Heartbreak On A Full Moon

"What!. How did this happen?"

"Trust me Rosetta, I didn't mean to do this."

Rosetta had just arrived at her boyfriend's place and she nearly puked at the gory sight she met.

"You had angry fits again?"

"Yes" Jackson responded with his voice breaking down in tears.

He was shaking and she could see fear written all over his face

"What would we do now?" Rosetta asked, not knowing where to tackle the problem from.

"I don't know," he replied, stuttering. "I'll probably end up in jail."

"No baby, you won't," Rosetta said, trying hard to comfort him.

"Even in jail, I'm still going to love you" he responded, holding tightly to her hand.

"That's not going to happen," Rosetta said reassuringly.

She looked at Lilian's body which was lying lifelessly on the ground. She tried checking for any vital signs, if there was any hope of her being alive.

"She's dead, there's no hope," Jackson said aloud.

Everyone knew Lilian, she was the daughter of the alpha of the Feral mountains pack. Her father was held in high esteem and the both of them knew that if anyone gets wind of the news, Jackson will end up in prison.

"We could hide her body and no one would know that you killed her. After all, it was a mistake."

"That won't work, everyone knows what went on between the both of us. They'll find out eventually." Jackson responded, his voice laced with worry.

Lilian was Jackson's ex girlfriend. Her mother hated Jackson so much and would stop at nothing if she found out that he killed her daughter.

Jackson was the prospective alpha of his pack. His father had died during a war and he was raised by his father's brother. If they also get to hear the news of how he killed Lilian, they would deem him unfit to being the alpha.

Lilian lay on the cold bare floor in a pool of blood. There was no trace of life in her.

"You accidentally killed her during a fight right? Just tell everyone that it was an accident" Rosetta said, trying hard to find a solution to the mess that her boyfriend was in.

"You don't understand, she is the daughter of the alpha of one of the strongest pack. I can't escape this"

He paced around the room restlessly, blaming himself, blaming his wolf, blaming his anger.

"If only I wasn't so hot-tempered, I wouldn't be in this mess," he lamented.

Lilian was a total bitch on her own. Few hours before she was found dead, she had come to Jackson's place. She didn't come there for peace but rather to blackmail him. She still loved Jackson and was trying every means to get back to him.

"I'll show this to your girlfriend, Rosetta, if you don't comply" she said with a cocky smile spread across her face.

"You won't do that" he barked back at her.

She had dropped pictures of him naked with a call girl. He remembered that night, he was drunk.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"I want you to break up with her and date me."

"Impossible. I won't do that"

"Then, I'll show her these pictures," she said, holding the pictures in her hand.

He immediately grabbed the pictures from her and tore it into pieces.

His actions only made her laugh, she removed her phone and showed him the sex tape between him and the girl.

"You see, I had everything planned out already," she smirked.

He grabbed her. It was not in his plan that she should slip from his hand. She fell from the stairs, hitting her head on the hard floor and gave up the ghost.

He sighed in desperation and paced around the room restlessly, not knowing what to do. He hadn't told Rosetta the entire truth about how she was blackmailing him with a sex tape. He didn't want her to get mad at him. He had only told her that she insulted him and he hit her with anger.

"What do we do now?" He asked his wolf, Anchor.

He gave no response. Jackson could feel him getting agitated as well.

"Rosetta, you have to leave" he said to her and held her hand ushering her outside.

"No, I'll stay here with you. We have to find a solution together." She responded, refusing to leave his side.

"I don't want you to get implicated in this." He said, pleading for her safety.

She defiantly walked to his side, refusing to leave.

"I'll stay by your side baby, I'm not leaving.

Lilian's body had already gotten cold and was a bit darker than earlier. It has been almost five hours since her death. The two love birds stood holding themselves.

"Should we hide her body and act like we know nothing about it?" Rosetta asked.

"No, I'll just confess to my crime. My jail sentence won't be long. I'll be back to see you."

Rosetta was already crying. She grew up as an orphan and Jackson was the only person that meant dearly to her. She couldn't bear for him to leave her life like her parents did.

She knew what she could do. It was daring and risky. She didn't tell him her plan as she knew that he would object to it.

"Can you come with me, there's something I want to show you." She said, pulling him along with her.

"What's that?" He asked, wondering if it was a solution to the problem at hand.

"You'll see," she responded.

She led him to the basement and once he was in the basement she shut the door, locking him inside.

"Rosetta, what's the meaning of this? This is no time for hide and seek." He shouted, confused at her actions.

"I know what I'm doing" she responded, her voice laced with tears.

"What?"

She didn't respond, instead she walked back to the room where Lilian's dead body lay. What she wanted to do would be considered by many as a really crazy action, but she wasn't going to go back.

He kept banging on the door confused at why Rosetta locked him. Then, realization hit him and he was able to put the pieces together.

"Was she going to..."

"No she can't do that"

"No..." he shouted trying to break through the door, but it was like fetching water in a basket. Even in his wolf form the door didn't move an inch.

Rosetta took a knife and made some marks on Lilian's dead body. She had to make it look real.

She waited for the worst to come and within a few minutes, her brothers had come to look for Lilian. Lilian came with her family and they were leaving to their pack soon. They had planned to leave since morning, but everyone had waited for her. When she was nowhere to be found, a source told them that they saw her going to Jackson's place.

"What!" Paul the eldest of her brothers exclaimed, seeing her dead body on the ground.

"Where's Jackson?" They directed their question to Rosetta.

"He's not around, I killed her myself." She lied.

"It was a mistake." She added.

Lilian's brothers wasted no time in handing her out. Within a few minutes she was handcuffed.

She took the blame for him

ABOUT A YEAR AND FEW MONTHS LATER

Rosetta Sanders" the Warden called while proceeding to unlock the doors and usher her out.

Rosetta's ears were alert on hearing her name.

"Finally, he has responded and come to see me after all these years," she said inwardly, smiling to herself.

"And why are you smiling?" The Warden asked in a harsh guttural voice.

"Move out quickly before I change my mind and lock you back in the cell" she warned.

Rosetta moved out of the cell with the Warden walking behind her clogging her breathing space.

"He's here" she smiled to herself, picking up a familiar scent.

"What was that?" the pale strict-faced warden asked.

Rosetta covered her mouth, scolding herself that she had uttered it loudly.

"Nothing" she muttered, still smiling as she walked to the attendance room.

Her smile disappeared as soon as she walked to the desk. The person she saw was not whom she had expected.

"It's not Jackson or Anchor" she said to her wolf Rue, who was already forlorn and disappointed from the shattered hopes.

It was her best friend Ashley or more like just her friend. She did not have many friends and Ashley was the only one she ever spoke to, it was only right to call her a best friend.

She walked dejectedly towards Ashley, sadness was evident on her face and they hugged tightly.

The Warden pulled them apart, clearing her throat.

"You know the rules" she hissed at Rosetta, delivering a cold stare at them.

"No hugging here" she warned.

"Be quick and get going" she added before walking over to the counter and flipping through a bunch of papers.

Rosetta sat on the opposite chair facing Ashley, and fresh tears began pouring down her face.

"There's no need to cry, I'm here to help you" Ashley said, cleaning her tears with a handkerchief.

"How?" Rosetta asked with tears streaming down her face.

"It's high time you do the right thing."

"What?" Rosetta questioned.

"You're telling everyone the truth and getting out of this prison"

"I can't do that," Rosetta lamented. "It's going to get Jackson in grave danger."

Ashley rolled her eyes and hissed, irritated at Rosetta's devotion to covering up for Jackson despite all these years of trying to change her mind.

"It's been a year and ten months already, haven't you suffered enough for his sake. Tell everyone the truth already for goodness sake."

"I can't, it's just two months left and I would be out of here"

"Are you hearing yourself Rosetta, you're being delusional and I'm tired of trying to convince you to do the right thing"

"I can't Ash, I just can't, I love him"

"Love what?" Ashley asks, irritated. "You love that scoundrel who is enjoying his life and you're here suffering for his crimes. Stop it and get over it, that fool doesn't love you. If he did, he won't allow you to be in this place, he won't..."

"Just shut up, Ash" Rosetta backfired at her. "Jackson is not a fool nor a scoundrel, he loves me!" she said, almost shouting. It was quite evident that her wolf was the one getting upset at Ash referring to their lover as a fool.

Ashley shook her head, pitying her friend who had been stuck in the same delusional state for months now.

"If he loves you like you claim, then why hasn't he come to see you for the past six months?"

"He had been coming" Rosetta responded unwilling to give up.

"Had?" Ashley asked. "What happened recently, when was the last time he came to see you?"

"Last month", she lied.

"Really? You think I don't know that he hasn't come to see you for almost a year now."

"Just forget about me Ash, he loves me and I'll stand by him, besides my jail sentence is left with two months and I'll soon be out of here"

"Why are you being so difficult even after all these years?" Ashley sighed.

"I love Jackson and that's final. Have you forgotten all that he has done for me?"

"Done what? Letting you go to jail? Are you forgetting that he isn't even your mate? You guys are just in some brainless boyfriend and girlfriend situation and you're doing all these stupid things for him. Don't you know that a mate comes from the moon goddess and not some stupid rela..."

"He is my mate" she bellowed cutting Ashley short. "He's my mate and if this is what you came to tell me, I suggest that you leave."

"You're unbelievable. If you're not going to do it yourself, then I'll do it."

"What? You won't do such a thing!"

"I would. Since you don't want to comply, I'll tell the truth myself. I'm already tired of your stubbornness"

"Don't, please" she pleaded with Ash.

"I would."

"Ash, please I'm begging you, don't do it."

Ashley shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head, she looked at her friend who was pleading with her with teary eyes.

"Why shouldn't I do this? You're hurting yourself."

"Please don't" was all Rosetta managed to say.

Ashley sighed and did not utter a word.

"I have just two months left to complete the jail term, then I'll be out of here. Please don't, just help me."

"I'm trying to help you Rosetta, that's why I want you to tell everyone the truth and stop suffering" Ashley responded.

"I'll be fine," Rosetta said, holding her friend's hand tightly and pleading with her.

Ashley could not help but notice how her friend's hand had become bony and coarse. Her eyes were covered with dark circles below which spoke of the suffering she was going through. Her hair was also in a mess and she looked a bit malnourished. A prison was one of the worst places to be and Ashley felt sorry for her friend.

"Okay, I'll let you out on this one"

"Thank you for understanding," Rosetta said, hugging her friend tightly.

"What did I say earlier?" the warden questioned, showing disapproval at the two hugging.

"Sorry ma'am" they apologized.

"Sorry for yourselves" the warden replied sarcastically.

Rosetta rolled her eyes at the warden. The white looking woman who always had her hair in a bun and had cheekbones too deep for her face had made her life a living hell since she got here. "What did I expect, this was prison after all" she said to herself.

"Take care of yourself, I'll be leaving now" Ashley said.

The duo felt tempted to hug again but restrained themselves as the Warden's hollow eyes issued a stern warning to them.

She watched Ashley walk out through the door and continued staring into space in that direction, even after she left. The Warden did not wait a minute before bundling her back to the cell.

She sat on the floor of her prison cell. She tried hard to brush off the negative thoughts that she was having.

"Jackson has left you for someone else"

"You were stupid to take the blame for him"

"He has possibly being mated to another person"

All these thoughts kept spiraling in her head.

"No, he can't leave us"

"Maybe he has been sick for a while and unable to come" she said comforting herself.

"You took the blame for Jackson, didn't you?" Her fellow inmate said to her.

Rosetta's mouth was open in shock. No one else apart from Ashley and Jackson himself knew that secret.

"Could she be reading my thoughts?" she asked herself.

"How did you know?" Rosetta asked.

"Do you know who you are?"

The woman's questions only made her more uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll find out soon, nothing is hidden under the crown." She replied leaving Rosetta more confused than before.

"He still hasn't come to see me" Rosetta muttered to herself as she walked out of the prison gates.

Finally, her two year jail term was over. She had been lucky enough to be granted a two year jail term despite being charged with murder. Jackson was the only thing on her mind, she was going to go to his place later in the evening. She had been dying to see him.

"Don't touch her" a woman screamed, holding back her toddler who was walking towards Rosetta.

It wasn't surprising, she had already received similar reactions from people.

They tagged her a murderer. Right now, that was the least of her worries, she was delighted about seeing Jackson.

"Mrs Rosetta Jackson Brown" she smiled as the thought of becoming Jackson's wife and the pack's future Luna crept to her mind.

She arrived at her apartment and was met with an upset looking face staring at her.

"Where have you been?" Ashley scolded her.

"What?" Rosetta asked with a mouthful of the food Ashley had prepared.

"I went to pick you but it was said that you had already left. You should have waited for me" Ashley scolded.

"Sorry, I didn't want to bother you. You said today was your engagement. I didn't want to ruin it"

"My engagement is next week," Ashley replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh"

"I saw Jackson today," Ash said, breaking the brief moment of silence between them.

Rosetta sat upright on hearing the news,

"You did?"

"Yeah, he was getting flowers at a shop"

"Flowers?" Rosetta repeated. "He must have been getting them for me, he's finally going to propose" she said smiling widely.

"I dunno, but there was something off about him. Immediately I called him, he just behaved like he didn't see me and walked the other way"

"I'm out of jail, Jackson is throwing a surprise party for me" she said gleefully.

"Surprise party?" Ashley repeated.

"For him to act like he didn't see you, he definitely wanted to make it a surprise. He probably doesn't want you telling me about the news"

"Hmm, that makes a bit of sense" Ashley added, trying to flow with her friend so she doesn't spoil her happy mood. But she knew that there was something off about Jackson.

Rosetta was already dancing around the room like a happy chicken.

"Which of these dresses should I wear?"

"Wouldn't you wait?" Ashley replied, rolling her eyes at her. "He hasn't called you yet"

"But he would, now stop being such a bummer and help me select a dress"

They finally decided on the pink dress. If not for Ashley's convincing, she would have gone to see him that very moment.

"Calm down, you just got out of jail this afternoon, you need some rest before going anywhere."

Rosetta, who obviously wasn't listening, was busy trying on the dress.

"You're going to do my makeup, wouldn't you?" She asked Ashley excitedly.

"I would, but not now. You need rest. You can go later in the evening, I'll take you there myself."

"Thank you so much, Ashley."

"For what?"

"For everything. You've been there for me even in the toughest times. You visited me, even cooked for me. What would I..." Rosetta said emotionally, almost breaking down in tears.

"It's okay. Afterall, what are friends for" she responded while holding her hands.

"It's been a long while since I ran free," Rosetta said aloud.

"We can do that now, if you want to," Ashley responded and shifted into her wolf. Her wolf was a brown black shade with black ears and silky skin.

Rosetta shifted into her own wolf too. A brown colored wolf, but with a lighter skin than Ashley's.

Rue was filled with excitement, as she enjoyed the freedom of being in control. They both ran through the pack, enjoying the cool evening breeze and the gust of wind that skidded over their bodies.

Stopping for a while, they lay on their furry bellies and Rosetta shifted back into her normal form. Grabbing a cloth, she covered her naked body.

They both walked back into the apartment

"I can't wait to become Luna" Rosetta exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm happy for you"

The cool evening breeze was intoxicating. Rosetta opened the windows to inhale nature's fresh scent better. Looking at her crumpled bed sheets, she tucked them hurriedly and laid down, stretching her long legs across the corners. Within a few minutes, she drifted into sleep.

"Mate"

"Mate"

She kept muttering in her sleep. Turning around and sprawling her sleeping self over the covers, she muttered it once more.

"Mate"

She was turning from side to side like one who was uncomfortable. Suddenly her eyes shot open and she screamed it loudly.

"Mate!"

She felt the spark in her, she knew what it was.

"We have to meet him" Rue shrieked, making her stand up from the bed. Her mate instincts were ignited and she paced through the dark room looking for her shoes.

"8:30" she muttered as she read the clock on the wall.

"I have to get to him, he is mine"

"Walk faster" her wolf hurried her.

She abandoned her dress which she had planned to wear. She grabbed nothing but a face cap which she wore over her head and dashed out of the house.

Ashley was nowhere in sight and she had no time to wait.

"Mate" she grunted again as the pull got stronger.

She was out in the middle of the night and she knew where to go. The pack house.

"Jackson, we must meet him"

The pack house was quite a distance from her abode, but with Rue pushing her forward, nudging her that they must meet their mate. She walked fiercely through the roads, threatening to push anyone who blocked her way.

Finally, she was here. She pushed open the doors, almost breaking it. Panting heavily, her eyes searched frantically for Jackson.

"Wait!"

"What was going on here?" She asked herself as she became aware of her surroundings.

The pack house was bustling with life and the walls were decorated with peach ribbons and fancy trimmings. There was a cake at the center but it had already been cut. It looked like the party had already begun.

"Was there a party going on here?" She asked Rue who was still hell bent on meeting Jackson.

It was then that she remembered that Jackson wanted to throw a party for her. She looked at herself, she had been rushing and she didn't even dress properly.

But something was off about the surprise party. No one seemed surprised on seeing her and it looked like the party had already started.

"If the party wasn't meant for me, then who?"

Her question was answered as her eyes caught a glimpse of the backdrop design. It read Jackson and Ella. It was embodied in a heart shaped design.

"No, it couldn't be my Jackson" she consoled herself.

The only string she held onto was broken as she saw Jackson walking down. He was wearing a suit and locking arms with a girl.

"Ashley!" Rosetta screamed and covered her mouth. She felt like she could faint right now.