The Orphaned Luna

Chapter 13

Sierra woke up feeling smothered. "Hmm, not yet, sweetheart." Grumbled the sleepy wolf. He tightened the hold on her waist. Snuggling into his embrace, she let herself enjoy the happiness.

He rubbed her arm in circles. "Sweetheart, what happened to you?" He asked some time later.

"You know what happened." She said uncomfortably.

"You can trust me."

"I know." Sadness infused her voice.

"Then tell me what happened to Star."

She swallowed, knowing it was inevitable, he would ask. She was surprised he waited this long. Was she ready to say it out loud? Laying in bed naked with him, skin to skin in many places was perhaps the best place to share her worst secret.

"When I left the house that night, my mom packed a bag. Inside was money, clothes, and other stuff. I thought it would be easy. Get the pups to White Claw and then go back. Turns out that finding somewhere without an address is hard. I probably visited White Claw before, but I didn't know where it was, other than north of us. I didn't realize until then that I've lived a sheltered life. I rarely went anywhere outside our territory."

Taking a shaky breath, she forged on. "We found a city a couple of days after we left. It was nice to have a real bed and food. Money runs out quickly, paying for hotels and meals. We weren't in a pack territory, and I searched for clues to where the pack was. Things were extremely difficult, and the pups cried all day. I tried to comfort them, but it wasn't enough."

"I'm sure you did the best you could." His heart ached for her. "You weren't prepared for something like this. To be expected to take care of five young pups is a huge burden for anyone."

"We had to get a cheaper room, I was getting low on money and still had no idea where to go. It was in a bad part of town, but I'm a werewolf. I wasn't scared of the humans in the area. I should've paid more attention! Beth should've had her grandparents' number saved on her phone. All my family members were in Blood Moon. If I could've called someone that we trusted, we might have reached White Claw safely."

We've been wondering why they didn't call for help.

"I wasn't involved with any pack business. I don't know other Alphas or anyone from other packs. My brother was to be the next Gamma. My only responsibilities outside of school were helping my mom. She'd visit the families every week, especially the ones who had pups or were old. My mom was the best. Everyone knew her, and she knew every wolf by scent. I miss her so much."

"Of course you do." Zane rubbed her back as she cried into his neck.

Her pain is deeper than we thought. Now that we've partially mated, the bond is stronger. I wish we could take the burden off her.

Even though she doesn't know we're mates, the bond will help her.

"No wolf should go through what you did. We're meant to be with others. The fact that all of you survived is a miracle."

I thank the Goddess every day that she did.

"We didn't." She whispered so softly that he almost missed it.

"What do you mean, sweetheart?"

"We didn't all make it." Sniffing, she grabbed his hand. "Craig had an older brother, Noah. He was eleven and saw himself as the male in charge. We were running out of money and still had no idea where White Claw was. Noah stole a bunch of stuff. I told him not to, but he didn't listen. One of the guys he robbed came after him."

Fuck. This is bad.

She cried too hard to continue. Sobs shook her violently, and all he could do was hold her.