Echoes From the Forbidden Zone

Alexander always believed that by giving me the title of Luna, he had guaranteed Mia and me a life of endless comfort within the pack.

I float beside him now, and I wonder what his face will look like when he finally learns we’ve been dead all along.

The private jet touches down at a Manhattan airport.

Alexander, whom I haven’t seen in three years, strides down the ramp.

The ever-pitiful Vivian follows, clutching Oliver, a cub whose wolf scent is terrifyingly faint.

"Alexander, Oliver desperately needs the life essence. Where did Valentina take Mia?" Vivian's voice is a carefully constructed tremble.

His Beta, Marcus, bows his head. "Alpha, the Luna and Young Mistress have vanished without a trace for the past three years. We've exhausted our entire network and found nothing."

Alexander’s brow furrows, and the oppressive weight of his Alpha aura bears down on everyone present.

"Still playing childish games? Running away? It seems the last lesson I taught her wasn't enough."

"Valentina must still hate me." Vivian's tears fall right on cue. "She would rather watch Oliver die in agony than help me. Do I have to die before she'll finally forgive me?"

Hearing that, it takes everything I have not to materialize just so I can slap her.

She was the one who had us killed, and now she dares accuse me of holding a grudge?

Alexander wraps a protective arm around Vivian's shoulders, his tone softening. "Don't say that. I will find Valentina and drag her back. We'll take as much life essence as we need. I promise you."

On the way to the pack infirmary, Alexander reaches for me through the mate bond, sending a mental command.

Before I died, the Moon Goddess took pity on me, and I laid a curse on Alexander to make him feel the pain that I had suffered.

As a result, the Goddess herself blocked his ability to sense my death.

I watched coldly as he sent his commands through our mate bond, receiving only silence. This, I thought, was just the beginning of the curse.

"Three years, and your nerve has grown? You dare to disobey me?"

"Mia is my daughter. It is my right to see her. I suggest you hand her over willingly. Don't force my hand. Have you forgotten your last lesson so quickly?"

My soul shudders. The last lesson? That nightmare from three years ago?

I gaze at the familiar infirmary and the memory consumes me. Three years ago, when Oliver's Bloodline Decay first manifested, he needed a life essence transfer—a forbidden ritual—to survive.

The pack physician's tests showed my compatibility at eighty-five percent. Mia's was ninety-eight.

I knelt before Alexander then, sobbing. "Take my life essence, please! Mia is only five, her wolf spirit is still forming. She can't survive a ritual like this!"

But Alexander just stared at me coldly and uttered the words that will haunt me for eternity:

"Oliver is the heir. His life is not negotiable."

To ensure Oliver's survival, he ordered the pack warriors to seize Mia.

I threw myself at them, snarling and clawing, but the hulking warriors easily subdued me.

Vivian knelt before me then, tears streaming down her perfect face. "Mia is only giving up half of her life essence, but she’s saving my son’s life! I know you hate me, Luna. Hit me, curse me, I’ll take it. But please, don't take your anger out on an innocent child."

Before I could even scream, Alexander's hand cracked across my face, sending me sprawling to the floor.

"As his sister, it is Mia's duty to save her brother. You have no right to interfere."

That time, they took so much of Mia's life essence that she became as frail as a porcelain doll.

But Alexander wasn't satisfied.

To punish me for my defiance, he personally performed the forbidden rite, draining Mia’s life essence to the breaking point.

"I'm doing this so you understand the pain Vivian feels as a mother," he’d said, his voice devoid of all emotion. "As Luna, you are forbidden from ever being so selfish again."

Afterward, he took Vivian and a recovering Oliver to New Zealand. They were gone for three years, never once returning to our territory.

A bitter, soundless laugh escapes me now as I hear Alexander say:

"That woman holds a grudge like no other. Finding her is going to be a real pain. It's a shame Oliver has to suffer so much more because of her pettiness."

My spirit hovers in the infirmary, the sheer absurdity of it all washing over me.

They search for me with all their might, never knowing I am right here.