Silver Claws

19. Bear the consequences

I slide into park before we've stopped moving, and it jerks us both forward. I'm too torn up inside to comment on my jerky hands.

"Stay in the van until I come and get you." I take off my seat belt and climp out. I hear the other door shut, and my new Luna is walking around the front of the sleek black hood.

Farah is tall for a female, her corn silk hair swings around her body. Her skin is a creamy ivory, pale blue eyes peek from her eye lashes. She is five years older than me, her mate brought her to Australia before he died, she's been mateless for three years. She smiles at me warmly, "As your Luna I should be there for you, not hiding. We do things together now." She bats her eyelashes.

This was the one problem with looking for a new Luna. All of them wanted more than the title, they wanted a new mate. I made it clear that it wouldn't happen, I still had a mate, and hoped to repair our relationship (I hate that word). But I think deep down Farah thinks she can win me over.

Fat chance.

I give in and we walk to the front door, I can smell the sandy scent before I even walk in. The moment I turn the knob I see the firing squad. Trevor and Reed sit next to each other, no space between for my place. My dad at the head chair looking grim, my mom next to him with her mouth in a hard line. I hear conversation dying from the kitchen at my entry. No Akela.

I recover from the harsh stare quickly, "Hey guys."

"Who's the cougar?" Reed asks, looking my companion up and down like she's a dumpster.

I roll my eyes, "This is Farah, she will be training to be Luna."

Their reaction is immediate, I think Akela is rubbing off on them. Something like a snarl forms on all their faces, but Farah looks at them peacefully. She expected this.

"How could you dishonor the Moon this way?" Dad asks, his eyes becoming blacker as the wolf begins to surface.

"The moon chooses my mate, not my Luna. And since when do you care what the Moon thinks?"

He scoffs, "They will never take her. The pack has accepted Akela in your absence."

I'm shocked and can't hide it. "What?"

"She is more a leader to them than you are now. You really thought you could waltz back in here with your little replacement and think they would follow her? Your mate has been busy making the pack stronger, a true Luna. Not this position climber you have."

"Replacement?"

The voice comes from the kitchen doorway, it sends shivers down my spine. My head snaps towards her, the star straight from the sky.

Her hair reflects light into the room, her eyes shining like molten silver. She's beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I can scarcely breathe. Her gaze flies over my whole body in the calculating way she does, noting everything. The Adonis, the rising dawn.

I push her thoughts away, I had allowed the wall to crumble when I saw her. I now begin to notice how much thinner she is, the grayish pale her skin has become. I can't imagine the hell I must look like, but she looks worse. Like a standing corpse.

But the corpse looks over to Farah, and her expression twists into rage. She stalks forward, her every tooth showing. Farah takes a step towards Akela, and I pull her backward. My mate locks her gaze where I'm touching the new Luna, and Akela stretches her teeth baring into the most terrifying smile I've ever seen.

"You search through all of a continent, and this is what you've chosen?" Akela laughs and it freezes my blood, it's the laugh from the clearing. "This waste of flesh?"