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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

ZURI

After sniffling into Stone’s chest for the last hour, I finally crawled off him and wiped my tearstained cheeks. I hiccuped and bit my lip to hold back another sob. I hated feeling so weak. I had just finished telling Stone how strong I was getting.

Then, I had gone and almost killed his beta.

“Wh-where is James?” I asked between sniffles.

“Out in the kitchen,” Stone said, reaching for my hand. “Why don’t you rest?”

“I need to see him,” I whispered.

Instead of placing my hand in his, I walked to the bedroom door as tears stung my eyes.

Part of me hoped that nobody else in the pack knew about what I had done because I didn’t want them to hate me.

I needed them to trust me, but I didn’t even know if I trusted myself around anyone other than Stone now.

I pulled open the door and stepped out into the hallway of the eerily quiet pack house, and then I glanced over my shoulder to look back at Stone. I reached out my hand again. “Please, come with me. I don’t trust myself to be alone with anyone else.”

Stone hopped up from the ground, where he had been holding me, and took my hand in his larger one, intertwining our fingers and squeezing. I gently tugged him down the hallway toward the kitchen with my stomach in tight knots.

“Do you think he’ll forgive me?” I asked, brow furrowed.

“Yes.”

“B-but I almost killed him.”

“He will understand that it was Derrit,” Stone said.

When we reached the kitchen, I peeked around the doorway and glanced into the room to see James standing by the sink with his hands on the counter, gazing out the window and into the forest. My stomach twisted into knots. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to see his face.

My mind was shot, and I could barely remember how much I had hurt him.

“J-James?” I whispered.

Stone gently squeezed my hand.

James twisted his head and gazed back at me with a small smile on his face. “Luna?—”

My lips parted, and I released Stone’s hand, walking toward James in astonishment. His face and all his wounds were completely healed, and he was … smiling at me.

Why was he smiling at me after I had almost killed him?

If I had done that in my old pack …

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, drawing my fingers across his cheek, where I was almost certain that I had cut him. “You’re healed already. I … I’m sorry. It should’ve never happened. I can’t believe I hurt you.”

“It’s okay, Luna,” he said. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

Tears trembled in my eyes. “It’s not okay.”

“Yes, it is,” Stone said. “He understands that it was Derrit.”

Lips curled into a frown, I glanced over my shoulder at my mate. While they were both saying that it didn’t matter, it did matter to me. I had hurt someone, like my sister and family and ex-pack had done to me many times.

I had done the one thing that I’d vowed never to do.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” James said, chuckling. “We’ve seen worse.”

“Come,” Stone said, capturing my hand and pulling me toward the door. “You need rest.”

After triple-checking to make sure James was okay, I followed Stone back into the bedroom and crawled into bed.

He tucked me in like I was a child and kissed me gently on the lips. “If you feel like that again, call for me. I will be in the other room. Understand?”

I nodded.

Once he left, I closed my eyes and tried to rest. But my mind buzzed.

“You let Derrit in,” the Moon Goddess whispered, her voice drifting like the wind.

“I hadn’t meant to,” I said, clutching the sheets to my chest. “I really hadn’t?—”

“Shh, shh, shh,” she cooed. “I know you hadn’t meant to, but you have to resist. You know what his power feels like now. And in order to protect your pack and your mate, you must refuse to let him in like that ever again. Fight his control.”

Guilt rushed through me. “I’ll try.”

“You must, dear Zuri. Now, close your eyes,” the Moon Goddess said, swiping her fingers from my forehead to my nose so I would flutter my lids closed. “I want to show you something. I need you to focus on Derrit.”

“I don’t want to let the thought of him slip back into my mind,” I whispered. “Please.”

“One time,” she murmured. “I promise, he can’t hurt you.”

After squeezing my eyes shut, I furrowed my brow and blew out a deep breath. My stomach twisted into knots as I lay back on the bed and tried to relax so I could think semi-clearly. I didn’t know what she was about to do, but I trusted her.

And if something happened, Stone was in the other room. He’d save me.

“If you don’t stop Derrit, this is what Durnbone will become,” she said.

Suddenly, fire burned around me, blazing as tall as the buildings in downtown Durnbone. Stone crumbled from the buildings and turned into dust. Pups were taken from their home, forced into slavery. Young girls, barely even teenagers, were raped by the men in Derrit’s pack.

Tears burned my eyes, and I shook my head. “No, this can’t be true.”

“But it will be, dear Zuri, if you don’t stop it.”

I opened my mouth to question, but I lowered my gaze and saw Stone’s head at my feet, his eyes open, his skin pale, and his blood draining from where his neck should’ve been, creating a pool of gooey liquid underneath my bare feet.

“No,” I cried, dropping to my knees and grasping his face. “M-m-my mate.”

“Don’t let Derrit win,” she whispered. “I can’t stop him myself.”

“Tell me how to stop him,” I said, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. I reopened my eyes and gazed up at the Moon Goddess, who stood next to me with her fingers intertwined. “Tell me what I need to do. How can I stop him?”

“You’re the only one who knows how to stop him,” the Moon Goddess said, placing her hand on my shoulder. “I cannot tell you what to do. I can only guide you in what I think is the best direction.”

“And what is that?”

When I closed my eyes again, the image of what Durnbone could be disappeared, and I saw Derrit and his warriors setting up camp about three miles south of Durnbone. Which meant that we didn’t have much time left. They had traveled so quickly.

Almost too quickly as a pack.

“T-they’re that close?” I asked, mouth drying.

“Yes, my dear.”

I balled my hands into fists by my sides and gritted my teeth, glaring at him in my vision through tears.

We had to stop him. Tonight.