Blood on the Moon

Rose

“Uhm, ex-fucking-cuse me!” I hear someone shout incredulously from behind me.

I whip my head over my shoulder and see Victor. And, shit, I don’t think I’ve ever been more grateful to see him.

“C’mere, Rose,” he says, grabbing my bicep and lifting me to my feet. “Thank you, Cadmus, for being so kind and comforting our Leader, but I will take it from here.” He says the words with a level of sass I can only aspire to have, rolling his eyes as he waves Cadmus off.

“That what you want, Rose?” Cadmus asks, arching his eyebrow as he rises to his feet, his shoulder broad.

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “This is for the best. I’ll see you around, Cadmus.”

“Alright,” he says, raising his hands in mock defense. “No harm, no foul. We’ll keep it as a friendship.”

Victor mutters something under his breath, but I ignore it and give Cadmus a nod.

It’s definitely better that way. I don’t need any further complications in my life.

Victor practically drags me back to my house, not saying a word, so I know he’s pissed, and I’m about to get an ass chewing. He’s the only person I’d ever allow to chew me out, though. I know I deserve it and need to hear it when it comes from him.

“Rose,” he starts when he closes the door behind us. “What in the actual fuck is going on with you?” He asks, crossing his arms over his chest. “I literally overheard this greasy ass fuckboy proposition you, a literal Queen who leaves no crumbs, and it looks like you were actually considering it. What kind of messy shit is going on with you that you would ever stoop to that level?”

“Well, jeez, Victor! I don’t need to be slut-shamed, he’s not that bad!”

“Woah, woah, woah,” he says, pointing his finger in the air. “I am not slut-shaming! I fully support you getting your pipes cleared out because, girl, you need it. I’m only saying that he is not even close to being your type, he’s a piece of shit, and you could do way better, which makes me think your confidence has taken a hit somehow. That’s why I’m concerned! You’ve also just been super shady the last few weeks! So, c’mon, tell me what’s happening.”

“Listen,” I tell him, wanting to put the whole thing to bed. “There is some shit I’m going through, but I don’t want to talk about it. I wasn’t really thinking when I was with Cadmus, so, genuinely, I’m grateful you stopped that from happening because I would have regretted it. But, honestly, I can’t talk about what’s going on right now. I’m not ready.”

“Rose,” he says, softening his posture and tone. “You’re scaring me now. We tell each other everything. You’re my best friend! You can tell me what’s going on. I’m not going to judge you or anything.”

“It’s not that,” I whisper, wiping a tear quickly before it slips out of my eye. “I just don’t want to talk about it right now since I haven’t processed what’s going on.”

“Can you at least tell me what it has to do with?” He bargains. “Are you in trouble? Like, is someone threatening you?”

“Nobody is threatening or hurting me physically,” I assure him. “It’s just a messy situation.”

Suddenly, my stomach twists, and I feel the urge to vomit. Like something horrible is about to happen. Or is currently happening.

What the hell?

“You okay?” Victor asks. “You’re clutching your stomach.”

“Yeah, I just feel guilty,” I rationalize. “I regret doing anything with Cadmus. It won’t happen again.”

“That’s what you told me before,” he quips, lightening the mood.

I smirk. “This time, I’m serious.”

He raises his hands in mock defense and sighs. “Alright! Alright! I’ll give you space on this mysterious thing that’s giving you stomach pains. Just promise me you’ll clue me in if things start getting really messy, okay?”

“I will. You don’t have to worry about me,” I promise, the nagging feeling in my stomach pulling my thoughts away.

It’s like a premonition of something awful. Something that makes my heart clench like there’s urgency with it.

Huh…

What could that possibly mean?

Asher

“Oh my Goddes, oh my Goddess,” I sputter over and over as I frantically throw my clothes in a duffel bag. I won’t have time to pack my belongings, but I don’t care. I don’t have many possessions, anyway, and they’re nothing that I’m attached to.

I just need enough to get by until I can get on my feet again. I’ll have to take my family with me and find a way to support them. We won’t have support from other packs if Genevieve has her way, so we’ll have to move out of the region. Maybe east?

Or would River Run take us in? It’s a possibility.

I guess I could ask Rose for help, too… But a vampire clan wouldn’t take too kindly to wolves living on their territory.

Yet another reason she and I can’t possibly be mates.

But that point is moot now. I need to disappear, far from Genevieve. If I go to River Run, that’ll surely mean war between the two packs, and I don’t want that. I don’t want to cause any unnecessary bloodshed. So I’ll have to find a way to disappear into the night, somewhere she’ll never find me. Somewhere I can start over and be a new person.

I’ll have to say goodbye to Rose before I leave, as hard as that’ll be. But it needs to be done.

“Asher, what’s going on?”

I jump, startled by the noise, worried it’s Genevieve, but it’s only Marg.

“Shit, you scared me!”

“Are you packing?” She asks, her brows furrowed with worry. “Wh-What happened?”

“I need to leave,” I explain quickly, throwing a random fistful of shirts in the bag before opening the sock drawer and rummaging through it. “I rejected Genevieve today, and she did not take it well.”

“What?” Margaery gasps. “What happened to our plan? You can’t leave me here!”

“I have no choice, Marg!” I exclaim, grabbing the random pair of red socks that look innocuous but are where I’ve squirreled away about three thousand dollars in cash. It’s not much, but it’s not nothing, either. I’m sure my parents have some cash lying around; they won’t be able to withdraw from the bank if Genevieve has anything to say about it. “She’s probably coming to kill me or throw me in prison as we speak. I need to get out of here within the next five minutes.”

“Asher, please! Think about this!” She cries, her hands shaking. “Y-You can’t leave the pack with her! Me with her!”

“Run away with me then,” I ask her, grabbing her shoulders tightly. “Come with me, and you can disappear too. Pack a bag and take whatever cash you have, and we’ll go east. Somewhere remote where she won’t track us down.”

“You know I can’t do that! I already explained this to you!” She cries. “This is my family’s pack! My parents’ legacy! I-I can’t let her tarnish it! I need you to help me!”

“Margaery, she is going to kill me if I stay! She already has tried to kill me, and she raped me and-”

“She what?” She asks, her voice soft as he rests her hand on my shoulder. “Asher, I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I brush off, shaking the memories out of my head. “Either way, I can’t stay here. I need to leave, Marg. I-I’m so sorry!”

Her lips tremble, her eyes watery. “I-I can’t do this without you, Ash! She’s going to drive our people out of existence!”

I hang my head, guilt knotting in my stomach. “I-I can’t care about that right now, as awful as that sounds. I-I-” I stutter. “Shit!”

“Please!” She begs, taking my hands in hers. “I-I can purposefully piss her off. It’ll take the heat off you and put it on me for a bit. I can take it. We can do this together! We can save our pack! Please, Asher!”

“Please, stop guilt-tripping me!” I beg, tearing my hands through my hair. “I-I care about this pack, you know that! B-But I need to put me and my family first. She’s probably coming to murder me right now! She stormed out, saying I would regret rejecting her! Who fucking knows what she’s planning!”

“Shit,” Margery hisses. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t mean to guilt-trip you. I just don’t want you to leave!”

“Please, come with me then!” I plea. “You still haven’t found your mate. Maybe if we find him, he can help you? Especially if he’s high-ranking, which is likely since you’re of a high status, too. We can find your mate, whoever he is, and then we can come back and save Black Opal with his help.”

“You can’t hitch my family’s future on me maybe finding a powerful mate who is willing to help us,” she scolds, tilting her head back as she pinches the bridge of her nose. “But I understand why you need to leave.”

“A-Are you sure?” I ask, my heart racing in my chest. “I hate that I have to leave you. I don’t want to. I have to.”

“I know,” she moans, the tears flowing freely now as she throws her arms around me. “I-I want you to be happy, Asher! I don’t want her to kill you!”

“Please stay safe, Margaery,” I beg. “If you need help, ask Rose Carver.”

I pull away, squeezing her elbows tightly.

“The vampire?” She asks.

I nod. “She’ll help you if you ask her. If Genevive becomes too erratic and starts hurting you once I’m gone, go to her, and she’ll help you.”

“A-Asher, I-”

“Alpha!” Someone screams through the halls, their footsteps heavy as they approach the room.

“Candice?” I ask, arching my brow as the maid bursts through the bedroom door. “What’s going on?”

“You need to go outside!” She urges. “NOW!”

My heart drops into my stomach, stopping dead in its tracks.

I look at Margaery, gulping down the lump in my throat.

I have a horrible feeling that I’m not escaping tonight. Whatever is outside is the nail in my coffin. I discard the duffel bag, feeling defeated as I accept my fate.

I’m trapped.