The Lunar Queen Chapter 71

Cole POV

Three fucking days. That’s how long it’s been since I saw her, touched her, kissed her.

Three days of her absence pressing against my chest like something alive, something suffocating.

I thought killing the council would settle Zeus, but it’s only made him worse. He’s been on edge every day all day.

Not restless—hunting. Waiting for a direction. Waiting for blood.

I haven’t been able to focus on anything since that night.

I’m sitting in my office, trying not to go to the cells and kill Caleb and Serena. If I could bring them back, I would keep bringing them back after each kill.

Break them. Heal them. Break them again—until one of them finally gives me her location.

Bringing both of them to the brink of death doesn’t settle me.

Nothing settles me. Not without her.

I pace the office until the door opens, and Dominic, Elias, Hunter, and Mason walk in.

Hunter said he’s not leaving until we find her.

Good. He can sit in this feeling with me.

Having Mason here makes Zeus anxious because he doesn’t like how worried he is for our mate while our sister is somewhere around the palace, pregnant and alone.

Zeus doesn’t see worry—he sees a male standing too close to what’s his.

“Did you find the runes?” I ask, trying to focus on anything else.

“Yes, we have guards posted outside and also have warriors hidden because we know David will try to access the magic now that he has Lyric,” Dominic says, and I growl.

Her name hits like a trigger—sharp, immediate, violent.

“Do we have any lead on where she might be? Any trails, anything?” I ask, desperation in my voice.

“Not yet, Alpha,” he says.

“Elias, how did they get in?” I growl, my aura spilling out.

It floods the room before I can pull it back—thick, heavy, suffocating.

Everyone bows their heads, keeping my aura in check. Without her, it’s been difficult.

“South border,” he says, with his neck bared.

Who was on patrol at the south border during the coronation? I ask.

He doesn’t answer, and that makes Zeus and me even angrier.

Silence feels like betrayal right now.

“WHO!” I roar in his face, Zeus sitting on the surface trying to force the shift.

“I don’t know, Alpha,” he says, voice strained under my aura.

I grab him by the throat.

“My mate is somewhere with that stupid fucker, David, and you don’t know who YOU had on patrol?” I snarl.

My grip tightens without thought, claws threatening to break skin.

“It was supposed to be Grayson and Tylen, but Mitchell told me last minute that Grayson’s mate went into labor, so he swapped him out for Jonah. I can’t find him or Tylen,” he says.

“You mean to tell me all these warriors in this pack and none of you can find them?” I say through gritted teeth.

“We’re still looking, but we had to split the search between locating them and the Queen,” he says.

He pauses.

“We also had to post warriors outside the runes, and remember, we sent warriors to the packs in the kingdom,” he says low, as my grip tightens around his throat before I throw him back in his seat.

I growl loudly, hairs sprouting across my arms as Zeus forces the shift.

“We need to find mate,” Zeus says, jumping out of my office window and running into the woods.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“Pups, I feel them,” he says low.

That word cuts through everything—rage, grief, all of it.

“Why don’t I feel them?” I ask, voice choked.

“Your mind is too loud,” he says.

Too loud with anger. Too loud with fear. Too loud with her absence.

We run for two hours, and I feel them strongly.

When we run through an empty field, we can no longer sense them.

Zeus growls loudly in the field.

They were here. I felt them. I know I did.

We ran back the way we came, but now we don’t feel them at all.

“What the fuck,” I snarl.

Like they were ripped away mid-step and I couldn’t stop it.

“Go back home. We will send warriors this way,” I tell him, and he turns back toward the pack.

When we get close to the border, I link Dominic.

“Get James and Sable in my office now,” I order.

“Yes, alpha,” he replies.

We cross the border and run straight to the palace.

I shift the moment I reach the back of the palace.

I grab a pair of shorts from the box by the door and walk up to my office.

When I step in, Winter is sitting inside on the couch, eyes bloodshot, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.

“Winter,” I say softly.

She looks up.

“Why do people keep taking her from me?” she asks.

And I don’t have an answer. That’s what makes it worse.

“At least with Summer, I could sit in her hospital room and hold her hand, but this,” she gestures to the room, “not knowing where she is or what they are doing to her, I can’t do,” her voice cracking as she speaks.

“I felt the pups,” I say softly, looking at her.

“Where? Did you find her?” she asks.

“No, Winter. I felt them, and then I didn’t. I sent warriors to the spot where I felt them strongest,” I tell her.

And it still wasn’t enough.

“It’s been three days, Cole. I know you know, but it feels like a piece of me is missing,” she cries.

“I know, and that’s why we have every warrior in the pack searching for her,” I say.

Every warrior—and still no her.

Before she can reply, Dom walks in with James and Sable. The moment Dom sees Winter, he walks over and sits her in his lap, rubbing small circles on her back.

“What can I do for you, my King?” Sable asks.

“When Zeus and I left the pack last night, Zeus felt the triplets and started following their scent. After about two hours, it got stronger, and then we lost them and couldn’t feel them anymore,” I explain.

She nods, thinking for a second.

“Well, if the rogue king is working with a witch, she could have put a cloaking spell on her and the pups, but that doesn’t explain how you felt them,” she replies.

“Can you feel her, or even sense the bond at all?” she asks.

I shake my head.

“I haven’t been able to feel her since that night. Our bond is so faint, it’s almost non-existent,” I reply.

Like something is slowly choking it out.

“Maybe someone wanted you to feel them,” Winter suggests.

A message. Or a trap.

Just as Mason storms into my office, Hunter close behind him.

“Why the fuck are you sitting here instead of searching for her?” he snarls.

No hesitation. No respect. Like he forgot where he is.

I stand slowly.

“Excuse me, pup?” I say low.

One more word and I end this.

“Cole, I’m sorry for him. He’s not taking this well,” Hunter steps in front of Mason.

“I don’t need you to speak for me. He should be looking for his mate. When she was my mate, I searched for her until I found her,” Mason says.

That word—was—means nothing to Zeus. Nothing.

I smirk at him; clearly, he has a death wish.

“Yeah, and the thing about that, pup, is that she isn’t your mate anymore. You should focus more on your pregnant mate and not the one who rejected you,” I say.

He growls at that.

“Mason,” Hunter says.

I put my hand up.

“She must have given you your memories back; otherwise, you wouldn’t be so brave,” I say.

“My sunflower was kidnapped, and you’re sitting in your office lounging around,” he snarls and yells in my face.

That name hits wrong now—too familiar, too close.

I grab him by the throat and lift him off the floor.

“She isn’t your anything.”

Mine. The bond surges hard—sharp, territorial, absolute.

“I let your feelings slide before because everything was fresh for both of you, but now I don’t give a damn about your feelings. I don’t even care about Aria’s. I will snap your neck, and I won’t lose any sleep over you,” I say, voice dropping low.

He tries to swing at me, and I grab his hand with my free hand and break his wrist.

He roars in pain.

His wolf works to heal him as I throw him out of the office into the hall.

I step out slowly; everyone around stops to see what’s happening.

“You think you can come into my pack and stake claim on MY mate,” Zeus says, pushing forward.

“She is MINE,” he roars out.

The word echoes—dominance, warning, claim.

Mason stands and moves to tackle me.

I anticipate him and kick him right in the stomach.

He growls and recovers, moving to swing again.

I dodge and punch him in the jaw, followed by a punch to the ribs.

He stumbles back.

“You have no right telling me how to search for my mate, so now you will leave,” Zeus snarls.

Aria comes running down the hall.

“Cole, what are you doing?” she asks, seeing Mason on the floor at my feet.

“Teaching your mate a lesson. Hunter, get your Alpha off my pack grounds. I will keep you posted on your sister,” I say.

Mason stands and rushes at me again, and I grab him by the throat once more.

“I will break your neck, Mason. Nothing is keeping me in check. There’s nobody here to stop me,” I snarl.

No Lyric. No balance. Just me and him—and I don’t lose.

“Cole, please don’t,” Aria cries.

My eyes snap to hers.

“Your mate is trying to fight me over a mate that is no longer his because he loves her, and I need to stop. I did when I told him to get the fuck out of my pack,” I say through gritted teeth.

“I know, but he is my mate, and we are having a pup,” she says, placing her hand on my arm.

I growl and throw him across the floor.

“The next time you step foot in my pack, I will kill you. And that isn’t a threat. Get the fuck out,” I roar.

Aria and Hunter scatter to pick him up and pull him down the hall.

My chest rises and falls as I breathe heavily, trying to get control of Zeus.

“Thank you for not killing him,” Winter says behind me.

I sigh because, as much as I wanted to, I know she would hate me for it.

“Lyric would hate me if I did,” I say.

And that’s the only reason he’s still breathing.

I walk toward my room.

I don’t know how much longer I can hold it together without her.

I step inside and inhale her scent.

Faint. Still there—but fading in a way that shouldn’t be possible.

Please come back to me, princess.

I just need to feel you once.

Before I lose what’s left of myself completely.

Seraphina POV

I stand behind a tree, scent masked, wearing my invisibility cloak.

The fabric clings too close to my skin, trapping my heat, my nerves—like even the magic knows I shouldn’t be here.

I watch as the alpha king’s wolf runs through the field.

Massive. Fast. Relentless. Every step he takes eats the distance like he’s tearing the world apart to find her.

My mother’s spell is working perfectly.

Too perfectly. That’s what makes my stomach twist.

I’ve lowered the veil a little so he can sense his pups.

Just enough. Just enough to give him hope. Just enough to pull him in the direction we need.

Jonathan said we need them to know where to come when we finally make our move to get the Queen out.

After he senses them at their strongest, I put the veil back up.

The second the magic seals, it snaps tight in my chest like I just slammed a door in his face.

His growl shakes the entire area.

It vibrates through the ground, through my bones—raw, broken, furious. Not just a king… a mate being kept from his family.

I’m sorry, my king, but it’s not time yet.

When he runs back the way he came, I run back to the pack to tell Jonathan that the first part of the plan is in motion.

My feet barely touch the ground, heart pounding like I’m the one being hunted.

Soon, we will all be free, and hopefully, none of us will have to die for it.

Hopefully. The word feels thin. Fragile. Like a lie I’m telling myself to keep moving.

“Seraphina,” my mother’s voice calls out.

I freeze.

Everything inside me locks—heartbeat, breath, magic.

No, how did she find me?

I turn slowly.

“Hello, mother,” I say softly.

Careful. Controlled. Like I’m not standing in the middle of a betrayal.

“Where have you been? I’ve been calling for you,” she says.

“I know, mother. I’ve been trying to get the location of the Queen,” I reply quietly.

Lie. Half-truth. Survival. I keep my eyes steady even though my pulse is racing.

“Is she here?” she asks.

I knew talking about Lyric would distract her from my being missing.

I shake my head.

“I haven’t seen her anywhere. I’ve been trying to follow the beta as he moves around the pack, but nothing yet,” I say.

Each word measured. Too fast and she’ll hear it. Too slow and she’ll question it.

“Hurry up, David said he wants to go to the runes next week,” she says urgently.

Next week. That’s sooner than we planned. Panic flickers sharp in my chest before I bury it.

If she finds out I’m working against her and David, she will kill me.

“Yes, mother,” I reply.

My voice doesn’t shake. I make sure of it.

She studies my face for a moment longer.

Too long. Like she’s peeling me apart layer by layer.

“Go, go,” she whispers before pulling her cloak over her head and disappearing behind the magic of the cloak.

I don’t move for a second.

I wait. Listening. Feeling. Making sure she’s really gone.

Then I turn and quickly move through the pack toward the main house.

Every shadow feels like it’s watching me now. Every sound too loud.

I stop outside a room, check the halls, then slip inside.

“Did it work? Did you see him?” Lyric asks as I enter her room.

“Yes, it worked,” I say.

She breathes a sigh of relief.

It’s small—but it hits me harder than anything. She trusts this. She’s trusting me.

“Good, because I don’t think I have much longer before these pups try to make their grand entrance,” she says, placing her hands on her even bigger belly.

It’s been three days, and her belly has grown larger than usual. I wonder if it’s due to the potion Mother gave her.

Or something worse. Something we don’t understand yet.

“How did he look?” she asks.

I smile.

Because if I don’t, I’ll remember that sound—his growl—and it’ll crack something in me.

“He was in his wolf form, but his eyes were sad, and his growl when I blocked him was heartbreaking,” I say softly.

Tears fall instantly from her eyes.

And guilt punches straight through me.

“I know he’s missing me and them. Soon, my love,” she says.

“I’ll go get you some food,” I say, leaving the room.

Because I can’t stand here and watch her cry knowing I’m the one helping keep her here.

I hope this plan works.

I actually like her, and I know this is affecting her.

Please, Selene, let this plan succeed.

Because if it doesn’t… I won’t just lose my mate—

I’ll lose whatever part of me thought I could still be good.