Goodbye Dark Moon
Anthony
Don’t fuck it up this time. I heard as I opened my eyes. The scent of the Dark Moon washed over me, and I felt around my nightstand in the dark until I finally found my phone. The date staring back at me confirmed that it was three years earlier, a few hours before I went to check on business in the city and then found myself at the bar. Val’s twenty-first birthday.
“Guess it worked,” I mumbled and scanned my body. I was so drained of energy I could barely make myself stand up. When I finally did, I felt my energy returning. No. More like power. Val’s power. How did I bring it with me? I was grateful I did because I might need it. I could almost hear her giggling as if she had sent it with me as a surprise gift.
The question is, how exactly do I do this? There seemed to be two options. One, I stop her from being poisoned and convince her to leave with me. The second might be a little easier. I let her get poisoned and take it from there.
‘We cannot let her get poisoned!’ Xander exclaimed in an overly dramatic way. I knew that we couldn’t actually do that. It would be pretty messed up.
‘I was simply running through the options in my head.’ I calmed him down.
‘They are terrible options, Anthony.’ He judged me but offered nothing in return, per usual.
‘Fine. Let’s talk this whole thing through.’
‘Good idea.’ He stood at attention, his head cocked to the side.
‘First, we need to challenge and kill the seven alphas before denouncing the pack.’ I told him. ‘And we only have a day to do it.’
‘Why?’ Xander did not align with me on this idea. Not that I blamed him. It was something that I don’t think anyone else was reckless enough to have ever done before.
‘Because we can use the denunciation of the pack to make it look like we died after the last challenge. Then we disappear.’ I explained, and he nodded, understanding.
‘Okay. Good point. So… we hide her until then?’ I didn’t think that would work. Getting Val to stay put and follow instructions was almost as hard as getting Tobias to shift back when he didn’t want to.
‘How do we convince her to drop everything and come with us into hiding after one night together?’ I asked him.
‘Take her somewhere instead of going to her place?’ He suggested.
‘So we are back to the keeping her prisoner idea?’ I asked him.
‘No… it’ll be a vacation.’ Maybe a nice hotel or something would be appealing? Better than a cell. Let her charge up my credit card all day with room service, massages, whatever. Not that that type of thing ever enticed Val. The money and nice hotel wouldn’t impress her. The massages might have a chance. She did love her spas.
‘A vacation with a stranger?’ I was starting to think we really sucked at coming up with plans and regretted not walking through this with Val before I did this rewind. It was a mistake that was impossible to take back. That version of Val didn’t exist and never would again.
‘I mean, she slept with you, and you were a stranger.’ He reminded me.
‘Mate bond trance.’ I reasoned.
‘So keep that up. Why are you even looking at me for this?’ He was getting annoyed with me. In his mind, everything was so simple. We denounce the pack when we see her and mate and mark her in the bar’s bathroom. While I liked the idea in theory, it wouldn’t work. It would make her feel trapped, which is never good for Val.
‘What if we get Wyatt to go away for a while? Would buy more time to convince her,’ I asked him. ‘Make trouble in one of the territories? Richard might cooperate with that. He knows enough people we could pay to make trouble somewhere.’
‘True. But we would get pulled into it. Not claiming her that night makes her vulnerable. It’s the mistake we are trying to fix. Remember?’
‘I would like to wait on marking her. It was so messed up the first time.’ I wanted her to love me. To not be marked because her life depended on it. That way, she would have a choice and time to understand the options. I didn’t want to mark her until she was under me and begging me to do it. As much of a challenge as that would be for Xander and I.
‘You are making this hard.’ Xander complained.
‘I know.’ I admitted. Before heading out, I grabbed the ring Xander made me buy. Eventually, I’d give it to her. I also grabbed the only picture of my parents and put both in my jacket pocket. Nothing else here mattered enough to take.
As I exited my room, I saw Amiee in the hallway. “Anthony, are you heading out?”
“Richard needs my help with something.” I gave her my best fake smile.
I was on my way to see him. To see Richard. He was alive. Any concern that this was the wrong thing to do left me. It would be worth it if this did nothing else except save my brother.
“I’m sure he does.” She reached out and fixed a piece of my hair sticking out. Before I could stop myself, I gave her a hug. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good.” I let her go and kissed her cheek. “Will see you in the morning. I love you, Amiee.”
“Now I know something is wrong.” She smiled at me.
“I just don’t bother to say it enough.” Not being able to say goodbye to her was hard. I did love Amiee. While I always considered her weak, she wasn’t when it came to being a mother. She was there for me when my mother was gone and provided the warmth I had missed and needed when I lost any will to live. I should have appreciated it more.
“It’s okay. I always know it. Now run along. Life is waiting.” She shooed me with her hands.
“So it is.” I headed down the stairs. A few people passed me along the way, but no one I cared enough about to stop and talk to.
Walking towards the border, Wyatt caught up with me. “You gonna be back later? Or do you plan to be out all night?”
“Depends on how lucky I get, I suppose,” I answered, knowing that this was the luckiest night of my life.
“You always seem to get very lucky.” He smirked, and I saw my friend—my brother. “We have another fight coming. I’ll link you if it happens.”
“I’ll come running,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. This conversation was the last one we would have, at least for a long time. I desperately wanted to tell him that. To say goodbye. He hurt me in so many ways, but I still saw the wolf who jumped into every fight I was about to lose. Why is that the man who hurt me the most?
“Yeah, I know. It’s why I love you.” He said, and I felt it from him. We loved each other then. It was probably the last moment we ever would. If Wyatt ever learned the truth, we would never be on the same side again. And I knew someday he would likely figure it out. I would need to be ready, and I planned to be. My anger at what he did was enough to kill him. Challenging him now would be too messy. I didn’t want Dark Moon. I needed my pack re-established and Val at my side before I could face him. My oath weakened my aura, and with her, I’m stronger. Besides, without my true home, this place would be meaningless to own.
“And I love you because you bring trouble.” I gave him a strong but quick hug.
“You already drunk?” He laughed at me.
“Maybe a little.” I lied.
“Be careful if you drive then.” He said, growing serious. “I don’t need you wrapping your car around a tree. Would be a shit way to go.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s not far.”
“Okay, if you say so. My dad is out patrolling somewhere. Let him know you’re going?” he asked me.
“Of course.”
“You two are such saps,” Gale said. She jumped on my back and kissed my cheek playfully.
“And what exactly is this?” I asked, flipping her off of me and onto her feet.
“It’s me wishing my life was as exciting as yours.” She whined, hands on her hips.
“No. You don’t.” Wyatt scolded her. “What will your mate say one day?”
“I’m not getting involved in this. I gotta go.” I ran off, hearing her goodbye. It was too much for me to face any of them right now.
Jamie and Inez waved to me, and I waved back. They were out for their nightly walk. It kept Inez moving. The triplets were really making her insane, and walking helped. I wasn’t close to Jamie, but he was a good guy. I hoped that one day, that would rub off on Wyatt. Will always thought that his youngest was too soft. The more I thought about it, the more I realized his softness made him stronger than any of us.
As I approached my car, I saw Will loading something into his trunk. “You plan to escape?”
He smiled at me and shook his head. “New silver chains. We brought someone back on our last trip out, so they were a little bloody.”
“It happens.”
I stared at him, knowing this man had lied to me for years. Hiding that he knew my mate. That I shared her with Wyatt. And that he and my own father planned to keep her from me. Wyatt may have lost his mind, but his father put it in motion. What could I say? Was it worth saying anything at all?
“You heading out?”
“Yeah. I am.” I told him.
“Some day, you’ll regret all these she-wolves you spend your nights with. Explaining it to your mate will be hard.” He commented, which enraged me. He knew damn well if it were up to him, I never would have my mate. That there would be no one to explain my behavior to.
“Well, I’ll never have to explain it to her. I’ll never find her.” I said, holding his gaze. “I think you know that, though.”
“What does that mean?” He looked stunned, and he realized I knew something.
“Beta’s don’t get their mates until their alpha does. I won’t be able to scent her. And at this rate, I never will. All the parts of your plan for the pack are falling into place.” I had to hold back my temper. This version of Will didn’t know that I knew everything. I couldn’t let on that I did. Not yet. I had already said too much.
“My plan?” I didn’t say anything else. I wrapped my arms around him and patted him on his back several times. In that hug, I told him I forgave him—not that he would ever know.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Will.” As I got in my car, he grabbed my arm.
“You okay, Anthony?” He asked me.
“I will be.” I pulled the door shut.
“Something is bothering you?” He asked me through the window.
“Isn’t there always something?” I asked, and he backed away. When I reached the territory line, I whispered goodbye to them. It was the last time I would ever be there.
