Chapter 3

Kaelen's POV

As though the moon goddess heard me, thunder roared, followed my lightning. I stood on the porch, staring out at the now pouring sky. Hazel wrapped the cloth around my hand to stop the bleeding.

She sniffled, unable to contain her emotions, but she didn't need to around me. I placed her hand on her chest. “I'm fine,” I said softly.

Hazel nodded, wiping her face with the back of her hand, but more tears flowed. “I'll divorce him. Contact Linda to prepare the divorce papers,” I said.

Just as she was about to leave, I stopped her, holding her arm. I stared at the pouring sky for a moment. “Call General Sterling,” I told her.

Once she was out of sight, I staggered forward. I felt dizzy. It could be the blood loss or my broken trust and the world weighing down on me, but I could do nothing about it.

Goosebumps spread across my skin as the cold touch of the rain met my skin. A laugh erupted from my lungs as I twirled, my hands spread. My heart bled, and hot tears came down my face, mixing with the cold rain.

I didn't want to cry. I shouldn't. “Cry, my child. Crying helps the mind. It flushes out the pain,” my father's voice echoed in my mind.

“Dad,” I dropped to my ground, sobbing.

“I failed you, Father,” I muttered.

He warned me. He told me not to leave everything behind. “I don't see you two's future together. Do not proceed with the marriage,” he warned.

But I didn't listen. Instead, I eloped and got a marriage certificate. “Luna,” Hazel called, running into the rain with an umbrella.

She helped me up with a frown. “Luna, you could get sick. You haven't healed properly,” she said.

“Have you done what I asked?” I said, and she nodded.

“The papers would be ready tomorrow,” she said.

***

By noon the next day, the papers had arrived and were sent to Merrick. I waited for his reaction, but I got nothing. Two hours in and Corvina barged and threw the divorce papers at me. “Signed,” she said with a smug look.

Hazel picked it up and went through before giving me a small nod. “You expected him to come to you after your stunt yesterday, but he could not bear to leave me,” she said, her voice dripping with venom.

I drank my coffee calmly, not planning on playing into what she wanted from me. They all saw me break, but they won't anymore. “You always bragged about how well Merrick took care of you, how much he loved you,” she chuckled. “Yet, he so easily fell for the woman who killed his firstborn child,”

My hand hung midair. Seeing my reaction, she chuckled. “Struck a nerve?” she teased.

I resumed taking a sip of my coffee without a word. “You took a sword for him, giving a mark to your womb. It is said that you bearing a child was only going to be a miracle. Three times you had an opportunity, and it all wasted,” she scoffed. “I always knew I would win, but you were too blind to see. Don't let the woods swallow you on your way home.”

She finally left. The tension on my shoulders dropped, and silent tears rolled down my eyes. Hazel sat beside me, holding me. “Luna,” she called softly.

I shook my head, wiping the tears off my face. “I am no longer his Luna.” I took the divorce papers and stared at his signature for a moment.

“From today, we have nothing to do with each other,” I said and signed.

“Send it over to Linda,” I instructed.

While Hazel was gone, I packed what was left to be packed of my belongings. George helped get a few guards to take my things to the car. Once Hazel was back, it was time to leave.

On the porch, only Corvina and her maids were present. The omega I saved during the war not only killed my child and took my husband, but has more maids than I ever did.

I expected Merrick to be here, but he didn't bother to come to me last night, so he definitely would not care to see me off. Our five years of marriage was nothing but a lie, and it still hurt.

“Expecting Merrick? Well, he doesn't like trash when it wants to get rid of itself,” Corvina said.

I wasn't going to exchange words with her. She wanted a reaction, but she would get none. Just as I was about to walk away, she blocked my path.

“You've been quiet. So heartbroken, you lost your ability to speak?” she said, then waved her hands dismissively as she took a step towards me. She leaned in, then whispered, “Goodbye, Luna Kaelen.”

I could sense something in her tune, but I could not decipher what it was. Shoving it at the back of my mind, I got into the car and George drove off.

I stared at the pack house through the rearview mirror. I never imagined leaving this way, but here I was. “Where to, my lady?” George asked, staring at me through the rearview mirror.

“Take me to my father,”

George soon drove into a cemetery and found a good spot to park. He quickly went out of the car and helped with my door. “He's here?” I asked, looking around.

“Yes, my lady,” Hazel responded with a saddened expression.

I sighed, turning to George. “Give the keys to Hazel. You need to head back,” I told him.

“But Luna-”

I cut him off with a raise of my hand. “I can take Hazel with me because she came to the pack house with me. You were assigned to me when I arrived at the pack house.”

He dropped his head. I took a few steps forward towards him, and reluctantly placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing a smile on my face. He raised his head. “You have always been a guard at the pack house. I wouldn't want you punished, so please, return,” I told him.

George was reluctant. He didn't want to, but he had to. I didn't have the power to take him with me, and I wouldn't want to put him in any trouble. He passed the key to Hazel, who pouted, watching him go.

Once he was out of sight, I turned to Hazel. “Take me to him,” I said.

She nodded, leading me through the vast landscape of graves and headstones, decorated with flowers. Each step I took felt harder, dragged and painful. “Here,” Hazel pointed at a neatly crafted headstone.

I took a step closer, my heart racing and chest hurting. Silent tears rolled down my eyes, reading my father's name boldly written on his headstone.

IRON GENERAL GRANT WILDES.

I dropped to my knees, unable to contain my tears. “I'm sorry, Father. I'm sorry,” I sobbed.

He has been gone for five years and not once did I come to him. I didn't attend his funeral. I had failed him in so many ways, and he wasn't here for me to apologize.

I wanted to. I needed to hear his scoldings, but I knew that was only wishful thinking. “I'm sorry,”

With shaky hands, I reached out to touch his grave, but I withdrew my hand just before I could. I was too ashamed, too lowly, to touch his grave. The flowers on his grave were never given by me.

I had failed him, but I will get back on track. I wiped my face, rising. “Father, I know how disappointed you must be with my decisions, but I promise to make things right. I'll get back to the top. I'll take back what I lost and threw out,” I said.

Only then would I be worthy to touch him. He was a great leader. He once told me I could be one, and I was almost that, but I dropped it all for love — for Merrick. I wiped off the loose strand of tears, filled with determination.

A fig snapped a few distances away just as I turned around to leave. I paused, heightening my senses. There was a lot going on around us — the leaves of the trees dancing and colliding with each other as the wind blew, birds chirping, but then it stopped, followed by the flapping of their wings.

They were flying away. Then I heard it, footsteps, hurried and almost so faint it could go unnoticed if not focused. I turned my head to Hazel. With her eyes, I could tell she felt it, too.

We were surrounded!