Dark Moon (The Moon Series #2)

Twenty Nine

Jay's POV

I'm far ahead of them, but the wind was bringing me their scents. Ember, Sam, and Matt. I snarl, hurrying my pace as I race over my Pack's border and the neighboring one. I ignore the border patrol racing after me, speeding up my speed until I was a blur to even wolf eyes. I zoomed over Pack borders, racing to get to this border between Washington and Oregon. I had to get there before Asher and our Pack. I had to.

JAIYANA RANGER! You better get home RIGHT NOW! My fathers voice screams into my head, I wince but keep going.

No! I'm protecting my Pack, and you can't stop me. I growl back through the mindlink.

Oh yes, I can. I'm slammed into a tree, multiple wolves holding me down as the Alpha of this land snarls down at me.

"Luna Jaiyana, I'm under strict orders to bring you back to my Pack house and keep you there. Even if I have to chain you." The Alpha smirks, staring down at me. I snarl, writhing underneath them and sending them back a few feet. Even more help and they keep me down on the ground. All women if my nose is correct, except for the Alpha.

A sharp pinch at the base of my neck, slows my struggling as my vision goes dark. "I'm sorry, young Luna." A voice whispers into my ear.

--

I wake up in a large, dark room. It's silent, only laughter from somewhere in this house drifting up to where I am. I throw my legs off the bed, standing shakily. Satin pjs. Great, someone changed me.

A flush of embarrassment cloaks my cheeks as I open the door, peering out into an empty hallway. Slowly wandering down the hall, coming to a stop at the top of some stairs. Peering over the railing, I can see wolves dart in and out of a kitchen as some begin to crowd inside. Seems as I woke up in time for dinner. A smell hits me, ones of my Family Bond parents, my real parents, Asher, and Enzo. I wince back, knowing the scolding I'm about to get but I don't remember which room I was in and all I can focus on is Ash's scent.

I curse the matebond as my body automatically moves down the steps to see him, moving into the bright dining room. A Pack sits inside with everyone else I smelled dining with them, seeming to have been waiting for me to wake up. My presence sends silence around the room, everyone turning to stare at me in surprise.

"I'm... shocked the young Luna has woken up. I hit her head pretty hard and gave her a huge dose of sleeping meds." A Beta remarks, I growl softly at him as I lean against the doorframe.

"Sit, Jay. You need to eat." Mom orders, I roll my eyes.

"Not hungry. Asher can attest to that." I mutter, Ash leans back and watches me as I cross my arms and stare evenly back at him. I wonder how long I've been out.

"You've been passed out since yesterday afternoon. We put more meds in you about three hours ago." Ash dismissively informs me.

"Stay out of my head." I snarl, he shrugs.

"Learn to keep me out."

"If you're such a wonderful Alpha, did you even save those humans? Hmm? Or are they being chopped to little bits as we speak?" I demand, glowering at him with a vengeance. His eyes glow golden with outrage before his eyes turn an icy blue. Cold and unemotional.

"No. He smelled us coming from a mile away. Him and his Rogue friends ran before we could make it there to even fight." Asher answers slowly, as if I was stupid and feral. I drop my arms, clenching my fists as a powerful snarl rips from my chest.

"You're telling me, that when I went to help my Pack, and you guys had me knocked unconscious and Enzo used his stupid Alpha tone on me, you still lost? Are you kidding me? All he wanted was me! I am willing to give up my life for my Pack, I'm willing to be locked in chains and treated like trash for them! And we all know you would have been able to find me within days, maybe a week at most, but no! You scared them off, and now we may never find them!" I yell at him, Ash doesn't even wink.

He grabs his glass of water, tilting it back to sip at it. "We'll find them eventually, Jay."

"Jaiyana or Luna." I cut him off, glaring at him.

"Jaiyana. We'll find them, and you can piece them back together." He waves my anger off, as if it didn't even bother him.

"Asher McHanner! You're telling me that you don't care that lives are at stake? That three of our Pack may turn Rogue for losing the only thing that's keeping them alive? You don't care, do you? You treat humans as if they are lesser than you, and you are human! The only thing that turned you wolf was this stupid mark, and you know what? I don't even want it anymore. Not if it makes me yours." I growl, pissed that he acts as if he deserves everything in the world and that he was some better and bigger and perfect specimen when in reality he was just a scared little boy.

"Jaiyana Ranger!" Mom gasps, I shake my head.

"I'm not going to have an entitled, egotistic, horrible person as a mate. If he thinks of himself as better than a human, better than us all, better than a few lives, then I don't want him. Someone else can have him." I turn, beginning to walk away as everyone stays silent in complete shock. Asher grabs my arms, spinning me around harshly with deep golden eyes.

"No one gets to have me besides you. And you don't get to walk away from me. We're soulmates, Jaiyana. And I'm not going to deal with this attitude just because I lost one stupid fight that we can always come back to later. They will be safe as they are the only bargaining chip that he has, and we have his parents and I believe he found his mate. We just need to find her. So stop acting like I ruined our Pack and life!" Adonis growls, his hands tightening around me with each word.

"Stop it. You're hurting me." I whimper, Adonis steps back as I already feel bruises forming.

"You tried to risk your life, our matebond, just because three once human parents were in danger." He scoffs, I glare up at him.

"And if they were your parents?" I challenge, he pauses as he thinks about that. "Exactly. You would do anything to keep them safe. Especially after your grandfather. So, don't ever say that again. You were once a human, and now I wish I never suggested the stupid mark." I pause as I look him in the eye, making sure he heard these next words.

"I don't know how many times I've risked my life for yours, but I'm done playing hero. The next time you're kidnapped, the next time you're weak, I'm not going to heal you or almost die to protect you. Don't come running to me when you realize you're nothing without the support of your Luna and your Pack. Sometimes, I wish you were still human Asher. You used to be so kind and welcoming and happy. Now you're just some coldhearted Alpha who thinks he's the best, that he's perfect. I'm done." I whisper the last two words, watching as his eyes break and show his emotions. Hurt, distress, and most of all, agony.

"You don't mean that." He whispers, reaching forward to cradle my head. I step back, my back hitting the wall behind me.

"I do. And that's the sad part." I shake my head with a deep sigh, turning and walking away as I leave him behind. I hear him whimper, feeling him war with himself. But his understanding of me won. He let me leave. Walking out of the house, I race into the forest and strip. Shifting on spot, I race through the trees to get home. He can have our room, I'm moving out.