The Crystal Moon Curse: Book 3: CHOSEN

29. War

KNOX

“Brother she’s asleep, Daryl and Alec are waiting for us.” Xander slips out of our bed and I look down at the female tucked into my side.

She sleeps so peacefully, her hair, almost white in the moonlight, splayed across the dark sheets, her lips, pink and parted huff gentle breaths as she breathes, long pale lashes cast shadows over her exhaustion bruised eyes.

Her serenity when she sleeps belies the torment I saw in her eyes only hours ago when she told us what Gage did to her.

Every time I look at her something shatters inside me. I don’t want to think about what Gage did, it draws a rage in me that sends me to a place I’m scared if I go to I may not come back from.

The fact that his claim still seeps from her skin, the claim of a true mate that supersedes Xander’s and mine kills me. He does not love her the way we do. He does not deserve her.

I’ve never hated the mate bond gifted by the Goddess until this moment. She should have been ours from the beginning. Did the Goddess not see it? Why have we had to fight and hurt and suffer to find love? Why did Freya have to suffer?

We would never hurt her, we would give her the fucking moon if we could. Instead, her soul was given to a wolf so undeserving, so treacherous he would take her choice away for his own pleasure and gain.

Fuck Gage.

He didn’t heed our warning. When we called him we told him straight. Freya was our Chosen. Chosen before the amendments. The trial would be only that. A trial for three months and she would come back to us. We had already made our claim on her soul and her body. We warned him if he touched her in any way we would come for him.

Over the phone he was calm, he expressed his understanding. He even fucking sympathized with us. Told us he was also caught in the amendments. He was only protecting his pack’s assets by proceeding with the trial. We fucking believed him. We thought she was safe.

Guilt racks me. I know Xander feels the same.

Did calling Gage set him off? He’s an Alpha like us. We made a claim on his fated mate - even though he rejected her once already.

Without a doubt, Xander and I blame ourselves for what happened. While she has been sleeping we’ve burned our link with ‘what ifs’.

What if we hadn’t made the call? Would he have pursued her? Xander is of the opinion that he would have anyway. He would have scented our claim on her skin the minute he saw her. I’m not so sure. I don’t think I’ll ever be sure. All I know is for the rest of my life I will carry that uncertainty, that guilt, just as I know Freya will carry the trauma of what he did to her.

The only thing I can do is love her. I will love her until I stop breathing.

And Gage will pay with his life.

Freya is ours. Our mate in every way that matters. If it kills us we will have vengeance for her.

I slip out of the bed tucking my pillow between her arms, loving how she snuggles her face into the softness, drawing my scent and sighing softly in her sleep.

Kissing her forehead I follow Xander out and down to my office.

Daryl and Alec stand against a wall arms crossed, their confusion evident. Apart from Freya’s mysterious arrival earlier in the day, no one knows what happened.

“Daryl, Alec, how battle-ready are our warriors?” I ask bluntly as I sit behind my desk. Xander takes the couch as Daryl and Alec look at me surprised.

“They are at their peak Alpha. We’ve kept them training hard since the Crystal Moon attack as you ordered.” Daryl says with pride. He is Gamma born but I chose him as my Beta, he fills both roles well and I’ve never regretted my decision to promote him.

I know he has kept our warriors working hard. The attack six months ago on the Prime 10 pack which killed their former Alpha sent every other pack into defensive training. Although the dissidents from eight minor packs led by one Prime 10 pack were captured and dealt with, the threat was enough for any sensible Alpha to boost their defenses. We were no exception.

“What’s happened?” Alec asks looking at Xander who explains.

“As you know Freya had to go trial the mate bond with Alpha Gage. She did not want to go but the new amendments took her choice away. She had already at that point accepted Knox and me as her Chosen mate.” Xander pauses swallowing his anger.

“Gage raped her to break our claim and set her into heat. She ran away from River Run immediately after and came here.” Xander finishes, his fists clenched between his knees.

Daryl and Alec, both mated wolves, straighten off the wall growling low, their anger and shock mirroring how we felt when Freya first told us.

“Is he mad? Does he want to start a war?” Alec growls his claws extending.

Daryl steps forward his huge form heaving, a heritage of his Gamma ancestors.

“Freya is our Luna. You chose her, she accepted you, and that makes her so. Wars have been started for less. Say the word. We are ready.” Daryl growls.

I cannot help but feel pride in my wolves. Without hesitation, they will defend the honor of the she-wolf we love. Their Luna.

Nodding at Daryl I stand and walk to the window looking out.

“Time is of the essence on this. Freya will go into heat at the next full moon. That will not happen am I clear?” I turn to Daryl.

“Alpha Gage will be dead before then.” Daryl nods, understanding implicitly the situation.

“I want all the information we have on River Run and get what we don’t have. Find out if we have any she-wolves that may have mated into the pack, I don’t care how, get the information we need. We only have ten days.”

Alec steps forward.

“If I may Alpha, while we understand the circumstances of the situation, what do we tell the warriors? They know next to nothing and we are about to take them to war. The pack will need to be told why. You need to bring Freya forward as your Luna formally.”

I look at Xander and he nods.

“We will speak to Freya but call a pack meeting tomorrow night. Compulsory attendance. The pack will go into full lockdown after the announcement. Gage has not said anything about Freya’s disappearance from his pack so I’m assuming he’s keeping it undercover until she surfaces. As soon as he knows she is here he will use their mate bond to demand her return. That is not happening.”

Xander stands.

“Do we call on the other Prime 10 for assistance?” Xander asks.

I shake my head.

“They won’t come. No Alpha will interfere in the matter of a mate bond and they will not support us when Gage has the rightful claim.”

Xander growls.

“I think you are wrong there Knox. If they know what Gage did to her they will support us, they are all mated to her sisters after all.” He insists.

Again I shake my head.

“Not if we plan to kill Gage. He is a Prime 10 Councilor, they will demand a trial as they did with Alpha Hans. It would have to go to the Alpha King, which could take weeks. We don’t have weeks Xander. I will not sit by and watch the female I love go into heat for the wolf that raped her.”

Xander nods.

“War it is.” he agrees.

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