The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert Read Online
Chapter 31
Kyle knew very well what he had to do. He might have been the good guy who loved joking around and having fun, but at the same time, he came here with one purpose and one purpose only-to protect his childhood best friend at all costs. This time blogging as the truthteller wasn’t going to cut it.
He knew it the moment he saw that piece of garbage in the hall and had to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary. But the more he observed Zack Morgan, the sooner he came to the realization that he would have to deal with him personally. He had witnessed his friend in the pit of despair, and he wasn’t going to let that traitor push her right back into the pit again when she had just started to return to her usual self. It was surprising that the North positively influenced Savvy in such a way, but Kyle was ready to take it. Whatever made her happy. They grew up as siblings since their parents d*ied around the same time, and other than her, Reid and. Gideon, Kyle had no one else.
It was easy to find Zack’s room. He already knew where the guest wing was, and from there, he relied on the as*hole’s scent. The stench of revolting mint led him to the door, where he heard m0ans coming from the inside. He was doing it again. Even after seeing his mate tonight! Knowing the pain his actions would cause her to experience, to feel, he still chose to hurt her more.
Kyle’s fists clenched involuntarily as he heard a loud slap and more m0aning.
“Yes, Baby, like that! Zack grunted on the other side of the doo, and in the next moment, Kyle knocked the whole door off the hinges with his foot. The girls in the room screamed and ran in opposite directions from the luxurious bed situated in the center of the room, leaving Zack alone with the one who didn’t manage to get away since he was still holding her hands crossed at her back and had barely managed to pull out.
“What the…” The werewolf didn’t even get a chance to finish his sentence as the lycan stormed his way in and grabbed his throat, throwing him against the wall.
He could hear the sound of a few bones crushing at the impact, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Three girls. He planned to have s*e*x with three girls tonight just to hurt Savvy. Kyle never had a mate, and he couldn’t even imagine what kind of pain that was.
However, he heard things. Muscles being torn from their bones, skin being peeled, thick needles pierced into each inch again and again. Those were just a few comparisons that came to his mind. He wanted Zack Morgan to experience each of them. He received one of the best mates possible, and this was what he chose to do to her. Unbelievable!
Rage fired through every cell of the lycan’s body.
The girls hectically tried to gather their things and leave. They were all werewolves. Probably maids or females of lower ranks. There was no way a lycaness would participate in something like this with a mere werewolf like Zack. Without second-guessing himself, Kyle closed the distance between the two of them and, lifting Zack up by his hair, started punching him again and again until his fist was properly blood*ied.
The pathetic being tried to block a few punches and then tried kicking Kyle in the chest, probably to push him away. The lycan only chuckled when he grabbed the pr!ck’s fist and twisted it to ensure that was broken too.
Zack’s painful gr0@n was like music to his ears. Another punch and his lip was split, blood gathering in the corners of his mouth. One more, and his eye was so swollen he probably couldn’t see through it.
Kyle didn’t wish to stop. In fact, he wanted to continue until this man was erased from the face of the planet.
It should have been Savvy’s K*ll, but something went wrong today, and she didn’t finish him off. However, Kyle did not intend to continue her suffering. She would forgive him sooner or later. She always did. Right now, this piece of trash would be dead and wouldn’t be able to hurt her anymore.
“Stop!” he heard a voice call out as someone’s hand grabbed his. Kyle didn’t plan to stop, so he snapped his head toward that person and snarled at her.
Petra’s mentor, Evelynn, didn’t even flinch. Out of everyone in this castle, she was the last person he expected to see.
“Go away,” Kyle growled loudly, his wolf barely holding back. They both wanted Zack’s blood. Every drop of it.
Evelynn’s grip on him became tighter, and he felt her claws elongate, digging into his skin until it bled.
Surprisingly, that brought him to his senses, and this time he furrowed his brows at her.
“Trust me, he deserves this!” The lycan clenched his lips
“I have no doubt.” The she-wolf released him and fixed her perfect hairdo, her chocolate hair shining in the light of the candles burning in the room. Candles! The as*h0le lit up candles for his fours*me!
One of the girls was ready to leave, but Evelynn turned to her and commanded, “Stay right there! Everyone!”
Instantly, all three she-wolves froze on the spot.
“Just pretend you didn’t see anything!” Kyle told her and turned back to Zack, ready to connect his fist with his nose again. It wasn’t broken, and this just wouldn’t do.
“If you K*ll him, your girl will be eliminated!” Evelynn said calmly and attempted to close the now lopsided door. “If that’s what you want, then be my guest.”
Kyle wanted to crush the bast*rd’s skull; however, he knew too well that he couldn’t make such decisions on behalf of Savvy. She did not want to be eliminated. That was for sure.
His eyes locked with Zack’s, and the werewolf smirked at him, “See, you can’t do anything, Boy!”
This earned him yet another punch. Not a fatal one, just one hard enough to knock a few teeth out of his mouth and send him to the floor where he belonged.
Kyle was breathing heavily, not knowing what to do now and how to calm his nerves. Luckily for him, Evelynn placed her delicate hand on his shoulder and gestured to the exit.
“Let’s go,” she said calmly, and he followed her.
Before they left, she stopped at the door and turned to look at the three girls in the room. “Not a word of this to anyone. If you say anything, it will be your word against mine. Trust me, the King, the Princess and literally everyone else will believe me over you. That includes you too, Alpha. You are a stranger in the North. A stranger who no one likes. I have the support of at least four northern Alphas behind me. Don’t test me.”
“Not planning to.” Zack spat blood on the floor and wiped his mouth angrily. He could barely stand on his feet.
“Let’s go.” Evelynn grabbed Kyle and pulled him out of the room.
She was walking firmly, and for a while, he wasn’t sure where she was taking him until she pushed open one of the doors. They found themselves inside a cosy chamber painted in green and beige tones. The space was much bigger than what was offered to him, Zara, and Savannah.
“Is this your room?” Kyle wondered out loud, and she nodded affirmatively, getting fresh towels out of the wardrobe.
“To the bathroom,” she ordered curtly, and now he was intrigued.
“What is this, foreplay?” he chuckled as he followed her order.
“In your dreams!” She rolled her eyes and placed the towels on the sink. “Str!p and get into the shower.”
He looked at her with a smirk. “l am getting some mixed signals here, Lynn.”
“It’s Evelynn to you,” she corrected with a sneer.
“Hand me your clothes and wash off the blood. Clean the shower after yourself too, as I am not doing it. Don’t think for a moment that my help to you is free of charge.”
“Oh?” he coc-ked his brow and unb*ttoned his shirt quickly. “So, you want something from me then?”
“Of course, I do.” She didn’t even flinch when he got rid of the shirt entirely and started unbuckling his belt.
“Otherwise, I’d push you off that hypothetical cliff right now and call Princess Elene myself. Then watch you and your girl burn in her wrath while sipping my wine.”
“How cruel!” Kyle lost his pants and stood before her, waiting for a reaction, but only heard a laugh as Evelynn turned on her heels.
“Get it done fast! You are going to get Petra out of today’s mess before you leave my room,” she warned him, walking away.
“Seriously?” he scoffed, following the woman with his gaze and finding her incredibly attractive in this boss mode of hers. “You think Petra still has a chance to marry Kai?”
“She doesn’t.” Evelynn shook her head and turned to glare at him. “Nor do I want her to. She was never a candidate. Believe it or not, her performance here will impact her whole life. If she doesn’t meet her mate, and not everyone is so lucky, she would have the best northern Alphas asking for her hand. If she fails, she will be a laughingstock. I can’t afford that.”
“You really love her, don’t you?” Kyle leaned over the door frame with his hands folded on his chest. Still bare to her gaze.
“She is all l have,” Evelynn confessed unexpectedly and then erased any emotions from her face in less than a second. “So, chop-chop! You have a lot of work to do!”
Savannah wiped her eyes again to make sure this wasn’t an illusion.
“Now?” She giggled and looked at Kai’s excited face. “l am a little underdressed, don’t you think?”
“Don’t tempt me, woman,” he growled, and while she expected him to push her back on the bed and have his way with her, she watched him take off his jacket, only to wrap it around her shoulders. The King then went to the wardrobe to find something she did not anticipate. Good hiking boots.
“Really?” Savvy arched her brow at him as he knelt in front of her to help put them on, clearly in a hurry, lacing the shoes up.
“Really” he confirmed with a grin as he took her hand and pulled her after him. He was wearing a grey wool sweater and jeans; somehow, she liked it more than the suits he had to put on for the official events. It suited him better.
As he led her out of the castle, the night sky was dusted with stars. It seemed that not a soul was around except for the guards on their usual posts.
“Where are we going exactly?” She asked and saw the corners of his l!ps curling into a smug smile.
“It’s a surprise!” he said as he brought her to a huge car by the gates. This was not what she expected at all.
Kai took the driver’s seat, and she was right next to him when they drove off. He was taking her to the mountains surrounding the castle. She always wondered what was there.
Well, now she had a chance to see for herself.
The narrow icy serpentine road made Savvy remember a few old prayers to the Moon Goddess, but the view of the castle, the small towns down below with their glimmering lights and the northern woods that stretched for miles and miles made up for pretty much everything. However, mostly it was thanks to the fact that he had just returned from a battle and had come straight to see her and take her to. Moon Goddess knows where. This was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her.
Unless he was going to push her off that mountain, of course. However, the pure excitement on his face told her it was nothing of the sort.
“ls it really safe for us to go alone outside?” she asked and bit her lip at once, knowing that it was a sensitive topic for him.
“No worries,” he a*s*sured her with a chuckle, “every inch around the castle is heavily protected. My warriors are everywhere here. You will not see them, but they are close.”
“Nice to know.” she mumbled and looked at him apologetically. However, the Lycan King only placed his hand on top of hers and gave it a light squeeze. The little gesture of rea*s*surance brought peace to her at once.
Soon the car stopped at a place Savvy could have never predicted it would stop. She looked out of the window again and realized that only two feet from the door of her car was a steep hill descending into the white mist. She couldn’t see the ground behind the fog.
“Come this way.” Kai offered her a hand and helped her out of the driver’s seat, which she gladly accepted as she wasn’t a big fan of heights.
Savannah noticed that he took her into what looked like a cave. He had an old camping lantern in his arm, which he switched on almost immediately to illuminate their way.
Savvy gasped when she saw the cave’s walls covered with carvings. Intricate patterns revealed the pictures of wolves and people, lycans and bears, each chisel make crisp and well-formed. She quickly realized that they weren’t just images. They were stories, and she had never seen anything like it.
Kai ignored all that and kept walking, tugging her after himself.
“Wait!” She tried to stop him. “What is this place? Is that… Fenrir?”
She pointed at an image of a huge wolf who was carved and then painted black. Next to him stood a woman in a beautiful dress with a crescent in her hair.
“Is that the Moon Goddess?”
“That’s just some maiden.” The King stopped for a moment and then pointed at a picture of a woman with a crescent crown sitting on a throne, wearing armor with a sword in her hand. “That is the Moon Goddess.”
“Huh.” Savvy stopped. “We paint her differently in the West.”
“Yeah, I know,” Kai snorted, finally making a stop and letting her admire the ancient art. “You paint her in pretty dresses.”
“You are saying that as if there is something wrong with that!” Savvy looked at him with a challenge, waiting for his answer.
“It’s just she is the most powerful woman and goddess. We see her as a warrior deity. That’s all.”
“So?” Savannah let out a little laugh. “Do you think a pretty dress will suddenly make her less powerful or less of a warrior?”
“I feel like it’s a trick question, and choose not to respond to that!” The Northern King made a wise choice and grasped the princess’ hand again. “Come on! I don’t want us to miss it!”
They walked through a tunnel etched with carvings until finally, Savvy saw a round opening in one of the walls. This one also went straight to the cliff, and she hoped that this wasn’t their final destination.
The flicker of hope, however, was soon distinguished by Kai, who threw a blanket on the ground right next to the edge and placed the lantern nearby, gesturing for her to join him.
“Come, Savvy, it’s almost started.”