Healing His Broken Luna.... Chapter 94

#####Chapter 7 - Hunt

Lukas POV

Today is the mating ceremony and I woke up feeling restless. I hadn't been able to get much sleep. Thoughts of the little mouse in the barn troubled me and annoyed me.

Alpha Jaxon had yelled at her for stealing two little dinner rolls and it made Luke angry. Yesterday I had spent most of the day advising Jaxon on pack matters and trained in the afternoon with his warriors. I gave technique and fighting advice, and many seemed eager to test their skills and spar with me, including Jaxon. I enjoyed roughing them up and letting off some steam, but Luke especially enjoyed beating Jaxon. He was a cocky little prick, the only reason I tolerated him was for Donnatella.

Luke was still on edge and anxious. I considered making up an emergency to leave as soon as possible. I didn't know if I could stand to be here any longer. I needed to get Luke out of here and forget what has happened here. Forget her. 

"Sweetheart, I'm going to have to cut my trip short. I need to leave after the mating ceremony. There's an emergency and my Great Uncle needs me at the New York city branch of LaRue enterprises to handle it." I explained to Donnatella. It wasn't entirely a lie, I had business to conduct later this week at the Manhattan Grand Hotel, one of many properties owned by LaRue Enterprises.

"Can you stay just one more night and we can leave together on Monday?" She asked and wrapped her arms around my waist.

"I'm afraid I can't." I told her.

Later that afternoon, I was standing in my three piece suit in the gardens for cocktail hour. Pack members and guests started arriving for the mating ceremony. Alpha's, Beta's and their mates from other packs were among the attendees. I seemed to be the focus of attention for many guests as all the Alpha's took turns greeting and speaking with me.

I couldn't help but notice one Alpha standing at a distance just watching me with his steely gray eyes. He was older, early fifties maybe, and in excellent physical shape like my father. I turned and locked eyes with him. He raised his glass and nodded his head to me. I stalked over to him. Unlike the other Alpha's he did not stumble over himself trying to greet me. This intrigued me.

"How are your grandparents, Alpha LaRue and Luna Lucy, doing these days?" He asked.

"My grandparents are both doing well, thank you. You know them?" I asked.

"Very well indeed. I served on the shifter's council under your grandfathers' tutelage. Your grandmother is also remarkable wolf." He smiled and his eyes glistened.

"I see. And your name?" I asked.

"I'm Alpha Trevor of Blue Mountain Pack." He said and I couldn't help but wonder if he knew something I didn't. The way he looked at me, he wasn't afraid of me like most.

"I'll send your regards the next time I speak with them." I said.

"Please do Alpha." He lifted his glass again and I moved to find my lovely mate.

Several heads turned and I noticed the unmated males checking out Donnatella. She looked stunning, tall, gorgeous, long hair flowing and a slit up the side of her dress exposing those beautiful legs. She looked like she was walking down a runway. It angered me seeing those males staring at her as if she was the juiciest piece of fillet mignon and they had been starved for days.

"Our mate has been starved for days." Luke snapped at me and shut me out again.

"Darling," she called out and kissed me. I kissed her back and we made our way around the garden greeting guests.

Moments later, Alpha Trevor approached me.

"I suppose congratulations are in order. I was not aware that you had found your mate Alpha. Or should I say... your second chance mate." He said looking pensive.

"Second chance mate?" I asked feeling annoyed by this riddle.

"Yes, Donnatella was paired with our packs Delta, but rejected him. I assume if you two are mated then the Moon Goddess would have bestowed you the blessing of a second chance mate as well. When I last spoke with your grandparents, there was no news of you ever finding your first mate." He said.

"I don't believe in the Moon Goddess pairings." I told him feeling annoyed. I was also pissed that Donnatella had not told me that she had found her mate and rejected him.

"But the prophecy ... The fourth piece to your puzzle. I believe she's from this pack-"

I couldn't finish hearing his nonsense about the prophecy because a loud howl rang out. Wolves raced from all directions and Alpha Trevor disappeared. Most of the other Alpha's and their Luna's went into the pack house. It's not customary for visiting Alpha's to fight in other pack affairs, unless of course it was rogues attacking.

It appeared to be another pack attacking Sapphire Moon. When Donnatella shifted, to fight with her pack, I shifted too. I wasn't going to let my mate fight alone. A dozen wolves ran in our direction because the size of my wolf stands out, so I used my element to shake the earth. It stunned the wolves as the ground shook beneath their paws. I opened several sink holes and watched as wolves from both sides fell in and struggled to jump out.

I fought with several wolves and lost sight of Donnatella's black wolf. I ran around the pack house looking for her but couldn't find her. I sniffed the air for her scent and couldn't pick it up. I looked around and noticed the attacking wolves were not actually trying to kill anyone. They were creating a diversion and sparing the lives of the pack wolves.

In the distance, I saw two black wolves fighting and snapping at each other. It was Alpha Jaxon and a larger Alpha with gray eyes. If the neighboring pack wolf wanted to challenge Alpha Jaxon for the pack, he sure picked one hell of a day.

Jaxon stopped mid fight and let out a loud sorrowful howl, his father, Alpha James, also let out a howl. The pack followed with howls. This was a mournful howl, someone of high rank or importance to his pack had died. Bonds are broken upon death. The other Alpha and his warriors, who were actually winning the battle, took off running into the woods. If the other Alpha wanted the pack, he could have easily ripped out Jaxon's throat.

This was a strange attack. Why would they leave mid fight when they were winning? Jaxon and his father started running around looking for something. So did the other wolves in this pack.

"Can we please go to the barn and check on her?" Luke whispered.

"Luke, I don't care about some barn mouse. I'm finding Donnatella and we're leaving." I snapped at him. Now where the hell is she?

I continued to sniff around and found myself just outside the barn. The metallic smell of blood filled my nose. There was another scent in there that I didn't recognize as well. I had to shift back to human form to be able to open the barn doors.

"NO! NO, PLEASE!" I called out and ran to Donnatella's body. How the fuck did this happen? She was supposed to stay right beside me. I picked her beautiful head up and held it in my hands, she was dead. A growl ripped through me and I heard paws running towards the barn. Jaxon entered the barn and let out another sorrowful howl.

Beta Keaton entered the barn and shifted back to human form. He stood over the other dead body of a female with short brown hair. "Her throat was ripped out by Donnatella, but someone else shoved the hay fork through Donnatella's throat. Someone without paws."

Jaxon sniffed the hay fork and let out a growl. He walked over to the stall that the little mouse stayed in and it was empty. He looked around as if trying to find her hiding somewhere. He found nothing. He let out another growl.

"We have a hunt! Looks like she took off running." Beta Keaton growled and shifted into his wolf.

I shifted into wolf form. Then I took one last look at Donnatella and my heart ached. I smelled the hay fork as well and could smell the sweet pea flowers on it. She had forked Donnatella in the neck and she was going to pay for this. The Moon Goddess was going to pay for this too. She took my mate away from me.

I joined the hunt and we ran through the woods. She had Donnatella's blood on her which made it easy to track her. She couldn't have gotten far with the shape she's in.

We caught up to a gray wolf running fast and I could see her on his back. He continued running and we continued chasing. Jaxon and his warriors came to a halt and shifted back to human form. I went ahead and shifted back as well.

"It's a dead end." Jaxon told us.

We walked forward and saw that they had no place to go. Behind them was a cliff and we had them trapped. Her tiny frame stood behind the gray wolf who bared his teeth at us. Then he shifted back into human form. He was a ranked wolf, maybe a Beta, but I didn't recognize him.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU ON MY LAND?" Jaxon growled.

"I'm no one that concerns you." He said with confidence. He was brave, I'll give him that. He reached over and touched her neck, then he whispered something to her. I tried hard to listen but couldn't hear it.

Luke did not like him so close to her and he was on high alert. She looked at me with her broken hazel eyes. I could see that she was covered in bruises. Bruises she didn't have when I saw Jaxon yell at her yesterday over the bread rolls. Her eye was swollen.

"Mate." Luke whimper in my head. As I looked into her eyes, I struggled with my own anger. How could the Moon Goddess actually have mated me with her? What did I do to deserve this? For years I looked for her and she was a pup. Now here she stood, she killed the one person I actually cared about.

"Now Syble, GO!" The male with her said and shifted back into his gray wolf as he charged at Jaxon.

Syble? Her name is Syble. Little Syble. I saw her eyes look down over the cliff and could feel a sense of peace wash over me. But it wasn't my own peace, it was hers. She was going to jump and was at peace with that decision. She would rather die than go back with Jaxon. She looked at me one last time with those big hazel eyes, they were so sad.

"DON'T!" I shouted out. Luke wanted to run to her, but I held him back. She was too close to the edge and would have jumped if we moved fast or got close.

That's when she did it. She jumped to her death.

I stood frozen, watching as Jaxon beat the Gray wolf and sent him flying over the edge of the cliff too. We moved to the edge of the cliff and saw a swift moving river. His body splashed down and floated away fast. I scanned the river and the rock below for her body and found nothing.

"We need to find our mate." Luke told me.

"She's dead. Did you not see her jump to her death?" I nearly growled back at him.

"No, she's not. I would have felt it." He said and shut me out.

He was right. Our mate bond was confirmed when we locked eyes. I felt it too. I would have felt it if she had died. I wanted to hunt her down to make sure she was dead. I wasn't sure If I wanted to kill her myself or hide her somewhere safe. 

FUCK! I let out a growl and took off running... right over the edge of the cliff.