The Vow He Broke

Chapter 3 The Left Behind Luna

Stone split above the inner hall. Zane pulled me from beneath the falling arch, taking most of my weight. His sword knocked loose rubble out of our path.

Curse-beasts poured through the breach behind the retreating warriors. Their claws scraped over marble, getting closer each time the defenders lost another row.

"This way, Luna. Keep your arm around me."

Zane set me against a pillar and turned to guard the passage. Blood from his mouth had dried down his chin.

Across the hall, Kaelen held a flat piece of obsidian in his palm. Silver lines glowed along its edges.

I knew the teleportation rune. It had belonged to the First Alpha and carried its bearer to a prepared safehouse. It could only carry three.

Selene clung to Kaelen's arm. Marcus, one of his most trusted betas, supported her from the other side.

All three places were taken. Kaelen had counted them before he crossed the hall, and he had left no room for me.

Zane stepped in front of me. "Alpha, take the Luna. She's wounded."

Kaelen's eyes moved from the black blood on my tunic to Selene. "I can't."

"She is your fated mate. She is our Luna."

"Kaelen, they're almost here!" Selene tightened both hands around his sleeve. "If I die, the prophecy dies with me. Everything we sacrificed will be wasted."

Kaelen closed his fingers around the obsidian. The silver lines brightened.

"Elara, hold the barrier," he ordered. "Cover the army's retreat. You are the strongest Luna this pack has ever had."

Zane stared at him. "Her child died less than an hour ago."

Kaelen's expression stayed fixed on me. "I'll come back for you. Don't let the pack down."

Light filled the hall. Kaelen, Selene, and Marcus vanished with the teleportation rune.

Only the nearest beasts reacted. They recoiled from the flash, then started toward us again.

Zane sank beside me. A broken sound caught in his throat. "He left you here."

Black blood marked his cheek when I touched it. His hands still shook from the blow Kaelen had given him.

"There is a secret passage behind the main altar," I said. "It leads out of the mountains. Go now."

"I'm staying with you."

"That is an order from your Luna."

I unpinned the silver wolf-head crest from my torn tunic. Kaelen had fastened it around my neck on our bonding day. Now our son's blood filled the grooves in the metal.

I closed Zane's hand around it.

"Give this to Kaelen. Tell him he never needs to come back."

Zane looked from the crest to the beasts. He understood what the command would cost me, and he still obeyed. He backed toward the altar without turning away.

The first curse-beast sprang. Its front claws cut white lines across the marble, close enough for stone chips to strike my bare feet.

I left my shield where it hung and drew the small silver ritual dagger at my waist.

Before the beast reached me, I set the blade against my throat.