His Luna, Her Choice

Chapter Two

VIOLETS POV

I think Jasper saw the look on my face and realized even before I did what was about to happen. By the time his hand stretched out to catch my arm, I was already gone, caught in a loud, swirling vortex of wind and sound and colour.

Teleporting had become second nature by now, the first form of magic I had mastered. It came in extra handy when one of the kids was crying in the middle of the night, or if I needed to be somewhere fast and was running late.

Right now, it was the fastest way to get to Blood Moon.

When my world stood still once again, I was standing in my Dad's office, as I assumed that's where everyone was. Fortunately, I had been right, but that didn't make me any less pissed.

Uncle Ben and Luke stood to my right, both jumping when I suddenly appeared. Dad simply nodded at me from his seat on the black leather sofa, his arm around Mom who was crying silently. The source of her tears stood five feet away, leaning casually against the desk as if he already owned it. As if he owned the office, the house, the whole world.

Garrett had a nasty smirk on his face, but the scariest thing was his eyes. I remembered they were full of love once, sparkling and knowledgable. Now when I looked into them, I saw darkness. Two black holes, with hatred and anger in their depths.

The sight made me want to vomit, but I stood my ground and focused on my own anger.

"What have you done?" I hissed at my brother.

He rolled his eyes. "Nothing the rest of you haven't done."

"Your mate has been dead for less than a week! Less than three days!" I shouted. "And you think it's appropriate to bring home some..."

I trailed off, looking at his companion for the first time. She had long, shiny brown hair that was done in loose curls. Her nose and cheeks were decorated with freckles, complimenting her pretty hazel eyes. Her skin was fair, her lips pink and plump.

She honestly didn't look like the type of girl I imagined I'd find in this situation. For sure, I thought Garrett had marked some blond bimbo, but this girl was the picture of innocence.

"...Some girl," I continued, "And mark her?"

"Oh, f**k off Violet." Garrett snarled at me. Dad growled lowly at his words. "Sophia was the worst possible mate for me."

"Only because you're incapable of looking past what was in the past. You destroyed her."

"It's not my fault she held onto our bond! I didn't want it!" He yelled.

"Then you should have rejected her again, severed the bond! Instead, you paraded women around, f*****g them and hurting her!"

"She could have rejected me! But she didn't. If she was in so much pain, she could have come to me herself and ended it. Instead, she decided to throw herself off the cliff, like the coward she is. She would have made a terrible Luna!"

I growled harshly, my aura coming off me in waves. Garrett's eyes widened minimally, while his new mate took several steps back, her pale face going paler.

"You never deserved Sophia." I spit. "You were the worst possible mate for her, not the other way around. You don't deserve a mate."

"That's not true."

My gaze landed on her. She still looked frightened, but her eyes held a weird spark.

"Excuse me?"

"Garrett isn't perfect. But he does deserve a mate. A mate who will stand by him, even at his worst." Her lips clamped in a thin line. "And...I don't appreciate you barging in here and yelling at my mate."

"I don't appreciate you barging in on my family." I looked back at my brother. "Did you even wait till Sophia was brought into the morgue before marking her?"

"How should I know? I don't know when they brought her in."

My fingers twitched. I so badly wanted to smack that smirk off his face. "You are so f*****g stupid."

He laughed, loudly. "I just love the self-righteous attitude Vie! I also love how all of you just assumed that I picked a girl at random to be my mate!"

"What does that mean?" Mom spoke for the first time since I got here.

"It means that Yvon here isn't just some girl I fucked." He spat at her.

I took a step between them, uncomfortable with his attitude toward our Mother.

"She is my mate. My second-chance mate."

That momentarily shut me up. It wasn't uncommon to get a second chance mate, but this quickly?

"That's not possible." I said. "You shouldn't have found a second chance if-"

"If I was still mated to Sophia?" He cut me off. "Yeah, I know. If you want the details sis, here it is. I was sleeping with Yvon when I felt the bond fully break with Sophia. As soon as that happened, our bond formed. I knew instantly because where there wasn't sparks before, there suddenly were. She is my mate."

I glanced at the girl, Yvon. She had her head hung, seeming embarrassed at their private doings being talked about. For just a second, I thought I saw a smirk on her face as well, but it was gone when I blinked.

"Why would the Goddess give you a second chance mate? Beings as you killed your first one."

Suddenly, Garrett was in my face, standing not three inches away. He towered over me, nearly as tall as Jasper. At one time, I might have stepped back, but my time being Luna of Silver Moon had changed me. I planted my feet, glaring at him as fiercely as he was at me.

"Say that again." He threatened.

"Garrett, that's enough!" Dad barked.

"Shut up old man!"

"Alpha!" Dad's aura washed over me. My nerves tingled, flags going up in my head, warning me of the Alpha's rage. "I am still Alpha here, and you best start remembering that!"

"Not for long." Garrett said. He looked at me. "When I'm Alpha, you won't be able to just come here and stick your nose in anymore."

"Are you going to ban me from the pack then?" I asked.

"You and that bastard mate of yours. And your brats." Hala snarled at the same time my fist flew. It connected with Garrett's jaw hard, sending him flying back into Dad's desk. Yvon ran to him as he caught himself on the edge.

"Don't talk about my kids!" I growled. Then I turned for the door, stopping to look at my Dad. "I don't care if he bans us. I wouldn't come here with him in charge. He will bring this pack to its knees the way he is."

"Where the f**k do you think you're going?!" Garrett shouted.

"Away from you."

"Figures! Run away from a fight you started."

I whirled around, flicking my fingers. Flames sparked, dancing along them and into my palms.

"Did you forget who I am Garrett? Did you forget what I can do? I'm leaving, before I really hurt you."

"Violet, wait-"

"I'll call you tomorrow Mom. I need to go home."

With that, I left the room, slamming the door behind me. Then I started running. I was so f*****g angry, I knew the best thing for me right now would be to shift. Running home might help me work out some of the anger I was feeling, and maybe, I wouldn't feel the need to turn around and hit my brother a few more times.

I passed a few warriors downstairs, nodding when they acknowledged me. As soon as I got outside, I started stripping, not really caring much about leaving the nightgown behind. Someone would pick it up.

I shifted before I hit the trees, desperate for the release. On four paws now, I took off, thundering towards the forest and inhaling the woodsy scents deeply.

"Be safe on the way home." Mom's voice entered my mind.

"I will. Thanks."

She ended the mind-link. For a while, I simply ran in the direction of Silver Moon, not really caring about getting there fast. I knew the kids were looked after, and I had a lot of pent frustration. Every time I thought about what happened in the office, I growled, angry all over again.

Why couldn't Garrett see what he did was wrong? If Yvon was his second-chance mate, fine. Whatever. But the respectable thing, the Alpha thing to do would be to hold off on marking her until after Sophia had a service, a proper funeral.

I didn't regret what I said to my Dad- I was starting to see that maybe Garrett wasn't the right person to succeed him. But that was only my opinion.

"Violet!"

I skidded to a stop, nearly knocking into a tree as Jasper's worried and anxious voice filled my mind.

"What?"

"Where are you?"

"Uh..." I looked around. "I'm by the stream. Is something wrong?"

"Really Vie?! I've been worried for hours! You just left, and then when you didn't come home, I called your Mom. She said you left three hours ago!"

Shit. Had I really been out here that long?

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I'll come home now."

"I'm coming to meet you."

He cut the link before I could argue. I was only twenty minutes out. I started jogging in the direction I knew he would come, and before long I caught his scent.

A minute later, Ehno made himself known, winding around the trees towards me. He sniffed me up and down, nuzzling against my neck. Hala purred, wanting to come out but I just wanted to go home and to bed. She gave in with poor grace, grumbling in the back of my mind. Together, we ran the rest of the way to the packhouse, occasionally brushing against one another.

I shifted first, stopping to grab a shirt and jeans from one of the clothes stashes in the woods. As soon as I was dressed, Jasper pulled me into a hug.

"You shouldn't have left like that." He said into my hair.

"I'm glad I did. Now I know how big of a shithead my brother really is."

"Did he really mark someone?"

"Yup. His second-chance mate, apparently."

He pulled away, staring at me with wide eyes. "His second chance? So soon?"

I shrugged. "That's the story I got. It didn't make sense to me either."

He looked like he wanted to say something, and I guessed it was close to what I said to Garrett. Instead, he sighed and took my hand, leading me to the house.

"Maybe she can bring back the good in him."

I nodded, but I didn't agree. Yvon looked totally and completely innocent, a girl thrown into family drama unexpectedly. But I suspected she wasn't as sweet as she appeared. Maybe it was because she was attracted to my brother before they found out they were mates, and knowing the type of guy he was now? Well, what did that say about her?

I didn't dwell on these thoughts long because when we stepped through the back door, Tracy was waiting with Carson in her arms and Drew sitting at her feet, barely awake.

"Carson had a bad dream, and woke Drew." She explained. "They refused to stay upstairs and wait for you."

"Come here, baby." I scooped Drew off the floor, smiling when he laid his head on my shoulder. I felt guilty now, not coming home sooner. "We're home now. Let's get you back up to the bed, hmm?"

"Cam didn't wake up at all, but I have the monitor. That girl could sleep through a tornado." Tracy joked.

We spent the next thirty minutes putting the boys back down to sleep. Looking at each of my kid's faces was the very best way to get rid of the last of my anger. Sadly, I noticed that it did nothing to alleviate my worries.