Page 105 of Wolf Queen Ruin
But first, I needed to see Luna.To assure myself she was safe.To face the complicated reality of our situation and find a way forward.
For the first time in centuries, I was creating something instead of destroying it.And I would protect that creation with everything I possessed.
Even if it meant sacrificing my own immortal existence.
Chapter thirty-three
Luna
Ourflightapproachedwiththe relentless certainty of a deadline.
As I boarded the private jet bound for Paris, I forced myself to confront the impossible reality of my situation.
Pregnant.With Damien’s child.
In the same position I was in before my pack—before my father—kicked me out.Alone and scared to death, with no one to care.No one to help.
When would I learn to keep my legs closed and my heart guarded?Because I couldn’t keep doing this.I couldn’t keep falling for the forbidden man who vanished at the first sign of trouble.Like Ryder.
Like Damien.
Where was he?Not on the jet, even though the engines roared, and we were seconds away from taxiing down the runway.
Had he fled both the mission and me?Was saving Elliot’s life no longer his top priority if it meant working with me?
I sat in the plush leather seat, staring out the window while avoiding eye contact with Damien’s security personnel, when something moved in my peripheral vision.I looked up to see Roman, one of the flight attendants, navigating the narrow aisle with a steaming cup of tea.He placed it in front of me.
“Ginger tea,” he said, not quite meeting my eyes.“Captain said there will be turbulence ahead.Might help settle your stomach.”
So they all knew.Fantastic.
“Thanks,” I muttered, wrapping my fingers around the warm cup.
The pilot’s voice crackled through the intercom, announcing our imminent departure.Final preparations.Safety protocols.Words that flowed around me without penetrating the fog of my thoughts.
Where the hell was Damien?
I checked my phone again—no messages, no calls, nothing to indicate he planned to join us in the air.The betrayal stung in ways I hadn’t anticipated.Not just the revelation about Vivienne, but the ease with which he’d walked away.
Five minutes, he’d said.We’d passed that deadline an hour ago.
“Ms.Rookwood, please secure your seat belt.We’ll be taking off momentarily,” another flight attendant informed me.
My throat tightened.“Is Mr.Cross…?”
“I haven’t received any updates regarding Mr.Cross’s status,” she replied, confirming what I already knew.
Of course.Why would the great Damien Cross bother with explanations or goodbyes?He’d secured the first piece of the Shadow Fang, and now he had his vampire fiancée to help him access the Parisian catacombs.What did he need with the complicated, disease-ridden ex-shifter who’d inconveniently gotten herself pregnant?
Where was the piece of the Shadow Fang currently?Well, in my underwear drawer, of course.Kidding.Damien had it locked in a vault only he and I knew the code to.
The engines increased their pitch, and the plane began to move.I closed my eyes, trying to breathe through the rush of emotions threatening to overwhelm me.
Two supernatural pregnancies, two men walking away.The symmetry was almost poetic in its cruelty.At least this time I wasn’t so naive.I knew exactly how to survive alone.
But I’d wanted not to have to.
I traced the ring that still stubbornly clung to my finger and then tugged at it again, a futile gesture that had become something of a nervous habit just today.
