Forsaking His Luna

Rage

Five years later...

July 2014, Luminus Estate, Tuscany, Italy

Arthur

Cody entered the room without knocking, something not unusual for him, but still not the best behaviour when I was in the middle of a video call meeting with the Sicilian alpha.

"Arthur, you need to see this footage now!"

I glared at Cody, but when I saw his expression, I sensed his emotions. Something was definitely off.

Giving my attention back to the screen, I looked at the alpha on the other side of the screen without giving much room for protest.

"Excuse me, Carlo, I'll have to call you back."

"Greenwood, you can't be serious... this territory intrusion is causing a big disruption-..."

And I hit the hang-up button, tired of listening to his ridiculous pleading.

"Cody, seriously? It had to be now?"

"Shut up and watch this!"

I growled, "Watch your tone!" Not many had the balls to talk to me that way, but Cody just didn't care. He barely pushed me but he wasn't afraid to do it.

He put his laptop in front of me, showing me footage of a woman hanging from the ceiling in chains, her brown curls covering her face, and there was blood pooling on the floor around her.

He hit play, and a guy came up to her, fisting her hair from her face to the side, and all the air from my lungs disappeared, a face I could only dream of... Miriam.

The guy grabbed her face, clearly asking questions. Not happy with what she said, he slapped her so hard blood purred from her nose.

I growled, getting up and throwing my chair against the side of the office wall.

"Where is she? Cody! Where?"

"North of the Atlantic, it seems Miriam was on a mission. She's the Captain of the ship, she served as a distraction while some of her mates ran with the Intel these guys were looking for. They were attacked by pirates, and it seems they killed everybody else, apart from her. I got a distress call from one of the ship's crew members by chance just before someone blew his brains. I managed to hack into the ship's cameras, and that's when I recognized her."

"I want our best unit on its way there right now! Don't waste any more time."

"I have already sent for them. In one hour, we will be flying above them."

"Who is in charge of the operation?"

"Di-Castella."

"Call the pilot. I want him to be ready in five minutes!"

"Arthur, you can't just leave now, Allegra arrives in-"

"I don't care. My mate needs me! Are you coming, or are you going to stand in my way?!"

His face turned serious as he stood in front of me.

"Your 'fiancé' is on her way for having a wedding rehearsal dinner that has been on the agenda for the last five years. How do you plan on explaining your absence to her and Antonio? I'll go. I give you my word." Cody held my shoulder as I was going for the door.

"I don't care about any of it, it's her! Get out of my way!"

Suddenly, Antonio barges into the room.

"What's all this shouting? Arthur, control yourself, this isn't like you, what's going on?"

I almost felt like killing him, he was the reason she wasn't by my side, he had no idea of her existence, and as far as I was concerned, he never would.

"None of your business. I have to..."

Cody interrupted me.

"There's an issue with our intervention team, Arthur wishes to handle it himself, but I was guaranteeing him I could handle it."- he kept a calm and collected demeanour. At the same time, he mind links me.

"Calm the f**k down, think about her! Antonio cannot find out, you have to act normal, for her sake."

The reason why he's the perfect beta. He always keeps me grounded on what matters. Thinking of Cody's words, I took a deep breath, it was the truth, I couldn't let him find out about her.

Antonio seemed to believe him.

"Why on earth would you leave when it's a mere two hours for the wedding rehearsal dinner? Haven't we made a deal, Arthur? Haven't I been clear?"

I glared at him at the same time I was considering using my power to make him change his mind. If it wasn't for the amulet he wore to prevent me from doing so, I would make him drown in the pool outside.

"Don't speak of what you do not understand, old man."

"Watch how you speak to me. You may be the Alpha, but don't mistake my handover to you as a gift. I expect you not to be like your mother."

More rage filled me as he spoke of my mother.

"Don't you dare speak of my mother! Leave us. We have an important issue to handle. I'll be there at six to perform my duties. Until then, don't bother me."

He glared at me but left the room without a word.

Fury filled my wolf and me. We wanted blood, to run to her and kill every single one of them who dared touch her. After all these years, I never thought I would see her again. I abandoned all hope when I was horrible to her on the phone five years ago. I just wanted to keep her safe from Antonio and his games.

Snapping me out of my thoughts, Cody spoke again.

"Art, just trust me, I know what this means, I will handle it. We can't risk him finding out."

I turned punching the wall behind me.

"Go! Take her to my safe house in Switzerland. I want her safe in Perla Villa, organize a team of doctors to be there when she arrives."

"Will do as you command, I'll keep you updated."

Turning around to grab a tissue to wipe the blood from my knuckles, I looked him in the eye.

"I want them all dead! Bring me the one who slapped her alive... I want to play with him."

"Yes, Alpha, I will depart immediately."

"Cody, please... just..." - the words wouldn't come out, I couldn't express what was on my mind. "She's everything..."

"I know Art... I know..."- he gave me a curt nod and left without any time to waste. I knew Cody would bring her back to me. He had to.

I speed-dialled my good friend Gerard Di-Castella, my future brother-in-law and the best man I had in the operations field team.

He answered after one beep.

"Arthur, what do you need?"

"This mission, I need you to be discreet, no one can know who you rescued. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course I can. It's just another report without a name."

The reason Di-Castella was perfect for commanding operations is that he didn't ask questions, he trusted my judgement and I trusted him.

"Cody will meet you soon."

"s**t, is Cody coming?"

"It's her." - that was all I needed to say.

Gerard knew of my story and Miriam. He knew there was no love between me and his sister, it was all an agreement made by our families to unite the two strongest supernaturals in Europe, wolfs and vampires.

Since both sides agreed with the terms of our alliance, SDU(Super-natural defence union) was created.

Me, Cody, Gerard and Frank trained to become an elite intervention squad, and we worked alongside for four years. Until last year when I took my grandfather's place as Alpha. Our alliance helped prevent attacks from human hunters and other super-naturals, upon weaker communities or isolated packs.

In all our years working alongside each other, we became good friends, brothers. The basis of our brotherhood was honesty and full transparency. It's what made us strong, and trust in each other made us lethal.

"Her? As in...?"

"My fated mate."- saying her name had a bitter taste, and the pain I felt in my chest seemed to explode, it hurt to say it.

"I won't fail."- he replied without hesitation, the determination in his voice left no room for doubt.

"I know."

I hang up.

Immediately, the pain in my chest grew. The agony of not being able to see her never left me, and now it was unbearable.

How did she get herself into this? A captain for the British royal navy? She always loved the sea. Could that be why?

To be able to move on with my life, I tried to forget the brief moment when our lives collided.

The way things ended between us always made me feel like s**t. Like I didn't deserve to live, hurting her was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, everything else compared was a joke. Finn was with me, he understood why, but I knew he didn't forgive me for leaving our mate.

After the blackmailing Antonio pulled up with the Wolfmoor pack, a lot changed in my life. I had to give up university, move to Italy and leaving my family. All of those things were nothing compared to abandoning Miriam.

Imagining the life we could have built together. Maybe we could've even got a family by now. It hurt so much to think about the what ifs of the past, to relieve it hurts.

It's too late now, I'm about to get married in three weeks. I could never break the vow I made to the pack, it would cause war between species.

I was determined to do whatever it took to keep her safe for the rest of her life.

Even from a distance.