The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert Read Online
Chapter 64
Kai had never been a patient person, and it was t*ortur*e of a new kind to stay behind and wait. It did not bother him that he could not shift back to his human form anymore. He wasn’t picky and was ready to spend his whole new life as a wolf as long as he could rescue Savannah. She was his priority and the one and only thing on his mind from the moment he woke up. When Fenrir asked for his firstborn, Kai didn’t even hesitate.
Why would he? A child was in a distant future he could never have in the first place without the rebirth, and in all honesty, he could have tricked the God later. There were many legends about similar occurrences. Either way, it was a problem for later. But Savvy… Savvy needed his help now.
Of course, he wanted to save his kingdom too. He was brought up and trained to exist with the weight of responsibility for the North. However, now he knew that if he was ever f0rced to make a choice, he would have to spend eternity begging Fenrir’s and his people’s forgiveness because he knew whom he would choose. It was not right, it was selfish and not worthy of a king, but Kai knew now that Savvy came first. She was his everything, and somehow, after he was reborn, all those feelings only intensified.
The memories of Savannah’s scared face were flashing before his eyes. Memories from when life was slipping away from him. He understood what was happening before she did, and when she realised he was dying, it scared her beyond belief. That girl had no problem facing multiple enemies, walking into deadly traps, being betrayed and stabbed in the back, but losing him brought horror to her face and grief into her soul.
Primal boundless fear gripped her and Kai. Kai was horrified, too. Knowing that he was abandoning her, knowing that the enemy would come for her when she would be at her weakest..
The Lycan King of the North had already felt weak once. Right after his parents d*ied. After just one day, he had to start taking care of his kingdom and his depressed little sister. Every time Elene sobbed in his arms, every time his then-advisors looked at him as if he was just a little boy with a sparkling crown, he felt like that. Useless, weak, pathetic.. an impostor.
Contrary to everyone’s beliefs, his life was never easy. Although his childhood was happy until he lost his parents, even when they were alive, he had to work hard for everything. His father didn’t accept any excuses and he had high expectations of his heir. Kai didn’t get to play with other kids much, he had more important things to do. Maybe it was the reason that he had trouble making friends in the first place. He had next to no experience with relating to people. He was introduced to Aspen because their fathers were friends, but it took them years to get close. Lachlan was an exception – the two of them hit it off immediately. Although Kai was always surrounded by people, Lachlan and later Aspen were the only two he could call friends. They stood by him when he became the King, and he knew he could always count on them. It was important because he was also aware he couldn’t count on anyone else. Everyone wanted a piece of him, but mostly, they wanted him gone. The Northerners were fiercely loyal to their King, but, just as with their Lunas, they had to accept him as their King first. So, Kai earned their respect. He had to become stronger, sterner, and more ruthless.
For a brief moment, he thought that he and Gideon could be friendly, but they were too much alike. Kai knew he had to be the best for everyone to fear him and stay away from the North. Gideon had similar ideas about the West. They were unlucky to end up at the same Alpha training facility at the same time because they immediately clashed. It still could have been a healthy compet*ition. They tried to keep it up for a while, but once Kai heard Gideon talking about his sister in a less-than-complimentary way, all hell broke loose. Kai went on the defence, and there was that knowledge etched in his mind that the best defence was a good offence.
Playing the role of the perfect king was hard for him because perfect was one thing that he wasn’t. This was why he loved his “gardener and the little maid” game with Savannah so much. He loved her gaze flickering when she looked at him and, at the same time, having no idea who he really was.
She came into his life unexpectedly and turned everything upside down, bringing chaos into it, but also.. she brought him peace. Kai didn’t even notice how his life became all about he.
And now he had quite a few things to worry about.
Kai had made an impossible deal. Maybe she would never forgive him when she found out, but as long as she would be there to find out, he’d take it. He would find a way around this. He would do everything he could to make her happy and not give away their first-born baby, but his main priority would always be Savannah’s safety.
If he had to d*ie again today to achieve this – so be it.
It was strange to be in this new form. Fenrir called him Amarok, and he remembered old northern legends about giant lonely wolves who destroyed everything in their path. This wasn’t what he wanted to be, but again, he was ready to accept it if it meant he would have enough power to defeat his enemies. He was supposed to be dead anyway, but since he was given a second chance, he wasn’t going to waste it.
His whole body was new, and it took some getting used to it because of how giant it was. It didn’t feel the same as being in his royal lycan form. He wasn’t simply larger now, but in a way, he became stronger and more powerful. He couldn’t find it in himself to shift back into a human, but at the same time, he had no trouble making everything around him freeze. He could create ice with his will, and he could shape whatever he wanted out of it.
The first thing that he tried when he realised that was, of course, Savannah’s sculpture. He sat in front of it now, waiting for the news from Ash, keeping it away from melting. He had made her almost identical to the real version, and just looking at her was helping him to stay focused and maintain his sanity. She was his anchor to this world, and having her close, even if it wasn’t the real Savvy, was helping him to keep himself from going feral and charging at that damn castle.
Riannon was the one who talked him out of it.
Surprisingly, Gideon’s mate was his voice of reason now.
When she was contacting him through her wolf Onyx, he could feel their emotions and knew that they were genuine. That made him listen.
Time after time, the Luna and the Queen of the Western Lycan Kingdom told him to believe in Savannah, promising that the Princess would be able to take care of herself. He really wanted to just go to Bjorn’s castle, K*ll everyone, and get Savvy back. But they all knew that it wouldn’t be that simple. Too many things weren’t adding up, and traitors were everywhere.
He was greedily watching the news, promising himself to K*ll both Chloe and Claude when he would get the chance. He couldn’t believe how easily they switched sides. However, thanks to them, he was getting bits and pieces of information about Savannah. Lachlan did not want to show him the whole video of how she was brought to the white bear’s castle, but after his menacing growl, his Beta gave up and let it play. Seeing her on his enemy’s back brought him back into despair.
For once, he and Gideon were on the same page, and both wanted to go to the White Bear Cliffs immediately, but this time Kyle was the one who stopped them.
“You need to see this!” He stood before the two of them with his laptop, opening a page of his TruthTeller website.
“This is really not the time!” Gideon growled and Kai snarled in agreement.
“Just wait!” The young man insisted, and then Evelyn and Riannon stood up for him, insisting that he had a point. “I’m receiving anonymous videos from how everything really went,” he told them. “Bjorn probably has enemies in his castle, too! There are so many of them! I mean, so many videos… Look!”
He started by showing them how they’d chained Savvy to make her sit on that white bear’s back, which made Kai’s insides burn with fury. Then there was a video about how Savannah was almost unconscious by the time they got to the castle and how she threw up all over that piece of trash, the white bear king. That last part brought him momentary satisfaction, but at the same time it pained him to see the woman he loved so much in that situation. The last video was of three girls Kai had never seen before.
“I’ve been cleaning the whole room for hours!” one of them complained, “I don’t think that Queen Savannah will be ready to perform her… queenly duties anytime soon. The healer told the king that she shouldn’t be doing anything physical for at least the next two days.
Poor man! I thought the king would snap his neck on the spot. He was lucky to survive.”
“The king seems impatient, though,” another girl said. She had a broom and dustpan in her hands and looked like a maid without a uniform.
“He will not touch her in anger!” The third one rolled her eyes. “Have you seen how he looks at her? She was sick all over him, but he was worried if she was all right, not caring about anything else. He would never do anything to hurt her!”
The video ended, and Kyle closed his laptop. Gideon and Kai exchanged glances. This time they didn’t need to speak to understand each other.
“We have at least a day more,” Riannon said quietly.
“And trust me, Savvy knows how to play sick,” Kyle smirked. “Gid, remember that week you invited the sons of Alphas to our mansion to “get to know” Savvy better and then she accidentally poured wolfsbane all over herself in a cl@ssand got stomach flu because of that?”
Kai snarled angrily as the Western King ran his hand over his face.
“Let me guess,” Gideon exhaled heavily. “Never happened?”
“Nope,” Kyle shook his head, “but when all these women suddenly decided that you were looking for a Luna a week later that-“
“I-wasn’t a coincidence,” Gideon finished the sentence, grunting. He’d always suspected that.
“Look” the redheaded nephew of his Beta sighed and glanced at Evelyn for support, “I’m not saying that we shouldn’t save her. I would d*ie for Savvy, you know that. Not only is she my best friend, but she’s also like a sister to me. We grew up together, and I care for her as much as you do. But Riannon is right, and we should believe in her. Also, we can’t be reckless about this. We need a good plan to make sure that when we go there, we really get her back and don’t mess anything up.”
“Besides,” Evelyn said, stepping forward, “Princess Savannah is not the only one we need to rescue. I know you probably don’t care much about Petra, but I do and so does Savannah herself! And also, there is your Gamma. I’m sure you want to get Aspen out almost as much as you want to rescue Savannah. In all honesty, the princess is the one who is safe there. It’s going to be much more dangerous for the other two.”
Kai wasn’t torn about this, he felt guilty. Evelyn was right, he really wanted to try and save them all, but Savvy was the one at the top of his mind. Once he got her out, he would come back for Petra and Aspen. And also to K*ll Bjorn. But that would be after his beloved was safe. Or during her rescue, in the best-case scenario.
“We will, of course, try to save them all together,” Lachlan a*s*sured them with his soft political tone. Kai knew that he was about to find an excuse to reject the suggestion, but this was when Evelyn stepped forward.
“And I believe there’s a way to do all of this,” the woman proclaimed confidently. “I have just spoken with Petra’s father over the phone, and he told me that Bjorn offered him a chance to buy Petra. They told him to send a delegation to his castle to negotiate this. The bears are putting her-” Evelyn’s voice broke, but she took a deep breath and went on, “they’re putting Petra up for an auction. Whoever pays the highest price gets to keep her.
They all got quiet, each thinking of how best to resolve the situation.
“Don’t you see?” Riannon furrowed her brows and hugged herself. “This is a perfect opportunity to get our people inside the castle and get Savannah and the others out safely. We just can’t p@ssthis opportunity up.
Kai still did not like this. It meant waiting longer, and all he wanted to do was get there sooner, grab his woman, rescue her, and bring her back home.
A loud shriek pierced their ears, and they all looked up as Zara was flying down from the sky. She shifted while she was still in the air and landed in front of them with grace. She was the one Kai waited for the most because she could bring him news that nobody else could.
“Did you see her?” Gideon asked without hesitation.
“She was in her room the whole time I was there, sleeping alone,” the werebird informed them. “I couldn’t get too close, though, without being suspicious. Hawks do not rest on windowsills, you know. Not to mention that they know me. I also saw Bjorn, and it looks like he’s busy. I don’t think he’s going to get to spend time with Savannah anytime soon. She is safe for now.”
That gave Kai the strength and patience to wait a bit longer and plan everything properly.
Luckily, it was a good decision.
They waited for a signal from Ash but received nothing. He was supposed to come back first and bring them information on who was where and what the weak spots in defence were. Everybody knew that Aspen would be the easiest to access but the hardest to get out due to his multiple injuries. Zara informed them that the Gamma’s condition was the worst out of the three. She also confirmed that she hadn’t seen Astrid and her friend Emma anywhere, which left their fates unknown.
However, Brigit seemed to feel at home, which convinced them that she was the one helping Bjorn all this time to everyone’s disappointment. Only Riannon did not comment on how the she-bear was going to be punished for her betrayal when the war was over.
Kai was waiting by his ice sculpture because it was the only place where he could handle the latest news.
There were rumours that Bjorn was going to mark Savannah today. Just the thought of it made his stomach churn and his blood boil, and that was saying a lot considering that ice spikes grew out of him now. He tried to calm himself by looking at the sculpture, because every time he closed his eyes he saw his mortal enemy, Bjorn, digging his claws into his mate’s neck, marking her for life…
Savannah did not deserve this. She had already been through so much. She had been through more than him or anyone else he knew. A lot of people had a sad story in one way or another, but Savvy could never catch a break and had to face one struggle after another. Not to mention that he knew her. He knew that if she wasn’t broken now, this would break her for sure. Waiting now felt wrong more than ever before. He had to be there, he had to get her out, to save her.
Zara was out on her mission of spying on the castle again. She was so good that the bears did not notice her in the skies. Although it was possible that they simply didn’t look. She was supposed to return and alert them if there was any danger to Savannah. However, Kai heard the explosion before the werebird managed to come back.
He was the first to realise that it wasn’t the one that Ash was supposed to set up. The location of the explosion was higher and much further South than the gates.
This time, he decided that he’d had enough of waiting for one day. Something did not go according to the plan, and he was not going to listen to any more excuses.
Amarok raced through the dark woods faster than any of his companions, and he was the first to reach the group of wolves desperately trying to escape from the white bears. Surprisingly, there were just a few in pursuit, and Kai pounced on them without mercy. He didn’t even need his freezing powers to eliminate the enemy.
However, as he was r!pping through the throat of the last one, he could already tell that Savvy’s wolf was not in the group.
He was enraged, but calmed down slightly when his eyes landed on Aspen. His Gamma looked horrible, chanting something with his broken l!ps caked with dried-out blood. It looked like the bears were hurting him and then letting him heal, only to break everything all over again. A t*ortur*e so cruel that it was rare for anyone to use it these days.
“Brigit, Brigit. Bri..git” he was repeating the name and Kai growled. That Brigit girl was blessed to find her mate who was ready to love her unconditionally and give her everything that a maid could want, and this was what she did to him.
Ash shifted into his human form and bowed his head respectfully to the king of the North.
Seeing where Kai’s attention was, the Alpha said, “
He will be okay – what doesn’t K*ll us makes us stronger.”
But when Kai’s eyes glowed menacingly in the darkness and the air around them became uncomfortably cold even for a werewolf, Ash quickly changed the subject to what was really important now.
“Princess Savannah is in her royal Lycan form now,” he informed Amarok quickly, knowing that Kai was still inside. “She told us to run while she was covering for us and leading them away. We would have never made it without her help.”
Kai wasn’t listening anymore, he only turned on his paws and sprinted to where the group came from, trying to pick up her scent.
Brigit was watching from the window in her room as Savannah and the werewolves freed Aspen and placed him on one of the wolves’ backs. It was probably just an illusion that her mate… her ex-mate.. locked his eyes with hers for a moment. After all, his eyes were so swollen he probably couldn’t see a thing anyway. But she let herself believe that it was the truth and that he knew that she was the one that set off the explosion in the tower and helped the fire in the castle spread in order to help him escape. She knew that he would never forgive her betrayal and that they would probably never see each other again, but a smile formed on her l!ps as she placed her forehead on the cold glassof the window and watched them escape.
“Thank you, Aspen,” she whispered, even though there was no chance he would hear her. She was thanking him for the new feeling in her ch3st that tugged and pulled and warmed her up when everything else in her world was so cold. She remembered how she once thought that she was in love with Castiel. That memory now made her laugh. There couldn’t be any comparison.
She was fighting the mate bond so hard because she knew he would hate her one day. She fought for Castiel’s love for years and spent hundreds of nights with him. Yet the one time she had been with Aspen would be what she would cherish in her heart forever now. The night of Savvy and Kai’s marking ceremony when all she originally planned to do was to k!ss him and drug him. Instead, she let him take her in a small dark room he used in the castle when he was overseeing its security.
Castiel loved to experiment and knew thousands of ways to please a woman, to drive them crazy and make them want him even more. But it was always about him with that sly fox.
With Aspen, she found out what real love was. Even if it was just a glimpse of it. That big guy who could crush walls with his bare hands was touching her as if she was made out of the finest porcelain, worshipping every inch of her body, making it about her for once.
What they had… what they could have had… was pure and beautiful. And Brigit wished there was the tiniest of chances that one day he could forgive her and they could be together. A tear rolled down her eyes as she watched them disappear in the thick darkness of the woods.
“Just stay alive,” she whispered, thinking now that dreaming of getting back with him was too bold. Instead, she should take what life was willing to give her and be grateful for that. She wouldn’t be able to live if he’d d*ied because of her. She wouldn’t be able to breathe… but now, at least, she could do that.
Two small hands wrapped around her, and she turned to see her sister, Ingrid.
“You love him, don’t you?” Ingrid asks through tears, and Brigit tucked her face into her sibling’s blonde hair and let herself to let out her tears finally. Ingrid stroked her back and gave her the time she needed, before she whispered, “Bri, you need to go with them. You can. He would look for me, but not for you.”
“Aspen would never want me again,” Brigit distanced herself and wiped her eyes, knowing that she couldn’t be seen crying. It was too dangerous. “It’s too late for us now,” she smiled sadly. “Besides, my place is here with you. With my people. Don’t you think?”
Ingrid didn’t think that. She knew how badly her sister was treated by some of the white bears, not to mention how the guilt was slowly eating her alive.
“Bri, if you need anything- anything other than me running away from my husband, just tell me,” the girl suggested.
“Right now, I need only one thing,” Brigit smiled and held her sister’s hands. “Come with me downstairs; pretend that we’re both distraught over what happened today. Tell anyone who asks that you were with me the whole time in my room. And we left it just now to come and check on our king.” She paused and then added,”
And on your beloved husband, of course.”
Kai’s heart broke into a myriad of pieces when he saw her. He couldn’t move. He did not dare to move.
He was ready to K*ll all those bears all over again because of what they made Savannah go through. He’d do it in a heartbeat if given a chance.
The last few days were the first ones in his new life, and at the same time, they were the hardest in both of his lifetimes. He failed her, and he couldn’t fix any of it.
She was so close in her torn red dress, with her hair a wild mess cascading down her shoulders. She had been through hell, and he hadn’t been there to save her. He was late, and she had to save herself. Something he would never forgive himself for. Something he would never allow to happen again.
It was t*ortur*e to stay behind and wait, knowing that he would only make it worse if he arrived at the wrong time. Riannon told them to believe in Savvy, to trust that she would take care of herself. And that was exactly what Savannah did. This beautiful, delicate woman fought like a hundred men. She was ready to sacrifice herself to save her friends. She was honourable, loyal, honest, fierce, brave… And also.. Mate. She was his mate.
The whole world screamed this now. All his senses, the scents around them, the air, the stars in the sky, they all sang in unison that they belonged together.
She was his. And he belonged to he.
A part of him knew from the very beginning. From the moment he saw her shredding those roses, from the moment he thought she was just a little maid. But he knew she was his maid. He loved her from that very first glance, even if he didn’t understand it back then.
The universe stopped spinning. They were the only two people to ever exist. It was hard to tell if it was one moment or if they stared at each other for eternity.
Neither of them could tell…
“You’re alive,” she barely whispered because she was afraid that a louder sound would break the illusion and she would be alone in this world again. Alone and ready to d*ie.
“I came back,” his voice rasped through his ch3st, and her breathing hitched. “For you.”
It was him! He was here… Alive and well. He was breathing, and he wasn’t an illusion.
Kai was alive. Her Kai. Kai Fionnlagh. The one she held in her arms when he was dying. The one she mourned for days after witnessing a silver spear piercing his heart. The one she never expected to see again. Not in this world… Moreover, she was trying to get into the next one to be reunited with him.
And he was her mate! Mate!
Kai didn’t know what to say next. Was she angry with him for being late? For abandoning her? Did she feel what he felt now? Did he hear her right when she called him her mate? Did she even want him after everything?
Too many questions.
He still had a few small ice spikes creating a pattern over his arms. They were melting away, but he didn’t want to scare her. She had been through so much, and he wanted to shield her from the whole world. There was so much he needed to tell her but his tongue couldn’t find the right words now.
His eyes trailed over her body, which was barely covered by the leftovers of the once beautiful gown, and he noticed that blood trickled down her arms and side.
“You’re hurt!” his l!ps parted, eyes glowing icy blue. His mind started racing, searching for solutions. Where was the healer they brought with them? How fast could he get her there? But he didn’t even manage to say another word when she threw herself at him.
“Kai!”
She was in his embrace faster than he thought possible. Trembling, so warm and so alive. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her as hard against his ch3st as he could and k!ssed her hair.
He could feel her body shaking with silent tears, and his soul wept together with her. It roared from all the pain and happiness of their separation and reunion.
“I thought you were dead! | saw you d*ie! -” She sobbed for the first time since he met her, and it made his heart clench. He didn’t want to see her cry; he didn’t want to be the reason for it, so he took her tear-stained face into his hands and made her look at him. Her green eyes had a more intense colour now, like the gr@ssafter a rain.
He k!ssed one of her tears and then caught another with his l!ps, repeating it again and again until she breathed out a whimper, and then he claimed her l!ps.
Pecking them gently at first and checking her reaction, but when he saw that she wasn’t crying anymore but was panting instead, he crushed himself to her like a hurricane, a f0rce of nature that only wanted to devour her.
“Mine,” he snarled into her mouth.
“Mate,” Savannah replied as she laced her fingers into his hair to bring him closer.
“Mate!” Kai confirmed.
A loud roar emerged from behind their backs…