The Luna’s Choice by Kat Silver

Kylee had told me on many occasions how her sister had changed after the death of their

father. She was there for Kylee at first, but in less than a year, she started spending all her

time away from home. She ended up dropping out of the private school her parents had

worked so hard to send her to. Eventually, Kylee lost track of what she was doing with her

life.

Kylee was there for her when she was around, trying to be supportive. But she wasn’t the

sister she used to love. What bothered her most was Ayla’s treatment of their mother. Ayla

still lived in the house with her, but Kylee always got the impression that helping their

mother was just a burden. She worried their mother would be left with no one to take care

of her, and she wasn’t in the best of health anymore.

“I have an idea,” I interrupted. They both looked up at me expectantly. “Why doesn’t your

mother come to stay with us for a while? At least until the ceremony? We have the room in

the packhouse, and I’m sure you and my mother would appreciate the extra input.”

Both their faces lit up.

“Really? We can do that?” Kylee said happily.

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Chapter 2 Theo

“Of course,” I said with a smile.

“Thank you.”

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Kylee jumped up from the table and threw her arms around me, kissing me sweetly. I

ignored the growls coming from Kieran. Seeing their reaction told me I had made the

exact right decision. Despite what the burning in my chest told me.

This was who I was supposed to be with. Not Ayla.

‘Keep saying. Maybe believe.‘

I told him to shut up, and he retreated into the back of my mind, cutting himself off from

me.

He would get over it. Once the bond was completely severed, he would understand this

was the right thing for us and the pack.

Ayla

I had managed to get myself together enough to rejoin my family. The pain that seared

through me from Theo’s rejection and my subsequent acceptance almost brought me to

my knees. It took all of my strength to keep my body from shaking, praying he didn’t

notice the blood coming from my palms. I had clenched my fists so hard trying to stay on

my

feet that I broke the skin.

When he finally left, I released the sob that was the only thing capable of coming out of

my mouth. But I didn’t let the tears fall. Not yet. They couldn’t know.

So, I steadied my breathing and went back into my house. I

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was surprised to find that Kylee and Ma weren’t in the dining room anymore. They weren’t

in the living room either. But Theo was.

“They’re in your mother’s room packing,” he said coldly.

“Packing?” What was he talking about?

He stepped closer to me, lowering his voice. “I think it’s best. that you keep your distance

from Kylee for a while. We don’t want her finding out about this. But I know she’ll want her

mother to be a part of the ceremony planning. So she’s coming back with us.”

I felt like he just slapped me in the face. As if I would ever tell her. That’s why I was doing

this. So that I wouldn’t break my baby sister’s heart. I gave him what he wanted, and now

he was going to keep me from my family?

Dasha was confused and in pain, whimpering in my head because she didn’t understand

how he could be so cruel to us.

‘Because he doesn’t want to deal with the trouble,‘ I told her, fighting the tears that were

forming. ‘If this is how he is going to treat us, fine. It just makes this easier.‘

“If that’s what you think is best,” I said to Theo through gritted teeth.

“Kylee,” he called out, not breaking eye contact. “Let’s get going.”

My sister came prancing into the room. “Already?”

“It’s getting late. Let’s head to the hotel for the night. We’ll

swing by in the morning to pick up your mother.”

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“Okay,” she said brightly before turning to me. “What about you, Ayla? You’re coming

with, too, right?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Theo decided to answer for

1. me.

“We were just talking about that. Ayla has some things going on with work and can’t get

away.”

I gave her a tight smile. “Yes, I’m sorry. But I will try to come out there as soon as I can.”

“Oh, okay, I understand. But I’ll make sure we have a room ready for you whenever you

can come.”

“Of course. I can’t wait,” I said, my heart breaking again, knowing Theo wouldn’t allow me

to be there with her.

We all said our goodbyes, and they left. Ma was still standing at the window watching

them drive off when I went to clean up the dishes in the kitchen. She finally came in

behind me and started opening another bottle of wine. We had gone through four during

dinner already. And I barely touched my glass.

“Ma, you’ve had enough for the night,” I said calmly.

“Oh, come on. It’s a celebration,” Ma said. “It’s not every day you find out your baby is

going to be a Luna.”

“Ma, you can celebrate more tomorrow. You need to finish packing,” I said, gently taking

the bottle from her hand. “I’m sure Kylee and Theo will be here first thing in the morning.”

“We can celebrate together while you help me pack,” she said, grabbing the bottle back

from me. “Then I’ll help you pack.”

O

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I winced. This wasn’t going to end well. “I’m not coming, Ma.”

She stopped with the glass halfway to her lips. “What do you mean you’re not coming?”

she asked with a pout. “You have to be there. Kylee is going to be mated. I told her we

would help pay for the ceremony.”

I winced again. She meant me. I would be helping pay for the ceremony. Ma didn’t have a

penny to her name.

“I will send you however much you need. But I have to stay close to work for the next few

weeks. I’ll come out later. We have six months to get ready,” I said, guiding her down the

hall.

“That’s not the point. You should be there for her. This is a big deal. Don’t be so selfish,

Ayla.”

Her words stung, but they weren’t unexpected. This was kind of the norm when she got

like this. I know she didn’t really mean it. At least, she wouldn’t mean it when she was

sober. It was just her way of coping with her abandonment issues. I got her into her

bedroom and set her on the bed. I changed her into her nightgown and tucked her in. I left

her sitting up against the pillows while I pulled clothes out of her closet, asking if she

wanted to take specific items.

Pretty soon, she started to tip to the side. I coaxed her to lie down and tucked her all the

way in. She was asleep in seconds. I hurried through the rest of her packing. Stuffing two

large suitcases as full as I could before carrying them out to the living room. Then I locked

the front door, finished the last of the dishes, and slipped out into the backyard.

I stripped off my clothes as I headed for the forest, desperate to get under its protective

shadows. As soon as I passed the

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treeline, I shifted, taking off at full speed. I let Dasha feel all the pain. I didn’t try to hold

her back anymore.

We would mourn the loss of our fated mate. The loss of the one person who was supposed

to see us for who we were. The one person who was supposed to always put us first,

without demands or expectations. We would mourn the loss of never getting to experience

that.

But we wouldn’t mourn him.

–

We ran until we could barely breathe. Until Dasha stopped at the edge of our pond – our

place of solace

our place of solace and let out a heartwrenching howl into the night air. Shifting at the end

as she retreated back into my mind, out of reach to heal her broken heart, while I let the

torrent of tears finally fall.

I fell to the forest floor, curling into myself as the sobs wracked my body, intensifying the

burn that was still there from our bond being ripped from my heart. I lay there and cried

until I had nothing left in my body, and my eyes drifted closed on the image of the moon

and the stars reflecting on our peaceful little pond.

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