His Blue Moon Princess
Chapter 17

I can't believe what's happening. Everyone has gone totally silent, and all eyes are set on Nathaniel. He is walking calmly to us, and it takes me a few seconds to realize a dozen menacing wolves are following him. Among them, I notice a big one, and I realize it's

probably Tonia, as her fur is slightly darker than her brother's, like she depicted.

Vincent looks even more shocked than I am. He is staring blankly at Nathaniel, his mouth open, looking totally lost. I know this is precisely what he always feared. Provoking a stronger pack. I can remember how stressed out he was about the whole dinner thing. He won't even take a look at Peter laying in a bloodbath next to him. He just stares blankly at Nathaniel, trying to understand what's going on. Amber has gone white as a sheet, and she is shaking from head to toe. No one dares to say a word.

Nathaniel slowly walks up to me, and I'm totally lost on what to say. I feel so bad. About all of this. But he gives me his usual gentle smile.

"Nora, you should have just told us, you know? Now I had to come all the way here and hear all this nonsense."

"I... I'm sorry, I just..."

But before I can figure out how to explain myself, Nathaniel reaches out his hand to gently caress my hair and shakes his head with a gentle smile.

"It's okay, princess. You should save it for when you see my brother. He is... not very happy about you sneaking out."

Oh my Goddess, Damian knows. He is going to kill me. He must be dead furious now. And right after he finally came to see me, too! Nathaniel turns to Liam, crosses his arms, and sighs. His little brother just avoids his eyes like a kid who knows he is about to get scolded.

"You can't help yourself, can you, Liam? Not only you skip school, but now you have to help Nora run into trouble, too?"

He waits for a second, still looking at his younger sibling, and I realize Liam must be talking back to him. But Nathaniel shakes his head.

"Oh no, don't even start trying to use our princess as an excuse, Liam. We are going to have a serious discussion once we get back. And yes, little brother, you're grounded."

Liam just lets out an annoyed growl, but apparently, he won't stand up to his brother. Seems like the hierarchy is very clear between the three of them.

Nathaniel now walks past us and stands next to Bobo, looking straight at Vincent. He is not smiling anymore. As all of the Blood Moon Clan wolves are now growling fiercely, the Jade Moon ones have slowly started taking a few steps back. Even though some of them still try to keep growling, too, they clearly are frightened. Nathaniel's wolves make it very clear who has the upper hand. Tonia walks up to me, standing opposite to Liam. I try to whisper a "sorry," but she is ignoring me. I guess I'll have to deal with this once we get back...

"Prin... Princess?" Mumbles Vincent.

He seems to have realized who the black wolf that was accompanying me is by now. He is looking at me as if he's seeing me for the first time, trying to process everything.

"Well, now I would love to hear an explanation," says Nathaniel.

"Ex... Explanation? About what?" Stutters Vincent.

"Yes. An explanation to know why you guys hid and mistreated our precious princess."

Nathaniel's words are a cold shower for everyone here. Some members of the pack are looking at me with terrified eyes, probably reminiscing about when they last hit me or were rude to me in some manner. And it's not just two or three people. "What? We didn't hide her..."

Suddenly, I remember the dinner night. Liam's voice asking "is that all your girls?" before he and Nathaniel left. That intriguing sentence angered Amber, but back then I didn't really think about it twice. But what does it have to do with me? Nathaniel makes it sounds like the Black brothers were... actually looking for me. But how could that be?

"We asked you if we had met every girl from your clan, and you said we did. You had no one looking anything like Nora at the dinner. So now, let me ask you, how could we possibly have missed her if she was indeed one of your pack members?"

Vincent looks completely lost. He had me locked up in the basement that night. He didn't think I was worthy of meeting them, and honestly, how could he have imagined such a day would come? The weak, pathetic, hated, and disfigured girl turns out to be the most feared Alpha's mate. That's not something Vincent would ever imagine, not even in his worst nightmares. He looks at me, still trying to make a connection, unable to face the truth.

"How could this girl be of any... any interest to you? She's just a... a stray!"

Nathaniel is smiling, but I can tell he's not the slightest happy. I would say he's only getting even angrier. His eyes look like ice, and that's a frightening look I've seen before on both his brothers. Two grey eyes staring at Vincent like he could murder him on the spot. And I bet he could.

He takes a menacing step towards Vincent, and for a second, I think he really is about to kill him right here. All the blood seems to have left Vincent's face. When Nathaniel speaks, his voice is just as menacing as if he was holding a knife next to the Alpha's throat, and his sharp and cold voice gives me a chill.

"That 'stray' girl you are talking about is my older brother's fated mate."

A chilling silence follows his words, and all eyes turn to me. For a few seconds, Vincent looks like he is about to collapse as he staggers, white as a sheet. He looks at me, so shocked he can't even utter a sound. But Nathaniel suddenly speaks up again, and takes a new step closer, making Vincent stagger and fall on his b**t in front of him. "So, now. Would you tell who is responsible for her scars? My brothers and I are really, really eager to know."

I hear several people from the pack gasp, or let out a whimper. Bobo is growling very loudly, and that's a frightening sound not three wolves together could make. He still has Peter's arm, and the blood is still leaking out in a gruesome manner beneath him. Vincent suddenly shakes his head, looking panicked. "No, no, no, it's... it's not that. We... we really didn't know, she... Nora was..."

I look at him, disgusted. What, that the Alpha I used to fear all the time? He is blabbing nonsense, trying to come up with excuses. How could I ever be scared of such a pathetic man? Nathaniel stands there, emotionless, while Vincent is struggling pathetically. "We... we welcomed them to... to our pack a few years ago. They were just... just homeless kids, they... She had nothing. We gave her food and shelter!"

"...Food and shelter?" I can't help but repeat, shocked.

Both Nathaniel and Vincent turn to me, surprised to hear me speak out. But I shake my head, glaring at my pathetic Alpha. "You put me in the basement. You made me work from dawn until dusk, and never let me eat with you. You never even considered me a part of our pack."

Liam starts growling again after hearing me, but I ignore him. Vincent is apparently not as scared of me as he is of Nathaniel, and tries to defend himself.

"Everyone has to work to earn their living! You... you would have died in the streets if it wasn't for me, Nora."

I look at him, taken aback by his nerve. How can he still be standing there saying such things to my face? To earn a living? I was not even nine years old when the Jade Moon Clan took me in! For almost ten years they only let me live to work for them as a slave, giving me scraps! "Nobody else would have helped you, but we did! Doesn't that count?" Asks Vincent.

I know he is trying to beg for his life. He's aware Nathaniel only cares about me, and won't hesitate a single second to kill him and all the others. His Beta is dying in a blood pool not two feet away at this very moment. Vincent is basically begging me to spare them. But I'm in no mood for his excuses.

"You never really meant to help me, did you? All you saw was a helpless child, a free slave you could make use of. I was young, and you know no one would protect me. Nobody would care no matter what happened to me. You never did."

The painful words I could never say out loud are now flowing out, with tears, and I can't stop it. All the suffering resurfaces. All those bitter memories that I can't stand anymore. I'm giving up on any hope I had left in this Clan. This is the truth, and it has long waited

to come out.

"You are not my Alpha! You never acted like one to me. You never protected me or considered me your family, not in the slightest. All you did was use me, like some tool you could throw away anytime. I was broken, and all you did was break me even more." I gave the last nine years of my life to this man, to this pack, and now I realize what a mess they have made of it. I was never meant to be that pitiful or weak, but they pushed me to the edge day after day. Whether they abused me or stayed as bystanders, no one in this pack ever gave me a hand. None of them ever cared about me, and they were content with it. Living their everyday lives, keeping their eyes closed and ignoring all I endured like it wasn't their problem. "No, Nora. I didn't do it. I never laid a hand on you, did I? I even tried to keep Alec off your back, sometimes, I..."

"You didn't do anything! You let others do it for you, and that was it! You saw what they did to me, and you closed your eyes a million times! A million times you could have put an end to it with a single word, and you never ever did! You are worse than any of them! You are not even worthy of being called an Alpha!" I yell, bursting with anger.

"I... I..."

But he has nothing else to say. He knows I'm right. Never saying anything doesn't mean I don't remember. Vincent shakes his head, trying to replace something else to defend himself, but I am done with this. I turn around to wipe my tears, exhausted by all of this. Nathaniel is looking at me, and he seems impressed by my sudden burst, but I just feel angry and exhausted by all this yelling. But as I turn around, a voice suddenly arises.

"You wench! You should just shut up and be grateful the Alpha accepted a cursed, damn freak like you! No one wanted..."

Amber's words die in her throat when Liam suddenly jumps at her with a loud growl. She has the reflexes to change into her wolf form to defend herself, but the battle is cut short. Within two seconds, his fangs lacerate her neck and faces, and the golden wolf dies before our eyes before she even has a chance to fight back.

I cover my mouth, speechless. I can't believe Amber just died as quickly as that. Liam leaves her corpse to go back to his brother, but his mouth covered in fresh blood is still growling angrily. Nathaniel looks straight into Vincent's eyes, and this time there is no smile.

"This was the last time I hear one of you talk like that about Nora ever again. We will leave behind as many corpses as necessary for that."

The Alpha is so stunned about what just happened, he can't help but nod with a totally blank expression. Two of his wolves just died in front of him, and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. And now the lives of his whole pack are hanging. He seems about to say something, but doesn't.

Suddenly, one of the Jade Moon wolves, who I recognize as Marc, one of Amber's lovers, leaves the group to run towards us. He is clearly attacking us, but even before he is within reach, two of the Blood Moon wolves jump and kill him on the spot. Right behind him, I see his sister whimper, and she starts running, too. But this time, no one stops her. She runs straight to us, visibly aiming for me.

But the she-wolf his suddenly stopped by Nathaniel's hand. I did not even see him move, but he managed to grab the brown wolf by the throat, and holds her at arm's length, her paws not even reaching the ground. She whimpers and tries to free herself from his grasp, but he is clutching, and we suddenly hear the sound of her neckbone breaking.

Nathaniel's eyes roam the assembly, but no one dares to move an inch anymore. He just killed a wolf with a single move, while still in his human form. He opens his hand, and the dead wolf falls at his feet.

"I warned you. Anyone else wants to try me?"

"Enough, enough please!" Says Vincent, shaking.

Nathaniel turns to him.

"I have yet to hear any names."

"Nathaniel, stop it."

Surprised, both Alphas eyes turn to me, but I'm only looking at Nathaniel.

I can't really feel sorry for the Jade Moon pack. I wonder if that's wrong of me, but I just don't. They were about to trust Amber's words instead of mine, and they probably didn't care to know if I was telling the truth anyway. If it wasn't for Nathaniel, I might already be back in the basement getting a beating by now. I can't feel sorry for them anymore.

However, even if I don't consider them my pack anymore, I can't let the Blood Moon just keep killing them without saying a thing. There are innocent families and children among them. I don't want to be the reason for bloodshed and tragedy.

I step up to the man I once considered my Alpha, and Bobo comes to stand close to me, acting like a bodyguard again. He finally spits out the lifeless arm. Ugh, I wish he had done that earlier, that's so gruesome. Nathaniel's wolves suddenly all start growling loudly, pushing Vincent's warriors to retreat away from him. I face Vincent, clenching my fist.

"I'm not stopping them because of you. I still hold you responsible for what happened. But this Clan needs its Alpha, and I'm done with seeing blood spilled today."

"From today on, the Blood Moon Clan and Velvet Moon Clan are hostiles to the Jade Moon Clan," declares Nathaniel. "Any of you takes one step into our turf, and you will face the consequences."

This is basically exiling the whole Clan out of Silver City. Even if the Black brothers only reign over half of the City, the remaining Clans won't take risks by having contact with the Jade Moon Clan. Any other pack's turf will now be a potential threat to them. Nathaniel just isolated the whole pack in two sentences. Vincent looks like he is about to cry, but unfortunately for him, this is not over yet.

"In ten days at dusk, I want this whole pack to come to the East Point Ground. If a single person is missing, no matter the reason, we will hunt them down. This is a challenge for the Alpha position."

I stare at Nathaniel, dumbfounded.

A duel to take over the Jade Moon Clan?