Page 2 of Luna's New Reign
Patience has never been my strong suit but I’m trying. My fists curl and uncurl in my lap before Darius steals one of my hands and threads his fingers through mine. I glance over at him, that sweet and warm expression on his face that tells me I’m his entire world. “Bambi, we’ll figure it out. Just let Asani tell us what he knows, okay? We can’t do anything until we have all the pieces.”
“Okay,” I murmur, a smile spreading across my lips as Darius kisses me and then gestures to Asani.
The Alpha sits forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “None of this is easy to explain because it shouldn’t be possible. There’s a lot of stuff in that report. I don’t even understand half of the chemistry in them. Enzo was a different kind of doctor. A different kind of scientist. I loved experimenting, but it was always about making things better, not worse. Enzo… he wanted to push the limits. He didn’t care about consequences. That’s how the serum was created. I thought it would help, fix things. It’s done the opposite.”
“It’s not your fault,” I say, my voice breaking. “The world dealt me a bad hand. A shitty, bloody hand.” My gaze sweeps over the room, daring anyone to argue. “And if I’ve learned anything, it’s that things have to get worse before they get better.”
The room is silent, everyone too still, too careful. Like I’m a bomb waiting to go off.
River, of course, is the one to break the silence. “Maybe it has something to do with the prophecy,” he mentions, leaning back against the couch. “Maverick has mentioned it and so have the Sapphire wolves. The magic returning, what has to be removed before—”
I whip my head toward him, hating that he might be right. “Magic?” The word bursts out of me, a bitter laugh following. “So everything I’ve been through—all the death, the pain, the betrayal—is just for fate? For Mother Nature to find her magic?” I know what the Sapphire wolves have told us but if someone mentions that I suffered so that everyone else can thrive, I might just resurrect Calista somehow and kill her again. Hell, I’ll find a way to do the same to Flynn.
“Nepheline—” Mateo begins, but I cut him off with a growl so feral it echoes through the room.
I jump off his lap, unable to find comfort in his embrace at the moment. My entire body feels like it’s on fire—not the ‘I’m almost in heat’ but the ‘there’s so many repressed emotions that it’s literally heating me up from the inside’ kind of fire. “That’sbullshit,” I snarl, my voice shaking with rage. “I didn’t claw my way out of the dark, didn’t bury my family, didn’t kill for this pack, just to be some cosmic plaything!”
The growl turns into a roar and the power in my chest surges. The air shifts, the temperature dropping as an invisible wave ripples through the room.
Everyone freezes. Even Remi and River lose their smiles, genuinely intrigued. Darius leans forward slightly as if preparing to catch me or remove me from the situation entirely if I need it. Maverick, ever the calm one, watches me with narrowed eyes, his head tilted like he’s analyzing the very essence of my soul.
Mateo is the only one who moves. Slowly, carefully, he stands and pulls me back into his lap, his hands firm but gentle as they settle on my waist. His touch is like an anchor, dragging me back from the edge. He nuzzles against my cheek, waiting for my body to respond to my Alpha. “Did you feel that, princess?” he murmurs as his breath brushes against my cheek, sending a shiver down my spine.
I blink, the heat in my chest dimming just enough for me to breathe. “Feel what?”
“The power,” he says, his fingers tracing soothing circles on my hip. “When you growled. It felt like…” He pauses, searching for the right words. “Like when I claimed you.”
“That’s not possible,” I whisper and yet, somehow I know it’s true. My bonds are strong with confusion, fear, but also something else.
Reverence.
Looking around the room, there’s respect and love in each of their gazes, their heads slightly bowed as if silently telling me that I’m the true center of this pack. Mateo keeps his hands firmly on my waist, anchoring me to reality as I finally let my Omega take over and curl into his chest. “I don’t know what that was, Mateo. It just… I was so fucking angry. I’m not some pawn in someone’s master plan. Fate or otherwise.”
“For the record, sweetheart,” River offers, “just because someone has laid out an extravagant life plan, that doesn’t mean you have to follow it.” Remi playfully smacks his chest, dragging the Alpha into a kiss. My body heats in an entirely different way this time before Asani clears his throat, ruining the moment.
Remi turns and grins at the rest of us before resituating beside River. “Just making sure he didn’t keep digging himself into a hole but he’s right, Nepheline. You choose where this goes. Not Fate. Not Mother Nature. Not even the Sapphire wolves.Youchoose your next steps and we’ll be right there with you.”
It sounds nice in theory but I think following my lead would be an even worse fate. After all, the moment my entire family died, my first thought was to avenge them as one of the only Omega shifters left. And then, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to take a drug that altered my genetic chemistry. Maybe I’m not the best to lead at all.
My thoughts are interrupted by a sharp, cold feeling slicing through my chest like a blade. It feels like despair, so thick and raw that I choke on it. My brows furrow as I search for the source, my body stiffening in response. Darius notices immediately as he reaches over to squeeze my thigh. “What’s wrong, Bambi?”
I don’t answer. I can’t. My gaze shifts to Maverick and my stomach churns. His face has gone pale, almost ghostly, his lips parted as his chest heaves. His eyes roll back, leaving nothing but white.
“No,” I whisper, my voice trembling.
Everyone else notices at the same time. Mateo’s arms drop from around me as I scramble off his lap, but Maverick’s already sitting up, his body rigid.
And then the words start.
“A dark forest,” he says, his voice hollow, like it doesn’t belong to him. “A blood-red moon. A faceless figure standing at the edge of it all.”
The air in the room feels heavy, thick with something ancient and unfamiliar. My heart hammers against my ribs as I move closer to Maverick, but he doesn’t see me. He doesn’t see any of us.
“The magic of the packlands,” he continues, his voice rising. “It depends on the birth of something new. Something that has never yet existed.”
Blood trickles from his nose, a thin red line against his pale skin. My stomach lurches and before I can reach him, his body slumps forward.
“Maverick!” I scream, rushing to him as he collapses against the couch.