The Lunar Queen Chapter 19

Mason POV

Hunter connected me and said Lyric had woken up.

I was out the door instantly, heart already slamming against my ribs before I even made it down the hall, adrenaline hitting so hard it almost made me dizzy, but by the time I got there, she had lost consciousness.

Too late. Again.

What bothered me more was the king being there at that moment and not me.

“MINE,” Kane snarls in my mind, his voice violent, territorial, pushing against my control like he’s ready to rip through anything standing between us and her.

When the doctor walks out, I step in.

“What happened?” I ask, voice tight, already edged with something dangerous I’m barely holding back.

“Her body wasn’t ready to wake up yet,” Hunter says, tears in his eyes.

“Did she say who did this?” I ask, the question coming out sharper than it should, but I can’t stop it—can’t stop the need to fix this, to find someone to destroy.

Winter’s head snaps to me.

“Get out,” she says.

“What, why?” I ask, brows pulling tight, irritation and confusion already building in my chest.

“At this moment, nobody in this room gives a fuck about who did this. We just want her to wake up because we love her and care about her. Today is her damn birthday, for goddess’s sake. So, excuse us, ALPHA, if we weren’t asking questions during the five seconds her eyes were open,” she says venomously, each word hitting harder than the last, stripping straight through whatever control I had left.

“Win, that—” I start.

“NO, get out, Mason, NOW,” she screams at me, her voice cracking at the end, pain bleeding through the anger even if she doesn’t mean to show it.

I stand there frozen, every instinct screaming at me to ignore her, to go to Lyric anyway, to not walk away again, then I feel a hand on my arm.

“Mase, come on, let’s go,” Hunter says.

I look at him.

“But I didn’t mean it like that,” I say, jaw tight, frustration sitting heavy in my chest because I know how it sounded—but that’s not what I meant.

“I know, man, but emotions are high right now. Besides, we have pack business. The rest of the packs are arriving, and we have duties,” he says, using his Beta voice.

“Fine,” I growl, ripping my arm free as I turn, the anger still sitting under my skin like it’s looking for somewhere to go, and walk out.

When we step outside, I spin on him.

“Why is he in there with her?” I ask, the question coming out fast, rough, already loaded with more than just irritation.

“Who?” he says.

“The king,” I grit out, teeth clenched so tight my jaw aches.

“Because Winter met them yesterday, and she asked for them to be there. She’s the person closest to Winter; she can have whoever she wants in there,” he says, shrugging.

“You know that’s my mate. He was too close to her,” I say, voice dropping lower, more dangerous, Kane pressing forward with every word.

“He’s the one who found her. He just wants to make sure she’s okay. You need to calm down,” he says.

“How do you expect me to do that?” I ask, a short, bitter laugh leaving me because there is no version of this where I’m calm.

“Let’s work,” he says.

So, we head to the pack house where our parents are greeting the Alphas and Lunas.

“Ah, here is Mason now,” my father says as we walk up.

“Alpha Jonathan, Luna Ariel, it’s good to see you again,” I say.

“You too, Young Alpha. Have you found your mate already?” he asks.

I freeze at the question, the word mate hitting different now—heavier, real in a way it never was before.

“I actually have, yes. She was part of my pack,” I reply.

“We’re happy for you, although our daughter will be disappointed,” he says with a laugh.

“I’m sure she will find her mate here this weekend,” I say.

“Alpha, our omegas will show you, and all your pack members will be staying. All of your mated warriors will report to our head warrior in the warrior barracks. His name is David, and our omega Tess will show them where to go. The rest of you can follow Stacy here into the packhouse. Tonight is the meet and greet, tomorrow features some daytime games before the ball, and Sunday, there’s a pack run,” I add.

“Thank you, Alpha,” he responds.

He turns to my dad.

“He’s going to make a great Alpha,” he says, clapping him on the shoulder.

“He definitely is heading that way. After Alpha training, he’ll be even better,” he continues.

We greet the rest of the Alphas and their Lunas.

This is the biggest ball my parents have hosted here, with 8 packs in total, including 12 unmated wolves—6 males and 6 females.

I see Summer come downstairs after we greet the last Alpha.

“Mason, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Did you forget about our plans?” she asks, looping her arms through mine.

I stiffen at the touch, my entire body going rigid on instinct, like something in me rejects it before I even think about it, Kane growling low in my mind.

“Calm down, son. She doesn’t know we know,” my dad links me.

“Sorry, I’ve been busy getting everything ready for this weekend,” I tell her, forcing my tone steady even though my patience is already thin.

“It’s okay. Are we still on for tonight? I already have my outfit picked out,” she says.

My face must have betrayed me because she unhooks her arm from mine.

“Is everything okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, I just didn’t think you’d still want to go out with me after Wednesday,” I reply.

“Oh, I know that freak seduced you,” she says, and the word lands wrong—too sharp, too familiar—sending something cold down my spine.

Causing me, my dad, and Hunter to stiffen at the word freak.

“So, it was her,” my dad links me and Hunter.

“Nobody else calls Lyric a freak except her,” Hunter links back.

“Yeah, she definitely did. But yeah, we’re still on. Pick you up at 9?” I say.

She smiles brightly at that.

“Okay, great,” she replies, walking back into the packhouse.

“Did we all notice how she didn’t even bring up Lyric except to bad mouth her?” Hunter asks.

“Yeah, she really doesn’t care about her,” Hunter says.

“Jace and Logan do everything together, and have since they were pups, but Summer has always avoided Lyric like she was the plague,” Dad says.

“This weekend is going to be long; the omegas are feeling Lyric’s absence. Mary asked for her, and I’m scared to tell her the truth. The pack feels the shift in us ranked members; they all heard the Beta’s howl,” Dad says.

“So let’s try to make sure our guests don’t notice something’s off,” Dad adds, turning to walk into the pack house.

I don’t move right away.

Because now it’s not just a feeling sitting in my chest.

Not just anger. Not just jealousy.

It’s the way everything is starting to line up.

The way that word—freak—keeps echoing in my head.

The way my wolf won’t settle no matter how much I try to force him down.

And for the first time since all of this started—

I’m not just thinking about finding who hurt her.

I’m starting to realize…

I might already know where to look.

Summer POV

I heard the panic when everyone was searching for that freak the other day.

I hope they found her dead body.

The thought settles too easily in my chest, like it belongs there, like it always has.

Life would be so much easier if she were dead.

What is so special about her?

Why did she always have his attention—why her and not me?

He followed her around like a lost pup.

When he finally started paying me attention, I was so happy.

I know it was only because the freak said she didn’t want to be his friend anymore; they don’t know I was hiding behind the wall when she told him.

She isn’t worthy of Mason, or any male with status.

She is as lowly as an omega—a stain on the earth.

Nobody has said anything about her, and I refuse to go to the hospital to see if she’s there.

Mason seemingly got his act straight after that whore tried to steal him from me.

“I think she is his mate, maybe we should stop this, Summer,” Seris says softly.

“No, Mason is MINE; I am the only one good enough for him,” I growl, my nails digging into my palms as something sharp and possessive twists in my chest.

“We need to come clean about what we did; Lyric could be dead,” she adds.

“Good,” I say.

“I hope she is, then I won’t have to look at her ugly brown face again,” I say.

“Summer, I—” she starts.

“Shut up,” I scream before shutting her out, cutting her off before she can weaken me with that soft shit again.

Mason is and will be mine only.

And if that freak isn’t dead…

then next time I won’t stop where I did before.

Next time I won’t leave anything for her to come back from.