The Ruined Luna

Three

The mountains are beautiful. Towering overhead and more imposing than any skyscraper I'd ever seen. They made you feel truly small while promising that the world was so much wider than you really think. Painted with colors that went beyond just browns and greens or blues and purples. Seeing them now, they took my breath away.

You didn't see mountains back home. You sometimes could barely even see the sky thanks to the tall bushy pine trees and thick underbrush. It was humid, closed in, and choking. Here though, in the alpine, it was like that overgrown place didn't exist anymore.

I was happy that I could still be moved be something as simple as a pretty view. More than that, that my soul could be moved. That it was still there. I pressed my fingers to my chest over my heart just to feel the beat of it against my skin.

My wolf was even more entranced with the world around us than I was. Her ears in my mind were pricked up and active, swiveling this way or that as we observed the wilderness. She pressed against my thoughts, her own wants blending with them. Urging me to feel the grass beneath our paws, the cold win in our fur. To run. Images of us flying across the mountain range danced across my mind, so unbelievably tempting.

'Soon,' I told her, soothing her with my thoughts. 'So soon. We'll run and never stop.'

She quieted, satisfied for now with my promise, but was unable to completely quell the yearning. Thankfully, we were quickly distracted when Crowley shifted in his seat. Her growl reverberated around my head. She really, really didn't like him. The feeling is mutual.

The asshat in question had retreated to his side of the car after he'd sucker punched me, mastering himself back into that façade of calm authority. In reality, he just couldn't afford to damage me any further. It might lower the price, or at the least a bad look. All but some of the bruising would be gone by the time we'd arrive so it wasn't like they'd even know. Or care.

The town we passed through was called Luck. Luck, Washington. It was a cute, picturesque mountain town, with a population I guessed to be somewhere around two thousand or so. They had your typical main street, a small but pretty old courthouse, a small grocery store, and a few mom-and-pop shops along with some restaurants. I really wanted to walk down the street, admiring the old buildings and the people who strolled down its sidewalks.

Crowley, of course, didn't bother to stop except at the gas station to fill up the car's tank, giving me the stink eye the entire time. Like I'd make a run for it at any moment. I mean, I would, but he didn't know that. It wouldn't have mattered if I had anyway. I didn't know the pack boundaries or who would be chasing me. Going into the wrong place without prior arrangement or announcing yourself was enough to be killed on sight as far as I understood. All I could do for the time being was watch and wait.

We returned to the highway for about fifteen minutes before exiting onto a winding two lane road that led farther from civilization and higher into the mountains. Pretty, but remote as hell.

An hour went by before we pulled off onto a nearly hidden gravel road. It was a long driveway I realized after another ten minutes went by and a house came into view. It was an absolutely massive cabin style home that could have doubled as a private resort. Two men and a woman stood on the impressive front porch. 'Huh, smaller of a welcoming party than I thought there'd be.'

They were dressed casually, though I could recognize the high-end brands from here. My wolf wanted me to stick my head out of the window and test the air, to take in their scents. But a snarled warning from Crowley had me sitting tight in my seat as he exited the car and approached the trio alone. So I had to observe them from where I was.

The woman was stunning. Small, petite, but lithe and well-toned like she ran a lot. Her dark brown hair was lightly threaded with gray and pulled up and out of her face into a classic ponytail that trailed over her shoulder. The heather grey hoodie she wore came down to the middle of her jean clad thighs before tucking into a pair of brown hiking boots. My attention lingered on her face. More specifically, the nearly invisible laugh lines that bracketed the sides of her mouth. She was someone who smiled and did so often. Even the stiff one she offered as Crowley approached was lukewarm.

The man closest to her shifted ever so slightly as Crowley placed a foot on the bottom step, putting himself nearly imperceptibly in front of her. Mates, then. He carried himself in a similar way to my least favorite wolf, but with confidence instead of arrogance. A sense of strong conviction and duty clung to him like armor. He was relatively tall, probably around six feet or so and solidly built with sandy colored hair clipped short. He wore a long-sleeved navy pullover, blue jeans, and well-worn boots. A beta I guessed.

Finally, I turned my attention to the last man, the tallest. He was frowning down at Crowley when his eyes flicked upwards and met mine. My wolf perked up, curious as our gazes met. His eyes were a rich mahogany color flecked with green. Baltic features I thought, with a strong jaw covered by a full but neatly trimmed beard and straight nose. His hair was so dark it was almost black, shaved close to the scalp on both sides but left long on top so the hair could be pulled up into a bun at the back of his head. His mouth was lush and a soft pink in color.

Not a pretty handsome, but a harsh, rugged one that carried over into a thick, stocky body that dwarfed those around him. Powerful arms strained the fabric of his red plaid shirt while thick thighs were incased in dark washed jeans in a way that should have been indecent, if not downright illegal.

He was easily the most handsome man I'd ever seen, one that oozed power and control while that penetrating gaze promised dark, sinful nights.

Self-consciously, my hand touched the rough eye patch that covered my ruined right eye.

'So that's him, the man that bought me. Alpha of the Hard Luck Pack. Kyrian Vilkas.'