His Reluctant Luna

Ch 16 - Pheromones

ATTENTION RADISH READERS! Please don't leave any spoilers in here or you'll be getting a spanking from Iona. Or Kole. Or Konnor. Whoever you'd prefer. 😘

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I swallowed, forcing myself not to wither under the strength behind those eyes. I steered us away from that topic. "Would Alpha Carson agree to a peace treaty of some kind?"

"I've tried," he said, before tilting his head at me. "You want me to try again?"

I paused...was he really asking for my advice? I was usually very good at reading people but with Kole I struggled. My thoughts muddled when those eyes were on me. "I think you should try to prevent a slaughter if you can but accept its inevitability if you can't."

He nodded, lost in thought. Another idea occurred to me.

"What if we leave? If he kills you, we can just run, right?"

"It would make no difference, he'd kill you anyway," he shook his head. "Besides, you and my family would be outcasts, targets for the rest of your lives. Always on the run. That's a very dangerous way to live for our kind. Eventually, he'd find you." It was a bleak prospect but every prospect I had right now seemed bleak...except a lone escape.

"Well, I suppose a quick death might be preferable to a public raping and a lifetime of imprisonment."

Marcus and Carrick stiffened but Kole didn't even flinch. I wondered if he was used to my hatred by now. "Alpha Carson wouldn't make your death quick but Konnor will. Or Kallum. Whichever member of the Luna's Guard is closest to you. It's their job to spare you that fate." Once more, I stared at him in shock. Visions of Konnor shifting and ripping my throat out flashed through my mind...would he really do that? Immediately, I started plotting how I could take one of the guard down if they tried. Kole's death was supposed to free me, not sign my death warrant.

"As I said, Luna, that's not going to happen," Marcus gave me a reassuring nod, "neither of you are dying so you don't need to be scared."

"And as I said, she's not scared. She's curious," Kole looked at me, "she's fishing." He held my gaze for a moment, a faint sardonic expression there. I couldn't tell if he was annoyed at me or excited that I was challenging him. "All of your questions boil down to this. If Alpha Carson kills me, he'll kill you next."

Not if I get away first. I tilted my chin, that green gaze fixed on me like he knew exactly what I was thinking. I cleared my expression of any sign of my thoughts but it was too late. He'd read me already.

"You can't run, Iona. It's suicide. Why do you think I show you this so easily?" he gestured at the map. "Because it doesn't matter. Because you can't escape. His pack and ours can scent you from miles away. If he finds you he will eat you alive, slowly. That's if Yellowstone doesn't kill you first."

I knew he was underestimating me. He had no idea how capable I was of taking care of myself. Once again, his smile told me he knew exactly what I was thinking. So far, the only thing that had frightened me about this conversation was how easily Kole could read me.

"I know, you can handle yourself in the wild. But Yellowstone makes the Pacific Crest Trail look like a jaunt down a country lane. Bears, Mountain Lions, Bison, Geysers, starvation, exposure...you're human, Iona. A stubborn human, yes, but your stubbornness won't save you out there."

He was wrong. My stubborn obstinacy to survive against all odds was the only thing that had gotten me out of the care system in one piece.

"Even if you manage to evade us, there are a thousand other ways to die in that two million acres of wilderness. You find yourself lost out there and you will pray one of us finds you first." I tilted my chin under the hard gaze of the three large men. I felt his threat, I felt their energy backing up every word their Alpha spoke. He tapped the map.