Page 24 of Chasing Luna
“Why were you loitering around my territory?” My grandmother’s voice hardens, clearly irritated.
“Again, I have no idea how I got here.”
“I find it quite unbelievable that on the day one of my granddaughters gets killed, an Alpha shows up on my property as well. Is it a coincidence? Are you here to take another one away from me?” She slams her fist on her armchair.
Gregory’s eyes flicker to mine. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He stares at my grandmother. My grandmother waves a hand in front of Katarina, and Katarina stands in front of him. With a flick of her wrist, flames travel from her hands to Gregory’s body, engulfing him in flames.
I ball my hands into fists and stop the urge to call out my sister’s cruelty.Anything I do or say right now will be taken against him. Against the both of us. The fire completely covers Gregory’s body, but there’s not a single singe or burn mark on him. As if the flames are illusionary, like the heat is all in his head.
This is the first time I’ve seen my sister’s actual power. If Katya can heal, Katarina seems like she can… destroy. Gregory bites his lips from crying out for mercy.
“Answer honestly, and this will be all over soon,” Katarina coldly states.
“I’m telling you,” Gregory spits out in between gasps, “the truth. I have no idea what the… hell you’re talking about!” he yells.
The flames disappear and Katarina joins us after. “I don’t think he’s lying,” she tells my grandmother.
Oh, he’s one hell of an actor. I smile to myself. Gregory collapses on the floor, hands roaming all over his toned, bare body, checking for any injuries. He flips back on all fours and kneels again once he’s gotten his bearings back.
“Take him to the basement. Keep him there until we know what to do with him.” Two armed guards take him out of the room almost immediately. “An Alpha’s scent. Quite a strong one, too. I’ve never heard of an Alpha going rogue before,” my grandmother muses out loud. “In any case, find any clue if his pack is anywhere near us. Or anything connecting him to Katya’s murder.” I grow livid at the reminder. “No one will come down the basement without my knowledge. Am I understood?” Her constituents bow their heads in compliance. “Isabela, meet me in my chambers later.” With that, my grandmother leaves the room first.
Katarina is on my side in an instant. “I can sense that you’re very curious about our new visitor, but I don’t trust him. Isabela, do not meet him alone, okay?”
“What makes you think I’m going to go see him?” My voice rises a couple of octaves higher.
“Because you’re my sister and I know you.” Katarina grins, holding me close to her. “I won’t tell grandmother, of course. Just be careful, I guess.” She lets me go and gestures for her own guards to follow her.
A few hours after Gregory got caught, I finally make my way to my grandmother’s room all the way to the west wing, while trying to prepare myself mentally for whatever my grandmother will inevitably ask of me. Images of Gregory’s pained expression flash in my mind, and all I can feel right now is anxiety over the uncertainty of his future here.
I knock three times on a heavy wooden door. I turn the doorknob and peer inside. “Isabela.” My grandmother’s icy eyes bore into mine.
“Yes, Queen Mother?” She points to a chair in front of her and I hastily sit down.
“As the heir to the crown, I need you to prove your loyalty to me, to the pack.” I nod slowly, making no move to interrupt her. “I need to know that you’re willing to bear your fangs and your all to protect us. I need to bring out the fighter in you.” She smiles, and I immediately grow distrustful of her words. “In life, the strongest survive. And in our life, the strong must know how to take a life.”
I don’t like this conversation already.
“You should know that an Alpha who goes rogue is no use to anyone. He’s no better than a lone wolf, no matter how strong he is. And I am certainly not going to keep that man around in case he has other… friends looking for him.”
Where is this going?“What do you mean, Queen Mother?”
She caresses my face gently with her cold hands. “You will show us all the might and fierceness of the Raging Demons pack. Show to us all the strength of the new Queen by sacrificing that man’s life to the demon wolf spirits, on the day of your eighteenth birthday.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Dark Moon pack will cease to exist if that happens.
“Am I understood, Isabela?” My grandmother leans on her elbows, eyes cold and unfeeling.
I take a quick, deep breath to steady my voice. “I will, Queen Mother. You can count on me,” I tell her with as much conviction as I can muster.
“I’m glad we see eye to eye this time. You may go,” she points to the door and it swings open on its own, “oh, and Isabela?” I turn to face her, and as soon as I do her smile turns malicious. “Stay out of trouble.”
“Of course, Queen Mother.” I bow my head slightly and head out the door.
I need to see Gregory, fast,I think to myself as I hurry back to my room. “Holy shit.” My hands shake as I absorb what my grandmother told me. “This can’t be real. There has to be a way out of this.” Feeling sick to my stomach, I run to my bathroom and promptly spew the contents of my stomach.She’s evil. She’s absolutely vile. I splash water all over my face, sobering up. I trudge back to my bed, reeling over the events of this God-awful day.Katya’s murderer is still on the loose; there’s a traitor in our midst, and now Gregory is here and he’s probably going to die. I breathe slowly in an attempt to calm myself down. Katya’s death only brought back memories of my mother’s slow descent into madness, and the futile attempts to bring her back to “normal.” A knock on my door grounds me to reality again. “Who is it?”
“It’s me.” Eliza walks in and closes the door behind her. “I just wanted to see how you’re doing?” She situates herself on the floor beside my bed. We sit in silence, in the dark before I decide to answer her.