The Blood Moon

Leaving part two

Raine

With each step I take away from Jasper, I get more and more upset. My whole body is aching. It feels like there is a hole in my chest that gets deeper with each step. Before I realize it, I’m stopping.

“Raine? I'm sorry I know this sucks but we have to keep going,” Jared is talking to me but he seems so far away.

I put my hand on my chest and look him in the eyes.

“It hurts Jared,” I whisper. Tears are once again rolling down my face.

He picks me up and carries me to his truck.

“It’s the damn mate bond,” he says while looking me over with concern in his eyes. “Look, Raine, maybe we should go talk to Alpha Regent Jasper. Did you talk to him after Pierce did that? Are you sure he doesn’t want you? I can’t imagine it’s true.”

He’s looking at me seriously. One of his eyebrows is raised. I sigh and look down at my hands. He’s standing in the passenger door as I’m sitting in the seat.

“This ain’t going to get better for you. You found your mate. Even if you haven’t mated yet, the bond has been established,” he tells me.

“So it’s true?” I hear Alpha Pierce’s steely cold voice interrupt my thoughts. My heart starts to race. “The b***h found a mate.”

I look over to him and he’s smirking at me. Jared turns around to face him, blocking me into the truck in a protective stance. He’s trying to keep Alpha Pierce from me.

“Pierce, just leave ok? She’s not going back with you,” Jared said. He’s trying to sound bigger than he is. He’s struggling to talk to his alpha that way.

Alpha Pierce's eyes are looking past Jared and hungrily at me. I’m afraid. He’s looking at me so intently I know he’s going to try something. I’m afraid for Jared, and for myself.

Raine, call out for Jasper. Sienna says to me. You should be close enough still. His wolf will hear you.

How? We haven’t mated or marked each other!

Please trust me Raine. I haven’t led you afoul yet.

I focus all my energy on Jasper. Sienna says he’s nearby so I focus my thoughts at the hospital.

-Jasper. Jasper, I need you. Alpha Pierce is here. We’re on the east side of the hospital. In a black truck. Please hurry.

I replay it over and over in my head. My eyes are closed and my heart is racing. I can vaguely hear Jared yelling something at Pierce. Or is he yelling at me? I can’t tell. My entire focus is contacting Jasper.

-Raine.

I gasp. I can hear him in my mind.

-Hang on sweetheart. I’m coming.

Jasper

My wolf has been crying and howling since I’d heard Bryce say she was gone. I’m pacing back and forth in her room trying to block him out.

My entire body hurts. My chest feels like it’s caving in as my heart continues to break. My head is aching from my wolf's pained cries.

This is so much worse than when I had rejected my first mate. Knowing my mate is out there, away from me, and thinks I don’t want her? It’s breaking me apart.

“Jasper, we can find her. She can’t be far yet,” Bryce is trying to calm me down. I imagine he’s trying to think of what he would do if Talia left.

I run my hands through my hair and sigh. He keeps talking about his plans to find her when I hear it.

-Jasper.

I stiffen and shush Bryce.

-Jasper. Jasper, I need you. Alpha Pierce is here. We’re on the east side of the hospital. In a black truck. Please hurry.

Her voice is flooding my mind over and over with the same message. Pierce has found her. She's scared. She's begging me for help.

I direct my thoughts to her and reply. I call out to her through my mind.

-Raine. Hang on sweetheart. I’m coming.

I run out of the hospital room and down the hallway. I find my way to the stairs and take them two at a time. I can hear Bryce close behind me. He’s calling out to me. I know he’s confused so I yell back at him

“Raine just mind linked me. They’re in trouble.”

We keep running until we get to the lobby. I bolt out of the front doors and head east. I turn the corner when I see them.

Pierce is standing over a man and is punching him mercilessly. He’s yelling at him about betrayal. I see Raine in the passenger seat of the truck. Her eyes are closed and she’s hugging her knees close to her body. Her face is scrunched up in concentration. I can still hear her voice in my head. She’s focusing on reaching out to me.

“PIERCE,” I yell as loud as I can. I can feel myself shaking. My wolf is scratching his way to the surface. I can feel her eyes on me.

I can’t control my wolf anymore. With a snarl, I shift into my giant wolf. I huff as I stare at Pierce.

He looks up at me. I expected him to cower at my wolf's form but he scowls.

“You think you have a claim over that b***h?” He yells at me. “She was mine first. I have loved her since we were kids!”

My wolf snarls at him. I can feel how protective of her he is. He hates Pierce more than I do.

“You think you can take her from me? You’ve only known her a few days!” He’s yelling even louder now. I feel Bryce next to me. He’s getting pissed off but he doesn’t shift.

“I won’t let you take her!” Pierce's voice has changed from anger to desperation. “If I can’t have her neither can you!”

My heart stops as I consider what he’s implying. I get distracted when the man kicks straight up at Pierce’s crotch.

Pierce lets out a pained yell and falls to his knees with his hands clutching his crotch on top of the man below him who rolls out of the way. He gets on his knees. Blood is streaming from his nose and trickling from the corner of his mouth. He starts punching Pierce.

“You. Are. Going. To. Stay. Away. From. Her!” He’s screaming. With each word he lands a punch. Pierce is lying limp on the sidewalk but the man refuses to stop.

Bryce throws me a pair of shorts then runs over and restrains the man. I shift back, put the shorts on and run to Raine.

“She was one of my best friends, you jackass!” The man is spitting at Pierce. He’s so mad I can see him shaking. Bryce is easily restraining him and looks like he’s trying to calm him down.

Raine is getting out of the truck and watching me run to her with those beautiful eyes. I can see she’s shaking and crying. I can’t imagine how terrifying this must be for her.

As I reach her I pick her up and she wraps her legs around my waist. I hold her close to me and let her sob into my bare shoulder. I nuzzle the nape of her neck gently while whispering to her. I try to tell her that everything will be ok, that I’m here for her and I will protect her until the day I die. That makes her cry harder and her latch on my tightens. I finally shut up and just hold her close. I place soft kisses on her neck and just let her cry.

“Raine, sweetheart, why did you leave?” I whisper to her gently. I don’t want her to think I’m cross with her. I’m not. I want to get everything out in the open.

“Jared convinced me it would be safer to leave. But he didn’t know you were my mate before we left,” she says into my shoulder. Her voice is muffled through my skin. I can barely hear her. “When he found out you were my mate and saw how physically painful leaving you was we stopped. He was trying to convince me to go talk to you when Pierce found us.”

I turn so that I am facing Bryce and Jared. Jared is still flustered but Bryce has him calmed down. Some of Bryce's men have Pierce in handcuffs but he’s still unconscious on the sidewalk.

“I’m pure Jasper,” I hear her say muffled again. She’s not looking at me but I know what she is talking about.

I put her down and gently lift her chin so she is looking at me.

“Raine, I don’t care if you’re ‘pure’ or not. That doesn’t matter,” I say to her. I caress her cheek with my thumb as I stare into her eyes. “Purity is utter bull s**t that is fed to young she-wolves to control them. The moon goddess has never placed limits on sexuality. In fact, werewolves used to be a very promiscuous bunch.” I chuckle lightly to myself, remembering when I learned that colorful part of our history.

“But Alpha Pierce said the elders made it a pack law?” She looks at me innocently.

I snort and scowl at Pierce. He’s such a piece of s**t.

“No, Raine. There are no laws about purity. That would be so gross and so controlling,” I smile gently at her and kiss her forehead. “I want you Raine. I believe that you never let him mate you. But it wouldn’t change my mind if he had. You’re my fated mate.”

She smiles up at me and seems content with that answer. She nuzzles her head into my chest and lets out a long sigh. I hold her tighter, one arm around her waist and the other lightly resting on the back of her head. We stayed that way for a while. The sparks and warmth from our bond urging us to never let go. Her lovely scent, honeysuckle and ocean air, filled my senses with pleasure. I’m so taken with this woman.

I finally pull away gently and look into her eyes.

“Raine, I think we should go back to the hospital. I want to make sure it’s safe for you to leave,” I say to her gently. She seems physically ok. Maybe a little weak, and definitely in need of a few meals. But it’s her state of mind that concerns me most. While I want to forget it happened, I can’t forget that just five days ago she jumped off a cliff with every intention of dying.

She frowns at me and bows her head.

“Yes, Alpha. I will do that.”

Her voice is completely void of emotion.

She turns and starts to walk back to the hospital. If she had been in her wolf form, her tail would’ve been between her legs.

I watch her go. My heart is aching for my little mate.