The Human Luna

Chapter Five - Saving My Mate

She was lying halfway down the road, unconscious, her hair plastered to her face from the rain. And standing over her was a rogue — teeth bared, eyes wild.

A red haze blurred my vision. My mate.

I launched at him without thought, Atticus roaring inside me. Behind me, the others tore into the circle of rogues surrounding her, claws meeting flesh, teeth snapping bone.

“Someone get the human out of here — NOW!” Luke’s mindlink cracked like a whip.

I caught a glimpse of Jason shifting, his wolf fading as his human form emerged. He scooped her into his arms and bolted for the pack house. My chest burned with rage — her fragile body against his bare skin — but I forced my focus back as the rogue beneath me snapped for my throat.

Atticus answered with a growl that shook the air. We tore into him, jaws clamping around his neck. His body convulsed, blood flooding the street before he collapsed lifeless at my feet. For a moment, I savored it — the justice, the brutal satisfaction of destroying the wolf who had dared touch her.

The battle raged behind me, but soon even the storm began to fade into dawn. By the time the last rogue fell, the horizon was streaked with pale light. Together, we dragged their corpses to a desolate stretch of land, digging shallow graves before burning them to ash. Petrol flames roared high, swallowing the evidence. There was no honor for rogues. And I had no time to explain any of this to human law. My thoughts belonged only to her.

Mate, Atticus growled, insistent.

“Her name is Shannon,” I snapped back at him, shoving him deep into my mind before turning to Jason. “Where is she?”

Jason’s reply was clipped, almost casual. “The dungeon. Same place we take all prisoners.”

The words barely left his mouth before I had him pinned to the wall, my hand around his throat. “YOU TOOK MY MATE TO THE DUNGEON?!” My roar echoed through stone and steel, vibrating the very walls. Rage consumed me. She had been bleeding in the rain, fragile and unconscious, and he had thrown her into a cell like a criminal.

Mate or not — no one should ever be treated that way.

I dropped him, disgust curling in my gut, and stormed down the corridor. Wolves scrambled out of my path as I shoved past, every step pounding with fury, every breath carrying the same single thought: Get to her.

I finally reached the dungeon and burst through the heavy door — only to be met with a sight that shattered me.

Chains. Heavy, silver-lined chains clamped around her wrists and ankles, forcing her to the cold stone wall like some kind of animal. A filthy rag — gods, it looked like an old tea towel — was tied tight over her eyes.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

I moved toward her slowly, hands trembling as I unhooked the cuffs one by one. The metal clattered to the floor, loud in the silence, and I swallowed the growl that threatened to tear out of me when I saw the bruises. Red, angry marks circled her skin where she had tried to fight, to pull free. Wolves’ chains. What kind of i***t would put werewolf chains on a human?

When I untied the blindfold, her face was worse. Her eyes were swollen and raw from crying, lashes still clumped with tears. She blinked rapidly, wincing at the sudden light, but didn’t speak.

It hit me then — the time. Nearly three in the afternoon. Had she really been left like this for more than twelve hours? While I was out clearing bodies, burning rogues to ash, she was here. Alone. Afraid. Shackled.

Shame burned hotter than any rage I’d ever felt. What kind of Alpha was I, if I couldn’t even protect my own mate? She deserved better. Better than chains. Better than this room. Better than me.

I scooped her into my arms, cradling her against my chest as though she might break if I held too tight. Bridal style, the way I’d always imagined carrying her one day — only not like this. Never like this. I ran, every muscle screaming, and didn’t stop until I crashed through the doors of the pack hospital.

“Doctor Bane! I need you — DOCTOR BANE!” My voice cracked with desperation, carrying down the hall.

The Alpha’s room was already prepped — a suite reserved for those of the highest importance. Nothing mattered more than her now. I laid Shannon gently on the bed, brushing damp hair from her face with shaking hands.

Doctor Bane stormed in a moment later, nurse Hilary at her side.

“What happened?” she demanded, shoving me out of the way as she began hooking Shannon up to monitors, IVs, machines I didn’t understand. The beeps filled the air, sharp and terrifying.

“I— I don’t know,” I stammered, my throat tight. “I found her… rogues, they got to her. Please. Please, you have to save her.”

The words broke apart as the tears finally came. I hadn’t cried since I was a boy, not when my father died, not even when I buried my mother. But now? Seeing her broken, fragile, and so small beneath the weight of tubes and wires — I couldn’t hold it back.

“I can’t lose her,” I whispered, voice cracking. “Not like this. Not her.”

Doctor Bane didn’t answer. She barked orders instead, her voice steady, commanding. More nurses rushed in, wheeling the bed out from under me, whisking Shannon down the corridor toward emergency care.

I was left standing there, drenched in blood and rain, useless for the first time in my life.

She can’t die! The doctor was running around before more junior doctors and nurses came into the room, wheeling Shannon out.

“Now where are you taking her?!” I roared, shoving forward as the bed screeched toward the door. Panic clawed at my throat until I could barely breathe.

I lunged after them, but strong hands grabbed at my arms and shoulders, trying to hold me back. I barely felt them. My body moved on instinct, tearing free, my nails scraping against the walls as I fought to follow the bed.

“YOU CAN’T TAKE HER!” I shouted, voice breaking as the wheels squealed against the tiles, carrying her farther from me with every second. I shoved past another man, chest heaving, but it was no use — the bed disappeared around the corner, leaving me in the echo of my own ragged breathing.

Tears blurred my vision. “How weak you must look,” Atticus sneered from the shadows of my mind, twisting the knife deeper. Some wolf.

“Alpha, in order to save her we need to know what’s wrong,” Hilary’s voice cut through the ringing in my ears, soft but steady. “They’re running tests. Doctor Bane is the best healer in the country — please, go to the family room and wait.”

Her words barely registered as Stefan appeared, pulling me into a tight embrace. The dam inside me broke, my body crumbling against him. Alphas weren’t supposed to fall apart. But I wasn’t just an Alpha. I was a man on the verge of losing his mate.

Doctor Bane walked into the family room and lowered herself into the chair opposite me. I couldn’t read her expression at first — a strange blend of exhaustion and sorrow. She had been gone with Shannon for over three hours, and though I knew healing always came at a cost, I could tell from the dimness in her eyes that this had taken more from her than usual.