Chapter 195: Vampire Luna

The cold morning breeze whipped through the tall trees as we put more and more distance between ourselves and the old hunter's secluded cabin. I kept my eyes locked straight ahead, my long, fast strides easily cutting through the dirt trail. Behind me, the steady, heavy sound of boots dragging against gravel reminded me that Ava was struggling to keep up. The massive backpack filled with heavy blood bags was weighing her down with every single step, but I didn't care enough to break my cold silence.

I remained completely lost in my own dark thoughts, my mind racing through everything that had happened over the past day. The burning agonizing pain of the human food, the overwhelming taste of the crimson blood, and the old man's annoying, knowing eyes kept flashing behind my eyelids.

I was walking so fast that I didn't even notice just how far behind me Ava had fallen. It was only when the sound of her heavy breathing vanished completely that I stopped and turned my head around. A sharp, mocking scoff escaped my lips when I saw her several yards back, her knees shaking as she bent over to catch her breath, clutching the heavy straps of her bag.

"Walk faster, will you?" I snapped, my raspy voice slicing through the quiet forest. "I don't have all day to stand around waiting for you."

Ava forced her legs to move, practically dragging her feet across the dirt until she finally managed to stumble over to where I was standing. Her face was flushed bright red, slick with a fine layer of sweat, and her chest heaved violently with every breath.

"Luna Amanda..." she panted, her voice trembling softly as she looked up at me with wide, desperate eyes. "Can we... can we please rest just for a little bit?"

I stared down at her with pure disgust, my upper lip curling back into a harsh sneer.

"Please?" she pleaded again, her lower lip trembling as she wrung her sweaty hands together.

"Fine," I grunted coldly, rolling my eyes as I dropped down to sit on a flat, mossy stone by the side of the trail.

Ava let out a long, ragged sigh of relief, unbuckling the chest strap of her heavy pack and letting the thick bag drop to the ground with a loud, heavy thud. She collapsed onto the dry grass right beside my feet, pulling her knees up to her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

I leaned my back against the rough bark of a pine tree, turning my head upward to stare blankly at the grey, cloudy sky peeking through the thick canopy above. The quiet surrounding us was suffocating, but I preferred it over having to listen to anyone talk.

After several long minutes of complete silence, Ava shifted uncomfortably on the ground. She turned her head toward me, her glossy brown eyes searching my hard, emotionless face.

"Luna Amanda..." she whispered softly, her voice carrying a fragile, delicate edge that broke the peace. "What you said back there at the table... was any of it really true?"

I didn't utter a single word in response. I kept my eyes fixed entirely on the floating clouds above, completely ignoring her presence as if she were nothing more than a ghost sitting in the grass.

Ava bit her bottom lip hard, fresh tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as she pushed herself up slightly. "Did you really mean every single word you screamed at me? That you were going to break my bones? That I am nothing more than a maid to you... and that you don't care about me at all?"

My jaw clenched tight, but I still refused to turn my head or acknowledge her.

"Is it really true, Luna Amanda?" she pressed on, her voice cracking as a single tear escaped and rolled down her pale cheek. "Do you truly not care about me? Do you really hate my guts?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to drown out the sound of her whimpering, but she just wouldn't stop. She kept calling my name over and over again, her shrill, trembling voice buzzing around my head like a relentless mosquito disturbing my ears. The sound was driving me completely out of my mind, poking at my raw, irritated temper until something deep inside me violently snapped.

"YES!" I roared, snapping my head toward her and screaming at the absolute top of my lungs. "Yes, every single word of it is completely true! So can you just shut the hell up?!"

Ava flinched violently as if I had physically slapped her across the face, her whole body trembling as she pulled back.

"You are just a pathetic maid to me!" I spat out, my dark eyes flashing with pure, unadulterated venom as I glared down at her. "I don't give a damn about you! I don't care about your feelings, I don't care about your tears, and no matter what you do for me, I am only using you for my own personal benefit and nothing else!"

I leaned down close to her face, my breathing heavy as my top lip twitched with rage. "And don't you dare talk anywhere near me again! Your annoying voice alone is giving me a pounding headache!"

All the color instantly drained from Ava's face. She turned deathly pale, as if every drop of life and warmth had been drained out of her skin in a single second. Her jaw hung slightly open, her wide eyes staring at me in absolute, soul-crushing horror. But despite the heavy tears streaming down her cheeks, she didn't say another word. She pulled her lips into a tight line, bowed her head low, and suffered in complete silence.

We sat there in that awful, suffocating quiet for about thirty agonizing minutes. The air between us felt heavier than lead, but I didn't care to fix it.

I pushed myself off the mossy stone, standing up straight and brushing the dirt off my trousers. "Let's keep going," I commanded coldly, not even bothering to look down at her.

Ava wiped her wet face quickly with the back of her sleeve, nodding her head without making eye contact. She struggled to push her weak body off the ground, her hands trembling violently as she reached down to hoist the massive, heavy backpack over her shoulders once again.

We started walking down the dirt path again, but within just a few minutes, I noticed she was dragging her feet even worse than before. She was walking so slowly, her knees buckling under the weight of the forty-five blood bags, that we were practically moving at a snail's pace.

I gritted my teeth in pure irritation, halting my steps in the middle of the trail. I hesitated for a brief second, my pride warring with my absolute desire to reach our destination before nightfall. With a frustrated growl, I turned back, marched up to her, and violently snatched the heavy, oversized backpack straight off her shoulders.

Ava gasped softly in surprise, her hands flying up, but she quickly dropped her gaze to the dirt, not daring to utter a single word of thanks.

With my restored hybrid strength, the heavy bag felt like nothing more than a feather in my hands. I slung it effortlessly over my broad shoulders and adjusted the straps, taking off down the path at a brisk, powerful pace. With the heavy load removed from her back, Ava was able to jog lightly to keep up with my long strides, and we covered the remaining miles through the dense forest in record time.

Before long, the thick trees began to thin out, revealing the familiar wooden boundary walls and iron gates of the pack territory standing tall in the distance.

We approached the main entrance, eager to finally step past the perimeter and get inside, but before our boots could even cross the boundary line, four heavily armed pack guards suddenly stepped out from the shadow of the wooden guard towers. They pulled their long iron spears from their sides, stepping directly into our path and bl

ocking the entrance completely.