Page 84 of Unforgivable

Lyri

My males are all shaking in anger as they collectively stare down the road after the SUV.

"Can I go for a run?" I ask Rhet. "I'm OK. I just want a moment to myself. Please," I add quietly. He looks at the other two, then turns back to me.

"Sure, pretty, just stay to the north and west, OK?"

I nod, "OK." It takes me no time to take off. I can feel the eyes on me, chasing me, making sure that I'm really alright. Still, I don't see or hear them. When I trust that they'll leave me alone, I shift back to feet without warning. Sorrow and regret lash deep, and I'm glad that my males are nowhere around me right now. They don't need to see this.

A loud sob makes me clasp my hand over my mouth. I cry so hard that after minutes of unrelenting sobs, I feel like retching. Naked, dirty on the forest floor, I scream my pain to the sky, to my sun.

"I hate that bitch!" I don't know if I'm talking about Mari, Cloe, or maybe the Moon goddess herself. I just know that's it's not fucking fair that this happened to me.

I cry some more before my wolf finally snaps her jaws at her feet’s caterwauling. "I know, I know," I whisper out loud. I force myself to stop crying, to stand on shaky legs.

"It's not fair," I say with a voice that sounds harsh from tears. "I'm such a stupid idiot." I turn and scream again. "He was supposed to be mine, but now he's my enemy," I say it outloud because I need to learn.

"Know your place, Lyri," I tell myself. "He's not your fucking mate!" My wolf curls her lip up at the thought of being mated to Daan. She's twisted up on the inside. Her fated male is a piece of shit, and she's now attached to males who aren't hers but are hers.

"He's a liar, a betrayer, and you have something so much better now."

"I love them," I whisper. "He's an asshole, and his luna is a dumb ho," louder. "I hate him!" I shout.

"Why was I so weak for so long?" I wail, tugging at my hair. "Stupid Lyri! Stupid female!"

I fall back to the dirt. This time my crying is calmer, just weeping. The tears are washing away my pain, my feelings. For a while, I'm numb, and then reality hits me again.

"I shouldn't have ever given myself to that male. I should have waited for my males to find me. Rhet told me..." I tell myself, my wolf, in whispers. "He told me that he saw me over a year ago. He liked me. If I had just opened my eyes, I would have seen him, too." I sniffle. "Thjis... I would have seen him. How the hell do you miss that male?" I roll over and look up at the dappled sunlight through the tree branches overhead. Spring has brought my friend the sun back in full force. "Ezra," I whisper, "my sunshine."

Daan and Cloe are Marking each other. Then... then they'll come back. The RustClaw is their pack, and I'm terrified. I'm afraid for my males, for myself, and, deep inside, I'm so scared that I'll fall into Daan's trap again.

"Well, you are certainly a noisy little thing, ain't ya?"

I jump to my feet and spin around, purely astonished that anyone would come here to this remote section of Genom, but mostly shocked at who is standing there on shaking, wrinkled knees.

"Luna," I greet Daan's great grandmother with the respect that such a female deserves, lowering my gaze with a slight bow of my head. She's older than most wolves could hope to achieve, pushing a century, at least. Shrewd eyes judge me, and I feel myself blush. What an embarrassing display I just put on. Awesome.

"I have always been afraid for my great-grandson," she says blithely. "Daan, unfortunately, reminds me a great deal of his great-grandfather."

I rise out of my position of subservience in shock.

"I think, youngling, you need to come with me. I have some things to tell you." She hands me an oversized shirt that faintly resembles a dress, and I dutifully pull it on.

Her house is set deep in the forest. As we walk at her geriatric pace up the smooth walkway, I glance towards the tall peaks in the distance through the trees.

"I'm originally from the pack that lives in those mountains," she remarks, seeing where I am looking.

"I know," I tell her. I admit that I know very little about her. I tried to learn everything I could about her history when I was trying so hard to prove to Daan that I was the perfect Luna. Still, all I know is that she came from a pack there and was found at seventeen, brought here, mated to her alpha mate, and bore one son, Daan's grandfather, Macon.

She smiles at me. "I know you know, youngling. I know many things. I'm old."

We walk into the cozy cabin, and I look around with interest. It's unusual enough for such an elderly and revered wolf to live out here by herself, but even odder when it's a former luna.

"Settle yourself down here," she pats an easy-chair covered in purple and red cabbage roses. She takes the other one. I sit after she does, noticing an old-fashioned tea service in the center of the coffee table. She lifts the kettle and pours two cups; the liquid still steaming. It just confirms that she sought me out on purpose, and I feel my curiosity skyrocket even higher.

"There now, that's better," she says as she sips. Dutifully I take a sip too. I'm not much of a tea person. At Genom, the males only have coffee. Their concession to me is buying vanilla flavored beans instead of the bitter dark roast they prefer.

"Daan's grandfather was a mistake. A heat pup with a male who hated me."

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