Chapter 223 – The Luna Trials Novel by Marissa Gilbert

Filed To Story: The Perfect Luna by Marissa Gilbert

“We have at least a day more,” Riannon said quietly.

“And trust me, Savvy knows how to play sick,” Kyle smirked. “Gid, remember that week you invited the sons of Alphas to our mansion to “get to know” Savvy better and then she accidentally poured wolfsbane all over herself in a cl@ssand got stomach flu because of that?”

Kai snarled angrily as the Western King ran his hand over his face.

“Let me guess,” Gideon exhaled heavily. “Never happened?”

“Nope,” Kyle shook his head, “but when all these women suddenly decided that you were looking for a Luna a week later that-“

“I-wasn’t a coincidence,” Gideon finished the sentence, grunting. He’d always suspected that.

“Look” the redheaded nephew of his Beta sighed and glanced at Evelyn for support, “I’m not saying that we shouldn’t save her. I would d*ie for Savvy, you know that. Not only is she my best friend, but she’s also like a sister to me. We grew up together, and I care for her as much as you do. But Riannon is right, and we should believe in her. Also, we can’t be reckless about this. We need a good plan to make sure that when we go there, we really get her back and don’t mess anything up.”

“Besides,” Evelyn said, stepping forward, “Princess Savannah is not the only one we need to rescue. I know you probably don’t care much about Petra, but I do and so does Savannah herself! And also, there is your Gamma. I’m sure you want to get Aspen out almost as much as you want to rescue Savannah. In all honesty, the princess is the one who is safe there. It’s going to be much more dangerous for the other two.”

Kai wasn’t torn about this, he felt guilty. Evelyn was right, he really wanted to try and save them all, but  Savvy was the one at the top of his mind. Once he got her out, he would come back for Petra and Aspen. And also to K*ll Bjorn. But that would be after his beloved was safe. Or during her rescue, in the best-case scenario.

“We will, of course, try to save them all together,” Lachlan a*s*sured them with his soft political tone. Kai knew that he was about to find an excuse to reject the suggestion, but this was when Evelyn stepped forward.

“And I believe there’s a way to do all of this,” the woman proclaimed confidently. “I have just spoken with Petra’s father over the phone, and he told me that Bjorn offered him a chance to buy Petra. They told him to send a delegation to his castle to negotiate this. The bears are putting her-” Evelyn’s voice broke, but she took a deep breath and went on, “they’re putting Petra up for an auction. Whoever pays the highest price gets to keep her.

They all got quiet, each thinking of how best to resolve the situation.

“Don’t you see?” Riannon furrowed her brows and hugged herself. “This is a perfect opportunity to get our people inside the castle and get Savannah and the others out safely. We just can’t p@ssthis opportunity up.

Kai still did not like this. It meant waiting longer, and all he wanted to do was get there sooner, grab his woman, rescue her, and bring her back home.

A loud shriek pierced their ears, and they all looked up as Zara was flying down from the sky. She shifted while she was still in the air and landed in front of them with grace. She was the one Kai waited for the most because she could bring him news that nobody else could.

“Did you see her?” Gideon asked without hesitation.

“She was in her room the whole time I was there, sleeping alone,” the werebird informed them. “I couldn’t get too close, though, without being suspicious. Hawks do not rest on windowsills, you know. Not to mention that they know me. I also saw Bjorn, and it looks like he’s busy. I don’t think he’s going to get to spend time with Savannah anytime soon. She is safe for now.”

That gave Kai the strength and patience to wait a bit longer and plan everything properly.

Luckily, it was a good decision.

They waited for a signal from Ash but received nothing. He was supposed to come back first and bring them information on who was where and what the weak spots in defence were. Everybody knew that Aspen would be the easiest to access but the hardest to get out due to his multiple injuries. Zara informed them that the Gamma’s condition was the worst out of the three. She also confirmed that she hadn’t seen Astrid and her friend Emma anywhere, which left their fates unknown.

However, Brigit seemed to feel at home, which convinced them that she was the one helping Bjorn all this time to everyone’s disappointment. Only Riannon did not comment on how the she-bear was going to be punished for her betrayal when the war was over.

Kai was waiting by his ice sculpture because it was the only place where he could handle the latest news.

There were rumours that Bjorn was going to mark Savannah today. Just the thought of it made his stomach churn and his blood boil, and that was saying a lot considering that ice spikes grew out of him now. He tried to calm himself by looking at the sculpture, because every time he closed his eyes he saw his mortal enemy, Bjorn, digging his claws into his mate’s neck, marking her for life…

Savannah did not deserve this. She had already been through so much. She had been through more than him or anyone else he knew. A lot of people had a sad story in one way or another, but Savvy could never catch a break and had to face one struggle after another. Not to mention that he knew her. He knew that if she wasn’t broken now, this would break her for sure. Waiting now felt wrong more than ever before. He had to be there, he had to get her out, to save her.

Zara was out on her mission of spying on the castle again. She was so good that the bears did not notice her in the skies. Although it was possible that they simply didn’t look. She was supposed to return and alert them if there was any danger to Savannah. However, Kai heard the explosion before the werebird managed to come back.

He was the first to realise that it wasn’t the one that Ash was supposed to set up. The location of the explosion was higher and much further South than the gates.

This time, he decided that he’d had enough of waiting for one day. Something did not go according to the plan, and he was not going to listen to any more excuses.

Amarok raced through the dark woods faster than any of his companions, and he was the first to reach the group of wolves desperately trying to escape from the white bears. Surprisingly, there were just a few in pursuit, and Kai pounced on them without mercy. He didn’t even need his freezing powers to eliminate the enemy.

However, as he was r!pping through the throat of the last one, he could already tell that Savvy’s wolf was not in the group.

He was enraged, but calmed down slightly when his eyes landed on Aspen. His Gamma looked horrible, chanting something with his broken l!ps caked with dried-out blood. It looked like the bears were hurting him and then letting him heal, only to break everything all over again. A t*ortur*e so cruel that it was rare for anyone to use it these days.

“Brigit, Brigit. Bri..git” he was repeating the name and Kai growled. That Brigit girl was blessed to find her mate who was ready to love her unconditionally and give her everything that a maid could want, and this was what she did to him.

Ash shifted into his human form and bowed his head respectfully to the king of the North.

Seeing where Kai’s attention was, the Alpha said, “

He will be okay – what doesn’t K*ll us makes us stronger.”

But when Kai’s eyes glowed menacingly in the darkness and the air around them became uncomfortably cold even for a werewolf, Ash quickly changed the subject to what was really important now.

“Princess Savannah is in her royal Lycan form now,” he informed Amarok quickly, knowing that Kai was still inside. “She told us to run while she was covering for us and leading them away. We would have never made it without her help.”

Kai wasn’t listening anymore, he only turned on his paws and sprinted to where the group came from, trying to pick up her scent.

Brigit was watching from the window in her room as Savannah and the werewolves freed Aspen and placed him on one of the wolves’ backs. It was probably just an illusion that her mate… her ex-mate.. locked his eyes with hers for a moment. After all, his eyes were so swollen he probably couldn’t see a thing anyway. But she let herself believe that it was the truth and that he knew that she was the one that set off the explosion in the tower and helped the fire in the castle spread in order to help him escape. She knew that he would never forgive her betrayal and that they would probably never see each other again, but a smile formed on her l!ps as she placed her forehead on the cold glassof the window and watched them escape.

“Thank you, Aspen,” she whispered, even though there was no chance he would hear her. She was thanking him for the new feeling in her ch3st that tugged and pulled and warmed her up when everything else in her world was so cold. She remembered how she once thought that she was in love with Castiel. That memory now made her laugh. There couldn’t be any comparison.

She was fighting the mate bond so hard because she knew he would hate her one day. She fought for Castiel’s love for years and spent hundreds of nights with him. Yet the one time she had been with Aspen would be what she would cherish in her heart forever now. The night of Savvy and Kai’s marking ceremony when all she originally planned to do was to k!ss him and drug him. Instead, she let him take her in a small dark room he used in the castle when he was overseeing its security.

Castiel loved to experiment and knew thousands of ways to please a woman, to drive them crazy and make them want him even more. But it was always about him with that sly fox.

With Aspen, she found out what real love was. Even if it was just a glimpse of it. That big guy who could crush walls with his bare hands was touching her as if she was made out of the finest porcelain, worshipping every inch of her body, making it about her for once.

What they had… what they could have had… was pure and beautiful. And Brigit wished there was the tiniest of chances that one day he could forgive her and they could be together. A tear rolled down her eyes as she watched them disappear in the thick darkness of the woods.

“Just stay alive,” she whispered, thinking now that dreaming of getting back with him was too bold. Instead, she should take what life was willing to give her and be grateful for that. She wouldn’t be able to live if he’d d*ied because of her. She wouldn’t be able to breathe… but now, at least, she could do that.

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