The Dead Luna

Phoenix:

"Phoenix," Jai was locking my room door, and I was standing right next to him, cracking a joke, when Jai’s eyes glazed back, "I think Alpha Blake needs you in his quarters. You need to be quick. Baby Asher is having an asthma attack."

I clicked my tongue against the inside of my cheek and hooked my fingers through my pants’ belt loops, "So?" I tried to ignore the burning in my palms, "His parents are with him. I’m sure he will be fine."

I hooked my arm through Jai’s and started dragging him outside the building.

"What do you mean?" he sounded surprised, "Won’t you go there?"

"Tsk! Nah!" I bobbed my head and kept walking.

If the mom wasn’t interested in getting her son treated by me, then I wouldn’t go there just to get insulted.

"Something has changed inside you," he didn’t take his eyes off me, "Why don’t you tell me? Or have you already told Sebastian?"

I halted midway and freed his arm from my grip, "By any chance, are you in love with me, Jai?" he was taken aback by my query.

I had never been this bold.

"Don’t be a fool," he murmured and this time guided my hand through his arm, "I do love you. You know that. But not in that way."

"Then stop acting like my possessive lover, Jai," I was still not walking, and this time, Jai was the one who was forcing me ahead.

"I care about you," he pulled me to his side, "After dinner, do accompany me to the hospital. I need to check your face."

My face?

I touched my mask with my free hand and realized something weird. There had been almost no worms ever since I came back from the forest lake.

Maybe one or two.

But that filthy crowd was no more there.

"What are you thinking?"

My gaze lingered on his face before I shook my head, "Nothing."

I didn’t want to share anything about Kiki. She was a human and might be living in a human town. It wouldn’t be fair to her to let anyone know about her whereabouts.

"Something is on your mind," he at last stopped and faced me, "Tell me... if you want that cheeseburger..." his voice turned playful by the end of it.

"Raya was your mate? You rejected her," I blurted, not letting him dodge the question. He seemed stunned.

"W...who... who told you that... I mean... Oh, Raya," he dragged a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated, "Why did she tell you? It was supposed to be our secret."

"Ahan," I curved down my lips, "Our secret? And who told you that Raya told me that?"

"Because only two people knew about the bond. And she asked me to give her my word that I wouldn’t tell a soul," he then looked up at the sky, "She rejected me because it was her dream to be a Luna."

"What?" I stood there speechless. The bitch told me that Jai was the one who rejected her.

"Yeah. She asked for the rejection on the spot. I wasn’t doing it. But then..." he trailed off, and I saw pain on his face.

"Then?"

"Then something happened in my life, and I rejected her. She wasn’t expecting it. She cried and made an issue out of it, but then I didn’t want her anymore."

"Strange!" I muttered, "What exactly happened?"

For the first time, I saw tears in Dr. Jai Chris’ eyes. And for the first time, that left me undone. He never told me much about his life.

But what went wrong that he had to easily give up on Raya?

Just like Mateo gave up on me.

I shuddered at the thought and threw my arms up in the air, "I ... I don’t think I can eat anything. I want to go home."

Jai frowned in concern, "Why? What happened?"

"Nothing," I said with a chuckle, "I just... can’t..."

"Hey, Phoenix. Your face!" but I kept walking. My face could be treated the next morning. Right now, I need some alone time.

Without giving him any chance to speak, I walked away, praying secretly that he wouldn’t follow me.

Thank Goddess.

Because he didn’t.

***

I slipped out of my jeans but couldn’t take off my t-shirt and the mask due to this mental exhaustion.

Lying on my bed, I didn’t feel like crying.

I just felt empty.

Though I had long forgotten about Mateo but my father’s behavior still used to make me angry.

I pressed my masked face into my pillow when my phone started ringing.

Urgh. Must be Alpha Blake. He should take baby Asher to the pack hospital. I pulled in a long breath when the phone got quiet.

However, after a few moments, it started ringing again.

I groaned, and my hand blindly fished around for the pillow. Once I found it, I dragged it over my head to block out the sound.

Alpha Blake was superior to me, so I could not cancel his call.

"Shut up!" I mumbled into the mattress, "Luna Raya! Move your ass and take him to a fu*cking hospital."

This time, when my phone got quiet, I quickly held it and switched it off.

I lay, still waiting, for someone would knock on the door. Thank Goddess, they at last decided to leave me in peace.

My mind kept thinking endlessly about the injustice I faced from everyone. But now, not giving a damn, I wanted to think about myself.

I must have gone to sleep with my t-shirt and mask still on when I heard a slight tap on the window that brought my mind to high alert and made my body freeze. Who can come at this hour to my window? That, too, on the fifth floor?

Tap tap!

Someone knocked again.

I sat up, my brows pulling together, "What the hell...?"

Pushing the blanket off, I stood up and went towards the window. I pulled the curtain aside and ...

There it was.

The same towering Lycan with glowing eyes and massive frame was outside on the windowsill, staring at me.

"S...Sebastian?" I whispered, blinking in disbelief.

His beast didn’t growl, didn’t bare his teeth. It just looked at me with this gentleness I didn’t expect.

I slowly raised my hand and unlatched the window.