Trista’s POV
“He’ll reconsider, I know he will,” Hazel said.
Hazel and her dad, Beta Jack, walked with me to meet Liam at the elders on Monday morning.
“You’ve been a good Luna, Trista,” Jack assured me. “There’s no reason for him to divorce you.”
We got to the elders but Liam wasn’t there yet. I hadn’t seen him since he told me he wanted the divorce.
The elders instructed us to take a seat and wait.
“Do you know where he’s been staying?” I asked Jack. Jack shook his head.
“But it looks like you can ask him yourself, because here he is,” Jack said.
Sure enough, Liam had entered the room…with another woman on his arm!!!
I blinked in disbelief. Another woman? But who?
“Trista,” he said snidely. “Meet the NEW Luna, Lucy.”
New Luna? But we weren’t even divorced yet! I squinted, trying to make out the woman’s face. But I couldn’t see her clearly. They took their seats across from us. The elders stood. The woman looked at me smugly. Was she…was she the reason he wanted a divorce?
“We are ready to hear your case,” the elders told Liam. Liam wasted no time with formalities.
“I have come here today to initiate a rejection.”
“Have you asked for a divorce?” one of the elders asked.
“Yes, but Trista will not sign the divorce papers. This is the only way now.” Liam’s tone was blunt.
Hazel squeezed my hand. His words stung. He was making it sound like this was my fault! All I wanted to do was stay married! Was that so wrong?
“I have come on Trista’s behalf,” Jack said, stepping forward.
“You may speak on Trista’s behalf, Beta Jack,” the elders said. Liam shot Jack a nasty look. Jack ignored it. “I feel that Liam is making a mistake,” Jack said. “Trista has done nothing wrong.”
“Nothing wrong?” the woman, Lucy, blurted out. She stood up. “Her wolf is blind! And she’s pretty much blind too. She hasn’t provided Liam with any heirs. He tried to be kind and offer her a divorce. But she wouldn’t accept it!”
“And who are you?” the elders asked.
“I am Omega Lucy, of Red Moon Pack,” she said boldly.
Omega? So it was true! Liam was leaving me for an omega? This just kept getting worse. “Liam and I are in love,” she continued. “We have been for years.”
For years? I felt like I couldn’t take any more. This was too much…
“If not for his marriage to Trista, we would have been together years ago. I am here on Liam’s behalf. He doesn’t love her. He loves me. He wants me to be the new Luna.”
I could hear the hate in her voice. She despised me. But why? I didn’t even know her.
“I see,” the elders sighed. “Alpha Liam, is this true?”
“Yes,” Liam said. “The Alpha of the Red Moon pack has been abusing her. She isn’t safe there anymore. I love her and I want her to be my Luna. She will be a strong Luna for this pack.”“Even so,” Jack said, glaring at Lucy, “I urge Liam to reconsider. Our pack already has a strong Luna. Trista.”
The elders were silent for a moment. I held my breath. Then one of them spoke in a calm, steady voice.
“We agree,” he said. “Trista has been a strong Luna for this pack. We too urge you to reconsider.”
“I have given this a lot of thought,” Liam said. “I do not love Trista. I am adamant. If she won’t sign the divorce papers, then I will initiate the vow of rejection alone.”
Clearly, he wasn’t going to change his mind. Lucy flashed me a smile of victory. I hung my head. She had won. It was over. He was going to reject me.
Liam opened his mouth to begin the rejection, but I cut him off.
“There’s no need to initiate a rejection,” I said calmly. “You clearly want to be with this other woman, and you’re not going to change your mind. Your wolf will be weakened if you do this and I don’t want to put the pack at risk. I will protect our pack as my last act as Luna. I accept your divorce.”
Hazel gasped beside me. She pulled me aside.
“Are you nuts?” she asked. “What are you doing? You’ll be a rejected Luna! You’ll have to leave our pack! You’ll be exiled as a rogue, Trista.”
I appreciated her concern, but the past few days had been mental torture. I was exhausted. I couldn’t take it anymore. I just wanted it to be over and I told her that.
“Beside,” I smiled weakly. “Rogue life isn’t so hard anymore. I can return to human society. I lived with humans all through college. I have experience. It’s not so bad.”
“No Trista,” she said, her eyes wide. I could see tears forming. “I’ll be okay,” I assured her. “I have no family here anyway.” It was true. My mother died when I was young and my father left two years ago because of the illness. “If I lose Liam, my husband, there’s nothing left for me here. What’s the point in staying?”
“Luna Trista?” the elders asked. “Is that your final decision?” I nodded at Hazel and walked back to the table.
“Yes,” I said, lifting my chin and blinking back the tears. I felt the moisture on the lenses of my glasses. No way I was going to let them see me cry. “I, Trista Moonlar, accept Alpha Liam Stonewood’s rejection.”
Trista’s POV I wasn’t really sure what to think. I found it a bit odd that Felicity was coming to me now with all this information about my mother and her pregnancy. I’d never really had a good relationship with Felicity, but according to her, she’d had an excellent one with my mother. It had been hard for me, growing up without a mother. The few times I’d asked my father about my mother, he’d been reluctant to talk about her. He was just too painful for him, I realized. So when I’d met Dr. Darren and his wife in Milan, I’d listened with rapt attention to everything they had to say about my parents. Which is why I remembered their version of events perfectly. Dr. Darren had told me that my father had visited him in Europe. He’d also told me that he was surprised to learn that my mother had been sick at the end of her pregnancy. According to him, my mother had been perfectly healthy during her pregnancy, which was why he didn’t understand
Trista’s POV I didn’t tell Liam about this so-called ‘beast’. I didn’t see the point. It was almost comical. All these warriors whispering about a ‘beast’ that was trying to break into the border wall. There was no beast. Someone was trying to cover something up. Liam was already trying to get to the bottom of everything, so there was no point in bothering him with something that wasn’t important. By the time I got back, Billy had snuck back into his own bed. I woke him up and asked him to join me for breakfast. During breakfast, I told him that I thought it would be nice for him and Belle to share a room.His eyes lit up. “Really?” he asked. I nodded. I didn’t tell him that I knew he’d been sneaking into his sister’s room at night. He believed he was doing a good thing by taking care of Belle while she had nightmares, and if I let on that I knew, he might think I was mad at him.I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. I was actually ver
Trista’s POV It couldn’t be Jake. That would be WAY too coincidental. Although… There was the possibility that they’d tracked us here, through the forest. I’d left the rental car on the other side of the thick trees. Jake and his men were very resourceful. Fear ran up and down my spine, causing my skin to goosebump. “I said,” the voice continued. “What do you think you’re doing?” Serena stood up, sensing danger. I stood, frozen to the spot, my mind whirling. Serena’s fur bristled and she let out a low growl. I didn’t know what to do. Should I run? If it was in fact Jake or one of his men, could I make it back inside the border wall before he caught me? He was human so he couldn’t cross into the pack, not with the border up. But would I be fast enough? “Trista?” the voice said. “Is that you?” The man’s tone had shifted to a friendlier tone. I knew in that moment it wasn’t Jake
Trista’s POV Billy’s small voice and big words caused my heart to clench They clearly liked Liam a lot, and I supported that since he was their biological father. But Johnson had been a huge part of their lives for five years! Johnson had thrown them their first birthday party. He’d taught Billy how to ride a bike. He’d come to the hospital when Belle was little and had a fever that I couldn’t bring down. But it was even more than that. Johnson had been there for all the small moments too. He’d read to them and tucked them at night. He’d sat with them through countless dinners and breakfasts. He’d gone clothes shopping with them. He’d played more board games and rounds of simple card games than I could count. He’d been a staple in their lives since the moment they were born. There was a time when I’d been sure that Johnson would be in Billy and Belle’s lives forever. There had even been a time when I imagined
One morning, I woke up before the sunrise, restless. I’d had a dream about Johnson, and although the details were foggy, he’d been in some sort of trouble. The dream had rattled me, so much so, that I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. So I decided to go and check on the children and then go for an early morning run. I needed to clear my mind. Between trying to avoid Liam, helping Belle get better, and worrying over Johnson, I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. A run was just what I needed to help quiet my growing anxiety. But when I went into Billy’s room, he wasn’t in his own bed. ‘That little sneak’, I thought to myself, smiling. I knew exactly where he was. Billy had recently taken to climbing out of his own bed in the middle of the night to sneak into Belle’s. Several mornings we found him curled up around his sister protectively, both of them fast asleep. We’d told Billy that he needed
Trista’s POV Liam was spending more and more time with Belle and Billy, which meant he was spending more and more time with me, too. I could feel the attraction of the matebond growing stronger. Every time I was near him, his scent drove Serena crazy. She was in a constant state of craving, and she wasn’t the only one. But I did my best to push it aside and focus on the kids. One day, though, after breakfast, I was just getting out of the shower when I heard a knock on my door. I wrapped myself in a towel and was about to ask who was there, when I stepped out of the bedroom and came face to face with Liam. He glanced at me, his eyes landing on the towel wrapped around my chest. “Liam,” I said in a scolding voice, upset that he’d just come right into my room like this. But his eyes stayed on my chest. I was suddenly very aware of the fact that I was naked underneath my towel. Apparently, so was he because I heard him inh