Chapter 16 – The Moon Wolf

“Oh, Lola. We toiled in the kitchen together and you thought it was okay for you not to eat out of the food? That’s not right and I command you to sit while I get your plate and cutlery, we are having dinner together and I don’t want any objections”, Mom said and turned to pick her plates and cutlery.

I noticed her trying to rein in her tears and wanted to know what really happened to her. Why does she look so weak and broken? How did she become a rogue? I wanted answers to this but I couldn’t ask because I do not consider her my mate.

Mom brought her plate and set the table before dishing out food for us all. I noticed she only ate a small quantity of her food and just pushed the remaining around the plate. Mom and Dad did not seem to notice though as they talked and filled each other in on how their respective day went.

I finished my food and was about to leave my room when Nathan mindlinked me.

“Hey man. The next Alpha and Beta from Moonlit pack are here. The Alpha claims we have something that belongs to him. You should probably get down here and talk to them before I throw them out of the pack”, Nathan said, sounding angry and I knew I had to go there right away. Nathan rarely gets angry.

“Dad, I have to reach the pack house real quick. Nathan said the next Alpha and Beta of Moonlit pack are on the pack lands and they said I have something that belongs to them. Nathan sounds angry and that’s rare, those guys are clearly a bother”, I said to Dad and heard a gasp and spoon clanking with plates from where Lola was sitting.

I looked over to her and she looked as pale as a sheet of paper.

Lola’s POV

No, he couldn’t have found me. I escaped him, I finally left that pack and its people behind and I won’t be dragged back there by Grayson.

I did not know when my cutlery fell out of my hands and I started hyperventilating.

The room was getting smaller, my breaths were coming out short and erratic. I felt like my lungs were being compressed and squeezed. I felt liquid run down my cheeks but I could not even wipe them away. My whole b*dy was numb and I could not react to everything going on around me.

How did he know I was here? I masked my scent, he didn’t even know I have a wolf, nob*dy knows except the people of Crescent moon pack that saw me enter the pack lands in my wolf form.

I felt small, soft hands around me but that did nothing to comfort me. I started crying harder, I held my chest since it was getting difficult for me to breathe through my tears. I don’t like this feeling, I already left it behind.

“It’s okay, Lola. Calm down please”, I heard Rose’s voice, but I could not react to it even if I wanted to. My b*dy was in shock and everything in my b*dy seemed to not work.

Electricity spread through me and I felt a surge of peace throughout my b*dy as larger, more callous hands held me.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay, Lola”, I heard my mate’s amazing voice and I slowly calmed down. He held me as my b*dy continued to shake even though I wasn’t crying as much as I was initially.

“Oh my goddess, mate is holding us. His voice is so amazing and his touch, oh his touch. I was so jealous when he said your name, I wanna hear my name too. You lucky, lucky, extremely lucky human”, Jasmine gushed in my head as my shaking subsided and I could finally breathe again.

“Jasmine!! How are you focused only on the fact that we’re being held by our mate? He doesn’t even want us, he’s probably just being nice that’s all. And Grayson is here in this pack to take us, how are you so chill right now?”I screamed at her in anger in my head and heard her whimper but I wasn’t having any of her fangirl acts at that moment.

As soon as he realized I had stopped shaking, he dropped me like my skin burnt him and I felt Rose take me into her arms, telling me how everything is fine and I’m safe.

I wanted to scream out that I wasn’t safe as long as Grayson was around. I wanted to spill everything that had happened to me to Rose but shame wouldn’t let me. The fear of being abandoned and blamed like my former pack did made me shut up and fry silently.

I sent a quick prayer to the Moon goddess. I know I had been cussing her out since I turned 18, but I was starting to feel like I belonged to this pack and I did not want to be pulled out of it again.

TAL

Rose led me to the couch and then brought me a glass of water. Her motherly eyes never left me, she was watching me like a hawk incase I had another breakdown and that made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“Jasmine? Girl, I’m sorry I snapped at you just before. I was scared and angry too. Scared that Grayson will take us, scared that Adrian will hand us over to him without even hearing us out. I’m still scared that might happen. I was angry at myself for finding comfort in Adrian’s arms too, he hasn’t even acknowledged us as his mate, I did not want to give myself false hope. You chose the wrong moment to be a fangirl. I’m really sorry, Jas”, I pleaded to her in my head, I knew I hurt her when I yelled at her earlier.

“I’m sorry, Lola. I was just excited. I was in my mate’s arms, I ignored what was in front of us at the moment”, she answered me apologetically.

“Lola, child, what’s your relationship with Grayson?” Rose asked me and I felt my heart rate going up again.

“He is the future Alpha of my former pack and my former mate”, I answered her truthfully and heard a sharp intake of breath from Rose and Jayden.

“Former mate? You mean you had another mate before Adrian?” Rose asked me and I nodded weakly feeling tears stream down my face again.

“Did he treat you badly? Is that why you ran away from the pack?” Jayden asked me and I shook my head negatively.

“He rejected me because I wasn’t good enough and picked someone he wanted “, I told her the partial truth. I could not dive into the details because I did not want to recount bad memories.

“He rejected you and that was why you ran from the pack?” She asked again and I nodded my head. I couldn’t tell her that whole truth, I did not want to be looked down upon.

The whole room went silent and I looked up to see Jayden’s eyes glazed over, he was probably mindlinking Adrian. Rose kept running her hands through her hair in distress and looked to be holding in her tears.

“Adrian wants you at the pack house, Lola”, Jayden said to me and I felt my hands trembling again.

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