A Luna for Alpha Kieran
Chapter 19: Deal...

Chapter 19: Deal...

"You are being paranoid!"

Moonlight bled through the twisted branches overhead.Every snap of a twig, every rustle of leaves sent Mango’s pulse skittering. She gripped her staff tighter, the runes along its length flickering faintly!

Something was wrong.

A raven cawed above her.

The wind howled like a wounded beast. It whipped through jagged rocks and dead trees. Mango tugged her hood tighter, bracing herself against the gusts. The twisted trail before her was barely a path, more like a suggestion of where others might have walked before dying or vanishing. Her boots crunched over blackened earth, soft in places where ash still smoldered from some distant fire.Every step felt like a trespass.

"Keep walking," she muttered under her breath.She was already too far away from Blackmoon pack borders. This place was heavily forested...a forest of a different kind.

Her voice was almost lost in the wind. "You chose this. There is no turning back now.Keep walking,Mango..." she muttered to herself.

A shadow moved across the edge of her vision. She spun around, hand darting to the blade at her hip but there was nothing. Just branches blown in the wind and a scattering of rocks. Her heart hammered.A low whisper curled through the air.

"Turn back"...Mango froze. She hadn’t imagined that. Had she?

She spun, scanning the ridgeline. "Who’s there?"

Silence.

Just the wind again. Just that damn wind.

She picked up her pace, stumbling as the path narrowed into a craggy ledge.From what she knew, she still had a long way to go!

On her left, a sheer drop disappeared into mist. On her right, thorns clawed at her cloak like skeletal fingers.Another sound echoed behind her...footsteps?

She whipped around again. "I know someone’s there! Show yourself!"

Another false alarm... just like a tease!

She cursed and kept moving. The terrain grew crueler. The path sloped upward.Then came the trees.

Massive.

Ancient.

Weeping with sap as black as pitch.

They groaned when she passed, and one of them whispered her name.

"Mango..."

No! It wasn’t the tree. It was the very person she had come to!

"Selene?" she said, forcing her voice steady. "That you? Come out already!I need to talk to you."

A low laugh curled through the trees. "Oh? And here I thought you had sworn never to speak my name again."

A shadow peeled itself from the trunk of an ancient oak, resolving into a woman draped in silks the color of a fresh bruise. Her lips were painted black, her eyes lined with kohl so dark it looked like she had been weeping ink.

She tilted her head, and the moonlight caught the silver scars along her collarbone..marks Mango knew had been left by Kieran’s claws.

Old wounds. And some of them never healed!

Selene smiled, so slippery and slow. "How is he?Tell me, Mango. Does he still growl in his sleep? Or has he gone soft ?Tell me plz! "

"I did not come to discuss Kieran," Mango said firmly, gripping the hilt of her blade. "I came to make a deal."

Selene’s gaze turned razor sharp in an instant, lips curving with poisonous delight. "Deal?" she echoed, circling Mango like a wolf studying it’s prey. "My dear... you tread into my ruinous sanctuary, bleeding into my runes, stirring ghosts that have slept for centuries... and you want to negotiate?"

"I don’t want anything," Mango corrected coolly. "But the pack needs what only you can provide. And we are willing to pay for it."

That word "we" snapped something in Selene’s expression. " Kieran called for me? "

Mango did not flinch. " He is dying."

A flicker in those dark eyes...it was something raw, something furious. Then it was gone, buried beneath a smirk. "And you came to me for help? How desperate you must be."

"I came because you are the only one who knows how to pull demon poison from the blood," Mango said flatly. "Not because I wanted to."

Selene’s grin sharpened. "Liar. You hate that you need me. Just like he did." She stepped closer, the hem of her dress whispering against the dead leaves. "Does he still dream of me, Mango,I wonder? Does he still wake up sweating, calling my name?"

Mango’s jaw tightened. "He does not speak of you at all.You know how much he loved you once. And you know the wound you left!"

A mistake.

Selene’s fingers twitched, and the shadows at Mango’s feet twisted, coiling around her ankles like serpents. "Careful, witch. You are in my woods now."

Mango did not move. "Name your price."

Selene’s gaze dropped to the pulse fluttering in Mango’s throat. "I want to see him."

"No."

"Then he dies."

Mango exhaled through her nose. "He is not yours anymore, Selene. He has moved on."

Something dangerous flashed in Selene’s eyes. "Has he?" She stepped closer, close enough that Mango could smell the bitter herbs on her breath. " Then why does his new mate still smell like me?Tell me, healer...did he ever really let me go?"

The forest held its breath. Mango froze.

Now that she remembered, right from the beginning, she knew something about Autumn was familiar. But Selene had been gone for too long, her smell had been forgotten... by most. Mango could not correlate the two. Now that Selene mentioned... in fact... Autumn did have the faintest scent of Selene... somehow!

It took her a few moments to steady her breath. Then Mango slowly looked up and met Selene’s gaze. "The only thing he kept was his hatred for you."

Selene’s smile did not waver, but her fingers curled into claws. "Fine. Then here is my price. I want a vial of his blood. And when he wakes up..." She leaned in, lips grazing Mango’s ear. "You tell him it was me who saved him."

Mango pulled back. "Why?"

Selene’s eyes burned. "Because I want him to remember what he owes me."

The wind howled through the trees like a scorned lover, whipping Selene’s dark silks around her as if she was the main character.

Truth was, she was... at the moment.

Her fingers trailed along her own collarbone, tracing the scars Kieran had left behind...so smooth and slow, deliberate...filthy.

"You want my help, right?Mango,you do realise,you are at my mercy...not the other way round!" Selene purred, her voice dripping with venomous sweetness. "Then let’s talk about that little bitch he is fucking now."

Mango’s grip tightened on her staff. "Autumn has nothing to do with this."

Selene threw her head back and laughed, the sound so sharp as broken glass. "Oh, Autumn...what a cute name for a whore." She licked her lips, eyes glinting. "Tell me, does she scream for him like I did? Or does she just lie there, taking it like a good little pet?"

Mango’s jaw clenched. "You are disgusting."

"And you are desperate...oh I like it!" She clapped her hands! "No! I love it! " Her hand slid down her own body, fingers teasing the curve of her hip. "I bet he still thinks about me when he is inside her. Bet he closes his eyes and pretends she is me."

Mango forced herself to stay still, even as her skin crawled. "Name. Your. Price."

Selene stopped in front of her, so close Mango could feel her breath.Cold and as filthy as her. "I already told you. His blood. And I want him to know it was me." She tilted her head, grinning. "But since you are being so stubborn... maybe I will take something extra."

Her fingers danced up her own throat, nails scraping lightly. "Tell me, does he still like it rough? Or has that lamb tamed him?"

Mango’s patience snapped. "You lost the right to ask about him when you sold out the pack."

Selene’s smile turned feral. "Oh, Mango," she cooed. "You think this is about rights? This is about hunger." She leaned in, lips brushing Mango’s ear. "I want to watch him fuck her. I want to see if he still bites like he used to. I want to taste him again..."

"Enough!" Mango shoved her back, staff flaring with warning light. "You want his blood? Fine. But you don’t get to touch him. You don’t get near Autumn. And if you ever speak about either of them like that again, I will burn your fucking woods to the ground.Then you will have no where to run! "

Silence.

Then Selene’s laughter rang out, dark and as unhinged as she was. "Oh, little old healer Mango," she gasped, wiping imaginary tears. "Look at you, playing Sigma with me. Fine. Take your deal." She held out a hand, palm up. "But remember...you came to me. And when he wakes up choking on my name, when he realizes what you have done... that’s on you."

Mango did not flinch. "The vial. Now."

Selene smirked, pulling a small, obsidian bottle from the folds of her dress. "One drop at day break and one sharp when night falls! Any more, and it will eat him alive." She pressed it into Mango’s hand, fingers lingering. "Tell him I miss the way he used to beg."

Mango yanked her hand away. "Rot in hell, Selene."

"Already am, darling." Selene blew her a kiss as she melted back into the shadows. "Give Kieran my love."

The wind howled again, swallowing her laughter as Mango stood there, the vial burning in her grip like a curse.

"What the hell have I just done?"