Page 17 of The Barren Luna

“The Alpha was adamant that the pup be protected,” I said simply, and Zeke nodded, knowing firsthand how both Alpha males and first-time fathers could be.

“Well, I agree with him, don’t you, son?” Julius looked startled by the question but quickly composed himself.

“Absolutely. Our Hannah banana needs to be safe,” he smiled at his sister and briefly squeezed her hand.

???

“Calum, please tell me you’ve seen her.”

I could see that my mate had been crying, and I hated it.

“No, firefly, he won’t let anyone see her. I’m sorry. I got updates from one of the guards, though.”

“How is she?”

For the first time in my life, I cursed the bond between us because I knew she could sense my sadness.

“She’s suffering. Both physically and emotionally. I’m sorry, little firefly.”

“What is happening to the Alpha, why is he doing this to her? For heaven’s sake, he killed Dorothy, he is completely insane - ”

I covered her mouth with my hand and stepped closer.

“I know, my love. He is,” I said quietly into her ear. “Which is why it is of utmost importance not to provoke him. He is an Alpha wolf whose pup has been targeted, and combined with what Liam told me tonight about his extracurricular activities, he’s been abusing wolfsbane for a long time, so his wolf has been unstable for a while now. I don’t want us to do or say anything that could endanger you or Nora and Declan.”

“But Calum -,” my softhearted mate protested, but my heart was soft only for my family.

“We will do everything we can for her, but we won’t endanger our own lives. I’m sorry, Lucy, there is no one in the world I love more than you, and I will not pretend otherwise.”

She put her forehead on my chest, and for a brief moment, all was right in the world.

???

The following months were hell for the entire pack. I had a lot of time to think, and I concluded that from the moment our Elders and leadership agreed on breeding a concubine, the pack had been heading towards damnation. The biggest blow was when the Luna stopped doing the duties she had taken upon herself, and things started falling through the cracks all over the place. The female single-handedly ran the hospital and kitchen administration and did a lot of the work for the school board and individual pack members who had no family. The absence of her care was felt by everyone and my mate took great satisfaction from it.

“Those ungrateful assholes. All these years, they took her for granted, called her barren behind her back, and complained about the pack not having an heir. They can all eat shit now!”

“Language, firefly. We wouldn’t want Nora to tell someone in school to eat s-h-i-t now, would we?”

She just grinned at me and shrugged.

“We would if they deserved it. Anyways, I took Declan for his check-up yesterday, and they were out of tongue depressors at the hospital, can you believe that? I don’t know how this pack managed before Ginny got mated to that a-,” I covered her mouth with my hand again and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, the old Alpha did a lot of the accounting work himself, he said he enjoyed it. Former Luna Catherine took care of the schools, and I believe Zeke was in charge of the kitchens and the vendors. That’s how he met Corrinne after his mate died.”

“Don’t even get me started on that trashy family. Can you imagine being so power-hungry that you allow Nora to become the breeder of a mated man?” she shuddered with disgust and I felt the same at the thought of my wonderful, curious, lively daughter striving towards something like that.

Lucy was unstoppable:

“And while I was at the visit, one of the nurses told me how the former Luna was going around the pack, telling everyone how Ginny went off the rails and tried killing the heir to the pack!”

I was stunned at the news. I didn’t think that the Alpha knew about the smear campaign this mother was conducting against his mate.

“I can’t believe her,” I exclaimed angrily, annoyed at the older female who always tried to tell me how to do my job.

“I can. She was always such a snake to Ginny. Who she should be worrying about is her unhinged son. The same nurse told me how he’s been yelling at people and throwing stuff in the dining hall.”

Those nurses were definitely in the know, and I made a mental note to myself to use them in future information-gathering operations.

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