Page 20 of The Barren Luna

“Oh that is wonderful news, how is my grandpup?” the old female beamed with happiness at the news. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

“He’s not mine, mother.”

“What?!” She screeched.

“Yes, turns out your son has trouble impregnating females, so this one turned to someone else to do it for him. This situation that you so subtly manipulated me into didn't work out for either of us,” he pushed her aside and entered her house. I followed, eagerly anticipating the next installment of this family drama.

“Henry, dear, I never did any such thing. Can’t a mother simply talk to her son about his life?”

“I don’t think a mother should be burdening her son with sob stories of how difficult not having pups for so long was for her, how she almost wished someone would give her a pup to raise instead of all those fruitless attempts – what do you think, Calum?”

“I think it borders on inappropriate, Alpha,” I said.

He hummed thoughtfully.

“She actually told me she would have been happy if my father had taken a concubine. She convinced me that, with time, Ginny would be too. That, once we had our pup, everything could go back to the way it used to be. She said I was only torturing my mate by trying to get something from her she wasn’t capable of giving me. I was such a fool,” he sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. His mother stepped closer to him and tried putting her hand on his head but he recoiled from her touch and jumped up angrily.

“You vile old hag, you ruined the best thing that ever happened to me with your poison! I hate you, I’ll never forgive you!”

“Henry, I was just doing what I thought was in your best interest,” his mother cried.

“Being happy wasn’t? Being with my mate wasn’t?”

“She wasn’t good enough for you, Henry; she always acted like she was better than everyone. Let’s not forget she tried killing what she thought was your pup!”

“She didn’t, those were all lies. Everything, all of this, the whole thing was one big fat lie. Ginny is the only truth of my life.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Get out of my sight, Mother; I never want to see you again. I will not banish you out of respect to my father’s memory but you better make sure you spend most of the year visiting your sisters. You can start today. I will have a car ready to take you to aunt Eliza’s pack later this morning,” uponhearing his words I looked out the window and saw that the Sun was slowly rising outside. It was Christmas Day.

“Henry, you can’t -” he slammed the door shut, and we both walked away in silence without hearing any more of her pleas.

“I have to get her back, Calum,” he finally spoke when we arrived at the dungeon. “She’s my mate, she’ll have to forgive me,” he said, more for his sake than mine.

“I just wanted to have a family with her, I just wanted to be a father, but I managed to ruin everything in the process. She was happy, Calum, and I – I ruined her.”

He then straightened his shoulders and assumed a pose I knew only too well. It was one I’d seen countless times during negotiations with other packs. It signaled that he wouldn’t back down.

“I’m going to make it up to her. We had three great years, we are mates, I will make her happy again. My mate will be by my side and things will go back to the way they were,” he muttered the last sentence as he turned his back on me to go enter the dungeon. Despite the gory deaths I’d witnessed last night, it was only now that I felt true fear.

I quickly snuck into his office using my spare key and took the tin box out of the wall safe. I grit my teeth while suffering the electric impulses emitted by the device while I dialed the number for the Royal Court. I needed them to expedite our complaint, as things had just gotten way worse.

10 - Ginny

Islowly lifted my heavy eyelids and, to my horror, found myself in the bedroom I used to share with Henry a lifetime ago. I looked down at my body and found it clean and dressed in clothes that didn't fit it right anymore. A female entered, an Omega I vaguely remembered, and she was startled to see me awake.

“Hello, Luna, how are you feeling?”

“Confused. What am I doing here? Who dressed me?”

“I did. The Alpha brought you in this morning and left you in my care. Doctor Warren also came by to check up on you. I brought you some food,” she nodded her head at the tray she was holding.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Alpha’s orders,” she looked away, clearly uncomfortable. “It’s mostly broth anyway. Please try to eat, Luna.”

I wondered whether she was as afraid of my mate as I was. I sat up and motioned for her to bring the broth over. I ate several spoons of the thick, rich broth before I had to stop. It was too much too soon.

“What’s your name?”

“Jessie, Luna.”

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