Chapter Ten
I was lying stiff and cold in the bed, staring at the ceiling with my swollen eyes. My face hurt like a bitch, and I could feel the dried trail of tears running down my cheeks. It felt puffy, everything looked blurred and I felt numb, no senses, no feelings, no emotions. I couldn't sense anything around me, my whole body buzzing, yet calm, and I swear I didn't want to feel so much pain ever again.
Never again.
Liana was lying beside me too, though she looked a lot better than me, probably.
I felt like the ground beneath me was shaking. Was it an earthquake? No. After a few moments, I realized it was Liana who had gotten up and was now shaking me. Her frantic voice felt like it entered one ear and left another, because I couldn't make out a word of what she was saying.
Slowly, ever so slowly, my body felt like it came back to its senses.
"....Moon, come on, get up. Listen to me, Moon! You have to get up, quick! Moon! Moon! Can you even hear me! Oh goddess! Moon, please wake up, move, twitch, fuck! Just move, Moon!"
I blinked.
I tried to get words out of mouth, but all I could do was move my lips. I tried, summoning all my strength, just to let out one word.
"...Can't..."
"Oh, Moon. I should have known that it would take a toll on you. You've still not acquired your complete strength, and this...this was too much for you. Moon," she shook me urgently, "...can you feel your wolf?"
I mouthed a 'no'.
I couldn't feel her. Not even my pure blood. Both were absent, leaving me empty...lifeless.
"Then bring her back. Do anything you can to bring her back. You both need each other to heal, Moon."
And I gasped loudly when I felt as if all my life and energy came back to me in one go. My senses returned to me, and I felt as if I could move myself.
And I could feel my wolf.
She felt uneasy, I felt uneasy. She definitely didn't like whatever she was feeling, and last night hurt her more than it pained me. I could feel it, the hurt, the pain, the betrayal and fury that my wolf felt, and so did I feel the fury burning my veins.
"Moon, are you okay?"
I looked up at Liana, her eyes full of tenderness, and empathy, as if she could feel what I felt, as if she knew what was going on in my mind right now.
I shook my head as the tears fell, and I curled myself into a small ball, sobbing to myself. It hurt, so badly, it was torturous. Why? Why was it that me and my wolf were tortured and punished when he was the one who was wrong?
"It'll be fine, Moon, it'll be okay once we cross the moonline. Let's escape to the human world for a few days, till everything settles down here." She wrapped her arms around me and rocked me back and forth, kissing the top of my head. I still kept crying in her arms, my heightened emotions refusing to calm down.
I don't want to feel this pain ever again, this pain of his betrayal we suffered. Wasn't it enough for us to have to know that he made another bitch his queen? Do we have to suffer from this pain every time he fucks her?
I don't want to, trust me. But what can we do about it?
I can - I can reject this bond right away. I'm not going to lose my pride and dignity as the real queen for someone who doesn't know my worth.
I gasped, and Liana gasped too.
"What was that, Moon?" She shook me. "Don't tell me!" She gaped in horror, "Your wolf isn't thinking about rejecting Adrian, is she?"
"She is." I whispered. How did she know?
"No, no, no! The whole kingdom will fall apart! You can't let her do that!" Liana grabbed my shoulders again, and looked at me frantically.
"But didn't you say that the werewolves couldn't, you know, officially reject each other?"
"A Luna Queen can." Liana sighed, "Only she and the Alpha King have the Power to officially reject each other. But that has happened only once and the whole kingdom had nearly fallen apart because of it. The Alpha King and the Luna Queen are strategically bonded together by the Moon Goddess. If they find the other unfit, then it is indirectly going against Moon Goddess's decision. It causes excruciating pain to both the sides, and both of them die, leading to the downfall of the entire empire. So there's actually no point in rejecting."
She continued, "The difference is, when the King rejects the Queen, which has never happened until now, the whole empire will die a swift death, along with the King. But when the Queen rejects the king, which happens only in extreme cases, it acts like a slow poison. A rebellion starts among the werewolves, once they realise that their King is unable to satisfy the Luna Queen. Then slowly the whole empire of werewolves crumbles down. The last time a Queen rejected the King because he had cheated on her -I don't even know how that's even possible- and the empire could survive it only because the King had managed to win back the Queen's heart."
I shivered.
*I won't reject him now, but know it, if this continues, and if he doesn't accept us soon, then I won't give a fuck about us dying, I'll reject him right away.
Please, think before you do something like that.
I don't know.
"No, I didn't." Liana said when we were nibbling on our breakfast, "I didn't feel any kind of pain last night. All I felt was uneasiness and longing. And I knew those emotions weren't actually mine." She pushed her plate aside and rested her cheek on the table.
"I don't want to go anywhere near him right now, and he's already making me feel so guilty for what I'm doing to him. Ana's a mess too, her pride has been hurt, but she refuses to see her mate in agony. Why can't wolves be like humans? Why do wolves have to be so simple and primal; for them, love is love, faith is faith, loyalty is loyalty, and a mate is a mate. I swear werewolves are more complicated than humans, and much more complicated than wolves."
I rubbed her shoulder, "I really don't know what you should do, what we should do, now. I think we should just go with our instincts." I told her.
"Every single instinct of mine is begging me to let him in, to go to him, to claim him as mine and claim all the rights I have of a Prime Luna. But I don't want to! I'm fucking scared! Everything's a mess!" She groaned and banged her head lightly against the table.
Knock! Knock!
Our little breakfast session was interrupted by urgent knocking on the door. We both gave each other confused looks, wondering who it could be at this time. My wolf and pure blood hid themselves as Liana sniffed, searching for the visitor's scent.
An easy smile graced her lips and she went to open the door, with me hot on her heels.
It was Hans, Liana's loyal guard. His eyes fell on me the moment Liana opened the door and ushered him in. The moment Liana closed the door, he stood in front of me and then knelt down on one knee, curling his fist on his chest, right above his heart.
"I, Hans Wolfe, swear my loyalty to you, Luna Queen."
I gasped. How did he know?
A feeling strange to me engulfed me as I stared at the werewolf submitting himself to me and my wolf's voice rang out in my head:
I accept your loyalty, Hans.
I hadn't realised that the voice wasn't just in my head, but I had spoken it out aloud, my wolf's voice echoing in Liana's empty living room.
Hans stood up slowly with a proud smile on his face, and bowed deeply.
"It is an honour, Luna." He paused, his expression turning grim. "I apologise for any intrusion, but the wolves have been ordered to guard this house on all sides till Alpha Jaxon arrives precisely by noon."
Shit! That's just half an hour!
"Why?" Liana asked.
"Apparently, Alpha Prime has realised that you, My Queen, have befooled him into believing that you are a mere human. The Alpha King had recognised your scent on him and then he knew that you had lied. Alpha Jaxon and Alpha Adrian are already on their way here. I have managed to send the guards away for fifteen minutes, this is your only opportunity to escape." He said.
Liana and I looked at each other and nodded our heads. While I disappeared into the bedroom where Liana had already kept all the important stuff packed, I heard her talking to Hans, "Thank you very much, we will forever be indebted to you."
And then I appeared in the living room with our luggage. Hans looked worried as his eyes trained on the luggage we were carrying as if he desperately wanted to say something.
"Is there something you want to say, Hans?" I said, imploring him to look at me.
He looked up, as if it took him a lot of courage, and then he bowed, again, "Luna Queen, Luna Prime, we, the guards, who have sworn our loyalty to you, sincerely wish that you stay here and let the Alphas claim you. The Weres need their real Luna Queen, their Luna Prime. It would be a great loss for the entire kingdom to lose you."
We frowned at him and Liana shook her head saying, "Trust me, when I say that our presence here will cause more of a disaster. It is difficult for Luna Queen, right now, as it has been merely a couple of days since she came to terms with the fact that she is not a human. You..." She trailed off and her eyes widened.
She sniffed the air once more, and we both stared at her, wondering what she was doing. But then, she turned and looked at me with horror.
"They're here, not too far! We need to leave, Moon! Those fuckers are half an hour early!" She grabbed my hand and muttered a hasty thanks to Hans, dragging me towards the back of the house.