The Alpha's Lost Luna

13

Rowan

I sprinted out of the room so fast that I slammed into the wall hard enough to leave a crack in the plaster. The pain barely registered. I heard Cade's footsteps pounding behind me, but he knew better than to try and stop me. He could read my emotions better than I could process them myself. It was one of the many reasons he would one day be my beta.

Even now, with rage and panic choking the life out of me, I could still remember the look on his face when he admitted what had been happening to Elizabeth. The regret. The shame. The guilt. I knew he regretted how he had acted as a teenager — how all of us acted — but right now, I couldn't stop to care. I couldn't stop to comfort him. As cruel as it sounded, Cade wasn't my priority. Elizabeth was.

Loathing and fury surged through my veins so violently it made my vision blur. My family, my pack. The cruelty they're capable of... The stake was a newer form of punishment my father had introduced over the last few years and I had only witnessed it used twice. One for a wolf caught selling pack secrets to a rival pack. And once, a vampire was caught crossing our borders with ill intent. Both times had been brutal.

I still remember the screams. The scent of blood thick in the air. The sound of flesh tearing. The way their begging had followed me into my nightmares for years afterward. And now... Elizabeth. No.

I shoved the thought away before it could fully form because if I let myself picture her there, broken and bleeding, I would lose what little control I had left. But my gut already knew. This would be worse. Because the pack didn't hate those criminals the way they seemed to hate her. Elizabeth wasn't being punished. She was being made into entertainment.

Bile rose in my throat. I needed to get to her. Faster. Faster. Faster. I pushed harder, willing my body to move faster than physically possible. My lungs burned, my muscles screamed, but none of it mattered. I ran through the pack house halls like a storm. Pack members jumped out of my way, their eyes wide and startled. I slammed into two wolves near the staircase, nearly knocking them over. I didn't stop to apologize. I didn't check if they were okay. I had one singular focus. Liz.

I burst through the foyer doors and sprinted toward the center of the pack lands where the punishment stake stood. I could smell it before I saw it. Blood. Fear. Sweat. Cruel excitement. I could hear the crowd gathered before I reached them. Their murmurs, the laughter, the sick satisfaction rolling through the air. My stomach turned again.

Cade stayed close behind me, matching every step. I shoved through the crowd, disgust crawling beneath my skin at the wolves I had grown up calling family and friends. Some watched the scene in front of us with amusement. Some whispered cruel insults. Some threw objects — stones, mud, rotten fruit — at a limp, unconscious form chained to the center post. My world stopped... Elizabeth.

Her body was bent at an unnatural angle, curled in on itself like her body had given up trying to protect her. Her wrists were bound high with silver manacles chained to the wooden post, the metal burning deep into her skin. Bright red, angry burns wrapped around both wrists. Blood streamed down her arms in slow, steady trails. Her head hung limp, brown hair falling over her face and dragging through the mud below her knees. The ends of it were stained red and matted with dirt. Blood. Her blood.

Her clothes were torn. Her skin was split open. Whip marks tore across her back in vicious, angry lines. Stone still bleeding, others swelling dark and violent against her pale skin. Her knees were tucked beneath her, trying to keep her body upright, but she was too small. Too weak. Too broken.

I couldn't see her face. I couldn't see if her eyes were open. The only proof she was alive was the shallow, uneven rise and fall of her ribs. Tiny breaths. Barely there... for one horrible second, I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. This was because of me. Every bruise. Every broken rib. Every drop of blood. Mine. Because she spoke to me. Because she spilled a drink. Because she existed too close to me. My mate was tortured because of me...

I don't know how I knew the reason, but I did with absolute certainty. Something inside of me shattered. Not cracked or splintered. Shattered. My wolf surged forward like something feral and violent, clawing against my ribs. Mine. Protect. Kill. Mine. This wasn't normal concern. This wasn't pity. This wasn't guilt. It was primal, ancient and violent. I didn't want to protect her. I needed to. There was something deep and instinctual inside me demanding blood for blood.

A low vicious growl ripped from my chest. There was someone standing beside Elizabeth. And when that woman lifted her foot and kicked her unmoving body... I saw red. Blond hair, familiar perfume. Heather. All-consuming rage swallowed me whole.

The crowd around me stepped back instinctively, giving me a wide berth. My wolf was rabid beneath my skin. My teeth bared and canines elongated, ready to rip someone apart.

"What the fuck..." the words came out low and deadly. Every ounce of fury bled into my voice as I stalked forward like a predator hunting prey. "... is going on here?" Silence. The entire town center froze. Heather turned slowly, and for the first time since I had known her, she looked afraid of me. Good.

"Young alpha—" someone whispered.

"It's alpha Rowan," another whispered harshly.

I ignored them all. Cade flanked me as I reached the center of the crowd. My eyes found Regina — the pack healer. Disappointment hit almost as hard as the rage. She stood there watching. She didn't intervene. She didn't help. She f*****g watched. She let this happen. She let them torture a defenseless wolf and did nothing. For what? Fear? Cowardice? Convenience?

"I'm not sure if you heard me, Heather," I said, my voice dangerously calm now. The kind of calm that came right before violence. "So, I'll ask again." I stepped closer. Heather backed up. "What the f**k is happening here?"

"R-Rowan, I... I..." Her eyes darted everywhere except mine. She knew better. Meeting my gaze now would be a challenge to my wolf, and right now, he was so close to the surface I could feel the burn behind my irises. No one stepped forward to save her. No one defended her. Cowards. Every single one of them. "I was teaching a m-much needed lesson, I..."

"Oh, you were?" My voice snapped like thunder. "Because to me, it looked like you were attacking a defenseless, unconscious wolf."

My eyes dropped to Elizabeth's back again. Open wounds and broken skin. Blood. So much blood. I could sense the fractured ribs she had. My hands trembled with the need to wrap them around Heather's throat.

"Now, I know not all of this is your handiwork," I said quietly, which somehow made it worse. "But I'm sure some of those broken ribs I'm smelling are your doing. As well as the wounds on her arms and her legs." I stepped closer and she flinched. "Now tell me... who authorized this? What could this tiny wolf have possibly done to deserve punishment reserved for traitors and high profile criminals?"

I made sure my voice carried. I wanted every single wolf here to hear it. Silence answered me. I barked the next command.

"Answer me!"

The air stilled. Birds burst from the trees. Even the wind seemed to stop. In the distance, children still laughed and played. I felt sick. This was normal here. This... the cruelty. The blood. The violence. A normal f*****g day.

"Luna Faye..." Heather whispered. "Your mother ordered the punishment... but Rowan I..."

Of course, she did. Of course.

"It's Alpha Rowan," I said coldly. "You do not have the luxury of speaking my name like we are familiar."

Heather ducked her head. It was pitiful.

"She ordered us to punish this whor.... this wolf. She broke the rules."

"Oh?" I asked, not mentioning the name I knew she was about to call my mate. I smiled then. It was not a kind smile. "And what rules did she break?" There was silence. "Can anyone here tell me what rule she broke that was severe enough to warrant a punishment we reserve for treason?"

No one moved. No one spoke. Cowards.

"She... she disobeyed your mother. She interfered... she..." Heather lowered her voice. "She spoke to you. She was ordered to stay away from you. Then she spilled your drink on you. It was disrespectful. I-"

I laughed. It was a horrible sound. "I distinctly remember telling everyone it was an accident and that she was not to be punished." I stepped forward again. "Tell me, Heather. Is my mother the Alpha?"

She shook her head, "No."

"So, let me understand this correctly." My voice echoed across the center square. "You, our beta, and our Luna whipped a wolf nearly to death... because she spoke to me?"

Murmurs started. Whispers began to spread. Shock and discomfort and shame. Too little, too late.

"For speaking my name?" I continued. "That is a punishable offense?" No one answered. Of course, they didn't. "Pathetic. Every single one of you."

I turned to Cade. He stood at attention watching the scene with assessing eyes but stayed silent.

"Remove the cuffs."

"Yes, alpha."

There was no hesitation. He knelt immediately beside Elizabeth and began unfastening the silver restraints. A growl nearly escaped from me at the sight of him touching her. Even though I had ordered it. My wolf hated it. I hated it. Hated anyone touching her. Especially like this. Especially while she was hurt. I wanted to be the one touching her. Holding her. Healing her. Comforting her. Mine! The thought hit me like a blade to the chest. Terrifying. Absolute. Mine. She was mine. And that realization should have scared me more than it did.