Chasing My Luna

4

REBECCA

I don't know how long I drove. I'd crawled into the car two seconds after signing those papers, without even picking up the suitcase Sheila had so kindly packed for me, and went off with no specific destination in mind. The only stop I'd made was at the first ATM I found, about ten minutes away from the pack borders. I'd withdrawn as much as I could, which was $2,500 - because I was sure that my card, connected to my and Reiner's bank account, would be blocked any minute. From that moment, I hadn't stopped driving. My mind was completely clouded in shock.

I'd returned home by lunchtime, and the sun had long since set. By now, hunger, exhaustion, and sleep were beginning to set in.

Maybe I shouldn't stop, I thought.

After all, $2,500 would run out very, very quickly. I'd just been kicked out of my home and pack, I had not the slightest plan or idea of what to do, and I had no income of my own. I only had that money, which I had to rely on until I found a way to survive and rebuild my life from scratch.

However, I knew that continuing to drive aimlessly and nonstop and not eating was the stupidest thing I could do. I couldn't think just of myself. Inside me were two little lives that were counting on me, and only me, to survive, since they wouldn't have a dad and a pack beside them.

I repressed a sob of pain and chased that thought into the innermost recesses of my mind.

Not now.

I'll stop, I decided. I'll stop, eat, find a place to spend the night and... and figure out what to do.

With that thought in mind, I continued my journey. Luckily, the road was well-lit, which was a good sign. Most likely, wherever I ended up, it wouldn't be a horrible motel of those where you fall asleep but don't know if you'll wake up, or if you do, unsure if you still have all your organs.

That was when I noticed it, a black SUV a few yards behind me.

It was the most anonymous black SUV I’d ever seen, but for some reason, the mere sight of it filled me with dread.

You’re going crazy, I thought. Too much has happened today, and you’re exhausted. It’s just a car.

Still, my wolf was restlessly pacing inside of me, growling and screaming “danger”, begging me to push my foot on the gas and run away from that SUV as fast as possible.

Stop it, Rebecca. This is asinine.

But my eyes wandered more and more on that car, which kept itself constantly at the same distance from me, who turned at every single turn I made… and that was when I noticed what was so off-putting about that.

It had no plate.

There was an unmarked car behind me that was taking every single turn I was. I wasn’t driving with a specific destination in mind.

Two plus two never makes three.

I was being followed.

Shit.

A hoarse, howling laughter escaped my lips. I just couldn’t f*****g believe it.

Yeah, I’m dreaming. I must be dreaming, because this is just f*****g unreal.

Discovering a pregnancy, being blackmailed into leaving my pack and my mate, and being actually car chased… all in just one single day?

No way.

I let out another chuckle. Thankfully, my brain was working in my favor, filling me up with denial – because, hadn’t it done that, I would have probably started sobbing and despairing, and in that situation, it was the very last thing to do.

I pressed on the gas pedal and began speeding on the highway.

Nu-uh. Whoever you are, you’re not getting me or my children. Nu-f*****g-uh.

Of course, the SUV accelerated as well, as if I needed yet more proof that I was being followed.

My chuckle settled, and firm determination filled my mind.

I needed to chase them away, make them lose my tracks.

Unfortunately, it was late, so there weren’t many other cars around. I couldn’t run past some of them and mix with the crowd… which, as I noticed a sign indicating an exit a few miles up, meant I’d have to do something really dangerous and really, really stupid.

As I approached the exit, I began to slow down, and as I expected, the black SUV accelerated to get closer to me: closer, and closer, and closer…

The exit came into view, and I took a breath, trying to calm my racing heart and bracing myself for what I was about to do.

I kept driving straight until the very last second. Then, I pressed on the gas, swerved right with all my strength, and quickly turned my wheel to the left.

I heard the sound of metal creaking and deforming and the car shaking and swaying as I entered the highway exit at top speed. My pursuers' car had hit my right taillight, and I was pretty sure I had wrecked my left side on the guardrail.

But hey, at least I was alive and my puppies with me.

Don't worry, I thought. Mommy will get you out of this bad situation. Everything will be all right.

I ran onto the exit ramp of the highway, hoping finally to have lost them.

I first saw the blinding lights in front of me, then the ones in my rearview mirror. The next thing I knew, a deafening, horrible sound rang through my ears.

I heard a scream, and something hit my head.

My own steering wheel.

What the f**k!

I didn't even have time to realize what had happened. I heard the door on my left open, and a hand grabbed my arm.

"We got her!" a man exulted, laughing viciously.

I fell to the ground, grating my palms against the road, but within two seconds another man lifted me up, slamming me against the now crumpled door of my car.

Five men. All wearing balaclavas that prevented me from recognizing them.

Great, I thought, pushing the fear deep into me.

I couldn't afford it.

"Well, well." The first asshole chuckled, squeezing my chin in a firm, painful grip. "There she is, our little runaway Luna."

His breath, even filtered through the woolen balaclava, smelled disgustingly of alcohol.

Quickly, I observed my five assailants. Two black cars, one of them, the one I had just head-on with, now wrecked... They didn't smell like Alphas, nor did they appear to be armed, which meant I could face them in a fight with a very good chance of survival.

"You know, they told us to kill you, quarter you, and throw you in a ditch." His partner, the second asshole, said, triggering hilarity from the other four. "But a pretty little morsel like you can yield us much, much more than what your dear mama-in-law promised us."

I held back a giggle. Although there was nothing to laugh about learning that Sheila had not only arranged my banishment, but also my murder. The funny thing was the very people she had hired. A team of drunks who really thought they had a chance to face me while drunk and without a shred of a weapon.

"I hear ex-Lunas are all the rage on the black market." Another guy commented. "A cutie like this could make us a lot of money. And no one, not even Sheila, would ever find out. So, double win, guys!"

Pregnancy might have tampered with my wolf's powers, but I was still the strongest and most fearsome she-wolf in the pack after the Alpha, and more importantly, a mother who had two pups to protect.

Those little buggers would soon realize who they were up against.

A well-placed headbutt was enough to send Asshole One to the ground. Before the others even realized what was happening, I ripped two pieces of sharpened metal from my poor, now-destroyed machine and clutched them in my hand like daggers, ready to take on the others.

I could be strong, but it didn't hurt to have a little extra superiority.

With furious growls, the four assholes pounced on me. We ended up trapped in a dance of blood and violence.

I KO'd Asshole Two with a well-aimed kick in the groin while sinking one of my improvised daggers deep into Asshole Four's thigh. Just to make sure he didn't get back up or play tricks on me, I used the other dagger to slit Asshole Two's throat and then moved on to Asshole Three.

The ease with which I took him down was almost embarrassing: within thirty seconds, only myself and Asshole Five, whom I had purposely left for last, were left standing. He was the biggest and the one who looked the least drunk, so I thought it'd be better to deal with him once the other Assholes could no longer constitute a problem.

He, too, I noticed, had armed himself with daggers fashioned from one of their cars.

With a speed that contradicted his size, he hurled himself at me, and I barely had time to scrap to the side.

Shit! My reflexes were slowed, both by pregnancy and fatigue from previous fights.

And if I had thought of relying on my lesser speed and size to win against this man, it was clear that I had to think again.

The asshole removed his balaclava. However, his face remained anonymous. I had never seen him before.

"You're all mine now, honey." He chuckled, his voice greasy and filled with disgusting promises.

I bared my teeth at him. "We'll see about that."

He launched himself at me again, even faster than before, and this time I couldn't avoid him. He grabbed my arm and pulled it behind my back, making me drop one of the knives and scream in pain.

His grip on my forearm was crushing, I almost fainted when I heard the disgusting sound of breaking bones.

"My guys were p*****s, easy to take down even by a little b***h like you." He commented, starting to walk toward the guardrail.

A feeling of horror took hold of me. The road I had taken after the exit was elevated, and gave onto a cliff above the ocean.

No, no, no...

I had to break free. I couldn't die. Not while I was pregnant, not like this!

I stuck my other knife into his thigh, but he just laughed. And with a firm grip on my other wrist, he made me lose that knife, too.

Shit!

The asshole turned me over in his grip. I felt the hard, cold metal of the guardrail against my back and a salty wind whip across my face.

I knew there was a deadly fifty-meter jump behind me.

The asshole smiled wickedly at me. "Bye-bye, little slut..."

Hot, wet blood splashed on my face, ending up in my eyes, in my mouth, in my hair.

"BECKS!"

A pair of solid, warm hands clasped around my wrists. As the gasping b***h was pulled off me, I met a familiar face.

A choked sob escaped my throat, and I tightened my arms around my best friend's neck.