Her Own Luna

Chapter 17

The ride home was silent and equally as awkward as the ride there had been. Arriving home felt like being rescued. Anna unpacked immediately. Christian's bag had been brought to their room, so she opened the door and tossed it out. He had someone else who could deal with that now. She wished she could be a fly on the wall when he explained to Vera how the meeting had gone.

Anna finished unpacking, straightened up her room and left her bedroom. She stopped short and rolled her eyes when she saw Vera outside the guest room staring at Christian's suitcase.

"You need to unpack that," she said.

"You want to be his mistress? You unpack it, homewrecker."

"How dare you! Mistress? I am not his mistress!"

"Lets see, looks cheap, insufferable, can't pack a suitcase... Yup. Mistress."

"You just wait, you mangy dog. I'll have the last word here and you'll wish you'd never made an enemy of me," Vera hissed.

"I didn't make you an enemy, you made yourself an enemy. Now, do not ever speak to me again. Do not even look at me. When I enter a room, you will leave it. Do you understand?"

Vera smirked. "What are you going to do if I don't?"

Anna let her wolf come forward, her eyes flashed and her breathing grew hoarse like a growl was waiting to spring forth. Her nails elongated and it seemed as though the air thinned out and the room grew darker. "I am stronger than you can even imagine and you will obey me or suffer," she ground out.

Vera's eyes grew large and she shrank back. With a whimper, she darted around Anna and down the stairs. Anna made herself look presentable again and walked down the stairs. She went to Christian's office and opened the door without knocking.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

She slammed the door behind her, her rage becoming uncontrollable. "Look, you can have your mistress. Our marriage is over. I will accept that. She is not going to be Luna of this pack. She isn't fitting for the job nor will I step down. Is that clear?"

"I don't think it's up to you..."

"Ha! Anyway, that isn't negotiable. And neither is this. You will keep your little fling private. You don't love me anymore, maybe you never did, but you will respect me. Not as your wife, but as your Luna and Alpha at that." She'd never used her birth status against him before, and she never would have if she didn't need to now. "I am more an Alpha than you are. I am centuries of Alphas. You will show me respect."

"Enough!" Christian yelled. He stood and circled around the desk. He towered over her, but didn't intimidate her. "You will stop this nonsense!" He bellowed. "Just shut up!"

"Excuse me?"

"I said shut up! Now obey! Shut your stupid mouth!" he grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her into the wall. Her head slammed against the wall causing stars to dance before her eyes. Before she could react, he had kicked her in the stomach. She kicked him away from her, sending him crashing into the opposite wall. She stood, walked to the door and left. She walked normally to the door of the packhouse like nothing had happened, exited, and made her way to the woods. Once out of eyesight she stripped down and shifted. She let her wolf take over and run. She needed to get out of her own mind.

Some time later, she felt like she was being watched. She wondered if she'd been followed, but she was too emotional to have caught on. She took sharp twists and turns to lose whoever it could be, but also end up back where she'd started from. She shifted back to her human form and tucked behind a tree. She saw a fox enter the clearing and look around. It shifted into Vera and took off back into the woods. She tried to follow, but lost sight of her. She stopped, wondering what her next move should be. Certainly not going home... not yet.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her shoulder and into her chest. She fell to her knees for a moment before standing up again. She looked down and arrow had gone into her shoulder. She grabbed it, wanting to pull it out, but it was just too painful. Instead, she began to run again, but another arrow pierced her shoulder, just inches away from the first one. This time, she couldn't keep herself up. She fell, snapping off the arrows as she hit the ground. Her head swam, but she forced herself to remain focused when she saw Vera standing over her.

"You thought you could get away didn't you?" She laughed and pulled out a knife. "I said I'd win... I told you how things were going to be. Your pack is mine and I can't wait to watch every single pack member meet their end. Its's time for the foxes to have their turn." She stabbed Anna in the stomach. An adrenaline rush kicked in. Anna kicked Vera in the knee and scrambled to her feet. She ran, but she knew she was on borrowed time. She pressed her hands to her wound, but it wasn't enough. She could hear Vera behind her. She tripped over a root and tumbled down an embankment straight into a river. Between the blood loss and the icy cold of the water she lost consciousness.