Claiming My Unwilling Luna: Her Second Chance Mate

5: Desperation

Bree’s POV

Sweat formed on Dax's brows and his forehead as he began to unlock the chains on my feet. I'd never seen him that scared all my life. He looked like he'd seen a ghost but it was just the two of us inside the dungeon.

Then I began to hear some strange sounds emanating from outside the dungeon. The more I heard those sounds, the more I could pick out that they were the voices of the members of our Pack who were in great panic, just like their Alpha.

I never imagined that a moment like that would ever come; that we'd be reduced to cowering at the invasion of another Pack, regardless of which Pack it was.

Indeed, it was always the other way around. We'd even go to the other Packs just to keep them reminded that we were the strongest in the entire region. No one dared stand before us… Until now.

“It's the Moon Howl Pack,” Dax began to explain so frantically that I could barely grasp the words he said afterward.

Even as he tried to unlock the chains around my feet, it was a great struggle as his hands wouldn't stop quivering.

He was gripped with fear. It was written all over his face. “You know them, right?” He asked, with a worried look. “Surely you remember the Moon Howl Pack, yes? Of course, you have to remember. We've been locked in a feud with them for so long. They're the ones I spoke to you about.”

Of course, I remembered them. How could I have ever forgotten a Pack that Dax just wouldn't let me?

Several times, they wrote to us and even sent their messengers to haggle a peace deal between us but Dax just wouldn't listen.

He'd tear their letters into shreds in the presence of their messengers and ask them to return to their Pack with numerous threats.

Once, he berated the Alpha in the presence of a messenger. “Has your coward of an Alpha sent you here once again to plead with his balls tucked in between his legs?” He asked but the messenger wouldn't let it slide.

“You will not speak to my Alpha in that manner,” he said to Dax, gazing into his eyes with those hazel eyes of his.

That was a mistake. A commoner was never supposed to gaze at an Alpha in that manner but he was a messenger. He could have just been told off. Dax could also have demanded that he be punished for his insolence once he got back to his Pack and the Alpha would be obliged to do it since it was a governing rule in the entire regions.

But he didn't. He decided to punish the messenger himself which was contrary to the rules of the packs’ region but as usual, he didn't care. He even dared the Alpha to do his worst knowing that our Pack was far superior to the others.

Yet, Dax wouldn't stop. He kept poking at them over and over again and each time, they showed restraint, refusing to yield to his plans to goad them into a fight.

That was his aim. He revealed that to me one night just as we got into our room. Dax had already taken off his clothes and was helping me do the same when he paused and planted a kiss on my lips.

“Soon, we'll be the greatest Pack to have ever existed in the entire region,” he said to me, planting another kiss on my lips as he squeezed my butt. “I will do things that no one else has ever done and soon, all the Packs in the realm would be under my rule, starting from the Moon Howl Pack.”

“And how would you do that?” I asked, caressing his cheek with my right hand.

“I'll rile them up, just like I've been doing until they can't take it anymore,” he disclosed. “Then they'll strike back and that is when the plan will be set in motion. With your powers, you'll take them all out without blinking and their Pack will be ours to claim. That way, we'd conquer all the Packs around us until there's no more Packs not under our control.”

I recalled trying to talk him out of it but he was too adamant on his plan and because of how much I was in loved with him, I ended up agreeing to help him and fight by his side.

As he stared at me, waiting for me to say something, he didn't look like the same man who was so full of confidence. He looked like a man bereft of ideas; scared to death like a little child.

“Of course, I know them,” I chuckled. “You said you wanted them to come to you, for them to finally strike back. Now, they have. Why are you so afraid?”

He grunted, finally unlocking the chains after taking an eternity. “This is different, Bree. You must understand that.”

I laughed hysterically, enjoying the desperation painted across his face. It made more sense to me why he had come into the room to set me free.

At first, I assumed that he didn't want any harm to come to me since there were intruders. I thought he had come to take me to a more secure location until the war was over. But I was wrong.

He had only come to see me because of my powers. Indeed, all those years, he was only with me because of them. Although he said that himself, I tried to believe that he didn't mean it; that he only said that because I was about to leave me or because I found out about his relationship with Gina.

Not anymore. The truth stared me right across the face and there was no denying it.

“They have come with the full strength of their military might,” Dax continued to explain, this time with a sense of urgency as the screams got increasingly louder. “They took us by surprise and so we're greatly underprepared. If we fight them head-on, we cannot defeat them. That is why I have come to you, Bree.”

I glared at him with a shake of the head. “I am but a prisoner, aren't I?” I sneered. “What could the Alpha possibly want from a prisoner like me?”

He scrunched at my statement but it didn't take long for him to shake off the annoyance he felt. “I need your help, Bree. You're our only chance of defeating them,” he pleaded, almost in tears. “Remember when we talked about this? This is the time to do all that we agreed. Please, you must help me.”

“When we talked about this, you agreed that we'd do it together as a couple,” I reminded him. “But we aren't together anymore, are we? You said that we'd defeat them together, with me by your side as your Luna Queen. But you have taken that position away from me. How then do you want me to help?”

Dax reached forward and grabbed my hands, gazing into my eyes with a regretful demeanor. “Please, Bree. Forgive me,” he pleaded with desperation in his voice. “Our people are definitely gonna die should the war commence without your assistance and we cannot let that happen. I know you. I know how much you love those people. Please, I beg you, do not let this befall them. For their sake, consider my offer and help me wipe out our enemies from the face of this Earth. I promise, once we gain the victory, I will reinstate you as the Luna Queen of this Pack, and never would I treat you this way again.”

A day or two days ago, I might have believed him. I might have jumped into his arms that instant and kissed him on the lips. I might have made him apologise one more time, I might have made him swear to never let this happen again before heading out to help him as much as I could despite how drained of strength I currently was.

But this wasn't two days ago. I wasn't that naive anymore. I'd seen enough to make up my mind that Dax was nothing but a monster who wanted nothing else but to use me for his selfish gains.

If I had the strength to fight or to bring those men down, I'd have used it on him instead. I'd have torn him to shreds for all the pain that he had caused me.

The nerve of this man to stand before me and ask for my help after all he had done. He must have thought me to be a fool. Maybe I was in the past. Not anymore.

“Great words, Dax. You almost had me there. However, I'd love to tell you that I cannot help you,” I said with a wry smile. “These past few days, you've been torturing me without end. You ensured that your men never let me have a moment of rest. You starved me and wouldn't even let me get some water. Yet, you want me to go out there and fight? With which strength? How do you even expect me conjure my powers with how weakened I’ve gotten since you locked me up? Huh?”

He squeezed my hand a little more and bowed his head briefly. “I know that I have wronged you, Bree. I have done what no man should ever do to a woman he loves,” he admitted. “But it was all because I was angry. I was angry that you attempted to leave me because of my dumb mistakes. I couldn't let that happen and I knew that if I let you go free after locking you up for a while, you'd probably have returned to have your revenge. So I chose to keep you here so that I could break you. That way, you'd remain by my side regardless. Yes, it was the wrong thing to do and I can see that now but I beg you, please, forgive me.”

“Never!” I yelled, shoving his hands off. “You're delusional if you believe that anything you'd ever say to me would make me help defend this Pack. I would never do it. I swear!”

Suddenly, the expression on his face completely changed. He didn't look sorry anymore. All that was left on his face was anger as his nose flared before me.

“You leave me no choice but to do this, Bree,” he voiced, drawing closer to me. “You'll fight for this Pack and defend it with all you've got, with every damn thing in you, or I’ll kill you this instant.”