My Rouge Luna

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

What Doesn’t Kill You

Christa’s P.O.V.

I drove until the horizon bled with sunlight, the weight of loss pressing heavier with every mile. My hands clenched the wheel so hard my knuckles ached, but I couldn’t stop — not until I found somewhere far enough, empty enough, to handle what had to be done.

At last, the jagged silhouette of an abandoned sugar factory rose out of the desert like a scar from another time. Its rusted silos and broken windows looked hollow, haunted, perfect. I pulled the car around back, hidden from the open road, and killed the engine.

The silence that followed was brutal.

“Help me with him,” I ordered, my voice raw.

The three of us wrestled Xavier’s dead weight from the trunk. Even unconscious, he was massive, muscles corded with the strength of a born wolf. The factory groaned as we entered — leaks dripping, rats skittering through the shadows. The smell of rust and mildew clung to the air, thick and damp.

We laid him across a long-forgotten worktable, his chest rising and falling shallowly. Serenity leaned against the wall, panting.

“How do we know his ass ain’t dead?” she asked, wiping sweat from her brow.

“Because his heart’s still beating, dickhead,” Aaliyah snapped back.

“Then why isn’t he awake?”

I stepped closer, studying him. His wounds still leaked silver-tainted blood, sluggish and unnatural. My fingers traced the angry burns where the enchanted bullets had entered.

“It’s the bullets,” I said quietly. “They’re keeping him under. He won’t wake until they’re gone.”

The thought made bile rise in my throat.

I left them with Xavier and returned to the trunk. My hands trembled as I opened it. Normani.

Her body was stiff now, cold as the metal beneath her. When I pulled her out, my knees buckled, sending us both tumbling. She landed against me, her head nestled against my shoulder, her weight a final cruel reminder of how alive she’d once been.

A sob ripped through me before I could choke it back. I kissed her cheek, her skin colder than stone, and held her tight, rocking us like maybe I could undo it all if I loved her hard enough.

Aaliyah’s hands slipped beneath my arms, lifting me gently. I laid Normani down with the care of someone lowering a crown onto sacred ground. My vision blurred, but I forced myself to stand.

“Let’s take her out,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “She deserves better than this.”

⸻

The desert stretched endlessly, a barren canvas under the rising sun. Here, at least, no one would find her.

I shifted, fur tearing through skin, and began to dig. Claw after claw, dirt flying, my body gave itself to the labor until my paws bled. Each strike into the earth was a scream I couldn’t voice.

When the grave was ready, Serenity and Aaliyah lifted Normani together, laying her down with reverence. My chest caved in at the sight of her small form in that hollow.

I howled. The sound tore through the desert — a broken, bloodcurdling wail of rage and grief, a song no sister should ever have to sing.

Aaliyah knelt, her hands glowing faintly as she whispered words in a language older than memory. The soil lifted and folded back over Normani, sealing her in. With another wave, a rose bush sprouted from the mound, thorny and wild.

Her voice deepened, power crackling, and the bush twisted, reshaping itself. Petals unfurled into the outline of a wolf — tall, proud, eternal.

It was beautiful. It was unbearable.

We walked back in silence, the desert wind our only witness.

⸻

Back inside the factory, I slumped into the back seat of the car, my clothes stiff with blood and dirt. Serenity sat cross-legged at my feet, her eyes hollow. Aaliyah stood in front of us, lighting a joint with shaking fingers.

“What do we do now?” Serenity asked, her voice barely a whisper.

I took the joint from Aaliyah, inhaled deep, and exhaled smoke that burned all the way down. “We finish the job,” I said. “I contact my father. He gives us answers. We avenge Normani. We avenge my mother. And then we get the hell out.”

Aaliyah’s eyes narrowed, her anger sharp as a blade. “You just don’t get it, Christa.” Her voice rose, echoing off the factory walls. “Normani is dead. Your mother is dead. And you’re about to get all of us killed chasing questions your father doesn’t want answered. You’re being played — by dear old Daddy.”

The rage snapped before I could stop it.

I lunged, pinning her against the wall with my hand at her throat, gun drawn and pressed to her temple.

“You must have forgotten,” I hissed, my voice shaking with fury. “Miami. When I spared your life. Don’t forget your place, Aaliyah. Don’t you ever speak on what you don’t understand.”

Her smile was infuriating. With a flick of her wrist, unseen force blasted me backwards into the car. The windshield exploded behind me, glass raining down like ice.

I scrambled up, wolf ready to rip free. If she wanted a fight, I would give her one.

“Enough!” Serenity screamed, throwing herself between us. Tears streaked her face. “Please! We just buried our sister. I can’t— I won’t bury another one!”

Aaliyah’s anger softened. She stepped forward, voice trembling but sincere.

“Christa, I love you. That’s why I’m saying this. Your loyalty to your father… it’s blinding you. He’s hiding something. I can feel it. Don’t contact him. Not yet.”

Serenity grabbed my hand, squeezing. “Let’s figure it out ourselves first. Please.”

The fire inside me cooled, smoldering but not gone. I nodded once.

⸻

We found heavy silver chains at the gate, their links thick and scorched from years in the sun. Wolves couldn’t touch silver without pain, but Aaliyah, with her magic, could. She draped the chains across Xavier’s body, wrapping his chest, throat, and legs until he was pinned.

I pulled up a chair and sat close, my gaze burning holes into him. “Remove the bullets,” I ordered.

Aaliyah’s fingers dug into his wounds. Each slug clinked as it hit the concrete, leaving behind bloody trails. Moments later, his chest rose deeper. His eyelids twitched.

“He’s waking.”

“Give him the potion,” Serenity said.

Aaliyah pressed the vial of wolfsbane to his lips. The liquid slid down his throat, and almost immediately, he screamed — raw, animal, tortured. The sound rattled the walls.

I smiled. “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

I leaned forward, inches from his face. “We’ve got a few requests.”

“f**k you,” he spat, his voice hoarse, venom dripping. “Crazy wolf bitch.”

Aaliyah flicked her wrist. The chains tightened, searing his skin. His howl echoed like a wounded beast. I held up my hand, signaling her to stop.

“Now,” I said calmly, pulling out a burner phone. “Why don’t you call big brother to come pick you up?”

Xavier barked out a laugh, even through the pain. “You expect the Alpha of the biggest pack in America to walk in here unprotected? You’re insane.”

My claws slid free and sank into his thighs. His blood ran hot down his skin. He screamed until tears streaked his face.

“That’s exactly what he’s going to do,” I growled, my voice vibrating with command. “Or I’ll ship you back home piece by piece.”

The factory seemed to shudder as my words echoed.

Xavier broke. He whimpered. He whined.

I froze, confused. This wasn’t the behavior of a Beta, of a warrior. This was submission.

And then Aaliyah whispered it, her eyes wide with realization.

“Oh my God, Christa… you’re his Alpha.”

The words sank into me like a blade.

What the f**k.