Chapter 272 – The Luna Trials Novel by Marissa Gilbert

Filed To Story: The Perfect Luna by Marissa Gilbert

They were perfect mates that never happened.

This was all they were now.

Aspen sensed her leaving. At first, he did not want to follow. She did the same when he challenged the first white bear. Although fights like this were frowned upon, it wasn’t necessarily illegal. Shifters fought each other all the time and died as a result. As long as it was a fair fight, it was fine. Fair being the key word.

Aspen always gave them a chance to stand up for themselves.

However, at the last minute, something inside him snapped as Brigit’s intoxicating scent enveloped him until he couldn’t breathe properly anymore, and Aspen decided to go after his ex.

It was annoying, and she had to stop this. This… whatever this was!

Brigit sensed him following her and sped up, only fuelling his desire to catch up with her more. At least in his wolf form, he could still do it.

However, his tormenter was cruel. They left the woods in a few minutes, and she rushed into the night city. It was surprisingly busy now, and Aspen had no choice but to shift into his human form and get the clothes he had hidden nearby for this exact kind of situation.

Although they were technically allies with the bears now, he still had to stay careful. Not all the bears were “reformed”. And only a few of his warriors were around at this time to back him up. So, he had to choose the safer way.

Brigit managed to disappear as if she wasn’t the one who stalked him in the first place.

The thought alone annoyed Aspen. He never looked at her at official events. And she never allowed him to see her outside of those. At least, not alone.

But she followed him both times he was hunting his enemies. Which led him to believe she knew everything about his little revenge quest. And also… she knew where the remaining three bears were. She had to.

She must have hidden them because he couldn’t find anything about their whereabouts. Not even from their “friends” he fought and k*il*led. The three bears disappeared one by one, and no one ever saw them again.

There couldn’t be any other explanation. Brigit had to be hiding them somewhere, protecting them from his wrath.

And today, he was going to confront her about it.

Enough was enough. She was going to give him… answers!

Aspen knew very well where the Bear Queen of Nova Oberon would go. There was only one place she could hide from him. It wasn’t her bedroom. It wasn’t her office. He could reach those because his room was in the same wing. Brigit wouldn’t go there now that she tried to avoid him.

The Throne Room.

This was where he couldn’t go because it was always heavily guarded. This was where she would be hiding from him now.

Little did she know that he had a surprise for her.

***

Brigit passed her guards with a stern, disinterested look as she strolled into her throne room. Sadly, this was the only safe place she could think of.

She breathed out as she closed the ma*s*sive doors behind her back and leaned against them, unbuttoning her fur coat, letting it fall to her feet. It was obstructing her from breathing. She was always a mess after she saw her ex-mate this close.

Today she was certain that Aspen noticed her. Her little good deed did not go unpunished, and she bit her lip until the familiar metallic taste of blood touched her tongue.

Why was it still so painful after all these months?

They mutually rejected each other. Shouldn’t the pain have subsided by now?

“It took you a while to get here!” The familiar voice made her flinch and snap her head in the direction where it came from. Her throne.

Brigit swallowed the lump in her throat, taking a few steps forward. Surely, it wasn’t possible.

Even if Aspen shifted, he couldn’t possibly have gotten here faster than her.

His eyes gleamed in the darkness with familiar warm light, and a part of her felt as if she was home for the first time.

However, Brigit had to wipe that feeling from her heart and soul. She wasn’t home. Not with him. Her home would never be with him. Not after what she had done to him.

“Surprised?” Aspen’s lips curled into a cruel smile as he angled his head at her, his face lazily leaning over his fist, elbow resting on the throne’s armrest. Right now, he was the one who looked like a royal. And she looked like the fraud she was.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” she mumbled, hating the weakness in her voice. She did not want him to see her like this.

“Waiting for my–” He started saying, and her heart skipped a beat. Was he going to acknowledge that they were mates once? “Queen,” Aspen finished coldly, breaking her hopes to myriads of tiny pieces.

Brigit regained herself and straightened her back. “Well, I am here now. What do you want?”

He stood up from the throne he was sitting on and slowly descended the stairs. His cane wasn’t with him, and it took him a while as he was still limping after the injuries obtained during his imprisonment.

Brigit did not dare rush him or be impatient. Instead, she watched him with the respect he deserved and didn’t let a single muscle on her face show how sorry she was.

At least he was here. At least he was alive. She couldn’t forget how it felt to lose him, Savannah’s words echoing in her memory. She would never forget.

At least her sister was now serving the Northern Lycan Queen. That life would be safer, better. She wished there was a different way to obtain it, but it was what it was.

Before Brigit could do or say anything, Aspen’s hand closed around her neck, and he pushed her against the door, making her gasp from the shock.

“Aspen!” she breathed out, realising it was just a scare tactic. He wasn’t hurting her even though she deserved it. She deserved whatever he was going to do with her, and she was surprised he didn’t do it earlier.

“Where are they?” he demanded, and she instantly knew who he was asking about.

The three missing bears. Brigit figured he was looking for them.

“I don’t know!” she lied, and he growled menacingly, tightening his grip. It felt so good, though. Finally, she had some kind of physical contact with him, something she had been craving for a while. Even if it was like this. So, she decided to add fuel to his fire. “I don’t know what you are talking about!”

“Liar!” he hissed, his canines dangerously close to her neck, hot breath prickling her skin in this cold, dark hall.

“What do you want from me, Aspen?” she dared him, meeting his glare. He was so handsome, her ex-mate. The one she lost…

“Where. Are. They?” He repeated with a growl, and everything inside her exploded with the desire to have him closer.

“Who?” she taunted further, their breaths tangling in a fight for dominance as his thumb brushed over her lower lips. Something he did not intend to do but ended up doing anyway.

She was breathtaking tonight in her thin silver gown.

“The three bears who–” Aspen’s voice broke to his own surprise. Just remembering how they beat him into a pulp in between the hourly knee-breakings made his blood boil. He hated showing weakness in front of her.

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