Chapter 2:Run,Luna
1516 Words
I ran.
I didn’t stop to think.
I didn’t stop to look back.
Branches scratched my arms as I pushed deeper into the forest, my bare feet striking against the cold, damp earth. My mother’s leather bag was clutched tightly against my chest.
Behind me, I could hear them.
Men shouting.
Dogs barking.
And wolves howling in the distance.
They were hunting me.
But the worst part wasn’t that they wanted to capture me.
It was that Kael had ordered them to find me.
The same man who had stood before hundreds of people and rejected me.
The same man whose scent still clung to my clothes.
The same man my wolf had recognized as her mate.
Why did he want me dead?
I stumbled over a tree root and fell hard.
Pain shot through my ankle.
I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out.
“Get up,” I whispered to myself.
I forced myself to stand.
I couldn’t stay there.
If they caught me, I knew my mother’s warning would become reality.
I ran again.
After what felt like hours, the sounds behind me finally disappeared.
I reached a small stream and collapsed beside it.
My entire body was shaking.
I looked at my reflection in the water.
My eyes were swollen from crying.
My dress was torn.
There was dirt across my face.
I barely recognized myself.
Just that morning, I had been an ordinary girl dreaming about meeting her mate.
Now I was a fugitive.
And my mother…
I covered my mouth.
A sob escaped.
“Mom.”
I wanted to go back.
I wanted to know whether she was alive.
But I remembered her final words.
Never trust the Alpha King.
My fingers tightened around the leather bag.
“What’s inside you?”
I opened it.
Inside was an old silver pendant, several yellowed papers, a small black book and a photograph.
I picked up the photograph first.
My breath caught.
It was my father.
I hadn’t seen a picture of him in years.
He was standing beside my mother, but there was another man in the photograph.
A younger version of Kael’s father.
The former Alpha King.
I stared at the photograph.
Why was my father standing beside him?
I turned it over.
There were words written on the back.
The bloodline must never be discovered.
My heart began pounding.
“What bloodline?”
I opened the black book.
Most of the pages were filled with symbols I couldn’t understand.
But one sentence was written in English.
The daughter of the Moonborn Queen will inherit what was stolen from her ancestors.
I stared at the words.
Moonborn Queen?
I had never heard of such a person.
I turned another page.
There was a drawing of a woman wearing a silver crown.
Below it was a name.
Aurelia.
My hands began trembling.
Then I saw something that made my heart stop.
The woman in the drawing had my eyes.
“No…”
I dropped the book.
Suddenly, my wolf growled inside me.
Someone is coming.
I immediately grabbed the bag.
I listened.
Nothing.
Then—
A twig snapped behind me.
I froze.
My heart pounded.
I slowly turned.
A man stood between the trees.
He was tall, dressed in a dark cloak.
I stepped backward.
“Who are you?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked at the pendant hanging around my neck.
His eyes widened.
“Where did you get that?”
I grabbed the pendant.
“It belongs to my mother.”
He took a step toward me.
“Your mother gave it to you?”
“Yes.”
His expression changed.
“Then she knew.”
“Knew what?”
He stared at me for several seconds.
“That they would eventually come for you.”
I swallowed.
“Who?”
He looked toward the darkness behind me.
“The Alpha King.”
My stomach twisted.
“Why?”
The stranger’s face became serious.
“Because your existence threatens his throne.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It will.”
He reached into his coat and pulled out a silver blade.
I stepped backward.
“Stay away from me!”
He stopped.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Then why are you carrying a knife?”
“For protection.”
“Against who?”
Before he could answer, a distant howl echoed through the forest.
The stranger’s eyes sharpened.
“They’re close.”
Fear rushed through me.
“Who?”
“The Alpha’s warriors.”
He grabbed my wrist.
“Come with me.”
I pulled away.
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because your mother trusted me.”
I froze.
“You knew my mother?”
He nodded.
“She saved my life many years ago.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Is she alive?”
The man hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
My knees almost gave way.
“What happened to her?”
He looked away.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“No, you’re lying.”
He reached for me.
I stepped away.
“Don’t touch me!”
My wolf suddenly snarled.
The stranger stared at me.
Then something strange happened.
His eyes briefly flashed silver.
My entire body went cold.
“You…”
He smiled sadly.
“Now you understand why your mother hid you.”
Before I could ask another question, a howl thundered through the forest.
This time it was much closer.
The stranger looked toward the trees.
“We have to move.”
He grabbed my hand.
We ran.
Branches whipped against my face as we raced through the darkness.
Then I heard voices.
“Search everywhere!”
“She can’t have gone far!”
“Alpha Kael ordered us to bring her back alive.”
I stopped.
Alive?
If Kael wanted me alive, why?
The stranger pulled me behind a large tree.
We crouched silently.
Several wolves ran past us.
One of them shifted into a man.
“The trail ends here.”
Another warrior sniffed the air.
“She’s close.”
My heart pounded so loudly I was certain they could hear it.
Then a deep voice came from behind them.
“Move.”
Everyone became silent.
I knew that voice.
Kael.
He stepped into the clearing.
Even from a distance, I recognized him.
His black hair was disheveled, and his shirt was covered in dirt.
He looked nothing like the cold Alpha who had rejected me earlier.
He looked…
worried.
His eyes moved across the forest.
“Spread out.”
The warriors obeyed.
Kael remained alone.
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, his face tightened.
Then his wolf emerged through the bond.
I felt it.
A strange pull inside my chest.
My wolf whimpered.
Mate.
I pressed my hand over my heart.
Kael’s head suddenly snapped toward our hiding place.
His eyes narrowed.
He could sense me.
He took one step forward.
Then another.
My breathing stopped.
The stranger beside me whispered:
“Don’t move.”
Kael stopped only a few meters away.
His eyes searched the darkness.
“Luna.”
My heart shattered at the sound of my name on his lips.
He sounded different.
Not angry.
Not cold.
Almost desperate.
“Luna, come out.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I didn’t answer.
Kael’s voice became softer.
“I won’t hurt you.”
A tear slipped down my cheek.
Liar.
He had rejected me.
He had ordered his men to chase me.
He had terrified my mother.
Why should I believe him?
Then Kael said something that made my blood run cold.
“I know you found the book.”
My eyes flew open.
The stranger looked at me.
Kael continued.
“And if you open the final page…”
He paused.
“…you’ll discover why your mother was so afraid of me.”
The forest became completely silent.
I looked down at the black book inside the leather bag.
My hands trembled.
There was one final page.
A page I hadn’t opened.
Kael turned away.
“Find her.”
The warriors disappeared into the forest.
But Kael remained.
For several seconds, he stood beneath the moonlight.
Then he whispered something I could barely hear.
“I never wanted to reject you.”
My heart stopped.
He turned and walked away.
I waited until his footsteps disappeared.
Then I opened the book.
My fingers slowly turned to the final page.
And there it was.
A single sentence.
Written in red ink.
Luna Hayes is not the mate of Alpha Kael Blackwood.
I stared at the words in disbelief.
Then I read the sentence beneath it.
She is his mate… and the rightful heir to his throne.
My blood ran cold.
The stranger looked at me.
“It’s time you learned the truth.”
And for the first time that night, I realized something terrifying.
Kael hadn’t rejected me because I was weak.
He had rejected me because he was afraid of what I would become.
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