The Perfect Luna novel Chapter 82

The silver-plated spear cut the flesh with ease… Blood appeared on the already stained clothes, soaking them rapidly. Ruby-red drops were falling onto the flooded floor, dissolving in the water within seconds as if they were nothing.

As if his blood was nothing…

Brayden looked at Riannon with a sad smile on his lips.

“I told you I would always protect you,” he said and fell onto his knees, Ria tried to process what happened when she saw the one who threw that spear and an internal snarl left her chest.

Roxanne was glaring at her from the other side of the dungeon. Breathing heavily, the little hybrid gritted her teeth. She did not mind killing her fake mate. She did not care enough about him even though they did spend so much time together.

She had a bigger fish to fry. That spear was for Riannon. Because she cared about her death. She wanted her dead more than anything at that moment in time. That woman was the source of all her troubles. That woman could take what she wanted from her, and she wasn’t having any of it anymore.

“Haven’t you done enough?!” Ria screamed at the fox while catching Brayden before he fell face flat into the water. She slowly lowered him to the ground, noticing his ragged breathing.

“This one is on you!” Roxanne hissed, narrowing her eyes. “All of this is on you! He blew up the house not even caring that I was inside! Was it some kind of punishment for you? After all, he loves to train his girls! But with you he is so different! This madness will be over the moment you are dead! And everything will get back to normal!”

Ria scanned her face, realising that her enemy was talking about Castiel. Everything was even worse than she imagined. Roxy didn’t just love him. She was obsessed with him. It was an unhealthy sick addiction that was driving her crazy, making her break all the imaginable and unimaginable boundaries.

“Do you even realise that he has been experimenting on you?” she decided to ask, feeling how life was slowly leaving Brayden who now tucked his head in the column or his neck for support. “He used you! He used your siren abilities, used you as his Guinea pig! He was intoxicating you and all these other women with fake mate scents! And now that I think of it, I bet you were a frequent visitor to his laboratory. There’s no way someone like him wouldn’t try to copy the siren pheromones!”

“That was because I am special to him!” Roxy snarled, growing her claws. “He treated me better than anyone else!”

“Then it’s just sad,” Riannon admitted, “Because he was putting you under other men with ease. He never cared whether you stayed dead or alive in the process of his schemes. And he never even asked about you while he…”

“Shut up!” the fake omega screamed hysterically, “Who are you to judge me? You didn’t even fight for your man when he brought me to your home!”

“I did fight you the first time,” Ria heard herself saying and felt Brayden twitching in her arms. But she did not regret her words.

Her secret wasn’t important now. The reality changed so much that there was no point to hide it because she didn’t possess any essential knowledge about future events anymore. This life was going very differently from what she knew. So different that no events were the same with the exception of the   over. “I lived a ute wnere i was rigning for the man wno was clearly wrong for me! I lovea nim anai thought that I could fix things between us if I just try hard, be perfect, do something… I was wrong. And I paid the price. Because you killed me. And the man I practically sacrificed my love for probably didn’t even notice…”

“What kind of bull sh*t is this?!” Roxy stared at her in shock, her chest heaving.

“How do you think I knew everything you did before you even tried to act? How do you think I knew all the things I wasn’t supposed to know?”Ria gave her a sad smile, “The Moon Goddess brought me back in time. At first, I believed that it was only to change my course of life. But now I see that a lot of people needed things to be changed. Including you, Roxanne. Look at what you are doing! You are going to have a baby, for Goddess’ sake!”

“Shut up about my baby!” Roxy looked around in search of a weapon. Anger was filling her heart and soul; fury was burning in her veins.

This was why everything happened! She wanted to kill that woman once and for all! She could have won. Could have fulfilled Castiel’s task and expectations. But Riannon changed everything! It wasn’t fair! It seemed like some cruel joke of the gods!

Roxanne found a metal stick with a sharp end and decided that this was good enough. She wanted to wipe that Alpha-female from the face of the earth!

But as soon as she made a step, she felt a kick on the back of her knees.

“Not so fast!” Maya growled and knocked the stick out of her hands. Ash appeared nearby and helped her to subdue the girl. Regardless of the hatred they both felt towards her, they didn’t want to hurt a

pregnant woman. It wasn’t who they were.

Brayden sighed and Riannon was finally able to concentrate on him. She carefully turned him on his back and placed his head in her lap. Their eyes met at last and there was so much understanding in his.

“Ri,” Brayden breathed, “I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she was assessing where the spear went through, and came to the conclusion that it probably got his heart as well. Which was a bad thing for a shifter. Hearts almost never regenerated… The blood was still gushing and she tried to apply pressure, knowing that now everything depended on whether

his wolf would be able to heal him or not. It did not help that the spear was silver.. It was a bad sign.

She remembered how Brayden purchased it at some auction for a ridiculous amount of money even though she protested against it. And how proud he was to display it in their house.

“The joke is on me,” he tried to chuckle, but coughed up some blood instead. He probably knew what she was thinking and her lips curled into a little smile.

He was becoming more and more the Brayden that she used to know and love. It did not change her feeling towards Gideon, but she was glad to know that at least she had not made that man up. They weren’t meant to be, but she hated to see him lose everything he worked for all his life, including his own personality.

A part of her was still angry at him. She used to think that this part of her would always be angry.

But everything changed when he took that spear for her, risking his own life without hesitation. Before Roxanne, she always felt safe with him…

At the distance, Roxy was still struggling against Maya and Ash, who tried to sustain her but not hurt her too much. Their eyes met and something crazy gleamed in Roxy’s as she started cackling.  this! Soon you are au going to…

“Your Castiel is dead!” Maya interrupted her speech and the fox’s head snapped in her direction. They all became silent and only the sounds of water dripping and splashing from broken pipes could be heard.

“You are… lying!” Roxanne stuttered in disbelief, but Maya met her gaze with ease.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” the Beta said bitterly, watching her worst enemy suffer finally. But when Roxy fell to the ground helplessly and tears started rolling down her cheeks one by one, her chest shaking uncontrollably as if she wanted to sob but couldn’t… Maya realised that the sight was not making her happy. It was not making the loss of her brother any easier. It changed nothing. What a disappointment.

“I’ll take her,” she said to Ash and gestured at their Alpha who was holding her ex-husband and whispering something to him. “You stay and help them and I will call more people to come here and finish things up.”

This time Roxanne did not struggle. She let her hands be cuffed in silver-plated cuffs and seemed lifeless when the Beta was leading her away. She just followed her. As if there was no point in her fighting anymore. As if there was no point in doing anything…

By now Riannon knew that Brayden was not healing properly. He knew that as well.

“If we keep the spear inside, we might win some time and get you to the hospital,” she said, thinking of what was the best way to transport him there, when his hand caught hers.

“No use,” he said, but she shook her head.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she insisted. “A good doctor might still help you. You are an Alpha, you can hold on for a long time. You will make it through…”

“Not this time, Ri,” he tried to smile again, but she knew that it was hard for him. “It’s okay. It’s fine. Don’t cry…”

She didn’t even realise that there were tears in her eyes. Riannon tried to wipe them away quickly, but the new ones were appearing in their stead.

He was an important part of her life, her friend. Yes, he made many stupid mistakes but losing him was still painful.

Her tears were now falling onto his face and he brushed one palm over her cheek, smearing it with blood.

“I’ve been such an j***t, Riannon,” Brayden smiled, his voice getting weaker and weaker. “I can say am sorry a thousand times but it would never be enough.”

“It’s all right,” she sniffed seeing how pale he was getting. His body was not healing and he barely had a few minutes left. Sadly, werewolves were not immortals…

“It’s all right, Bray,” she repeated, her tears now uncontrollably falling onto his face,“I forgive you. I really do.”

“Good,” a smile formed on his face, “At least I will know that he will take good care of you. Better than I ever did. Goodbye, Riannon…”

She didn’t understand what he was doing at first, but Brayden grabbed the spear and pulled it out of

• his body in one swift and immensely painful move. Now they were sitting in a red puddle of his blood that couldn’t stop gushing out of him.

Ria held his hand, the two of them looking into each other’s eyes. But at the very last moment, she bent and whispered into his ear what Onyx had just told her.   wiae, you ana your wou will be reborn in a new ure. Ana in that new ure, you will be given a mate. ine one that will be right for you and you alone. It will happen…and you will find your happiness.”

She distanced herself, to see that he was looking at the ceiling with glassy eyes. But even now there was a vague smile reaching the corner of his lips.

She closed his eyelids with trembling fingers and took a deep breath of air, trying to hold back the sobs. He was her husband once. He was her friend first… He was her partner for a long time. And now that man was gone forever.

But even in his last moment, he was dreaming of his true mate that he had never got to meet. His one true desire…