Chapter 5

• Luna had not eaten all day. Her eyes, lips and nose were red and swollen after crying all day. Although several she-wolves had wanted to comfort her, she just stood in the corner of the house with her legs tucked up to her chest.
• The way Lord had treated her both the day before and that morning had hurt her so much. So much so that she felt a hollowness in her chest. He had completely rejected her and yelled at her, that had never been the case. Just remembering it brought tears to her eyes. She knew she shouldn't be rebellious when Lord was upset or raised his voice so she had only decided to leave the room and avoid him, but hours had passed and she hadn't seen him. Nor had he gone looking for her.
• -Does he hate me now?- she wondered with a shudder.
• He did not understand where he had gone wrong. He had hurt his hand, but nothing more. Ah, but who could understand the wolf. This one had good days as well as bad and knowing him it was certain that he would be like this for quite some time. And if there was one thing Luna had learned it was that she had to do things for herself if she wanted results. So she had better be the one to get up from there and go find the wolf.
• Yes, that's what I would do.
• However, just opening the door of the house, the sound of thunder made her shudder and cold raindrops wet her face. Outside the sky had turned dark red and thundered loudly, but that was not what frightened her the most even as the thunder paralyzed her, it was the loud sounds along with screams and growls that began to sound in front of her. Luna was so frightened that every part of her body trembled.
• I saw wolves running back and forth. Many transformed. A strong metallic smell reached her and she could not identify it. Suddenly a she-wolf stopped in front of her.
• -What was going on- she asked frightened, -Where is Lord?
• The she-wolf was deathly pale and looked over her shoulder in fear. He grabbed her hand and pulled her.
• -Come on, let's get you to safety- he shouted and forced her to run through the rain quickly.
• Luna didn't understand what was happening. She was scared, she wanted Lord. Everything around her was total chaos. She even thought she saw bodies on the floor stained with blood? No, she hoped not. Where was Lord? She wanted to go to him, he was the only one she felt safe with.
• She let herself be led by the she-wolf through the pack in the same direction that other transformed females were heading, carrying puppies in their mouths. Luna wasn't stupid. She had NOT witnessed something like this before but she could definitely understand that something was threatening the pack. And... if Lord wasn't around for all that... something had happened to him and that was what scared her the most.
• Suddenly she heard a loud sound near her and soon found herself on the ground rolled over. The fall made her legs and hands hurt, but above the pain what terrified her the most was that when she raised her head and found the body of the she-wolf that was carrying her before, still on the ground, but with her eyes open... and lifeless.
• Luna became even more frightened and let go of his hand, crawling backwards.
• -What was going on?
• Why were they being attacked?
• -Lord, Lord- she sobbed for help.
• Her hand touched something wet behind her and when she raised it she found it stained red. Blood. Her tear-filled eyes opened much wider. She was in total panic. The screaming and growling, loud noises brought the wolves down in front of her.
• And no matter how many times he called Lord, he did not show up.
• A blinding pain seized her as something pulled her hair upward. Luna let out a scream and kicked trying to get free, but a voice behind her paralyzed her.
• -It's time for you to disappear at once.
• And after that, something buried itself in her neck from behind and after a piercing scream, everything around Luna went black. She only regretted not being able to see Lord again. The wolf... he hadn't arrived in time.
• ***
• Lord had walked the herd boundaries along with other males and was exhausted. He didn't understand what had happened but the number of hunters that had approached his grounds was abnormal and they came well equipped. Normally the two breeds had stayed out of each other's way with slight problems, but that day, something was not right. Since he had awakened everything was going wrong.
• From arguing with Luna, to the attack, he had a very bad feeling that assaulted his body and bristled every hair on his body. His instinct told him he should go back at every turn, but letting the hunters in like that was a risk... until he found out it had been a trap.
• A wounded wolf had come running from the pack warning of the chaos that was going on. Lord hadn't thought twice before running back with only two things on his mind, his mate and his pack.
• He had run so fast that his paws had hurt so much that they had almost come apart. Even the wound on his back and bleeding he had barely noticed. He had received no announcement from the other wolves guarding the boundaries of their grounds. Unless they had been betrayed and left a gap free for attack. It was the only alternative, because something like that had never happened before. Even the attack on his boundaries had seemed like bait to keep him busy.
• And great was the chaos when he arrived at the pack. There were several wolf corps and the fight was brutal. A fight that he joined along with the others. Tearing the necks of those hunters was the only thing on his mind. They had harmed their own.
• And it was not easy. His body received wounds and despite the bleeding he did not back down. His large body was imposing and his presence was motivation for the other members. Senas, his beta who had been at his side watching his back had lost an eye in the process and still did not retreat. They could only breathe when the last hunter fell dead.
• Lord gasped and staggered given the damage to his body. Senas held his body with his own so that he would not collapse. Still, the alpha recovered quickly.
• -He was thankful that at least his pack was strong, the casualties had been very few compared to the attack, and most were wounded.
• Lord quickly changed his focus and headed for the house. He had to make sure his mate was safe. He could not distinguish its smell due to the blood and gunpowder dancing in the air. But great was his surprise when he did not find her hiding there. He had trained her to stay in certain places in case of attack, but the house was empty.
• His heart hammered in his chest. And he didn't want to think the worst. Oblivious to the pain in his body he ran out looking from side to side and trying to locate her. Senas approached him after giving the rest of the pertinent indications.
• -Alpha, what's wrong?- I could see the anxiety in Lord's body.
• -I can't detect Luna, she's not in the house.
• Senas was alarmed.
• -She's not in the places you told her? Maybe she's in the shelter or hiding. Let's look for her.
• Lord nodded and together with his beta went to the relevant places, but no matter how hard they searched and asked the others... there was no trace of Luna. Lord... was beginning to despair.
• -Stive limped toward them. On his face was an expression of panic.
• -Senas asked his brother after verifying that the wound on his paw was not too severe.
• Stive clenched his jaw and shook his head.
• -I'm sorry, I don't know where he is.
• Lord growled so loudly and without another word began to run running through the herd again reaching the boundaries and even passing them even if it would endanger his life, he didn't care. But, although he exhausted his strength after running through everything, he found no trace of his mate anywhere. It was as if he had vanished, as if he had never been there.
• Lord let out a howl of pain for not finding his mate. However, he would not rest until he found her again and did whatever it took to get her back, because at least he did not lose hope that Luna... was alive.
• ***
• 10 years later.
• -The woman who had just gotten off the bus in the middle of nowhere let out a cry of obstinacy.
• After graduating from veterinary school, she was sent to that town where there was a shortage of personnel and she had no alternative but to complain. That's what happens when you are an orphan and your income is too low to pay for a job in the city. Now she was there... surrounded by trees on all sides and a small path that would lead her to her new life. A village almost in the middle of nowhere.
• The young woman raised her head and let the breeze ruffle her long brown curly hair. Her blue orbs glowed with enthusiasm despite the situation. Maybe... it wasn't so bad. That place was cozy and always the city had overwhelmed her.
• -This may look like the end of the world... but it seems so familiar- he laughed wryly, -I mean, I've never been outside the thousands of buildings, let alone in the countryside.
• She shook her head to get rid of that feeling inside her and raised an arm in encouragement.
• -Come on Selena, if the night catches you here I don't know where you'll sleep and you'll end up prey to the wolves. This is not a romance novel where you meet a wolf as a mate, here you end up being dinner- she said to herself and started walking down the path to her new life for the next few years.