Leaving the Pack

No one should hold their breath for anyone.

You don't want your lungs to be silent,

It may prevent the cracks from spreading further,

But they will eventually.

To hold yourself together at times,

You must give yourself permission to depart.

Even if you have to break your own heart,

Is all it takes to allow you to take a breath.

"Luna! Luna! Luna!" Luna's conversation with her servant was cut short when they heard the alpha yelling her name with anger.

"Luna, the alpha is angry. You can hide and I will tell him you are not here." Phelan suggested. She was afraid that the alpha might do something horrible to her master.

"That is the most terrible advice that I have heard from you. The alpha already smelled my scent, and there was no way to run away from him." Luna replied.

Luna does not know what she did to anger the alpha. She just went to the forest to release the pain that she felt.

"What about now? The alpha could hurt you. You just want him to do that to you?" The frightened servant asked.

"I could only face him. Quick, go out. I do not want you to be involved with this argument. Do not enter this room before the alpha could leave. Tell the other servants not to come in here." Luna immediately ordered her servant. She doesn't want them to be involved with their marital problems.

"But Luna… I am afraid that Alpha will hurt you. Should I inform your father?" Phelan is obviously sweating and begins to panic on what to do with the situation.

"No! Do not tell anyone, not even my father. You know him very well. Just go and do not come back. Hurry… You do not have to worry about me. I can handle this myself." Luna assured her servant who is clearly scared of the possibilities that her master will be hurt by the alpha but she have no other choice but to leave Luna alone in the room.

As soon as Phelan could leave, the alpha came into the room. The room filled with a terrifying aura as the alpha appeared.

"Alpha…" Luna bowed and greeted him. The alpha responded to her actions by giving her a strong slap across her face. Luna's right cheek quickly becomes so red meanwhile the side of her upper lip is bleeding and her eyes widened like it was asking for a question. She was still in shock about what happened. It happened out of the blue. She knew that the alpha came in furious but who could have predicted that he was going to slap her this tough?

"Alpha? What's going on?" Those are the only words that came out from her mouth. She was still too stunned about the alpha's action.

"What's going on? Ask yourself Luna. What is going on with you? What is wrong with you?" Alpha asks her back with rage.

"Alpha, I do not understand. I do not know how to answer you? What is going on here? Did I do something wrong? What is that slap for?" Luna was so puzzled. She does not know everything inside the alpha's mind.

"You really do not know Luna? Or you just want to hide it from me? I already warned you Luna. I freaking warned you! I already told you not to harm Amanda!" Alpha replied.

Luna was taken aback with his statement. She could not remember ever hurting that disgusting mistress. All she can think of is what happened earlier. But she did nothing wrong to Amanda. She just simply did not forgive her.

"Amanda? She said that I hurt her? She told you that? When?" Luna chuckled in disbelief with what she is hearing right now.

"Have you remembered now? So, is it actually true that you have harmed her!" The alpha angrily spoke as he shook Luna by her shoulder.

"Harmed her? Did she really tell you that? I did not know that the alpha is so easy to convince. She is clearly lying! How could have hurt her? We have met earlier but I even merely touched her." Luna defended herself.

"And now, you are calling her a liar? Do you think I am a fool not to know whether she is lying or not?" He asks her.

Even though Luna was afraid of the flaming aura of the alpha, she has to be brave in order to protect herself.

"Tell me Alpha, what did she say about our encounter earlier? How did I hurt her? Did I hurt her through my words? Is that how delicate that devious and scheming woman is, for you to be her knight in shining armor?" Luna questioned him. This may be the only time that Luna has used all of the courage that she saved for a long time.

"Are you getting crazy right now, Luna? Are you really that insensitive to Amanda? She is carrying my child. A child who will inherit the throne in the future. Is that how wicked you are to force her to ask for forgiveness?" He confronted her.

"I wasn't forcing her to ask for an apology from me. She insisted on doing it and now is it my fault, huh? I am being wrong for the actions that she did? That is insane!" She could hardly process the logic behind it. She was not able to believe that the alpha just hit her for that reason.

"I already warned you, Luna. The second time you're gonna do that, a simple slap can't make up for it. If the child that Amanda is carrying right now will have complications, I will only be blaming you and I will let you pay it with your life!" He threatened Luna.

"I already told you that I did not do anything to her. I did not hurt her. Why don't you believe my explanation? Is that so hard for you to believe in me? In fact, why would I do that in the first place?" She tried to explain it to the alpha but his ears were simply closed with Luna's statement.

"Because you are worried that she will replace you as the Luna of the pack in the future. That's what you said, right? You are afraid that she would take your position right after she gave birth to my heir. And that for me is the only acceptable explanation why you did that. Is that why you are jealous and threaten Luna?" Alpha said to his heartbroken wife. Luna can't even comprehend where this idea came from. Who planted this into the alpha's mind?

Luna thought that the alpha knew that she was not interested with the prestige and the power of the position that she has right now. Ever since they got married, she always emphasized that she is just doing this because she is the alpha's wife and not because of her greed for authority.

"Luna, this will be the last time that I will warn you. Do not cause any harm to Amanda and to my child. If you do that, I will assure you that no one will try to usurp to your position. Don't try to anger me again. Next time you'll do it, I will make sure that you will be dead." He said before leaving the room.

Luna was just left in the room speechless. She thinks that the situation will not get any worse but here she is, confronted by her husband with the sin she did not make.

"Luna, Luna, are you alright?" Phelan cried as soon as she entered the room.

"Yeah, I am fine. Wipe off your tears. Someone might see you crying and I will have to think of an excuse." She replied. She went immediately into the room where all of her belongings were stored.

"Luna, what are you doing?" The addled Phelan asks her.

"Help me pack those things. We have to leave the pack as soon as possible." Luna declared as she got her stuff from the storage.

"Leave? But why Luna? Please do not be reckless with your decision. Your father is going to blame you for disregarding the interests of the pack." Her servant said, which makes her stop what she is doing.

Phelan is right. Her father is the beta of the pack. It is only expected for him to be loyal to the pack. She should also consider what her father would think of her.

"But, what should I do now? Anytime soon, the alpha will marry Amanda. And I know that Amanda will never stop her tricks until I will be deposed as a Luna. I know she is planning to demote me from my position by any means possible. She will do anything - even kill me." Luna uttered. She is not worried that she will be overthrown as the Luna of the pack. What she's worried about is that she would lose to Amanda for her husband's love and favor.

"Stop thinking about those unfortunate possibilities, Luna. You are just tired. You should rest now. It is already past midnight. You still have lots of affairs to be managed tomorrow." Phelan suggested.

"You know what, you're right. I have to rest now so that I can think clearly tomorrow." Luna followed her servant's advice.

Luna decided to go into her room to rest. She is exhausted from this long day, anyway. But before she could close her eyes, she was bugged out about how she could leave the pack.

"I still need to resolve a handful of conflicts for the pack. I should not decide to run away from the pack and leave them with problems to handle. I could have at least done my responsibility as Luna before leaving. But how could I do that without being seen or detected by anyone? I am certain that someone would report to the alpha that I ran away. I could be punished or even sentenced to death with what I am planning. I am sure I can think of the best way to abandon this life." She said to herself while planning on what to do. She is still thinking about the right time to leave.

"But what about my father? Will the pack blame my father if I leave? Will my father blame me for being inconsiderate and acting without caution? I know my father will be furious if he knows my plan." She suddenly remembers her father. Her father was the only relative that she had and she does not want him to be hurt by her disappearance.

But despite all of the reasons that she could think of to stay, her plan is final. She must do it alone. She has already decided to leave secretly, without mentioning anything to her father or even to Phelan.