Blood Moon Betrayal

CHAPTER ONE

FRANCESCA’S P.O.V

Raymond pulled me to a corner of the hallway, his nails sinking into my skin.

“You’re hurting me, Raymond! Let me go!” I complained in a hushed tone. I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to one of Raymond’s usual paranoid moments.

“You think you’re so stubborn, right? I’ve asked you nicely to let my brother be time and time again, but you never listen, and now you want to officially marry him?! What would it take for you to leave my family alone?" Raymond spat angrily at me through clenched teeth.

I struggled to set my arm free, staring into my soon-to-be brother-in-law’s eyes. Raymond wasn’t joking this time; this wasn’t one of his usual paranoid episodes.

“I am your brother’s mate, Raymond. And I don’t know what exactly I have done to offend you this badly, but Axel loves me and I love him, and we don’t intend to ruin that for either of us.” I said, mustering what little courage I could.

Looking into Raymond’s eyes, it was filled with anger, but there was something else I noticed; it was fear.

“What are you so afraid of, Raymond?” I whispered, brushing my fingers over Raymond’s cheek.

“Afraid?! I’m not afraid! I just want you to leave my family alone!” Raymond shouted, throwing my hand far from his face and walking away angrily while muttering things I couldn’t make out.

I stood in the hallway, rubbing my wrists where Raymond had held me captive.

“What is wrong with him?” I whispered to myself, wondering what I had done that had made Raymond hate me so badly.

“Raymond confuses all of us.” A deep voice came from behind me, and a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist below my pregnancy bump.

“I just want to know what I could have possibly done to offend him this badly.” I said, leaning, into the man behind me.

“My brother is just a paranoid and needy boy. He’s angry that you’re stealing his brother away from him. He’ll adjust. Just give him time.” The man behind me said, placing kisses on the back of my neck.

I turned to face the man. “You know, you could speak a bit nicely about him. Maybe if you showed him that you cared about his feelings, he’ll open up or act less... weird." I said, turning to face the man and hanging my hands on his muscular shoulders.

“Humph,” the man sighed, releasing himself from my grasp.

“Axel!” I held my mate by the wrist before he could walk away. “Please, I just don’t want anything to come between you and your brother, not even me. And I don’t want him to feel like we don’t care about his feelings.”

“You always support him. Even when it’s so obvious, he’s being childish and in the wrong. Raymond needs to accept that you’re my mate, and we’re going to get married, have kids, and love each other forever. He should get used to that!”Axel complained frustratedly, inspecting my wrist where Raymond had held me.

“I mean, look at what he did to you!” Axel said, raising my injured wrist towards the light and rubbing it softly with his thumbs.

I placed a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll heal. I’m a werewolf, remember?” I laughed, hoping to lighten the mood and make Axel laugh, but Axel didn’t laugh. He just let out a deep sigh.

“I just want you to talk to him.” I begged Axel, my eyes pleading with my mate.

“Fine, I’ll talk to him.” Axel finally gave into my pleas. “But how is our little prince charming?” Axel smiled as he rubbed my pregnancy bump.

“I’m sure he’s fine. And I thought we were not going to assume the s*x of our child before they are born." I placed my hand over Axel’s hand lovingly.

“I can feel him. He’ll grow up to be a strong alpha like his father.” Axel smiled as he placed an ear on my belly to listen to the baby.

“Girls can be strong too.” I said, rubbing Axel’s head and smiling at him.

“Let’s just pray to the goddess that we get to keep this one.” Axel said, placing a kiss on my belly.

“Alright, I have a lot of things to do if we want to get this mating ceremony done by Saturday.” I pushed Axel's head off my belly so I could work.

“Just take it easy and don’t overwork yourself.” Axel kissed me, leaving me to get things for our mating ceremony ready.

I continued with the preparations for me and Axel’s mating ceremony, and an hour later, I began to feel slight pains in my belly.

“Are you okay, Luna?” One of the helpers asked me, noticing as I held onto my belly.”

“I’m fine, Starr. It’s just the baby kicking.” I smiled, clutching my belly again.

“I don’t think that’s just the baby kicking, Luna. I’m going to call Alpha Axel.” Starr said, rushing to get Axel.

“No!” I screamed. “There’s no need to bother Axel. There’s still so much to do for the ceremony.” I smiled with so much pain.

“Luna, all that won't matter if something goes wrong with you. Besides, I and the others can take care of the preparations.” Starr said, very worried about me.

“I’ll be fine, it’s...” I slumped to the ground. I could feel the blood as it ran down my legs. I was partially unconscious.

“Luna! Luna!” Starr rushed to me, checking if I was still breathing and trying to reduce the bleeding.

“Help! Somebody call the healers!” Starr screamed, holding my head in her lap.

I heard some pounding footsteps and voices before Axel's voice finally rang in my brain. In a split second, Axel was barking orders, demanding to know what had happened, but the crowd that had gathered around me didn’t have any answers to offer him.

“Who was with her when this started?! And where are the bloody healers?!” Axel shouted, I could hear his footsteps as he paced to and fro.

“I was with her, sir. She said it was just the baby kicking, and as I was about to come get you, she slumped and started bleeding. I couldn’t leave her like this, so I had one of the guards get you and the healers.” Starr said, her voice breaking from the sobs.

“Thank you...”

“Starr. My name is Starr, sir.”

“Thank you for staying with her and informing me and getting help.” Axel knelt beside me, I could hear him sniffing, trying to hold back the tears.

Axel couldn’t bear seeing me like that. That was the fourth pregnancy I was going to lose if something wasn’t done quickly.

“Where are the goddamn healers?" Axel shouted, jumping to his feet and smashing a vase on the ground in anger. The sharp sound of the glass rang in my brain and a light dust of broken glass met my skin.

“Alpha Axel! I’m here. I came as fast as I could.” The head healer’s voice sounded as he rushed to the scene.

“Do something, Darrian. I can’t let her lose this baby too!” Axel begged the healer, his voice about to break from the tears he was holding back.

“Please, we need some space to work, Alpha Axel. I’ll let you come see her as soon as we’ve stabilized the situation.” Darrian said, stopping Axel before he could come rushing into the room with the healers and me.