Chasing My Luna

11

REBECCA

No.

No, it can't be.

Those four words kept repeating like a broken record in my head. It was not possible that after four years, Reiner was right there - one basketball court away from me.

It couldn't be him.

Yet, there was absolutely no chance that I was wrong. I knew that face, that precise hazel shade of his eyes, the small scar on his cheek. I knew that look of shock mixed with pain and betrayal.

And if that wasn't enough, the fact that ever since I had walked into the stadium, I'd felt a nagging ache in my chest, like a tight rope around my heart that demanded to take me somewhere... yes.

Yes, that was indeed Reiner.

That was my husband.

Ex-husband, a mean little voice that sounded all too much like Sheila's reminded me.

"LOOK, MOMMY, LOOK!" Jim yelled in my arms, wiggling like the puppy he was. "WE WIN!"

Becks?

A familiar, never-to-be-forgotten voice barely touched my consciousness, and as soon as I heard it - as soon as I felt Reiner's mind hovering just at the edge of mine... my goodness, it felt like breathing again.

But... how was it possible that he was mind linking me? How was it possible that I could still feel our mating bond? It had been destroyed.

It's really you. Reiner whispered. Yet, his voice was sweet, filled with affection and yearning.

That was all it took to hear his voice and to hear it so full of emotion, to open wide that drawer I'd worked so hard to keep sealed day after day since that damn Sunday. A drawer in which I'd locked up every single feeling, memory, and thought of him.

Reiner, my Reiner was there, and I could not resist him. He was my mate. We were biologically made to be unable to resist each other.

The next moment, however, I saw his eyes shift to James. On my - on our - son.

From me, Jim had just taken the color of his eyes and hair. Otherwise, he was the spitting image of Reiner. No one, looking at his face, would have had the slightest doubt about his paternity - and from the look on Reiner's face, it was obvious that he had none either.

He... he is... Becks, we...

It didn't take my mind half a second to make the connection and consider the implications. James was Reiner's firstborn son, his heir as Alpha. And now that Reiner knew of his existence, it was absolutely impossible that he would not do everything he could to get him. To get him and Violet.

He was going to bring the matter before the Elders of the Council, and I knew full well how it would go. That bunch of assholes wouldn't even take a second before taking my children away from me and turning them over to him, as heirs. The fact that I was their mother and had been kicked out of the house based on false information, and even though I was the strongest wolf of the pack after him, the Alpha, as well as decorated for my valor in several battles, would have counted for absolutely nothing.

How long would it have taken Sheila, Isabelle, Reiner himself before turning my pups against me? Before they fed them the same lies with which that b***h Sheila had blackmailed me?

Never. You'll never get them.

"Jim, baby, we have to go." I said quickly, immediately closing the connection with Reiner, shutting him out of my mind for good, and clutching my son in my arms.

"What?" Jim asked, strangled. "But the game..."

"I know, my love, but there was an emergency at home." I lied, getting up and half-heartedly apologizing to the people sitting next to me. "I promise I'll take you to another game and... and I'll also introduce you to the whole Knicks team, okay? But we really have to go now. I'm sorry."

"But Mommy..."

"I'm so sorry, puppy. Mommy will get you a pizza on the way home, okay?"

It was clear from the disappointed look on his little face that a pizza would not lift his spirits in the slightest. On the other hand, there was nothing I could do about it. If there was one thing I knew about Reiner, it was that he was infinitely determined, and now that he knew we had a child, now that he had seen it, he would never let it slip away.

If I was going to have any chance at all of saving my babies, Jim and I had to run fast and manage to make him lose track of us.

Fortunately, we were in a stadium full of people, in a city even more full of people and crowded at all hours.

Not that that would have stopped Reiner, but it sure would have helped us.

WAIT!

His scream ripped through my mind, and no longer used to feeling my consciousness invaded by someone else, I squeezed my eyes shut. As an Alpha, he could speak to the mind of any wolf, even if he did not belong to his pack.

Wayne. I need Wayne.

No, not Wayne.

Ravi.

As I hurried toward the exit, weighed down by the fifteen pounds of sad kid in my arms, I quickly retrieved my phone from my bag and called him.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, answering on the first ring. "How's the game going, guys? Vi's giving me a beautiful makeover here. I'm telling you, the girl has some talent!"

"Ravi, Reiner's here." I said quickly, my heart racing in my chest like a colt. "He knows about him. He's seen him."

I avoided using James's name - he was already sad about having to leave the game, I wasn't going to add the burden of fear on his small shoulders as well.

I glanced over my shoulder to see where he was. As I imagined, he was no longer on the sidelines but was running along the gallery to catch up with me, though not at his full speed, to avoid drawing attention.

"Is he following you?" Ravi asked, the cheerful tone suddenly replaced by a serious and determined one.

"Yes."

A brief moment of silence.

"Becks, run home."

In any other situation, I wouldn't have objected, because taking the car would have meant getting stuck in traffic, making it much, much easier for Reiner to find us and catch me and James. The problem was that our house was not close to the stadium.

However, I knew it was the best option. To retrieve the car, I would have to go to the parking lot, and from there, I'd have to get out, which would give Reiner several more chances to catch up with us and eventually corner us. And this was the one thing I could not allow.

BECKS!

Shit, he was closer.

"Rebecca, do you understand me?!"

"Yes, but I don't know if I can f*****g lose him!"

"You try! And if you can't, call security!"

Sure, because some human security would stop an Alpha like him from taking my baby away from me.

I quickly took the stairs, following the signs to the exit. I was almost there when I felt a hand rest on my elbow. The momentum prompted me to turn around... but even if I hadn't, I had no doubt who had touched me.

The tingles that had raced along my skin at that contact were unmistakable.

So was the scent, warm, spiced and so homey, that now enveloped me.

"Becks!"

He smiled, just like the last time I'd seen him. It wasn't the same smile - that morning it was softer, relaxed, now it was excited, surprised... and with a hint of shyness.

The next moment, he had me in his arms.