Their forced luna
Chapter 50

Amanda

Mitsi had gotten me dressed in record time. I had no idea how she managed to put so many pieces of clothes on me, that barely covered anything really, in such a short amount of time. What was the point of all of this if the vast majority of it was see-through?

"This way," Mitsi informed me with a bob of her head and she darted down the opposite end of the hall. I had to jog to catch up to her.

I glanced back at the way we were running from. I didn't see anything, so why did she look so worried? Was she expecting us to be chased or something?

"Here," she tugged me into yet another room and pulled me to a stool. "I'll be quick. He doesn't like a lot of makeup, but your eyes are puffy. We have to fix them."

We seemed to be alone. I leaned a little closer as she sorted through an assortment of makeup on her table. "Who is this guy anyway? What does he want?"

Her eyes darted to the door then back to me. She held a finger to her lips and then rushed over to the door, closing it securely. She crept back to my side and picked a suitable color before going to work. "Aren is a devout follower of the Moon Goddess," she hissed to me.

I resisted the urge to snort. I'd blow the powders everywhere. "Aren't we all?"

She clucked her tongue at me. "Not like he is. He's sacrificed male children to her."

I clutched my chest. "What?" I whispered.

She nodded. "He only keeps the ones that she tells him to. It just so happens they always are the female children. They're taken to another facility to be raised right after they're born. The mother is usually given a few days of rest before he visits them again."

The more I heard about this man, the more determined I was to replace a way out of here. I'd endure it for only as long as I needed to, then I'd be running without looking back. "So yours?" I whispered, nodding to her little belly.

Mitsi put a hand on her little bump. "Mine," she agreed with a nod. "They're usually sold into slavery when they're old enough. I wish I could do something. I keep praying it's a girl so at least she won't be killed outright."

"The Moon Goddess would never accept any of this," I hissed. "She saved me. She reached down and gave me a path away from my first Alpha. She even dissolved a bond that was forced on me. If anything, if I prayed to her now she'd rescue me from here. But I can't go yet anyway."

Mitsi's eyes darted to the door again before giving a little sigh. "Alessa."

"Amanda," I corrected. "I don't care what he calls me, but I'm not giving up my name. I'll never bend to him."

"We'll see about that," she whispered softly, studying the ground. "But," she glanced back up. "You should know that you're not the first Luna to try to escape here. Do you want to know what happened to the others?"

Did I really want to know? It couldn't be anything good. But maybe there would be some sort of hint or answer on what I shouldn't do. "Yes."

"The first one ended up drowned. She had her head stuck in one of the barrels for Aren's pets. I'm not sure who killed her. My personal theory is it was another one of the Luna's. One that had completely snapped and accepted Aren's teachings."

"I can swim," I replied. "I'll be careful around the others," I added as she shook her head at me.

"The second was ripped apart. Those creatures in the forest are like demons themselves. But not like the demon people, but feral ones. She screamed the entire time until they finally got bored and killed her. They kept her alive for two days straight, slowly taking a body part at a time and keeping her alive to suffer."

My first goal would be to figure out a way to bypass those creatures. There had to be a solution. Maybe I could try to win them over if they were simple beasts. I would replace it, no matter what it took. If I couldn't get them on my side, then I'd replace out how to kill them.

"You're still thinking about it, aren't you?" Mitsi asked with a sad little sight. "I don't want to see anyone else killed. Please, it's best if you just give up and submit to being Alessa. You are treated a bit like a broodmare, but beyond that, your life could be much worse."

"Your children are ripped from you. There's no way I'm going through that again," I growled at her. It made me think of Clara and her siblings. Would they be okay? Would Zale still try to save them or would he write them off since I had betrayed them all?

Mitsi stroked her stomach and bit her bottom lip. "It's better they live than anything else happens to them. Maybe some of them won't end up in the worst case scenario." She chuckled softly bit instead of mirth, there was a darkness to it and her hand stilled. "But, not for my child. Whatever happens to this one, they'll live a cursed life. No one will ever want a hybrid of their parentage."

The door creaked and we both froze in place.

A tall woman with dark curls falling down her shoulders glided into the room, closing it shut behind her. Her red-tinted skin only accented her beauty. Obsidian eyes full of promises focused on me. "You are not the type of Luna normally brought here."

Mitsi bowed low. "Mistress Cee," she greeted. "This is Alessa. She is the Prime Luna." Mitsi glanced back at me. "And this is Mistress Cee, the current favorite of Master Aren and the Luna of the demons."