GOING UNDER (THE LAST LUNA) S2

THE AUTHORITY

Stella shook her head and pulled away from Sophie.

"Their love is for the one who can provide the most for this pack. I can see that clearly in their faces. They love Thea more than me, because she has given them a gift that I can't give them." Stella said.

Sophie looked at her unsure. She knew if Stella would leave, it would be difficult for her too. Stella needed to do this for herself. She needed to do another selfish thing that could be done in her life. She knew her Aunt would be disappointed in her again, but she couldn't do that anymore. This was the final straw. She would finally run away for good.

"I've made up my mind, Sophie, I'm sorry." She reached her hand out and gently clasped her hand out of her.

"This is for the best. I'm sure you can see how miserable I am. I've dedicated my life to the pack, to Richard myself. I need to do this for myself now. I'm wasting away here, unwanted, discarded, humiliated in my own pack. Don't I deserve better? Don't I deserve a chance to be happy for once?"

Sophie opened her mouth to reply but, before she could say anything, the door burst open behind them. Stella gasped and turned her neck sharply towards the sudden intrusion. There was only one person she could think of who would dare to make such an entrance into her room.

Those familiar cold green eyes met her eyes, filled with hatred.

Richard came up with a furious expression on his face.

Stella immediately backed herself up from him. But she knew it was too late. Richard strode up to her and grabbed her neck in his hand, pinning her against the wall behind her. Pain shot down from her shoulder where it hit the wall roughly.

"Richard... Please...," She whimpered out against his choke, struggling to breathe. It took 5 seconds before Richard's hand loosened it.

"Do you think you're so important that you can treat Thea that way?" he roared into Stella's face.

"Richard... she came to me first and..?."

"Enough!" he cut her off.

"I don't want your excuses. Thea isn't like you. She is a gentle, sweet girl! What if you had caused her enough stress to induce a miscarriage? Are you really so petty as to kill a child out of spite? A future Alpha no less?"

Even in his distorted expression of rage, he still looked so handsome. A curl of his shaggy midnight hair had fallen out of place and was framing his forehead, his blue eyes gleamed. Stella could feel the height difference so clearly when he stood so close to her like that. He was an imposing, scary man, but she had no choice but to find him irresistible.

Now Stella cleared her thoughts, it was the sickening mate-bond making her feel these things for him. His touch and scent were intoxicating. But she needed to remind herself it wasn't her who really felt this way about him anymore, just this curse.

"Richard... no, I would never. She came to me even though she knew..?"

Richard, slapped Stella across the face. Hard. She blinked as her vision blurred and her cheek burned.

"You're nothing, Stella. You are only here because I let you be here. Don't ever forget it. You may be chosen as Luna by my Father and the Goddess, but I have the final say in this pack. If you dare to hurt Thea again, I will make sure you regret it."

After those words, Richard let her go. Her back slid down the wall as her legs gave out. She was sure that he had contemplated killing her at that moment. His anger wasn't anything new to her, but this was the first time he had threatened to remove her from her position completely, or maybe worse. Richard took one final look down at her in disgust before leaving as abruptly as he had arrived.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Stella erupted in a fit of hysterical laughter, tears flowing from her eyes once more. If Richard removed her from the position of being Luna from the start, then this would never have happened.

"I knew your feelings for Abby Jezz before, that's why I kidnapped her and she didn't want to be found until then. Now, you have another woman, I am even your wife, your Luna....Why Richard.? why...?

She said, as if Richard was still listening to her. This torture over the last four years now, then maybe one day she could have learned to live a life without him, to live a normal life and try to forget about him. Maybe she could even have found someone to love her one day.

"Stella..?"

Sophia asked hesitantly, watching her laugh with concern. She might have thought that Stella had finally gone crazy, and she was probably right. Sophia had watched what she had just suffered through only for her to laugh about it all? She had finally snapped. Who knew it would happen to her?

"It's just a joke, Sophie, don't you see?" Stella smiled widely, still giggling.

"It's all one big joke. My whole life! I bet the Goddess is looking down on me as a form of entertainment. Do you think the goddess gets bored? I wonder why someone else would make me Luna only to endure the things I have had to endure."

"Oh, Stella.," Sophie said, crouching down to engulf her in her arms once more.

"My poor baby. It's okay. You're going to be okay." She stroked her hair as Stella's laughter turned into sobs against her chest.

"I'll come with you," Sophie said finally, once Stella had calmed down.

"We can leave together. I'm sure we'll have more success at escaping if we work together."

Stella looked at the older lady in shock. She would be risking a lot by becoming a rogue with her and escaping. If they were ever caught, she would probably be executed.

"Come on, I'll make you a cup of tea and we can talk about what we're going to do," Sophie said, pulling her to get up Stella nodded her head and smiled at her. Sophie always cared for her.

The next day, Stella got ready for the meeting at eight o'clock with the higher members of the pack council. Her long black hair was still messy but she had done her best to tame it as much as possible. Underneath her violet eyes, she could see the dark bags from the stress and lack of sleep. She had experienced it the night before. Unfortunately, using makeup has shown little results in covering it up.

Stella's appearance was a clear representation of her family's background. The richest family in the pack still has her Aunt Marie, who was currently managing their family business after she was appointed as Luna.

Her long-black hair and violet eyes were a dead giveaway to the previous Beta of lineage, it was her mother who was found dead at the river. It was an unusual sight to people who were not from their pack, but she was proud of her reflection. The first daughter born to the Beta family in over a century and the only child of her parents. She was also born two years after Richard. It was almost guaranteed that they would be mated. The elders had even prophesied their union would bring great success to the pack; they had been correct.

From her childhood, the elders knew her sufferings because of her loss. The Alpha understood her failures and some wrong doings, that's why they are. That gave her a chance, since Stella made all her efforts and showed good leadership from time to time. The additional point is, her focus was to be with Richard.

Inside the meeting hall, Stella sat to Richard's right. The eyes of the other ranked pack members and elders bore into her as she kept her eyes cast down.Everyone knew. They knew how humiliated she must feel, how scorned she was, and yet they looked at her like a circus attraction.

The meeting was the usual items; border patrols, rogue sightings, territory alliances. No one dared to ask her any questions for a change. They all acted as if she wasn't even there. But for Stella, she wished she wasn't.

Stella had told Sophie they would leave at the end of the week. She still needed to organize some sort of things and ensure that the pack was organized enough to keep it running for at least a little while. Her hope was that no one would notice her missing for a few days. With any luck, they could make enough ground so they wouldn't find them even if they tried. Their tracks and scent hopefully have disappeared by then.

"What do you think, Luna?" Elder Luke asked me suddenly. She looked up sharply in surprise, breaking her from her deep thoughts. She hadn't expected anyone to address her during this meeting at all. She coughed, clearing her throat, and tried to think back on whatever they had just been discussing. She had carelessly let her mind wander too much.

"Well... that's umm...," She started.

Thankfully, the door burst open at that moment, sparing her from having to answer. However, what she didn't expect was for her Aunt Marie to come storming in. She hadn't even noticed she was absent as she had kept her eyes down the entire time. Marie looked furious and internally Stella began to whimper.

"What is the meaning of this?!" she demanded.

As a surprise, Marie's eyes turned to Richard, instead of Stella. Stella looked up and saw Richard staring back stoically, his face completely unreadable. Or maybe he just genuinely didn't care.

"What seems to be the matter, Miss Ortega?" Richard asked.

"You've shown up not only late, but now you've also caused a huge disruption to our meeting." The Alpha said.

"Don't play dumb with me," she growled.