The Luna’s Choice by Kat Silver

I went around the side of the house, opening the door to the little gardening shed to find

what I needed. Then I started the trip to say goodbye to my favorite place in the world.

I got to the pond and choked down the sorrow that

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threatened to take over once again. I was done with that now. I needed to stay focused on

finding a way to move forward. Considering my new and unexpected status, I thought

about going through my ritual again. But the last time didn’t seem to work as it used to.

Or maybe I’m here because it worked too well.

I was definitely not the person I was a week ago. I no longer had a pack. I had no hope of a

life with my fated mate. I had learned just how my family really saw me. And my wolf had

left me. She had retreated deep inside me. And I let her. She needed to heal, and I

wouldn’t try to reach her until she was ready. But that was just another part of my identity

ripped away from me.

Either way, I turned away from the water and knelt at the base of an oak tree. Taking the

trowel I had found in the shed, I started digging until I heard the sound of metal hitting

metal. I finished clearing the dirt away and pulled out the metal lock box. Opening it to

check the contents were still safely tucked inside.

I breathed a small sigh of relief. Inside the box was a picture of my father and me, a small

container holding some of his ashes, and a velvet pouch containing a ring. I grabbed the

contents, not bothering with the box now.

By the time I returned to my car, it was later in the day than I felt comfortable. The

Greytooth Pack may not be the largest in population, but they had one of the biggest

territories. The closest border crossing was nearly two hours away. And I needed to be far

away before Zeff got home. I couldn’t have him tracking me down.

Especially since I didn’t give him much of an explanation.

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But it was better this way. I wasn’t going to risk him cutting ties and going rogue as well.

Because he would. He would hold Theo responsible, and he would never stay in a pack

with an alpha he didn’t respect, let alone hate. This way, the note left would have just

made it seem like I got cold feet about us being together.

I drove to the outskirts of town and got on the highway. From there, it was practically a

straight shot to the border. I was grateful at first, but after about an hour, I realized the

monotonous ride only left my mind wondering and worrying and thinking about things I

didn’t need to think about.

When Theo found me in the yard that first day, I had no idea what he would say. His initial

reaction to our meeting had me thinking he would pursue the pairing. But then his

increasingly icy demeanor throughout the evening made it seem like he was thinking

along the same lines I was. He wasn‘ t going to hurt Kylee for someone he didn’t know.

He loved her. She loved him. I had no idea who he was, nor he 1. We could reject each

other and just go on our way. Neither one of us would have to break Kylee’s heart. I

thought he was keeping me from my family to be cruel. Or maybe to make things easier

for both of us.

But today, his words revealed a different motive. He didn’t reject me for Kylee. He rejected

me because of her. Because he believed what she said and painted me as some

coldhearted delinquent. But why? I just couldn’t figure that

out.

Dad died in a gas explosion along with my aunt and uncle ten years ago. I was fourteen,

and Kylee was nine. Our thirteen- year–old cousin, Mina, came to live with us for a while

after

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their deaths. Ma was hit pretty hard by the loss, so the three of us quickly started taking

care of each other. We spent every spare minute with each other. Then our financial

situation changed. Kylee was entirely too young, and Mina had been through enough

losing both her parents for me to put that on her. So, it was up to me to keep food on the

table and a roof over our heads.

But I was still fourteen. Finding jobs that paid enough to support a family of four at the age

of fourteen was non- existent. I would need to work multiple jobs, and there just wasn’t

enough time in the day. So, I approached the headmaster at my private high school and

confided my situation with him. I was desperate not to drop out or risk my grades

dropping and losing my scholarship. My parents didn’t pay a dime of my tuition. Not that

they wouldn’t. They just didn’t have to.

Because I was on an academic scholarship, I asked how soon could graduate. Headmaster

Fordham was a miracle worker. He helped me test out of over eighty percent of my

academic requirements by the end of my freshman year. I only had to take four summer

classes to graduate a week after my fifteenth birthday. I was even able to broker a deal

with him that would set the remaining three years of my scholarship fund aside for Kylee

when it came time for her to attend high school.

Mina decided to live with extended family on her father’s side in a different pack around

that time. It was a hard but willing decision. We had lost touch a bit over the years.

However, we still managed to call every year on each other’s birthdays.

I wondered if I would be able to do that this year.

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I still ended up working multiple jobs for several years. So I wouldn’t deny that there were

plenty of times I wasn’t around much. But having graduated at such a young age did open

some doors for me, and it allowed me to keep the household afloat. But no matter what, I

always tried to be there for Kylee as much as possible.

Everything I did was for her.

I completely lost touch with all of my school friends. I never partied. I barely socialized.

The jobs I held were really the only place that happened. But I was home to take her to

school every morning, and I ensured I had at least an hour to help her with her homework

almost every day.

I didn’t discuss the lengths I went to with Kylee. I didn’t want her to feel bad or that it was

her fault. And I didn’t want her to see what Ma was going through. She was struggling to

keep any job. She was drinking daily. There were even a couple of times she racked up

gambling debts that put us in some scary situations.

But I never let Kylee see any of that. It was my job to protect them.

There was so much more that didn’t add up with what Theo had said. But I didn’t get to

think about it further.

A searing pain shot through my chest, making my vision go white at the edges, blinding

me to a point I almost missed the figure standing in the road before me.

My heart jumped into my chest. I turned the wheel as sharp as I could, slamming on the

brakes to avoid hitting them head- on. The moment I did it, I felt stupid. Within seconds, I

was spinning through the air and sliding down an embankment.

w

When the vehicle came to a stop, I was upside down. I registered the smell of blood, but

everything was blurry. I didn’t feel significant pain, so I didn’t think the blood was coming

from me.

The person on the road!

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I scrambled out of the car and up the incline. Without Dasha, I couldn’t see well in the

dark, but I could see a blurry figure moving toward me.

“Are you okay?” I called.

I didn’t catch what they were saying because I suddenly felt the world falling out from

beneath my feet, and everything went dark.

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