THE RIPENING (Dark Side of the Moon Book 1) (9 page)

              “Yuna, I won't let them hurt you.” Luther's eyes were beginning to bleed back into their deep blue color as he gazed at her fiercely.

              “The elders will decide what to do with her.” Liam snapped in rebuttal. He'd already diminished back into his human form, which, in Yuna's opinion, was no less terrifying than his animal one. “Don't think the odds are in your favor.” He directed this threat at her, his eyes narrow. “Luther, weak as he is, represents the continuation of our line. You will not end it.”

              Yuna had no idea what he was talking about.

              All she could do was let them drag her back toward the crumpling mansion as a gray dawn broke over the forest, leaving the previous night, and what few fond memories she might have of it in the rapidly clearing lightening.

              As it turned out, Yuna's instincts about the Douglases being too proper to stay in a crumbling mansion had been correct. Instead of being led back to the interior of the huge ancient house, the young woman was instead imprisoned beneath it. A large trap door in what must have been the old wheel house revealed that the space beneath the estate had been hollowed out into a series of tightly packed earthen caverns. The floors and walls were lined with marble, and the rooms were furnished with the luxury customary of the extremely wealthy.

              Yuna's eyes bugged slightly at the sheer size and scale of the underground dwelling. It must have taken years, decades even, to hollow out so much space. As far as she knew, the Douglases hadn't been here for decades.

              But then again, she was beginning to realize how little she knew about the family.

              She was taken past a fully outfitted kitchen, a library, a few lushly decorated bedrooms- all underground and running on full electricity- and down a few levels to the bottommost part of the structure. There, Liam tossed her into a room without a single piece of furniture, and only a single lamp. Before she could utter a single word of protest, he'd slammed and bolted the door behind her.

              At first, the young woman was outraged enough to slam her still-bound form against the door and demand to be let out; despite everything that had happened in the past 12 hours. After about thirty minutes, she rethought her strategy. Her good shoulder was beginning to ache, and it probably wasn't so wise to risk enraging people with the capability to turn into monsters who could rip the flesh from one’s bones.

              From that point onward for many hours, she sat in a corner of the lowly lit room, contemplating her fate as her limbs slowly numbed.

              She'd been kidnapped and basically taken prisoner by what were, for all intents and purposes, werewolves. They, for the majority, seemed pretty bent on killing her for some reason she couldn't quite comprehend. All she knew was that it had something to do with Luther, someone being alpha, and she lacking female viability, or something or other. The more she mulled over it, the more confusing it became.

              Vaguely, Yuna remembered Luther telling her that they'd needed to talk before he'd left her. Indeed, before they'd first been intimate, he'd mentioned that there were things that he needed to tell her. This was hardly what she'd expected. Though she'd known any kind of romantic dealings with Luther would be complicated with his family's disapproval, their trying to do her in was slightly over the top.

              Luther himself had seemed the most taken aback at her sudden appearance. Not that she'd expected him to be ecstatic after running out on her, but before he'd abruptly changed his mind from kicking her out to ravaging her on the forest floor, things had been rather off. He'd been insistent on her leaving and hadn't offered any explanation. It had been decidedly unlike him.

              But then something had taken over and he'd tossed her around, held her down and claimed her like he'd never left her. In fact, she was almost certain that his more primal side had been in control last night in the clearing. It was obvious, from the brusque way that he'd groped her to the way he'd bent her over before mounting her... and then there had been that bite.

              The way he'd taken her hadn't been completely unfamiliar, but it was far from the tender episode that had taken place in her home.

              With no small amount of difficulty, Yuna extricated a bound hand to raise it to her bare shoulder and touch the ragged skin there. An intense pain lanced through her and she jumped as she drew fingers sticky with blood back sharply. This wound was far more severe than the one he'd inflicted upon her before. It was a product of ragged teeth and iron will, and surprisingly, far from feeling violated, there was something about the broken skin that made her feel... claimed. Protected.

              Luther had promised not to let anyone in his family hurt her... but what could her wound possibly have to do with that?

              After what seemed like days, a rattling sound issued from outside the room and the door finally swung open. Yuna winced slightly as light from the bright hall outside blinded her momentarily before she adjusted. She could only hope against hope that it wasn't Liam coming back for her.

              When she could see again, it wasn't the imposing younger Douglas brother that met her gaze from the doorway. The dark-eyed, long-haired Viola stood there instead. Silently, Yuna stared at the other woman, her bound arms strategically covering her naked form. Though it was true that the taller woman had stopped Luther and Liam from fighting, as well as spoken on something resembling Yuna's behalf, she had no idea what her agenda was.

              “Cold?” Viola entered the cell without asking for permission, shutting the door succinctly behind her. From seemingly nowhere, she produced a large black garment that she held out to Yuna upon crouching before her.  “Ah, yes.” Before the young woman could make any kind of move towards it, the red head extended something else- a knife with a serrated edge.

              For a moment, Yuna couldn't help but be jealous of the cat-like grace with which she moved. The lithe fluidity was familiar to her- it was the same way Luther got around. While it was alluring in a man, Yuna was pretty certain that Viola could have any man she wanted. Then it sunk in that the woman was alone with her, and had a knife. Yuna shrank back against the wall, her expression wary.

              “If I were going to kill you,” Viola murmured lowly, reaching forward to cut through the dark-haired woman's bonds with a few quick saws from the knife, “I wouldn't need this.”              

              For a moment, Yuna was too shocked to say anything.

              Slowly, she took the black cloth from Viola's side. It was a thick, cable sweater, and she wasn't too proud to take it. Her makeshift dungeon was drafty as all get-out.

              Before putting it on, however, she nodded to her ragged shoulder hesitantly. “Can I get something to disinfect this first?”

              Viola merely replied with a thin smile before she put her knife away. “It will heal.”

              Yuna frowned. “No offense, I know Luther brushes his teeth and everything, but he got me pretty good. I've gotten infections from less.”

              “That bite,” Viola gestured to the wound on Yuna's shoulder, “can't become infected. It'll heal in a week. The scar, however, will be permanent.” The redhead took a seat beside Yuna on the floor, leaning against the wall to glance expectantly at the younger woman. With a sigh, the dark-haired girl pulled the sweater over her head, wincing at the pull of her open wound.

              The garment was plenty long enough to cover her from shoulder to knee, and the warmth was welcomed gratefully. She wasn't sure how to feel about her company though.

              “All these years, all that time spent with you... I wasn't sure that I believed that Luther had never uttered a word about us.” The dark-eyed woman sighed before glancing over at Yuna. “But now I can, it's clear to me. You really don't understand.”

              “What, exactly, is it that I don't understand?” The young woman's anger and frustration broke through the thin veneer of calm she'd struggled to maintain. “I know that you guys have secrets, and I may have waltzed into one of them, but Luther is a grown man. Why does it matter so much who he chooses to be with?”

              Viola straightened at the venom in Yuna's words, her gaze hard on the dark-haired girl. “As hard as this might be for you to hear, the decision was never his. Luther has a responsibility to his family that doesn't involve you. He's the next Alpha. It's his duty to provide for the clan.”

              “And an Alpha would be... what?” The young woman tried, her frustration palpable. She needed it to be given to her straight.

              “The title isn't much different than something out of a Discovery Channel documentary.”  Viola replied calmly. “The Alpha is the leader of the pack... the head of the clan. He's the one chosen to ensure that the line doesn't die out. Malcolm has been the Alpha since the strain was passed to him, and since the death of Elias, it's been understood that Luther would be next.”

              “So... what does that have to do with me?” Yuna's head was whirling with the information. Luther was going to become the head of the Douglas family? She supposed it made sense. She heard his older brother Elias had died before they had immigrated to the US, but Luther had never specifically spoken about stepping into his father's shoes.

              “The conflict is more about what it doesn't have to do with you,” Viola returned succinctly, her dark eyes glowing.  “The Alpha has to be mated to someone who can produce pups. A viable female. Someone like us.” She fixed Yuna with a penetrating stare. “It's Luther's duty to begin our next generation. There was never any possibility of a real relationship with a human.”

              The revelation was like a physical blow.

              Yuna swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath as she tried to think clearly. She and Luther had known each other for years... she'd only just recently been able to admit both to him and herself how she felt about him. She hadn't exactly thought that they would live happily ever after, but she'd thought that they might be able to explore what was between them-beyond the platonic sense.

              But now, the reason why Luther had waited so long to get close was obvious. Apart from the substantial secret he'd been hiding, he'd known there was never any true chance for them to be together.               He'd gone into her bed knowing that.

              The pain cleaved deep.

              “Ok,” She managed not to let her emotions overwhelm her. She'd be damned if she'd break down in front of someone from Luther's “clan”. “Fine. Luther and I can't be together. So, why am I being held here? Why do you guys want me dead?”

              “Not all of us are so black and white on the subject,” Viola returned, an edge creeping into her voice. Yuna's mouth dropped open. Was she saying that she was on her side? After she'd stood there and watched Liam come at her? “You need to understand that what Luther did last night... the mark,” she indicated the hidden wound on Yuna's shoulder with a slender finger. “It's not something that can be undone.”

              “What are you talking about?” The young woman whispered, her voice hoarse in disbelief.

              “It's a pact. There's... ancient magic involved. When Luther bit you, he formally mated with you. And as long as he's mated with you, he can't be with anyone else.”

              “...Ancient magic?” Yuna now held her shoulder firmly, despite any ensuing pain. “You're kidding me. There's no such thing.”

              At her comment, Viola's dark eyes glowed bright yellow briefly, making the young woman wince. “There are many things in this world you don't understand.” Her reply was low, and more than a little annoyed. “Believe me when I say that you are now irreparably connected to our future Alpha.”

              “Unless someone kills me.” Yuna's ensuing whisper was numb with horror.

              “Yes. Until your death.”

              Oh, Christ.

              “But, why?” At this point, Yuna couldn't help the tears that swelled and began to spill down her cheeks. “If he knew what would happen, why would he mark me, or mate with me or whatever?” She fully expected Viola to scorn her emotional display, but surprisingly, a glimmer of empathy shimmered in the redhead's gaze.

              “Around the time of the Ripening- the full moon- when we begin to change, our baser instincts are harder to control. Luther cares for you. Despite the fact that he's always known he could never have you, he's always cared for you. Last night he lacked the control to see what marking you would mean. The animal consumed him. Our transformed selves are merely baser versions of our human forms. The Alpha within him wanted you just as much as he did.”

              To that, Yuna had nothing to say.

              All the information was a bit much to take in at once. So Luther did want to be with her, but he didn't want to hurt her, and her coming after him had resulted in a situation that was somehow more convoluted than never seeing him again.

              “So... these Elders.” The young woman dashed her tears away, taking a breath. “They're not all bad, right? I might not be... you know... disemboweled?”

              Viola's mouth pressed into a grim line. “The Elders come from the purest of bloodlines. They'll be coming here from the land of origin. They're all extremely traditional. They live and die by the laws of our kind.”

              “...which are?” Yuna wasn't quite sure she wanted to know.

              “Never interact with humans. Never allow human discovery. Never mate with humans. If a human does, by some chance, catch a glimpse of us, get rid of it. Stay away from the hunters... usually humans.”

              “Why are they so against humans?” Yuna cut her off, becoming slightly nauseous at the gravity of the case that was being built against her.