Warriors of Blue moon
Chapter 17 - Consequences and Celebrations

One Month Later.

I woke up grinning from ear to ear, although I was missing the warm body that I had started to get used to waking up to. I had been spending most nights sleeping at Layton’s but last night he still had a lot to get done, now Tina’s sentencing was being dealt with. So I decided to stay at home, and waking up to his morning message telling me he missed me and loved me had me practically skipping to the shower even though I was slightly dreading the situation I was about to drag myself into.

I had seen Zara a lot more over the last few weeks. I had stayed on to assist nurses with sedating Tina and I’d never leave without checking in on Zara and the more I saw her, the more vacant she started to look. No matter what we talked about, there never seemed to be any reaction or emotion from her and I’d always leave feeling glum.

I put on my armour and made my way to the cells and, as always, one of the guards assisted me. As I approached the cells, Zara was sat on the cold stone floor crossed-legged, just staring at her hands. Although she physically looked healthier and her regular change of clothes and washing with soap kept her from smelling like a sewage rat, none of that seemed to improve her mood and I wasn’t sure how this conversation was going to go.

I cleared my throat as I stood outside her cell, but she didn’t budge or look at me “Zara” I called softly “what are you doing?”

“Mmm, just looking at my hands, I never noticed how long my fingers were” she giggled as she started to hum to herself.

Okaaay I thought to myself as my brows raised “I’m here about your mu… umm Tina?” She had asked me a while ago to stop referring to Tina as her mother.

“Mmm” she grunted

“Her sentencing has finished, they came to a decision yesterday” I sighed.

“Mmm, yea I know”.

“You do?”

"Yea, when they bought her back down here last night, she was kicking off about it… death sentence, right?”

“That’s right.... I’m guessing by her silence she’s still sleeping off the last of the drug?”

“Mmm” she shrugged “I guess so”.

I nodded to the guard to unlock her cell and, as he did instantly, I walked in and sat down on the floor opposite her. “Zara” I said in just more than a whisper, ”how are you feeling about it?... It’s happening in two days.”

She finally put her hands down but just stared at the floor as her shoulders slumped. ” She didn’t say anything to me last night. When she finally stopped screaming, I called for her, but she just screamed for me to shut up, then went off about, If I had tried harder to get Layton to fall for me, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

I thought for a moment before I responded “You know, sometimes no matter how many mistakes a person makes or how many people they hurt and drag down in the process, they never see it as their fault. Rather, they always pass the blame, because they can never see their own faults.”

“I suppose I just wished… or hoped that maybe she’d say something motherly, something that would show she did love me and didn’t just see me as a disappointment”.

"Zara, they were adults, and you were just a kid when they kick started all of this, you should be thinking of them as a disappointment”.

“Oh, I do” she replied glumly, “but… they’re still my parents and I still wanted them to love me”.

I nodded “I know, it’s a shame things went as far as they did”.

“When.... when do you think my sentencing will be?”

I shrugged “I don’t know Zara, probably in a month from now. With Alpha’s having to come back and forth, I’d expect they’d want a gap before yours”.

She nodded slowly “Ok”

I got up and made my way out of her cell, but I stopped and looked back to her as she called me.

“Lelanna... do you think they’d give me the same sentence as her? I don’t want to be here anymore, but the thought of having my head cut off in front of everyone.... It’s… well, frightening! Do you think they’d agree to a lethal injection instead?”

“Maybe… you’ll have to plead your case for that, but it’s worth a try”.

I left her and made my way out of the cell building to help Layton with some of his duties. I wanted to be done early so I could go home and change. There was something I wanted to do tonight!

********

As my family all sat round the table and we had managed to wrangle Sam and Dakota into joining us too, I wanted to tell them all tonight about me and Layton courting, and he’d planned to sit down with his family and tell them too. As everyone tucked into the pizza and salad my mum had made, I thought it was now or never. “Umm everyone” I spoke over their loud chatter, and they all silenced and looked at me “there’s something I want to tell you… Um, me and Layton, well we’ve been dating for just over a month now and well, we’re very serious about each other and he…. he wants me to be his Luna”

“EEekk” Dakota squealed out as she slapped her hands to her mouth to hide her wide grin.

“About time!” my parents said in unison as they chuckled.

“What?” I asked them, feeling slightly puzzled.

“Oh, come on Lanna” My dad smiled ”we thought perhaps your friendship you two used to have would blossom into something more”

Little did they know it had always been ‘blossoming’

"So, the stubborn git finally admitted his feelings to you then?” Sam muffled with a mouth full of pizza.

"You knew?” I asked

“Well, he confessed it to me a while back, but I always sensed he had feelings for you”.

“Oh, well he’s told me, and we both realised we have loved each other for a very long time”.

“Awwwww” Dakota swooned “So, he loved you all this time?”

I smiled and nodded.

“I can’t believe it” she squealed again ”This is so cute… and amazing… and exciting!” she suddenly gasped as her hand flew to her mouth ”Oh my goodness.... You’re going to be the Luna!”

Everyone’s mouths dropped at the same time.

“Oh, shit yea” My dad uttered as they all suddenly became aware of what I had said before.

“He’s definitely serious about you, right?” My mum asked, her eyes full of concern ”I just don’t want him hurting you!”

I nodded ”He is mum”.

“I can vouch for that” Sam added “when I spoke to him, I could tell he was head over heels mum. I had never seen him like that… ever”.

“Well, ok then” she smiled and grabbed my hand ”I can’t believe you’re going to be the Luna, this is crazy! but honey, It’s so nice to see how happy you have been lately, and we finally know why”.

“Thanks everyone, but I don’t want you all to make a big deal out of this Luna thing. I’m still just me! And he hasn’t proposed to me yet, so we’ll see how things go, but for now, yes, I’m happy.”

After a long dinner and a couple of drinks after, we all finally decided to go to bed. I had training with Gabel first thing tomorrow and I wanted to have lunch with Layton, although most of our lunches turned more into a fondling session than eating or drinking… but that was all fine by me and from the reaction I got from him every time, I knew I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

xxxxx

Once training was done the following day, I headed over to the Pack house. I had asked Layton for a meeting earlier this morning. He had seemed a bit confused as to why I was asking for one, especially when I said it was regarding pack matters.

I walked in to see him sitting at his desk with Sam and Dakota sat on the couch. I sat at my desk facing them and I mentally readied myself for what I was about to bring up to them as they all looked at me patiently.

“Everything ok, my love?” Layton finally broke the silence.

I intertwined my fingers together and rested my hands on the desk as I sat with confidence. “Yes, I’ve asked for this meeting because there’s something that has been troubling me, and I think it’s time to address the problem with you all”.

Dakota gasped ”You’re not leaving, are you? I thought you were happy. Oh Lelanna, please don’t go or at least give it more time” she rambled out

“WHAT?” Layton asked, shocked “That’s.... that’s not what this is about, is it?" He looked at me worriedly.

“No!“. I shook my head. “That’s not it”

“Oh, thank goodness” Dakota breathed out in relief and Layton’s posture relaxed again

.

"Over the last few weeks, I’ve had many conversations with Zara and a lot of them were quite deep. It gave me a lot of insight to how everything spiralled, how it all started”

“ok” Layton looked unsure

"Well, I found out that she was only thirteen when her parents started to brainwash her against the entire pack, especially against your family” I motioned to Layton as I looked at him.

“They… spent a few years teaching her that, it was them that should be in power, them with the Alpha and Luna status. Then they started to demand she try and woo you into falling for her so that she could become Luna and help them into power... but no matter how hard she tried, both she and her parents realised you weren’t paying any interest and that’s when they started to view me as a threat. Apparently, they could see you had feelings for me, so they wanted me out of the way. Zara kept trying to get your attention but...”

"Yea and she lied to have you banished”, Sam interrupted me.

“Yes, but there is more to it than that!”

“Like what? What excuse could she possibly have to get you punished?” Layton asked.

“She said her parents started to get impatient, they started to blame her for not trying hard enough and then one night she overheard a conversation they were having with her aunt and uncle.” I gulped before I proceeded. “She overheard them planning to lure me, you” I looked to Sam ”our parents and both Lilly and Daisy into the forest and pay rogues to attack us until we were all dead”

“WHAT!” Sam shouted as he sat upright, his body tense.

I nodded “Yes, so… to stop things going that far, she came up with the plan to say that I attacked her. I think initially she thought I’d be arrested for life or put to death, so when I was given banishment, she was worried it wouldn’t be enough to stop her parents doing something more…. And well, she was right. She says she didn’t even know they were planning to leave Blue moon. She came home one day to them packing their things and dragging her away with them. She didn’t know anything about the rogues they had working for them until they took her to those caves where we found them all. She said she wanted out of it all, but she was too scared to come back. Her parents said if she came back, she’d be killed. So instead, she got word out to her friend Lisa. She warned her to get as many people as possible to safety before the attack happened. When I caught her that day, she was running to find them to make sure they were safe”. I paused, looking at them all, waiting for some sort of response… although from their frowns I knew it wouldn’t be anything positive and…. I couldn’t blame them.

“Annnd you believe her?” Dakota asked as she folded her arms.

“Yes, I do”

“Why?” Sam asked, looking annoyed. “She’s a criminal… a traitor!”

“Where are you going with this?” Layton asked calmly.

“I...I..” I sighed “I want her to be given a second chance”. I looked at their shocked stares as they tried to take in what I just said, probably thinking I was crazy!

“Are you fucking serious?” Sam looked at me, just as I knew they all would.

“Yes, I am” I spoke up confidently “I believe her, and I’ve taken the time to find out how this all started and why she did the things she did. She’s changed, she’s done with both of her parents, she’s completely numb down there and I do feel that she hugely regrets her entire part in it all and everything that’s happened.”

“Lelanna” Layton ran a hand through his hair frustratingly, ”We can’t just free a criminal, she fucked up A LOT, and now suddenly, because things didn’t go her way, she wants forgiveness?”

“Well, she’s not the only one that wanted forgiveness… is she?” I directed at him and I know it must have stung a little ”Look I remember Zara when we were kids and she was happy. She had a lot of friends. In fact, we would play together. Then, not long after we got to high school, she changed and out of nowhere she had it against me and I never understood why… and now I know! She was just a child, when they convinced her their way was the right way and they were her parents, course she’s going to listen to everything they tell her”.

“This is madness” Sam shook his head as he stood up and started pacing back and forth. “and what happens if she plots against the pack again, against our Alpha?”

“I believe she won’t.... like I said, I’ve seen a side to her none of you have and she’s still young. She’s our age, Dakota! She was just a teenager when they led her down their shitty power-hungry rebellion… she was impressionable. She can’t be blamed completely when she had no one to turn to. No one around her to tell her that her parents were wrong. THEY are the reason she changed. THEY are the reason things had gotten so bad”

I looked at Layton, hoping I could at least get through to him. “Tell me, If Zara had ran away from her parents and came here to tell you everything, would you have listened? or would you have just arrested her on sight and disregarded anything she tried to say?”

Layton looked thoughtfully for a moment, but I decided to answer my own questions for him… even if it upset him. ”If you weren’t willing to hear me out… then what’s to say you would have heard her out when you already considered her an enemy?”

I saw him gulp and his eyes cast downward as he breathed in deeply through his nose.

"All I’m asking is that you consider it… please? When someone shows remorse, do they not deserve a second chance? She was blind to what her parents had been planning. It was them, right from the start. I’m not saying let her roam free and completely disregard everything that’s happened. She can be watched closely, supervised wherever she goes and put on probation until she’s proven herself to be trusted”.

“Look” Layton looked back up to me “Even if we in this room agreed to this, imagine what the rest of the pack would think! how they would feel? Not to mention how they’d treat her. No one out there would trust her now or just carry on walking around the village and City like it’s all been forgotten”.

“I know, but she does have a good friend who will be there for her, and we’ll just take it slowly. We could start off with her only being able to come out of the cells once a day for a walk, which of course, she will be accompanied by warriors, and we just go from there. I just can’t help but feel like this is wrong…. She’s going to have her sentencing soon and she’ll end up dead or spending the rest of her life rotting away in those cells! She was SO young" My voice cracked.

“Lelanna, I can’t just expect our pack to forgive her just because you’ve decided to. She made horrendous choices”. Layton pointed out.

“She was a KID!” I sat back in my chair as I shook my head in annoyance. ”I Knew you wouldn’t understand”

Layton frowned as he stared hard at me. “I don’t understand? So, because I want to keep YOU and our people safe, I don’t Understand?”

I knew I was fighting a losing battle and it was one I was fighting by myself. No one would share the same view I did and perhaps that did make me too forgiving or naive… I don’t know, but right now I could see by the way they were looking at me, nothing I had said would make a difference. They had one view of Zara and that would never change, and I knew Layton was just trying to do the right thing for Blue moon.

I breathed out a long breath “Ok” I gave in “If you can’t give her a possible second chance out of the goodness and mercy of our hearts, then at least when it comes to her sentencing. Can it be decided that she’s put to death by Lethal Injection? She at least doesn’t deserve the same sentencing as her mother!“.

Layton nodded as he sighed “I’m sure we can do that”.

“Great” I sighed as I got up from my seat and walked out of the office. I felt defeated and stupid. Call me too soft or too forgiving, but to be honest, even I don’t know how I got to this! I never imagined I would have ever forgiven and even feel sympathy for Zara Maven, so much so that I wanted her to have her freedom back… maybe I am crazy! A million different thoughts were racing through my head, I felt so frustrated and angry at myself for even being in this position in the first place. There was only one thing I could do right now to relieve the tension from my shoulders and clear my head. I got to a quiet part of the forest whilst staying in our territory and hid behind a tree as I took off my clothes and shifted into my wolf.

As soon as my paws hit the cold damp mud and I broke into a run, the wind flowing through my thick fur.... although the weather was turning colder, it felt perfect and smelled delightful. I could smell damp grass and feel the crispy wet leaves under my paws. It was so quiet, just the sound of my wolf’s panting as we ran in and out of the trees, speeding up as our heart started to race, daring ourselves to go a little faster to see if we still had the same stamina we used to have.

Already I felt calm, I felt happy and free, and I internally apologised to my wolf for not letting her come out to run as often anymore. She stuck her snout up to the sun peaking from behind the clouds and let it glow on our face, sniffing in all the rain that was soon about to fall. It reminded me of when we used to lie under the trees and watch the autumn leaves fall. We finally slowed down and made our way back to the tree where I had left my armour but instead of shifting back, we led down to rest, we fluttered our eyes closed and drifted off into a light sleep.

We woke up soon after and we could feel the light misty rain drizzling down onto our fur. I quickly shifted and I pulled on my armour and made my way home.

I was just nearing my house when I saw Layton leaning against the garden wall holding a bright red rose. He pulled me in for a kiss and he breathed in my scent “Mmm you’ve been out for a run?” he asked, handing me the rose, his deep voice rumbling through his chest.

“Yes” I nodded. pretty aware I must smell like damp dog right now.

"You should have let me know, I would have joined you”.

“I just...needed to be alone”

“Ok. I’m guessing you want to stay here tonight?”

I nodded

“Do you want me to stay with you or do you need some time to yourself?”

I scoffed ”Uhh, all the years I wanted Layton Conteras to stay in my bed… I’m certainly not going to pass up that chance now” I grinned as I grabbed his hand and took him into the house “By the way, this rose is beautiful”.

Layton made us herbal tea whilst I showered. I dried and changed into my bed wear in the bathroom, and I laughed as I walked into my bedroom as Layton’s eyes drew me in, ogling my silk top and shorts… ones that barely covered my ass! well If he wants to constantly have his sexy muscles on show in bed then I’ll start tempting him more I grinned to myself.

We drank our tea as we looked through a photo album I always kept on my nightstand, and he loved all the photos that I had of us in there from when we were kids and teenagers. He said he had some pictures of me too. But I never noticed any in his room or his office… had he just shoved them away in storage or something?

“Where are these photos you have of me then?” I asked putting my cup down ”I’ve not seen any”

He smirked then leaned over off the bed to pick up his trousers. He pulled out his wallet and opened it. On the Lefthand side of his wallet was a slot with a clear plastic film over it and tucked right there in view was a picture, not of us but just of me. It was when I was sixteen, me and him were on the field when he picked a cluster of buttercups and tucked them into my hair above my right ear. I was wearing a short red loose fitting summer dress and I was smiling...really smiling! I remember he had just looked at me with the flowers in my hair and told me I looked breathtakingly beautiful... and that’s when my crush had gone from, I’m in love with you to… You’re all I want, you’re the one!′.

He pulled out the photo and four others fell out with it. They were all of me and him together.

“I keep them here because I can look at them whenever I want” he said as he looked at the photos. I kissed him on the cheek as I couldn’t help but think of how cute he was.

We tucked under my quilt, and he pulled me into his chest, I rested my head on him in the nook of his arm as I ran my fingernails lightly over his tanned soft skin. Everything from today fell away and I felt calm and safe. Within moments I fell asleep, while my crush, my one that I had loved for so long, held me tightly in his arms.

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