The Dead Luna

Aurora

I had been pacing like crazy all evening, chewing the inside of my cheek. My brain was a total mess.

I had no idea what excuse to come up with.

There was no way I wanted to go to King Sebastian’s room. Like... nope.

A big fat NO.

Telling Jai?

Yeah, right. He’d blow up and start the drama I didn’t have energy for.

Telling his highness, straight up, that I wasn’t coming could be like I was begging to be beheaded.

It would be fun!

I hugged myself while walking back and forth when I heard a knock.

Who might it be? Was it Beta Hunter to take me to him?

It wasn’t even fully dark yet.

I pulled the door open, and boom—

Luna Raya was standing there. My head dipped so fast I probably looked stupid.

"Luna," I mumbled.

"Hello, Phoenix," she said softly with her little calm smile that seemed weird. She never smiled at me.

She didn’t come inside, just stood there like she was trying to stay away from my room.

"I asked Kiara if you were on duty tonight, and she said you were clear. Mind if you accompany me? Can we talk?"

I blinked, nodding quickly even though I was super confused.

We never talked. She always screamed at me and never tried to hide her hatred for me.

I looked down at my shirt. Urgh. Faded, stretched out, and pants that had seen better days.

She noticed and smiled again, "Don’t worry about it. Phoenix. We’ll just take a walk nearby."

I nodded again, not trusting myself to say anything without sounding like a weirdo.

When we passed the hall, it was unusually quiet. No warriors in sight.

Kiara must have called a meeting, so they were probably all stuck in that room. The rest must be at the borders.

I kept walking behind her until she left the packhouse and entered the dense forest. The air had turned cooler, and I found it odd, seeing her walking to the trees.

This side was guarded by special guards, and no one was allowed to step there. All the tall trees looked spooky.

I looked down as my sneakers crunched against the dry leaves.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked her, crossing my arms.

"Don’t worry, Phoenix," she said casually, brushing some branches aside, "I know this forest like the tip of my finger."

I tried to smile, but my gut twisted. All of this felt ...unusual. It was quite odd.

One look at my face and she giggled, shaking her head, "Phoenix," she stopped and placed her hand on her hip, "Last time you asked me if I hate you. Didn’t you?"

I nodded, still not sure what this was leading to.

"Well," she hesitated a bit, "I couldn’t sleep after that. Today I came to you so that we could take a long walk and resolve whatever was going on between us," she gestured randomly with her arms, "As a Luna, I’m responsible for my pack members’ well being as much as Blake."

She then offered me her hand, "I need to talk to you in private. And don’t worry," she smiled softly when I reached out to hold her hand, "This is something private and I don’t want anyone to hear it."

That was understandable.

She nodded when she saw doubts in my eyes. Without leaving my hand, she resumed the walk in the forest.

As a werewolf, she could easily see through the darkness. It was I who was having difficulty without a torch or a flashlight.

Suddenly, we both jumped up when my phone started ringing.

"Goddess!" Her hand flew to her chest. Poor she-wolf. Phones were clearly not her thing.

"Jai!" I smiled at her and showed her my phone screen. She nodded at me, and I placed the phone to my ear, "Yes, Jai?"

"Hey, se*xy warrior!" he sounded tired, "You don’t have any night duty. How about we have dinner together?"

Luna Raya must have heard him. Her eyes went wide, and she started shaking her head like crazy, asking me silently not to tell him that we were together.

Everyone was scared of his rude behavior.

I turned away slightly and lowered my voice, "Umm. I’m kinda busy..."

"Busy?" His tone instantly changed, "With what? Kiara gave you the night duty again?"

"No, no..." I chuckled, "Just stuff... personal one... You know?"

Wow! That didn’t sound convincing at all.

"Phoenix," he sighed, "Are you hiding something?"

I knew he was just being protective. In the last two years, I had shared everything with him.

"Don’t be stupid," I laughed nervously, then coughed, "Just ... walking around."

Now, please don’t ask me where I am, Jai. Let me have this talk with Luna. It’s good if we handle this with maturity.

"Are you alone? Goddess, Phoenix. Are you with King Sebastian?" Now I wanted to hit this phone on his head.

I glanced at Luna Raya, who looked like she was about to start chewing her nails.

"Uh-huh. Maybe. Now I need to go, Jai," there was a pause from his side, like he wasn’t buying any of it.

"Fine," he said finally, "Do call me once you feel like it."

"Yeah, Daddy. I would," he must have felt the sarcasm.

"Don’t test me, Phoe,"

"I won’t, Daddy," I tried to sound innocent, and that must have made him angrier.

"Phoenix!" He warned, and I chuckled.

"Bye, Jai," I said softly and hung up before he could roast me alive.

For some absurd reason, I felt like Luna Raya released a sigh of relief. Or maybe I was imagining it.

"If he finds out I was with you," she moved her hands in the air, "I’ll be skinned alive," she giggled, shaking her head.

"He won’t. Don’t be scared of him," I started following her, with no idea where we were going.

While walking with Luna Raya, I kept waiting for her to say something. I had never been to these dense forests.

Alpha Blake had asked special guards to watch over the pack borders from this side. Right now, I couldn’t see them, but maybe it was due to Luna’s presence.

They were ordered to keep a respectable distance from both Luna and Alpha.