Chapter 54: Chapter 54: A Luna's Job
Ravyn POV
It felt as if Melisande had reached a hand into her chest and ripped out part of her heart.
The bond was gone! How could it be gone?
She'd only had it for a short time. And she wished desperately that she hadn't wasted all those days trying to find Jude the perfect mate. Why had she let the past shackle her, worse than the silver chains around her wrists? She'd been a prisoner of Daxius' curse, too. Ashamed, heartbroken, wondering what she'd done to deserve all of it. Yet through those cracks in her broken heart, love had somehow slipped in. The bond felt incredible.
Goddess, please, let it still be there. Maybe Jude was just trying to protect her. Maybe he'd masked the bond. Maybe Melisande did.
Her limbs felt weak and like lead at the same time. "Dane–"
"BE QUIET."
She shut her mouth. His pained growl and even more pained expression silenced her.
He jerked his head from side to side. "Lilia, NO. NO. Goddess! I'll do anything. You can have whatever you want. Please, just stop this."
What was happening to her beloved daughter? The most ghastly and horrific possibilities filled her mind.
Dane snapped at the air, growling. "D*mn you, Ravyn!"
"Don't you think I'm worried, too?" Her voice rose so sharply it could cut him.
He huffed. "Too little, too late!"
"Will you stop being such an Alpha?"
He ground his teeth so hard he must have a headache, which he probably didn't even feel given how much agony he already had. "You have NO idea what it means to be a shifter! You're not one of us!" His eyes, white-hot, looked wild with aggression.
He didn't mean it. She knew he was beside himself with fear and worry about his mate. That bond drove shifters mad at times, because of their protective instincts.
He didn't mean one word of it.
But it didn't matter, because rage churned inside her, too.
"And you have NO idea what it means to know your child is suffering," she shouted. "And to feel NOTHING from your mate!"
A sob escaped her, and snapped Dane out of his fury.
His eyes returned to the blue of a tranquil sky, with a shadow in them, like a raincloud. "Goddess, Ravyn, I'm sorry. I lost my head."
"Don't mention it," she muttered, licking her dry lips. "I'm sorry, too."
He lifted his head, noble and regal. "We're family, Ravyn. We pull together, no matter what. We have to, for Lilia's and Jude's and Daxius' sake."
"And we have to behave in a way that befits an Alpha and Luna."
He smiled slightly. "And what do we do, as leaders of our packs?"
"Why, escape, of course!"
A bold Alpha howl answered her. "And escape we will. Then, if you have the strength, we'll spirit Lilia and Jude away–we'll even save Daxius' hide."
"I can't believe Jude could be enslaved so easily," she burst out.
Dane sighed. "Melisande is far more deadly than I expected, and more dangerous. But knowing Jude as I do, it's inconceivable to me as well."
"He's smart, and loyal, and fierce," Ravyn argued.
"And stubborn."
She smiled, leaning back against the cool stone wall. "That, too. I wouldn't put it past him to play along with Melisande until he could figure out a way to free us."
The sun shone through Dane's sky-blue eyes. "He would do that! The sneaky devil. Your love for him helped you see past the pretense. Love will always win!"
To the outside world, to the shifters, Dane presented the image of the tough, no-nonsense, fierce Alpha. But to Lilia and his children, as well as his family, he showed his heart. He and Jude were exactly alike. They both had an enormous heart.
And an unstoppable will. He lifted his arm high above his head, and his chain slackened. Ravyn's eyes popped. "Dane … are my eyes playing tricks on me?"
"Depends. What do you see?"
"I see you are very close to breaking your chains!"
The metal did look stressed and on the verge of breaking in several places.
He grinned. "What a coincidence, right after Jude just happened to strike my arms … I think you're right. He's pretending to be under Melisande's spell!"
He pulled at the bonds, gasping and grunting with pain. Ravyn sent him all the strength she could, bathing him in slender rays of red light.
"Thank you, Ravyn," he said, panting.
"DON'T thank me. You all had doubts about Daxius. About this quest–"
"Yes! But YOU believed in him, and that counted for a lot," Dane said earnestly.
Ravyn bombarded him with all the strengthening energies she could summon up. "Despite ample evidence that it was a fool's errand?"
He yanked on the chains and Ravyn swore they groaned. "The Crestas have a fondness for so-called lost causes. Surely, you've noticed!"
She smiled, remembering many, many risky quests and adventures the family had undertaken–everything from seeking an endangered plant to curing Cyran. "I have, as a matter of fact."
"And surely you know that if it were as … ouch … foolhardy as you say, our more logical members of the family would put a stop to it."
Ravyn rolled her eyes. "When it comes to our family, we've stretched the definition of 'foolhardy' repeatedly."
Dane bared his teeth in a smile. "True. And in case you think Jude is any different, he was willing to mate again, just so his son could continue to grieve."
"It doesn't sound very logical," Ravyn mused.
Another grunt. "Welcome to family life. As I said, Jude fits right in with the rest of the family."
Ravyn sighed. "But I'm not just his mate, and I have more to worry about than our family–you've all taught me that the pack IS a family. What right do I have, as a Luna, to jeopardize the Silverpaws' safety on this dangerous quest?"
"If we've taught you as much as you say, then you'll know that part of being a Luna and a leader is being willing to take risks to protect the pack."
Ravyn smiled slightly. "Even crazy ones?"
Dane grinned in answer. "You've spent enough time around the Crimsontail Shadows, as ready as they are to be bold and unconventional, to know that we shifters often follow our instincts. We listen to the Goddess even when it might fly in the face of reason. We listen to our wolves–although our human brain challenges the beasts inside us."
She thought of Jude, with his wolf pushing for another true mate and loving Luna despite his human mind trying to prevent him, his family, and the pack from suffering another loss. When it came down to it, Jude made the courageous choice to embrace his true mate.
Any man that strong would NEVER surrender to Melisande.
"You're right, Dane. We have to be willing to fight," she said.
Grunts and growls answered her.
And they sounded like he was on fire. As he yanked at the chains, pain shot through his body. He gasped, sweating, his eyes rolling back in his head.
"Dane," Ravyn said in a worried voice. "Please stop."
"NO! I won't be chained up like a mindless beast, a thing, any longer! I'm the Alpha of the Evenhide Pack, and I will be free!"
More rattling. Dane pulled the chains so hard the silver kissed his flesh brutally.
"Dane, please, stop!"
He panted. "I can't. I can't, not when there's so much at stake. Lilia … Jude … you. And our packs' futures are in the balance!"
But the agony had to be unbearable, and Ravyn couldn't ignore what the silver was doing to his body any longer. "I'll get Jude."
"NO! Ravyn, DON'T. I can do this," Dane said, but his Alpha Voice cracked.
He wouldn't last much longer. He was too weak. He needed help!
It was humiliating to ask for help. To beg for help. Some Luna she turned out to be! But as the queen of the pack, she had to make hard choices, even impossible choices between two horrible options.
Letting Dane die wasn't an option.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AmandaMadden
AmandaMadden Ravyn and Dane are struggling with incredible pain because of their love for their mates,but they want to do the right thing. What do you think? Will love and duty prevail? Leave a comment!
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