His Blue Moon Princess

Menacing tone

“Nora, that’s amazing!”

I know. I… I did it without thinking! I’m not even sure I can do it again, now that my anger has vanished. I massage my throat, still a bit surprised. Am I really getting closer to shape-shifting? Can I ever let my wolf out someday? I have to try.

“But you didn’t really kill Marcus, did you?” Asks Elisabeth, returning back to her seat.

She probably asked because of my slight demonstration, but we both know that’s nothing compared to going into my wolf form. I shake my head.

“I haven’t, but… I don’t know. I’m not sure what happened back there, Liz. Everything is so confusing about what happened on that day. All I get are some random and blurry flashbacks.”

She stares at me for a while. Elisabeth really has stopped the gossiping now, I can tell she's serious. She plays with her bracelets, seeming hesitant for a while, before finally speaking out.

“Nora, you can tell me. ...Marcus assaulted you?” She whispers.

I avoid her eyes. I don’t want to talk about it, I really don’t.

“That dog did what?”

Oh, no. Liam just came back and is standing on the doorstep, close enough that he probably heard what Elisabeth just said. Oh, this is not going to go well. He runs up to us and looks at me with a furious gaze.

“Nora, what the hell is that girl talking about? Who did what to you?”

He may not be Damian, but I can definitely see a lot of resemblance between the two, especially when he is angry like that. Liam definitely has the same ice-cold stare and furious look as his older brother. Why is he so angry? I thought he didn’t really like me. Is it because I’m his brother’s fated mate? He’s menacing, but I’m not scared like I was yesterday with Damian; maybe because it’s not directed at me.

But how am I supposed to handle this…? Elisabeth won’t say a word now that Liam’s back, and I don’t want to talk about that topic either. Not to my mate’s little brother! I just shake my head.

“It’s nothing, Liam.”

“What, nothing?! Nora, if my brother knows…”

“Don’t, Liam! Let’s not talk about this now, okay? I really don’t want to. Not now.”

I try to be as convincing as I can, but I can tell he’s seriously hesitating. I can almost hear him debating inside. Then, he glances at Elisabeth, and lets out an annoyed growl.

“Okay, but only for now. Later, you tell me what this is about!”

“I promise, but you won’t tell Him a thing. Agreed?”

He looks at me with a sullen look for a while, but finally lets out a low growl of agreement. Seems like Liam and I keep bargaining today. At least I managed to have him let go of the annoying subject for now. I’m not sure he will really keep his promise not to tell Damian, but that was the best I could do.  

Elisabeth’s eyes go from me to him and back, and she grabs my hand without warning.

“Nora, come with me. We have to tell Vincent you’re fine.”

But I take my hand out of hers, filled with worry. Elisabeth seems confident, but I’m not sure everyone in the pack will be as happy to see me as she was. Did she forget how they treated me? I was no better than a slave back there, and I don’t want to go back to that meaningless life of mine. I glance at Liam, but he is waiting for my decision. Wasn’t I the one who wanted to come back here, after all?

Sure, I wanted to see what happened after my disappearance but having my brother gone changed a lot of things. And I may still be part of the Jade Moon, but I refuse to be insulted or hit again. I ponder for a while, but no matter what, I have to go somehow. One day or another, I will have to face my Alpha about what happened, and decide what to do.

“Could you accompany me?” I ask Liam.

“Sure. But I warn you, if those guys do anything to you, I won’t let it slide. I was at the hospital when the doc examined you. I’m not dumb. And trust me, it’s better that it’s me than one of my brothers.”

“I know. I just need to settle things with them.”

“Okay then. Don’t be a weakling.”

But instead of heading for the door, he goes behind the bar and starts undressing. Once he’s n***d, he stuffs everything inside his school bag and changes to his wolf form. His transformation is extremely quick.

The youngest Black brother has a somewhat standard size for a wolf, but his big paws indicate he might not have reached his final size yet. He is dark, but not just black. Actually, he has some dark brown-red hair here and there, on the collar and below his ears. He comes up to me and gives me his backpack, and I turn back to Elisabeth.

“Okay, let’s go, then.”

Elisabeth gives me a happy smile and comes with us, closing the bar behind her.

I am in a terrible state of nervousness. If Liam wasn’t walking beside me, I might have turned around already. We walk up until we can finally see the main house. I know the Jade Moon members can already smell us if they are in their wolf form, and there are always some guarding the area.

As expected, as soon as we approach, several wolves start following us, growling with a menacing tone. But most of them should recognize Elisabeth and me, and no one approaches us. I suppose they are most cautious of Liam, who is a stranger, stepping on their turf. But he just keeps walking by my side, ignoring them.

“Alpha is coming,” says Elisabeth next to me.

She probably is talking with some of them telepathically right now. I wish I could, too. I wonder what everyone is saying right now. We are a few meters away from the main house, when I stop. I don’t want to come in, and Vincent is coming anyway. He looks stunned, and his eyes keep switching between me and the black wolf now sitting at my feet. Liam seems like he doesn’t care, patiently waiting, but I can tell he is watching what’s going on very closely. Peter comes out right after Vince, and Liam starts a low growl as they approach us.

He lets out a menacing bark when they’re a few steps away, and they stop, conscious this is a warning. Vincent looks at me, dumbfounded.

“Nora… I really didn’t recognize you from afar. What happened? We looked for you!”

Did they really? Damian mentioned Alec as soon as my brother was spotted looking for me, but I realize now that I haven’t heard from the Jade Moon Clan at all. And considering Damian and Nathaniel were probably looking for which Clan I came from, I doubt they would have missed people asking around for me. It’s most likely the Jade Moon already considered me as dead or hoped I had gone rogue.  

“Hello, Alpha. Beta.” I salute without averting my eyes. “Sorry I disappeared. Lots of things happened.”

“Lots of things? Nora, you better have a good explanation for why you were gone for…”

But before Peter finishes his sentence, Liam is growling loudly beside me, and everyone understands he’s most likely warning him to watch his words. He looks at the wolf, annoyed, and turns to me.

“Who is this?”

“A friend.”

“From which Clan?”

I hesitate. Is it okay to reveal my new connection to the Blood Moon Clan now? I’m not sure if it’s a good thing to do. After all, I have no official connection to them yet, and I’m totally not supposed to be here. Neither is Liam. Will Damian be mad if he knows? I don’t care about the Jade Moon, but I would rather not take chances with him. I decide to ignore Peter’s question and turn to Vincent.

“You exiled Alec?”

“Yes, about a month ago. Your brother had become troublesome. He stole money from your Beta and kept borrowing money from everyone. Peter confronted him, and we decided to banish him.”

“Do you know where he is now?”

“No, I don’t know, and I couldn’t care less. But you are not in a position to ask questions now, Nora. We need to discuss. Come in.”

They turn around and start walking to go to the main house, but I don’t move. I am not going into that house ever again. I feel like I will be back in prison if I take a single step closer. Next to me, Liam hasn’t moved either, but he is still growling at the other wolves circling us. Now I realize this situation is not so good either. I may have decided to not give in anymore, but that won’t hold Vincent from getting mad at me. What if he decides to punish me and attack us? Liam is probably very strong since he is the Head Hunter of his pack, but he is alone, and I can’t shift.

I exchange a glance with him, but maybe because of his wolf form, he doesn’t seem worried one bit.

“What are you waiting for?” Growls Vincent. “I said come in.”

“We can discuss from here.”

“Excuse me? Who do you think you are now?”

He growls again, but this time I can growl back, too, and I do. He will no force me to submit again. For some reason, I feel stronger and more confident than ever. My wolf agrees with me–she is done with this nonsense. She won’t let me down on this one.

Me responding to the Alpha like this causes everyone else to fall silent from surprise. But all of a sudden, everyone starts threatening us back, loudly. Gosh, I really hope nobody is going to actually attack. I don’t like how things look. Even the sky is getting darker and menacing. I focus on Vincent, perfectly aware that no one will dare to do a thing without a word from him. At the moment, I can tell he is hesitating. His eyes went from shock to anger, but now he is considering the dark wolf and me.

“What is this, Nora? You disappear for weeks, and now you come back and actually dare to disobey your Alpha?” Says Peter.

“Why is nobody asking about my disappearance then?”

“We said we will talk about it inside. And without strangers.”

“No, I’m not going anywhere, and neither is he. I will talk here, or I’ll go.”

“Don’t bargain with your Alpha!” Growls Peter.

But he isn’t scaring me anymore. I’m scared about the twenty or so wolves surrounding us, but the Alpha and Beta’s authority won’t work on me. How is that possible? Did they already banish me? Or is the fact that I’m getting closer to my wolf allowing me to stand against them?

I can really feel her. She is with me, standing her ground and growling to show she’s no pushover anymore. They always considered me a fake, weak, useless wolf, but I guess things should be different now. I may be more vulnerable and not able to shapeshift, but I’m definitely done being a slave for them to use.

That doesn’t mean I’m not scared. I do my best to appear strong, but my hands are slightly shaking, and no confidence can take away all that I have endured these past years. I may not give in to the Alpha’s authority, but I’m still very aware of how a wolf attack can be painful. I’m not going to provoke them and get myself killed today.

They look at me, probably gauging me all over again.

“There is still the matter of your attack on Marcus and Alec,” suddenly says Vincent.

“I did not attack them!”

“Then why did you go that day? People saw you going with your brother.”

He was dragging me out! But Liam is here, I’m not sure what I can tell.

“I did not attack Alec. He forced me to follow him.”

“You liar!”

I turn around. Amber just arrived, looking furious, and pointing her finger at me. What does she want now? That woman was always acting like my brother’s girlfriend, and Alec probably thought so, but everyone in the pack knows Amber used to cheat on him as she wanted. She’s a popular girl, with her long honey-blonde hair and curves, and she loves the attention. I could name at least five guys she’s been sleeping with without thinking!

She joins Peter and Vincent, looking at me like I’m some pest.

“She had Alec follow her, pretending she could solve their money problem. Then, she tried to kill Marcus to take his money! Everyone knows he was loaded!”

What is this crazy story? Where did she make this up from?! I’m so shocked I can’t even find the words. Peter turns at her with a frown.

“That’s Alec’s story, Amber. You weren’t there when it happened.”

“No, but he told me! Oh, come on! Do you think Marcus disappeared on his own? And Alec hurt himself? This b***h did it! You know how much she hated them!”

“I did nothing! Alec lied!”

“Oh, really? Then why did you disappear for a month? And now, you come back looking all good and dressed up in fancy clothes? How dumb do you think we are, you murderer?!”

“Shut up!” I yell, infuriated.

How can she say such things? She knows nothing, she just hates me!

But now both the Alpha and the Beta are looking at me and my clothes with a suspicious look. Liz sighs.

“Oh, please! Vince, this is Nora we are talking about! Nobody believed Alec when he told that story, and now you’re going to actually listen to that w***e?”

“Liz! Shut up and go back inside! Why are you getting yourself involved in this?!”

Robert was among the group of people that came out of the house, and he actually comes to grab his daughter and take her away from us. Elisabeth protests, but her father is definitely stronger. I can only watch as she is taken away to the side, still yelling at Amber.

Now Vincent seems really hesitant, and Peter’s eyes are going from Amber to me.

“Amber knows nothing, Alpha. I was hospitalized, and someone helped me out. But I didn’t kill Marcus or took his money. And I didn’t do anything to my brother, either.”

But I can tell they don’t believe me. The mysterious friend helping me out of nowhere is a big loophole, and I know it. I glance down at Liam, wondering what to do. He is fiercely growling at other wolves, and about twenty Jade Moon wolves are only waiting to jump at us.

How did I get into such a situation?!

Peter takes a step and reaches his arm out to grab me. “Okay, that’s enough. Nora, you are coming with us. Tell your friend to go away, or we will attack him, too, if…”

But before he could finish his sentence or touch me, a huge form jumped over him, and we heard the sound of bones getting crunched.

I see Peter’s arm hanging under Bobo’s enormous fangs. We hear a scream before I can even realize what just happened, as I’m still in shock. The Beta's shoulder is bleeding in an endless flow where his arm was still attached a second ago.

I can barely keep myself from throwing up. Other people start screaming in shock, or fear, I don’t know. In front of me, Bobo is standing like a huge barrier between me and the trio. Peter has lost consciousness, but the other two have stepped back.

“Looks like you guys are gonna need a new Beta,” says a voice behind me.

I turn around and see Nathaniel standing there, smiling in a really scary manner.