The Lost Luna

Chapter 13 - Something's not right

***Amber’s POV***

I instantly regretted it as soon as the words left my lips. Ryder clutched his chest as he doubled over in pain. But something seemed off. I wasn’t in pain. Shouldn’t I be affected by the mate bond breaking? I was pulled from my thoughts when he started laughing.

“Why are you laughing? It’s not funny.” Regardless of what I said, he just kept laughing. In an instant, he stopped and was looking at me. I wasn’t sure if he was angry or hurt. His face held an unreadable expression.

“You can’t reject me, Amber. You’re mine; you can NEVER reject me.” His voice was laced with pure venom. I understand ‌I tried to reject him. But wasn’t he overreacting, or did I go too far? I was so lost in thought that I didn’t realize that he had left the room until he slammed the door. An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach. Something wasn’t right about this situation. I just wanted to cry. Guilt engulfed me. We were on such good terms. Of course, I f****d it up. I swear that needs to be ‌one of my special skills. Suddenly the uneasiness I felt earlier was back, but stronger. Something in me is telling me to stay in the room, but ignoring the feeling, I grab the door handle only to be stopped in my tracks. The ear-piercing howl of a wolf in pain practically shook the house. It was followed by an eerie silence before the overwhelming metallic smell of blood and rotting flesh filled my nostrils.

***Ryder’s POV***

After my outburst of rage toward Amber, I felt disgusted with myself. I don’t know what came over me. It was more than the typical possessive alpha. Maybe it was her attempt to reject me because of some b*llshit lie by Blair. Thinking about Blair and her pregnancy sent me into a rage. The only thing that could calm me down was going for a run, which is precisely what I do. I walk past the tree line and take off my clothes. After my first shift, it became easier to shift, but right now, I couldn’t. It was almost like Jake was refusing to come out. “Ryder, stop being stupid. We both know that you’re not the father of her baby; that’s if she’s really pregnant.” Lately, Jake has been increasingly impatient with me. “If you were to get your head out of your ass, you’d remember that Dr. Miller said it’s nearly impossible for the baby to be yours.” As much as I hated to admit it, he was right.

“Okay, fine, you’re right. Can you let me shift now so I can blow off some steam?” I was waiting for a response when I started to smell rotten flesh. “ROGUES!” Without thinking, I instantly shifted, following their scent like a f*cking bloodhound. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a blood-curdling howl of a wolf. That wasn’t a howl of physical pain but emotional pain. I began running again, faster than I had ever run before. I was hoping the roar didn’t belong to who I think it does. Eventually, I reach a clearing where I see beta Jacob covered in blood, holding a light brown wolf. The wolf’s head was twisted in an unnatural direction with a silver pole through its chest. Slowing down to a light jog. As I was getting closer, Jacob’s head snapped in my direction. He quickly shifted and lunged at me, bearing his teeth; I quickly sidestepped him. He was quick on his feet, and that’s when we made eye contact. He was the first to shift back and instantly bowed his head in submission. I shifted back and grabbed two pairs of shorts that we had hidden in the woods, handing a pair to him. As soon as we’re dressed, I pull him into a hug. My wolf was restless in my head. He could tell that something wasn’t right.

“Mind-link Dr. Miller and let him know what you’ve seen and heard. Something about this doesn’t add up.” Jake said this to me, which was odd considering he usually takes things at face value.

“Jake, what’s wrong?” I was only met with silence from him. For once, I listened to him after speaking with Dr. Miller, who was equally confused and concerned that there was more to the story. Once the hug was over, I informed him that I would take his wife’s body to the hospital. Suddenly he became tense and insisted that he does himself, and finally, I just agreed. He lifted up her body and started heading to the hospital, and that was when I received a mind link from my father telling me to come to his office.

As soon as I walked into his office, I saw the last two people I would’ve expected to be there….Amber.

***Amber’s POV***

I stood in Ryder’s room,,, contemplating chasing after him. I am ready to chase after Ryder, and I don’t know why since he clearly isn’t happy with me, but Jade was urging me to. Before making it to the end of the hallway, I bumped into luna Marie.

“Hello darling, I was just looking for you.” She usually had a happy welcoming tone, but right now, it had an undertone of concern.

“Hi, Luna! Is everything okay?” Instantly I was filled with dread. Did Ryder tell her that I tried to reject him? Both worry and fear started flowing through my veins. Sensing my uneasiness, she takes my hands in hers and gives me a reassuring smile.

“Come with me to the alpha Blake’s office. We need to speak with you and don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.” Her eyes were telling me a different story. I was at a loss for words, so I simply nodded.

To say Alpha Blake intimidated me was an understatement. Entering his office, I see a large silhouette of alpha Blake. He was hunched over, reading some paperwork while grumbling to himself. As if sensing our presence, he stops when he’s doing, and his eyes land on me first. My heart started racing as memories of last time flooded into my mind. He caught me off guard when a smile came across his face.

“I…I’m sorry for almost attacking you” I’m frozen in place, terrified of his reply. To my surprise, he bursts out laughing.

“Considering all that you’ve been through, all is forgiven. I honestly was expecting a more violent reaction. Please take a seat.” He motioned for me to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “I’m not sure how much Ryder has told you, bu-.”

“He hasn’t told me anything,” I mumbled under my breath, not realizing that I had just cut the alpha off. “Oh, my goddess! I’m so sorry, Alpha Blake!!” He let out a humorless chuckle while shaking his head.

“It’s OK, sadly, it doesn’t shock me that Ryder has kept this from you. Since he was a pup, he would do anything to protect you if he believed something could hurt you. It’s not shocking that you two are mates. He was always protective of you, especially around other boys growing up.” I couldn’t help but stare at alpha Blake in disbelief. Why couldn’t I remember all of this? “The poor boy was so distraught after the rogue attack and when we couldn’t find you. I’ve never seen a 12 year old as determined to find you. He was trying to lead search parties, at such a young age he was showing signs of an alpha.” This was so much for me to take in at one time. I hadn’t noticed i was crying until luna Marie was handing me a tissue box.

“Yes he was quite fond of you, but that’s not why we want to talk to you. Because of the recent attacks and your kidnapping. Blake is stepping down as alpha sooner than expected. Which means you’ll be luna and you have to start your luna training. There’s a lot that is involved in being luna that people know. But there’s just one thing, you can’t tell anyone about this. There’s some things that we’re not completely sure of at the moment.” She paused as if waiting for me to respond. But I didn’t know what to say, so much has just happened in such a short amount of time. Just this morning I tried to reject Ryder and now I’m being told that I’m going to be the luna soon. To say that I’m overwhelmed is an understatement.

She continued speaking. “I’m sorry if we’ve overwhelmed you with all of this. But your luna training will be starting tomorrow but there’s one last thing. You have to switch schools.” I was flabbergasted hearing this, why am I being forced to switch schools especially during my senior year?! What type of sh*t are they pulling?!

I assume she could sense my feelings by the way her facial expressions changed.

“Amber, we are doing this not only for your safety but for the safety of others. I’m not trying to scare you but Beta Jacob’s mate was attacked and killed earlier today. Before you say anything, it’s not your fault. But we want to ensure your safety. Also, after you and Ryder mate and mark each other the mate bond will become even stronger, which makes being a part from each other harder.”

I felt like my head was spinning, at one moment I’ve being hit with so much information that he has kept from me. For some reason this enrages me, just then the door opens and in comes Ryder, talk about speak of the devil.

“YOU BASTARD!! HOW COULD YOU KEEP INFORMATION LIKE THAT FROM ME?” I’m yelling at him at the top of my lungs but I’m cut off by Alpha Blake.

“ENOUGH! RYDER TAKE A SEAT. This is not the time nor place for this right now.” He used his alpha tone on us, although it wasn’t effective on me I still complied for arguments sake. He took the seat next to me, and from the corner of my eye I could see him shifting uncomfortably. I didn’t try to hide that I was furious and hurt because he was hiding something from me. Alpha was pinching the bridge of his nose while taking a deep breath.

“She has been informed somewhat about everything that involves you becoming alpha.” His words are directed towards Ryder, but what’s bothering me is, what aren’t they telling me? Now it was my turn to shift uncomfortably in my seat when I felt everyone’s eyes on me. I suddenly started to become self conscious, f*ck I zoned out. Ryder reached over and gently held my hand, drawing small circles with his thumb.

“What I was saying, within the coming weeks I will be stepping down as alpha. But it’ll be done in private, everyone in and outside of our pack will still believe that I’m the alpha. We already know of one traitor, but she’s not the smartest so someone else has to be helping her. But until we know who else could be betraying us, it this matter to yourselves. If you must speak about it either do it in his or my office since both are sound proof, or mind link each other.” Alpha Blake sat back in his chair and closed his eyes briefly. “Oh one last thing, whatever issue you two are having, sattle it sooner rather than later. Because a house divided against itself will fall, and the same goes for a pack. You guys are dismissed.”

Ryder was the first to get up almost like he was in a rush. I got up and following him. As I started to get closer to him, he suddenly stopped and grabbed me by the throat. I felt the blood drain from my face as fear flooded my body. His face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath on me. He wasn’t applying pressure to me, instead he had me pinned to the wall. With all the courage I could muster up, I shoved his arm away freeing myself but instead of running I grabbed him by the back of his neck and smashed my lips into his. Initially I could tell he was caught off guard, but he recovered quickly and started kissing me back with more passion and intensity. When we needed air, he was the first to break the kiss. We were both panting with our foreheads rested against each other.

“If you keep kissing me like that I won’t be able to stop myself from f*cking you in this hallway.” His voice sounded husky and it was obvious he was fighting to remain in control.

“Well if that’s the case. Let’s take this to the bedroom.” I had a smirk on my face but he quickly wiped it off my face.

“My little mate, be careful what you wish for. Because I’ll have you begging me to touch you.” He whispered this into my ear and lightly nibbed on my earlob before peppering kisses down my neck near my marking spot. My knees wanted to give out but before we could go any farther he pulled away from me. “On second thought, let’s not go any farther, remember you wanted to reject me right?” He had a cocky smirk on his face as he turned around and left me in the hall.