"I have no family, Katya. My sister died when I was eight."
Katya's brow furrowed. "I thought you grew up with the tiger clan. You made it sound like she had only died a couple years ago, that you had learned to fight and heal from the other tigers before they cast you out."
Yun shook her head, sniffling as she raised it a little, her eyes still downcast. "The clan raised me for four years. There was a shift in power shortly after my sister died. They thought I would come to nothing, remain an invalid burden. It was better I die and relieve them of the imbalance. I learned to survive on my own, to demand nothing of the other tigers. Now, I have killed one of my own. I should die for the offense."
Yun's hand began to tremble in earnest beneath Katya's, and Katya felt it clench one more time as Yun sobbed softly. "Please, Yun," Katya breathed, fighting the urge to simply pry the knife away and restrain Yun for her own protection. "What you did wasn't something you need to punish yourself for. I would have loved no blood to be spilt, but they attacked. We defended ourselves. You defended me. You named yourself my Alpha-mate."
Yun's cheeks flared red. "I should never have—"
"Don't apologize," Katya insisted. "I'd be damn lucky to have you as Alpha-mate. That's exactly what you've become over the last couple months. You hunt with the pack, try to lead us to safety, and you always respected the tigers, even after everything they'd done to you. You think that's somehow dishonorable?"
Yun's eyes flicked to and fro, and she shifted in her seat on the dry sand, struggling to find a way to argue.
Katya shook her head. "Listen to me, Yun. You tried to stay out of the conflict, and I respect that, but you fought for what you believed was yours. You fought because it was the right thing to do."
"I fought because I love you," Yun whispered, finally lifting her head and looking at Katya, "because I could not bear to lose you."
Those pale gold eyes were still swimming with unshed tears, but Katya still believed she had never seen anything more beautiful. Her own throat tightened to see Yun's grief and an echo of the fear Yun must have felt at the thought of losing her. "And what do you think I'm feeling right now? I'm not letting you go without a fight. Are you going to fight me, or are you going to come back with me and take your rightful place in the pack as my chosen mate?"
Yun's jaw clenched, and while Yun still struggled against Katya's hand when she tried to pull the dagger away again, it was weak and short-lived. Yun's grip relented, and Katya promptly tossed the bloodstained blade several paces away, gathering Yun in her arms. She held Yun through the sobs, petting her long black hair as her own eyes teared up with relief. It was only when Yun had quieted that she murmured, "You're the strongest woman I've ever met, and you fought like you were made of water and flame. You've learned to heal from nature herself, and you make my heart race with love and pride. You have so much to offer this pack, so much to offer this family. Please stay. If not for them, then for me."
Yun sniffled and wiped at her cheeks, which did nothing but smear dried blood from her hands onto her face. It would have brought a smile to Katya's face all on its own, but then Yun nodded and caressed her neck, leaning up and kissing her. Katya's heart soared, and she kissed Yun sweetly over and over, grief briefly pushed aside in favor of comforting and celebrating what they both still had.
"I love you," Yun breathed against Katya's lips, her fingers tracing over Katya's face.
It was a searching, intimate touch. Katya knew every twitch of muscle, every hint of expression was deftly interpreted by those fingers, and she smiled, kissing them one by one as they passed over her cheekbones and lips. "I love you, too, Yun. My stunning, elegant, feline mate."
Yun chuckled softly, and after another kiss, they simply held each other close, enjoying a private moment. They would return to the pack and help their family recover from the attack. They would endure as they always had, except now, they would have one another to rely on, to support, advise, and heal as the seasons cycled and they found their place in the balance. As Yun's soft purr lilted up to Katya's ears, she smiled and squeezed Yun even tighter. It sounded like a new beginning for them both. Just in time for spring.
Luna Rivers was convinced she was cursed. That she had the worst luck in the world. Every time she told one of her friends that, though, they'd simply laugh at her and tell her she was exaggerating and being melodramatic. Yet how does one overreact when things constantly seem to go awry? She was born a klutz, always falling down or dropping things. If she hadn't been blessed with healing quickly, she probably would've broken something a long time ago. She'd lost her job three times in the last year. She was constantly in danger of losing her apartment. Her car had been towed three days ago because she couldn't make the car payments. She was convinced she was the last single lesbian alive and living in Boston. And about two weeks ago, she'd gone camping with friends on one of Boston Harbor Islands and was the only one in the group that managed to get lost. They were camping on Lovell's Island, which wasn't the largest of the islands, and with so many amenities available to guests, it should have been impossible for anyone to get lost. Some how Luna did, and yet that was only the beginning of when Luna's true troubles started.
Like most campers, Luna was told there was wildlife, but she was pretty sure no one mentioned anything about wolves. Yet here she was: alone, lost in the dark, trying to find her way back to camp, and she just so happened to stumble upon a pack of hungry looking wolves. Could her luck get any better? Luna might have loved animals and nature, but she was a city girl through and through, so she had absolutely no idea of the best way to deal with a pack of huge wolves with very large teeth. Afraid they would attack at any moment, she did the only thing she could think of when faced with certain death: she turned and ran in the opposite direction. Ran like her life depended on it, which—as far as she knew—it did.
For anyone else, putting one foot in front of the other is a fairly simple task, but for klutzy Luna it never has been. She tripped at least three times, each one allowing the wolves time to gain on her. Then miraculously, Luna saw a break in the foliage up ahead. There was the Ranger station. She had a smidgen of hope that she was saved and would possibly make it out alive through this nightmare, only to feel a heavy weight hit her back and knock her down to the ground. She knew it had to be one of the massive wolves that were chasing her. What she didn't understand was why the beast hadn't already begun tearing her limb from limb. She rolled over, removed her backpack, and planted herself against the nearest tree. She held the pack in front of her as a shield, knowing it would be little protection against their massive body weight, sharp claws, and lethal teeth.
There had to be at least twenty-five wolves surrounding her in a semicircle. One gray wolf stood in the middle, pacing back and forth in front of her. He looked bigger than all the others, but Luna wasn't sure if he truly was bigger or just appeared to be because he was the closest. His proximity made Luna believe this was the wolf that had knocked her down, and he seemed to be the only one growling at her. This was the same wolf that growled at her before and caused her to run in the first place. All the other wolves stood by and watched, looking alert but not menacing. The blue eyes of the wolf in the center caused a cold shiver to run through her body. She was scared shitless, but she tried not to show fear, as she'd read somewhere that dogs smelled fear and knew that wolves were also in the canine family. The sadistic wolf with the blue eyes appeared to enjoy tormenting her before he went in for the kill. Funny, she always thought torture and killing for enjoyment were human traits rarely found in the animal kingdom.
Then all thought stopped as the wolf charged her. Luna screamed, lifting her pack just in time to stop the wolf's teeth from sinking into her flesh. The impact slammed her against the tree, but at least the wolf's teeth were embedded in her backpack instead of her neck. As the wolf struggled to get the pack out of his mouth, his claws dug into her arms deep enough to draw blood. Luna knew she needed to do something now, or
she was never going to make it. She dug deep, using all the strength she had, and pushed the massive wolf away from her. The wolf took the bag with him when he went flying backwards. Before the wolf had time to rebound, Luna was up off the ground and running toward the Ranger station. There were two smaller wolves standing guard in that direction, but she knew staying there where she was surrounded wasn't an option. Her only choice was to run as fast as she could through them and hope her screams for help would bring someone to her aid before the wolves managed to rip her throat out.
"Help! Please, someone help!" Luna screamed over and over as she passed right by the two wolves and finally made it through to the clearing. As soon as she reached the door to the ranger station, she began to bang on it as hard as she could. The door opened, and a tall, thin man in a ranger uniform opened the door. Luna pushed past him and begged him to close the door quickly.
"Calm down, miss, and tell me what happened?"
Luna was panicked and kept telling him to close the door before they came in, but all her words rushed together, and the poor Ranger didn't understand a word she said.
"Miss, I need for you to calm down. I can't understand what you're telling me, and I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."
Luna caught her breath and forced herself to slow down. "Close the door! Before the wolves get in here!" The Ranger looked at her as if she'd lost her mind before turning around to look outside. He looked around the clearing for a moment, and then turned back to face a still panicked Luna, taking in her disheveled state.
"You must've been mistaken, miss. There are no wolves here on the island."
"Yes, there are! They're right outside!" Luna insisted, but then took a look out the door herself. To her amazement, not one wolf was in sight. There wasn't a single sign that they had been there at all. "But... but they were right behind me. There were a bunch of them. They were right on my tail." Luna began to stammer, and the shock of it all made her begin to feel woozy and light headed.
Seeing she was about to faint, the Ranger grabbed her shoulders and helped her to a chair before she fell and hurt herself further.
"Now sit here and relax a moment. I'll be right back."
Luna sat in the chair, trying to breathe deeply so she wouldn't black out. The Ranger finally closed the front door before heading over to the closest desk and picking up a walkie-talkie. He called another Ranger and told him there was a situation here and to hurry back to the station. He also advised him to be on the lookout for any dangerous animals in the woods on the way. Then, he crossed the room and opened a cabinet to get the first aid kit.
He came back to Luna and began examining, cleaning, and doctoring her wounds as he once again asked her to explain what happened to her. "This time slowly, please. Remember, you're not in any more danger here. You're safe."
Luna took another deep breath and told him everything, starting with how she'd gone off exploring and managed to get lost. When she was done, she could tell from the Ranger's face that he didn't believe her.
"I swear I'm telling you the truth."
"I know you believe what happened to you was real, but you admitted that you fell a couple of times in the woods. Isn't it possible you might have hit your head kind of hard one of those times and imagined there were wolves chasing you? Fear can make a person see some really strange things. You wouldn't be the first one that the woods played tricks on at night."
Luna began shaking her head. She couldn't believe the Ranger thought she'd imagined the whole thing.
"Look," the Ranger continued, "I've been a Ranger here for over ten years, and I swear to you I've never seen one wolf out there. Plus, I've never heard of a pack of wolves behaving the way you described."
He had a point there, and Luna knew it. She didn't know much about wolves, but even to her, their behavior struck her as odd.
"But how do you explain these scars? Or what happened to my backpack?"
"You probably lost the bag somewhere in the woods and don't remember. During one of your falls, you most likely landed on some upturned roots when you fell, and in your haste to get away from what you thought was after you, they scratched your skin. These marks aren't as deep as they had first appeared to be anyway."
"No, they were deeper. I just heal fast. Always have," Luna mumbled as she thought over again what had just happened to her. Yes, she fell, but she had seen the wolves before that. It was because of the wolves that she was running in the first place.
Soon, the second Ranger arrived, and after repeating her story to him, he simply reiterated what the other Ranger told her. There were no wolves anywhere on the island. She finally got tired of them telling her she was crazy and asked if one of them could escort her back to camp. They took her back and promised to keep a lookout for her backpack and ship it to her once it was found.
After they left, Luna was once again surrounded by friends and extremely relieved to be out of the woods. Her friends had been worried sick and didn't know what had happened to her. She didn't feel like going into what happened all over again, so she simply told her friends she got lost and that she fell when they asked about her injured arms. Then, claiming to be exhausted, she left to be alone in her tent. She planned to be on the first ferry off the island in the morning. She'd decided never to mention the wolves again, but she knew what she'd seen and been through was real. So real she didn't sleep one wink that night.
Once Luna made it safely back to Boston, she tried to continue on with her normal life. Because of her luck, though, things weren't as smooth as she would've liked. A week after the incident, most of her bruises were gone except the ones on her forearms. The scars from the wolf's claws healed up rapidly, but instead of fading away completely like all the rest of her injuries, these left small pink scars. They weren't big enough to be disfiguring, but they became permanent reminders of what she'd been through.
She did find a new job as a waitress at a club in a not-so-safe part of town. If she'd had any other choice, Luna probably would never have considered taking the job. But she needed to support herself and keep a roof over her head, and a paycheck was a paycheck. Since she no longer had a car, there was a lot of walking home late at night. One of the other waitresses usually walked with her, though, since the bus she took stopped only two blocks away from Luna's apartment building. Tonight, however, she'd called out with the flu. Luna wasn't looking forward to the walk home alone, but as no one else was going in that direction, it really couldn't have been avoided. To top it off, there had been a group of rowdy guys who annoyed the hell out of her until closing and the bouncers made everyone leave. After staying past closing to help clean up, all Luna wanted to do was get home and crawl into bed to sleep the whole day away. She had the next two days off of work, so technically, she could.
Five blocks away from the club, she began to get the feeling that someone was watching her. She'd been having that feeling every day for the last two weeks. Every time she stopped and looked around to see if anyone was following her, no one around was paying her an extraordinary amount of attention. With no one in particular standing out as looking familiar, she shrugged it off as just paranoia after her ordeal in the woods. At first. But when the feeling persisted and began happening in different places and at different times, she really did begin to worry that someone maybe following her. But why her? She wasn't rich, and she wasn't anyone important. She had no enemies that she knew of, so there shouldn't be anyone after her for vengeance. Luna didn't understand it, but with that feeling steadily recurring, she was getting jittery.
"Hey baby, where you going?" The sound of a drunken man's slurred voice behind her made her jump. She turned around to see three of the guys from the drunken group in the club earlier walking behind her. She sighed briefly; at least this time she knew why she felt she was being watched. It was just some drunk assholes who didn't get it when a women wasn't interested. It wouldn't be the first she'd had to deal with unwanted advances. Figuring they were too drunk for
their interest to stay focused on her for much longer, she didn't immediately feel threatened. Plus, they were at least a block away—plenty of distance for her to get away if she needed to. Deciding her best bet was to ignore them, Luna turned back around and continued walking.
"Ah honey, don't be like that. We just want to talk to you."
She turned around again to see how far back they were. They looked to have gained a little on her, but not too much. Luna once again faced forward and immediately stopped in her tracks. Standing directly in front of her were the two missing guys from their group. They'd apparently walked out of a dark alley directly along her path. They'd set a trap, and she'd walked right into it.
Luna took two steps back, but one of the assholes standing in front of her grabbed her arm and pulled her into the alley. They dragged her a few feet and then forced her back against one of the brick walls. Luna could smell the alcohol coming off them a mile away. He and his buddy cornered her against the side of a building and taunted her as they waited for the other three to catch up. One of the guys ripped her purse off her shoulder, and she let them. If she didn't resist, Luna hoped they would just take what they wanted out her bag and leave.
"Come on doll. Why are you treating me and the boys so mean?" the one who'd grabbed her said.
"The stupid bitch probably thinks she's too good for us," the same drunk from earlier slurred while he seemed to wobble on his feet.
"Is that it, precious? Do you think you're better than us?"
Luna shook her head. Then she felt like vomiting as the one holding her arm began running his fingers along her breasts. The lecherous look in his and his companions eyes told Luna they weren't going to be satisfied by robbing her of her last twenty in her wallet. She really didn't understand how she always seemed to find herself in these dangerous situations. It wasn't that she wished these problems on anyone else; she just wanted to understand why so many seemed to happen to her. It had to be a statistical anomaly for someone's life to be threatened by random occurrences within two weeks of each other. Maybe it was time she seriously considered moving out of Boston.
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