Chapter 68

(Earlier).

The Luna was tied with her arms behind her in as tight of a knot as I could create from a bathrobe tie. She did manage to get a kick in as I worked on her feet before I dragged her to the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out to the ground floor of the new gardens.

She was spitting a string of profanities and threats, but it was easy to ignore her.

Well done - Aksala praised me as I stood to admire my work.

She only needed to be held down for a few minutes, though.

“Someone will come; someone will hear me!” her voice was panicked now, and I reveled in it. Finally, the fear settled in with knowing what would happen to her. I was worried I wouldn’t get the satisfaction.

“They won’t, though,” I responded. “Soundproof walls.” I glanced around for show. “The building plans are not kept well protected,” I explained. “Also, your pervy sons would go on about how no one would hear me scream.” I tugged my lips into a brilliant smile.

“Isn’t this just poetic?” I asked her.

I think it is - Aksala agreed.

I knew you would.

I fished into my pouch and gingerly procured my weapon of choice. I personally thought it was bordering on brilliant.

“You know what this is?” I asked her, fisting the cool iron.

Her eyes widened. “No, no,” she pleaded, wiggling against her binding; it was a delicious sight. She looked like what she was: a trapped worm. “You’ll kill us both!” she tried.

I shook my head gently.

“It’s finally time for you to use your mouth for something good as opposed to complaining and spouting out your ignorant views.”

I knelt in front of her. “Open wide, Luna,” I commanded.

She clamped down on her mouth and shook her head, tears streaming down her face. I wiped them away with my thumb. “There, there, you’ll soon be with your sons. And I’m sending your mate to meet you shortly,” I told her gently.

“Either I walk away and throw this back, or you open up and have a chance at your own survival,” I mused, looking at the grenade I held between us. I wasn’t exactly lying; this would give her some time, but I didn’t know exactly how long.

She shook her head some more, and I sighed. “I have a funeral to be going to… your mates,” I added.

“No,” she sobbed.

“You know how this works?” I asked. She shook her head, her eyes darting everywhere but me. “I pull the pin, and it's active. When I remove my hand from this lever, this trigger right here.” I pointed at it. “It detonates a few seconds later.” I looked at it lovingly.

She went to say something, opening her mouth into almost a scream, and I thrust it into her mouth, but she fought against it.

“Too late,” I said. “Stop moving, or you’ll kill yourself.” She stilled, and her lips wrapped around the grenade, holding it tight. “Good,” I patted her cheek.

I pulled the pin out slightly awkwardly. “Drop it, and you die,” I reminded her.

I stood and fished around in my pouch, pulling out one of the injections I filled this morning. I looked at it and back at her as if deciding something.

I knelt by her feet and injected her near her bare ankle before standing and brushing off my hands on my dress.

“You won’t have a choice soon, though,” I told her. “See?” I held the needle up before putting the cap back on. “This is a paralysis. It will slowly work your way through your system until your entire body becomes slack.”

I threw it behind her to get it out of the way. “Your mouth will become slack too and...” I shrugged.

Silent wracked through her, shaking her, but she held the grenade tight, blackened tears streaming down her face.

“As much as I would love to stay and chat to get some semblance of reasoning as to why you backed a murderer, even if he was your mate. Then, tormented an innocent orphaned child, I know that you will have nothing but lies.”

I had long accepted that there was no explanation, that some people just reveled in cruelty, some wanted power without earning it, to make others smaller to feel bigger.

I turned to the door and looked back at her one last time filled with satisfaction at the scene I set before me.

“Besides, you’re not very chatty at the moment.” I shrugged and slipped out.

(Present)

Silence rang, deafening against the loud sound. Or maybe it was my blood-filled adrenaline.

Raymond’s face twisted and contorted, and he let out an inhumane scream, piercing through that blanket of quiet.

It was a sound that I never wanted to forget; it was his sweet, musical sorrow.

That scream of pure agony was one that only a few were unfortunate enough to understand. I was one of them; it called to me, I knew it well. But this time, it didn’t rip from me; it was the sound of justice, the song of raw pain I had been waiting for from my captor.

I closed my eyes, goosebumps pebbled my skin, and I reveled in his misery.

Slowly, people edged closer. I didn’t move from where I stood over him, my dress billowing in the wind.

Warriors left and returned, and only then did Raymond look up at me wide-eyed and point a feeble finger at me.

I smiled down at him and forced myself to pull back enough mentally to assess what was being said.

Although it was perfect timing for me, there might have been some repercussions I had not planned for, and those started to creep into the edges of my mind.

I looked for Ezra, and his mismatched eyes were already on me, but his face gave nothing away. He didn’t even pull back his mercenary stare for a moment, and I knew everything was okay.

The Elder was talking to the werecats. Nova was promising that they had nothing to do with it. Shit. The warriors were buzzing back and forth, seeming unsure of what to do, especially with their Alpha down, so they started to converge around Ezra.

“It’s the Luna,” one of them whispered far enough away Raymond wouldn’t have been able to hear. “Or what’s left of her.”

“Tell the others to run constant patrols and report back on anything that might even be out of place,” Ezra’s voice rumbled with his steady confidence, sending a shiver through me. “Half of you go to the new wing and the others to the old. I want the place evacuated,” he stated.

A bigger crowd would be nice.

The warriors paused when they passed Nolan, but Nolan nodded deeply in confirmation, his face etched in grief before he went to stand by Ezra. I did feel bad for him, but not enough to stop what was going to happen next.

Ezra caught my eye and his were bright.

He is perfect - Aksala purred.

I wanted to ask her why she wasn’t pressed for me to wait for our mate. I hadn’t thought about that before. I only agreed with her, but now wasn’t the time.

I think this might work in our favor - I admitted - As long as the werecats aren’t blamed.

The other Alphas and Lunas were huddling together, looking confused.

“They promised they wouldn’t attack.” Alpha Jameson came forward, the one who did not back me in the end, and pointed a finger at the werecats. “They broke that promise. I say we end them.”

“They said they have our packs surrounded. Should we send our warriors out to meet them?” An Alpha mused to another.

“They came in here and threatened us, threatened our packs, and now they have killed The Luna,” Alpha Jameson spoke to the crowd. Their murmurs were getting louder, and they were sounding angrier.

I looked toward The Elder who was looking between Nova and Alpha Jameson, but he didn’t seem as cool or friendly as he did earlier.

Nova’s golden charcoal-lined eyes met mine in a silent plea. “We did not do that,” Nova said. Her voice was clear, but it seemed to waver slightly for the first time since she arrived. The werecats behind her shifted and looked at each other.

“Then who did?” Alpha Jameson asked, turning slowly back to her. “Who put a bomb or whatever the fuck that was in this pack?” His smile was slimy.

“I did,” I said loudly.

The Elder, Nova, and Alpha Jameson turned to me with wide eyes. But I was more surprised at myself than anything else.