20 Chapters!! Yayyy!! The chapter dedicated to yhu_so_shy. Thank You for adding this book to your reading list!!

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The hardest decisions in life
are not between good and bad
or right and wrong,
but between two goods and two rights.
~Joe Andrew

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Cassandra:

Gabriella and I sat on my bed and ate our dinner quietly and nervously. My intuition told me that the war threats were a trap.  If they decide to attack the head pack tonight, we might just use that as a distraction for our getaway. 

Olive sat before us looking at us confused. Well, she was back to her guarding duty. "What is making you both so nervous?" She asked us with a suspicious glint.

I decided to speak up to avoid any suspicion. "I think the war threats are a trap, Olive. Don't you find it suspicious that they declared war on two packs claiming that they had a huge army? Now, the head pack is defenseless."

"Luna Cass, the head pack isn't defenseless. We have stronger wolves staying back. Then there's the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and the Warrior, Mathew! What makes you think that we won't be able to fight back?"

I just shrugged my shoulders at her.

Hours passed and we talked about random things. 

I then watched Olive's eyes fog over. Whatever she heard, she quickly stood up with a growl.

"You were right. There's an attack at the border. We need to get you to safety!" She spoke and pulled me up. 

"Wait!" Gaby stopped her, "She needs her weapons and armor. We never know what might happen."

I just nodded my head while Gaby drew her sword out, "I'll take her up to the weaponry, Olive. You might be needed out in the field."

Olive growled, "I don't trust you."

Gaby growled back and snapped, "Well, I took my oath towards the Alpha! You must know that I'm willing to put my life on the line for the Luna! Just tell me where to take her..."

Olive assessed her for a moment and said, "Well, take her to the prison and put her inside the silver doors. As long as she's got the keys in her hands, nobody can break that door down. She'll be the safest there. There will be fighters guarding the front and back door of the packhouse. They'll help you get inside the prison unharmed." She drew a bunch of keys from her pocket and placed them in my hand. 

I felt surprised that she had the prison keys with her. She just shrugged, "Well, I was handed the responsibility of the prison security yesterday. The other fighter responsible for it left for the Claw Pack today."

I nodded at her. She returned the nod and took a deep breath. "I will go to the field to join the fight. You both get to safety once you visit the weaponry. Let's move!"

I was scurrying up the stairs along with Gabriella but not before she grabbed a small duffle bag from her room. We decided to leave the bunch of keys under Gaby's mattress. We reached the weaponry and I grabbed my Knives and Swords, strapping them in with a sword belt. I threw on some light armor. 

She then walked to the railing and looked down. She grimaced, "Too high."

She then grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the staircase again. "What's the plan, Gaby?"

"Plan? To get the hell out of here without being seen!"

"And how are you planning to do that? The front and back doors of the packhouse are being guarded." I whispered.

"I have a plan. We can slide down the pipes at the side of the building and sneak into the garage which is pretty much down that corner. Find a car and whoosh!" She whispered back.

We were on the first floor inside some room whose door was open. It located on a dark corner away from the lights. 

"Perfect! Now, we just need to step out of this window and walk on that ledge," She pointed to a  wide cement ledge running all the way to the other corner of the building, "then, we gotta jump off it on the other end and voila! We reach the garage! The guards won't even bother to look up!"

I might end up breaking my ankle jumping from that height, but it was worth a shot. 

But when we stepped out, the scenario was a lot worse than I thought it would be. There was a huge battle taking place before my eyes. Blood, shredded flesh, bodies made me stop in my tracks. Growls and battle cries rang in my ears just like the nightmares that I once had. The fact that I was taking advantage of this situation struck my conscience and made my heart bleed. 

I went down on my knees carefully on the ledge and peeked underneath. I could see the back door unguarded, the guards scattered around probably fighting their way through the rogues. There were a lot of rogues. They didn't bluff when they said that they had a huge army of rogues. 

I stood up, took a breath, and looked at Gaby to find that she looked like someone had punched her hard in her gut. I quickly realized that she and I were having the same train of thoughts. We then made our way quickly across the ledge.

I could feel my blood rage, falling in sync with the scenario around me, my heart beating in my throat. I saw two huge wolves roll and fight, landing underneath the same ledge that I was standing on. 

I recognized Anton immediately by those emerald green eyes. His wolf had a beautiful midnight black coat.  I felt some pack links breaking off painfully. My mind plunged into chaos and my walls crumbled. 

In a matter of moments, Anton's wolf froze and looked up at me. All that resentment and hurt that I felt seemed to flow through me. My mind raced through all those events that took place and how it would have been different if he had only given me the respect that I worked so hard for throughout my life. It made me feel that I would never live a life with this man. 

It doesn't matter if my heart cannot accept another man. I'd rather die alone than to live with him.

Anton's wolf whined so loudly that I stopped in my tracks. His eyes wouldn't leave me. He was tackled to the ground by the huge grey wolf. He didn't seem to fight back. I panicked as I saw the enemy leader wrap his canines around his neck. I looked at Anton with wide eyes pleading with him to fight back through the bond. He didn't seem to take heed. 

I looked at Gaby to find her watching the scene with wide eyes. Neither of us expected this turn of events.

I had to make a choice... 

One, I could just ignore and get my ass out of this place. 

Two, I could save him and give up my freedom and my home. But, He wouldn't let me go. Tears fell.

A second passed. I drew my sword out and jumped from the ledge right above the enemy wolf sinking the sword deep onto his spine probably piercing right through his heart. I just gave up my freedom because I knew that I cannot live with myself if my mate died and I didn't do anything about it. 

I let go of that sword and slid down that wolf's back and drew out my other sword. Another huge wolf pounded toward me. I step sided the wolf escaping its claws and struck the sword right through his neck. I then backed off as the wolf violently swiped its claws at me. It took a while for it to finally slow down and stop. A third wolf that came towards me was attacked and killed instantly by Zev, Mathew's wolf. 

Most rogues were killed. The few that remained tried to flee seeing that all the three leaders on theirs were killed. The ones that died in my hands were their Alpha and their Beta from what I noticed.

Bernard and Walter shifted back and threw the huge grey wolf off an unconscious Anton. He looked quite bruised and bloody in his human form. But, he was alright. I could feel it through the bond. 

I looked around to find the pack fighters who stayed back and the women who all stood shocked as if reeling from the scene that they just witnessed. All these women had fought against the rogues and safely guarded their children. The kids were nowhere to be seen. I assumed that they were hidden safely.

Bernard mind-linked all of us. "I need the fighters to check the perimeter and the surroundings. Capture one. Kill the rest."

They then carried Anton towards the Pack Hospital. I just stood where I was. I saw Mathew take one look at me and run towards the opposite direction to hunt those remaining rogues.

I walked towards the corpses of their two leaders who had changed into their human form. I pulled my swords out of their corpses.  I heard a small thud behind me only to find that Gaby had jumped to the ground. 

"I... " She cleared her throat. "I should have jumped down and let you escape." 

I shook my head. I didn't have anything against her for this. We could still escape. Anton would definitely come after me. But for now, he's unconscious. 

I grabbed her hand trying to take her to the garage. She just stopped and pulled me back.

"What are you doing, Cass?"

"We can still escape!" I whisper yelled at her.

"Look at yourself! You are covered in blood. We can't go into town like this. Take a shower first!"

We then rushed inside the packhouse and jogged quickly through the dark hallways. When we stepped inside my room, I looked at the clock. It said 1:10 AM. I gulped. 

I quickly made my way inside the bathroom and stripped. As I showered quickly, cleaned my swords, and dressed up. The next thing we knew, we were making our way to the garage. 

We saw Walter and Bernard waiting there as if they knew that we were getting away. 

"You're not allowed to go, Cass. We cannot risk letting you go out there," Bernard spoke looking at me with pleading eyes.

"You won't understand, Bernard. It's very important for me to go," I told him, fury taking birth in the pit of my stomach. 

"You'll have to fight both of us then. We are under the Alpha's order. He is presently unconscious but our wolves had been ordered to keep you inside the pack even before the warriors left," Walter told us, sadness evident in his eyes. "Gabriella, you're defying the Alpha himself by helping Cass escape." 

Gaby scoffed at him much to my surprise, "I was never ordered directly. Cassandra is our Luna! She has the authority to do anything she wants. She's not a slave. I won't let you treat her like one."

She then drew her sword and walked towards Walter. She switched the sword to her left hand and delivered an astounding slap across his cheek with her right. Walter just stayed still. He did not fight her. She then clicked a nerve on his neck making him collapse to the ground unconscious. 

Bernard just watched her with calculative eyes. She then made a move on Bernard. Within moments, her sword fell to the ground with a clink, and he had her in a hold with just one of his hands. 

I just walked towards him without drawing any weapon. He looked at me, a hint of purple bleeding into his irises telling me that he was doing this because of his wolf's submission to his Alpha.

"Blue?" I looked at him and mind-linked a vision of the events that took place in Anton's office when I asked him to let me go home. I also sent a vision of the meeting of the generals and how disappointed I felt because of their behavior and how I was nothing more than a slave and breeding machine to this pack and its Leaders.

He blinked several times and looked at me with some emotion swirling in his dark-blue eyes, "It's not what you think it is, Cass. The pack now knows that you are a strong Luna. You had slain both the Alpha and the Beta of the opponent pack saving our Alpha's life. You've earned their respect. "

I moved closer and let out a breath. I walked towards him and hugged him close shocking him. I then swung my knee striking him where the sun doesn't shine. He let go of Gaby and held on to his baby-maker biting his lips down to stop himself from yelling profanities.

"Knock him out," I told her. 

We grabbed a car and hit the roads as quickly as possible.

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Anton:

When I finally opened my eyes to reality, it felt like an eternity had passed. 

"Alpha Anton?" 

I groaned feeling my muscles stiff. After blinking several times, I finally adjusted my eyes to my surroundings. The sun had risen and the first thing that came to my mind was Cassandra. The events of last night flashed through my mind.

For some reason, I felt like I couldn't breathe. My wolf Farkas whined.

It doesn't matter if my heart cannot accept another man. I'd rather die alone than to live with him.

 All that resentment that came with it hurt me like never before. That was the first time her walls crumbled since the time I forcefully marked her mine. 

I sat up, "Where's Cass?"  I asked the first person I saw. Doctor William Herb.

He looked at another person across the room. Mathew Randale. "Aura has gone for her. They'll be here any moment."

I nodded slowly. Aura walked inside the room with a frown, "Cassandra is gone and your beloved Beta and Gamma were lying in the garage looking quite disoriented. My suspicion is that Gabriella accompanied her. The witch Gerta had something up her sleeves!"

I growled lowly. I took a breath in. She does not want me. Cassandra does not want to live a life with me. Why is it bothering me so greatly now when it did not matter at all before?

"I need some time alone," I told them and they left.

I could force her into the mating process and also forcefully make her take down those walls between us. But now that I thought about it, it didn't feel like a great idea. Something tells me that even if a tear fell from her eyes, it would only hurt me. I never felt like this before. So, what changed?

My wolf whined and replayed the past events in my mind. The moment that she daringly entered my room in spite of being scared. The way I felt when she held me in her arms. Her arms felt like home. The way she ran her fingers through my hair calming an entire storm inside me. The way she joked around trying to bring down the tension around me. My wolf longed for more moments like those and so did I.

But then, I also remembered the way her stormy eyes always looked like she fighting a storm while confronting me or standing against me. The way her eyes showed hurt and betrayal when I put down her worth and didn't care about it. The way her eyes showed defiance and she still agrees with me to avoid a conflict. The way her eyes showed hurt when I told her that I would break my promise if she tried to run. It didn't matter before. Why did it matter now? 

She does not want to live with me. She will be defiant and fight back. She forgave me once. Will she forgive me again? A part of my ego stood up saying that I am a mighty Alpha and shouldn't bring myself down to the level of a human. But then, my wolf growled and told me that he was ready to lick her shoes and behave like a puppy until she breaks and accepts him. I let out a laugh. Little Cass, what have you done to my ferocious wolf?

Cass was right about everything. The war threats were a trap to attack the head pack. She was right when my parents were attacked. She was also right when she said,

"Alpha Anton Arnoux, strength is not what you think it is. There will come a day when all your pride will crumble down. That will be the day when you feel you've lost everything although you still have it all. Karma's a bitch and she's watching. She will make you step down from that high and mighty, power-drunk throne of yours. And yes, there is no way I'd be submitting to you."

My smile slipped from my face realizing that all that she told me was true. Strength is not what I think it is. I may be physically strong. I can kill a hundred men. But, what am I without Love? What am I without Cassandra? My wolf whined. I'd be just an empty shell. I crumbled the moment I saw my parents unconscious. I couldn't control my wolf. I couldn't stop the storm brewing inside me until Cass decided to come to me and put it to rest. 

"The Luna is the Alpha's Anchor." We were taught in school. She is my anchor.  

Whatever pride I have over our empire or my position, nothing can compare to the pride I should have in my mate. She killed two huge wolves last night. "Just for us," my wolf told me. Now that I thought about it, she can't help but care about the pack. She put aside her fear and talked to me after my parents slipped into a coma. The truth all along was that she was the braver one between us two.

Today, here I am feeling empty and clueless without Cassandra around me. She was right when she said that I would feel like I lost everything when everything around me is alright. But what she didn't tell me was that her absence would make it happen, making everything seem pointless and that would be my downfall. 

"And yes, there is no way I'd be submitting to you."

It made me proud. There's no way I'd make her submit to me again. I'd just risk losing her again, that is if I haven't lost her already.

My wolf licked up his snout and prepared himself telling me to go find her and that it was time he behaved nicely.

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Author's Note:  (3131 words)

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~Jahnavi