Savage Passion

The Grand Luna

UNKNOWN POV

Hot air escaped from my lips as I tugged my sweater close. Wentworth was cold this time of the air. My feet wobbled as they tried to stay afloat on the frozen floor. It was times like this I wished I was back at Havenbourne; the city of Roses. I entered an alleyway that served as a shortcut to my apartment. My phone buzzed and as I fished into my pocket to retrieve it, I saw something move behind me.

Instinctively turning back, I surveyed the area. Wentworth wasn't particularly dangerous but one could never be too careful with dark alleyways. "Who is there?" I demanded. My sense of smell was keen and so was my divine gift. "I know there is someone there and if you don't step out of the shadows, I will kill you."

My threat seemed to work nicely. My stalker stepped into the moonlight. The first thing I caught was the color of their eyes. They were the darkest blues implying this was a Nightshade werewolf and that vital piece of information caused me to immediately take a battle stance.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"It's me, Clara." The familiar voice replied as he completely stepped into the light. My stance dipped and a smile crept up my mouth. A deep chuckle erupted from his throat. I missed that flash of white teeth. At least somebody was amused to see me. "Don't tell me you don't remember an old friend."

I ran over and gave him a tight hug. Of course, I remembered Elliot. We were close friends despite the history between our packs. As much as I missed winding my hands into Elliot's golden locks, I had to remember that Elliot was not supposed to be in Wentworth. He had a job to do. I broke our hug and looked Jim in the eye.

"Elliot, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be in Havenbourne protecting Duncan's family from my son." As soon as the words left my mouth, I noticed a sporadic frown on Elliot's face. There was a story I was missing. Now that I thought about it, Elliot wouldn't randomly just use his gifts to say Hi to an old friend. Except there was bad news. My stomach sunk just speculating that I might have a point. "What happened?" I demanded. "Don't tell me...Did Alexios kill the royal family?"

Elliot swallowed. He started at me knowingly with marbled eyes. I collapsed in his embrace knowing fully well that his silence answered my question. "Why has my son become?" I asked Elliot as tears skidded down my cheeks. "Where did it all go wrong?"

"Clara, Alexios didn't do the killing," Elliot informed me. "He was the author of that catastrophe but he wasn't the one who held up the sword."

"What...do you mean?"

Elliot wiped an escaping tear. He cleared his throat before speaking. "My people killed their own Luna."

My eyes nearly popped out on hearing his revelation. It didn't make sense. Why would it? The Nightshade pack killing their own Alpha's children when the pack was at its weakest couldn't just sit right in my ears. Pack members were fiercely loyal to the Alpha and his family. It would take more than madness for them to go against Selene's design.

"Elliot, what are you saying?"

"Alexios did keep to your wishes to spare Alaska and her daughter of Duncan's sins but he still believed the pack needed to pack for not going against their Alpha when he went into his warlord phase. A loophole Alexios exploited. Alexios has been demanding a set of fifty tributes every three months from the Nightshade. On an ordinary day, that wouldn't have been much of a problem but the war had already left the Nightshade gathering the pieces of their life. Alexios' demands set them on the path to madness. With parents having to give their children out to slavery, people began to see the truth in your son's philosophy. Simply put, they saw Duncan Nightshade for the madman he was and decided they would no longer sacrifice their lives to prevent another war. My people knew what Alexios wanted and they gave it to him. They finished what he started and killed Luna Alaska and gave Duncan's daughter Lydia Nightshade as tribute."

I did want to blame Hunter. I even wanted to blame myself but in truth, none of us was to blame. The trials the Nightshade was presently undergoing was as a result of Duncan Nightshade's philosophy. This insanity all started with the Crow Brothers and their mission to converge the entire continents' pack. Duncan was afraid to lose his power so as an influential Alpha in his right, he attempted to do something about it. The Alpha planned to converge as many packs as he could before the Crow pack demanded his allegiance. With enough packs under him, Duncan would be able to refuse an allegiance and go to war if it was necessary. But it was easier said than done, some packs had refused to join hands with the Nightshade. One of those packs being the Rose pack. My late husband saw nothing but insanity in Duncan's agenda which maddened the Nightshade Alpha. Duncan had killed my husband that night and would have murdered my son too but his wife had intervened. Duncan obliged his mate's demands and proceeded to go behind Alaska's back and sell Alexios to witches. I lost my son for seven years. However, Alexios did return. Alexios returned a man and an Alpha with a vendetta.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to Elliot. It was all I could manage. I had promised Alaska that I would protect her at cost. Yet, I had failed to even do that.

"There is something else Luna Clara." Elliot cited.

"What is that?"

"My sources say Lydia is still alive. Apparently, she has been bought by your son Alexios and if you think that is the most unpleasant thing you can hear, wait till you hear this. My intel in the Rose also said they noticed something between the two."

I was lost. Confused even. The bright side to this horror unwrapping in front of me was that I knew that Alexios would never directly break his promise but that made no difference if the Nightshade girl was in enemy territory. "What did they see?"

"Knowing how badly, Alexios wants to destroy the Nightshade royal bloodline, they found it exceptionally difficult to believe that Alexios would just throw five million at a slave girl especially when he has promised you he would spare Duncan's family. There were others in the room who could have easily done it for him. I personally believe his intention is to keep Lydia alive but my intel using their gift of intuition said there was tension between the two. s****l tension."

Snapping my gaze up, I met my eyes, the deep blue depths burning into mine. "You cannot be serious."

"I am Clara. That is why I am here. As current Luna of the Rose Pack, your gift of intuition defeat even that of my Intel. You have to find out if it's true Clara."

I didn't want to go. God knew I didn't want to go. The actual reason I left in the first place was because I couldn't look at my son like I had once done. Alexios was now a murderer. a man who barely cared about the consequences of his actions. But Elliot had a point. If Lydia was truly on that Alexios' mate, this was an opportunity to change things. Perhaps my son could be saved.

"But what if we are wrong?"

"What if we are right?" Elliot replied.