LUNA ASTERBELLE'S POV
In the midst of my shifting, I stumbled upon my father, who was silently watching me from the other side of Jerome's house. My eyes twitched in wonder at how he managed to come all the way here from his own territories.
"Mr. Asterbelle, When do you plan to stop pestering me with my life? I'm no longer under your control, aren't I? It's not like I'm still the same kid that you took in from the orphanage, and neither am I still the same Luna who you used to think of as your only daughter," I said.
I approached him until we were only a few steps apart from one another. "I just wanted to witness you crumble into your despair, Luna Asterbelle," he replied, which made my thumping heart race even more. "In this full moon, you have my assurance that you won't survive the pain. Once you've died, your role here in this world is finished. There's no need for you to be resurrected," he added.
If only I could fight him, I would've done so a long time ago. But no matter what happens, he's still my father. I can't just go on and assault him as much as I want because of my own selfish reasons.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but let me tell you this as early as now." I crossed my arms below my chest. "Other than the reality where I'll be able to endure the pain that you speak of, you should also mark my words: I won't be succumbing to what you're assuming will occur later on," I rebutted with full confidence.
I completely have no idea where I got that confidence to talk back to my father, knowing that I can't even walk straight at this moment. Nevertheless, it would be best if I could make him watch the perfection in me shift.
Jerome grabbed my wrist, forcing me to look at him. His eyes flared with frustration. "What are you doing? Stop trying to provoke him; you’d get nowhere," he said in a soft voice, in an attempt to whisper to me, but his anger prevented him.
I sighed with a shrug, then pulled my arm away from his grasp. "This is none of your business, Jerome Dawson. Go back to your room and do whatever you—"
"How is this not my business?! My mate’s about to shift, and you’re telling me I shouldn’t bother?"
I was shocked by his sudden declaration that we were mates. He didn’t seem to be joking around, and even his breathing pattern tells me how serious he was. His crimson eyes were almost the same color as the night sky. My heart throbbed the instant that he grabbed me by my waist and pulled me closer to his body.
Everything about him was hard, literally. I can’t even read what he’s plotting or if he’s on my side or not.
"Enough with the chit-chat, Mr. Dawson. I already warned you before not to get close to my daughter ever again. How many times are you going to make me repeat myself?" Mr. Asterbelle intervened.
"I don’t give a damn whether it’s the moon goddess or an alpha—if Luna really turns out to be my mate, I would never let her get hurt any longer than what you made her go through. Stop acting like a righteous father when you couldn’t at least determine what makes her happy," Jerome replied without letting me go.
The best that I could do was to turn my head to glance at my father while seventy-five percent of my body was glued to Jerome.
However, I had to step back as much as I could when I felt the urge to bite his neck and suck on his blood. Jerome gave me a confused look, and I avoided making eye contact with him until I got away from him.
"Shit, this can’t be happening," I murmured to myself when I confirmed that I was about to shift anytime soon.
My thirst for blood just keeps on growing. My vision turned red as I searched for a possible animal to prey on, but there wasn’t a single animal in sight.
I couldn’t help myself from scratching my arms until they bled, thinking that my own blood would quench my thirst.
"F*ck!" I cursed as soon as I got a taste of my own blood.
It wasn’t as sweet as I expected; it was rather disgusting. Others’ blood didn’t taste like this; it’s way too bitter.
"Stop running away from your fate, Luna Asterbelle," said my father, who had already caught up to my speed. "If you still don’t shift with your wolf tonight, then you’re a total failure. There’s no other chance for you to shift other than this one," he added.
My blood boiled, and I felt like there was a vein in my forehead that almost popped. "Stop talking," I mumbled.
"What?"
"I said... stop talking!" I yelled, then jumped as high as I could.
My hands grabbed onto Mr. Asterbelle’s head, and just when I was about to take a bite on his neck, his entire body disappeared as if he wasn’t there in the first place. There wasn’t any trace of him there.
"Now you’re hiding?" I roamed my eyes around to make sure that Mr. Asterbelle really wasn’t here before I decided to go back to Jerome’s turf when I felt something odd. It’s quiet all over the place, unlike when I left it. "Jerome? Joseph? Where are you?"
I looked all around his turf, but they were both gone.
I gripped onto the thin fabric of my shirt as my heart began to get unstable, while my other hand was pulling some strands of my hair. The pain was getting inevitable for me, and I knew that there was no way out of this other than drinking anyone’s blood.
It doesn’t matter who
If I don’t have a taste of blood within the night, who knows what will happen to me later on?