The Lost Luna

Chapter 11- Damaged

***Amber's POV***

What is stabbing me in the side? Feeling around, I realize that I'm still in the forest. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Well, at least no one has kidnapped me, but that also means no one has found me. That is if they are even looking for me. "Jade? Are you there? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you as much as I did." I see Jade getting up and shaking her fur in the back of my mind. I could help but chuckle at how adorable she looked.

"Yea, I'm fine, just kind of tired." She started yawning before walking in a circle and lying down. Slowly I get up. My body is sore all over. I sniff the air to see if I can pick up familiar smells. I was so focused on picking up a familiar scent that I didn't notice the sound of people coming near me. "Amber, do you hear that? Someone is coming from the north. I started panicking. I have had no formal fighting training, especially in wolf form. What if they found me? I can't fight them all off on my own. "Let me take control."Jade was trying to push for control. Wasting no time, I quickly shift and get low to the ground. The sound of a stick breaking pulls my attention, and that's when I see a medium-sized brown wolf stalking towards me slowly. I get up, and we slowly start circling each other. Suddenly it stops walking, and I take that as my chance to attack. Lunging at it, I go for the throat, but I'm stopped mid-air when another wolf slams into my body, sending me into a tree. I see black dots clouding my vision. Before I had a chance to do anything, I fainted.

***Ryder's POV***

 I was speaking with my father before the sound of someone knocking caught my attention. One of our strongest warriors, Miles. He is about six foot two with fair skin and dark brown hair. He’s older than me but still respects me as alpha. I learned how to fight from him as well as my father. They’re the reason I’m such a good fighter. He nodded to both myself and my father before he began speaking. “During my patrol, I came across a rogue. Normally I would kill the rogue and keep going, but this wolf is different. It was an all-white she-wolf. She tried to lunge and attack Jacob. Before she could harm him, I was able to knock her unconscious, and she should be in the dun-” Before he could finish speaking, I had him pinned to the wall by his throat.

“You dare take my mate to the dungeons?!” I was seething with rage. Jake was fighting for control, and I was tempted to give it to him.

“Ryder! Calm down! If you’re to be an alpha, you can’t harm your pack members.”Alpha Blake said through our mind-link. Taking a deep breath, I released Miles. He dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

“I’m sorry, Ryder, I wasn’t aware that she was your mate.” He said this in between gasps for air. Without sparing him another look, I stormed out of the room, heading towards the dungeons seething with rage.

***Amber’s POV***

My head feels like someone is hitting it with a jackhammer. I tried to recall how I ended up here, but it was like something was blocking me. I quickly shot up when I felt someone try to touch me. It was then that I felt an icy breeze. That’s when I realized I was naked! I desperately tried to cover my naked body with my arms and pulled my knees to my chest, but my arms couldn’t hide my b*east enough.

“You don’t have to cover up, baby girl. I see you’re not marked. It makes no sense for a s*xy little thang like you to be unmarked.” This disgusting man, whom I assume is a guard, was looking at me with eyes filled with lust while licking his dry lips. I tried moving away from him, but this cell was small.

“Don’t you dare f*cking touch me!” I practically growled at him. Which only made him laugh at me. He began to lean against the cell while stretching his arm towards me. I started to panic. The sound of a door opening temporarily grabbed my attention. The most handsome man I’ve ever seen walked through the door, and when he did, we locked eyes. As soon as he noticed that the guard was admiring my nude body and was trying to touch me, a feral growl erupted from him. What is wrong with this guy? A shiver ran down my spine, and I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.

***Ryder’s POV***

I burst through the doors of the dungeon, and my nostrils are instantly filled with the smell of rogues. The smell made me inwardly cringe. Quickly I scanned the room searching for her, and that’s when we locked eyes. For a brief moment, I’m captivated by her beauty until I notice she’s naked in front of everyone! Which one of the dumb*sses didn’t give her any clothes. I mean, it’s standard protocol to do so. Have I been neglecting how our prisoners are being treated? I was pulled from my thoughts when I saw the guard outside Amber’s cell trying to touch her. The deepest growl I’ve ever made erupted from me. His eyes were once filled with lust for my mate were now bulging out of his head in fear. In what felt like three long strides, I was in front of her, and I saw the relief in her eyes, but there was fear also.

“Unlock this f**king cell right now!” The guard quickly scrambled to the cell door. It didn’t go unnoticed that all the other guards and prisoners were bowing their heads in submission, except for Amber. As soon as I enter the cell, she moves away from me. “I’m not going to hurt you. It’s just me.” I tried not to sound intimidating, but that was hard. She had an indescribable look on her face.

“Do I know you?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. Those four words were almost enough to break me. My wolf was whining and howling in pain.

“Why doesn’t she remember us?” My wolf kept asking this question over and over again.

“I don’t know but stop asking.” I put a block up. He was getting annoying, although he said what my heart was feeling. Ignoring the pain I feel in my chest, I remove my shirt and give it to her. She takes it with a shaking hand and slips it on, f*ck she looks beautiful in my shirt. “Can you walk? If not, I don’t mind carrying you.” That look of uncertainty was on her face again. It pained me to see her like this.

“I d..d..don’t trust myself walking.” The fear in her voice was evident.

“Is it okay if I pick you up?” I knew it was vital that I be very cautious with her at this moment. I don’t know what she went through, but it f*cked her up in the head. Slowly I walked towards her and lifted her bridal style. At first, she was tense, but when I pulled her into my chest, she instantly relaxed, almost as if she was melting into me. Her intoxicating scent flooded my nostrils, causing me to release a breath I didn’t know I was holding in. After reaching our room, I laid her gently on the bed. Turning around, I headed for a much-needed shower.

***Amber’s POV***

For some reason, I can’t seem to take my eyes off of that man. Everything about him is so captivating. I should have been scared of him after that animalistic growl he made, but instead, it made my heart beat faster, in a good way. I was so captivated by everything about him that I didn’t notice that he was inside my cell. He said something to me, but I couldn’t focus because I heard another voice speaking.

“Amber, we’re safe now.” I recognized the voice but at the same time couldn’t remember who it belonged to. My gaze shifted to the man in front of me, and I could see hurt and pain in his eyes. It seemed like he was having an internal battle before he pulled his shirt off and handed it to me. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m naked, I would’ve gawked at his body.

“Can you walk? If not, I don’t mind carrying you.” I could tell he was trying to sound understanding, although he failed to do so.

“I d..d..don’t trust myself walking.” Goddess, I hate when I stutter! I couldn’t stop my body from stiffening when he approached me, but as soon as I was in his arms, I couldn’t stop myself from sinking into his chest. There was something comforting about him; I felt him place me on a bed. I remained still until I was sure he left the room. As soon as I heard the shower start, I jumped out of bed and started searching the drawers for anything that could tell me who he was.

“Are you looking for something?” The things Ryder’s voice does to me. Wait…I REMEMBER NOW!

“Ryder!” Within seconds I jump into his arms with tears flowing down my face. Without giving him a chance to speak, I crash my lips onto his in a passionate, heated kiss. I can tell he was caught off guard only for a moment before he’s lifting me and carrying me to the bed without breaking the kiss. I feel him trying to break the kiss.

“Amber, wait, wait, we can’t do this right now.” To my dismay, he rolls off of me and out of bed.

“We need to figure somehow you were able to regain your memory? Also, Blake wants to ask you some questions about what led up to your kidnapping. Trust me; I want to be laid up in bed with you more than anything.” It did make sense what he was saying, but at the same time, I wanted him. I let out a dramatic sigh before nodding my head.

As we’re approaching the alpha’s office, the door swings open, and luna Marie greets us. I walk in before Ryder, the man sitting at the desk places the documents down and I feel my blood run cold.

“YOU!” I point a shaking finger at that vile man. I felt my claws coming out and without thinking, I lunge at him going for the kill. I didn’t make it far before Ryder was pulling me out of the room.

“LET ME GO! HE’S A MONSTER!” I felt myself breaking down. “He…he…he tried to steal my innocence!” My claws retracted, and I let him pull me into the hallway. I couldn’t hold it in, it was like the flood dams had been opened.

“Please, I’m begging you don’t make me remember what happened. I just want to forget.” Memories of what happened flooded my mind, causing me to cling to Ryder even more. Before I knew what was happening, he was placing me on his...I mean, our bed before walking around and laying down. I pulled myself into his arms, burying my face in his chest, attempting to calm myself down. Soon I felt my eyelids grow heavy as sleep overtook me.

Two hours later

***Ryder’s POV***

I woke up to Amber snuggling against my chest. She looked so beautiful even while she was sleeping. As much as I didn’t want to I slowly pried her from my arms and slipped out of the bed. It was then that I noticed that I woke up with a hard-on, I guess it was time for a cold shower. After my shower, I started to think about what she had said.

“LET ME GO! HE’S A MONSTER!” I felt myself breaking down. “He…he…he tried to steal my innocence!” The pain and fear in her voice broke my heart. Whoever ‌hurt her, I will torture them and let them die a very slow, agonizing death.

“Ryder, get down to my office immediately. We have pressing matters to discuss.” It wasn’t often that my father had that sense of urgency in his voice. I took one last look at Amber before silently closing the door behind me.

As soon as I entered his office, the atmosphere was intense. My beta, Luke, and the current beta, Michael, along with my father, greeted me.

“I believe we all know why we’re here. Our future luna has made it back to us, although sadly she has experienced unimaginable trauma. I have already informed Michael and Luke about how she reacted. Because of that, I believe that what Blair said to us is true.” The room fell silent as everyone was processing what he said.

“So, what do you have in mind? I mean, we can’t exactly sit around with our thumbs up our a*ses.” That resulted in a deep growl from my father. Although his alpha tone didn’t always work on me, I still knew when I needed to shut the f*ck up.

“I wasn’t thinking about that at all Ryder. But we can’t go searching for someone if we aren’t certain it’s them. Before you say anything, everything is pointing towards it being Charles but first, we need to find where he’s hiding.” Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

“Can we give Amber some time? This is all still recent, and she’s having trouble processing everything.” I was fighting an internal battle. As alpha, I must put my pack first, but ‌I can’t ignore my mate and our luna.

“Beta Michael, make sure someone is monitoring Blair and her family. If they make any suspicious movements, I want to hear about it. Also, increase border security. Ryder, I want you to intensify training for our warriors. I have a gut feeling that we might end up going to war.”

“Yes Alpha.” we said in unison.

“Very well, Luke and Michael you are dismissed. Ryder, stay back. I need to speak to you privately.” After they left the room, I could see how stressed and tired my father was. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh.

“I didn’t want to say this in front of anyone else. Since Blair was a traitor, I’m not sure who I can trust. But you’ve never met my brother. He’s not only my brother, but he’s also my twin. We’re fraternal twins, I favor our father while he favors our mom. You know twins are not common amongst wolves, it was believed that we would have to share a mate. But I guess because we weren’t identical twins we didn’t. Regardless, he’s technically older than me and was supposed to be alpha. But he became obsessed with your mother and tried to mark her by force.” He can’t be serious right now! His own brother tried to steal his mate?

“So what happened to him? Isn’t that punishable by death?” I was confused, unless at the time they had different rules, which I highly doubt they did.

“You’re right, he was supposed to be punished by death. But because he was my brother, I couldn’t bring myself to killing him. So I had him banished from the pack and declared as a rogue.” He let out a bitter chuckle. “I guess he was right when he said I was too nice. But let me get to the point. I want to hand the alpha title down to you sooner rather than later. But I don’t want people to know that I have.” Did he seriously expect me to be a secret alpha? Is this man insane?

“Ryder, I can tell what you’re thinking. Yes, it isn’t common for the alpha title to be passed down in secret, but in this situation, I feel as it might be warranted.” I didn’t know how to feel about this. I wanted to be excited and happy about becoming alpha, but I knew I would have to keep it a secret from people.

“Dad, can I have some time to think about all this? It’s a lot to take in.” He silently nodded his head, agreeing with me.

“I understand. Goodnight, son.”

“Goodnight dad.” I felt like my head was going to explode with everything he said. By the time I reached my bedroom, I saw Amber still sound asleep. I grabbed a pillow and a blanket and made my way to the sitting room. I’m not sure if she’s ready to sleep in bed next to me, especially since I sleep in my boxers only. It was clear that I would not sleep well, this sofa could barely hold my body.