The Alpha's Luna

If she knew before that this day was going to be her last, she would have appreciated her last moments with her mate a little more.

She could not remember the last words she said to him but she remembered what she felt just right. Embraced in his arms, huddling against the warmth of the burning wood-she remembered she was happy. Happier than she had ever been.

She didn't remember telling him how she felt, maybe she did not because she was too involved in enjoying the moment. She remembered the way his eyes glistened against the fire, holding hers-his scent, calming in a way and at the same time, disallowing her to be away. Also, smiling as his lips met hers. She remembered wanting to tell him she was in love with him.

But she did not remember telling him that and it hurt.

More than the combined pain of a concussion, a bleeding arm and a silver bullet in her shoulder. Any of her attempts to contact her mate failed. When she was first brought here, she was able to feel his anger. She could read this thoughts and hoped he would be here anytime soon but now as time slipped from her hand like fine sand, there was nothing left in her. Her powers had diminished. Her body had given up on her.

The wolfsbane had starting acting up.

Footsteps echoed in the dark room, squeaking against the wet floor. There was a silent pause and then she felt a sting in the bleeding arm and seconds later, the burning pain from the cut started numbing. She did not feel her arm anymore but the rest of her body continued to shiver. She tried to lift her dampened cheek so she could have a look at him. That hurt too but she bore the pain somehow and found him.

His figure was blurred because of the tears in her eyes but she blinked them away and saw him, towering over her helpless state, looking down at her with a cruel smirk on his face. There was an empty syringe in his hand. A drop leaked from the end of the needle and met the ground silently.

He sighed, smiling widely to himself. Finally, his thick voice hit her ears, "Ready to die, darling?"

"Psst. Nessa? You shouldn't be staring at him, " Riley told her bench mate in a rushed whisper, trying but failing to be discreet. Her thick brows were raised and knitted together, even though her eyes looked straight ahead at Mrs Robinson-their biology teacher-who was blabbering about frogs. Ew.

Despite her continued whispered warnings, Nessa didn't take her eyes away from him. She wanted to, but she just could not.

Nessa didn't see it, but she knew Riley's bulbous eyes were widening as her voice grew restless. She sounded surprised.

Even though she sat beside Nessa in every class they shared and hung out with Niall and her, Riley was not a friend. Not really. She couldn't be labelled as an enemy either. She was more like a frenemy to Nessa-a human cousin she had to tolerate since they were born in the same year on the same island-Bellpond, isolated from the main-land by a long, wide bridge. And Nessa was almost certain that this feeling was mutual.

"Why are you staring at him?" She asked again and Nessa wished to seal her lips to refrain her from talking. What was that question even supposed to mean? Why wouldn't she stare at him? Riley said it like it was an odd thing to do-looking at Jordan-when literally every other girl in the class and some boys did the same.

Nessa passed her a wide-eyed, warning glare and that shut her up.

Mrs Robinson moved onto lizards. Double ew.

Jordan Hale, the target of her eyes and the centre of attraction during that class, was completely unaware of her presence. Or of the fact that she had been looking at him for the whole while.

She never did this, ever, but that day was different. Like the previous day was.

Jordan was quiet, unlike his usual self and his amber eyes were lowered to the desk where his elbows rested. That bothers Nessa a lot. She was used to admiring him inconspicuously-his cheery voice booming through the classroom. And for the past two days, he had barely said more than a syllable in replies, and that too, in answer only to unavoidable questions.

The reason?

Well, his father died in a tragic fire accident three days ago. Nessa had not known Mr Hale up close, but every time she had the chance to see, she had seen him as the cool dad, a great alpha to his pack and a loving husband.

Jordan's behaviour was completely justifiable. He was now the alpha-not something anyone would want to be. Not on their island.

But Nessa could not see him that way.

Needless to mention, Nessa had a huge crush on him throughout middle school. He was the smart guy-good at everything. You name it. And despite his pack's reputation, he was nervous around people.

For someone who could not stop talking, Nessa could not say a word clearly when he was around and that's when she realised what had happened.

She began embracing her one-sided feelings for him, sure that one day, she'd gather up the courage and ask him out. But then as she got older and wiser-as per her mom-she learnt the harsh truth of reality from her grandma. He was the forbidden fruit. A member of the not-rival, Blood Moon pack. Someone Nessa's grandma did not want to see her talking to.

No one openly expressed their enmity to each other because it was all cleverly hidden behind their facade of pretence. The two packs acted friendly to each other but deep inside, each pack member's heart burned with the fire that was lit decades ago.

Bellpond had been prone to fights between its resident packs. One such fight, about six decades ago, had turned into a full-blown war. According to the elders of Silver Crescents-Nessa's pack-the fire had been ignited by a werewolf belonging to the Blood Moons. But she was certain the reports would vary when the other party was questioned.

During that tragic period, a major part of the werewolf community had perished-one of them being Nessa's grandad. Her Dad was barely a few months old. Also, it was the phase when the human inhabitants of the island found out about their secret. But they were kind and made peace with the packs-promising to preserve their secret and took it to their graves. Since then, in Bellpond, werewolves had found human mates. And even though both packs were still pretending to not hate each other, deep inside the hatred still resided. A fuel waiting for that one strike-a flame that would spread like wildfire and burn all of Bellpond.

But that was that.

Nessa's twelve-year-old self had gone through a break up that evening her grandma told her, even though she had never been into a relationship with Jordan. She remembered crying through the night. And even though now she no longer crushed on him, he was more attractive than ever.

Not as attractive as Niall though, she told herself.

Nessa was still looking at him with concern, biting her lower lip, deep in thought, when suddenly, to her complete surprise, Jordan lifted his head and his gaze met hers. She turned her head quickly, but realised with a weight growing on her chest, that she was too late.

He'd caught her.

Nessa cursed under her breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm her erratically beating heart, threatening to burst out of her ribcage. She huffed, fixating her eyes on the lean figure of her teacher who was pacing back and forth along the length of the classroom. The words coming out of her mouth never registered in Nessa's mind, despite all her efforts to comprehend her teacher's simple speech.

She could feel Jordan's eyes burning into her back. If only she knew what was going on inside his mind.

Did he think of her as a creep? Oh, no.

When Nessa began thinking it was impossible to not think of what had just happened, her mind eased, finally absorbing Mrs Robinson's words and began numbing. She let out a yawn and leaned forward, resting her lower arms on the cool surface of the desk. She was ready-any second to sleep right there-but then the bell rang and Mrs Robinson sealed her lips finally, leaving the class after one disapproving glance at Nessa.

Riley snickered, gathering her bushy hair into a large ponytail. "How long are you going to exploit her tolerance limit?" She asked with a tight lipped smile.

Nessa narrowed her eyes. "I don't like Biology." She could not think of any other response. Half of her mind was still resting.

"I don't either. But I don't openly yawn and stretch my arms so the whole class notices."

"Oh, shut up, Riley."

The smile faded away but she continued, "Study session at my house. Niall's in. You?"

"Pass. But you and Niall can do it without me. I have to take some tourists around. I promised my mum I'd help her."

"Are you planning on getting good grades or not?" Riley questioned, her brows furrowed as if she was genuinely concerned about Nessa. "You barely passed last sem."

"Don't worry, sweetheart, " Nessa replied, swinging her arm onto her shoulders, "This sem will be the one where I shine the brightest."

"By surfboarding the days away until finals arrive and you're helpless and panicked and touch my feet praying to somehow learn it all in a day?" Riley raised her brow, watching her with ridicule.

Nessa decided she could not keep up the pretence any more. "Okay, Riley. For real, shut up now."

Not only did she stop talking but also left the classroom immediately, pushing through a crowd of people. Nessa rolled her eyes and began making her own way out.

She halted, however, when she heard someone call her name from behind. She turned leisurely and found Jordan walking towards her.

"Vanessa? Hey?"

She froze: her feet glued to the ground and her arms stopped mid-air as she recollected what had happened a while ago. Nessa wanted to turn back and run-as fast as her feet could take her but she knew it was too late to do so. She didn't want to appear rude to him.

"Hey, Jordan?" Her voice came out breathy. She closed her eyes and cleared her throat, but before she could say something in defense for her actions earlier, he cut her off.

"Umm, you dropped this, " He said, lowering his eyes to her tiny keychain resting on his open palm. It was a mini surfboard-a gift from Niall.

The ghost of a frown still graced his lips, his broad shoulders dropping as he leaned against the wall. But there was no evidence on his face that he had seen something.

It took Nessa some seconds to regain herself. Had he really not noticed her staring at him?

"Oh, that. Thank you, " She replied with a nervous grin and pulled the object from his palm, tucking it quickly into her jean pocket. "Good, you saw it. It's kinda important to me."

"Looked like, " He replied, his eyes going around the room, looking at everyone but her.

She took the opportunity to admire his face. He had been crying, she knew that. Even with his rheumy, amber eyes, he looked handsome as ever. His square jaw displayed a little stubble and she took a moment to appreciate that slit in his left eyebrow-it wasn't purposefully done, no. He had once picked a fight with an older guy and received that scar above his left eye.

"Okay, then. Thanks again, " Nessa told him. And his eyes swept back to her face and for the brief moment that their eyes met, she felt a flutter in her chest. A smile crawled it way to her face but she put it away before he could catch it.

"Fine, " He replied and started pacing away from her but Nessa caught his arm and he halted, turning back to her.

"Jordan, I'm so sorry for your loss. Mr Hale was a good man, " She said, slowly letting go of her grip. His eyes hovered over her face, confusion evident in them but then they lowered to the chain around her neck. A silver one with a crescent moon as the pendant.

Reflexively, he took a step back. Nessa realised what that meant. She sighed, her own eyes briefly glancing at the little blood moon hanging around his exposed neck.

The confusion on his face multiplied. He kept staring at her and then without another word, turned and left.

Nessa was disappointed. She felt a tiny stream of rage coarse through her vein.

That was really rude of him-to leave without saying anything. Just because their packs were rivals. Not for a single moment in her life had Nessa ever thought ill of any blood moons. She had not expected such behavior from him. But there was nothing she could do-her heart didn't allow her to be angry at him so she locked the rage she felt deep inside her and plodded out of the empty classroom.