His Runaway Luna

11. Blood in the snow

Iris

“We can’t leave her, Sapphire!” I almost yelled to my wolf, desperation and the difficulty to breathe were growing in the same amount.

“I know we can’t.”

Sapphire tried to lift Zita with her mouth, and place Zita on her back, but it was very hard and the upcoming flames didn’t give us much room to move. Sapphire leaned down and sloppily but successfully placed Zita’s motionless body on her back. She took small steps, afraid to drop my friend. Before we ended up like Zita, running out of air and fainting, my wolf gave up, grabbing Zita by the nape of her neck as if she was a pup and jumping out of the window as well as we could.

Sapphire looked around, coughing and crying to get rid of the burning sensation in her lungs, throat and eyes. Colton was in his human form, running towards my wolf and Zita. A few warriors were behind him, providing assistance to the doctor, the nurse and the pup and moving them away.

“Thanks Goddess, Colton is wearing shorts. I don’t want to see our friends in their birthday suits!” my wolf said. Was she really thinking about that at this moment?

Focusing a little, I could hear the sounds of the full-fledged battle still happening a few miles away. Were the invaders winning? Worry consumed me, poisonous like the toxic smoke Sapphire was still trying to cough out of her lungs.

“Goddess, Iris! You are insane. If the Alpha hears about that…” Colton shook his head and ran his hand through his hair and he took Zita in his arms.

“He is the last thing I am worried about now,” I sighed, still afraid for Zita.

Sapphire walked away from the burning house and sat, licking a burn wound on her paw. We were both so high in adrenaline, that we hadn’t even realized this wound or the slight sting in her head until now. Walking towards Zita, she licked the leg wounds almost inadvertently, instinctively.

We heard an acute noise, as the house collapsed behind us. We survived for a matter of minutes. Now that Sapphire was regaining her senses after filling her starved lungs with all the fresh air she could, we could hear the noise of approaching paws in the distance: many of them, more attackers were about to come.

“Colton, you are hurt!” I said looking at the nasty bite wounds in his shoulder. There were a fair few of them.

“Don’t worry, Iris. I am fine,” he replied, exhaling sharply.

“Iris, if you hide in one of the Bellium Caves for some time and head East, you can use this opportunity to run away. The East border is currently unprotected,” Colton mind-linked me, arching his brow.

It was a good idea, the caves were tiny, only big enough for one wolf and a half, they weren't far from here and seemed to be the perfect place to hide. In the middle of this chaos, no one would notice my escape.

I was tempted.

I took a deep breath, I wanted my freedom, but it wasn’t only about me anymore.

“I can’t leave my pack, Colton. Not now that I can finally be the change this pack needs.” I replied, determination flowing through my bloodstream.

“Fine, then let’s get you both to the pack house, it is the safest place to be, there is a protection spell around it. The pups, females and elders are being moved there as well. We can go around it and avoid the crossfire as much as possible,” Colton said firmly, adjusting Zita in his arms and taking a few steps farther away from the burning inferno of a destroyed pack clinic.

Sapphire followed him, she was still having trouble breathing. Her watery and stinging eyes could finally focus on the battle taking place between us and the pack house. The snow was now partially crimson, covered by blood and pain.

Looking down, I noticed that Sapphire’s hurt paw was also leaving a trail of blood in the snow. It wasn’t hurting, or if it was I couldn’t even feel it, I was too focused on my people’s pain to feel my own.

My heart clenched in my chest. I had to help them, I couldn’t just go back to the pack house. I was sure that after a few minutes, Sapphire would feel better again.

“Yes, I will be ready in five. I just need to be able to breathe properly again, no biggie,” She let me know.

“Colton, I can’t simply leave the people fighting on their own. I have to do something.”

“Iris, for the sake of the Goddess! You and Sapphire have already done more than enough and almost got yourselves burnt to ashes. Please, just come with me! I would carry your stubborn butt there if I didn’t have Zita to help.” He exhaled, his forehead creasing and his jaw locked with worry.

I nodded and followed him. I'd already caused him too much trouble and I knew that if something happened to me, he was likely to face the Alpha’s wrath and the Beta’s whip. I couldn’t do it to him, he was a little annoying sometimes, but he was a great friend.

A question popped out in my head, “Where is your girlfriend?”

He surely was very worried about Lisa and I was keeping him away from her and from the fight.

“What?” he turned around and looked at me seemingly confused, “Oh, Lisa? She should be in the Pack House with the other females. Don’t worry, she isn’t like you and would never jump into the fight.” he tried to hold back his chuckle but didn’t succeed completely.

We reached the core of the fight, and there was no way we could avoid crossing this particular place if we wanted to reach the pack house.

“We have to run and be careful! Please don’t do anything crazy, Iris!” Colton asked, flashing me a look of hopelessness.

I wasn’t someone who did crazy things, right? Well... Not normally. But I was becoming this kind of person; challenging Alpha’s orders, jumping into a fight and even a burning house. Maybe that was due to the influence of a certain white wolf.

“We got to do what we got to do,” said-white-wolf giggled.

Colton ran quite fast even though he was in his human form, he successfully dodged a few attacks and threw a knife to stop a man trying to fire a shot at him. Sapphire on the other hand wasn’t as fast, especially because now that the adrenaline in our blood wasn’t that high anymore, her paw started to hurt.

She pushed it as fast as she could, but suddenly something moved fast in our direction and a huge shadow covered the sun. A pair of bloody red, murderous eyes zeroed in on Sapphire and me.

Everything was happening so fast, but it felt as if it was happening in slow-motion. Time was almost paralyzed by dread, by panic. Sapphire’s breath caught in her throat and I was trembling even inside my own mind. I braced myself before the lycan reached us. I couldn’t react, let alone fight. One of these creatures took my mom from me and they were pretty much the evocation of a soul-reaper in my mind. They meant death.

Before his menacing claws could sink into Sapphire’s skin, we were jerked away and fell on our side a few feet away from there. A pleasant and tingling warmth surrounded us for a split second and when my wolf opened her eyes, Alpha’s Zack imposing black wolf was between us and the Lycan.

The Black wolf released a blood-curling growl and jumped on the Lycan. He bit into his neck taking a chunk of flesh in his fangs and the huge monster dropped dead, his blood staining the snow.

The Black Wolf cleaned his muzzle on a patch of fresh snow and approached Sapphire quickly. Before she could even blink he was towering over us in his equally imposing human form.

“Get behind me and shift now, Iris!” he ordered, looking so deeply into Sapphire's eyes that he could see my own.

Sapphire and I breathed deeply together, I was still trembling from the idea of following the same fate as my poor mother, her death heavy in my heart, made my muscles stiff. We did as he said and went behind him, placing ourselves between his large body and a few tall trees.

He spun around to face me, fast as lightning and I tried to not flinch, even though I was surely expecting a slap. To my surprise, I didn’t face the lash of his wrath; instead, he wrapped his arms around me, pressing my na.ked body against his.

He inhaled deeply as if he wanted to capture all my scent and keep it safe in his lungs, like a treasure.

“What are you even doing here? You reckless little Luna!” he exclaimed, tilting my chin up. It was something between a rumble and a growl.

Chaos and a bloodbath kept unfolding around us, but he looked at me only, and my startled eyes were fixed on his grey ones.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, putting enough distance between us to take a good look at me. He took my bleeding hand in his and examined it carefully.

“It’s okay,” I replied softly. It wasn’t a big wound and nothing that wouldn’t heal completely within a few days.

Alpha Zack’s handsome face contorted in a little frown and he shook his head. It would come now, the explosion of his rage, but instead of a growl or a yell. He cupped my face in his callous hands firmly and took my lips with his, he nipped my bottom lips and swirled his tongue into my mouth, sucking and licking my lips and tongue hungrily before caressing my tongue with his, in a passionate and domineering way.

It was a rough, urgent and ardent kiss. It was my first kiss and it was enough to make me moistened down there.

When we parted away, the Alpha cupped my butt, digging his fingers into my flesh and pressing my body flush against his. His eyes were glowing for an instant, his beast was on the surface.

“Shift back, Iris.” His words confused me.

I did what he said and another wave of shock crushed into my mind as he shifted to his wolf and started licking Sapphire’s wound, to make it heal faster. She was almost purring, but something didn’t feel right.

Even when he was being nice and surprisingly sweet like now, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. Was it because he wasn’t my fated mate or because I couldn’t and I wouldn’t forgive his slaps and mistreatment easily? I also couldn’t forgive him for the way he managed his pack, treating omegas like invisible punching bags, oppressing the wolves, forbidding fated-mate bonds among ranked members and warriors.

No, I wasn’t a silly pup and I couldn't forgive him at the first sight of an act of kindness.

“You must go to the pack house now.” he mind-linked me, his order was dry, even though he didn’t use an Alpha command this time.

“I want to help the pack, fight as well,” I told him.

“No. You won’t put yourself in danger, you are irreplaceable,” he said shortly.

Of course I was irreplaceable for him, I was the white wolf he wanted for bearing his child and posing by his side as a picture-perfect Luna.

His large wolf took Sapphire by the back of her neck and brought her to the pack house as if she was a pup.

“That’s a bit… embarrassing, I am not a pup!” Sapphire complained in my mind.

Dodging every attack and … with skill, we were by the door of the pack house faster than I expected.

“You won’t leave this house and you will remain safe!” he commanded and I knew I couldn’t contradict the order of this contradictory Alpha, “We will talk about what you did when I am back,” he added, as we entered the house and he left me behind running towards the battle.

Sapphire went back to the Alpha’s room and we shifted. I washed myself as fast as I could, and put some clothes on before looking for Zita. I followed her scent into a guest room on the first floor. She was sleeping deeply, an IV attached to her arm, even though the doctor wasn’t around anymore. To my relief and shock, the burn wound in her leg was looking much better than before.

“I am so sorry,” I murmured, planting a kiss on her forehead and sighing deeply.

If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t be in the pack clinic today. I hoped she could forgive me, but more than that, I hoped she could get better soon. I sat by her bedside and even though I wanted to stay awake and make sure she was okay, I ended up dozing off. I was beyond exhausted.

To my surprise, when I opened my eyes, I was in the Alpha’s bed, beside him, wrapped in his arms.