My Rouge Luna

Chapter 13

Christa’s P.O.V.

The mark burned on my neck like betrayal.

“You think this makes us mates? That it erases what you did?” I spat, hands shaking. “This pack killed my sister.”

Carlos stood there, bare-chested, eyes storm-dark. “And you came here to kill me based on a LIE from the former alpha turned lunatic of this pack who happens to be your father you weren’t raised Christa you were groomed by a madman mistakes were made!”

The words were a blade, slicing clean. I froze. My wolf snarled inside me.

He took a step closer. “Don’t deny it, Christa. I know who you are. I know what you and your sisters are. Assassins. Ghosts. Every Alpha knows your names, whispered like a curse.” His voice dropped lower. “You were sent for me.”

I swallowed hard, rage and shame battling inside me. “We take contracts. We survive. That’s what we do.” My voice cracked. “And your people hunt us like dogs.”

His jaw flexed. “Because you’ve left a trail of blood across this continent. High-ranking wolves. Pack leaders. Warriors. Everyone knows the rogue she-wolves and the witch.”

I met his gaze, defiant even as my heart splintered. “We don’t get to have normal lives, Carlos. We were raised as weapons. If we didn’t kill, we’d be killed. Do you understand that?”

He closed the distance between us, towering over me. His voice was low, but shaking with emotion. “And yet here you are. In my bed. Marked. My mate.”

I wanted to scream. I wanted to claw the mark off my skin. And yet every part of me wanted him too, craved him in ways I couldn’t undo.

“I can’t be with you,” I whispered, my throat tight. “Not when you sent your wolves after us. Not when your brother put his claws through my sister’s chest.”

His eyes flickered with something I couldn’t name” guilt? grief? fury? “I didn’t know it was you. If I had” He broke off, shaking his head. “I was ordered to protect this pack our pack. I never would’ve let them touch you.”

“Orders?” I laughed bitterly. “That’s your excuse? That’s what I’m supposed to tell my sister’s grave? That she died because my mate was too busy being a good little Alpha to think for himself?”

The silence between us was unbearable. He reached for me, but I stepped back.

“You tied us together, Carlos,” I said coldly. “You didn’t ask. You didn’t care. And now you expect me to choose you over my blood?”

He looked gutted, his big frame trembling with the weight of it. “I chose you over everything, Christa. Even knowing who you are. Even knowing you came here to kill me you are the rightful heir to this pack we are all victims to your father’s lies and he will come to finish what he started.

My heart twisted painfully. I hated him. I wanted him. I couldn’t untangle the two.

“Then you’re a fool lover boy,” I whispered. “Because the next time my sisters see you, they’ll try to finish what we started. And maybe…” I swallowed, forcing the words out even as my wolf howled in protest. “Maybe I’ll let them.”

I left him standing there, the mark on my neck burning like a brand I couldn’t escape, knowing one truth I hated above all else I loved my enemy.

I texted my sisters to meet me I would not run from this.

I didn’t stop walking until the morning air hit my face like ice. The pack house loomed behind me, warm light spilling from its windows, but I felt nothing but the sting of that mark pulsing at my neck. My wolf thrashed, torn between the urge to run back into Carlos’s arms and the bitter truth clawing inside me: he was my enemy.

Serenity and Aaliyah were waiting for me by the lake. I knew they would be.

Serenity’s eyes locked on the angry redness at my throat, her lips curling into a snarl. Aaliyah’s fingers flexed, sparks of magic trembling in the air around her.

“You let him,” Serenity hissed.

I flinched, my voice sharper than I meant. “I didn’t let him. He took it. And I” I bit back the rest. Admitting I marked him back would be like handing them a blade to slit my own throat.

But Aaliyah’s eyes narrowed. She saw it anyway. She always did.

“You did more than let him mark you,” she said softly, dangerously. “You mated him.”

My breath caught. The world tilted again, like it had in Carlos’s room. Shame burned through me, but so did fury. “You don’t understand. None of you do. I didn’t choose this. The bond”

Serenity cut me off with a growl. “The bond didn’t kill Normani. His brother did. And you went and lay with the same bloodline that spilled hers. How do you think she’d feel, Christa? Knowing the man who slaughtered her is laughing in that house while you wear his brother’s mark?”

The words gutted me. My wolf whimpered, but I bared my teeth anyway. “Don’t you dare question how I honor Normani. Don’t you think I haven’t thought about her every second since that night?!” My voice cracked, the tears I’d been holding back finally threatening to spill. “Do you think this is easy? Do you think I wanted this bond?”

The silence stretched, thick and dangerous.

Aaliyah finally spoke, her tone cold steel wrapped in velvet. “You want him. Fine. Love your Alpha. But remember this, Christa: the moment you put him above us—above family—you become our enemy too.”

Her words landed like a death sentence.

And before I could speak, the door to the pack house slammed open behind me.

Carlos.

His chest was bare, his mark glowing faintly on his skin, eyes storm-black and fixed on us. But it wasn’t just him. Javier stalked out right after, a cruel grin carved across his face.

“Well, well,” Javier drawled, his voice cutting through the night. “Looks like the little rogues couldn’t stay away.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. Serenity tensed, claws half-shifted, ready to lunge. Aaliyah’s hands flared with fire.

And Carlos—gods help me—Carlos stepped between his brother and my sisters, his body a shield.

“Don’t,” he growled at Javier. “Not tonight.”

Javier laughed, cruel and amused. “Not tonight? Brother, you’ve gone soft. Look at her your rogue little mate. You really think she won’t put a blullet in your back the second you turn away?” His eyes slid to me, hungry and hateful. “Maybe I should finish what I started with the other one.”

Serenity’s growl ripped through the air. Aaliyah’s spell sparked brighter. My wolf clawed at me, screaming to fight, to tear Javier apart with my own hands.

But Carlos turned, meeting my eyes, his voice breaking even as his Alpha power rolled through the clearing. “Christa—choose. Me… or them.”

The world spun. My blood felt like fire.

My sisters. My mate. My wolf howling in agony at the divide splitting me in two.

And for the first time in my life, I didn’t know which side I belonged on.The moment Carlos said the word choose, the air split in half.

Aaliyah didn’t wait. Her hands lifted, runes burning in the air, and a wave of raw magic rolled off her, snapping across the lake like lightning. Javier snarled, his eyes flashing wolf-gold as he lunged forward, only to slam into an invisible wall Aaliyah threw between him and us.

Serenity darted past me in a blur, her claws unsheathed, eyes wild with grief. “This is for Normani!” she roared, swiping at Javier. Sparks flew as her claws scraped the barrier, shredding through it as if rage itself gave her strength.

Javier laughed, dark and cruel, his wolf surging to the surface as his form rippled, half-shifted. “Come then, little b***h. Let’s see if you die as quick as your sister.”

My vision tunneled red.

Carlos moved, intercepting Serenity before she could strike. His massive frame dwarfed hers, his hands catching her wrists mid-swing. “Enough!” he barked, Alpha command layered in his voice. It rolled through me, pulling at my wolf, making me want to submit—but Serenity just snarled back, shoving against him like the command didn’t exist.

“You protect him?” she spat, straining against his grip. “You protect the bastard who murdered our blood?”

“Serenity—” I stepped forward, torn, my throat tight.

But Javier was already past Aaliyah’s barrier, his claws flashing as he swiped for me.

I barely ducked in time. His claws caught my shoulder, fire slicing through my flesh. My wolf shrieked inside me, and before I could think, I was shifting—bones cracking, fur rippling across my skin until I stood in my wolf form, hackles raised, teeth bared.

Carlos roared, shoving Serenity aside and tackling his brother before Javier could lunge again. They collided like titans, claws and fists, growls tearing through the clearing.

Aaliyah chanted faster, fire erupting in her palms as she hurled a ball of searing flame. Javier twisted, using Carlos as a shield, and the fire slammed into him instead. He grunted, smoking flesh at his side, but he didn’t let go of his brother.

“Damn you, Javier!” Carlos roared, slamming his fist into Javier’s jaw.

Serenity leapt back into the fray, tackling Javier from behind. Her claws sank into his ribs, tearing flesh. Javier howled, spinning, slamming her into the dirt so hard the ground cracked.

My wolf snapped. I lunged at Javier’s exposed throat, jaws clamping down hard enough to taste blood. He bellowed, swinging me off, but I landed light, crouched and snarling, blood dripping from my muzzle.

Aaliyah’s voice rose above the chaos, her spell cresting. The ground around the lake glowed with sigils, pulsing with her power. “Hold him still!” she shouted. “Now!”

For one frozen second, Carlos met my eyes. The storm inside him was unbearable love, grief, rage. Then he grabbed Javier, locking his arms behind his back in a crushing grip.

Serenity staggered up, blood in her mouth but fire in her eyes, claws ready to rip.

And me? I stood trembling, wolf form shuddering with the pull of the bond. Javier snarled, thrashing in Carlos’s hold, spitting venom. “She’ll never choose you, brother. She’ll watch me gut her sisters, and she’ll thank me for freeing her from this curse!”

I lunged again, this time straight for Javier’s chest

Just as Aaliyah’s spell detonated.

Light and flame engulfed him, swallowing his scream. Carlos held on until the blast knocked them both to their knees. The smell of burning flesh filled the clearing, and when the light finally dimmed, Javier was writhing on the ground, half charred, barely conscious but still alive.

The silence after was shattered only by our ragged breaths.

Carlos released him, falling forward onto his hands, scorched and bleeding. He looked up at me, at Serenity, at Aaliyah. His voice was raw. “He’s my brother but I won’t protect him from justice. You do not have to kill him we can take him before the counsel they will know what to do.”

Serenity’s claws glistened in the moonlight. Aaliyah’s hands still burned with spellfire.

And my wolf my traitorous, aching wolf howled with pain as I stood frozen, staring at my mate kneeling before us, offering up his own blood.