The Aftermath
Anthony
“I, ALPHA WYATT RICHERSON OF THE DARK MOON PACK, HEREBY REJECT YOU, LUNA VALKYRIE TENASON OF THE DARK MOON PACK, AS MY MATE AND LUNA!” Val immediately hunched over and vomited blood onto the floor, holding her stomach and heaving. I desperately tried to get the bleeding to stop from the wound on her neck. If I didn’t get her help soon, I was scared she would bleed out.
“I, Luna Valkyrie Tenason of the Dark Moon pack, hereby accept your rejection, and I reject you, Alpha Wyatt Richerson of the Dark Moon pack, as my mate and alpha,” She said, meeting his eyes. There was no fear there. She was angry. Kassandra was angry. Her eyes flickered back and forth from green to golden, and she didn’t waver on a single word.
“Oh fuck. Wyatt, what did you do?” I looked over at him and swore he was in shock. The angry wolf fighting me moments before was gone. My friend was back, and confusion ruled his face. Slowly, he tried to move towards her, but I would not allow it. No matter why he did this, what evil was controlling him, there was no excuse.
“If you even try to come closer, I will make sure it’s the last step you take, Wyatt.” I hissed, and Xander growled at him.
I never thought I would hear those words from Wyatt. He loved Val more than anything. Didn’t he? He cheated on her. Tried to kill her. He hurt Tobias. It didn’t make sense. We spent every minute looking for her, for him to do this to her? Everything ran around my mind. All the little things that got us here.
How could I have been so blind? I felt like a frog being cooked alive, and the water heated up slowly. By the time it was boiling, I was already half dead.
Was my confession the last straw for him? Did he even hear me? He didn’t respond. Regardless, I never should have told him she was mine first. But, seeing him hurting her like that… I had lost my control. His rock bottom broke me.
‘We knew and did nothing.’ Xander was spitting at me now, his fur standing straight up. ‘You denied everything! Now look! I told you this would happen, and you were so stupid that you were planning to leave!’
‘You’re right.’ I whispered, and I felt Val’s connection to the pack break. Her voice left my mind. Pain spread through my chest, feeling the snap of my beta bond to Val. I almost collapsed under that feeling. It burned me in every cell in my body as I was beaten from the inside. My punishment from the Moon Goddess for failing her. A punishment I deserved.
Howling in the distance signaled that the pack knew their luna was gone. They all feared the worst, not considering that Wyatt would ever reject their luna or that she would leave, especially privately, with no warning. Lunas have been rejected before or even left the pack, but it’s always done publicly with a clear explanation, no matter how painful. What he did was unheard of for so many reasons.
Right then and there, I decided my best friend was lost. Dead. And I wanted nothing more to do with him.
′She’s not dead! Not yet.′ Xander said to me. ‘Put this pain away for now. We need to focus. Do something.’ What could I do?
When Wyatt approached her, I carefully laid her down and picked him up, throwing him back so hard he crashed into the dresser, breaking the mirror. Glass went everywhere. He didn’t get up, so I went back to Val, and I pressed firmly on her neck to try and stop the bleeding. I kept trying to line up the chunks of skin that was her neck, but too many of the pieces were missing. Will and Steven ran into the room late to the party.
We were all late. We had failed her. Again.
“Ka!” Randolph screamed through Will. “Anthony, is she-?”
Gale entered next. I’m sure she felt the bond break. “Oh fuck.” She threw the lights on, and everyone saw it. The black blood flowed through her veins, rushing to her heart.
“What is that?” I hadn’t seen it before. It was like someone injected her with a black dye, and it swirled around her body in whirlpools.
“Their venom. With the rejection, the different venoms from the alphas who tried to mark her are trying to claim her. Alpha Ragnor’s will likely win, as I assume he is the strongest and tried the most to mark her.” Randolph said mechanically, swallowing hard. “But two got away, so their venom isn’t powerless.”
“Wake him up! He needs to take it back!” Gale screamed at me, but I didn’t move. I didn’t want him to take it back. Whether he wants her or not, he doesn’t deserve her.
Will went over to Wyatt and shook him. He slapped him across the face when he didn’t stir, successfully waking him. I put my body between him and Val, scared of what he might do.
“You need to go mark her, or one of the other Alphas will have her. Is that what you really want?” Will pulled him up and held him firmly against the dresser.
“I DON’T FUCKING CARE! LET THEM HAVE HER! SHE IS A WHORE! SHE LET THEM ALL HAVE HER ANYWAY!” He screamed.
“Wyatt, you don’t mean that!” Gale cried. “Whenever you snap out of this, you’ll never forgive yourself! You won’t forgive yourself for any of this.”
“DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH HER! I HAVE NO IDEA HOW NONE OF YOU SEE SHE’S A BREEDER! EVERY MINUTE WITH HER WAS A MISTAKE!” Randolph took control of Will, pulled back his fist, and punched Wyatt so hard I heard his nose crack.
“Okay, so one of you mark her,” Randolph said, looking back at us. “And decide very quickly.”
Steven and I looked at each other. Steven had a mate even though they didn’t mark each other yet. Due to that, he wasn’t the best option. With no more thought than that, I knew what I had to do. I knew what I wanted to do. What I always had wanted to do from the moment I met her. “Val, I’m so sorry,” I whispered in her ear and kissed her neck, or I should say what is left of it, and I let my canines extend. “We will fix this.”
“IT’S EXACTLY WHAT YOU ALWAYS PLANNED ISN’T IT? THE BOTH OF YOU.”
“Yes, Wyatt. I planned for you to almost kill and then reject your mate! That makes perfect fucking sense!” Looking back at them, I asked them to leave. Randolph dragged Wyatt away, still ranting about how Val was a demon, a slut, a whore. Steven and Gale followed them out.
How did I do this on purpose to take her from him? Why would he think this is something I would be a part of? No matter how much I wanted her, this was not how I wanted it to happen. I felt as if everything around me was moving in slow motion. Seconds seemed like hours. I couldn’t connect with my own body. Every movement seemed surreal. I climbed on top of her, holding all my weight with one arm.
“It’s a lot to ask, but will you do this for me? I don’t want to belong to him... I’ll let you go once his venom is gone.” Let me go? Why would she ever let me go? I would never want her to go once I had her. Could I ever convince her of that?
Then I met her eyes, and it was like I had been looking at her through the screen of a dirty window for the past two years. I could finally really smell her. I went downstairs, and the cookies were done. “Mate.” The word left me before I could stop it.
