Page 6 of His Found Lycan Luna

“Don’t say that,” I whisper. Anything but that, she can’t wish for that. This was supposed to be a fresh start.

“I think it’s a good wish,” Clarice says, glancing at me, startled.

“Not where we come from. The only freedom rogues get is in death,” I tell her. I knew precisely what Ivy meant by those words. Clarice stares at her, shocked before grabbing her face in her hands.

“You wish for anything but that. Do you hear me? I will not watch my queen die. I have buried enough of them,” Clarice says before stalking out. I watch her go before turning back to Ivy.

“I wish I could stay to see you shift,” I tell her, and she nods. Glancing around, I see that this place is cold and lonely. Ivy stayed with me, not that she had a choice about being locked in the room with me, but I at least still had her by my side. I wonder if maybe I can convince Gannon to let me come down when her shift starts, so she won’t be alone.

“It’s not too bad. We have slept in worse places,” I tell her, glancing around, trying to uplift her mood, but I might as well have been trying to grasp air with how useless my attempts to cheer her up are. Maybe if I ask the king, he will allow it, or I could deliberately get myself in trouble and hope he kicks me out here with her.

“I will speak to Beta Damian. Perhaps he can convince the king to let me stay here with you,” I tell her, although my chances of even getting close to the king’s quarters to ask Beta Damian are slim. Ivy shakes her head.

“No, stay in the castle; you don’t need to be punished, too,” she tells me.

“Abbie, love, you need to go,” Gannon calls out softly, andembarrassment courses through me at his endearment, and I know my cheeks turn a little pink when Ivy looks at me questionably.

Leaning forward, I kiss her forehead and cheek. I don’t want to go. She doesn’t deserve to be out here with farm animals, but I would rather not ruin my chances at being allowed back.

“I will try to come back. If I don’t, I will tomorrow,” I tell her, rushing back to the door. I look up at Gannon as I pass him.

“I won’t leave her alone. Once she shifts, I will sneak her back into the castle,” Gannon tells me before reaching for a lock of my auburn hair. He twirls it around his finger and then clears his throat before nodding, and I rush out before he does anything else that I would have to explain to Ivy.

Liam is waiting for me when I return to the castle, and I head for the guards’ quarters, hoping to find Damian to see if he will grant me permission to stay with Ivy for the night. The thought of her shifting with no one but Gannon upsets me.

Climbing the stairs, it’s not long before I hear Liam’s footsteps rushing to keep up with me. Reaching the second-floor landing, I see Damian in the hall talking to one of the guards before he turns and goes toward the king’s chambers. Turning on my heel, I go to head down there, only for an arm to wrap around my waist and turn me in the opposite direction.

“Uh ah, can’t let you do that?,” Liam tells me, and I grit my teeth as he walks me toward the guards’ quarters.

I peer up over my shoulder at him as he keeps forcing me in the opposite direction. “Then can you ask Damian if I can stay with Ivy?” I ask him, and he sighs, steering me down the next corridor.

“Gannon is with her. She will be fine,” he says, and I stop.

“Abbie?” he says, and I shake my head, but he rolls his eyes, grips my wrist, and drags me along with him. I try to pull out of his grip, only for it to tighten.

“Abbie, if you go barging in there, you will only make things worse. Leave it be and trust that Gannon will look after her,” Liam scolds me as if I am some disobedient child. Truth be told, I don’tmind him. He seems okay, a little eccentric, but I know he cares deeply for Gannon and, unfortunately, the king, who currently is on my hate list.

“What if she gets cold down there?” I wonder aloud.

“Gannon sent guards to get firewood. Dustin will take her blankets. For now, you need to go to bed,” he says, stopping at my door. He opens it and motions for me to go inside. “In ya go, don’t make me tuck you in,” he warns me. Tears prick my eyes as I step toward my door.

“And don’t think of trying to sneak out. Gannon asked me to watch you. I will be right outside this door, Abbie. Trust me, you won’t get far,” he tells me, and I glare at him.

“But by all means try, I love me a game of cat and mouse, and I could use the entertainment,” he chuckles, shutting the door, and I sigh, moving toward my bed.

Chapter Four

After everyone leaves, I’m left alone inside the stables. My stomach sinks somewhere deep. And without Abbie here to take my mind away from this life of mine that always seems to fall on me in tatters. I feel nothing but grief. I grieve the happiness I felt momentarily, only to lose it just as quickly as I found it.

Peering around, I notice this place feels lonelier than the orphanage, lonelier than when I first came here, and was petrified about spending my first night away without Abbie. Rubbing my arms, a cold settles into my bones, and I pick at the cupcake that was brought down for me. I stare at the frosting, trying to imagine what the cake would have looked like. Yet, doing that saddens me further, and I lose my appetite to finish it.

Instead, I drag a bale of hay from one of the stalls when I hear the stable doors open. “What are you doing?” Dustin asks me, quickly rushing over to help me. “Where do you want it?”

I point to the small fire, and he grabs it, placing it close but not too close that it risks catching on fire. He steps aside, waiting for me to sit, but when I don’t, he watches me as I try to breakthe thick strings holding it together. He sighs heavily, leaning over me, and using his claws, he slices it. The strings fall away, and I grab a handful, spreading it out on the floor to try to make a bed.

“This is some bullshit,” Dustin mutters, and I wonder if I am about to get in trouble for ruining the bale that is obviously for the horses when he growls, shrugging off his jacket and his shirt.

“What are you doing?” I ask him when he grabs one of the horse blankets from the wall, too. He lays the blanket on top of the hay before rolling his shirt into a pillow for me. He then holds his jacket open for me. I step closer, and he slides it up one arm before I slip my other into the other hole.

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