The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

Chapter 51 

Savannah was in and out of consciousness. She was weaker than ever at the worst moment possible. The only thing that still registered in her mind was that they were still in Kai’s castle, 

Thinking of him was painful. Too painful. Thinking of him made breathing impossible, and she closed her eyes, writhing from the pain, remembering their last moments together and the spear piercing his chest. That damn spear was supposed to be just for decor… 

It wasn’t true. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. It had to be a dream, and she had to wake up from it. Wake up! Cold air bit at her exposed skin, and she opened her eyes again. Not a dream after all. A nightmare. 

They were crossing the main inner square of the castle, which was now clear from people who celebrated her engagement to Kai just this morning. 

Bjorn held her tight, and when one of his warriors offered to take and carry her for safety reasons, he growled at him menacingly as if she was already his and he couldn’t stand to part from her. She hated it, she hated this. She wished he would have left her back there with the people she loved. That would have been a much better destiny than anything else left for her. 

From the corner of her eye, Savannah noticed Brigit and Astrid walking slightly behind them. The latter unfastened the waistband of her gown, and the skirt fell off behind her, revealing tight, comfortable pants and boots underneath. Astrid came prepared. She said it was her job and didn’t lie about that. She was a true warrior. A spy, an assassin, who had no remorse over what she had just done. The gloomy dark aura of death was radiating from her now. There wasn’t a trace of the sweet contender. 

Someone cried not too far away. Probably Petra. Savvy couldn’t see, and in all honesty, she didn’t care 

now. 

She had no strength to console anyone. She was broken herself. This… what happened today… it would never be repaired. There was no way to fix it. Her life was pretty much over. 

“Brigit Borg!” A loud roar emerged, interrupting her train of thought and making everyone stop. Savannah tensed. The voice was hard to recognise because it was more of a growl, but it seemed familiar. Anger soaked in that voice. 

Bjorn turned around, and she could see what was going on as his men stepped aside to give him a better view. Four humongous bear warriors were holding Aspen. He was badly beaten and in chains, but his eyes were still full of fury. He may have lost, but he wasn’t defeated yet. Savvy’s eyes searched for Brigit. She could 

see her pale face with parted lips now and noticed how she clenched her fists so hard that nails were breaking her skin and making her bleed. 

“Brigit Borg!” Aspen repeated loudly, and it seemed like time froze here.” I, Aspen Morr, reject you as my mate!” 

The words echoed through the square, and Brigit sucked in a painful breath; her lips trembled as she thought about how to respond. Savannah knew exactly what she felt right now, but she wasn’t sorry. Even after finding out everything about her sister. 

She could have come to them, she could have worked with her mate, and they would have helped her to rescue her sibling 

Brigit chose the bears. Her kind. And soon, her mate would be dead because of this. Savvy was surprised he was still alive, but maybe it was a strategic decision. They were leaving the capital, which meant that this wasn’t the war’s end yet, 

Bjorn just decapitated the North and probably planned to trap it into falling to his feet on its own. He wanted to get his crown while people cheered for him. That’s probably why he kept the bloodshed to a minimum. Just the castle. Just people most loyal to kai and his family. He was that confident and believed that this would be enough. 

“What are you waiting for?” The leader of the white bears taunted Brigit with a sneer. “Accept it. You reported that it was next to impossible to get rid of him, and here you are. He is disposing of himself for you, saving you the job. Prove your loyalty to us once more, and maybe we will stop calling you a traitor.” 

Clenching her fists, Brigit avoided Aspen’s gaze. Tears trickled down her cheeks when shespoke, her voice barely a whisper, “I, Brigit Borg, accept your rejection.” 

The Gamma of the North groaned from the new wave of pain that struck him as the mate bond with Brigit was broken. White bears around them laughed as they dragged him away to one of the cars waiting for them. They shoved him into a trunk while making insulting jokes. 

“What an eventful night!” Bjorn sneered, and a waye of chuckles followed. “Some bonds are broken, and some are formed!” 

His eyes grazed over Savannah. He wanted to add something to his statement, but Astrid interrupted him. 

“We need to go as soon as possible! We’ve already lost plenty of time, which is not what was agreed to!” 

“Your Master wants something from me. Not the other way around!” The white bear snapped at her yet started walking towards the car designated for him. Savannah saw dead bodies everywhere. Some were killed during fights, and some were probably poisoned as it looked like they had all fallen right at their posts. 

“My part of the deal is over,” Astrid informed the self-proclaimed King dryly. “Now I want to get the payment and leave!” 

“You’ll get it when we are out of here!” Bjorn answered frigidly, and one of his men opened the car door for him. 

Savannah’s eyelids were heavy. Her painful agony was dying down, but it was replaced by numbness. She tried to move a finger but found it an impossible task. She managed to get a last glimpse of the castle she hated so much when she first arrived here. Once, all she wanted was to leave this place, and here she was, leaving it but wishing to stay. She could already see the flames as the fire spread from the top floors. 

With her family and with

parts of her, but she knew she wasn’t aching because of Zack and their destroyed bond. Losing Kai

how long they had been

time. Repulsed, she tried to distance herself from him, and he

leader of the white bears left first and gestured to someone behind Savannah to help and get her out. A hand reached for her

she-wolf grabbed her and practically dragged her out of the vehicle. “Just drop her!” Emma told her partner with a frown. “Our work here

want to get out of this goddess-forsaken place as

weren’t partners after all. Instead, Astrid was in charge, and Emma did not like it too much. Not that the Princess cared. She could barely stand on her feet. The skin on her right hand was itching because of Zack’s dry blood on it; every cell of her body was in agony. She wanted to scratch every drop of her

Savannah asked the assassin with a hoarse voice while Bjorn was talking to his people. “Why did you-”

her off without even so much as sparing her a glance. Savvy wanted to hit her, tell her how she

life!” She let out a heavy sigh, clenching her

could hear her. “The rest is in the

going on, but Bjorn was already walking back in their direction, eyeing them

luck to you, Savvy. You are going to need it.”

his torso, enjoying his power over her. Savannah tried to look at Astrid, searching for any kind of emotions to decipher

messages, and it felt like

she carefully opened it with her thin fingers, checking the insides. Then, she closed it back and nodded at Bjorn, acknowledging that the terms of their

with … everything.” The woman nodded at Bjorn, but her eyes met Savvy’s stern glare.

“tell Aeron that he has one happy client here.

and stopped right in front of Astrid, or was it Astrea? The assassin opened the door and was almost done

gone fast, and although Savvy hated them both with all her heart now, she felt like she was left alone with the enemy and

didn’t seem to bother him at all. He seemed happy with everything, and all she wanted was to wipe that smug smile off his face. She was ready to do anything to

her up and prepare her for the ride!” The White Bear King pushed her at someone, and this time, feminine hands

heard a growl in response from her leader, who wasn’t interested in all

go on!” Bjorn

water, and Brigit washed Savannah’s face and then cleaned Zack’s blood off her hand. They didn’t speak. There was nothing to say between them, and Savvy felt relieved when the girl left. Only that she came back a few moments later with a blue hooded cape and threw it over

age?! When Bjorn returned, Savannah tried

and he frowned slightly. She was too pale and did not look healthy. Yet, at the same time, she saw the excited glint in his eyes. What did he want from her now?

stood beside her and tried to cup her chin, but

from here to your new home,” he informed her dryly. “Our

are not my people!” Savannah glared

off his leather jacket, throwing it

men 

to do? His t-shirt followed, revealing his

realised where this was going. “You are

of them. She did not give him the

now when we are so close?”

to honour Northern traditions.” The werebear towered over her, and she swallowed the lump in her

out, holding the tree behind her not to fall down from exhaustion. It was her

else should one bring his bride and the future Queen if not on

don’t agree?” She clenched her lips so tight that blood drained from them. “I am

nodded, and immediately a warrior arrived at his side with silver

personally placed were all missing. He gestured for Zara to be quiet and took her hand, leading her to one of the side

North is dead!” The familiar voice of their enemy thundered in their ears. Zara clenched her teeth and almost ran to attack the bears,

realised pretty quickly

tears on the hand that was covering her lips.

us killed too.

felt like a failure. She should have been patrolling the sky today. Maybe she could have noticed the movements