Chapter 210

I bristled at the question.

“Is that what she told you? Doesn’t that just prove that she was just trying to poison you against me? She was trying to keep us apart, but she’s gone now.”

I took his hands and tried to pull them around my waist but he pulled his hands away from me.

“... why did you say she attacked you?”

“Because she did,” I said pulling at his arm. “She attacked me again on the truck. She was going to push me off and—”

“Why didn’t you go back when I told you to?”

“I wanted to be at your side. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Shouldn’t you want your mate at your side?” I dug my fingers into his arm, refusing to let go of him even as he stood and tried to pull away. “Can’t you see that I’m just trying to prove that I’m your luna?”

“What happened to Vanessa?” He asked, his voice growing softer.

“Stop asking me questions and answer mine!”

“What happened to Apollo?”

I growled. “That doesn’t matter--”

“What happened to Dune?”

“I said stop asking—”

“What does she have to do with my sons?” I looked at Wren as he grew stiff and glared at me. His eyes were full of red light. My heart raced. “What the fuck did you do?”

“It’s not my fault!” I said. “It was Vanessa! She was driving the jeep in the wrong direction! She wouldn’t listen to me—”

“You’re fucking lying!” Wren snarled. “You got my boys killed.”

“It was Vanessa and Estella and— I bet Vanessa was in on it too!”

“You got my sister killed,” Wren said growling as he stalked toward me. “Congratulations, you fucking psycho. You have single-handedly managed to kill more of Blue Moon than any vampire attack ever has.”

He glared at me. “I wonder who the real traitor is.”

“Don’t call me a traitor! All I’ve ever done is support Candido, and Vanessa—”

“Don’t you ever say my sister’s name again!” Wren snarled, lunging at me. I jumped away and behind Candido.

Wren growled.

“Enough,” Candido said softly. “Uncle Wren… I understand. I release you from you—”

“You can’t,” Wren snarled. “You fucking brat. If you think I’m letting you walk into the rest of this war alone, I’ll haul you to Lunae myself and leave this world to rot.”

“Now who’s the traitor,” I growled. “And he’s not alone! He has me!”

Wren scoffed. “Worse than alone.”

Candido pulled sharply away from me, yanking his hand arm from my grip and walked a few steps towards the camp.

“Moon Shadow has fallen… Blue Moon has fallen.” He shook his head and looked back at the rest of the group.

“We still have no idea how many packs are still in one piece since we can’t reliably reach out to them or even know if they’re alive.” He looked at Wren. “We need… rest, food and to come up with a better plan. I… Uncle Wren, I need you on my side, okay?”

Wren didn’t look away from me for a long time, but slowly, he nodded. The glow in his eyes didn’t fade.

“I… am always on your side, Candido.” His eyes narrowed. “Unlike some people.”

“Like Estella,” I said and looked at Candido. “And what do you mean? Moon Shadow—”

“Mace, Mercury, Hummingbird, Falcon, and Matlock are dead,” Candido said. “With that… there are only seven members of Moon Shadow still alive and only four members of Blue Moon, including Van.”

I swallowed and looked back at the rest of the people. I saw five people glaring at me. One of them was the man who had stopped me from pushing Estella off the back of the truck. I could see the hatred in their eyes. Then, I looked back at Candido. Wren’s eyes were filled with fury and my stomach started to churn as I realized that there was no chance any of them would ever respect me as luna. They would never see how much I loved Candido. They would do everything they could to keep us apart.

I looked at Candido then at Wren. I would have to get rid of them all to keep them from poisoning Candido against me.

“Are you going to answer any of my questions?” Candido asked.

“Before Estella came into the picture, you would have believed me.”

Candido blinked and turned away from me. I hissed. “Don’t walk away from me!”

Wren stepped in front of me with a growl that sent a tremor of fear through me. He looked so angry staring down at me. I flinched back.

“You will never be luna,” he said. His voice rumbled with something else that wasn’t entirely normal.

It felt like the moonlight and shadows vibrated with his voice, like it was a command from the Moon Goddess. The words shook me. Then, I was angry and glaring at him. Who did he think he was? I knew the truth. The Moon Goddess was giving me Candido. She had to. I just had to get everyone else out of the way so we could be together.

“There’s no one else,” I said. “And there won’t be anyone else.”

The glow vanished. The anger vanished leaving shock and horror on his face as he stared at me. His eyes were wide. He didn’t look scared, just horrified. I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. He turned and walked away without another word. I clenched my fists and went after Candido.

He was cutting through the trees almost too fast for me to catch up to him, but he stopped by a river and crouched down to splash wanted on his face.

“Candido, you wouldn’t believe what he said to me. I–”

“Van is in a coma, probably to never wake up,” Candido said. “The men and women over there are all we have left in terms of forces and Damian’s sire is still at least a few thousand strong.”

He stood, pushing his hair out of his face and turning to me. His eyes were so tired. He looked so old and worn down.

“This isn’t a game, Hedy,” he said softly. “You are not Pandora—”

“I am Pandora. Everything I’ve done—”

“And as soon as I have a chance, I will do whatever it takes to confine you out of the way. Go back to camp.”

He turned away and kept walking.

“Why are you so sad? I’m supposed to be your everything. No one else should matter!”

Candido stopped mid-step as tears spilled down my cheeks.

“Why am I not good enough to be your everything? Why are you being so selfish that you won’t see how much I love you and everything that I’ve done for you? Why can’t you see that they’re all just trying to tear us apart.”

Candido said nothing for several more moments. I felt the wind starting to pick up.

“We’re mates!”

“Right now, honestly, Hedy,” he almost whispered. “I can’t even stand to look at you right now. And that word might have meant something to me once, but not now.”

I choked. It felt like someone had shoved a knife in my chest. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” he said. “I mean it with everything in me. And I think it’s better for us to separate before I do something I regret.”

“You can’t talk to me like that! I’m your mate! You’ll die without me!”

The wind picked up and slowly, he started to lift into the air. I rushed forward trying to grab a hold of him, to make him stay, then he took off into the sky.

“Candido, wait!” I screamed. “Come back!”

But he flew away, vanishing into the night. I sobbed and screamed for him to come back until it felt like my voice wouldn’t work. Then, I sank to the ground staring up into the sky.

You will never be luna.

Wren’s words echoed through my mind. Then, I could see that vision I’d had of Estella and Candido at the top of the mountain. My jaw trembled and I lowered my gaze as I sobbed.

Estella was dead and he still wasn’t free of her spell or whatever she’d done to him. How long would it take for him to be free?

I clenched my hands in the dirt, gritting my teeth.

The thought made it easier to breathe.

Estella was dead. There was no one who could take Candido from me. No one else would be trying to trick him into thinking we weren’t mates.

I’m the only one that will be at Candido’s side.

Whatever that took. I turned to look back toward the camp where faint lights were starting to glow. He said there were only seven members of Blue Moon left, not including Van and Cadidio, that made five.

Just five…

I had been so close to killing Estella. I would have done it if that man hadn’t stopped me, which meant that I could do it again.

I could do it at least five more times.