Chapter Five

Iris’ POV

"Oh my God!" I jumped when she suddenly appeared in the distance, and a smile spread on her face. She stopped when she probably noticed the expression on my face.

“Did I scare you?”

“I thought something happened to you!” I sighed, grabbing my bag off the floor. “Don’t scare me like that.”

"You need to stop being paranoid," she murmured, walking towards the couch with an empty cup. She picked up the newspaper and folded it carefully on the table. "No one has found us for the last ten years. They might have even forgotten about our existence."

She dropped the cup she was holding and bent down to where the contents of the broken cup had spilled and began siphoning the liquid off the ground and into the cup.

Seeing her display her powers like that always made me feel grossly inadequate. I was meant to avenge my people, and yet I couldn't even manifest my true powers.

I had raw strength but until I could get my wolf to fully show her strength, I couldn't start the next step of the plan.

"I doubt that," I replied, dropping onto the couch next to her.

“How was training today?” Aunty Lisandra questioned in a chirpy tone. She only stepped out of the house to trade in the local market and get us the few things we needed. I was her only friend, and sometimes, I felt she was bored out of her mind.

But she didn’t show it. Instead, she tried to live vicariously through me, asking all about my day and wanting to know if I had a boyfriend.

The thing about people in my situation was that we couldn’t afford such frivolities that the human world had to offer.

“It was fine,” I said. She angled her head at me, a sad note on her face. She needed more. “I had a fight with Sharon.”

“Goddess, why? She is the only friend you have out there.”

I sighed.

“Sharon isn’t my friend, Aunt Lisandra. I have no friends out there. The only thing that I need to focus on is my training.”

"You should go easy on that, too. The Mayor is probably keeping a list of all the strongest volunteers. If you don't want to get noticed and have your name on that list, you'd better take it slow. You're meant to learn how to infiltrate werewolf packs, to get information and to keep track of our enemies. Not show them your strength."

I shook my head. “I understand you Aunt Lisa but sometimes it's hard to control myself, especially with the Blue Moon Pack getting so close.”

She froze, her fingers digging into the mug, and her eyes, filled with dread, flickered to me slowly. I tried not to mention that name in the house, knowing how much it still haunted Aunt Lisandra.

But not today.

“What are you talking about?”

“I saw him today,” I breathed, the image of him filling my mind. I forced myself to focus on the present, scooting to the edge of the couch. “The new Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack. His name is Alpha Lucian.”

She shook her head.

"That is impossible. They are not supposed to come to Wood Creek. I made sure they had no dealings with this dingy little town."

“Well, now they do. But that isn’t even the worst part. The moon goddess thinks I am going to stoop so low to get mated to the son of a murderer. And something tells me he's just like his father!” I hissed, filled white hot anger.

She slid the mug back onto the coffee table. “Iris…”

“He is my mate, Aunty Lisandra.”

She gasped, her eyes widening, and her hands pressed against her lips.

“But don't worry, it's of no use. He rejected me coldly, or at least tried to. I couldn't give him my real name. Besides, it's not like I would ever even agree to be mated to him. There was this smug look on his face, Aunty Lisandra, and even if it is the last thing I ever do, I need to wipe it off.”

“Iris,” Aunty Lisandra whispered. “You need to be careful now that he has seen your face. He is probably already trying to make the connection. Did anyone follow you back?”

"You don't have to worry about that," I murmured, wrapping my hands around her shoulders. "No one followed me home. I made sure of that. And Alpha Lucian didn't recognize me. I had my lenses on to suppress my scent, and he immediately thought I was human."

She heaved a sigh of relief, and I rose to my feet.

I sauntered down the dark hallway into my bedroom and began the very short process to get to bed. Having my bath and brushing my hair were done mechanically. My mind was obsessed with thinking about my soulmate who I was going to have to kill.

I changed into an old tee and slid under my sheets, pulling it up to my chest.

My eyes met the letters glimmering above my bed. The Blue Moon Pack. It had been that way for the last ten years. It was all I saw every time I woke up, and the last thing my eyes met before I went to bed.

But tonight it meant much more. They were closer now.

I felt the energy humming behind my bones, my wolf fighting to get out, resisting the decision.

As chatty as she could be sometimes, she was still an animal and she couldn't understand why we weren't in our mate's arms right then, being named his Luna.

I didn't have the mental energy to explain it to her either.

"Not tonight, Nyx," I whispered, turning off the dim lights and plunging myself into darkness.

I didn't know how long I was asleep for, but suddenly, jerked awake to a howling sound sounding so far away yet its dark presence persisted in the room.

It felt like it was trying to suffocate me and without thinking, I jumped out of the bed, one person in mind.

“Aunty Lisandra,” I gasped as I hurtled towards her room.

Even though there was no hand on my throat, it felt like I was being choked, there was literally no oxygen in the house.

So I forced my feet to move, running towards the only person that had taken me through life, protecting me.

I happened to look down and I nearly stumbled in fear and horror.

There was blood.

An unholy amount of it, leading to her room.

“Shit!” I gasped, rooted in place for a second.

I slowly began walking towards her room, wondering what had happened.

My feet hit more puddles. I was breathless by the time I got into her room.

“Aunty Lisandra!" I screamed at the sight of her, not caring if the being hurt me as well.

Something broke in me when I took in her limp, bloodied form lying on the ground, her eyes vacant and her mouth open.

And right on top of her body were the white hairs she'd torn off her assailant’s body.

Confirming my suspicions.

Alpha Lucian had just killed the last family member I had.