The Wolf Moon: Friends to Lovers Wolf Shifter Romance

Chapter 25

Iwas in a prison cell. As I sat in the corner with my knees to my chest, holding myself in deep thought, I was reminded of the cell I had been held in the night of the Wolf Moon. This place was different. The door wasn’t made of bars, but rather solid steel. There was a barred window just above my own eye level and a smaller opening on the bottom for things like food to be handed to me.

At the top of one wall was a small squared opening, too small for even a child to get through, that allowed in a small ray of daylight. There was also a bed, however uncomfortable it may be, and in one corner a toilet and small sink. The cell itself was fairly cleaned, with no jagged rough edges in corners.

I supposed there would be a difference in how humans were imprisoned versus wolves. It was deadly quiet. I had already reached out, ever so carefully, to check the surroundings beyond the prison. The village wasn’t close and there weren’t even any wolves nearby to guard me.

Roman was being smart. Solitary was a good idea, being that he knew of my abilities. I wouldn’t be able to call on someone to free me. And with how the entire cell was built, I knew I wouldn’t have the strength to break myself out. All I could do was wait.

Despite the fact that I wasn’t in immediate danger any longer, I couldn’t help but feel the concern pulsing throughout me. I clenched my hands into fists, grinding my teeth together, and I wondered if Diana was still alive. Her blood was already dried on my legs and her screams of pain still echoed in my mind. She hadn’t deserved that.

I looked to my hand absently, her blood almost darkened to black in the shadows. I shouldn’t have given something as dangerous as a silver blade to a child. First Cynthia and now Diana… people who showed nothing but kindness to me and paid the price for it.

At some point during the day, someone brought me food and water, but left without a word. I wondered if it was Roman himself, but I didn’t dare drop that wall within me to check. After some more time passed, I finally gave in to my undaunted hunger and then used the sink to begin trying to clean my skin of the blood covering it.

When my mind couldn’t spin around the same thoughts and concerns any more than it already had, I finally slipped into a troubled sleep.

“Were you really the one who hurt Diana?” A voice jolted me upright on the steel bed in the night. My heart was immediately racing as I found Roman there, on one knee, beside the bed within the prison cell.

“Yes,” I lied, my voice cracking from sleep.

With him suddenly so near me, I felt flushed with surprised heat. It’d been awhile since I’d been able to see him so clearly, much less smell that intoxicating scent so heavily. I could feel a hint of anger stretching within him, but he was holding it back with difficulty.

“You lied,” He stated and I tensed with further surprise. I could feel him clearly which meant he could feel me as well. I immediately tried to build the wall that must’ve fallen when I fell asleep, but his beast reached into me dominatingly, tearing it down.

“Don’t,” I pleaded, “Just… it was me. Just accept it was me.”

“Who did it?” He ignored my plea.

“Roman,” I reached for him and he immediately gripped my wrists in his hands, holding me back firmly. His touch was like a flame in the night during a long cold winter. My heart was in my throat.

“I won’t let you take the blame for someone else’s mistake,” Roman said to me, his features softening ever so slightly before he tensed further to prevent himself from being distracted from what it was he felt he needed to do. “Who was it? A human?”

“Please,” I tried to build that wall again, but with his grip on me our connection remained entirely open. He couldn’t hide anything from me and I couldn’t hide anything from him.

“A human, yes?” Roman pressed firmly. I shook my head sharply, refusing to answer verbally in hopes that the truth wouldn’t be given away. I could feel the anger within him beginning to heat further despite my attempt to lie; that ancient anger that remembered the pain humans had put him through. “So, a human. They had your blade and you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for them. It was your family, correct?”

I froze under his searching eyes. Without waiting for a response, Roman released me. I remained frozen for a moment, but as he reached the door, I stood quickly to run after him. He gripped the bars of the window and slammed the door shut just as I reached it. I wrapped my hands around the bars, around his hand, making him pause.

“What will you do?” I asked him fearfully.

Roman’s eyes turned to look at my hand, much smaller than his, and then to me carefully through the bars.

“Beta Caleb and Diana have lost their child,” He told me slowly, “I will do what I should’ve done a long time ago.” I didn’t feel panic at his words. I felt a cold so sharp that my muscles became stiff with it. Roman released his grip on the bars, removing himself from my touch, before turning away to leave me in my prison alone again.

* * *

I was defeated. I sat on the steel bed, leaning my head against the wall solemnly. Roman would be sending the message now, if he hadn’t already, for the packs to gather in their designated areas and prepare to attack. It was all for nothing.

There had surely been a hope within me that when Diana’s child was born, the Maiden’s blessing would return as the Mother’s had. Everything would have been solved, as much as I could manage to solve it, but this hope was gone; taken away by the hands of a human holding silver as our ancestors had done before.

And Diana? Was she gone as well? Roman hadn’t specified.

Either way, it was clear Roman intended to hold me imprisoned until the war was finished. It had been days since he spoke to me and even now he only briefly stopped by to give me sustenance before immediately leaving without a word; fully intent on me not taking advantage of some other wolf’s weaknesses. It was as I had told Diana; I was out of the way of danger now. This and the fact that a human had destroyed the wolves’ future was more than enough to put the war back on its path to destroy humankind.

I clenched my jaws tightly and lifted my head before allowing it to thud lightly against the wall beside me. I was an idiot. I shouldn’t have let my guard down. I should’ve made sure it was up the moment I had awakened.

I dug my nails into my hands in frustration before opening them and pausing. Moonlight shone on my hand through the small window high on the cell wall, leaving a line of light across my left hand to the fingertips of my right. I traced the light on my left hand absently, looking at the crescent birthmark under my pinky.

I heard a noise at the door to my prison and paused. I couldn’t sense any wolf, Roman or otherwise. Had I misheard?

A slow, solid tap struck the door three times before silence followed. I stood carefully, walking to the door hesitantly. Was it a human? I peered through the barred window to see a familiar face looking back at me.

“Are you planning to stay in there and miss all the excitement?” Cate asked me, her form entirely relaxed despite her bold action of approaching a prisoner. I frowned at her.

“You look too comfortable for someone who’s obviously disobeying an order right now,” I said to her. Was she here just to offer me comfort of companionship?

“You still think I follow the King Alpha?” Cate replied before leaning against her lance with ease. I didn’t understand her question. Of course she followed him, didn’t she? She was part of the Trinity pack, wasn’t she?

“He’s your Alpha,” I said slowly, trying to grasp at her meaning.

“He’s an arrogant little runt, in my opinion, but something magnificent in others’ opinion. I wouldn’t be here if I had it my way, but alas,” Cate gestured to her entire body. “Here I am, in the flesh. Just for you.”

I leaned further against the bar to look at her closer. Was she abandoning the Trinity pack in order to be here for me? When she said ‘just for me’, did this mean she was planning on helping me after all?

“Well, come on. They’re waiting for us,” Cate said, straightening up before tilting her head for me to follow her.

“Wait,” I responded in confusion. I tried the door and it remained locked firmly. “I can’t get out or else I would’ve already.”

Cate stepped closer to the door, reaching for a part that I couldn’t see myself. In just a moment, the door clunked loudly before opening just a crack. My heart jolted in my chest, both excitedly and nervously, as I reached to open the door further.

I stepped out of the prison cell I had spent so many days within now and immediately took a deep breath. I lifted my face to the night sky, closing my eyes to feel the cool breeze wrapping around us with relief. I hated contained spaces. I loved the openness of the wild.

“Are you ready to go?” Cate asked me simply. I lowered my head to face her. She looked just as dangerous as usual, but in the most unconcerned way. It was hard to imagine this wolf was the greatest warrior wolf among the Trinity pack just by looking at her, but I suppose this is what gave her comfort in times of tension like this.

“Who’s waiting for us?” I inquired uncertainly.

“You’ll see. Come on,” She lifted her lance over her shoulder and began to easily trot into the forest. A quick glance the opposite direction revealed the village in the far distance, nearly impossible to see from the solitary cell. Wherever Cate was leading me was away from the pack. “Mila…” Cate sang to me teasingly and I turned follow her with a sigh.

I hated surprises.

I caught up to Cate fairly easily, being that she didn’t seem to be in any real hurry. As I walked behind her, I looked to the sky again to see the moon, full and bright as a dangerous omen. It was the Hunter’s Moon. A dread was seeping over me. I looked to Cate’s back and wondered, if only for a moment, if this was something of a trap. I had to shake my head to clear it. Cate had never shown herself to oppose me before, so why would she now?

“Cate,” I addressed her carefully. She glanced over her shoulder at me with those bright blue eyes, acknowledging me quietly before continuing ahead. “Did you hear of Diana? Is she… Did she…”

“She’s alive,” Cate answered me simply. “She hasn’t awoken, yet. The child is gone. I’m not sure if you heard.”

“I heard,” I muttered, a sorrow still swelling within me at the thought.

“To be fair, it was a nice effort on your part. The whole taking the blame thing. If the King Alpha hadn’t fallen head over heels for you, it might’ve worked,” Cate continued lightly as if the child loss wasn’t something that bothered her. I looked at her intently, taking in her easy stroll through the trees before sighing once more. She looked far too at ease. It unnerved me when I was an ocean of anxiety, dread, and fear.

“I guess I’m supposed to think it’s normal for lycans to imprison people they’ve fallen for?” I gritted my teeth with irritation. I just couldn’t fathom the idea that Roman would actual grow feelings for me beyond that of the duties of being mates. Plus, Cate seemed like a type of person to have her own fantasy filled life in her mind.

“Come now, you’re not that slow. He didn’t want you to get in the way, obviously. Poor luck on his part,” Cate flashed a smile at me, “That’s all you do is get in the way, isn’t it?” She teased me lightly, something of devious glee in her tone. She was up to something and it didn’t seem like it would be something fun on my part.

Cate looked to the sky and stretched as she walked. We continued on in silence. I tried to keep watch around us, looking for any sign of a trap I might be walking into. But the further we walked, the more silent the world seemed to get around us. As we continued, I felt a twinge of wolf presence not too far ahead. I hesitated in my step, but Cate didn’t seem bothered herself. She had said they were waiting for us.

We approached an entrance to a cave. Vines and shrubbery covered the front of it so that it was difficult to see in the night, but Cate merely used her lance to part a path for me to step through. I looked to her hesitantly, once again wondering if I should trust her, but decided there weren’t many other options at this point. I stepped into the darkness and paused.

“This way,” Cate said to me, calling me to the left. I followed the sound of her steps in the dark nervously. The further we walked, the more slanted the path became as though we were descending into the depths of the cave.

Instead of becoming darker, the path appeared to become brighter. I glanced up; spotting jewels along the roof of the cave that seemed to have their own glow. There were only a couple at first and then there were many, lighting up the path before us easily. It was like looking at the night stars within the cave.

The ground evened out until we were walking beside a stream. The water seemed to glow as I looked at it, those jewels resting underneath. I watched the stream curiously as I followed Cate, not noticing when she threw her own curious glance towards me.

“They’re called the Tears of the Goddesses,” Cate said to me without waiting for me to ask. “They’re extremely rare. None of the packs know of these hidden places.” I looked around the cave more curiously, now that I knew it was a place not many other people or wolves stepped within.

Cate led me beyond the stream and into a large, magnificent opening within the cave where the ceiling seemed to rise endlessly above us. My eyes fell from the ceiling to the floor, where a group of wolves were gathered around one large jewel in their own discussions easily. Cate stopped, making me pause next to her, and waited.

I didn’t recognize a single wolf before us. Their eyes turned to us, first to Cate familiarly and then to me curiously, yet no one spoke out to greet us. I felt too seen with all their eyes on me, but I looked at each one with my own curiosity. Who were these people?

“Mila,” A familiar voice said from behind me. I froze, my heart feeling as though it stopped within me. I almost didn’t want to turn around; afraid no one would be there. But I couldn’t stand not to. I twisted and took a stumbling step back.

“Cynthia,” I breathed, hesitating as I looked at her. It was her. She stood like a ghost before me, her hair silver under the glow of the jewel-like tears. “Cynthia?” I had spent months mourning her death and somehow she was here. I couldn’t fathom it.

“I told you I would be waiting,” Cynthia said to me gently, stepping forward to pull me into her arms with warmth only a mother could hold. I felt tears instantly sting my eyes as I reached to embrace her as well. She was here. She was solid. She wasn’t a spirit.

“I thought you burned,” I choked in pain. “I didn’t think you could get out. I thought you were gone. It was my fault. I left the door opened and led them to the temple…” Cynthia pulled away as I the words spilled from me, holding me before her. She reached to wipe the tears from my face with a frown.

“I’m sorry I worried you, Mila, but we have much to discuss and not a lot of time,” She said to me with a familiar determination. Even now, when it was clear I had failed, Cynthia had faith in me. I just couldn’t understand it.

“I don’t understand…,” I didn’t know how she could have escaped that burning temple. I didn’t understand how I could possibly do anything more to stop this impending doom fated on the humans and werewolves alike. I looked to Cate briefly. I didn’t understand how Cate knew to come here, that Cynthia would be here, or how she even knew Cynthia. I looked to the random wolves waiting patiently in the hidden cave. I didn’t know who they were, either.

“These are oracle wolves,” Cynthia said to me when my eyes fell on them. I looked from them to her in surprise.

“Oracle wolves?” I asked, looking back to them. There were probably fifteen of them, male and female altogether. Was this too few or much more than expected? Had they been living their lives in this cave after being banished?

“There are many more hidden throughout the land nearby their previous packs. These are the ones who survived the banishment from the Trinity pack,” Cynthia explained to me before addressing the wolves. “This is Milena, the Queen Luna of Trinity.”

The oracles looked to one another briefly before one by one they began to bow forward, revealing their necks submissively. I was surprised yet again. Why did they accept me so easily despite being banished from the pack I’d just been confirmed Luna of?

“We will follow you into battle, Queen Luna,” A man declared closest to me, lifting his head determinedly. I suddenly felt uncomfortable.

“Battle?” I asked uncertainly. I looked to Cynthia once more.

“As I said, we have much to discuss.” Cynthia turned to address the wolves once more that had stood solidly once my attention was away from them. “Prepare as best as you can. We will be leaving soon.”

She then turned to speak to Cate, who was once again leaning against her lance and looking into the distance as though daydreaming. “Are you ready?”

Cate straightened abruptly with a look of pleasure upon her face.

“It’s about time,” Cate declared simply before looking to me with a small smile. I’d never seen her speak to another person before now. I felt like I had stepped into a weird and wild dream. “It’s a good night for a massacre, don’t you think?”

I opened my mouth, but Cate only began to prance ahead of us with ease. Cynthia reached for me, indicating for me to follow. After taking a moment to be bewildered, I pushed back my confusion and stepped forward. This was the only thing I could do, after all; keep pushing forward.