The Luna-Maker's Last Kiss

Chapter 2

Serena

I was surprised to find it cold. The interrogation was a concrete and steel box, with no warmth and without colour. One light buzzed above, casting shadows which made the walls seem too close. The table in front of me was made from metal and scratched by years of fists and pens. In the corner of the room, a red camera light was blinking steadily. It reminded me that I wasn't on my own.

The chain was biting my raw skin as I sat there with my wrists in cuffs. My lips were still burning from the kiss, and my chest still hurt like there was fire inside of me. Each shallow breath made me remember what I had lost. Another year or two has gone by. Damien Cross, the man sitting across from me in my office, looked at me as if he was able to peel my secrets right off my skin. He had rolled up his sleeves, revealing forearms with faint scars. The jacket was hung from the back of his chair. His entire being screamed patience, discipline and control. He didn't have to shout. His silence was louder.

"My name is Detective Damien Cross," he said. You're going to tell me what happened at that club. My throat felt tight. I concentrated on the table. I don't understand what you are saying. "You don’t?" His voice was even, but his eyes were sharpened. "It's because I watched a man transform right in front of me. He was a beta one second and an alpha the next. Gold eyes. "You kissed him. That was the spark. The trigger.

My pulse jumped. Too fast. I tried to cover it up with a scoff. "That's crazy." "Is that?" He leant forward, his elbows on the desk, and fixed his gaze on mine. "I was raised around wolves. I know the time it takes to become Alpha. I am familiar with the bloodshed. It can take years to complete the ritual, dominance battles and the other aspects. Then I saw a person leap over the chain within seconds. "You expect me to think that was a coincidence?" his words were pressed even harder than the handcuffs. I shifted my wrists, scraping the metal. "You sound insane."

His jaw flexed. He then lowered his tone, making it sound almost gentle. "You are the one shining silver, my sweetheart." This word was like a slap. I jerked my head up and met his stormy grey stare. He didn't guess. He'd seen it. My mask cracked. "I don’t know what you believe you saw," I whispered. He snapped quickly and sharply, "I don’t think." The silence stretched and was heavy enough to crush my spirit.

I thought about my mother. The night she died, I remembered her pale face and her trembling hands brushing my cheek. “Serena, don't let anyone find you. Do not let them abuse you”. Here I was in a room of white with chains around my wrists, staring at a man who had just told me the truth that I'd been burying for years. "You don't know what you are saying," I whispered. "Then enlighten me." I shook my head, voice shaking. “You won't believe it if I tell you." "Try to me", he said.

I was frightened by his unflinching tone. I was tempted to tell him all for a split second. I wanted to tell him everything so that I didn't have to deal with it alone. Then I remembered that look in the new Alpha's eyes. The hunger. The violence. No. If I told him, then he would see me in the same light as they did: as a weapon, not as a woman. I turned away. He slowly leaned back, examining me like a puzzle that had too many missing pieces. "I can't." "You won't or can't?" he asked. I did not answer. My silence was enough.

The door banged. I jumped. A uniformed officer leaning in pale and sweating. "Detective, this is what you need to know. Damien flicked his eyes to me and then back to the police officer. The man blinked at me and paused before asking, "What's it?" "Say it," Damien ordered. The officer swallowed. The guy from the club. The beta that became an Alpha? He's dead. He was ripped apart before he was taken down by backup. "It's chaos everywhere." My stomach dropped. Damien's jaw tightened. Keep the report quiet. No leaks."

The silence after the words was even worse. My throat closed. I felt my chest being crushed. Another life destroyed. I have caused another death. I pressed my forehead to the table, chains rattling. "I didn’t want this," I whispered. My voice cracked, and the pain I had buried was exposed. There was only the sound of the light for a brief moment. "I never wanted it." The chair of Damien began to scrape back. The room was filled with heavy footsteps. His presence was enough to warm the room, even though he didn't touch me. This time, his voice was lower and more measured. "Then help me understand." I didn't lift my head. Couldn't. If I saw him right now, I would shatter. "Help me to protect you," said the man.

The words made me feel something. I wanted to trust him and to be reassured by his voice. A part of me, scarred by the death of my mother and by all the warnings whispered, yelled at me not to believe. I squeezed my eyelids shut.

Damien

The words of the officer kept echoing through my mind. In a matter of hours, he was dead, and his bloody trail left chaos. The panic spread like wildfire. There were reports, witnesses and many other things. The girl in front of me, who was the centre of the chaos, was the one at the heart of the panic. She trembled with her forehead pressed against the table. Silver still shimmered faintly in those eyes. She appeared fragile and breakable. Her kiss had already shown me what it could do. She was not fragile. She was so dangerous, yet she made me feel so scared. I weighed the pieces as I studied her. She didn't look like a liar. She didn't even sound like a liar. Her fear was just too real. The questions only grew. What was she, exactly? Why did her kiss awaken the wolves? Why was it so expensive? She whispered to me that I could not protect her. She was wrong.

The moment I saw her glowing silver and the way she crumpled when she lost power, I knew one thing: I wouldn't let anyone else get her before me.

Not even Kael.