TRUE LUNA: DANCING IN FLAMES OF THREE

Chapter 7

Rune's POV

I observed as my declaration startled everyone except for the quiet one. The one whom Luca had called Beta. Now, I thought about it, it made so much sense for him to be the only one to stand up to him.

He had a contemplative, questioning, and very strange look in his eyes. He said nothing, yet it was all in his eyes. He waited for me to catch myself and renounce my statement or at least say something else.

His neck was slightly tilted to the side, eyes, continually drilling a hole into me. Luca laughed like the whole world was suddenly a joke. Still, no one would fail to recognise the sarcasm by the end of his laughter.

“Can I have a word with you outside?”

My eyes immediately darted towards Ivy whom I barely remembered was still in the middle of this chaos. She managed to stand, using the pillars as assistance, then gestured for me to do the same.

“Uh—” I gulped. My gaze fell back to Alaric's wound. My hands were soaked in his blood as well as my clothes. I had to say what needed to be said fast and get him out of here.

“Rune—”

“Ivy, you have to go now. He is losing a lot of blood and he needs to be taken care of,” I countered impatiently, then arched my brow at the Beta.

I can't leave him.

“He is not as weak and pathetic as you, child,” Luca scoffed, his voice echoing through the walls of the room. “Listen to your friend and get out. We'll finish this up!” he snapped.

I felt a knot in my stomach. Worse. It tightened when nobody said anything else to counter him. It only meant one thing and I was right. This brutality could be worse.

“I—”

“Go,” the Beta nodded once in my direction.

I felt compelled by his command. Rising to my feet without a word, I gave him a pleading look then left with Ivy.

“Are you okay?” Ivy's hand rubbed my back, while her eyes inspected me with worry.

I nodded, not able to speak with the unease in my nerves. I kept looking back in the direction we came from as if expecting the worst.

“It's okay, Rune,” she whispered. “You saved an Alpha as powerful as Alaric. Only the light knows what's going to happen with such bravery of yours now. Still, whatever it was between them…” she trailed off in search of better words. “It's none of our concern, Rune,” she pleaded, pulling my hands in the process.

“I'm so sorry I have to drag you here all the time,” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I'm more sorry than ever for everything you had to go through tonight, but—”

“Don't you see, Rune?! Worse could have happened but it didn't. You. Stepped. In,” her eyes were wide open and her face too close to mine. “Doesn't it bother you how you did it? How you took down those scary-looking monsters without a single scratch?!” She ran her fingers through her hair like she was going to lose it soon, then paced back and forth before squatting in front of me.

“I have royal blood, remember?”

“No,” she shook her head violently, slapping her thigh as if punishing herself for her unbelief. “That was something else, Rune,” she searched my eyes, finally straightening up to take a better look. “I-I saw it, Rune… it was in your eyes!”

“Breathe, Ivy. None of what you're saying makes sense right now and I have to go back to get Alaric.”

“Rune—” her voice broke.

“Ivy?” I called quietly. I let out a sigh of exhaustion then tucked the messy strands of her hair behind her eyes. “Don't cry,” my voice broke. “I'm sorry it's all my fault, but I cannot and won't leave his side. You'd have to go back and cover me for as long as you can and believe me, I won't hold it against you if things go south.”

“But, Rune!” She collapsed into my shoulder, sobbing profusely. I held her in place while stroking her back gently. “You don't even have a single guard to protect you there.”

“I don't need protecting anymore, Ivy. My brother has done enough and so has everyone who did in the past,” I whispered with new confidence. “You have to go back,” I pulled away from her then rose to my feet. “Now.”

Without giving her much time to oppose, I sprinted towards the large hall I had left, almost bumping into the Beta, who was carrying Alaric out of the hall.

Stepping out of the way, I desperately followed behind the Beta, struggling to keep up with his pace. He was cold, but at the same time, I felt a bit safe to stay around him.

We were approaching the cars packed outside, now, still nobody said a thing. Not even Luca. He looked like ice. They all did. Was it because the Beta somehow stepped into his role as second in command when I left? Or was it because Alaric was dead?

Fear gripped me and my heart began to race. No he couldn't be dead. Not today. Not soon.

I entered the car after the Beta, and since he didn't object, I took it as my permission. Plus, Luca was the one holding the door for me. Whatever made him do it was definitely a final decree that only someone more powerful than him could give.

I listened carefully for a heartbeat that wasn't mine but Alaric's while we were on our way to the pack. It was faint, still, I tried.

I didn't realise we had arrived at the packhouse until the car came to a sudden halt. A woman stood at the entrance with a black leather coat and a somber expression. The way she rushed Alaric as well as her demand for things gave off her position, so I stayed still, knowing she wouldn't harm him.

“Is he okay?” I asked aloud.

She didn't do so much as look in my direction, but headed into the building. I was in this dimly lit elegant room with the Beta, the woman, and a few men excluding Luca. She nursed his wounds, injected all sorts of drugs intravenously then connected a drip to his right hand.

“Will he be okay?” I asked again except that this time, I wasn't taking silence for an answer.

“Do you need the O negative now?” The Beta chimed in wearily and dryly. It was the first thing he had said since we arrived.

“There'll be no need for that at the moment,” she answered with all her focus on Alaric.

“Can you please answer me?” I pleaded.

She ignored me for the third time and that was it.

I walked next to her and grabbed her wrist, seizing her attention at once.

“I asked a question, didn't I?” I hissed, narrowing my gaze at her.

Horror overtook her the instant she met my gaze. She quickly pulled away from my grip, making her stumble a few steps backwards.

“H-he'll be fine,” she breathed out. “There won't be a need for anything more because the healing process had begun even before you arrived here.”

“But how is that even possible?” The Beta, queried in shock. I furrowed my brows, trying to get what the bad news was. “It's rare… abnormal…” he trailed off as though something hit him, then looked from me to the woman. “Could someone have—”

“We have to find out what it is, but the good news remains that he is okay. Still unconscious, but he'll be fine and… I have a feeling that it'll be quicker this time. The rate is like nothing I've seen before,” she lowered her voice towards the end of her sentence then kept her gaze fixed on me.