The packs outcast Luna (Kaia and Theo) novel Chapter 6

Chapter 006

I stared at my hands, slick with blood that wasn’t mine.

The forest was silent now, save for the rustle of leaves whispering secrets I didn’t want to hear.

The men were gone. The Alpha was gone. Only the memory of his storm-grey eyes lingered, sharp and impossible to forget.

I wiped my palms on the dirt, trembling.

Every breath burned my lungs, every heartbeat echoed the truth I’d been running from.

I was alone. Utterly, completely alone.

I pushed myself to my feet, clutching the torn satchel that held what little I had left.

“Survive,” I whispered to myself, voice raw. “No one’s coming for you, Kaia. Not this time,not ever”

With these words in mind, I kept walking. Hoping I’d find a safe place to rest for the night.

But,no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t shake off the look on the faces of my—No,Silvermoon Pack members.

They hated me. They wanted me dead.

Who would have thought they would turn against me in a heartbeat.

Well, they did and now I’m alone.

Hours later.

My body screamed in protest. Hunger gnawed at my belly, exhaustion clawed at my bones.

I dropped to my knees near a stream, cupping my trembling hands into the icy water.

I drank greedily, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

My reflection stared back at me on the rippling surface;wild hair, hollow eyes, a ghost of the Luna I once was.

I almost didn’t recognize herself.

Maybe that’s the point,I thought bitterly. They stripped me of everything until nothing remained.

But then… his face rose in my mind. Gray eyes, fierce even through pain. The way his voice, hoarse and commanding, had whispered my name.

Kaia.

I pressed a hand to my chest, hating how those words warmed something deep inside me, something the pack had not managed to crush.

I had saved him—an Alpha greater than Draven, though I had not known it at first.

For one fleeting moment , I had not been a traitor, not an outcast. I had been a healer again.

The thought steadied my trembling hands.

The forest was too quiet.

That kind of quiet that presses against your ears until your heartbeat becomes the only sound left.

I’d been walking for hours— It felt like days.

My legs ached, my throat was dry, and every shadow looked like it was waiting to pounce.

Theo’s scent was long gone, swallowed by the wind, but something else crept closer.

Something familiar.

I froze when I caught it—jasmine and blood.

Liora.

Even out here, she wanted me dead.

I should’ve known she wouldn’t rest after my exile. She never liked unfinished business.

The first arrow came so close it sliced a strand of my hair. I ducked, rolling behind a tree, my pulse thundering.

Two.Three, maybe four footsteps. Light. Trained. Not rogues. Her men.

A voice echoed through the clearing, smooth and cruel.

“Luna Kaia,” one of them mocked, spitting the title like poison. “Our Luna sends her regards.”

I gritted my teeth. “She’s not a Luna. She’s a coward hiding behind other people’s blades.”

They laughed—a harsh, mocking sound—and the second arrow whistled past my ear.

“You are an outcast Luna. You don’t get to tell who’s a Luna or a coward”

I grabbed a handful of dirt, crushed a few dried leaves from my satchel, and whispered under my breath.

The mixture burned my palm, but I hurled it toward them anyway.

A sharp hiss filled the air. Nightbane smoke.

Their coughing bought me seconds.

I ran.

Branches tore at my clothes, roots caught my boots, but I didn’t stop.

The forest blurred into a smear of darkness and shadow. One wrong step, and I’d be another body in the woods.

When I finally stumbled into a clearing, I dropped to my knees, gasping.

My hands shook, but I was alive. Still alive.

For now.

Liora wouldn’t stop until she saw my head on a pike. But as I pressed my palm over my racing heart, one thought steadied me.

A low growl rolled through the night.

My head snapped up. Between the trees, a pair of eyes glowed—amber, feral, watching.

Another set appeared beside them. Then another.

The men had found me.

I backed up slowly, heart pounding, but the forest had already closed in.

Shadows shifted, teeth flashed, the air thick with hunger and hate.

And above it all, I froze. silent, and watching with a fear-gripped breath.

Great. Getting cast out isn’t enough, I’m getting hunted too.

I’ve already died once. The next time, it’ll be on my terms.

When the first rogue came slinking from the shadows, eyes glowing with hunger, I was ready.

I snapped a branch into a crude spear, heart hammering as it lunged. A desperate thrust, a splash of blood, and the beast fled howling.

Then, another came forward, targeting my heart. One rippling slash and I will be dead.

I couldn’t let that happen. Not after everything.

So, I did whatever I had to. To escape.

I dip a hand into my satchel and haul a tangible wolfsbane powder on the men while they lunge towards me.

Then, I grabbed a sharpened stick, stood tall despite the tremor in my knees, and faced the distorted men.

“Liora,” I breathed. “You really won’t stop until I’m gone, will you?”

A howl echoed in the distance. Another rogue. Maybe two.

I tightened my grip on the knife. “Come then,” I whispered into the dark. “Let’s finish this.”

Branches scraped my arms as I stumbled through the dark, lungs burning, every breath a knife.

Cutting me open.

The scent of blood.

Rogues and mine—dripped through the air like a trail.

I pressed a hand to my side where claws had torn through my skin moments before.

Warm, sticky, pulsing. The wound refused to close.

“They always come back,” I muttered under my breath. “Rogues never hunt just once.”

A snap echoed behind me.

I spun, clutching the dagger that was more rust than blade. My body screamed for rest, but my wolfless instincts sharpened to something near feral.

Out of the shadows, he emerged. Taller than the last one, his teeth bared, eyes blazing orange.

A rogue drenched in madness.

“Found you,” he snarled. “The Alpha’s little disgrace. You can’t get away from us.”

He lunged. I ducked, slashing upward, catching his arm.

The blade cut deep, but not deep enough. He slammed me into a tree, the impact knocking the air from my lungs.

Pain exploded across my ribs.

Move, Kaia.

I drove my knee into his stomach, rolled aside, and grabbed a handful of silverroot leaves from my satchel. I crushed them, the sap gleaming faintly, and smeared it across my dagger.

The rogue hesitated, nostrils flaring.

“What’s that smell?”

“Your death,” I hissed.

He charged again. I swung.

The blade caught his throat, but his claws raked across my shoulder at the same time.

Red-hot pain blinded me. We both fell.

He thrashed, choking as the poison took hold, his body convulsing.

I crawled back, blood soaking my torn shirt, chest heaving. When his breathing stopped, the forest was silent again.

I pressed my hand to my shoulder. The wound pulsed and oozed. My vision blurred.

I could feel my body losing the fight.

The healer in me screamed to move. To find something—but the exhaustion was surging.

I tried to stand. My knees buckled. The world tilted sideways.

“Not yet,” I gasped, dragging myself toward the trees. “Not yet…”