The Human Luna

Chapter 7

Jordan's Point of View

Watching her leave with him felt like a hot knife being shoved down my throat.

How many girls had I seen leaving with him before? So many that I couldn't keep track of them all. Only to find out how he had discarded them the next day after getting what he wanted.

Normally I would stay firmly out of it and mind my own business. Keep my head down, no matter how much his cockiness irritated me.

But this was different. Felt different.

Layla was someone I cared for. Had grown close to in the last several weeks. Her smile was something I looked forward to every Monday and Thursday. Weekends on the dead-shift of patrols felt like days in the desert.

Only for Caden to come along, like he always did, and sweep her away from me.

A mating bond between wolves was extremely rare, to say the least. Layla, though, wasn't a f*****g wolf. She was human, which meant Caden had no claim over her.

Even if he thought he had.

I had seen the look in her eyes right before she left with him. Fear coursed through her entire body. I could practically hear her heart beating out of her chest as she moved away from me. As her hand slipped out of mine.

But I knew why she had done it and it made my heart swell with even more adoration.

She had gone with him because she thought she was protecting me. She assumed that he wanted her alone and gave him exactly that to make sure he got off of my back.

If only she knew what was truly going on.

Flicking out my wallet, I dumped whatever cash I had onto the table. More than enough to cover the tab along with a hefty tip. The girl who had been serving us beamed at me as she took the money. Batted her eyelashes at me coyly.

It wasn't Layla and that thought alone troubled me.

I slipped out of the cafe and headed for the treeline. Caden had taken the keys to the car, leaving me to run. Another f**k you on his part. Granted I earned that one at least.

What I hadn't earned was the fact that he took the one f*****g girl I actually liked in the last three years and ran off with her. Made her feel like she had to pay him back for not kicking my ass to the curb.

Little did she know that he couldn't do that. The title of Beta would firmly remain with me until the next generation came along.

Opening up my mind as I reached the treeline, I felt for the familiar tug between pack mates. Almost like a radio picking up signals between wolves.

Lector's blossomed in front of me, open and undisturbed.

"s**t has hit the fan, Lector," I grumbled through the bond, feeling my own anxiety bleed through it.

In an instant, I had his full attention. The bond grew taut between us.

"Tell me you didn't really steal the Alpha's car, Beta. Tell me that you didn't drag my daughter into this mess." He replied, voice strained.

There was a certain level of respect he owed me, as his Beta. But as a father? As a father, I could feel his anger simmering just beneath the surface.

News traveled fast, it seemed.

"Caden found out she was his mate." I relayed.

A long pause followed, the bond slackening a bit so that Lector had some privacy in his own mind. He was cursing, no doubt, the goddess for causing all of this.

"If he tells her a single f*****g thing, Jordan, I don't care what rank he is. I will rip him apart myself." Lector growled back.

Granted. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Caden nor I had the right to tell Layla anything. That she was a human wandering around a pack filled to the brim with wolves. Her parents included. That she was adopted and that the incident with her best friend...

"He took her back to the pack. It looks like the mating urge has hit him hard already. Nearly tore me a new one. I suggest sending Jessebelle over to the pack house. Crisis management requires a woman's touch."

With that, I closed the bond between us and slipped out of my clothes, ready for the long trek home.

Layla's Point of View

Caden's hands were white-knuckled on the steering wheel.

Gone was the music, the feeling of flying and being free. Gone was Jordan's carefree smile, all replaced by a man who gave me a side-eye every chance he got.

The curve of his body reminded me of a tensed-up predator ready to strike at any moment. Fueled by anger.

Shoving down my anxiety and fear as deep as it could go, I c****d my head to the side and examined him. Crossed my arms over my chest.

"Why did you want to meet me so badly? And if this is the only way you can get a girl's attention, I feel sorry for your wife one day."

It was the first thing I could think of to say. However, it sounded way better in my head than out of my mouth.

Caden rolled his eyes but kept staring ahead.

"For your information, I can have whatever woman I want," He snapped back, teeth glinting in the sun.

If he was so disdainful of me, why the hell had he wanted to take me with him in the first place? Why bully Jordan because he hadn't sent me straight to him the moment he had sent Jenny to come and get me?

I was right beside him but he was acting like I was nothing more than an insect.

Huffing, I stared out of the rolled-up window beside me. "Then why the f**k did you drag me along with you if you could have whoever you wanted?"

"I thought you offered to come in order to get Jordan off the hook?" He mused but there wasn't a single hint of amusement on his face.

"And you accepted that offer. I know why I offered but why you accepted is beyond me."

"Maybe to prove to you that I could get whoever I wanted. Including you." He sneered.

Anger simmered into my veins. Another foreign emotion that I hadn't felt in a long while.

Arrogant prick.

"Your mother must be so f*****g proud of you," I threw back and tucked my legs against the door, wanting to be as far away from him as possible.

There was a pause. No retort came from him.

But softly spoken words were whipped away by the wind, barely touching my ears as they went.

"She's dead. I found her in her bed after she killed herself."