His Lover, My Mate

Twenty-Eight: The Death Luna

Thank you @lunalove21 for this cover! I love Lydia!

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*Aletha*

She'd been in his room for hours. Rush hadn't come in, so she didn't know what was going on. Sirka told her to get dressed, because she would be visiting the two most powerful figures in the Darklands. The Alpha and Luna of the Death Pack.

When it was past nightfall, she suddenly heard the door creaking open. The air shifted darkly, and for a moment, Aletha was startled at the power coming from the presence by the door. It wasn't Rush, but whoever it was, they carried a lot of influence.

In stepped a tall female wearing a black warrior dress. The sight of her was jarring yet magnificent. Her silver hair was let loose, spilling past her shoulders to her hips. There was a smile on her angular face as her dark gaze took her in. "You must be Aletha," came her naturally low and husky tone. "My, you're so beautiful. So breathtaking. I've never seen hair like that before, and those eyes...you're so perfect."

Aletha didn't know what to say. She was at a loss of words. And right then, Sirka rose from the seat and bowed. "Luna Iyla," she greeted.

Luna Iyla? Which meant she was the Death Luna. The most powerful female in the realm, and perhaps the most powerful of all in the realm.

Aletha's bones shook as she lowered her head, her heart pounding hard. "Luna Iyla," she whispered. This woman's crackling presence demanded all to bow down to her. Her essence compelled it. She didn't once need to say to show her respect. Respect was always given to her without question.

A pleasant laugh came from her throat. "No need to be so formal with me, sweetheart. I'm not here to terrify you or torment you." Then her eyes flashed wickedly. "Although I am known as the Queen of Torment in many places."

Sirka cleared her throat. "Luna, if you desire it, I can take my leave. You can talk to her alone."

"You're Sirka, aren't you?" the Death Luna said. "I've once visited the Night Pack four years ago with Maddox. You were a female warrior back then, not Rush's Gamma."

Four years ago? But if Aletha remembered correctly, Alpha Maddox of the Death Pack had just taken in his first Luna at the time. Luna Isabelle. The Luna whom he brutally murdered in front of his entire pack before throwing her into the river.

Something sad flashed in Sirka's eyes. "Yes, I'm Sirka. You looked so different back then."

Luna Iyla nodded, flashing an easy smile. "I was Isabelle back then. That was my mortal body before I was born again into this form."

"Wait, you were reborn?" Aletha asked, shocked. She'd never heard of such a thing. No books, no passages, no scrolls, nothing described reincarnation.

She nodded. "I married into the Death Pack four years ago as Isabelle. However, a year after I was mated, I was killed."

How could she say that so casually? Aletha looked at her closely, but there was nothing haunting about her expression. Nothing miserable or tormented or even terrified. She seemed almost pleased about it. Like it was just a small ordeal and it didn't matter. "You were killed by the Death Alpha," Aletha said slowly, trying to gauge in her strange reaction. "By your own mate."

"There's a long story to that," she said. "But after I was killed, I took the form of an immortal deity and here I am."

Aletha stared at her for a long moment, thinking whether or not if she lost her mind. The Darklanders were not like the Ironlanders. They were plagued by insanity and darkness. Many of them carried no remorse or humanity. "Why did you return to Alpha Maddox when he killed you?"