before warning me, “Kayla’s body was weak and damaged after.. what happened five years ago. If we don’t save this pup, I don’t know if she’d still be able to be a mother ever again. From my reports in the past months, I’m sure you know how important this is to her.” My head hurt and I couldn’t refute that my cousin was right. If this pup died and Kayla couldn’t ever become a mother again, that’d be the end of us. Defeated, I instructed Thiago to save the pup and left the surgery room to think alone.  

        After laying low for years, I was finally able to act on the next part of my plans tonight. After losing Kayla five years ago, I almost died in that forest fire. Luckily for me, I had made it back to Martha’s hut in time. I knew that fire was her element and her hut would be the safest place in case of a supernatural catastrophe like this. It also gave me the opportunity to grab everything remaining in her hut. Without a witch, the next best thing for me would be the spells and potions that she had left behind. One of the potions found in the hut had helped me to save my Beta’s life. He was caught up in the fire and burned badly but I was able to save his life with a potion. Saving him would turn out to be one of my biggest regrets as I found out a few months later from Martha’s spell book that my Beta was in cahoots with the witch.

        Kayla was not my mate. In fact, my mate was dead many moons ago at the hands of Martha and my Beta. They had killed her so that the bond could be severed and manipulated by Martha’s magic. My chosen Luna was a ploy used by them to distract me until the time was right to use me to get to Kayla. Everything had gone according to their plan making both Kayla and I believe that we were fated mates. The fight with the former Alpha and Luna of the Gold Moon Pack was also orchestrated by them to break Kayla so that Martha’s potion to manipulate her memory to trigger her wolf would work. Throughout the time that we were together in my pack, my Beta had continued his betrayal by slipping potions from Martha into my daily coffee to make me more aggressive and paranoid.

        It hurt to know that my own Beta would betray me but it pained me even more to think that an Elder whom I’d always respected was never on our side. Martha’s ancient scrolls and spells revealed the dark history of our pack. Never would I have imagined that our pack had enslaved her and contributed to the downfall of the covens. All these centuries, she was just lying low and biding her time, just like what I was doing now. Martha and my Beta were now both dead, and I’d finally avenged the fallen wolves of my pack when I took Kayla from Finn. Making him choose between his mate and pup was sweet revenge, even though it pained me that I had to hurt Kayla for this. “Ahem, Jake, she’s stable now if you want to see her.” Thiago’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I nodded as I headed towards the guest room that Kayla was in. Machines were beeping in the background as I gazed down at my unconscious little girl and gently stroked her hair. “Forgive me, Kayla. You’re all that I have left now and I can’t let you go,” I whispered.