Rejected And Reborn As The Alpha King's Luna

Chapter 20: Alone and Hunted

POV: Thelma

The forest had become my home for three days now, and I was starting to understand why rogues went mad. The isolation ate at you. The constant vigilance wore down your defenses. And the mate bond, that cursed thread connecting me to Xavier, pulled at my heart with every breath.

I shoved another handful of wild berries into my mouth, barely tasting them. My stomach had stopped growling yesterday, which probably wasn't a good sign. The small cave I'd found provided shelter from the rain that had started this morning, but it did nothing to protect me from my own thoughts.

"He lied to you," I whispered to myself, the words echoing off stone walls. "They all lied."

But even as I said it, I felt Xavier's presence through our bond. He was awake now, healed enough to be conscious. His emotions bled into mine despite the distance, guilt, worry, love, and a determination that scared me almost as much as it comforted me.

I closed my eyes and focused on shutting him out. It was getting easier each day, like building a wall brick by brick between our souls. It hurt, but everything hurts now. A twig snapped outside my cave.

I was on my feet instantly, every muscle tensed. My wolf, Thalia, surged forward with a growl that rumbled in my chest. Three days of running had taught me to trust my instincts, and right now they were screaming danger.

"Come out, little Luna." The voice was male, rough, and amused. "We know you're in there. Your tracks lead right to that cave, and you're too inexperienced to hide your scent."

Bounty hunters. My heart hammered against my ribs. I counted at least four different scents on the wind. All male. All experienced fighters based on how quietly they'd approached. Marcus must have hired them to bring me back.

"I'm not going back," I called out, letting power seep into my voice. Over the past three days, I'd been experimenting with my abilities, and I was getting stronger. "Leave now, and I won't have to hurt you."

Laughter echoed from multiple directions. "The pup has teeth," another voice said. "This should be fun."

They rushed the cave entrance together, and I met them with everything I had. Golden light exploded from my hands as I channeled the Alpha power that had been dormant my whole life. The first hunter flew backward, hitting a tree with a sickening c***k. The second, I caught with my claws, raking across his chest.

But there were too many of them, and I was still learning. A net made of silver threads fell over me from above, and my power sputtered out like a candle in water. Silver. The one thing that could neutralize a wolf.

I screamed in rage and pain as they dragged me down. Four men surrounded me, their faces hard and calculating. Mercenaries, not pack wolves. That made them even more dangerous, they had no loyalty except to whoever paid the most.

"Feisty little thing," the leader said, a scarred man with cold gray eyes. "Alpha Marcus said you'd fight. That's why he paid extra."

"Marcus will kill you when he's done with me," I spat, struggling against the net. Every movement made the silver burn deeper into my skin. "You're helping a murderer."

"We're helping the man who pays our fee." He crouched down to look me in the eye. "Nothing personal, girl. Just business."

They bound my wrists with silver chains and hauled me to my feet. Every touch of the metal sent agony through my nervous system, but I bit down on my screams. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

As they dragged me through the forest, my mind raced. I had to find a way out of this. Had to escape before they delivered me back to the Tee pack, back to Yvonne and her ritual, back to becoming a powerless shell while my sister stole everything that made me who I was.

The mate bond pulsed, and I felt Xavier's sudden alarm. He knew something was wrong. Part of me wanted to reach out, to call for help through our connection. But I shoved that impulse down hard. Xavier had lied to me. He'd been ordered to seduce me, manipulate me, maybe even kill me. Even if he loved me now, how could I ever trust that?

"Keep moving," one of the hunters growled, shoving me forward when I stumbled. That's when it happened. Pain exploded in my head, so intense I dropped to my knees. The hunters cursed, trying to pull me up, but I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. My vision went white, and suddenly I wasn't in the forest anymore.

I was standing in a beautiful room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a vast territory. A man stood at those windows, tall and powerful, with the same golden eyes I saw in the mirror every morning. My father. Alpha James.

"The coalition wants us to submit," he said to someone I couldn't see. "They want control of our abilities, our power. But if we give them that, Catherine, we give them everything. They'll use us as weapons."

"Then what do we do?" A woman's voice, soft but strong. My mother.

"We disappear." He turned, and I saw the determination in his face. "We have pack members who are loyal to us, not to power. We'll take them somewhere safe, somewhere the coalition can't find us. Build a new life away from all this politics and bloodshed."

"And if they come after us?"

"Then we fight." His expression hardened. "But we don't give them our daughter. No matter what happens, Catherine, Thelma must survive. Promise me."

The vision shifted, and I was somewhere else. A hidden valley surrounded by mountains, with small cabins dotting a clearing near a stream. Wolves in both forms moved peacefully through the settlement. Children played. Elders sat in circles, sharing stories.

"This is where we'll be safe," my father's voice echoed. "Our true pack. The ones who chose family over power."

Another shift. My mother holding me as an infant, singing a lullaby. "When you're ready, little one, you'll find them. Your blood will remember what your mind forgets. Follow the song home, Thelma. Follow it home."

I gasped as the vision released me, and I was back in the forest, surrounded by confused bounty hunters.

"What the hell was that?" the leader demanded. "Some kind of attack?"

But I barely heard him. My parents' memories. I'd just accessed my parents' memories through my bloodline. And they'd shown me exactly what I needed to know.

My father hadn't been the tyrant Damien claimed. He'd been trying to protect his pack from those who wanted to use them as weapons. And somewhere out there, hidden in a valley surrounded by mountains, survivors of my parents' pack were waiting.

People who knew the truth. People who could help me. "She's doing it again," one of the hunters said nervously. "Her eyes are glowing."

I looked up at them and smiled, even though silver burned against my skin. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into."

I closed my eyes and reached for that power my parents had shown me. It was deeper than I'd accessed before, older, connected to bloodline and memory. The silver chains began to heat up, not from external fire but from the energy building inside me.

"Stop her!" the leader shouted.

But it was too late. The chains exploded in a shower of molten metal, and I was free. This time when I fought, I had purpose. I had a destination. I had hope.

I took down three of the hunters before the fourth managed to stick me with a dart. Poison. Of course they'd brought poison. The world spun, and I felt my knees hit the ground.

"Damn it," the leader growled, holding his bleeding arm. "She cost us half the bounty with these injuries. Get her secured before she wakes up."

Through my fading consciousness, I heard horses approaching. Multiple horses. Had they called for backup?

"That's far enough," a new voice called out. Female. Authoritative. "Put the girl down."

"This is a private contract," the leader said. "She's ours. Alpha Marcus of the Tee pack hired us fair and square."

"Marcus has no claim on her anymore." The woman rode into view, and even through my blurred vision, I could see she was beautiful. Dark hair, sharp features, and eyes that glowed with Alpha power. "I'm claiming her under pack law. She's coming with me."

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Alpha Selene of the Nightshade pack." Her smile was dangerous. "And that girl is my niece."

My heart stopped. Niece?

"Bullshit," the leader spat. "Everyone knows Alpha James's daughter.."

"Had a younger sister," Selene interrupted. "My sister Catherine. Which makes Thelma family. And I've been looking for her for twenty-three years."

The hunters exchanged nervous glances. The Nightshade pack was legendary, nearly as powerful as the Silver Moon pack had been before my parents' murder.

"Marcus paid us good money," the leader said, but his voice wavered.

"I'll pay you triple to walk away." Selene dismounted, and pack warriors flanked her on both sides. "Or I'll kill you where you stand. Your choice."

The hunters clearly knew a losing fight when they saw one. They dropped me unceremoniously and backed away. Within minutes, they'd disappeared into the forest.

Selene approached and knelt beside me. Up close, I could see the resemblance. She had my mother's eyes, my mother's bone structure. Family. Real family.

"Hello, Thelma," she said softly, brushing hair from my face. "I've been searching for you for so long."

"Why?" I managed to whisper, fighting the poison pulling me under.

"Because you're the key to everything, sweetheart." Her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Your father's power, your mother's abilities, all combined in one perfect package. Did you really think I'd let Marcus or Damien claim you first?"

Horror washed over me as I understood. This wasn't a rescue.

"No," I breathed.

"Shh." She pressed a cloth over my mouth and nose, and I smelled more poison. "Don't fight it. You're safe now. Or at least, you're mine. Which amounts to the same thing."

The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me completely was Selene's satisfied smile and the calculating gleam in her eyes. I'd escaped one prison only to fall into another. And this time, my captor was family..