The Luna Trials

Chapter 50

She wanted to shake off his hands, but the pain was still rippling through her body, and she quickly found herself weakened by it.

Bjorn kneeled right behind her, sliding his palms over her arms and waist to get a better grip on her. Savannah was shaking in his arms, and this was just the effect he wanted to see.

“I heard that killine your own mate is the worst,” he whispered into her ear, his hot breath burning her sensitive skin. “I am sorry you had to go through this, but no worries, you are in good hands now”

“No!” She desperately tried to push him away, but he held her in place. “You did this! You did all of this!”

“Yes and no,” he cooed, rocking her slightly. “I warned you before, Savannah I gave you a chance to save your brother or your sister-in-law. You didn’t listen!”

She felt nausea churning her stomach as the bear’s grip on her tightened Her breathing was heavy, as destroying her mate bond with Zack made every cell in her body burn and ache to the point she wanted to claw her own skin. This was much worse than what she had experienced when her mate was bedding other women. This was crushing her bones, and at the same time, the loss of Kal and her family was destroying her soul. She was in agony, pure agony, although she still tried to contain it somehow

Was Bjorn right? Could she have saved Riannon and the baby? She couldn’t even look in their direction now, afraid to see her brother and his wife pale and lifeless. Two perfect mates, they didn’t get to live their life together the way they had planned. It ended too soon

She dropped Zack’s heart to the ground. There was no point in holding it now She didn’t want to touch anything of his anymore. She was done.

Only that their bond still wasn’t letting her go, piercing needles all over her body, wishing to make her regret her actions.

She didn’t She would never regret killing that son of ab*tch. She only wished she had the strength to kill another.

“Come here!” Bjorn was surprisingly gentle with her, and she gathered all the strength still left in her to try and shove him away.

“Don’t touch me!” She tried to growl, but the sound came out like a whimper. Bjorn let go of her for a moment, and she almost lost her balance, but luckily managed to find it again at the last second and not fall down to his feet. She wouldn’t be able to take this kind of humiliation,

“Switch off the cameras now!” The White Bear King commanded, and Claude gestured for the cameraman to follow the order. The bears who stood around them looked intimidating

More people entered the room, and Savannah caught a lamiliar figure among them. Blue dress with leather straps and ice-white hair braided in a traditional northern plait, Brigit averted her gaze.

“You!” Savvy breathed out, feeling how her vision was getting blurry from all the pain she was experiencing. The shock didn’t help either.

Brigit… The most obvious choice. The only white bear here. The one who rejected her own mate, although she had no good reason for this. The one who fought Castiel and Bjorn. The one who made them believe she was on their sidel

“How… could you?!” Tears were burning Savvy’s eyes while beads of sweat were forming all over her body She barely stood on her feet. “We trusted you!”

“And this is your mistake number one,” Bjorn watched her with some kind of amusement, enjoying every second of it. He cupped her chin, making the Princess look into his healthy eye again. “Never trust a traitor.”

Brigit did not say anything, She lowered her head a few men around her chuckled, watching the show unfolding before their eyes

“Traitor.” Savannah repeated, her voice was barely a whisper now. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to stand for too long, but she needed answers

“Yeah,” Bjorn let out a laugh. “It’s kind of a long story, actually. To cut it short, she was supposed to be my wie.” Savvy gasped at the words, and he enjoyed her reaction, “Her father was in an alliance with my brother Castiel and me. He promised me his daughter as my future bride, and I had no reason to decline back then Imagine my surprise when the said bride arrived but only had eyes on my handsome brother Her first betrayal. Naturally, I didn’t want a woman who would rather have my brother than me Castiel did have that effect on women, that old fox she swore his love and loyalties to him and then betrayed him in the most gruesome way, leading to his death Backstabbing at its best”

“Didn’t he betray her trust first?” Savvy forced a scowl “He locked her in a cage with dozens of other women in skimpy dresses and used them as he saw fit”

“He was always honest about what they could expect from him,” Bjorn cut her off

“Debatable!” Savvy was practically panting now. The pain wasn’t dying down, and she felt her knees shaking She knew she wouldn’t be able to take this for longer.

“When she helped to kill my brother and returned here, she came to try and steal from me. Can you imagine?” The White Bear King laughed, and his men followed his example “One of her sisters was sent to me atter Brigit left with Castiel, and I gave her to my third in command as a reward She has

stayed with him ever since, but Brigit decided it’s not a good enoughi destiny for her sibling, and she attempted to kidnap her”

For the first time, Brigit raised her eyes to meet Savannah’s, but the Western Princess did not look sympathetic. They were in a room full of dead people she cared about Nothing could fix that. Nothing was justifying that

“So you ordered her to poison everyone!” Savvy’s breathing hitched

“Oh, no!” Bjorn chuckled again. He seemed to be in the best of moods. “At first, she was here to kill Kai, but the opportunity didn’t present itself. I already wanted to dispose of her, but she managed to prove her loyalty when she pretended to attack me back in the shrine. 5o.1 gave her an easier task this time. All she had to do was to di

disable her mate, the Kingdom’s Gamma and unlock the security system he was responsible for today. And i have to say, everything worked just perfectly!”

Savvy gulped and felt how dry her lips were Aspen was probably dead too. However, there was still another question that bothered her if Bngit did not poison them, then who

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“M-how?” She asked weakly.waving her hand around the room. The leaders of the bears understood her question without further explanation.

“told you before, I have been preparing for this.” His lips curled into an arrogant smile. “It’s done. You can stand up now!” he commanded, and Savannah felt she couldn’t breathe anymore

Her eyes travelled around the room. The dead bodies were not moving, For a second, she hoped it was some kind of a joke, and they were all alive Whatever the explanation could be, she was ready to

take

But when Emma, Astrid’s friend, stood up and sneered at her, adjusting the dress on her curvy body Savvy remembered she did not like her much instantly. but she never pald the she-wolf much attention

“Rise and shine, Astrea!” Emma kicked Astrid lightly, and the blonde groaned She was lying with her face on the table too, but clearly wasn’t dead either. They tricked everyone. “You are the star of this show, after all!” Emma snorted and walked to the centre of the room, stepping over someone’s body on the floor as if it was nothing

“No!” Savannah shook her head. This was too much!

Astrid sighed heavily and sat up in her chair, locking eyes with the Western Princess Her gaze was so cold and emotionless, not a trace of the sweet girl Savvy got to know during the Luna Trials

“Sorry,” she said dispassionately, “Nothing personal. It’s just my job.”

“Nothing personal?” Savvy let out an exasperated chuckle. “You killed everyone I loved! I thought you were my friend!”

“You overthink!” Astrid stood up and started making her way to the centre of the large hall as well. “I liked you, of course. But work comes first. Whatever the assignment, it always comes belore everything else. And just because someone tells you they are your friend, Savannah, it doesn’t mean they are. I think you will learn this lesson today once and for all. Although the story you have with your mate should have warned you already.”

Savvy had trouble breathing and focusing Just not falling down to the ground was a struggle on its own now, but she did not want to give them the satisfaction

“You didn’t even do it yourself!” She turned to face Bjorn, who didn’t take his eye off her. His smug smite faltered.

“A good king wins a war without battles!” He took a step in her direction

“It will be a nice page in history books!” Savvy snapped “He couldn’t take the opponent down, so he sent three women to do the job for him!

The white bear’s eye gleamed red as he yanked her towards himself, inhaling her scent,

“The plan was mine. I was the one to work on the strategy, to find all the weaknesses. I bribed people and killed the ones who couldn’t be bought. I used every opportunity my enemies provided me. Even the Luna Trials.” Bjorn shook her, and the room spun around her. She had trouble focusing on him now, and the ground was slipping from under her feet. “Call it what you want, but it’s a victory, and it’s all mine!”

“You didn’t even fight!” Savannah gave him a withering glance, and he pressed her against his chest with force as if he wanted to prove something

“I fought for years!” He snarled, his face almost touching hers. “I did things for my people that I am not proud of, but this… this is not one of them. When we rule the North together, you will learn!”

“Don’t count on me!” On a whim, Savvy tried to claw out his heart just like she did with Zack, but barely managed to scratch him. Either she was too weak now, or he was too strong. Or both… she couldn’t do it now.

“Oh, Heartbreaker,” he whispered into her ear, “Time will come, and you will take all those words back!”

“Unlikely! She gritted her teeth, and he spun her in his arms, making her back press against his chest and fixing her in this position so that she could have a good view of what was going on around them.

“Look at them!” He commanded, and the other bears in the room lowered thelr heads, hearing his Alpha tone. Savvy’s eyes circled the space. “The King of the North and King of the West are both dead! None of them left heirs behind. Do you know what will happen if you and I don’t step in together?”

“You should have thought about it before all this!” Savannah snapped, but he strengthened his grip on her,

“And I did,” he leaned forward so that his chin rested on her shoulder, and she hated it. “I know you

will not be selfish enough to abandon the people. Think of it. Savannah. You and I will bring peace and prosperity to both kingdoms. The war will be over, and everyone will be sale. Don’t tell me it doesn’t sound tempting”

She was too tired to listen to all this. The pain surging through her body was making it hard to stay awake. In fact, she was surprised she still didn’t pass out.

“It’s not!” She confessed, her breathing ragged

Bjorn growled softly next to her. “Maybe not now, but with time you will see this is the only way!” He insisted dryly and then suddenly let go of her.

Startled, Savvy landed on the floor as her legs didn’t hold her anymore.

“Let’s just make sure you don’t have any silly ideas or expectations that everything will be resolved magically!” He stood in front of her, and she looked up to see him stretching his hand. One of his men immediately placed the silver spear in it

She gasped because from up close, she was sure now that this was exactly the one they had in their house Her memory didn’t let her forget the ancient patterns on it. Riannon brought it from her house when she moved in with them before the wedding.

It was stored in her office now, and the fact alone that Bjorn had it in his hand now didn’t mean anything good.

“I see you recognised it,” the bear smirked at her, and she nodded, hoping that he would pierce her heart with it. If everyone she loved was dead, she wasn’t sure there was a point in living She did not want to be left alone. She knew that feeling far too well back from when her parents were killed, and she did not want to go back to that darkness “I had absolutely no problem taking it from your house in the West when I went there to explore.”

She looked at him in horror Her house was protected by the best warriors Then again, so was this castle “But h-how?” She couldn’t help the question Bjorn smiled at her understandingly, still playing with the spear,

“Did you ever notice how much shifters rely on scents?” A laugh rasped through his chest. Brigit, Astrid and Emma stood silently behind his back, watching the scene before them. “This is what we use for pretty much everything! Find lood, track prey, detect enemy, find mate… Everything! We rely on it so much that if we smell a woll, we believe it’s a woll. And if we smell a bear, we believe it’s a bear. Luckily. my brother has spent years working on controlling scents in his laboratory. And his research was amazing! Best of the best! Even now that he is dead, his legacy lives on! This allows my people and I to go unnoticed anywhere. Our tracks are impossible to find. We are the best at this! I walked into your house through the main door and walked out with the spear. And no one said a word because I smelled like someone from your pack. No one questioned my presence. The fact that Riannon and Gideon’s people still don’t know each other too well helped me, of course.”

Savvy closed her eyes for a second. It was sad that it was so easy for him.

“I was surprised to see an ancient Northern weapon in a Westerner’s house, but I guess it’s destiny that I have it now and that you brought me to it. The legends of the North say that this spear killed the

first royal Lycan; hence it has the ability to kill them all. There are just old falrytales, of course. But it’s symbolic, don’t you think?” He taunted, but she did not gve him any reaction, and he continued, “So. Just in case the poison doesn’t work…” He didn’t finish the sentence and charged for the stage where the priestess still prayed, and Kailay on the floor, lifeless. The White Bear King clicked his finger, and one of the warrion snapped the priestess’s neck, throwing her body off the stage. Bjorn’s eyes locked with Savannah’s right belore she realised what he was doing

The spear pierced Kai’s chest with force, plnning him to the ground.

Something broke inside of Savannah at sight. As if it was her heart pierced instead

He was already dead before, he didn’t even flinch or make a sound, but there was some sense of finality in all of this now

Men around them laughed as they watched the scene Brigit lowered her head, Astrid turned away. only Emma joined the fun

The pain inside of the Western Princess was getting worse. How cruel was her destiny, taking one blow after another? Just how much could one person endure?

“We need to go!” She heard Astrid’s cold voice “Warriors from outside the walls will appear here soon, and I am not taking part in the battle.”

Bjorn growled menacingly, and Savannah realised they wanted to escape now. They killed Kai, Gideon, Riannon and most of her friends, and now they had to leave not to get caught

They didn’t have an army with them. This wasn’t a takeover of the castle. It was just a mission. A successful mission for them. They made the biggest blow against the two kingdoms, but they didn’t want to risk fighting now

Bjorn mentioned before that he had planned to rule from his own palace The true North. He didn’t want to stay here. This was the only thing she could do now to pay them all back. She could stall them and

make them face the music

Or better. She could shift into her third form and kill them all. Hopefully, Claude, Chloe and Petra would manage to run away first

The plan wasn’t perfect, but did she even care? There weren’t better options

It was over for her. The moment Kai closed his eyes, it was over He was the only thing that kept her going, her second chance at love. And now he is gone

Athena did not respond to her because she was in pain. It was worse for the wolves than humans when a mate bond was broken. But she summoned her inner beast. The worst part of her. The only part of hersell she still had trouble controlling even despite Kai’s lessons,

Her claws started elongating, and a loud growl rumbled through her chest. But instead of shifting. she felt her nausea getting stronger.

She was already on the ground, claws scratching the stone floors. But nothing else was happening Only more pain and weakness rippled through her

“Oh, Savvy!” Bjorn returned and knelt next to her, cupping her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze “You don’t seriously think I didn’t see that coming? Astrea here added something to your glass too. She put a drop of poison into each glass before the wine was poured. Odourless and colourless, both banes were something my brother worked on while he was still alive. In the end, he was able to have his revenge on your family.”

Savannah tried to force the shift, but nothing was happening.

“I didn’t want to harm you for obvious reasons, but I did have to take precautions. Luckily, you helped me by killing your first mate.” He brushed her cheek while a vague smile touched his lips. “You will not be able to shit anytime soon. Don’t torture yourself. It will only make things worse!”

She hated him so much now that she chose not to listen. A chance like this would never present itsell again. Savvy tried to force a shift, tensing her every muscle, praying for every God for this to work

And then her eyes went dark… Someone caught her before her lace hit the lloor, and she heard the words. “Time to move.” Semiconscious, Savannah struggled to keep her eyes from closing. She was in and out of it. “Film that'” Bjorn ordered, and the cameraman got back to work. “Leave the spear. It will have a

more dramatic effect when they find his corpse with it! The twins and their crew go with us.”

“And this one?” The warrior who held Petra asked. The pink-haired girl wasn’t screaming anymore. Pale, she was just crying silently in her captor’s arms.

“Take her with us,” Bjorn replied, and then he knocked the nearest candle on the floor, causing the fire to flare up one of the curtains. A warrior on the other side set a different piece of fabric on fire. And Emma lit a tablecloth on one of the tables.

The White Bear King went for the exit while his warriors checked the path was clear. A tear fell down Savannah’s cheek seeing how quickly the fire caught. Soon everything in this hall would be destroyed.

A part of her wanted to stay there with them. Burning in that fire together with her family and friends would probably be less painful than what she was experiencing now,

“The Old North is dead!” Bjorn chuckled as he took her away…