Star-crossed Luna

Chapter 10

Marcellus

Orange and yellow cascaded across the sky as the sun descended over the horizon. It was past 7pm and I still hadn’t heard from Azriel. My anxiety was rising, worried Amora was afraid of me, that she’d refuse to meet and I wouldn’t blame her. No one outside the pack knew I had taken over from my father, so as far as she was aware, a monster still resided here. I paced my office, the unease grew and was slowly being replaced with frustration. Finally fed up, I grabbed my phone and called Azriel but I was sent straight to voicemail. Now I was furious and marched down the stairs to Azriel’s room, not even bothering to knock. The room was empty and my anger grew. What the hell was he up to? I called again, but again was sent to voicemail.

“Azriel.” I mindlinked him. No response.

“Azriel!” I demanded his attention.

“Not now,” Azriel replied, sounding annoyed.

“I am your Alpha,” I reminded him, “Where the hell are you?” There was a long pause, then he severed the link.

Enraged by his blatant disobedience, I stormed through the house and out the front door. The last thing I wanted to do was drop in on Amora like that but I had no other choice. As I approached the guest house, Amora’s and Azriel’s scent became very strong. When I got to the door, the obvious smell of arousal assaulted my nose. My wolf became restless and agitated, he growled, begging to be let out. I held him back the best I could, trying to keep my composure as I busted through the locked door.

There, on the bed, was Azriel on top of Amora. They were still mostly clothed, thank the Goddess, but my rage reached its boiling point.

“MINE!” I yelled as my wolf ripped out of me, shifting. Azriel followed shortly after me, entering into his wolf form. His fangs were bared and hackles were up. His wolf was pitch black and very lean. There was an obvious size difference between us, though that never stopped Azriel from being the most skilled fighter in the pack. I bared my fangs back at him and gave a loud and deep warning growl strong enough to shake the windows. He visibly struggled to fight my alpha aura, and I took a step forward. I looked down at him and willed him to submit, but he still fought me.

“Submit!” I snarled at him.

“No,” he growled, “I want her. She’s mine.”

Hearing him call her his put me over the edge and I lunged at him. He quickly dodged it, but I managed to pivot and thrust my shoulder into his side, throwing him into the wall. I lunged again, this time getting one of his front legs in my jaws. He yelped and started to struggle.

“Submit Azriel!” I commanded again.

He still refused, and slowly increased the pressure of my jaws, my fangs sinking deeper into his front leg. Our eyes were locked on each other, I pleaded with him to submit, not wanting to hurt him more than I already had. The sound of his bones starting to crack sickened me. His bones were about to give and snap when an unseen force collided into me, forcing me off Azriel. It was Amora, in her beautiful wolf form, the same wolf from my dream. My heart ached at the sight of her going to Azriel’s side. Her eyes met mine, they were a gorgeous green highlighted by her dark coat. She snapped at Azriel when he tried to rush past her to get me, then her gaze went to me and whined. Begging me to stop. The look in her eyes shook me to my core, and I closed my eyes to shift back into my human form. Azriel took his opportunity when we were both distracted to rush past Amora and sink his fangs deep into my shoulder. He was on top of me with both arms pinned. I kneed him in the gut but his grip only tightened. My bones started creaking under the pressure, and I started kicking and kneeing at him harder. I was at a disadvantage in my human form, but I couldn’t shift with him on top of me. The bones in my shoulder finally gave out with several loud snaps and I yelled out in pain.

The pain was unbelievable, and I was certain he was going to take my whole arm off when he was suddenly ripped off of me. I managed to prop myself up just enough to see Amora pinning Azriel down. I could feel blood pouring down my arm and chest, my head started to spin.

“What the hell happened!” Zane exclaimed when he rushed into the small guest house.

“Get Azriel under control, take him to the infirmary,” I ordered.

“What about you,” Zane asked worriedly.

“I’m fine,” I snapped, “Now Zane.”

Zane took over for Amora and managed to get him to shift back into his human form. I sighed in relief when they left, leaving me and Amora.

“Were you injured?” I asked her. She didn’t answer.

“If you were, you should follow Zane to the infirmary,” I said softly, closing my eyes. The rustling of fabric tickled my ears and gentle footsteps approached me. The room was spinning and I could feel myself fading. The last thing I remembered was something being wrapped around my arms and Amora’s voice, so soft I wasn’t sure she said it or not, “Mate?”

Excruciating pain woke me up. My right arm and shoulder were heavily bandaged and immobilized in a sling. I tried to sit up but a strong hand grabbed my left shoulder and gently held me down.

“You shouldn’t be moving yet,” Zane said.

“I’m fine,” I rolled my eyes.

“Your shattered clavicle and scapula would disagree. Not to mention the numerous muscles that got shredded.”

“How is Azriel?” I asked.

“Doing a lot better than you. A few fractures in his shoulder,” he said casually, “You want to tell me what happened?”

“I walked in on him about to have s*x with Amora,” I sighed.

“So? I know you told him not to but he does this all the time, it’s nothing new,” Zane asked, confused. I hesitated and sighed.

“Amora… is my mate.”

“Well, s**t,” Zane ran his fingers through his hair, “That explains a lot, except why Azriel refused to back down.”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, and internally wishing with every aching throb I had done more damage to him.

“Marcelli!” Bianca yelled as she ran into the infirmary, “I came right over when I heard you got hurt!”

“Bianca,” I sighed, “I’m fine and I’d really like to speak with Zane alone.”

“Don’t be silly, I can nurse you back to health!” Her insistent nature I used to find cute but is now annoying.

“Please Bianca, I need to speak with you too but not here or now.”

“Anything you have to say you can say in front of Zane,” She smiled as she started messing with my dressings.

“I found my mate,” I said deadpan while staring up at the ceiling, “I’m so sorry Bianca.”

“WHAT?!” She screeched, “Are you shitting me Marc? Did you reject her?”

“No,” was all I could say, “and… I don’t think I plan to either.”

“f**k you Marcellus,” she spat and left, slamming the door behind her.

“That could have gone better,” Zane commented.

“I know,” I muttered, “Is Amora ok?”

“She’s fine, a bit shaken up, but not a scratch on her,” He assured me and I sighed in relief.

“I need to see her,” I said urgently.

“Alright, I won’t promise you she will agree to come but I’ll go get her,” Zane patted my shoulder and left. I closed my eyes for a moment, and fell back to sleep.

I awoke to a hand touching my shoulder. Opening my eyes, I saw Zane looking down at me. He patted my shoulder and left the room. Confused, I looked to the side and found myself face to face with Amora. She was even more beautiful up close, bright green eyes peering at me apprehensively and mousy shoulder-length hair framed her almond face perfectly.

“Amora,” I breathed, “I’m so sorry.” She looked shocked and confused.

“My apologies, Alpha, but why are you sorry?” She asked quizzically.

“Because you had to witness Azriel and I like that, and not only that, you had to intervene. I’m so relieved you weren’t hurt.” She still seemed confused and uncertain despite my apology.

“You’re not at all what I expected you to be,” She finally said.

“What were you expecting,” I asked, though I already had a pretty good idea.

“Ruthless, cruel, selfish…” She said meekly, afraid to insult me, but I chuckled.

“Yes, my father was all those things.”

“Your father?” She was shocked.

“Yes, I took over from my father about a month ago. I’m doing everything I can to be better than him, and to fix his wrongs,” I explained.

“So, all the horrible things this pack has done, were because of your father? Not you?” She asked and visibly relaxed.

“He was a horrible man. I hated him, and I hate everything he’s done even more.” I looked back up at the ceiling, too ashamed to look her in the eyes anymore. My father was my biggest shame. I felt a hand gently touch my shoulder.

“Alpha,” Amora said softly.

“Please,” I rested my free hand over hers, “Call me Marcellus.”