Page 41 of Nyte's Rejected Luna

Katya looked back at me and smirked. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure your clothes go to a good cause. But this bag is just too cute. Totally vintage. I just love some good flower child vibes.”

I watched her walk out of the cave, leaving me and my stalker behind. Alpha Markus bent down again, grabbing me by my wrists and yanking me to my feet. I struggled against him, holding my breath against his foul scent.

“Let’s get you home, Little Riding Hood. I have a whole pack to introduce you to. They might not be happy about a witch Luna, but they’ll learn to love you just like you’ll learn to love me.”

“Doubtful,” I growled out before shrieking as he threw me over his shoulder.

He chuckled, smacking me on my rump as I hung over his back. I growled at his touch, but I didn’t dare struggle anymore. There was no escape for me right now. If I tried, I only risked hurting the baby, and who knows if the baby hadn’t already been hurt with what has happened so far. I couldn’t be sure, but I wouldn’t risk any more harm to the growing child within me.

I closed my eyes, praying silently to the gods to protect my child and guide me out of this mess I was in.

Back at the top of the stairs, the parking lot now sat empty. Not a human soul around. I desperately scanned the area, hoping to see some familiar face. My family’s coven often came to the cliff. They were drawn to them just as I was, but as I looked, I found no one. It was like the entire area had been blocked off from the public, giving my captors the perfect opportunity to take me and disappear without any witnesses.

“Alpha,” a voice greeted, his tone less than approving at the sight of me.

Great, another werewolf who doesn’t like witches. I thought. A gasp escaped my lips as Markus dropped me to my feet just before shoving me into the back seat of a black town car with overly tinted windows.

“Alpha, are you sure about this?” The new werewolf asked, my gaze finding his eyes now.

He didn’t look utterly disgusted by me. It was there, but clearly not the prime thought in his head as he questioned his alpha. “If he finds out…”

“He won’t. We’ve already made sure of that. The girl isn’t going to tell anyone. Besides, it’s not like we took her from the packhouse. So, the pack won’t turn on us. They don’t even accept her.” Markus laughed darkly. “Now, let’s go before these witches out here get curious about what’s happening at the cliffs.”

“Yes, sir.”

Markus slid into the back seat with me, my body recoiling as far from him as possible. I pawed at the door handle, desperate to escape the car, but it remained locked.

“Now, now, Little Riding Hood,” Markus purred at me, grabbing me by my leg and dragging me towards him. “The child’s lock is there to protect you. Can’t have you jumping out of a moving car on the interstate, now can we.”

“Sounds a whole lot better than going anywhere with you,” I spat out, pulling against his hold.

The car began to pull out of the parking lot, my head whipping around to see a sign that hadn’t been there when Katya and I had pulled up. A warning sign to the tourists and locals about loose rocks on the cliffs, the potential of falling, and a rope blocking the parking lot, preventing anyone from entering. How the hell had they been able to plan so flawlessly? I had only just decided to go home to my parents, yet they were so prepared to take me. How?

As we passed the entrance to my neighborhood, I felt a cry bubble up my throat. Familiar faces stood among a crowd, walking toward the cliffs to investigate the closure. I tried banging my hands on the windows, screaming out to my father and mother as they walked by, all to the great amusement of my captor.

“They can’t hear you. They can’t see you. They can’t help you, Little Riding Hood.” Markus said with a laugh. “So just sit back and relax. We have about an hour's drive to my packhouse. Thompson, how about some music to calm your new Luna.”

“Yes, sir,” the response was made through ground teeth, the music filling the car.

“There,” Markus sighed. “Just enjoy the ride. We will be home in no time, Little Riding Hood. Then we can take care of that false mark you bear before giving you mine.”

I cringed at his words, my hand reflexively going up to my shoulder where Nyte had marked me as if I could protect my connection to him that way. My body curled into a ball in the seat, pressed to the door as I gazed out the window, watching the passing scenery go by. He wouldn’t be able to remove my mark. I knew that for sure now. The mark of a fated mate was permanent. There was no amount of magic in this world that could sever the bond, but someone could certainly try. No matter how painful it might be to the couple, they could still try to tear them apart.

My other hand touched my belly, worry crinkling my brow as I thought about the pain I would be forced under in Markus’s delusions of making me his mate. The amount of torture I would endure could quickly end my pregnancy, a pregnancy that I had no guarantee of experiencing again, given my health condition. I had to do something to protect my baby while I could.

I glanced over at Markus, watching him hum and tap his fingers to the beat of the song. He was completely distracted from me, giving me the perfect moment to act. I slipped my hand under my shirt, pressing my bare palm to my skin. Closing my eyes, I focused my power on the hand, picturing in my mind a perfect sphere of magic surrounding my child like a second womb. My child would feel none of the stress or pain I would endure inside the sphere. It would be as if I were walking along the beach, swaying the baby with my movement.

As I opened my eyes, we were on the freeway, the world speeding by in a blur as we left the peninsula behind, and all I could do was watch. My heart screamed out with each mile we sped. The tether between Nyte and I stretched thin but never broke. He knew I was gone by now. He was screaming through the bond and following my every move. He would feel where I was going. The direction and the speed, but would he know the end location before I arrive? Would he know what happened or think I was running away?

Closing my eyes, I reached out to the bond, tapping it to let him know I was there and hadn’t run from him. Not this far, at least. I had never intended to be away from him for long. I only wanted my family to help ground me and control my anger. I would have been back to him by tomorrow at the latest.

Another strum rattled the tether between us—a response to the tap I had sent him. I could feel his emotions. His fear. Anger. Confusion. I gathered my own, trickling them back to him. I started with my anger and hurt. I had been so mad at him when I left. All the secrets he had kept from me, the decisions he had made for me of what I could and couldn’t handle controlling me. I wasn’t a toy to be bent and twisted at his will.

Then I sent him my fear. Not for me, but for our child. The danger I was in should Markus discover I was pregnant. The risk my child would be in. I sent him the anger I felt toward Katya, the betrayal of her deceit. She had tricked me. Even with as much as she didn’t like me, I never would have thought she would lead me to the person I had been hiding from. She purposely made me trust her, putting on a show of accepting my place with Nyte only to take me to the man who would see me destroyed instead of with my rightful mate.

Nyte. I can’t get out of this without you.

The thoughts trickled down the bond. A prayer to the gods that he would hear my words. That he would understand. For good measure, I sent down images of Markus and the wolf driving. His Beta, I assumed. I sent images of what Katya had done. Her car. Her fake smile as it fell from her lips as I stopped making things easy for her. And my bag. She had taken my bag with my cards inside. If I had any prayer of a chance, Nyte would need to be able to find my bag and prove her involvement. That was if he could even convince his pack I was worth saving. A Luna they didn’t want.

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