Mother of the Moon - Chapter 147 - Keeping the Secret
Lunaya.
It was already too late. I saw red and I was ready to kill.
“Because I thought she was dead!” I screamed, standing to my full height, only inches from his face.
“I looked! I searched for years, for any kind of sign that she was alive. I looked at each and every corpse of my fallen pack mates, I searched every burned-out house and every pile of bodies. I looked!” I was screaming in his face. My body was alive with emotions, grief, guilt and rage.
“They were hunters! How was I meant to know that they kept her alive? How dare you accuse me of giving up, how dare you accuse me of coming after her power. She is my child. I never gave up. I mourned for my family every single day”.
I hadn’t realised that I was being held back by Alyse and Elaine. If it weren’t for them, I would have lunged at the kid. My claws were out and my teeth had descended. He watched me with a stoic expression, but his eyes held the truth, he was surprised by my outburst. Tears streamed down my face in hot waves of painful memories. The thought that I had given up the search too soon has plagued my every dream. I heard the screaming of my child and saw the blood of my pack every time I closed my eyes. Was he right? Did I give up too easily?
“Okay, okay, okay” Cole rushed out and stood slightly in front of Gunner.
“That was a dick thing to say” he said pointedly looking back at Gunner as he spoke,
“But he needed to ask, for his own sanity” he added.
“Let’s all take a nice big breath and calm ourselves. Then, we can talk calmly and rationally”. I wanted to rage, to hurt him for insinuating such things, but he is still my daughters Mate. Going against him will only hurt my chances of reconnecting with her. I shook off Elaine and Alyse’s hold on me and crossed my arms over my chest. With a large breath I felt my canines return and my claws retract.
“Okay” I said firmly, eying Gunner. He nodded his head and also crossed his arms over his chest.
“Okay then, Lunaya, how did you find Zelena, after all these years?” Cole asked, he was now acting as a mediator.
“We had only just arrived at Luna Eclipse when the news of the Triple Goddess came from their scouts. Upon our arrival, I told the Luna Eclipse Alpha that I am descended from Rhea, the first female Alpha. If you know your history well, you will know that Rhea was a descended daughter of Selene. The Alpha took me to the pack Seer, it was her that said she was alive and that she was my child” I answered him while maintaining eye contact with Gunner.
“A Seer, really?” Cole asked, the surprise was evident in his voice. Seers are rare, very rare.
“Yes, our Seer has been a part of the pack for nearly eighty years” Elaine interjected.
“And she told you where we are? The Seer?” Gunner questioned,
“Not exactly no, she told us that we needed to come to Nova Scotia” I answered.
“You arrived with the daughter of Alpha Ambrose, from Lua Chei. Did they tell you where she was?” Cole asked. I hesitated, if I answer that question will they retaliate against Lua Chei? Will they see the deal they struck with Elaine as a betrayal? I looked to Elaine, asking with my eyes if I can answer the question. She very slightly shook her head. I think she is wondering the same thing.
“I’m don’t think I should answer that question” I said looking back to Cole,
“I warned you” Gunner growled.
“I will not put an innocent pack in harm's way” I snapped at him,
“I take that as a yes then” Gunner growled lowly.
“Bring me Alpha Ambrose and his daughter” Gunner turned and snapped at the redhead. He hesitated before rushing out of the tent.
“Alpha Gunner, you can see that we mean her no harm, punishing Lua Chei will not accomplish anything” Alyse pleaded. Gunner turned and growled down at her. I moved to stand in front of Alyse, placing myself between them, and growled back protectively. Gunner’s eyes blanked as did Cole’s, they were flashing again. Gunner blinked and looked back at Cole before glancing between Alyse and I.
“You are Mated?” he asked me,
“What does that have to do with anything?” I growled at him,
“Answer the question” he growled back,
“Yes, we are Mated” I snapped.
“With no male?” he asked, his voice, more curious than angry now.
“With no male” I mimicked. He didn’t say anything further, and I couldn’t read his face or his scent enough to figure out if he was going to accept our Mating with no issue. Cole had the same reaction when he learnt of our same sex relationship. Curious and invested. But why? After a few minutes, Alpha Ambrose, Analah and the redhead returned. I really need to ask what this guy's name is, I can’t keep calling him The Redhead’.
“What is the meaning of this?” Alpha Ambrose asked, clearly not thrilled about being pulled from his bed in the middle of the night.
“Did you or your pack offer up the location of the Triple Goddess to these she-wolves?” Gunner asked, cutting straight to the point. The alpha reared back, eyes wide and brows furrowed. I don’t think he was expecting the interrogation. And I also don’t think he is too impressed with it either.
“And what if I did?” he asked firmly staring Gunner down,
“You knowingly endangered the Triple Goddess” Gunner growled,
“Listen here boy, I have known you since you were a pup. Our packs have been allies since long before you were born. You want to stand here and accuse me of betraying our alliance, of endangering the Triple Goddess? Because if that is the avenue you wish to take, I suggest you rethink your strategy. You may be the Alpha now, but you are still a greenhorn. Watch yourself young one and don’t test me” Alpha Ambrose spoke firmly and with authority. I wanted to clap my hands at his speech. Gunner dropped his hands and stood quietly glaring at the Lua Chei Alpha.
“We knew there was no threat from these Weres. They were properly questioned and vetted before being escorted to your pack. We invited no danger and no risk to the Goddess. Now if that is all, you have interrupted my sleep and I wish to return to bed”.
Analah stood at her father's side, smirking. They both knew they were in the clear, they had done nothing wrong. I don’t know the inside and out of their pack alliance, but on more than one occasion we have witnessed the history between them. Before Gunner got the chance to argue any further with Alpha Ambrose, he turned and stormed out of the tent. Analah winked at me before following behind her father.
Gunner was furious, he stunk of it. He was about to follow Alpha Ambrose out of the tent when Cole stopped him.
“He’s right Gunner. You know he is. Lua Chei are one of our most trusted allies. They would never betray us” he said calmly. Gunner growled and pushed Cole’s hand from his shoulder. He spun around and stood in my face.
“Why have you come?” he roared,
“To find my daughter” I answered calmly.
“She is mine, you’re not taking her anywhere” he yelled, his hot breath hit against my face as he screamed.
“I never said I wanted to take her away” I told him.
“Then why are you here, if you’re not here to recruit her to Luna Eclipse, why did you all come”. Oh, his anger makes so much more sense now. He thinks I am a member of Luna Eclipse. He thinks I want to take her away. And if his Mate’s long-lost mother is part of an all-female pack, what if she decides to leave him to go with me. He is just scared of losing her.
“Alpha Gunner. I think you may have misunderstood. My Mate and I are Omega wolves, we were not initiated into Luna Eclipse. We have not come to take her away. We have come to be with her, here, in her home”.
“You’re not from Luna Eclipse?” he asked, stepping back from me,
“They are, yes. Alyse and I are not” I said as I pointed behind me to the others.
“Then why have you come?” he asked, now looking to Elaine.
“She is the Triple Goddess, we support women in power. We have come to offer our loyalty and arrange an alliance between our packs” Elaine answered without hesitation.
“You’re not here to recruit her?”
“We are not. If she chose to come with us, we would allow it, but we are not here to sway her”.
Gunner went silent as he stood staring at us. His mind was alive with activity, I could see him going through the motions. Will he be big enough to admit he overreacted, or will he remain on the defence? He couldn’t possibly still believe that we are dangerous, not after learning the full truth.
“Okay” he finally spoke.
“I will let you stay, but for the time being, you are to keep your distance from Zelena”
“You can’t expect me to do that. And what if she wants to talk to me, I’m not just going to run in the other direction. Now she knows that I’m her mother, you can’t keep us apart” I yelled,
“She doesn’t know about you” he yelled back. My anger slipped away instantly. She doesn’t know. So, he didn’t tell her? I’m confused, why would he keep something like this from her?
“What do you mean she doesn’t know?” Alyse asked him. She was as angry and confused as I am.
“I… I didn’t tell her” Gunner said, his firm tone turned to have a more meek and guilty feeling to it. He isn’t sure of his decision to not tell her.
“Why not?” demanded Elaine,
“There were uh… something came up, something unexpected” he mumbled.
“What kind of something?” I came back strong, my anger burning again in full force. What could possibly be more important than telling her about me?
“I can’t talk about it yet” he answered me,
“Like hell you can’t! You want me to keep my distance, you had better have a damn good reason as to why” I yelled.
“It’s hard to explain” Gunner rushed out,
“I’m sure we can keep up” Elaine growled.
“She has been visiting with Selene” Gunner yelled. We all froze in silence, staring at the Alpha dumbly. Visiting? That’s not possible.
“That’s why she passed out at dinner, Selene called to her. I’m sorry Lunaya, but Zelena believes that Selene is her mother”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, I could feel my panic rising.
“Zelena told me that she has been going to the Ethereal Plane, that Selene has been taking her there. And apparently, Selene has been visiting with her here on Earth as well”.
“No. No, no, no. That doesn’t happen” I mumbled, my chest tightened and my breathing quickened. A panic attack was coming.
“Zelena doesn’t lie. If she said it happened, I believe her. She said that Selene raised her, she sees her as her mother. I can’t rock that boat right now. I need to let her have this, a least for a little while. Throwing you, her birth mother, into the mix will just overwhelm her. I promise this won’t be for ever, I will tell her about you” Gunner stepped close to me as he spoke. He jerked his hand, like he wanted to reach out for me but changed his mind. Instead he just gazed at me apologetically.
“No” I said softly,
“Pardon?” Gunner answered,
“No, don’t tell her” I croaked,
“Nae, are you sure?” Alyse whispered as she slid her hand into mine. I squeezed her hand tight and nodded my head.
“She has a mother” I croaked and a sob fell from my lips.
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