The Lunar Queen Chapter 34

Cole POV

I”ve had this pressure on my chest, and I haven’t been able to shake it. Not the kind that comes from stress or lack of sleep either. This feels heavier, meaner, like something is already wrong and I’m the last one catching up to it. “Maybe it’s mate,” Zeus says. I pick up my phone and call her, but it just rings. I try again, and still no answer. She always answers my calls. Even when she’s confused, even when she’s overwhelmed, she answers. That alone makes the pressure in my chest turn sharp. I go to dial again before Dom bursts through the door, and the look on his face tells me it’s my princess. He doesn’t even have to speak. I know before he opens his mouth that whatever he says next is going to change something. “What happened?” I ask just as my brother’s and Mira walk in, followed by Caleb and my parents. “It’s Lyric,” he says softly. “Who is Lyric?” my mom asks. “My mate,” I grit out. The words come rough, dragged over something raw, because right now claiming her out loud feels less like relief and more like helplessness. “OMG honey, you found your mate—that’s great. Why didn’t you bring her back?” she asks. “Mother, not now,” I say, trying to keep Zeus under control. “Alpha,” Dom says. “Tell me. Not telling me is only making it harder to control him,” I say through clenched teeth, claws scratching the desk. My hands are already shifting, nails biting into the wood, and I can feel Zeus pressing harder and harder against my control. “They found her this morning at their border, naked and beaten with a silver whip, sliced up with a silver knife on both arms and legs,” he says, pausing. “Cole,” he says softly. “Say it,” I reply, tears already streaming down my face. I’m already bracing for it, and somehow that makes hearing it worse instead of easier. My mother comes and hugs me, attempting to calm my beast. “She was violated repeatedly,” he says. “Oh dear goddess,” my mother says. “Who would do that to a pup?” she asks, crying. “Today was her graduation,” I say, tears flowing freely. That thought hits me in a place the others didn’t. She was supposed to be wearing a cap and gown. Smiling. Celebrated. Not this. Never this. “I need to go to her,” I insist. “Cole, you need a reason to show up there,” my father says. “I have one. One of their pack members was attacked twice and left within inches of her life twice, and she’s not even 18 yet. She’s been getting abused her whole life in that damn pack, and everyone was blind to it,” I growl. “And where the hell was her mate when this was happening?” I growl at Dom. The question tears out of me before I can stop it, because right now I need somewhere to put all of this rage and there are too many targets. “I don’t know, Alpha. I only know what Winter told me,” he replies. “Wait, I’m confused. I thought she was your mate,” my mom asks. “Caleb I need you to call Lyric’s brother, Hunter. He will give you all the information,” I say, writing his number down. I turn to my mom. “I am her second chance mate. Her first mate is the future Alpha of Moonveil,” I explain. “Oh my God, who did this to her?” she asks. “Her twin sister,” I growl. Her hands cover her mouth. “Why would she do that?” she asks. I look at my father, and he nods. “She is Eloise reborn,” I say. “No, I thought we had more time,” she says. “How? The rogue attacks Him. He knows she’s been born, but she hasn’t shifted yet,” I explain. “The moment she shifts and someone sees her wolf, they will know who she is,” Elias adds. “I know. I need to find a way to be there for that,” I say. Because now protecting her isn’t just about wanting to. It’s bigger than that. It’s survival—for her, for all of us. “Can I see her?” my mother asks. I open my phone and show her my home screen. “Oh my goddess, she is beautiful,” she says. “Yes, she is,” I reply. “Oh, poor child,” she says. Caleb comes back into the room. “Don’t leave anything out,” I command. “Well, you know what they did to her, but a warrior who was part of the first attack tried to help her this time, and they killed him,” he says, pausing to let us process that information.. The room goes dead silent after that, the kind of silence that only comes when everybody is thinking the same thing and nobody wants to say it first. “He recorded every conversation they had in person and then wrote down everything said via mind-link verbatim for everyone involved, including Summer,” he says. Mira gasps. “They finally have the proof they need,” she says with tears in her eyes. Xavier pulls her into his lap to calm her down. “They have the four people involved in the cells right now,” he says. “Good, now she will suffer at my hands. She needs to be kept alive until after Lyric’s birthday. If my mate is as powerful as it seems, she will have her own punishments for all of them,” I say. And I mean every word. I want them breathing long enough to understand exactly what they did before anything ends for them. “What about Lyric?” I ask. “The doctor put her in a coma because she had lost too much blood and had too much silver and wolfsbane in her system. They had to do a blood transplant. Her brother and father gave their blood, and then they did a transfusion to remove all the silver and wolfsbane from her blood. She still has traces, but she said that will be gone soon. After that, it will be completely up to her.” He says. “He also said Lyric led them to the cabin where they held her. The idiots left the warrior’s body there, and he had the tape recorder with him. He recorded the whole thing and left a note leading them to the rest of his evidence. He knew he was going to die,” he says softly. We all sit in silence, taking in all the information just given. My mother is crying in my father’s arms, while he sheds his own tears. Zeus howls endlessly in my head, sorrowful for our mate. There is no calming him now because there is no calming me. All I can do is sit here and feel every second of not being there for her.

Summer POV

How the hell did this happen? One of those idiots messed up. I can’t believe I got caught. I did everything perfectly. I thought I covered every angle, every person, every loose end. I thought I finally got ahead of her for good. “Summer, what is going to happen to us?” Savannah asks from the cell across from me. “I don’t know, I don’t even know who told on us,” I growl. “I told you we would get caught,” Seris says. “Ugh, go away, you stupid wolf,” I yell at her. “I hope the moon goddess gives me a better human than you when we die,” she says before blocking me out. I hear the doors to the cells open, and my dad, Alpha Liam, Mason, and Hunter come in. “Oh, daddy, I don’t know what’s going on. Matthew just took me out of my room and dragged me down here,” I say. “Silence,” my father booms. That shuts me up—my dad has never spoken to me like that before. For one ugly second, something cold slides down my spine, because even I know that tone means the pretending is over. “Daddy? What’s going on?” I ask as sweet as I can. “Where did we go wrong with you?” he asks, voice cracking. “What did she ever do to you to make you hate her so much?” he asks, tears falling down his face. “I didn’t do anything, daddy,” I say. “STOP LYING!” Hunter yells, making me jump. I look at him and Mason, wide-eyed. “Mason, what is going on?” I ask. “You and these three here hurt my mate,” he growls. There is nothing soft left in his face when he says it. No confusion. No hesitation. Just hate. “Mate? Wait, I didn’t know she was your mate, Alpha,” Nathaniel says. “She just said she was a stain on the Beta family and was always in her way, taking things from her,” he says. “Please, Alpha, spare me. I didn’t know,” he pleads. “Oh, shut up, you pathetic wolf. You can’t even own up to what you did,” I snap. “There she goes, everyone—the real Summer, ladies and gentlemen,” Hunter says. “I am a better mate than her. She is nothing but trash and a stain on this family. She doesn’t deserve you, Mason—nobody but me does. I am your Luna. I am better than her,” I say, spit flying from my mouth. “YOU WILL NEVER BE MY LUNA,” he bellows. The force of it hits me harder than anything else in this cell, because deep down I always knew it—but I never thought he’d say it to my face. “She is perfect—everything you could never be. You were jealous. People saw her, and you made her small in a pack where she used to shine,” he says sadly. “If my mate dies, you will die a slow and painful death, and I will make sure you feel every ounce of pain my mate suffered at your hands,” he says, stepping closer to the bars with his hands burning as he grips them. I’ve never seen Mason like this, and I admit I am scared. “I didn’t even have anything to do with anything that happened to her,” I shout. Then my dad plays something, and I hear my voice and hers, and my blood runs cold. “No,” I whisper. “Where did you get that?” I ask. “Your little minions killed Josh, and he left us a little present,” Hunter says, smirking. “And it was everything we needed to make all four of you pay for what you did,” Hunter adds. “My pup is fighting for her life because you were jealous that people loved her,” my father asks softly. “They loved you too—you were twins,” he says. “No, HE loved her and not ME, dad. He didn’t even know I existed,” I cry out. “I knew Summer; you just didn’t matter more than her. You never did. Even when you forced her to push me away, you didn’t matter more than her. I thought it would make her jealous, but instead, it just made her hate me more. And I have to live with that. It has—and always will be—her,” Mason says, venom dripping from his voice. That lands uglier than the cell, uglier than the bars, uglier than any punishment waiting for me, because it kills the only part of this I ever thought was mine. “So you used me? Was none of it real for you?” I ask, hurt in my voice. “No, Summer, it was real. I did care about you. But if Lyric decided at any point to speak to me again, I would choose her every time,” he says. “SHE IS NOTHING. SHE IS JUST A SPARE. SHE DOESN’T EVEN LOOK LIKE THE REST OF US. WHAT IS SO FUCKING SPECIAL ABOUT HER?” I scream. “She is just a better she-wolf than you will ever be. Pack members love her because she cares. Because she helps them and isn’t selfish. And she doesn’t only think about herself, even while you tried to make her invisible,” Hunter spits. “You are no longer my pup. Your mother and I hold no claim over you anymore, and I hope the Moon Goddess gives you everything you deserve,” my father says, his voice dripping with malice. Seris pushes herself forward. “Father, I tried to get her to stop. She wouldn’t listen to me. I will no longer help her. I just hope my sister is okay. I didn’t want to hurt her,” she says. My father’s wolf transforms into his wolf, Havoc. “My pup, it is okay. You will be set free soon,” he says before retreating. “Your own wolf turned on you, Summer,” Hunter says. “Get comfortable. As long as Lyric is in a coma, you will be down here. Orders from the king are to let you all rot until she wakes up, but in the meantime, we’ll be having some fun,” Hunter says, grinning sinister. “See you later, mate,” Mason says with so much disdain in his voice. “NO, PLEASE COME BACK. I CAN’T STAY DOWN HERE,” I scream. My screams fall on deaf ears as they walk out of the cells. “You will get everything you deserve,” Seris says before blocking me and retreating, leaving me in silence and darkness. And since all of this started, I have nothing—no wolf, no father, no Mason, no one to talk over the sound of my own fear.