Page 19 of The Barren Luna

“This is not our pup,” his voice was now like the growl of his wolf, barely intelligible due to the completely elongated canines in his mouth. “I can smell he’s not mine, and he’s no Alpha.”

He then thrust the pup violently at the nurse closest to him and I flinched. Hopefully there would be no lasting damage to the innocent pup. He then grabbed Hannah by the hair and started dragging her out of the room, leaving a trail of blood behind her. I had no choice but to follow, still somewhat in shock.

The few pack members we passed all stared at their Alpha dragging a still-pregnant-looking bleeding female in a hospital gown through the streets by her hair. Once we finally made it to the pack house, he threw her on the floor and commanded her: “Tell the truth.” She gasped at the strength of the command or from the pain of it.

“Whose pup is that?”

“Julius’,” she ground out, clearly trying and failing to keep the words from falling out.

“Your stepbrother?” I interjected, incredulous. “How long has that been going on? Are you mates?”

I shot the Alpha an apologetic look but he just turned to Hannah for her answer.

“We’ve always been together, ever since I was 14. Neither of us found our mate in the pack when we first shifted, and then we made sure never to leave so we didn’t stumble upon them. He is my one true love even though we’re not mates, I don’t care what anyone says,” she stared at me defiantly, clearly aware at this point that she would not make it out of this alive.

The Alpha yelled for a guard, who he then instructed to bring Julius to us.

“I figure the happy family deserves a reunion, don’t you think?” When I didn’t respond, he turned back to Hannah, “Why did you volunteer for the concubine position?”

“Julius thought it would give us more power.”

“Tell me everything,” he commanded her again and she whimpered.

“Julius wanted to improve our position in the pack, maybe become Gamma. At first, we kept our distance from each other, I truly wanted to bear your pup,” I glanced at Henry after she said that and I saw a flash of pain briefly cross his cruel expression, “but after the first failed heat, he got impatient, so the next time, I informed you that my heat started before it really did. I faked it for three days, and only spent the first day of my actual heat with you. Then I went to Julius. You couldn’t tell the difference in my scent because of the wolfsbane you were taking, which also prevented you from smelling Julius on me.”

“What about Ginny?” he asked almost inaudibly and she hesitated for as long as the command allowed it.

“Since the pup wasn’t yours and it was only a matter of time before you found out, we hatched a plan to get rid of both her and the pup. Julius went to your house and told her she was being expected in your office, but I intercepted her and screamed before hurling myself down the stairs. The idea was that you’d kill her in a fit of rage, and I would simply never get pregnant again because of the alleged internal scarring I’d suffered during the miscarriage. But I hoped you’d either keep me around out of guilt or you’d reward my family for my suffering, both of which would give Julius what he's always wanted.”

Just then, the guard dragged a disheveled Julius in and unceremoniously dumped him on the floor. He had clearly been somewhere celebrating the birth of his pup.

“I hear congratulations are in order, it’s a male,” the Alpha told him while he got up to stand. “Don’t move.”

Julius remained frozen on his feet. Only his eyes darted from the Alpha to me and then to a bloody Hannah on the floor behind the Alpha. I could pinpoint the exact moment when understanding, and then immediately after that, resignation flashed in his eyes.

“Your lover here,” Henry spat the word with disgust, “has informed us about the little scheme you two had going. I admit I have only myself to blame for falling for it, for being blinded by my desire for progeny so much that I took her word over my mate’s,” he seemed to be choking on his own words, “but that will not prevent me from taking out my anger on the two of you.”

He slowly unbuckled Julius’ pants while staring him in the eyes. “So you are the one who led my Luna to her demise,” he growled. “I think that deserves an especially creative punishment.”

He then removed a silver knife from Julius’ sheath, which he first held up to show him, before slowly slicing his dick off as he screamed in pain. I flinched in solidarity with the male, and I heard Hannah gasp. Henry then dangled the limp appendage in front of Julius’ eyes as the male got paler and paler from the blood loss.

“I imagine this is the same knife you used to cut my mate, isn’t it, Hannah?” he asked darkly and she whispered ayes.

“How poetic. Eye for an eye, Hannah. This is what you wanted, isn’t it, you cock-hungry whore,” he asked her while showing her the piece of flesh in his hand. “Well, you got it. Open wide.”

We both stared at him in horror, the long-forgotten guard and I, while Hannah squeezed her eyes shut and was chantingno, no, please no.

Henry was merciless.

“Look at it,” he commanded. “Open your mouth.”

If he continued commanding her at this rate, her brain would soon turn to mush. I wanted to look away but couldn’t, and I watched with a sick fascination while my Alpha stuffed Hannah’s dying lover’s dead dick down her throat, enjoying her suffocation before he took her skull between his hands, kissed her forehead roughly, and then applied pressure to her skull until it smashed into smithereens. He then just stood there, covered in bits of skull and brain, while her dead body lay at his feet. All that could be heard was Julius sobbing while he was bleeding out.

“Wait until he’s dead, then burn both of them,” he told the guard and motioned for me to follow him. I quickly realized we were heading towards his mother’s house. She opened the door, startled by his pounding on it, and her eyes widened when she saw the state he was in.

“Henry, what on Earth -”

“Hannah gave birth tonight, mother.”

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