His Luna, Her Choice

Chapter One

VIOLETS POV

The news came on a Saturday night.

I was sitting at the vanity in our closet, unbounding my long black hair. I was still in the white, figure hugging dress from earlier, my heels still strapped to my feet. It had been a long day, but a great one. Until it wasn't.

Who would have thought planning and throwing a birthday party would be so stressful? But everything had gone wonderful, exactly as planned. Cam, Drew and Carson was the happiest of babies, running around, laughing, and generally making the very most of their special day.

I cried more times today than I expected, but Mom assured me just as many times that it was normal, and she'd shed a fair amount of tears at my and my brother's first birthday too.

The kids received more than enough presents, the biggest being a wooden treehouse from Uncle Killian and Aunt Thara. Killian had come to Silver Moon two weeks ago to help build it, and we'd kept the kids out of that area of the woods since as to not ruin the surprise. They went absolutely nuts when they finally saw it, all of them together jumping on my Dad's sister and her mate with great big hugs and kisses.

The cake was a little difficult, as each of the kids had different tastes and preferences in flavors. Jasper and I had come up with the idea of a three-tier cake, each one suitable to each child, and they loved that as well. We took family pictures, random pictures, and pictures of them and their young friends. Cam had smeared a piece of her cake all over Jasper's face, coating him in pink frosting.

Yes, it really had been an amazing day. Until the warriors showed up.

Completely unexpectedly, two warriors from Blood Moon had entered the Hall, wearing serious expressions lined with sadness. At first, I thought they were part of my parent's entourage, but seeing the confusion on their faces towards the two men told me they weren't. They were here on business, and whatever it was, wasn't good.

The kids were playing with their presents, showing them off to their playmates, so Jasper and I joined my parents, as well as Killian and Thara, Tracy, and her mate Andrew out of ear shot of the guests.

I didn't recognize either of the warriors, they were young. Probably new.

"Welcome to Silver Moon gentleman." Jasper had greeted them cordially.

"Alpha, Luna." They'd nodded respectfully at us.

"What brings you here?" I'd inquired. Their auras of sorrow were making me nervous.

One of the two had cleared his throat, looking from me to my Dad.

"Alpha, we were on patrol last night, assigned to the west side. Around one in the morning, my wolf picked up a scent in the woods, so we followed it. The trail led to the very edge of the pack, to the cliffs." His eyes had shifted to the ground, his voice dropping. "We found a body. At the bottom of the cliff."

I gasped, along with Tracy and Thara.

"A rogue?" Mom had asked.

The warrior's companion shook his head, taking up the explanation. "No, Luna. One of ours. We brought her body back to the hospital morgue. She has been identified as Sophia Chang."

"Goddess, no!" Mom had exclaimed loud enough to draw attention. Not that it could really be helped- The news hit me like a thunderbolt.

Sophia was dead?

"How?" I'd asked.

"We got the call on the way here. Everything points to suicide."

"She jumped?" Mom had clutched her chest. Dad wrapped one arm around her.

"Oh, that poor girl..." Aunt Thara had sniffled, her eyes misty.

The kids had chosen that moment to make an appearance, bursting into our circle of dread, bursting with happiness. I had plastered on the best smile I could, taking them and leading them away from the horrible conversation. The rest of the party was great for them, but every adult they were close to was simply doing their best to keep it together.

When the party finally came to an end, Tracy had taken the kids home, and I'd finally allowed myself to cry, seeking comfort in my mate's arms.

Mom and Dad were angry they hadn't received the news earlier, but they also understood to a point. They'd spent the night here at Silver Moon, helping us get everything ready for the triplet's big day. But when they found out who the girl was, the warriors decided it couldn't wait anymore, party or not.

After all, Sophia was my brother's mate.

Ex-mate.

My lips twisted at the thought. No, they were still mates. For whatever reason, their bond had survived the rejection so cruelly given by my brother. We knew it, and so did he. It was the main reason, and the biggest reason, why he hadn't been invited to the kid's birthday.

The other reason was even though I loved my brother, I did not want him around my children. I didn't want him in my pack, period. The Garrett I'd grown up with and the Garrett today were not the same people, and the man today was far from the type of person I wanted to expose my kids to.

He'd changed so much. When Jennine died, everyone assumed her hold on him would die too. That his hate and anger would disappear, and he would once again be the carefree, happy boy we all knew.

We couldn't have been more wrong.

Garrett was the ticking time bomb that had ticked one too many times. Not only had he not taken back the rejection with Sophia, but he'd also used it against her. He was furious when he found out their bond was still intact, albeit definitely not as strong as it was. Mom said it was because he was an Alpha, and she was a Luna, but he didn't care. Rather than reject her again, and sever the bond completely, he began to sleep around, inflicting terrible pain on her.

Beyond that, he was constantly getting into fights, sending Blood Moon members to the hospital for simply looking at him the wrong way. Which was often, since nowadays his reputation was very poor.

Our parents were worried sick about him, and Dad was fretting over the idea of handing the pack over to him. Technically, it should have already happened, but he was holding off. That in itself had led to many, many fights between Garrett and Dad. The last was so bad, Mom told me she was worried about Garrett challenging Dad officially. I didn't think he would ever go so far, because a challenge was to the death, no matter what. But now, I wasn't so sure, and it ate at me.

"You're going to chew your lip off one of these days."

I jumped, head swiveling to the door of the closet. My mate stood, leaning against the trim with his arms crossed, eyeing me carefully. Slowly, I released my bottom lip from my teeth.

"Sorry. Just thinking." I mumbled.

"I know. How you doing?"

"Not great." I admitted.

"She didn't deserve this." Jasper said lowly.

"No. She didn't. But maybe she's happier now? She's with the Goddess after all. I know Celeste will look after her."

I bent on my chair, but Jasper beat me to it. Before I could blink, he was on one knee, gently taking my shoes off.

I sighed in relief, stretching my toes. He stood and I did as well, turning my back to him and moving my hair to the side. The familiar sparks danced across my back as he undid the zipper on my dress. Sliding the fabric off my shoulders, I let it fall to the ground.

"I hope she's happier now. Free from pain and the torment she was going through. I hope she smiles every day, forever from now on." Jasper said.

I turned to look at him. Jasper and Sophia had a brief history. A stupid one-night stand that I wasn't convinced was entirely up to them.

One night, he'd told me that Sophia had talked to him about it, and told him the memories were fuzzy and unclear. He'd admitted to me having the same problem, and since it was almost impossible for werewolves to get drunk, I believed magic was the cause. Either by Phoebus or by Jennine, but it didn't really matter. I wasn't concerned about the who as much as I was with the why, and I thought I had that answer as well. To get to my brother. Obviously, it had worked.

Still, his sentiments about Sophia didn't bother me. If anything, I was proud to have a mate that cared so much. I knew he loved me, was made for me. He could have a million female friends, a million she-wolves chasing after him, but I knew he'd always be mine.

"I'm sure she will." I gave him a small smile.

"Your parents left, by the way. They wanted to see how Garrett is doing with this."

I couldn't help my stony expression. "I hope he's holed up in his room, sobbing like a baby." I clipped it out.

"I don't think he meant-"

"You're too nice!" I snapped. "We're both thinking it Jasper. His...conquests with other women drove her over the edge!"

"Vie..."

"Don't." I stepped around him, grabbing a nightgown on my way out. He followed me silently. "Maybe he didn't mean for this to happen, but he certainly didn't care about how much pain he was causing her. All I can say now is I hope the death of his mate finally smartens him up."

Jasper sighed. "I hope so too."

My phone rang then, chiming on the bed and flashing 'Mom'. I scooped it off the bed, hitting the green call button.

"Hey, Mom."

"Violet!" Her voice broke on the other end. Immediately, my wolf, Hala, and I were at attention.

"What's wrong?" I demanded. She didn't answer, just continued to cry. "Mom!"

"Garrett..." She whimpered.

"What? What happened to Garrett?"

There was a shuffling noise on her end, and then Uncle Bens spoke. My stomach was twisting uncomfortably, and my heart was pounding in my chest. A thought I hadn't considered popped into my head- What if Garrett was dead too?

It was rare among common wolves to die when their mates did, but not too rare among high ranked wolves. If an Alpha lost his Luna and was lucky enough to live, odds were he would go mad instead.

My breathing started to go faster as I waited for someone to tell me what was happening at my old pack.

"Uncle Ben, what is going on?!" I almost shouted.

"Your parents got back about half an hour ago. They immediately called Garrett, but when he showed up, he was with...a girl."

"What?" I gasped.

"They...They asked him about Sophia. He knew, he felt it. When she...you know. Violet..."

"What?!" This time I meant to shout, but it only came out as a whisper.

"Violet he... he laughed."

My stomach untwisted just in time for it to fall into my shoes. My breathing stopped too, and my heart. I just... stopped. I thought I might fall over from the utter shock of Ben's words, if every muscle in my body hadn't been frozen.

Beside me, Jasper was equal shades pale and green, disgust written all over his face. I couldn't force air up my throat to respond to Ben.

"It gets worse." He rasped quickly. "This girl, whoever she is- Garrett marked her."