Chapter 57: Jealous Heart

Aurora

After Max and Emma recovered from the shock of finding out they were mated, the bond went into full action and they were practically all over each other.

Don’t get me wrong, I was super excited at the thought that the two people I cherished like siblings were mated to each other.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of how quickly the bond had brought them together.

At first, Emma had been reluctant to accept that Max was her mate, since he was well known for being a womanizer.

But the sincerity in Max’s eyes, and tug of her mating bond, had been more than enough for her to give it a chance.

Afterward, we all went back to the pack’s house to have a little celebration for the new couple.

It had been Aspen’s idea. She was thrilled about having more women around, now that Max had found his mate.

Miss Kala had the kitchen staff prepare some snacks. Needless to say, the house was brimming with excitement over the fact that the beta had finally found his mate.

~“I wonder if this is the way the pack would have acknowledged me if Wolfgang had accepted me as his mate from the moment we found out,”~ Rhea said, cocking her head to one side.

~“I doubt that,” I said, taking a sip of the drink I was holding in my hand.~

‘Oh c’mon, Rory. People love you for who you are. They acknowledge you as their luna.”~ Rhea said, wagging her tail.~

~“They only acknowledge me as their luna because I killed Klaus. If it hadn’t been for that, I would still be a nameless maid to all of them,”~ I said.

I watched as Emma and Max chatted with everyone, walking hand in hand.

It was like they were made to be. I saw Emma’s parents approach them, and her mother said something to the couple that made Emma blush profusely.

Max chuckled, squeezing Emma tight and giving her a gentle kiss on her forehead. Her body molded into his.

My heart felt suddenly heavy.

~I shouldn’t be feeling like this.~

~I should be happy my best friend found her mate.~

~But here, I am in a corner, drinking juice and eating my sorrows away, wishing Wolfgang had ever treated me the way Max already did with Emma.~

~“Where is he by the way? He said he’d be back today,”~ Rhea asked as I stuffed myself with mini sandwiches.

~“How should I know? Why are you even bringing him up?”~ I asked her, annoyed. The last thing I needed right now was to wonder where Wolfgang could be.

“Rory, what’s up? You’ve practically taken over the snack bar and don’t even get me started on the deathly aura you’re emanating,” Aspen said, coming up to me.

She folded her arms. “No one dares to come close, cause they’re afraid you’ll eat them alive.”

“What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong,” I answered.

“You sure? Cause judging by how hard you’re clutching that glass, I’m surprised you haven’t broken it yet.”

She frowned. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you happy for Max and your friend?”

I couldn’t help feeling guilty.

“Of course I am.” I tried to give her a convincing smile.

“Then why are you way over here on your own and not with the others?” she pressed.

“You know I’m not a crowd person, and people just kept coming to congratulate them, and I decided to get some space,” I said, trying my best lie.

“Are you sure that’s the reason? Or does it have to do with our nincompoop of an alpha?” Aspen put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow.

~“She got you there. No wonder she’s the gamma’s mate. Very analytical,”~ Rhea said, and I couldn’t agree more.

“I wasn’t even thinking about him,” I said, dismissing her comment with a wave of my hand.

~“Keep telling yourself that,”~ Rhea huffed. I gave her mental glare and she snickered.

“If you say so. Don’t forget that we are your friends and we’re here for you if something is bothering you. Let us know right away.”

She patted my shoulder. “Remus, Max, Emma, and I will always be ready to support you, no matter what.”

“Thanks, Aspen. I’ll keep that in mind.” I gave her a reassuring smile, which she returned before walking back into the crowd.

I turned around and leaned my hands on the table, stifling a frustrated sigh. I raised my head and looked out the window to the deep forest beyond the backyard.

It seemed so lonely and eerie out there. I felt as if someone was watching me. I thought I caught a glimpse of a blond woman darting deeper into the woods.

~“Tallulah?”~ I asked myself.

~“What’s she doing here?”~ Rhea growled.

~“I don’t know, but it’s dangerous for her to be out in the woods. We don’t know who is abducting the missing pack members.”~

~“Oh please. If they abduct her, they’d be doing all of werewolf kind a favor,” Rhea replied, rolling her eyes.~

I privately agreed with her, but my protective instincts got the best of me, so I swiftly dashed through the crowd, unnoticed since everyone’s attention was on the new beta couple.

Then I sneaked out the back door and ran straight into the woods where I’d seen Tallulah disappear.

I sniffed for a whiff of her scent, and surely enough, there it was, that horrendous perfume she loved to wear.

I followed the scent deeper into the woods.

~“I don’t feel good about this, Rory,”~ Rhea said, on alert. Her ears were perked, listening to every sound.

I didn’t like it either. There was something off about this all. How the hell had Tallulah gotten past our seekers without being caught?

She was forbidden from coming back onto the pack lands, so how did she avoid being caught?

I followed the scent of her perfume, which kept getting stronger, until we were almost at the borderline.

~“Strange,”~ Rhea said.

~“What is?”~ I asked, focusing on my hearing to see if I could detect anything.

~“Wolfgang mentioned he had the number of seekers and warriors at the border, but we’ve yet to see even one,”~ she said.

~“Plus, at least one seeker should have caught our scent from a mile away, and they would’ve come to meet us, but instead, it’s eerily quiet,”~ she continued.

She was right.

There were no seekers or warriors in sight. Something was really off.

I was about to turn back to the pack house and look for Remus when the scent of blood mixed with Tallulah’s perfume permeated the air.

~“Shit,”~ I muttered. I ran toward the direction of the smell of blood, going deeper into the woods until I came to a skidding stop.

Tallulah was sitting on a tree limb, inspecting her nails, looking unscathed. At her feet were a dozen of our pack members, motionless.

The smell of blood made me nauseated.

“Took you long enough. ~Luna~.” She spat the last word with disdain.

“What have you done?!” I growled, fighting Rhea over dominance. She wanted to rip this bitch apart.

“Me? I haven’t done anything. As you see, my nails are clean.” She showed her manicured nails to me. Not a drop of blood stained her hands.

“Why are you here?!” I growled at her.

“I told you I’d make you pay,” she said with a sinister grin.

“So you hurt my pack members for petty revenge? I thought we had settled this already, Tallulah. You’re no match for me,” I said.

I could feel my blood boil. Rhea was ready to pounce on her.

“Oh, I’m not gonna fight you. They are.” She pointed behind me.

Just then, I heard the click of a gun cocking into place. I dodged it in time, not a fear footsteps later and another gunshot managed to graze my arm.

I hissed, feeling the burn sear my flesh. They were silver bullets.

“Fuck!” I ran through the woods, swerving through trees, avoiding round after round of gunshots.

Somehow, I managed to escape and hid behind a tree, trying to catch my breath.

“You must be wondering who we are, aren’t you, Aurora?” A male voice suddenly spoke. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

“You see, my family and I have been in this business for centuries now. Finding and annihilating supernatural beings like yourself,” he said.

“We’ve managed to kill witches, vampires, banshees, and werewolves,” he bragged.

I sniffed the air and smelled that they were all human. I tried peering around the tree to get a glimpse of the man talking, but another gunshot had me hiding once more.

“You must be wondering who we are, aren’t you?” he repeated.

“We are known for our determination, and for always achieving our goals. We have managed to exterminate the majority of your kind. The royals. All but one, who got away. An infant, who was saved by a meddling witch.”

I covered my mouth in shock. He was talking about my mother.

“Now, this infant grew up, and procreated with another wolf. Thankfully, she died in labor but unfortunately for us, she left a baby girl behind. One who had inherited her powers,” the unknown man continued.

“This she-wolf had gone unnoticed by us until we heard that a young girl was able to kill the rogue leader, Klaus, and survived death’s grip.”

I heard footsteps coming closer to me, but I was rooted to the ground by this information.

“So now, we are here, ready to collect you, Aurora. The last of the descendants of the moon. The last white wolf.”

I felt the click of a gun go off on the side of the tree I was standing behind. I dodged the bullet and fell to the ground just before it pierced through the wood.

I rolled to one side in time to see Wendell, the man I had met on the train with Wolfgang, standing there looking down on me with a smirk on his lips.

His gun was pointed at me.

“Nice to see you again, Aurora. Let me introduce myself once more. The name is Wendell Grosvenor.”