The Alpha's Runaway Luna

[GISELLE’s Point of View].

Tears rolled down my face.

My life was over.

I smoothed the crumpled bedsheet beside me, sniffing the last of his scent on the pillow he used. And then I closed my eyes so tight that it was so hard not to sob. My throat was swelling and. my heart was racing. How could such a wonderful thing end so easily and then plummet to the brink of sadness and despair? What would I do after all that happened?

My inner wolf felt awful as well. She made sure to hide deep within me. She never wanted to add to the emotional burden I was already suffering because of the recklessness I showed Sobs emerged from my throat. I embraced the soft cashmere blanket against my bruised skin. Every inch of me was aching. My eyes caught the blood stain on the bedsheet, making me shudder in pain. Goddess, it was tormenting. Not just physically but emotionally as well. I thought my heart was already numb from all the heartbreaks I suffered from loving him. However, because of my own foolishness, everything that happened between me and him that night became a profound wake-up call for me.

He will never be yours, Giselle. I whispered inside my head. I had already exhausted all possibilities, leaving only the bitter truth I could taste at the back of my tongue.

I was never enough. I will never always be enough.

I bit my lower lip hard. I bit my lower lip so forcefully that I nearly tasted blood, causing a sudden surge of anger in my chest. It burned the miserable feeling in me and acted like gasoline that pumped throughout my veins, urging me to go out of bed and snatch all my clothes from the floor. In his room, I was totally alone. He left me without a word, and I thought it was okay. I thought it would be better if I didn’t have to see his face once I left his condo unit and disappeared from his life forever.

I put my clothes on with anger and shivering fingers, and I checked my face in the mirror first. My eyes were puffy red, and there were bruises visible on my arms and the right side of my neck. Last night was wild and intoxicating. Blissful and thrilling. But then morning came, and everything turned bleak and awful, and I just wanted to forget every bit of memory of it.

But it did happen. Every second of it was tattooed on my head, causing the tears to run freely down my pale cheeks. The delicious sound of his voice when he whimpered my name. His touch made me feel so delicate and weak. I felt like I was melting butter under his flawlessly sculpted body. He was so handsome. It was as if the gods had molded him into perfection, and no woman could ever resist the animal magnetism of that man!

I shut my eyes tight.

Well, perhaps not my sister, who had a stone for a heart. But it was aggravating that I was not exempted from being a crazy girl who fell in love with a man like him.

“Screw you, Caden!” I snarled under my shivering breath, then punched the mirror with all my strength, only to channel the pain away from my heart and down to the bleeding knuckles of my small hand.

I could feel the weight of the world falling on my shoulders.

***

[One month later.].

“No, Madelyn. I can’t go out tonight! I have to finish this project before the deadline, okay?” I kept my voice calm as I talked to my best friend, Madelyn, over the phone. I met her two years ago at an art viewing in one of the city's museums. She had been insisting on taking me out of the house since last week because, apparently, I now have a habit of imprisoning myself inside my small, old apartment full of canvasses, dirty paintbrushes, and tin cans of paint.

Yes. I sell paintings for a living.

“You have been sick for days, Giselle. You have to get out of your small den and breathe some fresh air, for goddess' sake! I am scared your brain has already melted with the fumes of those paint chemicals!”

I poured black coffee on my mug and smiled despite my friend’s anxious voice. She was always overprotective of me. I owe her a lot after I ran away from the pack and home. “Tomorrow. I swear. I am feeling great today, so I will pour all this positive energy into my work and finish it before the deadline. Then I’ll treat you to a nice cup of coffee this weekend. Is that good?” I made my voice as cheerful as possible and then took a small sip.

The bitter drink spread all over my mouth, and I almost gagged at the taste. Madelyn heard me and then went into total panic. “Giselle?! Are you alright?! What happened?

“I’m fine. It’s just the coffee. I forgot the sugar and cream.” I lied to her. The coffee was fine. I just couldn’t understand why my stomach didn’t want it anymore when I used to drink it every morning. “See you later, Madz.”

Before she could even speak again, I hung up the phone and placed the mug on the small wooden dining table. I went straight to the toilet and opened the medicine cabinet. There was a force telling me to open it and take something from it.

I felt like my heart crawled up to my throat.

“Maybe I am just paranoid,” I whispered to myself, but I still took the small white packet. I looked at myself in the mirror and moved sideways, focusing my eyes on my tummy. Then I touched it. I felt it in the palm of my hand, with a scared feeling in my chest.

It couldn’t be.

“It was just a one-night thing! No one gets pregnant like that,” I uttered in a shaky voice, my eyes full of dread as I looked at my face in the mirror. I was too scared to know the truth. I was not ready.

I put the packet of pregnancy tests on the sink, thinking about throwing it in the trash. But then, with shuddering fingers, I took it and tore the plastic packaging.

“There is only one way to find out.” I breathed desperately, trying to find the courage to do it. My heart was fast, beating wildly against my chest, and I could hear it inside my ear as it throbbed. Softly at first, and then it became louder and louder until I couldn’t hear anything but the thumping of my own heartbeat.

Ba dum, ba dum, ba dum.

Each second that I anxiously stayed inside the toilet made me want to scream. I watched how the red line on the test kit appeared. I held my breath for as long as I could. As if breathing would make the scariest result appear right in front of me.

And it did.

“F*CK!!!” I yelled at the top of my lungs and threw the pregnancy kit on the other side of the tiled wall. “No! This isn’t happening... THIS. IS. NOT. HAPPENING!”

No. No. No. No. No!

I heard a loud knock on the door, but I was too weak to go and open it. I sat on the toilet bowl while cold sweat beaded my forehead. I was so confused. I couldn’t believe that one night of mistakes could create something inside me that fast.

I didn’t know if I could raise a child now that I had removed myself from my former pack. I had no one to help me now but my best friend Madelyn, who I was sure would faint once she found out about the truth. About what actually happened.

About how Alpha Caden just disappeared like a ghost after he took my virginity that night at my sister’s engagement party.

[GISELLE’s Point of View].

“I’m sorry, I don’t accept extra projects until next month. Please tell your client that I need some adjustments to my schedule.”

I was still feeling weak after the pregnancy result. It totally blew my mind. I was still in a daze from the problems that would soon overtake my life and failed to notice that the people who came to my door were not the ones I had anticipated seeing today. I lifted my eyes to look at them. They were both wearing black suits with stoic expressions on their faces.

“Maam, are you Miss Giselle Sidney?”

My eyes widened. No! I wasn’t ready to go home yet!

Perplexed, I shut the door on their faces, and my hands quickly worked on the locks. The two men tried to push it open, but I was faster. My brain focused as the adrenaline throbbed in my veins. I stepped away from the door, thinking about how I would escape those men who had been hunting me for over a month since I left my father’s pack. I couldn’t let them capture me now that I had a bigger problem to deal with than hiding away from my own family.

“Miss Sidney! We are just following orders! Just give up and come with us!” The man yelled from outside the door after someone kicked it.

I saw that the hinges were not going to hold any longer, so I had no choice but to go down the window and leave my small, dear apartment.

God, I hated it!

I lived on the second floor. Jumping from the window was not too bad for a werewolf like me at that height. But then I froze when I remembered I was pregnant, and I couldn’t risk skipping down and running away down the street just to get away from them. What if something happened to me if I landed wrong? What if I bleed?

There was no time to decide.

The men in black suits finally succeeded in breaking my wooden door apart, and they stepped inside. Both brushed the dust off their suits and then looked at me impatiently.

“Just leave me alone! I am not going back to the Greyfur Pack! I won’t let Father take control of my life again!” I yelled at them desperately, and they looked at each other, which made me confused.

I frowned and uttered, “My father didn’t send you?” I asked as I tipped my head to the other side in curiosity, “Then who sent you here?”

*****

“Miss, the Alpha is already waiting for you in the dining hall.”

One of the waitresses kindly led me to the dining area, where lots of wealthy people gathered. The aroma of expensive wines and the delectable smell of fine dining cuisine permeated the entire space as well-dressed male Omegas served food and beverages all over the hall.

After the two men asked me to go with them, I never expected this kind of VIP treatment since I arrived at an expensive five-star hotel and until I got into the restaurant. The Highridge Pack Alpha's servants had prepared a black velvet dress and white diamond jewelry for me for the occasion.

I already had an idea what this fuss was about. But since I couldn’t run away from the people chasing me since I left the Greyfur Pack, perhaps it was finally time to face the person I had been hiding for over a month. I had to make it clear to him that I had no intention of going back anymore. No matter how hard they try to convince me,.

I won't let him sway me easily with his flowery words.

Or his charming eyes and pretty looks.

Yes. It was Caden. Alpha Caden Einsworth. It was him who had been bugging me, not Dad, which was surprising.

And terrifying at the same time.

He stood in his seat the moment our eyes met. His back was straight. His eyes were nervous, just like mine. His wavy, raven-dark hair glistened under the white light of the crystal chandelier above us. His green eyes gazed at me so deeply that my heart started to pound fast and hard as I closed the gap between us.

The last time we were together, we were both naked in his bed.

I swallowed a huge lump in my throat as he gestured for me to sit like a gentleman. There was no mistake that he was as anxious as I was because he couldn’t even smile or gaze back into my eyes once I was finally settled in my seat. The servers asked him for his order, and he tried to distract his perturbation by choosing the best they had on their menu.

“Dad sent you to convince me to go back home. Didn’t he?” I asked Caden with a condescending look on my face because I was not pleased to see him in a situation like this. Just like my father, he had a habit of forcing people to do what they wanted. They never ceased to amaze me with how domineering and demanding they were when it came to me, like I was still a child who needed them.

For goodness’s sake, I am already twenty! I wanted to live my life the way I wanted it! Away from my manipulative father. And especially, away from my perfect, too-smart older sister.

Away from Caden’s bewitching eyes. I whispered in my head, adding the man to the list of people I needed to avoid my entire life.

“Yes,” Caden answered, his voice calm and collected, as if he had prepared a lot just to see me tonight. “And we need to talk about something important, Giselle. I know I made a huge mistake, and I want to apologize for what happened."

Mistake?

The word felt like a hot knife piercing through my chest. It was heartbreaking to learn that the phenomenal evening I shared with him was merely a mistake on his part. I wanted to punch him straight in the face!

But I decided to stay calm as I averted my eyes from him. “It was all in the past. There is nothing we can do about it. I am not asking you to take responsibility for what happened, Caden. I am fine, and I am happily living on my own while pursuing my dream.” I answered with confidence and with a smile, but deep inside, I was hurting. “We were both drunk, and it was fine. I am not blaming you if that’s what you are worried about.”

“I am not worried, Giselle. I’m back, and I want to get what is mine.”

I looked at him in the eyes, baffled at what he meant by those words. And then the realization came to me: if he already knew. But that was insane! I just tested positive for pregnancy this morning, and I haven’t told anyone about it yet! Even my best friend, Madelyn!

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Caden. There is nothing here that is yours.” I scowled at him as anger rose in my chest. “You didn’t show up yourself for a whole month after what happened, and now you are telling me you want something from me? Don’t make me laugh, please.”

But Caden’s green eyes darkened as he leaned over the table and gazed at me intensely in the eyes. I felt like my heart skipped a beat. He was so handsome when he was so serious like this, but I had to focus and keep in mind that I shouldn’t let myself be deceived by his striking looks.

“I can smell it from here, Giselle. I can feel that small life forming inside you, and I know that baby is mine,” he growled so low that only I could hear. It sent shivers down my skin, making me gasp at what I heard.

I stared at him, not blinking.

“I have to go now,” I said with panic in my voice, and I stood violently away from the table. I was at the front door when I stopped after two men suddenly appeared and blocked my way out of the restaurant, making me more terrified.

“There is nowhere for you to run, Giselle Sidney. You have to come with me,” Caden calmly uttered as he stepped closer, pulling me against him.