The real mate

There was blood all over me.

My heart pounded in my chest, it felt like it was going to burst out. I stared at Alpha Dane's heart that laid only a few inches away from the hem of my dress. Fear and terror covered my face before I jumped to my feet and ran off the stage where my wedding had just taken place.

Only one thought crossed my mind.

My mother.

We were in grave danger. We were being attacked, and the Alpha of our pack was dead together with Alpha Dane. As the other wolves fought, tearing each other apart, I rushed up the stairs to look for the way that I could take me out of here.

My wolf screamed inside me. I was lost, hurt, and unable to think straight.

I tried to shift and run, but my wolf wouldn't let me. She wanted to stay, stay where our mate was, where that cruel man still lurked in the pack house, killing other wolves.

My mate.

The thought alone felt like betrayal.

How could I be mated to someone like him? It wasn't supposed to be like this. I wasn't supposed to be tied to a man like that whoever he really was. I had seen the danger in his eyes when he killed Alpha Dane. He wasn't a man. He was a monster. There was no difference between him and Alpha Dane.

Still, I forced myself to keep running, away from the pack house, toward my home. There was a long distance left. Passersby glanced at me, some aware of the chaos, others still confused but it was spreading.

I had to get my mother out of this pack.

As I ran two guards rounded the corner up ahead, eyes wide and frantic. One of them looked at me and opened his mouth to speak, but I shoved past them, ignoring their calls.

"Luna! Stop! It's not safe out there!"

I'm not your Luna anymore.

The words burned in my throat, but I didn't speak them. I didn't stop running.

My vision blurred as I finally reached the side door that led out of the pack house. I pushed it open with all my strength, stumbling into the fading light of dusk. The world outside was no better. Fires had broken out in the eastern fields. Wolves were fighting in the distance-gray, brown, and black fur tangled in deadly combat. Blood soaked the dirt path I ran across, but I didn't let myself slow down.

Faster. Just keep going.

My legs ached. My lungs screamed. But I couldn't stop. Not now.

When I reached the house, I burst inside and searched for her. She was lying in bed, sleeping peacefully, and for a moment, I didn't want to wake her. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and beside the bed, I saw tissue papers soaked with tears.

My shoulders slumped, and my heart swelled with despair. She probably cried for a pretty good time all because she didn't do anything to save me from get married to Alpha Dane.

I stepped quietly into the room and knelt by the bed. She didn't know what was happening, but she needed to.

"Is that you, Aurora?" she whispered, her voice fragile. Her hand dropped onto my shoulder as she sensed me. "Why are you back? Has the wedding been cancelled?"

"Is everything well?" She was already sitting up.

I didn't reply for a moment. I could barely breathe as tears streamed down my cheeks. "Something's happening, Mama. We have to leave."

I knelt beside my mother, trying to steady my breath as panic still swirled inside me like a storm. Her gaze flickered to the blood on my dress, then back to my face, and for a moment, she seemed too lost to speak. I could feel my pulse thundering in my chest, the fear that I'd barely managed to contain threatening to spill over.

"Mama," I whispered, my voice hoarse. "I... I don't know how to tell you this, but..."

She reached for me then, her trembling hands resting on my arms as if trying to steady me. "Aurora... what happened? Where's your father? Where's Dane?"

My throat tightened, and I could barely breathe as I looked into her confused, innocent eyes. The truth felt like it would destroy her, but there was no way around it.

"The wedding... it wasn't supposed to be like this," I started, struggling to find the words. My heart felt too heavy, like it was being pulled down by chains. "Mama, we were attacked."

Her face paled, and she sat up straighter, her hands now gripping mine with a desperate strength. "Attacked? By who, Aurora? Where is your father? Where is Alpha Dane? What happened to them?"

Tears blurred my vision as I fought to speak. I could barely keep it together, but she needed to know.

"Mama, it wasn't... it wasn't just Dane. The Alpha who killed Dane... he killed father too. Right there, during the wedding."

Her gasp filled the room, her eyes going wide with shock and disbelief. She shook her head, clearly unable to comprehend the magnitude of what I was saying. "No. No, that can't be. Your father... your father can't...."

"I know, Mama," I whispered, my voice breaking. "But he's gone now. This other Alpha... he killed both of them. And everything has fallen apart."

I choked on the words, my chest aching with the weight of my grief. My father. Dane. All of it, gone in the span of a heartbeat. The world I had known was shattered, and now all I had was the need to protect her, to keep her safe from whatever was coming next.

"Mama, we can't stay here. We have to leave. We have to go now," I urged, shaking her slightly, hoping to break through the fog of disbelief that clouded her mind.

She blinked at me, as if she were trying to make sense of what I was saying. "But... where will we go?"

Just as she spoke, a loud thud echoed outside.

My heart jumped. I turned my head toward the front door, what used to be the front door. It now lay shattered on the floor.

The scent of my mate filled my nose, and I flinched.

"What's that?" my mother asked, turning her head.

"Let me come back, Mum." I didn't wait for her response. I turned on my heel then bolted down the hallway, my footsteps quick and frantic, my heart pounding in my ears. The house felt so silent, too quiet. It almost seemed as if everything was holding its breath, waiting for something.

He was here. I already knew it but I didn't know where he was hiding.

I kept on walking until the sight before me stopped me cold.

"Finally, here you are," I heard his voice and immediately froze. I couldn't even bring myself to turn around at first. I knew what I'd see. The monster. The man who was now my mate.

"You thought you could just waltz off like a thief in the night, and I wouldn't find you?" he added, and I turned and looked at him.

Even with the lights off, I could see him clearly. He was a monster.

Nothing more.

"Nobody runs from me, mate."