Once The Forsaken Luna, Now His Eternal Obsession

Kael's POV:

My eyes lingered on Selena's retreating figure long after she walked away. Something felt off.

The oversized black coat hung loosely on her small frame. Even beneath the heavy fabric, the sharp lines of her shoulders stood out. Since when had she become that skinny?

"Kael, don't be upset." Aria slipped to my side and gently hooked her arm through mine. "She's only getting more impossible to deal with. You've spoiled her for far too long."

Without responding, I looked back at the agreement in my hand. When Selena had thrown it at me earlier, all I'd cared about was what was written inside. I hadn't given the envelope a second glance.

Now, something caught my eye. The bottom edge was stained a deep, almost black red. I reached out and brushed the stain with my fingertips, only for them to come away damp and sticky. Blood?

Seeing the blood clinging to my fingers sent a sharp wave of irritation crashing through me.

The shrill ring of my desk phone shattered the silence.

The moment I answered, Afar's furious voice exploded through the line. "Kael, that Luna of yours is completely out of her mind."

A frown creased my forehead. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"I only meant to scare her a little. One shot to the stomach. That was it," Afar snapped. "But that woman didn't even flinch. She grabbed a knife and dug the bullet out herself. There was blood all over the damn place."

I was on my feet before I realized I'd moved. "What did you just say?"

"Oh, don't give me that bullshit." Afar let out a cold, mocking laugh. "You'd love it if she died on my territory. Then you'd have all the justification you needed to declare war and take over the Shadow Fang Pack. Too bad for you. I'm not handing you that opportunity. I signed the damn agreement and kicked her out. She'd already lost a terrifying amount of blood. So? Is she dead yet?"

A second later, the line went dead.

Silence crashed over the office, thick enough to choke on.

I stood frozen, my gaze locked on the dried smear of blood staining my desk as Afar's words echoed relentlessly through my mind.

Selena had been shot? And after taking a silver bullet, she'd carved it out of her own body?

Without wasting another second, I yanked out my phone and called her, but she had switched off her phone.

Then I tried to reach her through our mate bond, only to find that she had shut me out.

"Mason!" My shout thundered through the office.

The door flew open almost instantly as my assistant, Mason Brown, hurried inside. "Alpha? What happened?"

"Where's Selena?" I demanded.

"The Luna already left." Mason swallowed. "The guards at the exit said she rode off on a motorcycle. And the rider was a rogue wolf."

My eyes locked onto him. "A rogue wolf?"

"That's what they reported." Mason nodded nervously. "They said he was young, good-looking, and fast. From what they saw, Luna seemed to know him."

Aria suddenly chimed in, "Since when has Selena been acquainted with a rogue wolf?"

The moment those words landed, the last trace of worry inside me vanished, buried beneath something colder.

"Find her." The order scraped out through clenched teeth. "I don't care if you have to search every inch of this pack's territory. Tear the whole place apart if that's what it takes—but bring her back."

...

Selena's POV:

Pain ripped through my abdomen the instant I opened my eyes, so sharp it nearly forced a cry from my throat.

The slight movement caught Damon's attention. He was at my bedside in an instant. "You're finally awake?"

Still dazed, I blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings before looking at him. "What happened?"

"What happened? You've actually got the nerve to ask me that? If I'd shown up two minutes later, you'd have bled out right in front of Golden Moon Group." Damon slid a pillow behind my back, carefully helping me into a sitting position despite the anger in his voice. "The only thing you sent me was a text saying, 'Come pick me up.' I thought you'd finally come to your senses and decided to leave that bastard. Never crossed my mind that I'd be showing up just in time to keep you from dying."

"I got the agreement," I remarked.

His expression turned icy as he responded, "I know. And you nearly paid for it with your life."

I kept my mouth shut, saying nothing.

A knock broke the tension. The door opened, and a doctor stepped inside. I recognized him immediately. He was one of Damon's people—the same man who had treated my injuries more than once back when I was still taking bounty jobs.

After giving me a quick examination, he looked up. "The gunshot itself isn't the biggest concern. The silver bullet came out in time, so that's under control. But you already had silver poison in your body before this happened. Now that you've been wounded again, the toxin is spreading much faster. The Moonlight Grass can keep it suppressed for a while, but it's only buying you time. If you don't find a real cure soon, that won't last."

I responded with a slight nod. I'd already expected that answer.

Then I noticed the uncertainty lingering on his face, as though he was holding something back. My chest tightened. "There's more, isn't there?"

The doctor set a medical report on the bedside table. "Sorry. We couldn't save your baby."

For a long moment, the words meant nothing. "My... what?"

He handed me a box. "You were pregnant. Around seven weeks along. You really didn't know?"

My fingers trembled as I lifted the lid. Curled inside was a tiny pup, so small it hadn't even finished developing. Its little body was still bare, not yet covered in fur.

The constant nausea, the endless exhaustion, and the drowsiness that had plagued me for months—I had blamed every bit of it on the silver poison, never once realizing I was pregnant.

The doctor continued, "When you arrived, there were already no signs of life."

I had spent years believing I could never carry a child. Somehow, against all odds, I'd been given one. And before I ever knew that life existed, I'd already lost it.

"I'm so sorry, baby," I murmured, my voice cracking as the words escaped me. "I never knew you were there."

Cradling the box against my chest, I fought back another wave of grief. "Damon, I want to take him back to the Golden Moon Pack and bury him there."

Damon's head snapped up in disbelief. "Have you lost your mind? After everything that happened, you still want to go back?"

The doctor let out a weary breath before speaking. "She's not wrong. An unborn pup carrying an Alpha's bloodline who never received the pack's blessing must be laid to rest beneath the Moon Goddess Stone of the father's pack. If not, the Moon Goddess won't accept the child, and the pup's spirit will be left wandering the pack's borders forever."

My gaze fell to the tiny box in my arms, and I tightened my hold on it. "I won't let my baby become a lost soul with nowhere to belong."

Damon dragged a hand through his hair, frustration written across his face.

By nightfall, we had slipped into a secluded garden deep inside the Brooks estate.

At its heart stood the Moon Goddess Stone, the holiest place in the pack. For generations, every Brooks pup born with Alpha blood had been carried here, lifted beneath the moon while an Elder spoke the ancient blessing that welcomed them into the pack.

My hands trembled as I knelt and gently set the box into the grave I'd dug myself. One handful of earth after another, I buried him beneath the sacred ground. When it was over, every ounce of strength had drained from my body.

Before I could collapse, Damon caught me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "We have to leave. If we stay any longer, Kael's going to find you."