Luna Forsaken (Arya and James) novel Chapter 69

I didn’t look back.

Not because I was cruel for sport.

Because I had bled for them once.

And they repaid me with chains and a knife and the death of my child.

So no.

I wasn’t going to be stupid enough to bleed for them again.

I moved toward the darker edge of the yard, toward the line where trees waited.

Then more attackers saw me.

Two this time.

One wolf, one human.

They split slightly to circle.

They didn’t care about the pack members anymore.

They cared about me.

Maybe because I wasn’t screaming.

Maybe because I wasn’t running like prey.

Maybe because I looked like a challenge.

The wolf lunged first.

I dropped my bundle and moved.

Fast.

Low.

I sidestepped the bite, caught the wolf’s shoulder with my forearm, and slammed my

elbow down into the back of its neck with everything I had.

Pain flared in my ribs.

I ignored it.

12:35

32.17%

The wolf snarled, twisting, snapping at my leg.

I kicked hard, connecting with its jaw.

It yelped, staggered.

The human attacker charged.

He swung something, a short blade, gleaming.

I ducked.

The blade cut air.

I came up under his arm, drove my fist into his throat.

He gagged.

Stumbled.

I grabbed his wrist, twisted, and slammed it into my knee.

Bone cracked.

He screamed.

The wolf recovered, lunging again.

And that’s when I felt it,

Ria.

Not fully.

Not like before.

But enough.

A surge.

A growl deep inside my chest like a beast waking.

My eyes sharpened.

My senses tightened.

My body moved smoother.

12:35

32.23%

Letting Ria take over didn’t mean I lost control.

It meant I stopped holding back the part of me that was built for this.

I snarled, low, vicious, and met the wolf head-on.

I grabbed its scruff as it lunged, using its momentum, and drove it into the ground.

Hard.

Its head hit dirt.

I slammed it again.

Once.

Twice.

It stopped fighting.

The human attacker tried to scramble backward, clutching his broken wrist, face pale.

I stepped toward him slowly.

He stared up at me, eyes wide.

Fear.

Real fear.

Good.

Then another wolf came from the side.

I spun, caught it with my shoulder, rolled with the impact, and came up on my feet again,

10

breath harsh but steady,

I wasn’t fully healed.

But I was still Arya.

And Arya didn’t die easily,

A howl rose nearby.

Deep.

12:35

32.29%

Commanding.

Nixon.

Then another.

Archie.

Then Devin.

I turned toward them, moving through the chaos, cutting down another attacker who came too close, and reached the centre where Nixon and the others were fighting back-

to-back like a wall.

They saw me.

All three of them.

And they didn’t hesitate.

They howled.

Not random.

Not rage.

Respect.

Recognition.

They were ready to take my orders.

For a heartbeat, something twisted in my chest.

Hate.

Not for them.

For the pack.

For the fact that in the middle of massacre, the only people treating me like a leader

were the ones I hadn’t needed to fight.

I linked them.

The connection snapped into place sharp and clear.

12:35

32.29%

enu

Enough. I pushed through the link, voice cutting through the noise in their heads. We fight together. We move as one.

They answered instantly.

Three howls, reverent, fierce.

The kind of sound wolves made when they accepted command.

Then they shifted fully.

Fur exploded along skin. Bones cracked. The air filled with the sound of bodies becoming beasts.

I shifted too.

Ria surged, taking the front fully now, and the world sharpened into scent and

movement and blood.

We moved.

In sync.

Not sloppy.

Not chaotic.

Like a pack that had trained together.

Nixon left. I filled.

Archie snapped, I tore.

Devin lunged, I cut off the retreat.

12:36

Leave a comment

32.35%