Rejected His Miracle Luna (Dorothy and Ignatius)

Chapter 90

-Angic-

We were struggling out there in the forest. Even with ten of us and five of them, we were no match for

the Tally shifters who confronted us. In half wolf states, they climbed the trees effortlessly and attacked

from every direction.

Even with the iron armor, we were losing. They didn’t seem to care how much the metal burned their

skin. It kept them from biting down on any of us but it didn’t prevent them from harrelling straight into us

and knocking us down.

I heard an excruciatingly high-pitched howl as one of my soldiers was knocked clean into the air. He

flew backward and his spine collided with a nearby tree with a sickening cr ck. He crumpled to the

ground and lay still, petrified in a state of paralysis. He would never make it out of here alive. He would

never see daylight again.

I looked around for Fae and finally managed to spot her. She was running through the treeline, followed

by a large shifter who was attempting to bring both of his giant fists down on her to crush her like an

ant.

She darted through the trees and doubled back, turning on the spot and catching the shifter by

surprise. He stumbled as he attempted to slow, unable to pull off the graceful change of direction that

Fae had taken.

She used that opportunity to snap her jaws closed over his furry heel and he went down with a loud

yelp. Another Bielke soldier ran up to assist her and buried an iron knife deep into the shifter’s chest

They were down to four which was definitely something but it still wouldn’t be enough. Even if we

managed to take down the remaining attackers, we were still down ten soldiers and the Tally severely

outnumbered us. I had no way of knowing what was happening out there in the open, but by the

sounds of it, it wasn’t good. We needed backup and we needed it fast

I was distracted momentarily when Ignatius spoke to me, startled on the spot where I face off another

Tally member with two more Bielke soldiers at my side. Ignatius reassured me that help was on the way

I wasn’t sure what four or five more members would do to help the battle but I was relieved to know that

he was alright Ignatius was back and his howl was audible for miles as he announced his arrival. The

howl distracted the Tally for a moment and we used that small window of opportunity to strike and take

down the shifter.

I was relieved to know that our Alpha was back. But his panicked question still rang in my head. “Angie,

where is Dorothy?”

“I don’t know.” I whispered as I sank my teeth into the neck of the downed Tally shifter and proceeded

to tear and rip until his head was completely severed.

“I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t know.

Suddenly, there were howls echoing all through the forest. Loud roars reached my ears as I tore at the

throat of the Tally shifter. The thud of nimble paws speeding through the woods had me raising my

head in alanın

It couldn’t have been Ignatius, there were too many of them and they were approaching quickly. I

looked over at Fae in a panic and she stared back at me with fear in her eyes. If it was more Tally

shifters, if it turned out their army was bigger than we had anticipated, then we were goners,

We would not be able to hold our own against that many new shifters. We were already struggling as it

was. It took at least three of us to down one of them and our numbers were dwindling drastically.

1 growled to my remaining members to stand strong. We had no choice but to face these new arrivals

head-on. I stared into the darkness beyond the trees as the bowls grew louder and louder.

My heart stopped for a momem when they finally came into view. Dozens of wolf shifters broke through

the trees and launched themselves at the remaining Tally shifters that we fought. They swarmed then

ripping and tearing until the Tally was completely overwhelmed and forced to the ground as the wolves

lay waste to the large hulking bodies.

is

Even more wolves sped past us completely ignoring my team members and heading straight for the

open battlefield. Their howl were deafening in my ears and I could do nothing but stare in utter

bewilderment at the phenomenon that occurred before my eye.

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I realized after a moment of watching the creatures darting in and out of the treeline that these were not

shifters at all These were wolves. No human soul resided inside their chests. They were primal,

insatiable animals that were governed by their own spirit alone..

And they were fighting for us. My incredulous expression deepened when Ignatius in his gray wolf form

approached me from the shadows. He was followed by shifters that I recognized from the team he had

left with days before. As well as a new woll who stuck close by his side as he shifted and greeted me.

“I told you we had backup”

“Ignatius” My relief made my knees weak and I shifted at a moment’s notice to wrap my arms around

him tightly. “Finally

Fae was at my side before I could blink, smiling at the others and squeezing my hand in hers. “How did

you even manage to pull that off?” she asked with wide eyes. “Those are wolves! Like, real actual

wolves!”

Ignatius motioned to the wolf who stood beside him. “As it turns out, Plato’s original pack are a bunch

of hippies. They spend most of their life in wolf form hanging out with the true wolf parks,”

Plato, the wolf in question, shifted top and nodded at us. His curly locks hung over deep green eyes as

he shrugged sheepishly. “I left a while back and moved to the city. But I guess their loyalty runs deep:

They called for the help of the true wolves and to the surprise of all of us, they obliged.”

I shook my head in wonder and looked around me. My remaining soldiers were healing their injuries

and examining those that had fallen. My new improved glimmer of hope was vanquished suddenly

when I remembered how this battle had started.

Far too seemed to come back down to earth with the heartbreaking realization and she looked at me

with tears in her eyes, “Gideon

We found him where he had been dropped to the floor after the Tally had lured us close enough. His

pale b*dy was cold to the touch and already his lips had blackened and taken on a wax look that made

me sick to my stomach.

His glassy eyes were wide open and his face was frozen in a state of shock as if death had come

suddenly and without warning. He had no time to think of goodbye, regrets, ar cherished memories. His

life was taken from him in the blink of an eye all for the sake of war.

Fae was kneeling beside me and she leaned over to lay her head on Gideon’s cold, still chest.

Just like she had when we discovered Geranium in the forest by the mansion, Fac lifted a tear-streaked

face and put her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed.

This time, I couldn’t hold back the tears either. I couldn’t be strong for her. We had lost one of our

closest friends. It was like a part of me was missing, like they had taken a piece of my heart and the

hole that it left was a painful one.

Ignatius stood beside me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder as I allowed hot tears to flow from

my eyes and drip from my chin into Far’s curly hair.

“We’ll come back for him, Ignatius murmured. “I know I’ve asked too much of you already. But right now

I need you to fight.”

1 looked up at him. My b*dy wanted to rest. I wanted to lie down for years and never get up again. But

Ignatius was right. We had a war to win. We couldn’t let Gideon’s death be meaningless. He had died

protecting his people, and we had no choice but to do the same

Ignatius helped me up and I in turn lified Fae to her feet. With one last glance at the still b*dy of our

dear friend, we followed the others through the trees towards the battle that raged beyond

Dorothy

I fought the urge to shrink away from the hulking figure as Johan stepped into the pale moonlight. I

hadn’t land eyes on hum siner that right at the villa when he begged me to take him back

G

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If it weren’t for his presence in my head, both somewhat familiar and so very alien at the same time, I

might not have even believed that it was the same man.

His wolf was twice the size of any shifter I had ever seen. Even from a few steps away, he towered

over me, a gargantuan form that reeked of death and decay. His fur was patchy in places like his b*dy

had grown too quickly for his hair to accommodate and patches of raw skin were visille on his bulky

shoulders.

Through that bare skin, I was able to see dark veins pulsing. Something blacker than blood ran through

those veins. The same dark tendrils sn*ked around his neck, visible under the patchy fur.

His eyes were a putrid yellow color and lus pupils were small like any light at all was too bright to hear,

Johan’s teeth were stained and jagged, protruding from under his lips in every direction. Rows and

rows of needle-sharp teeth lined his jaw to the point where they snagged on the corners of his mouth.

He was a heinous mutation, a deformed mass of muscle and black magic

When he was fully submerged in the glow of the full moon, Johan stood up on his hind legs. I could

hear the snap and crunch of his joints as he shifted. His limbs stretched and contorted as he stood on

two feet, pausing somewhere between man and wolf.

He swapped paws for fingers bat his long claws curled cruelly where his fingernails would have been.

Those claws alone could tear me to ribbons, reduce me to nothing but scraps of skin and chunks of

flesh if I wasn’t fast enough to avoid them.

When he stood up I was able to see the remnant of claw marks scraped into his furry chest, no doubt

the work of Angie after she and Far had faced off against the beast back at the quarry. It was a

terrifying thought, knowing that this creature had been watching me from afar, stalking the land that I

called my home.

This monster had entered my house, my sanctuary. He had tried to haunt me down once before and

now I had offered myself up to him freely. His large, malformed head almost brushed the taller

branches of the trees behind his as he looked down at me. I felt minute in comparison, as harmless as

a flea against Johan’s horrifying physique.

Still, I held my ground. I felt the moon’s energy coursing through my own b*dy. I may not have had

Johan’s strength or stature, but I would be able to heal myself repeatedly, no matter what he threw at

me. If I could hold out for long enough, there was a slim chance of making it out alive.

I braced myself for an attack, crouching low to the ground and growling as deeply as I could. This only

seemed to amuse Johan and be narrowed his glowing eyes at me. His face twisted into some kind of

terrible smirk, the corners of his mouth stretching too wide on his elongated nav

“You ran away from me when I was kind enough to pay a visit to your home.” He didn’t speak the words

out loud. But rather they crawled into my mind, skirted around the inside of my skull as if centipedes

had somehow crept in through my ears.

It made me shiver and shake my head to clear the uncase that he left behind. “But now you hunt me

down in the woods. It’s been so long, don’t you think? How the both of us have changed

His voice took on a lilting air as he said that and I wondered just how far gone this de mented mutation

of my former mate was. How separated from reality had Johan grown since I had seen him?

He took on a condescending, chiding tone as he continued, “But you can’t just run away from me and

then demand my attention. Make up your mind little one.”

“Don’t call me that.” My voice was as cool as ice, stabbing into his skull and shutting him up. “This is

the end for you, Johan. I won’t let you hurt anyone else?

He kept up his heinous surering as he circled me slowly. I kept my eyes on him and his sharpened

claws, turning with him as he stalked on the edge of the treeline.

“Is that so?” He was mocking me, trying to get into my head and make me doubt myself. “I’m not the

reason for all of this bloodshed, my love. This is all on you.”

HI

G.

I wouldn’t let him distract me. The moment I faltered would be the moment I died. “I didn’t cause this

war. I didn’t even cause all of the trouble in your life. You chose this path, Johan. You can’t blame

everything on me.”

My words seemed to genuinely irk him slightly. His sneer contorted into a ghastly grimace and he

glared at me, flexing his clawed hands and twitching slightly.

“You took everything from me,” he spoke out loud this time, his spitting voice was venomous and bitter,

spittle flew from his mouth, and foam flecked on his lips. “You were my mate, Dorothy. You were my

destiny. And you betrayed me.”

I fought to keep my voice calm. Perhaps if I could distract him for long enough I would be able to call

for help. Ignatius had to be close by. Although the thought of Ignatius facing up against this monster

was not something I wanted to imagine.

If Johan garnered this much hatred towards me there was no telling just how deep his resentment of

Ignatius ran. No, this was a fight that I had to handle myself. I already wamed Johan, I would not let

him hurt anyone else.

“I didn’t betray you, I whispered as I took on my own semi-shifted form. It was a difficult form to hold,

but I needed the strength of my wolf as well as the freedom to use my arms. I needed to know that I

could reach for the iron blade when the time was right.

I stood on shaky legs and forced my b*dy to be still. “You rejected me. I was ready to love you – I did

love you. You are the one who ruined what we had. Not me.”

No, n

Johan seemed more agitated now, grappling with his inner wolf as he struggled to contain himself. I got

the feeling he wasn’t used to having his glorious vengeance being called into question. Nob*dy had

bothered to tell him that he might just be

wrong

It seemed some part of him was aware of how ludicrous his plans were, but he had come too far to

question his actions now. “No, that’s where you’re wrong,” he hissed at me and came to a stop, leering

over me. I held my ground and faced him head- on, fully prepared to fight him at a moment’s notice.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he continued, shaking his sha ggy head and knocking a fist against his sl

anted temple. “You chose him over me. You took my closest friend from me. You abandoned me when I Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

needed you. You were supposed to be mine!”

He was yelling now, a raging, hacking roar that pierced my eardrums and made me flinch. “You were

supposed to be my mate! You were supposed to wait for me. You were supposed to choose ine!”

He slammed a clawed fist into the tree behind him and it left a sizable dent in the damp bark. The tree

shook and leaves. rained down over his head. He watched as they drified to the floor quietly,

captivated, it seemed, by the stillness of it all.

He turned to face me and I caught the smallest glimpse of the Johan that I used to know. Somewhere

in those evil eyes, there was a young boy begging to be loved. It was only there for a moment though,

and then it was gone again, replaced by the same twisted sneer that made my stomach turn.

I felt my children moving restlessly in my stomach. They could sense my fear and they felt it too. I put a

hand to my stomach to ensure that they were still protected.

Johan watched this motion, his eyes gliding over the round bulge of my belly. His state was unsettling

and he watched me with his foaming maw hanging open slightly. A trickle of yellow spittle dripped from

his bottom lip and plopped to the Lloor.

“And now you’re carrying his children?” The quiet and collective tone in which he said it was even more

unnerving than his yelling had been. It struck me then that Johan had not been aware of my pregnancy.

How could he have been?

Only then, when he paused long enough to properly take a look at me had he noticed the size of my

stomach, the way I kept a protective hand over my belly at all times.

He seemed taken aback at first, but his entire b*dy relaxed as he looked me up and down. A cruel

smile bent his lips and his voice was quiet and malicious when he spoke, “A pregnant Luna lost in the

forest without her mate.” He extended his claws and I took a small step back. “You couldn’t have made

it any easier for me Dorothy

G ·

My b*dy went cold as he began his slowly stalk towards me, flexing his knuckles and licking his

mangled lips as he stared down at me with hungry, predatorial eyes.

Just think of the look on Ignatius’ face when he finds your b*dy strewn about the forest. When he finds

his children ripped out of their mother before their time. Wouldn’t that be perfect, Dorothy? You’ve

made things so much easier,” he chirped his words at me like he was trying to coax an injured bird

closer.

His tone was euphoric at the realization that he had just discovered a new and exciting way to torment

Ignatius, his old friend

“Johan,” my voice stopped him in his tracks. It wasn’t harsh or cold or angry. It was gentle. I addressed

him as I had when we had first met when I was little more than a timid outsider and he was just a boy.

“Johan, I don’t want to hurt you. I never meant to hurt you. And neither did Ignatius.”

All the while I inched closer to him, reaching out to him with one hand. The other I reached down at my

side, ever so slowly clasping my fingers around the iron blade in its leather sheath.

Johan didn’t seem to notice. He stared down at me with a look of pained confliction on his mutilated

face. I could sense his wolf raging against him, fighting the part of him that was desperate to just have

me hack.

Johan wanted to go back to the way things were, to before he had rejected me, before Ignatius had

come along, perhaps even before he had first laid eyes on Mavis. But there was no turning back time,

there was only the continuous, infinite ticking of the clock as more and more of our present became our

past.

I finally understood that ominous ticking that seemed to haunt Johan to that very moment. It was his

true fear, the devastating reminder that there was no going back. There was no changing what was

done, or what was done to you. Johan couldn’t accept that. And so he had created his own monster in

the form of time itself.

I was inches away from him by then, the iron blade firmly in my grip as I finally touched a gentle hand

to his chest. 1 swallowed the bile that rose in my throat when my finger came to contact with his marred

skin. He was hot to the touch. almost scalding and I bit my lip at the pain it caused me Johan gazed at

me, his grotesque face softening slightly at my hesitant touch

It was then that he noticed the knife in my hand. I watched his eyes slide to the side and widen at the

sight of it gripped in my list. There was no time to hesitate. I lifted it to the air and brought the blade

down to be buried in his chest where his cold heart no longer beat.

Johan was quicker than me though, much quicker. With one sweep of his clawed hand, he knocked the

knife from my gras It spun away into the trees as he roared in anger, the betrayal driving him to a

sudden frenzy

I looked up at him, just in time to see his head come down to meet mine, ramming into my forehead

with such force that stars exploded across my vision, and the world swayed under my feet. The last

thing I saw before I hit the ground was Johan’s wild yellow eyes and his sharpened claws aiming for my

exposed stomach.