Chapter 8
This is too much. All this time of disregarding me and finally he is the protector he always promised to be. I want to laugh as I watch him strangle the woman who got between us, who always seemed to be right in his path when he needed
comfort.
The woman who tried to replace me. Who put herself in his bed on the night that I
died.
Max was seconds away from becoming a murderer when Dexter and a small group of guards broke the two of them apart. Now Phoebe is gasping at his feet like a flopping fish, trying to recapture her breath, a necklace of bruises in the shape of Max’s hand slowly surfacing on her skin.
“The Alpha has gone mad,” she coughs as she scoots out of the room, Beta standing between them as he holds his Alpha back. “I was just trying to comfort
60% 11.29
1/6
Chapter 8
him.”
“Who let this omega whore into my rooms?!” he barks, straining against Dex‘ s hold. “I kicked her out
yesterday!”
“We thought she was your girl,” someone in the hall explained. “She’s the same girl who came to security last week letting us know about your change in plans, Alpha, so we just assumed…”
The guard trails off mid–thought as his alpha‘ s face purples with rage, his words severe as he curses the soldier for his poor judgment. “I would never send some
omega bitch with a message for security. She’s a liar.”
Phoebe had told the guards to change security. Why would she do that?
“She wanted you to know it was her.”
It was her.
Phoebe makes herself smaller as she scoots
60% 11:29
2/6
Chapter 8
him.”
“Who let this omega whore into my rooms?!” he barks, straining against Dex‘ s hold. “I kicked her out
yesterday!”
“We thought she was your girl,” someone in the hall explained. “She’s the same. girl who came to security last week letting us know about your change in plans, Alpha, so we just assumed…”
The guard trails off mid–thought as his alpha‘ s face purples with rage, his words severe as he curses the soldier for his poor judgment. “I would never send some omega bitch with a message for security. She’s a liar.”
Phoebe had told the guards to change security. Why would she do that?
“She wanted you to know it was her.”
It was her.
Phoebe makes herself smaller as she scoots
60% 11:29
2/6
Chapter 8
away. I move forward. I know I can’t do anything, but I can’t just let her get away. Blocking her path I focus all my energy on making myself visible.
“YOU!” I point as I stand between her
and the stairs.
She jumps, startled. She heard me!
She looks around, unable to see me as I glow in retribution, seeking my vengeance and yet my voice broke through. “Luna?” she spins her head around, shaking in fear.
“Are you there?”
“You had me killed!” I shout again and her eyes widen.
“HE’S MINE!” she roars at nothing as the guards grab her arms. “HE’S MINE! HE MARKED ME! I’m his luna now! Stay dead, damn it! Stay dead!”
Laughing I follow her as she is dragged into the packhouse dungeon.
By the end of the night she confesses
60% 11:29
3/6
Chapter 8
everything.
But I’m not quite ready to go. My bond to Maxwell is still keeping me here. There is something left unsaid, something still
unresolved.
I blink, and I reappear at his side. It felt like seconds, but again I lose another day to wherever I go when I’m not existing on this plane.
I hover over Max as he wakes up, gets dressed, and tries to go about his day. The Council of Elders calls him to a meeting demanding to know what happened with Phoebe. He confesses his involvement with her and his wrong doing in leading her on. After months of blaming me for his infidelity, he finally takes responsibility for his own actions.
Beta Dex joined a few moments later to confirm what I feared. She had been
working with the rogues. She wanted to be Luna, so she found a way to make it happen. The rogues wanted to hurt us, and
60% 11:29
4/6
Chapter 8
she wanted to hurt me.
I guess she got her wish.
When she was ordered to be executed, I got my wish as well.
“You need to take a new luna,” someone in the council urges.
Max’s slow, deep growl fills the chamber.
“No. Never again.
He storms from the room, voices calling after him that he choses to ignore. I travel with him as he gets into his car and drives
to the cemetery.
“Valerie,” he cries as he kneels before my gravestone. “I can’t do this without you.”
He rests his head on the cool marble engraved with lilies, my favorite flower.
HIs fingers trace the letters of my name as his face slowly slides down the surface of the stone. Resting at the base, he places his head on the freshly turned earth, lying
60% 11.20
5/6
Chapter 8
down.
I settle in next to him. He stretches out his arm and scoops me into him and I relax into his arms as his scent fills my nostrils.
“Valerie,” he sighs, breathing me in. “I miss you so much.”
“I miss you too, Maxwell,” I cry, “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he responds. “I should have loved you better.”
He falls asleep wishing for death.
But it isn’t his time. And I need to move on. The next life is calling.
Kissing him on his brow, I say farewell.
“I’ll see you in the next life,” I promise as my soul slowly fades, finally at peace.
