Becoming Luna

16 ~ A fork in the road

Siena hurries towards her parents’ cottage, determined not to spend any more time in Alpha Andrew’s territory, at least not more than necessary. Her bags are packed, waiting for her right by the door, so she grabs them and gives one last sweeping look at the house where she spent most of her life living.

She’s going to miss her childhood home. If only she could bring everything with her, she would, but from this moment on, her life will be uncertain, and one bag is all she can carry. Maybe someday, she can afford to have someone retrieve all her stuff, if there would be anything left once Luna Cristina’s minions are done ransacking the place.

She closes the door carefully, whispering a quiet goodbye to her parents and their memories. As she turns to go, Siena gasps at the sight of Andrew’s wolf waiting for her outside the wooden fence.

“Axel…” she breathes, her heart breaking a little bit more. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on the pack’s first official run with your new luna.”

He shakes his head, looking frustrated, before scratching the earth with his paws in frustration, looking at her as if he wants to tell her something. Only he can’t reach her through the mindlink anymore, because Siena is no longer a member of his pack.

She sighs and walks out of the gate, where she shifts into her wolf Opal, hoping that they can still communicate with each other in their wolf form.

“What do you want?” Opal asks, her voice wary and carrying a hint of hurt.

“I know I can’t stop you from leaving,” Axel tells her in a sad voice. “But at least let me escort you to the western gate. We will wait for the King's men together.”

“Why?”

“Can’t a wolf make sure his mate will be safe as she crosses a hostile territory?”

She scoffs. “I'm not your mate anymore. You can go back to your new luna, as I am no longer your responsibility.”

“My human chose our new mate. I was not consulted in the matter, nor was my will taken into consideration. But the Moon Goddess's will is absolute and as the other side of his coin, I have to go where he goes. Take the path he has chosen. You know that as well as I, for you were just as helpless when your human took another lover.”

Opal looks away, feeling the jab. “I have to go.”

Axel nods and grabs her bag with his mouth, carrying it for her. She lets him, as she needs to carry the prosthetic leg for her human form. They walk together—she hobbles in her three good legs, while he slows his pace to match hers—towards the western gate in silence. She wonders how the pack is taking this: their new alpha refusing to run with them and with his new luna, only to accompany his former mate as she leaves their territory.

If it weren’t happening to her right now, she would have thought the story impossible and absurd.

“Your parents must be livid…”

Axel scoffs. “I don’t give a damn. I'm the alpha now and they can't order me around anymore.”

Opal chuckles darkly. “Good luck dealing with your new luna after this. She doesn’t look like the type to take things sitting down.”

“That’s my human's problem. He took a rock to hit his head with. That’s why I'm not shifting back for now. He can’t fight me, for I am at my strongest tonight, given the full moon. I need to do this, while I still can. I just need to make sure you'll be all right. And to be honest, I'm still hoping you would change your mind…and stay. Or maybe even run away with me.”

“Neither one of those is an option anymore, I'm afraid,” She sighs again, feeling tired. ”I can’t stay here, they will only make my life miserable, you know that. And we both know you can’t leave. You have your responsibilities to the pack and to your unborn pup. What we had was a dream, but sadly, it's time to wake up.”

“I never wanted to hurt you, mate,” he whispers, his voice mournful and defeated.

“I wish I could say the same… but it wouldn’t be true.” She swallows the painful lump in her throat. “I did want to hurt you that night. We were angry and in pain. We wanted you to feel how much it hurt to be betrayed, over and over again. It never occurred to us that you might not be a willing accomplice.”

“You should have known better…” He mutters. “I guess it’s true. There is no going back for us.”

They finally reach the western gate, and the warriors guarding it stare at them with incredulous expressions. It must be a sight to see their new alpha here, with his former mate who has already broken ties with their pack, instead of running with his new luna and the others.

Obeying a silent order from Axel, they open the gates and Opal takes one last deep breath inside the territory before stepping out into the unknown. Dawn is still a few hours away, and the King’s men have yet to arrive, so she turns to Axel.

“You should go now. Your new life awaits you, and I don’t think watching me leave will make things better for either one of us.”

“No, I will stay until they come. I have something I want to say to them.”

“Axel—”

“I'm staying,” he mutters stubbornly.

They stand there in silence for a long time, watching the moon together. Every now and then, she notices that he would wince and she knows that his mother and his new luna are probably giving him hell through mindlink for abandoning them mid-ceremony.

After about an hour, a car arrives, and to Siena’s surprise, Xander steps out, watching both of them with a guarded expression.

She immediately shifts, grabbing a long jacket from her bag to cover herself up and steadying herself on one foot as she tries to awkwardly put her prosthetic leg on.

“What are you doing here? The King’s men are supposed to—”

“I volunteered,” he says smoothly. “I thought you could use a friendly face during this…difficult time.”

Axel growls possessively and Siena wonders if he realizes who Xander is. Can he smell her on him still? Is this going to turn into a fight? She hopes not.

Xander ignores him, though, and takes Siena’s bag. “Is this all you’re bringing with you?”

“Y-Yes…”

He opens the back door and puts the bag inside, then turns to Siena to raise his brow as if to inquire if she’s ready to go.

Axel whines, demanding to speak with Xander, but determined not to yield control to his human.

Siena sighs. “I think he wants to speak with you…but you’ll have to shift in wolf form because…he doesn’t want to give Andrew control just yet.”

Recognition of the name lits Xander’s eyes for a second before he turns to look at Axel. “The new alpha, I presume.”

“As of tonight, yes.”

He shrugs. “If he has anything to say to me, he will have to say it in his human form because I’m not going to shift.”

Axel growls, his fur bristling, but Xander stares at him coldly, undaunted.

Siena sighs again before shrugging out of her jacket and removing the prosthetic leg once more. She shifts back to Opal to try to calm Axel down. “I’m sure he doesn’t mean any offense. The thing is, I don’t think he can shift. I'm pretty sure he’s a shifter but for some reason I can’t sense his wolf. If you have anything to say to him, I will just have to relay the message.”

“A wolfless shifter? How pathetic!” Axel snorts. “Who is he? And why is he here?”

Opal grits her teeth. “Axel, please...”

“He’s the one you betrayed us with, isn’t he? He’s got some nerve showing his face here!”

She stiffens. “Don’t make me pull out the Leah card. I’m not the one who started this—”

“Do you intend to take him as your new mate?”

“What!? No! I—He’s just helping me get on with my life. He’s a friend, that's all. And even if there was more, it is no longer your concern, so let’s not do this,” she points out acidly. But she reminds herself that Andrew’s wolf is acting aggressive because he is hurting so she takes a deep breath and tries again in a calmer voice. “This is where we part ways now, Axel. Please don’t make it harder than it already is.”

Andrew’s wolf stares at her for a long while. “Tell him I want it noted that you are not an outcast. You will always have a home here in the Borderlands. I will make sure your parents’ house is protected and taken care of at all times, ready for you whenever you decide to come home.”

“I appreciate that, but I'm—”

“Promise me you'll tell him that!” he growls, his eyes burning with emotions. “It's important!”

“Okay, I promise!” she agrees, just to get it over with.

“I'm sorry it didn’t work out between us, little one…” His eyes soften a little, and she can see deep sadness in them as he turns away to go back to his territory.

Tears blur her vision as she realizes this might be the last time she will ever see him, and she shakes her head to clear it. Then, unable to help herself, she calls his name and he stops walking, so she hobbles after him, nuzzling him for the last time.

“I… I wish you well with your new luna…and your new life. Goodbye…my first love.”

“I've always known why the Moon Goddess chose you to lead my pack with me,” Axel whimpers. “You truly are an exceptional soul.” He glances at Xander who is watching their interaction while leaning against his car. “I hope he takes care of you right. He better not be stupid like my human, who wasted a chance with the perfect luna.”

With that he howls, full of mourning, and then he dashes away, as if he could no longer trust himself and he needs to be as far away from her as possible. The warriors close the gate behind him, and Siena shifts back to her human form, staring forlornly at the territory she left behind.

Xander clears his throat and picks up her prosthetic leg, bringing it to her. She accepts it, staring at it blankly as if she’d never seen it before, so he lifts her in his arms and carries her to the car, putting her in the front passenger seat.

Once seated in the driver’s seat, he waits a little before turning to look at her and asking gently. “Are you ready to go now?”

She nods, wiping away her tears. “Yes. I’m ready to go to the Barrenlands.”

Xander sighs as he starts the engine. “Believe me, no one is ready to go to hell.”