Chương 27: Luna

Chapter 27

"Ugh…" Lucas grunted, as he woke up from a sleepless night. All that had bugged him throughout the night had been thoughts of his ordeal with Selene in the secret passage.

A part of him was filled with regret for letting his opportunity to get a taste of a woman. But then, another part of him felt guilty that he had betrayed his forbidden desire for his alpha.

He got up and out of the bed. The early hours of the morning had come rather too swiftly, as the restless hours of the night had breezed past him in a fleeting moment. No matter how hard he had tried to get some sleep, it felt like sleep was intentionally evading him.

But then, he felt awfully tired. That was what had him bothered. It would be almost impossible to run his daily duties as the beta with a sleep-deprived body.

"Whatever…" he said to himself, as he walked towards the door to his room. He walked out, and shut the door quietly, in a bid not to disturb the peace of the fortress, just like Alpha Charles had said it.

As it was clear that a fearsome whipping was the fate of everyone that dared to disturb the peace, it had kept everyone on their toes. Even waking became quite a challenge for most of the feared being whipped by the alpha himself.

Lucas took a deep breath as he made for the balcony which was at the far end of the corridor outside his room. He realized that it had been a while since he had experienced that sort of solitude. Not like he wasn't always in solitude, but then being all alone at such a quiet time of the day hit differently.

Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks, as he heard what had sounded like footsteps coming from behind him. He looked back in the dark corridor, but he didn't see signs of anyone.

For a moment, he wanted to give into the fear that tried to rise within him, but he quickly waved off all the crazy, unrealistic assumptions that his troubled mind was making.

He quickly reminded himself that he was beta, and was the second in command after his alpha. There was no way he could afford to be afraid. Not ever.

After sighing out loud, he continued walking, but stopped again, as the footsteps resumed following him. They seemed to stop whenever he stopped walking. As he had expected, he saw nothing or no one when he turned behind to look.

Yet again, he picked up the pace, even faster that time, but the footsteps coming from behind kept at it. That time, he was regretting deciding to step out of his room. Perhaps the things that had been making Alpha Charles act weird had finally begun following him.

The dilemma he found himself in was a quite frustrating— a scaring, frustrating one, where he could either go to the balcony to face whatever being that was haunting him, or try to run back to his room and get through the being. No matter the option he took, he would still have to face it.

After a few moments of being frozen in fear, at a single spot, he decided to take off towards the balcony. He ran so quickly and fearfully that he hadn't listened for the footsteps to know if they were still following.

Soon enough, he came to a stop as he was finally on the balcony. He listened for the footsteps, but he couldn't hear them anymore. Perhaps the being was scared of being out in the open, he thought.

"What now?" Lucas wondered, as he was facing in the direction of the corridor. He was curious to find out about who or what had been following him up until then. He took a few steps towards the dark corridor, which had him a bit scared.

Before he knew it, the pace of footsteps rapidly increased, and were headed straight for his direction. He tried to step back and scream when he looked like a female spirit in a white night gown. But then, he quickly held his peace, as he noticed that it had actually been a female in a white night gown.

"Queen Charlotte?" he asked with an annoyance which he didn't voice out. He couldn't talk to the Luna in any way he pleased. She was still one of the Lunas, even though she was acting a bit improper.

Due to his anger and annoyance, he was about to ask her plainly what exactly she was doing there, but he got hold of himself right on time. He hated the fact that she had gotten him that scared and worked up for nothing.

"Lucas…" she said, as her smile came on her face, and was visible under the dark sky of the early morning. "What are you doing out here at this hour? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Well, I just couldn't sleep, although I am exhausted from the day," Lucas replied, seething in silent anger, as she had asked the question of which he had always been longing to ask. Could it be that Queen Charlotte had actually been following him?

"Oh… I'm deeply sorry about," Queen Charlotte said, with a tone that depicted compassion. "I was feeling the same way, and I thought to come out here and stroll a bit. I apologize for having startled you a bit."

"No… it's fine," Lucas said, still keeping his anger hidden from her. "I just was wanted to have some time alone on the outside."

"Oh… I thought the same thing," Charlotte said, as she stepped a bit close to where he stood. "Maybe, now, we both could share this space, don't you think?"

"Well… I cannot refuse to your request, even if I wanted to. You're still the queen," Lucas said, as he backed away a bit from the queen who was drawing dangerously close, and he had no idea why she was acting that way. If only she knew that he wasn't attracted to her kind, except for Selene.

It was bound to be yet another awkward encounter, which Lucas wanted out of as soon as possible. But then, she was queen, and he couldn't dare to refuse to her command. He prayed that the sun would rise to the sky quickly.

***

"No… please don't…" Maya screamed, as she tried to fight her way off the grip of the guards that held her, but it was just too strong for her in her current weakened state. "Please don't do anything to my baby…"

She watched her baby get snatched from her right after she had birthed it. Outside, beyond the window, she could see the dark moon hanging in the sky, as she watched the man wearing a cloak with her baby in his hands.

The cry of the baby made her cry profusely as well. Terror gripped her heart, and almost had her suffocated. All her screaming pleas did little to make the man show any pity towards her or the child in his arms.

"No…!" she screamed aloud, as he took out a long silver dagger, which was sure to end the life of the infant instantly. "Please… no!"

"No!" Maya screamed, as she woke up, with sweat all over her body. Her heart was going through a frantic sprint within her chest, as she had been in what was the most realistic nightmare she had ever experienced in her life.

"Good morning, my queen," Sheila's greeting nearly made her jump out of her skin. "Are you alright, my queen?"

"Yeah…" Maya muttered, although she clearly wasn't alright. "I'm fine…" she said it as though she was trying to reassure herself that she was okay. But she wasn't. The dream had left her completely disoriented.

"Could I get you anything at all?" Sheila asked, knowing that the queen was far from alright. "Water, your breakfast, or anything at all?"

"I'm fine, Sheila," Maya reaffirmed, but then, she had her mind on the dream which ailed her greatly. Had it just been a dream or a message? She desperately hoped that it was the former, but then that dream had seemed too real to be ignored. There had to be a reason for it, she reasoned, but couldn't come up with an explanation why it had to be so.

"Alright," Sheila replied, without insisting on what was wrong with the Queen. She was determined to find out what was wrong with the woman who had saved her from the grievous whipping at the alpha's hands.

***

"Clear…" Lucas said, as he looked around, making sure that Charlotte was nowhere around. His ordeal with her that morning, had him avoiding her wherever he went.

That time, he had stepped out of the main building of the fortress, and was making for the back of the structure when he stopped dead in his tracks as he heard footsteps behind him.

"Stop right there," a man's voice called out to him from behind.

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