His Reluctant Luna

Alice -

I had reached a clearing near a stream.

'Savannah, come out. I know you are here. The forest is surrounded, you cannot leave.' I said in her mind as I felt her presence.

Before I could finish, I was shoved by a red female. Savannah had appeared from the rocks near the stream. I was tossed onto my side before I quickly righted myself and faced the known attacker. Savannah bared her teeth and growled low and deep. I returned the threat and watched as Savannah trembled and backed down a little.

I looked behind her to see Lucian along with the rest of the pack. He stayed back and waited to see what would happen.

'You must hold a pretty big grudge against me to attack me in front of Lucian.' I said.

'I have nothing left to lose.' Savannah replied.

'I was happy until you showed up! This is all your fault!

We circled each other cautiously.

'Why couldn't you just return your human boyfriend? You should not have come back,' she spoke.

She charged at me. I quickly moved out of the way and swiped her on her left side as she ran by. Blood trickled out of the cuts. Savannah howled at me and flew at me again. This time I didn't move fast enough and was hit in the side. I was thrown onto the ground from the impact. I rolled a couple of times. Lucian tensed, ready to protect me. I asked him to wait. She ran at me and began trying to pin me to the ground. We clawed a bit at each other while trying to avoid being pinned.

I quickly got the upper hand. Savannah tossed her body and tried to claw at my face. I finally found the opening that I needed and was able to close my jaws on her neck. Savannah continued to thrash about as blood left her neck.

'Savannah, submit or die!' I said.

She swiped across my right cheek as she shook from the force of my submission order.

'I'd rather die than give you the satisfaction of having me humiliated in front of the pack.' She responded.

'Submit Savannah!' Lucian's voice roared in our heads.

She seemed to stop for a moment. Unable to defy his Alpha command. I relaxed my jaws.

'I love you, Lucian, I always have and always will,' she said, suddenly she took a swipe at me with her claws, a deep gash appeared on my right side.

I had no choice but to bite down onto Savannah's neck. I could feel the force of my bite snapping her neck. Her thrashing slowed down, her body lay dead hanging from my mouth. Howls rang out from the pack along with the praises. The pack was pleased that their Madam Luna had killed a traitor, and they were proud.

'Lucian, what have I done?' I asked him, my heart full of sorrow.

'You didn't do anything wrong, Alice. She was delusional and blamed you for something which is beyond our control.' He replied.

I was feeling numb. Savannah had been one of my close friends in the crimson pack, little did I know, the grudge she had been holding against me. Lucian arrived next to me and licked my gash, trying to heal me.

'It's all over, Alice, don't blame yourself for whatever happened. Savannah went rouge by her choice. I never saw it coming. As an Alpha, I should have been more careful about my pack.'

He ordered his betas, and they started preparing pyres for the bodies.

Lucian and I walked back to our SUVs. One of the warriors passed us the clothes as we shifted and changed into a sweatshirt and pants. Lucian grabbed me in his arms as soon as we had changed.

"You were very brave, I am so lucky to have you," he whispered while nuzzling my neck.

"I thought you would be mad at me for defying your command."

He chuckled, and we broke the hug, though he kept his hands wrapped firmly around my waist. We were bloody, injured, and dirty. But that didn't stop him from kissing me passionately.

"I do feel protective of you and I always will. That's part of the package, besides other things. But you are a strong wolf, and a very brave woman, Alice, you could handle it." He said after we had caught our breaths.

"How did you find me?" I asked.

"Aunt Flora, she helped," he explained, how she was able to guide them to the Cave of despair. No wonder that place was so wretched.

"Aunty, you are so brave," Clara said when I finally caught up with Rick.

"So were you, Clara, you are the bravest girl I have ever seen," I said, caressing her hair.

"Thank you, Alice, for saving her," Rick said almost tearfully. I had never seen him getting emotional.

"You don't need to thank me. I must apologize, Clara was dragged into this mess because of me." I said.

"Don't blame yourself, Alice," Rick looked down for a while. "I never wanted to send you away. But I was weak. I was unable to manage the pack and the threats towards you."

"It's fine, Rick, you did what was best for me and the pack. I don't hold any grudge against you."

We smiled and hugged each other.

"What do we do with Gregory's pack?" I asked Lucian as his surviving warriors

were brought along. About 20 of them had lived, and they were bowing down in a submissive pose.

"Which one of you is the Beta?" Lucian asked.

"I am," a tall, heavily muscled, dark-skinned man replied.

"What's your name?" Lucian asked.

"I am Dominic." He replied.

"How many people are there in your pack?"

"About 250 are left, Alpha," Dominic replied.

"And Gregory was childless, I believe?" Lucian asked.

"Yes," Dominic replied softly.

"You are all welcome to stay at Crimson Shadow pack. If you submit. I promise you will be well provided for. Those who want to leave, they can do so. I won't object." Lucian said aloud.

The wolves looked at each other and then agreed to move. Lucian commanded Damon to arrange for their transportation. I rested my head on Lucian's shoulder when we were bundled up in the SUV while returning. I had a restful sleep after a long time. It was early morning when we reached the Jade Moon pack. The mating picnic had got interrupted because of the kidnappings. Most of the other packs had returned. Though, several of the single wolves had found their mates. "Madam Luna, thank God you are safe." Meg and Katherine ran towards me, followed by Linda, Martha, Emma. Everyone had been worried sick. Breakfast which happened much later that morning was a joyous affair. Lucian and I dined with Rick, Daniel, and their families. I felt good after a shower and my injuries were mostly gone. Clara looked cheery in her mother's lap. Linda had not left her ever since we had returned, and she had thanked me numerous times. I was glad to see that Rick and Lucian were like besties now. They were discussing how to assimilate their newly acquired wolves into their packs. Gregory used to exploit the females of his pack, and most of them were glad to get rid of him.

We left for Crimson Shadow soon after. The feeling of being finally free from the danger was surreal. Savannah's betrayal didn't go well with the pack members. She didn't have any family apart from her old aunt. To prevent other pack members from condemning her. I visited her home with Katherine and ensured that her Alphas didn't blame her for Savannah's mistake.

"Madam Luna, I wanted to apologize to you," Katherine said while we were returning from Savannah's home.

"For what?"

"Savannah was infatuated with Lucian, I knew about it." She said softly.

I stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Her room, it's like a temple for Lucian, his pictures, their school slam books, any

gift he gave her. She has kept them all. I just assumed that she would grow out of

it when she was younger, and it would all end once she found her mate. Unfortunately, it never happened. It kept getting worse until I objected. She stopped sharing her feelings with me. I had no idea that her obsession would end up this way. Yesterday, while cleaning up her room, I found written notes and sketches about how much she hated you. What she would do to get rid of you....." She stopped and shuddered.

I caught her hand to stop them from shaking. Though, her words shook me to the

core.

"I don't blame you, Katherine. How would you have known? I trust all members of

this pack, and I need each one of you to strengthen it. Would you help me with that?"

She nodded through her tear-streaked eyes I narrated her words to Lucian back in our room.

"She had a crush on me when we were younger. We were not mates, so there was no question about getting together. She was my friend, I couldn't break her heart with a casual fling. I thought she would grow out of it. I had no idea about her obsession. This is the second time I have been betrayed in my life." He mumbled.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, soon I was staring into his green eyes. He leaned forward and I breathed him in.

"I am sorry it happened to you, I can't promise for others, but I will always stay

with you, and protect you from everything."

He laughed and pulled me into his lap.

"I am so lucky to have you, my beautiful, brave and wise Luna. There would be challenges and failures, but we don't have to worry about that immediately."noveldrama

I grinned and wrapped my hand around his neck as he kissed my lips.