The Perfect Luna Chapter 43

Maya quietly sobbed throughout her journey to the Lycan Kingdom. Reid didn’t know what to do.

She had turned her back to him the entire time, neither sobbing nor weeping out loud. With her back turned away from Reid, she stared at the window. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she wiped at silent tears with her palms every few seconds.

He never wanted a mate in the first place, never looked for one. Having witnessed the effect a mate had on a lycan, and how it changed his best friend Gideon, he decided to stay away from wolf-mingling events and stick to the she-wolves he already knew, considering them safer options.

Luckily, there were quite a few who were always ready to keep him company.

Being single was supposed to be for the best.

He wasn’t a family man anyway. Maybe fun uncle material, but that was it. He was a Beta and needed his focus on his work at all times.

However, when he first sensed that amazing scent of almonds with hints of floral notes which within seconds evoked everything feral and primal deep inside of him, all his rules and self-taught mantras on the joys of singledom took a nosedive to hell. He struggled for a few minutes in his car, trying to talk himself out of going in there to his mate. Under the pressure from his wolf, Nox, who was eager to meet their mate, he gave in rather quickly to the mate-pull.

He had to see her; had to know who she was.

Seeing her with another man, who had tried to hurt her, his instincts flared up. It was a done deal.

That woman was his and he wouldn’t let anyone touch he, let alone hurt her.

Disobeying his king’s orders for the first time ever, he left Riannon behind without any support.

Before that, they’d planned for him to stick around with her as a representative of the Lycans on the pretence of helping her with their new law project.

That would allow him to be there to protect her if needed as it was required of his position. She was his Luna regardless of having been marked and married to some annoying werewolf Alpha.

Right now, his Luna was on her own.

Her silent order, of course, was to take her best friend out of that place. For some reason, she considered that more important than their initial plan, and he decided to trust her instincts as Maya’s safety suddenly became of prime importance to him too.

Reid knew he would pay for this decision.

Gideon trusted him with what he treasured the most, and he failed his Alpha and his King.

“It’s going to be okay,” he soothed, deciding to break the ice. His mate snapped her head in his direction and glared at him with the intention to kill, as if he was at fault before her. Which he wasn’t.

“Really?” She c0cked her brow at him. “What is your name again?”

She intentionally aimed to hurt him so he let it slide. He could sense his mate was using her snarky attitude to hide how worried she had been.

He could understand that. He liked Riannon a lot, but she was new in his life. If he had to leave Gideon in a sea full of sharks, he wouldn’t be happy either.. Guilt washed over him in waves. The deed had been done. He had to trust Riannon with this one. Hopefully, she knew what she was doing.

“Reid,” he stated calmly.

“Reid, let me tell you a little story.” She began in a tone one used to speak to a child that wasn’t bright. “Once there lived three girls and they were the best of friends. A lot of sh*t happened, parents died, siblings died, boyfriends being as+h0les, terrible life choices, but the three of them stuck together through thick and thin. Then one of them died too, leaving the other two behind. They swore to stay by each other’s side no matter what! Guess who these girls are, Reid?”

“You and Ria,” he answered plainly, allowing her to vent out her seething steam on him.

“Correct! What a clever boy you are!” she praised him, “I-left her there! You have no idea what is going on in that pack and what she means to me! She-“

“She is sticking up for you, Maya,” he interrupted her speech. She looked at him with wide eyes. “Just like you promised. It was her choice, not yours nor mine. According to her, you were in a far worse off situation staying there. I had to take her lead. Knowing Riannon, she can take care of herself. She will not remain there for a long time, trust me.”

Maya bit her lip almost to the point of puncturing them and turned away from him toward the window to hide the tears gathering in her eyes.

She had to do something about this stupid liquid secretion. She knew he was right. Riannon did what Maya, herself would have done if she could. It did not make her feel better though.

They parked the car in front of what looked like a modern palace. Maya was in no mood to admire it. All Reid wanted was to get her inside his room as soon as possible. Before he ran into …

“Reid!” His King’s voice sounded behind him, and he turned to face his Alpha. Gideon stared at him in disbelief, and then, slowly shifted his eyes to Maya. He balled his fists, trying to hold back his rage.

He was enraged when he found out from Savvy that Riannon left the pack and the kingdom.

But, he calmed knowing his Beta was with her. And now there he was. With some female and not his Luna!

When Reid lowered his head in submission, he knew the situation was bad.

“Where is Riannon?” Gideon growled.

“At her old pack,” his Beta replied honestly, not trying to hide the truth, “There has been a situation and she had to stay as a result. This is-“

“I don’t care which new wh*re you picked up nor where,” the Lycan King bellowed, teetering on the edge with his rage.

“She is my MATE!” Reid snarled at him, his protective instincts taking over, “I had to get her out of there!”

His outburst didn’t help Gideon calm down at all.

“l am sorry,” his friend continued, stepping closer, “It was her decision and in the heat of the moment it seemed like the right one.”

The punch was so hard it broke Reid’s nose and knocked him off his feet. He stayed on the ground, covering his face with one hand, attempting to stop the bleeding until his body’s regeneration kicked in. Knowing he deserved that, he stayed down. Choosing instead not to retaliate out of respect to his king whose trust he broke earlier today.

“How was leaving my woman behind the right decision?” Gideon strove to hold back his fury. If he didn’t, he didn’t know how this would end for Reid.

“You are her mate!” Maya whispered. For the first time since she arrived here, he looked at her properly. “You are Ria’s mate! But-how?”

“The Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways,” he grunted, slowiy realising that this girl wasn’t just anyone. They had met. He noticed her red-rimmed, tear-stained eyes and her messy hair.

She did not look like herself, but he recognised her now.

She also did not look like Reid’s usual type.

Which was funny since she was his mate.

“l am Maya,” she tried to explain. His whole body tightened at her words. “I am-“

“Her sister,” Gideon nodded, letting her know that Riannon toid him everything, “You–You are very dear to my mate.”

“I know,” her lips trembled, “She just-l am the one to blame, not Reid. She returned to the pack because of me, and she had to stay there. He wouldn’t let her go. Roxy-“

She filled him in quickly on everything that happened. Gideon clenched his fists. It was unbearable. In the short time they spent with each other, the very first thing he learned about her was that if she made a decision, she would stick to it no matter what. He also knew she cared for Maya a lot.

“What do we do now?” she asked as she lowered a hand to her mate, who was still on the ground. Reid took it with a kindling of hope in his eyes, and Gideon realised he had experienced a hard time with his mate. Not that it excused him at all.

However, he did not want to lie to himself either. He would have made the same choice in his place.

“We continue with the plan,” the King , affirmed.

“The plan?” Maya gasped, ” haven’t heard a thing about a plan!”

“Let your mate fill you in then.” Gideon spared one glance at Reid and realised it was too soon.

Anger still boiled in his heart. Mars demanded blood. However, it wouldn’t be the blood of their Beta he would offer to his wolf. “l expect you in my office first thing in the morning,” the King muttered as he walked off, leaving the Beta couple alone.

He went straight to their room, which still held her scent even though the omegas had changed the sheets.

They had been discussing the possibility of her going back to her pack and that she would be working on what she had to be free of Brayden. He had to stick to those thoughts. Riannon knew what she was doing when she stayed, and he had to trust her with that.

However, he had to listen to her voice. He needed it on a physical level.

So, he picked up his phone and called her, waiting to be connected with his eyes covered by his palm. Being separated from her again felt even worse than the time around.

“Ria!” he started speaking the moment the call was answered.

“Excuse me, who is this?” the male voice on the other end of the line seemed confused. He recognised her husband at once.

“This is King Gideon Stormhold.” He held himself back from growling. “I need to speak to Riannon. Now.”

“Your Majesty'” the Alpha sounded apologetic,

“l am sorry. This is a bit of an inconvenient time right now. It’s late, and she is sleeping. We just reunited after days of not seeing one another and were just too hungry for each other, if you know what I mean. She was too exhausted by the time we were done. It would be cruel to wake her up now.

She needs her rest. We are trying for a pup, you see..”