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She heard Adrian’s voice behind her, disappearing in the distance.
Then suddenly, he bounded beside her, charging into the forest. Without her even realizing it, he had already caught up to her.
And her worst fears filled her mind. Perhaps Adrian had always been in league with Victor. Perhaps Victor wanted to finish the job. One death wasn’t enough. Victor would never stop until he had torn everything down.
“You can’t force me to go back to him!”Luna yelled out before putting on a burst of speed. She could feel Adrian’s bewilderment behind her.
She had already lost everything. There was nothing more to run toward.
All she could do was keep running until everything was left in her wake.
“Slow down,”Adrian called out.“Please, can we just talk this over, Luna?”
But Luna wasn’t going to stop. She kept running as the sun hung high and hot and then as it sank and the moon emerged. She lost track of how long she had been traveling but felt confident she had finally shaken Adrian.
But then, a part of her mourned. She wanted to hear Adrian convince her … try to talk her down. Even through her panic, she found herself missing him already.
She rammed her head softly into a tree, hoping to punish herself for the thought.
She couldn’t have him. She couldn’t possibly return to that monster, the one who had so casually pried her beloved from her hands.
She’d just need to run back and kill him. Maybe she could quietly rip into his throat in the night if she just knew where he lived. Then, before the pack could wake up and find the body, she would be long gone, off to parts unknown.
It was only reasonable. She’d seen how Victor darkened everything he touched. He’d ruin the Crescent Moon Pack, taking it down from within for him to take over and rule. And the people she had already found herself loving, most of them innocent to this man’s foul poison, would wind up corrupted if not murdered by him.
She needed to think a bit longer. She’d need to find out where Victor was sleeping and get in and out.
But she had declared herself the alpha female of this pack. She often played light with traditions and titles, but despite her statements to the contrary, they still meant something. It didn’t matter that Adrian stood in the way of and even challenged her declaration. By returning to the pack and killing one of its elders in cold blood, she’d be cursing not only herself but also the pack.
And it would also reflect badly on Adrian. And for some reason, she found herself not wanting to hurt him. She even dreaded the thought somewhat.
The bushes bustled behind her, leaves ruffling against the feeling of fur. Without even smelling the air, she rushed around, standing immediately on the defensive.
“I just want to talk,” Adrian said, now unshifted and standing naked in the clearing, his hands raised. “If you run again, I won’t chase you. But I want to understand.”
She could rip him apart if she wanted. For cooperating with that foul man, she knew that she should.
She snarled at Adrian, showing her fangs to him.
“Luna, please,” he said. “There’s no reason for this. I feel your fear and your hatred. Won’t you please explain?”
As he approached, she stood on the defensive, unrelenting. But not even she could resist admiring his gorgeous curves in the white light of the moon. The way the light crested over his form, complementing the rigidity of his physique, was a true sight to behold.
But as usual, he was patient and understanding, as well as persistent. Luna wondered how such a foul man could corrupt somebody so wholesome and innocent. That was, perhaps, the saddest part of it all. Adrian had seemed so kind and wonderful that he had already started to grow on her despite her best efforts to prevent exactly that.
She had really begun to like him, and Luna hadn’t thought it was possible … not after Darius. It felt like she had been tempted briefly by a dream and then was ripped from her hands.
Still, she couldn’t ignore the effect he had on her. And after several minutes of frothing at the mouth, daring Adrian to step forward, Luna could feel her defenses tiring.
His gaze never left her. He never gave up.
“Fine,”Luna said finally, sitting back on her hind legs.
Adrian approached gingerly, arm extended, and patted her head gently before taking a step back.
“Now,” Adrian said calmly. “Do you mind explaining what the hell that was?”
Luna considered him in her sight. There was something she had to know before she could move forward. It would mean the difference between honoring him and having to kill him here.
