Page 32 of The Wolf Moon

“You will stay here. I’m sure you heard last night. The Mother’s blessing has returned. I must travel to the other packs and ensure your Goddesses haven’t caused complete chaos. And to make sure the packs will-” He paused, almost having said something more than he intended. I lifted myself up on my elbows, my suspicion overriding my need to remain far away from him.

“Will what? Continue not to worship your Goddesses? Afraid they may end up having second thoughts now that they’re given their mates? Afraid they might make the connection that the only reason they’re not in the Goddesses graces is because of you-” A deep anger ripped through Roman so quickly that I found myself flattened to the ground breathlessly by it.

“You think you know everything, Mila,” Roman growled, lowering himself intimidatingly. “What could I have possibly done that would require a death sentence on all of the lycanthrope kind? I just did to the humans what they wanted to do to us. I refused to be locked in a coffin underground. And I banished a bunch of useless oracles. The rest of the packs followed the foolish Goddesses up until their curse fell on us. Only then did they turn away.”

“What came first, Roman? The curse… or your world ending plan for the humans?” I whispered the last part almost fearfully, afraid of that anger heating within him uncontrollably. I was frozen underneath him, but I continued to glare at him steely, tensing under the heat of his rising rage.

“It doesn’t matter now, does it? You should have begged me to let you die. Now you’ll be lucky enough to see what will happen to the humans, including your pathetic family,” Roman growled furiously. I widened my eyes with the mention of my family, a fear entering my soul at the realization that despite everything it was very clear that whatever doom Cynthia had warned me of was still coming and it would take my family with it. Roman punched the ground beside me with sudden frustration, pushing himself away from me and disappearing with seething anger.

Fifteen

Chapter 14

The ground rules went as follows:

While Roman was gone, I was under the care of Beta Caleb who was the acting Alpha until Roman returned. I was to listen to every demand given to me by Beta Caleb. I was to live under the same house as Beta Caleb. I was not allowed to be out of sight of Beta Caleb. If Beta Caleb saw fit, I was to be locked up accordingly.

While Roman was gone, I was not to talk about the fact that I was his mate to anyone in the pack. I was not to demand submission from anyone in his pack. I was not the Luna, the Queen Luna, nor a member of said pack. Therefore, I was not to participate in any pack activity, including matches.

While Roman was gone, I was not to participate in any oracle nonsense or any nonsense to do with the Goddesses in general. This included any witchy water stuff, visions, and temples. I was also not to mention any of said nonsense to anyone.

While Roman was gone, I was not allowed to be touched by anyone. This included in any nefarious or tender way. I was not to be harmed or loved in either measure. After all, I was his mate. This meant no other wolf or human was allowed to find comfort in my arms. And this meant no other was allowed to try to kill me, besides Roman himself of course.

Were the rules clear? Yes. Was I going to abide by them? Probably not.

I sat in the general living room of Beta Caleb’s house, my arms and legs crossed defensively as I glared at my environment with displeasure. I had been in this house before with Diana, the nurse wolf with a knack for archery. However, she hadn’t appeared since Roman left me here, so I was stuck glaring at the form of Beta Caleb who merely played with a blade absently.

“You can stop looking at me like that at any time now,” Caleb said absently to me, a tone of warning behind his words. I only uncrossed my legs, crossed them again, and narrowed my eyes further as I glared at him.

“The last time I saw you, you locked me in an abandoned temple,” I accused him with obvious distaste. Caleb shrugged halfheartedly, lifting his head to sniff the air silently.

“You got out, didn’t you? And you left a bloody mess in my bathroom. I assumed we were even,” He replied with a smirk, “I could smell you all over the place. Then again, Diana always had a thing for bringing home strays.”

I continued to glare at him in anger.

“Is it still called straying if you’re kidnapped and nearly murdered?”

“I didn’t pick you out from that village. And I already told you I didn’t hunt you either. You’re angry at the wrong wolf, girl,” Caleb stated in a sing-song tone.

“I’ll remember that when I’m dreaming about you attacking my crying family members for trying to save me,” I snapped back at him. “Roman is gone now. You can just let me go do whatever. It’s not like I even have the slightest idea of which direction my village is in anyway.”

Caleb paused and leaned forward slightly, peering at me carefully. His dark blue eyes were unnerving if only for a moment while he inspected me. Then he leaned back with a look of satisfaction.

“First of all, it would be suicide to even consider disobeying the King Alpha. Secondly, I have absolutely no doubt that you know which direction your village is in,” Caleb announced easily, twirling the blade in his grip with amusement. “I was an idiot to let you keep that blade for the hunt. I had no idea you’d actually know how to use it. Even though I knew you weren’t the typical human girl. Who shows up to a selection covered in blood? It’s like seasoning yourself for us.”

“I thought it might intimidate you,” I muttered sarcastically.

“You were shaking like a leaf. Intimidating,” Caleb laughed briefly.

The front door opened, interrupting a conversation that was only growing to irritate me. A woman who was undeniably Diana entered with ease. She turned to greet Caleb and paused before a word came out when spotting me. Her eyes moved from my defensive and angry form to Caleb’s relaxed form to the blade in his hand.

“Goddess, Caleb. Put that thing away, please,” Diana scolded him with a huff of breath. Caleb rolled his eyes but did as she asked and sheathed the blade at last. She then walked towards me, bending down to give me a rather warm hug. I blinked in surprise. “When did you get here?”

“I’m Beta Caleb’s prisoner until Alpha Roman comes back,” I sneered with irritation.

“Prisoner? That’s ridiculous. You can be our guest,” Diana answered with confidence.

“Diana, you can’t just-” Caleb began with a tone of exasperation.

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