Filed to story: Rylee the Orphan Luna Novel
“What was her name!?” I shrieked.
“I do not know. All I know is that she was already mated when he sent for her. He was obsessed with her. Said that she rightfully belonged with him.” My eyes widened and I looked at Wyatt. There was only one man in this world that said that about my mother. “Wh…Who was the Alpha male?” I asked carefully.
“He was the Alpha of the now fallen Halfmoon pack.”
“Oh god,” I covered my mouth, and tears formed. “No,” I gasped out.
“Eric Patterson.”
“NO!!!” I roared. Marvin’s wolf laughed maniacally. I looked at him, my eyes black with rage, but I realized it was no longer his wolf. I had let go of my hold on him, and it was Marvin who was laughing.
“Stupid girl.” He croaked out and smiled with blood-stained teeth. Seeing his smile like that flicked on a switch of absolute rage inside of me. Before I even knew what I had done, his head was ten feet away from his body. Wyatt held my shoulders, and I could hear him calling out to me, but his calls fell on deaf ears. I was so engrossed by rage that I completely ignored him.
Eric had my mother kidnapped, and he raped her over and over again until she conceived. Then Opal, that sorry excuse of a witch, implanted Lexie’s and Lanie’s souls so that they could be reborn. My sisters, my half-sisters weren’t only related to me, but they were related to the man that took everything from me. I couldn’t stop the downpour of tears.
The only family I had left in this world were born from the man that took my parents and my pack from me. The man who made my life a living hell for eight years. How was I supposed to accept them now?
***Lanie’s
P.O.V.***
Lexie, Brent, Chad, and I sat in Richard’s office while we awaited his return. I guess I should refer to it as Chad’s office now; despite the announcement of Chad as his new Alpha, Richard was still Alpha for the time being. We only heard from him briefly, and he did not give us any details. Only that both Rylee and Allie’s packs had defeated those who were attacking them. Richard was on his way back along with Maverick and Jennifer. Lexie and I were confused as to why Jennifer was coming back with them, but Richard simply mentioned that he would explain in detail when they returned home.
“What’s taking them so long?” Brent asked impatiently.
“Calm down, man. Richard said that it would be a bit since they needed to make a pit stop at Blue Lake to drop off Marlon,” Chad responded.
“Marvin,” Lexie and I corrected him.
“Does it honestly matter?” Chad asked us. Lexie and I just rolled our eyes in response. Just then, Chad’s eyes turned cloudy for a moment. “Perfect timing. They’re back.” We all waited with anticipation and a few short minutes later, Richard, Maverick, and J appeared. She clung to Maverick and kept staring at the floor; she looked so defeated and weak.
“Oh my god, what happened, J!?” I exclaimed and ran over to her. Lexie was right next to me. She collapsed into our arms, and we carried her over to the sitting area. She sobbed straight into the pillows.
“Richard, what happened?” Lexie asked, turning around to face him.
“The Desert Moon Beta’s visions came true. We were attacked, but it wasn’t by Xavier. It was by Marvin.” We all looked at him confused. “Marvin’s had the help of a dark witch. Turns out she’s Olivia’s evil sister. One sister a light witch, the other sister a dark witch. Apparently, the traitor of Blue Lake, Sierra, had been spying on Wyatt and Dorian’s pack discussions under the radar. She gave all the information she knew about Rylee, Allie, and the others to Xavier in exchange for safe haven. Xavier then tried to bargain with Marvin. Jennifer, in exchange for the information he received. Xavier was double-crossed, and Marvin ambushed his pack.”
“What!?” we all shouted.
“Sir, what about J’s parents?” Brent asked.
“They’re dead,” Maverick replied softly. We all whirled back and stared at him as though we heard him incorrectly. “Along with their entire pack. Black Moon no longer exists.” Lexie and I looked down at J who was still sobbing.
“Oh, J,” I bent down and helped her sit up. She immediately cried into my chest. Maverick looked absolutely devastated seeing her falling apart, somehow even more fractured than before. The plan to have her heal at home was no longer an option. Her home no longer existed.
“J, do you want to go to your guest room?” Lexie asked. J nodded slowly. “Do you want us to take you, or do you want Maverick to take you?”
“I don’t care,” she trailed off. Her voice was so quiet we could barely hear her.
“Luna, Beta, I’ll take her,” Maverick asserted. He gently took her from us, but she was so weak, she could barely stand. Maverick lifted her up as if she weighed nothing and left the office.
When the door closed, Lexie and I looked back at Richard. His eyes were cast down, and he was shaking his head.
“Sir, did you find Xavier’s body?” Chad asked.
“No, and I don’t think there will be any bodies.”
“What? Why?” Lexie asked.
“Before we left, some of Dorian’s men found a large pile of ash in a hole that was about ten feet wide and 20 feet deep.” I gasped loudly and covered my mouth.
“Are you saying they burned the bodies?” Brent asked.
“It appears so,” Richard replied.
“We would have seen smoke coming from that way then. Even if Black Moon is a few hours away, a smoke that large would catch our attention, or at least human attention!” Chad shouted.
“We believe the dark witch burned the bodies with dark magic given that we didn’t see any smoke of that magnitude,” Richard responded.
“What’s going to happen to J?” Lexie asked.
“Well, she is technically Maverick’s mate, which makes her the future Gamma female of this pack. Unfortunately, her body is too weak to take on such a role, for now,” Richard answered. “For the time being, we need to be here to support her emotionally and physically. We need to get her health back in order, and she is going to have to decide if she wants to be with Maverick or not.” Lexie and I just looked at each other and gave a knowing look. Thinking back to last night when her wolf, Zahara, said she would protect Jennifer from everyone and everything, even Maverick, made us worry.
“Girls, is there something you need to tell us?” Chad prodded. I bit my bottom lip, and Lexie avoided eye contact.
“Lex, I may not have known you long, but you have an obvious tell, baby,” Brent told her.
“A what?”
“A tell. It means you do the same thing over and over when you’re trying to lie or hide something. You avoid eye contact.”
“You’re the exact same, Lanie,” Chad said to me. “You bite the side of your bottom lip.” Lexie and I both glared at them. They didn’t budge. Lexie and I looked at each other again and caved.
