Page 83 of Luna's New Reign
>>> But I already have,he taunts.
The First Alpha isn’t like anything I’ve fought before. He’s a monster in the truest sense—something not born of Mother Nature, but twisted by it. His form shifts and melts into the shadows around him, tendrils of darkness curling and striking like living things. Every movement feels wrong, like he’s bending the very fabric of the world to his will.
I’m fighting a ghost, a phantom that refuses to take solid form and it’s pissing me off.
My claws swipe through him, but it’s like trying to cut through smoke. He laughs, the sound a low, guttural rumble that echoes through the clearing. >>>You can’t touch me, Mateo, he taunts, his voice dripping with mockery. >>>I am the dark. I am everything that exists in the shadows of this land. And you? You’re just a wolf.
I growl, my teeth bared as I circle him. My wolf is raging, demanding we tear into him, but there’s nothing to tear into. Every strike I throw lands on nothingness, the shadows reforming before I can make a dent. He lashes out with one of those tendrils and it catches my side, burning like fire as it rakes across my skin.
I stumble, gritting my teeth against the pain as I right myself. >>>You’re not what nature intended, I snarl, my voice a dangerous growl. You’re an abomination.
He grins, his golden eyes gleaming with malicious delight. >>>And yet here I stand, he says, his voice smooth and confident. >>>Stronger than any Alpha. Stronger than you. Enzo had the right idea and I’ve perfected it.
He lunges, the shadows whipping around him like a storm. I brace myself, dodging one strike only to feel another sear across my back. The pain is sharp, burning deep into my flesh, but I don’t stop. I can’t. Nepheline’s face flashes in my mind—her midnight eyes, her soft laugh, the life growing inside her. I won’t let him take any of it away.
I charge him, my claws digging into the ground as I push forward. For a moment, I think I’ve got him. My claws sink into something solid and he lets out a low growl. But then the shadows twist and I’m thrown back like a rag doll, my body slamming into the ground with bone-jarring force.
>>> You’re out of your depth, Mateo,he says, his tone almost pitying. >>>You can’t win this. You can’t even touch me.
I push myself to my paws, blood dripping from my side as I glare at him. >>>You don’t know what you’re talking about, I spit, my voice laced with defiance. >>>I don’t need to win. I just need to stop you.
He laughs, the sound cold and hollow. >>>And what happens when you fall? What happens when your pack is left withoutits Alpha? Without its leader? Without you, Nepheline will have nothing.
>>> I’m not going anywhere, I growl. >>>She has her family, her pack, her mates.
He smirks, his golden eyes narrowing. >>>Not for long.
Before I can react, a tendril of shadow strikes out, piercing through my chest like a blade. The pain is instant and blinding, radiating from the wound and spreading through my body like fire. I gasp, my knees buckling as the world tilts around me.
He’s standing over me now, his grin widening as he watches me struggle. >>>The answer to my question, he says, his voice low and cruel, >>>is that when you leave an Omega with nothing, they crawl to the nearest safety net. Without you, that’d be me.
I choke on a breath, blood bubbling in my throat as I glare up at him. My vision blurs, but I force the words out, my voice a rasp. >>>Wrong, I croak. >>>She’s The Luna. She’ll never need you.
His grin falters, the confidence in his eyes dimming for just a moment. It’s enough.
The bond hums faintly, a warmth cutting through the cold as I let myself sink into it. Nepheline’s presence is there, steady and strong, a reminder of what I’m fighting for. I hold onto it as the world fades, my last thought a silent promise.
This isn’t over. Not yet.
39
NEPHELINE
The contractions are coming faster now, each one ripping through me with a force that feels like it’s tearing me apart. The doctor’s voice is a faint hum in the background, a calm that I can’t focus on because everything inside me is chaos.
“You’re doing great, Luna,” he says, but his words feel hollow against the storm raging in my chest.
Darius is at my side, holding my hand tightly as he murmurs soothing words, his steady presence grounding me just enough to stop me from spiraling. But then it hits—a sharp, unbearable pain in my chest that doesn’t belong to me.
It’s a different kind of agony, radiating through the bond, hot and searing, like a blade cutting through my very soul. I scream, clutching at my chest. “He’s dying!” I cry out, my voice cracking as tears blur my vision. “He’s fucking dying!”
The doctor rushes forward, his hands steady but urgent as he checks me. “Luna, you need to calm down,” he says firmly, but I can barely hear him over the roaring in my ears. “Your bloodpressure is spiking—if you don’t calm down, you’ll put yourself and the baby at risk.”
But I can’t. Ican’t.
Darius leans closer, his voice low and desperate. “What’s wrong?” he asks, his hand cupping my cheek as his wide, panicked eyes search mine. “Bambi, what’s happening?”
I turn to him, the tears streaming down my face as I sob, “It’s Mateo! He’s dying, Darius! I can feel it! He promised me—he fucking promised me he’d stay alive!”