Grey's Tribute

Shatter Our Moon

Irritating noise fills my head, the sound of a fly buzzing against a window pane...annoying.

Something's rubbing me the wrong way, a sensation, a whisper I cannot place....yet.

Discord hangs heavy in the air, a brackish tastes pools at the back of my throat, creeping along the edges of my tongue. I try not to make a face at its ugliness.

Churning agitation rolls heavy in my stomach, waves of discontent simmer slowly out my pores. The Northerner eyes me cautiously.

"Meela." It's his warning to me...to settle down.

Alpha Steve chuckles. "Grey, she's always been rueful. I'm surprised the collar hasn't tamed that out of her."

In that moment, once the words leave his mouth, I knew without a doubt he wasn't in my corner.

Looking at him sitting there at ease, smug, almost gloating with a win he knows he has in the back of his pocket. Things will go his way, he's sure of it. Reclining back, relaxed in the overstuffed chair, he reminds me of a spider that's cast its web and now awaits the juicy fly.

He's a very dangerous animal, cunning, scheming. I always thought he portrayed a quite confidence. Looking deeper through his layers, it's an arrogance, a cockiness that leaves me....conflicted. This isn't the man I used to know.

Turning away from him, I concentrate my full attention on Elliot. "What of your mate Elliot?"

He shifts slightly...uncomfortable. He has a lot to learn from his father in terms of composure.

"I haven't found one yet."

My heart drops to my stomach. "When you do, what will happen to me?" It's a question waiting for an answer that's stuck in his throat.

"He will reject her," his father's replies quickly.

I do notice a fine tremor of his upper lips that fades away quickly. Bristling up at his father's words.

"Elliot, what will you do? Ship me back to my brothers in disgrace when you finally meet your mate?"

Shame washes over his face at the truth I speak. He has much to learn about hiding his emotions. He's still a juvenile in a man's body.

I shoot a glance at Victoria. She is composed, showing no outward sign of emotion. This female is a Queen: regal, poised, watching all the players in the game.

She's confident, this true Alpha Female, you can tell by the way she holds herself, the way she looks at you with a fierce dominance. Her brother, on the other hand, has a lot to learn. Everything about her screams Queen. There is no competition between the two of us. She wins hands down and I will concede. She's a rarity. None have lived, usually killed at birth none living past their first intake of air, it's always smoothed out before their lungs get to expand, as the Moon demands of every pack.

Slightly angling his body away from me in a show of dismissal, Alpha Steve's words are solely directed at the Northerner. "Victoria will come into her heat at the beginning of the full moon."

Checkmate.

His last move was saved for the end. I want to clap out loud and yell bravo. Bravo for his performance. With those words, my fate is sealed. I see the way the northerner's eyes long for a child when the pregnant females walk by him, his eyes lingering on their stomachs, the regret etched on his face in sorrow of what could have been.

Holding my glass in the air, I tip it in the Alpha's direction, silently applauding him for the way he played his game. His gloating is too much, it offends my palate with its abrasive taste, biting into my taste buds. The Northerner gives me a dangerous look, trying to make me behave.

I can tell the wolf in me has ascended and my eyes flash their golden colour his way, in a show of aggression. A low lethal rumbles vibrates out of his chest, answering my challenge.

"Meela, out now!" The northerner's voice is strong and hard on my ears with its authority.

Getting up, Elliot takes my arm and directs me out of the room.

Walking into the living room, I turn on him. "What's this all about? We haven't seen each other in years and now you want me to be your Luna when you never even met your mate yet?"

He steps closer to me. "I think we would be a good team, Meela, you and me."

"You and me... We were young, Elliot, you have no idea what you're saying. When you meet your mate, she will become your soul, your life. Nothing and nobody will compare to her."

"You don't know what I want," he hisses.

"So tell me what your father wants because that's who's pulling the strings? Tell me why your father is doing this, Elliot?" I feel so betrayed by them, the trust I once had gone.

He goes to speak but clamps his jaw shut. Who has this juvenile become?

"Elliot I won't be your Luna. I can't... It's not right, what you're asking. It goes against everything that's right."

"So what will you do? Because Grey will take the deal."

That grips my heart tight. Deep down, I already know the answer.

"I'll return to my brother," I say the words with a feeling of shame. I'm not sure why I feel shame, but I do. I'm ashamed because I can't help my mate, my soul.

"I'm sorry, Meela, you don't deserve this...any of this. It's your mate, he's ruined my sister so her real mate does not want her. My father is only doing what's right for her."

"Her mate will take her back, you'll see. He's just angry, but one day he will come for her. Then what?"

With a thundering bang, the door flies open revealing a raging Thomas, storming out. His eyes meet mine with a look of pity.

"Meela, get away from that pup!" The Northerner's voice has dropped in tone, lowering in an animalistic vibration of warning.

I hadn't realized how close we were standing to one another until now. The Northerner stomps out of the office and his eyes, silver and dangerous, meet Elliot's. A challenge is issued by the Northerner. Elliot casts his eyes away unable to hold the Northerner's gaze, and my only thought of him is how pathetic he is, how...weak.

Elliot takes a step back and I notice his feet shuffling from side to side, the slight shake of his hand. He's got a nervousness about him, a defect in his character. He will be a weak leader and I think his father is aware of this.

"Thomas, please show our visitors to the guest house. Meela, I need to talk to you upstairs."

As we step into my bedroom, the northerner faces me. I can see his cracks now, I have a clearer picture of what's made him this way. With great shame comes a greater price of repentance.

He's willing to shatter our moon for his boyhood sins.

This is goodbye. He doesn't have to say it, I can feel it.

Putting my hands on the sides of his face, I kiss him slowly. It feels so natural, unquestioned, like breathing.

He doesn't hesitate, touching me like he owns every part of me. Pressing me tight against his body. Deep down, I like this, the feeling of his dominance, of his power.

Pulling away from my lips, his forehead rests against mine. His breathing is labored as he fights internally for control. He wraps his strong arms around me and I cry, sobs wracking my body.

It's crude and raw with emotion. I bury my face in his shoulder and he lets me.