The Perfect Luna novel Chapter 3

It did not take her long to get to her most favourite place in the world – the Silver Mirror Lake. This was the only place where Riannon could be alone. It was far enough from the packhouse and close to the borders of the pack. But it was safe since they did not have any rogue attacks in that area. Just one pack away from here was the Lycans territory and it was rumoured that the Alpha King residence was also somewhere close. No one was foolish enough to enter these lands and check though.

So, Ria did not think twice when she stopped by the ledge of the lake, naked, and jumped into the water. It was cold but at the same time, it was exactly what she needed to calm herself down.

She let herself embrace the dark night when only the full moon shone upon her, making crystals of water sparkle on her skin when she felt someone’s presence. It was powerful and dominating, yet did not belong to her husband and made her alert at once.

Pretending that nothing happened, Ria carefully looked around and her eyes caught a figure of a huge wolf at a hill on the other side of the lake. He was dark, probably black. And his eyes were shining golden.

It was a bad sign. Very bad.

Riannon decided not to risk it and went underwater, getting to the shore as soon as she could and running for her life. Only a loud howl followed her.

She was back at the safe territory in no time. Luckily, her clothes was right where she left them. She pulled on her dress and tried to do the zipper at the back but her fingers were not reaching it.

“Let me help,” two hands touched her back and Beta Asher helped her with her little problem. Ria wondered if he had been there the whole time. But it did not matter in the long run. Werewolves were used to naked bodies. It wouldn’t be the first time he saw her without clothes. It wouldn’t be the last… probably.

“What are you doing here?” she asked the man, turning to face him.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said with an unreadable expression on his face, “Found your clothes and understood that you were on a run. But why didn’t you shift?”

“I did,” she lied without blinking. If anyone knew that she couldn’t shift, then her fate would be decided even sooner. She couldn’t afford that. Ria knew that she needed time. “But that’s not important,” she decided to change the subject quickly, “There was an intruder at the Silver Lake. Send wolves to check it out.”

“Of course, Luna,” he said and his eyes lost focus for a second as he was giving orders via the mind link.

Riannon decided not to wait for him and walked slowly into the house. But Ash caught up with her quickly and opened the door to the mansion for her.

“It’s going to be alright,” he said to her all of a sudden and she stopped. Back in the day, he used to say it to her all the time. Yet when decisions had to be made, he always took her husband’s side. It was one of the betrayals that hurt the most because she was sure that her relationship with the Beta was good prior to all that. Yet he didn’t even object when they stripped her of her title… There were a lot of things that she wanted to tell him but she couldn’t.

So, she just placed her delicate hand on his broad shoulder and looked him in the eye, smiling sadly, “You knew, didn’t you?”

His expression changed as if a flash of lightning hit him and his lips parted slightly.

“Yes, Luna,” he confessed, darting his eyes to the ground.

“It’s okay,” she patted him, “I understand. You can’t go against your Alpha’s command.”

“If I could…” he started to speak but she placed her finger to his mouth making a shushing sound.

“Doesn’t matter,” she shrugged her shoulders, “At least I will always have your support, Ash. Right?”

“Always, Luna,” his breathing became heavy and Ria tilted her head watching him. This was an interesting development. Why was he reacting like that?

“Then of course I’ll be fine,” she chuckled and went inside. She had to think of what to do next.

Ria closed herself in her bedroom. She knew that Brayden would not be coming back tonight to share the bed with her. As far as she remembered, he wasn’t sleeping with Roxy at this point yet and spent the whole in his private office drinking and thinking of life. In the morning, he would bring her flowers and gifts… and apology even. But Roxy would still stay.

After a long and relaxing bath, Ria went to her desk and got her old journal. She hadn’t been using it for many years, but it was dear to her heart. And it was just the right place to write down every single event that was important and that was going to happen within the year leading to her death.

She tried to remember everything while she still could.

And she knew very well what she was going to do with this information. The game was on.

The plan was simple, really. Since she couldn’t change the main event and get rid of Roxy, she had to leave. But she couldn’t leave without her pack and without making sure that all her dear friends were alive and well. Not to mention, that it was particularly important to try and show Brayden and the rest Roxanne’s true face. Everybody around thought that she was an angel while in fact, she was the devil. Ria was afraid to even think what would happen if Roxy became the Luna for real because she for sure wouldn’t have the pack’s interests in her heart.

And although Ria’s own heart craved revenge, she didn’t want the work of her life to be ruined. Plus, she didn’t have it in her heart to hate everyone. She saved it for just a selected few. The ones who betrayed her trust and led to her demise, the ones who promised her respect and protection but gave her humiliation and suffering. Yes, those were the ones she was going to concentrate on.

The door suddenly opened, and Brayden walked in, making her close the journal with the list of events and names rapidly and hide it back into the drawer. Luckily, he didn’t pay attention to that.

Guilt was all over his face and Ria wanted to roll her eyes but held herself back. She couldn’t give herself away. This event did not happen prior. In her past life, he didn’t visit her that night. This was new and she had to be cautious.

“Ri,” he walked further into the room, “Ash informed me that you encountered an intruder. Are you okay?”

This was funny. She was sitting there, clearly looking well and in one piece. Who was he kidding? Was it guilt because she put up a fight and he still chose his mate?